Chapter 45

Lin Yu quickly let go, and the sapling's branches whipped wildly as the fruit clattered against the fresh green twigs.

"Hehe!" A child's giggle rang out.

"Every lifespan under heaven has its bound; foolish heart, craving immortality, stray not from the path and ruin your life! Foolish heart, foolish heart, heaven won't fail—walk into the Yellow Spring and gain eternal life!"

An eerie, ethereal nursery rhyme drifted through the air, crashing into Lin Yu's mind like a thunderbolt!

Lin Yu spun around in alarm but couldn't locate the source. Just as confusion set in, a strange sensation crept up from beneath her feet...

She looked down—the grinning fruit had somehow rolled off the branch and fallen to the ground, its skin split open, pulp and juice spilling everywhere!

The green juice smeared across the cobblestone path, splattering out a mess of yellow-white matter stuck together, looking at first glance like a child's brains.

Lin Yu stepped back, distancing herself from the shattered fruit. The nursery rhyme continued, its source still untraceable. She scanned her surroundings—there was no one else here but her. She furrowed her brows.

"Who's there?"

The rhyme didn't stop. With every breath she took, the hollow singing drew closer, as if it were right beside her. In a daze, it seemed the singer was about to press face-to-face with Lin Yu!

"Hehe, do you... want to eat me?"

Suddenly, Lin Yu realized the voice was coming from herself!

It was emanating from her abdomen!

Realizing this, Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. She immediately raised her hand and conjured an ethereal sword from thin air with her mana!

Without a moment's hesitation, she lifted the blade and drove it toward her own chest!

"Bam!"

The instant the sword was about to touch her flesh, it was repelled by a barrier and dissolved into nothingness, a tremendous cracking sound exploding within Lin Yu's body!

A pale golden soul flew out from within her. This soul had no idea when it had slipped into her body; now that it had been knocked out of the living vessel, it drifted rapidly around the prince's residence's backyard, darting about erratically with no direction.

Lin Yu fixed her gaze on its escape route and moved to give chase. At the same moment, the soul suddenly shot upward, soaring over the tall courtyard walls and flying outward!

"Don't run!" Lin Yu lifted her leg and pursued. The soul wasn't fast, so she caught up easily.

As she followed its path, the route began to feel strangely familiar. Then, the soul landed on a rooftop.

Lin Yu's pupils abruptly contracted. This was... this was the medicine shop she had opened! The soul stopped drifting and hovered steadily in this spot.

Two months ago, the general's daughter had led people here to burn the place to ashes. This alley had always been sparsely populated, and after the fire, even the neighbors who had lived here had vanished without a trace.

Lin Yu had almost forgotten what the shop used to look like. With a pang of melancholy, she stepped over the charred debris and walked inside, slowly sweeping her gaze across the place. By the time that fire had consumed her livelihood, she had already been locked in a cage, waiting to die.

After that, Lin Yu had never come back to see the shop. Returning now, she finally realized it had been burned to this ruin. Her breathing slowed as she cherished the memories.

She propped her head on the counter, tallying the account books. Da Niu, his missing arms a constant reminder of his disability, cradled a basket of freshly delivered herbs with both arms, heading to the backyard to dry them. Passing the counter, he beamed at Lin Yu, sweat beading on his forehead and trickling into his wrinkles.

He called out to her, "Auntie Zhao's got the meal ready—she's calling for you!"

"Hey, don't just stand there. How many days have you been poring over that ledger?"

Lin Yu rose and headed toward the main hall. Zhao Yi's clothes were smeared with soot from the stove. Seeing Lin Yu arrive, she hastily wiped her hands on her garments, drying the water and grease, then smiled warmly and pulled Lin Yu over.

Beside her, Qiao Yin was already seated at the table, chopsticks in hand, waiting obediently. "Big sister, you're finally here!"

Zhao Yi set the last dish on the table and rested a hand on Qiao Yin's shoulder. "In another month, Qiao Yin will come of age. She says she wants to learn medicine from her big sister too."

Lin Yu's eyes curved into a smile. "Sure. Then I'll have a worthy successor."

Just then, Da Niu came in after drying the herbs. Overhearing the conversation, he chimed in, "Oho, studying medicine? Our Qiao Yin's bound to make something of herself one day!"

A faint crack from the charred rafters jolted Lin Yu back to reality. The laughter faded, and for an instant, it felt like a lifetime apart.

Lin Yu looked up at the blackened eaves. The soul's faint glow circled the beams a few times before drifting down and settling on the ground.

The soul's energy was spent. Lin Yu stepped closer and saw it had fallen onto a red prayer charm. The brand-new charm stood in stark contrast to the ruined shop.

The charm bore clearly embroidered characters. Just as she reached out to touch it, the soul scattered and vanished into nothing, leaving only the pitch-black night.

Lin Yu gathered a wisp of mana on her fingertip, and the shop brightened again. She picked up the charm from the ground. On its front were the words "As Long as Heaven, So Long as You". Flipping it over, the back read "Fortune and Longevity".

It was just an ordinary prayer charm.

Lin Yu knew its origin all too well—the Earth Immortal Temple outside the city. Beside the temple stood a towering ancient tree, laden with charms like this one. She pressed her palms together, tucked the charm into her sleeve, and turned to face the night.

"The Earth Immortal Temple..." she murmured. What connection could all this have to her medicine shop?

Her thoughts were muddled for a moment, but she quickly cast aside the wild conjectures. With resolve in her eyes, she set off along a familiar path toward the city gates. Something was off about the Earth Immortal Temple—she had to investigate.

Lin Yu walked out of the shop whose walls had collapsed in the fire, stepping into the night breeze along the well-known road.

After she left, a shadowy figure emerged from behind the burned ruins of the shop. Seeing Lin Yu depart, he let out a long sigh and slumped to the ground, staring dazedly into the darkness.

"She's still alive? How..."

...

A storm was brewing. Gale-force winds howled, tree shadows swayed violently, and the prayer charms on the tree clattered against one another, their slender red strings tangling into hopeless knots.

Bracing against the wind, Lin Yu stood beneath the ancient wish tree. She reached up and held a low-hanging charm—it read "Boundless Longevity".

Frowning, she picked another and flipped it over: "Fortune and Longevity as High as Heaven".

Standing among a canopy of crimson ribbons, she read them one by one: "Ten Thousand Autumns", "Turtle Years and Crane Lifespans", "An Everlasting Realm"...

Every single one was a prayer for longevity. But the strange part was, they weren't asking for a normal ripe old age. They coveted a thousand years, ten thousand years, an eternity of endless life.

Lin Yu's expression shifted. She clearly remembered that before she had left the medicine shop, the folks who came to this temple prayed for marriage and children. In just two months, this Earth Immortal Temple had become a sanctuary for those seeking immortality.

"Miss? Miss?"

She was lost in thought when an elderly woman, well past sixty, called out to her twice from behind. Lin Yu turned to see her—sparse hair, toothless grin, but remarkably pale skin. She must have just come out of the temple. Lin Yu replied gently, "What's the matter?"

"Would you be so kind as to hang this prayer charm for these old bones of mine?"

The old woman was stooped, her head only reaching Lin Yu's chest. With the wind blowing, it was understandable she couldn't reach the charm herself.

Lin Yu took the charm from her hand. Her eyes casually glanced at it, and in that instant, her palm tightened and her heart lurched—because it read "As Long as Heaven, So Long as You".

Exactly the same as the one she had found in the medicine shop.

The old woman's prayed-for lifespan was greater than any hanging on this tree. Lin Yu looked intently at this weathered face. Examining her closely, the old woman's garments were exquisitely crafted, clearly costly, but somewhat worn—likely the matriarch of a wealthy household.

Lin Yu's instincts sharpened with wariness. Clutching the charm, she asked, "Grandmother, why would you come here alone in the dead of night to pray to the Earth Immortal for longevity? The Earth Immortal isn't a god who governs lifespans. Surely you've prayed to the wrong deity?"

The old woman's expression flickered with displeasure at being called "Grandmother," but since she still needed Lin Yu, she didn't flare up. "Girl, you don't know?" she said with feigned surprise, sizing up Lin Yu's youthful face without being too obvious.

Lin Yu felt the probing gaze sweep over her but didn't call it out, letting the old woman stare.

She genuinely didn't know the temple's recent state, so she replied, "I'm from out of town, here to find family. I truly don't know. Might I ask why everyone comes to the Earth Immortal Temple to pray for long life?"

The old woman's hoarse voice began its tale. "The rumor goes that Lord Earth Immortal was promoted two months ago and now holds the Book of Life and Death. Every commoner's fate in this land is decided by him. But my son and daughter don't believe it—they're afraid. So I have to sneak out here alone at night."

The old woman answered both of Lin Yu's questions in one breath. But Lin Yu was puzzled. "If your children don't believe, why do you?"

The old woman looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before speaking. "It must be true. A few days back, I saw with my own eyes Lord Earth Immortal cross out Old Man Zhang's name in the Book of Life and Death. He was on his last breath, about to die. But the moment the name was struck out, he suddenly woke up."

The old woman's voice scattered in the wind, and Lin Yu caught only fragments. "After a month of rest, Old Man Zhang's now hale and hearty, leaping about like a man in his prime."

Lin Yu was skeptical. "Is that so?"

The Xianzun's words resurfaced in her mind. Fu Zheng had sought immortality and suffered the backlash. The prince's courtyard had been planted with a garden of eerie doll-faced fruit trees. The Earth Immortal now held the Book of Life and Death. Each piece seemed to overlap with the chattering old woman's face before her.

Tears welled in the old woman's eyes as she tried to tug at Lin Yu's sympathy. "It's true. I thought Old Man Zhang would go before me, but now his name's been crossed out. I had a rough youth—my body's riddled with ailments. I doubt I've long to live, so I can only come beg Lord Earth Immortal..."

Lin Yu clutched the charm and looked at the tree full of fluttering wishes. Finally, she understood why they all prayed for millennia of life—if one were lucky enough to have their name erased from the Book of Life and Death, wouldn't that be living as long as heaven itself?

Seeing that Lin Yu remained expressionless and showed no sign of helping, the old woman grew anxious. She had braved the cold wind all night waiting, and Lin Yu was the only young person to pass by. She couldn't let this opportunity slip.

The old woman grabbed Lin Yu's hand, her tone urgent. "Miss, just hang this charm for me. If I'm any later getting back, my children will suspect something."

Her gaze was filled with greed toward Lin Yu's youthful face. She stared at her fiercely, as if trying to bewitch her. "Hang it up, and who knows—maybe in a few days I'll be fortunate enough to have my name erased too. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, miss."

"Is that so..." Lin Yu leaned in close to the old woman, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at her lips. She wanted to see just what this old woman was up to, and why she insisted on having Lin Yu hang the charm.

The old woman was still staring at Lin Yu's face when, all of a sudden, that young, radiant, wrinkle-free, rosy-lipped face pressed close to hers. They were nearly cheek to cheek.

So close that even their breaths were palpable. The old woman instinctively held her breath, too afraid to look at Lin Yu, and hastily dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Miss, you..." The old woman tried to say something else.

Out of the corner of her eye, a shadow caught her attention. She looked up—Lin Yu had pulled down a branch to chin height, conveniently right in front of the old woman.

Lin Yu kindly handed the charm back to her, putting on an innocent front. "Since it's your wish, it'll only come true if you hang it yourself."

Realizing she'd been played, the old woman's eyes flew wide with fury. "You!"