Unintended Immortality

“Swish...”

The swallow finally dove down, like an arrow cutting through the storm. Just before reaching the ground, it spread its wings, gracefully gliding forward in a smooth arc before landing precisely on the horse’s back.

“Sir, there's a large city ahead, about forty li away. It should be Jade City,” the swallow said, speaking against the pounding rain. However, it also understood that with night falling and the storm raging, reaching Jade City tonight was unrealistic. So, it added, “But there's a temple up ahead. It looks grand—perhaps we could take shelter there.”

“Alright.” Song You nodded in agreement.

Jade City[1] was the capital of the Jadeite Kingdom Kingdom, a well-known place—like a gleaming jewel in the vast Western Regions. It was the largest and most prosperous city they would encounter after entering the west, rivaling the desert stronghold of Shazhou.

Since leaving Shazhou early last spring, over a year and a half had passed. Along the way, they had rarely stopped to rest. Even when they did enter cities, their stays were brief—three, five, or at most seven days.

The language barrier made it difficult to understand local customs, and many places had harsh climates, lacked prosperity, or were simply inconvenient for daily life. Staying too long in such places often felt meaningless.

It was time to find a place to settle for a while.

Two nights ago, when chatting by the fire with Censor Zhang, Censor Zhang had mentioned that Jade City was a bustling hub, home to many merchants from Great Yan. There were even Great Yan settlers, and a good number of locals could speak the Great Yan language—especially the wealthy, the nobles, and the ruling class, who knew at least a few words.

The only question was: had Censor Zhang been describing Jade City as it was a hundred years ago, or as it was today?

“Sir, are you still searching for that great demon?”

“There's no rush. We'll go with the flow.” Song You smiled slightly, looking up at the sky. “Perhaps it's just ahead of us.”