I Am Immortal in Great Yu

It’s hard to be rude to a smiling face.

Fang Rui couldn’t bring himself to kick them out, but he was truly out of patience, so he just left to visit a friend instead.

...

「Zhou Mansion.」

In the backyard, Fang Rui and Zhou Changfa lay side-by-side on wicker chairs, basking in the sun.

"You know, Fang Rui, I have to admit, when you opened Sanwei Bookstore, I didn’t think it would succeed. Looking at it now, I see I was completely wrong!"

Zhou Changfa looked at Fang Rui. "I never thought you’d accomplish so much and make such a name for yourself."

"Fame... Brother Zhou, you know I’ve never cared about such things."

Fang Rui shook his head, then changed the subject. "Brother Zhou, how has your health been lately?"

"Not good."

The corner of Zhou Changfa’s mouth twitched as he instinctively clutched his lower back. "Sigh... a while back, I took a liking to a beautiful woman and thought about taking her as a concubine. But... I can’t just let the poor girl live like a widow while I’m still around!"

"Not being able to Gao Le, life is just so dull. Fang Rui, you’re a miracle doctor. Is there anything you can do for me?"

Ordinarily, Upper Three Grade Martial Artists have powerful bodies and are still spry even in their nineties.

Zhou Changfa was eighty-one this year. The reason for his decline was a hidden injury from his youth that damaged his foundation, even though he had taken a Demigod Medicine...

But in the end, that stuff was ultimately no good.

With Fang Rui’s Medical Skill, he could certainly treat and suppress the injury. The price, however, was that Zhou Changfa would have to focus on recuperation and strengthening his constitution—which meant no Gao Le.

"A solution? Well, it’s not that I don’t have one."

"Oh?!"

Zhou Changfa’s eyes lit up, and he sat bolt upright like a mischievous old boy.

"One bottle of Dragon Essence and Tiger Fierce Kidney Supplement Pills would do it. But we’d be celebrating you taking a concubine today, and attending your funeral tomorrow."

Fang Rui teased.

With over twenty years of friendship between them, they weren’t worried about a small joke like this causing a rift.

"Never mind then."

Zhou Changfa clicked his tongue and lay back down. "I’d still like to live a few more years... I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, the older I get, the more I’m afraid of dying."

"That’s only natural. After all, death has always been the hardest thing to face."

They basked in the warmth of the sun, chatting idly about everything under the sun, their conversation eventually drifting to Huaiyin Prefecture and Ge Changgeng...

As they chatted on under the warm sun, Zhou Changfa eventually drifted off to sleep.

Fang Rui watched Zhou Changfa. His face was covered in age spots, and he snored softly, a trickle of drool escaping the corner of his mouth. He looked just like any other little old man, completely devoid of his former dignified presence.

Yet, he clearly remembered their first meeting at the Jade Plum Association. How full of vigor Zhou Changfa had been then, seated in the place of honor, receiving the respects of the crowd...

’To think that such a great man could lose all his luster with time, becoming just another ordinary little old man.’

Fang Rui sighed internally as a realization dawned upon him: no one is born noble or with an extraordinary bearing. It is the position one holds that nurtures such an air.

Great figures have their own joys and sorrows. They have their own embarrassing and destitute moments, and even a gossipy, unseemly side, just like any commoner. It’s just that ordinary people rarely get to see it.

’But what if one day, Mother and Third Sister also grow old and become...’

"Sigh!"

Fang Rui let out a soft sigh, refusing to let the thought continue. He simply closed his eyes and dozed off in the warm autumn sun, a gentle breeze drifting past.

...

「Upon returning home that evening.」

The moment he stepped through the door, a little girl came bouncing and crashing right into him.

"Oof!"

Fang Li plopped onto the floor, clutching her forehead and whimpering in pain.

Trailing behind her was a retinue of chirping chicks and quacking ducklings, along with two big dogs barking "WOOF WOOF WOOF!" She was like a general leading an army of animals.

The little girl was eight years old, an age for being a hyperactive nuisance that both people and dogs found exasperating.

Yes, she was even more rambunctious than Fang Ling and Nannan had been, spending her days chasing chickens, herding dogs, and practically tearing the roof off the house...

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family used to say Fang Rui spoiled Fang Ling and Nannan. But now it was her turn, and she doted on this little girl—who was like a daughter and granddaughter to her—even more.

"Big Brother?!"

Seeing it was Fang Rui, Fang Li shrank back guiltily.

"Li’Er, have you done your lessons today?"

Fang Rui asked, putting on a stern expression.

His relationship with the little girl was decent, but it wasn’t as close as the one he’d had with Fang Ling and Nannan. Part of the reason was his ’teacher’s aura’.

Another reason was this: as Fang Ling and Nannan grew older, and as Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Lady aged, Fang Rui sensed their inevitable parting. Perhaps as a form of self-preservation, he had started keeping a certain distance from others, a deliberate detachment in his heart.

"Yep, yep, I’m done! Mother is going to test me on it later."

The little girl was clever. She knew that when Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family tested her, she wouldn’t have the heart to punish her, even if she failed.

"Oh, you!"

Fang Rui chuckled to himself.

Compared to Fang Ling and Nannan when they were little, this girl had a more rebellious streak. Getting her to do her lessons was an ordeal, a constant battle of wits.

Sensing that Fang Rui was about to slip into his ’stern teacher’ lecture mode,

Fang Li’s big, sparkling eyes darted about, and she quickly changed the subject. "Big Brother, I’ll tell you a secret! Mother and Sister Ling’Er are in the kitchen cooking. They said it’s for Third Sister’s birthday celebration!"

"Is that so?"

Fang Rui was worldly enough to see right through the little rascal’s scheme, but he couldn’t be bothered to call her out on it. "Alright, just be careful. Go on and play!"

"Yay!"

Fang Li clapped her little hands and jumped for joy. But when she saw Fang Rui looking, she immediately slowed to a delicate, ladylike walk. The moment she passed through the moon gate, however, she broke into a wild frolic once more.

The flock of chicks and ducklings and the two large dogs followed after her, PEEPING, QUACKING, and WOOFING. And just like that, silence descended.

"That little girl..."

Fang Rui shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ’I wonder, if I were to paint this scene now, what expressions would the disciples of the Primordial Path have a thousand years from now, when they see this side of their great ancestor, Fang Li?’