“Mr. He, it’s time to depart.”
The next day, Steward Song knocked on He Xiuyuan’s courtyard door.
He had already brought the carriage to the entrance and was waiting for He Xiuyuan.
He Xiuyuan heard the movement and immediately stepped forward to open the courtyard door. He then picked up the already prepared satchel and came forward. After placing his belongings in the carriage, He Xiuyuan went to the side and bought a few steamed buns to eat on the way.
After doing all this, He Xiuyuan finally got into the carriage.
Steward Song stood to the side, watching He Xiuyuan busy himself without saying a word.
Seeing He Xiuyuan get into the carriage, he then drove the carriage away.
He Xiuyuan sat in the carriage, and suddenly, as if sensing something, he looked back and saw countless Peach Tree blossoms on the branches behind him gently swaying, as if waving to He Xiuyuan.
He Xiuyuan also extended his hand and waved back at the Peach Tree.
What a pity, he didn’t get to eat these peaches. Perhaps there will be a chance in the future.
He Xiuyuan felt a little emotional.
Steward Song sat at the front, seeing He Xiuyuan turn back and wave, appearing to be saying goodbye.
He looked back in confusion, but saw no one behind them bidding He Xiuyuan farewell.
Steward Song was stunned by this, but he didn't know who He Xiuyuan was saying goodbye to. It was truly strange.
Could it be that he was playing tricks again?
Thinking of what he had heard others say before, Steward Song immediately shook his head.
He had heard his master mention He Xiuyuan before, saying that he had passed the imperial examination at a young age, was full of knowledge, and was also a person of both virtue and talent. Why was he starting to play tricks now?
Steward Song was puzzled, but his movements were not slow. He drove the carriage out of Peach Blossom Town and headed towards Chang'an.
He Xiuyuan sat by the carriage, eating a steamed bun while reading the book in his hand.
This was the book given by the Mountain Lord. He hadn't examined it closely yesterday, but today he could take a careful look and check if there was anything unusual in it.
‘In the thirteenth year of Chengyuan, Your Majesty, worried about his declining Lifespan, appointed me as an Immortal Seeker. By Your Majesty’s command, I visited various Immortal mountains to seek the Elixir of Immortality.’
The fifth year of Chengyuan?
He Xiuyuan looked at the content written and, after thinking for a moment, recalled that the fifth year of Chengyuan was a matter of the previous Dynasty.
The previous Dynasty was the Great Martial Dynasty. The Great Martial Dynasty lasted two hundred and sixty-eight years. In its later years, the world fell into chaos, and various warlords declared themselves kings.
Finally, King Zhao pacified the world, established his capital in Chang'an, and named it the Great Zhao Dynasty.
By now, five monarchs had already changed.
From the thirteenth year of Chengyuan to the present, more than three hundred years must have passed, right?
He Xiuyuan secretly calculated, then his gaze fell back on the book in front of him.
It seemed that the emperor during the Chengyuan era was very diligent, but in his later years, in order to seek Immortals and the Dao, the national treasury suffered losses, and the Dynasty consequently declined.
So, this book contains the records of Emperor Chengyuan’s search for Immortals and the Dao?
‘In the summer of the thirteenth year of Chengyuan, I was ordered to seek the Elixir of Immortality. However, having consulted ancient texts spanning thousands of years, there was never any record of Immortal traces. I could only search various places.’
‘In the winter of the thirteenth year of Chengyuan, from Wangshu Mountain, I heard of an Immortal in the mountain, but after searching for a month, I did not find the Immortal.’
‘In the spring of the fourteenth year of Chengyuan, I heard that at the Hall of Hundred Flowers, someone could make all flowers bloom overnight in winter. I searched at the Hall of Hundred Flowers, but the flowers were withered, and none had bloomed.’
.......
‘In the summer of the sixteenth year of Chengyuan, I passed by Zhuangyuan Residence. The name of this place has been passed down for hundreds of years. It is said that at Zhuangyuan Ferry, there are countless Spirit Monsters that specifically harm scholars on their way to the imperial examination.’
‘Later, a Martial King returned home and passed through this place. He encountered a demon causing trouble in the river. He offered wine to the river and reprimanded the river demon. The river demon retreated, and after that, the river was no longer troublesome.’
.........
‘In the autumn of the sixteenth year of Chengyuan, I stayed overnight by the forest. At night, I heard shouts of battle shaking the heavens. The guards drew their swords to fight. They fought until dawn, but no enemy corpses were found. The soldiers who fought suffered a high fever for three days before it subsided.’
.......
“These things... they seem to be useless.”
He Xiuyuan looked at this scene, couldn't help but rub his temples and think.
He had originally thought that since this thing was sent by the Mountain Lord, it should be extraordinary.
But looking at it now, what was recorded in it were just some travel notes from searching for Immortals.
However, the things recorded in it seemed to be of no use.
The Zhuangyuan Ferry mentioned here... there might really be a demon underneath, but what He Xiuyuan wanted to find were other Cultivators.
As for finding this demon... he'd rather not.
After all, He Xiuyuan had almost fought with that Mountain Lord before.
That time was good luck, but he couldn't expect such good luck every time in the future.
If he were to encounter some powerful demon later, given that he currently couldn't use any Spells, he would definitely not be able to defeat it.
Thinking of this, He Xiuyuan sighed and flipped through the book in his hand.
Further on, it was still various records of the other party searching for Immortals everywhere.
However, the results, as He Xiuyuan expected, were all fruitless.
But this was also normal. If the other party had truly found something, then there would likely be no Great Zhao today.
“Eh... what is this?”
He Xiuyuan looked down, feeling there was nothing interesting to see.
But just then, He Xiuyuan saw a record at the back.
‘In the summer of the thirty-ninth year of Chengyuan, I met a mad Daoist who claimed to be a Cultivator. However, while subduing a demon, his Dao cultivation was completely Waste when he killed the demon. If I could find eighteen types of Spiritual Plants for him, he would be able to restore his Dao cultivation.’
‘This Immortal Seeker only took the other party for a madman and casually gave him some broken silver to send him away.’
‘Unexpectedly, this Daoist had quite a backbone. He said that I had no affinity with him, but out of consideration for my good intentions, he bestowed a Dao book upon me.’
‘But when this Immortal Seeker opened the book, it was a blank book.’
‘This matter proved that this Immortal Seeker had not misjudged the person; that Daoist was merely a swindler.’
He Xiuyuan frowned upon reading this.
It seemed that the other party was indeed a swindler, claiming to have given a Dao book, but it turned out to be a blank book.
But the problem was, the Immortal Seeker gave the silver first. If the other party was a swindler, he could have just taken the silver and ignored the Immortal Seeker, leaving directly. Why would he bother to give a Dao book?
Therefore, the Dao book the other party held, which was said to be a blank book, might have some hidden meaning within it.
He Xiuyuan thought of this, scratching his head and pondering where this blank book might be now.
“No, the Mountain Lord specifically gave me this book, so he must know that it holds some secrets.”
“But this book is entirely composed of travelogue-like content. Could it be that...”
“This Immortal Seeker used that blank Dao book to record these travel notes?”
That is, the one he currently holds...
He Xiuyuan's eyes flashed as he thought of this.