Returning Home, the Heart Grew More Timid (Thanks to Devouring Heaven God Venerable for the Alliance Leader Reward!)

"Borrowing Longevity from Heaven, the Twelve Longevities..."

Li Shun repeatedly chewed over the possible true meaning behind those eight words.

The first half was not difficult to understand: when a mortal's lifespan neared its end, they borrowed from the heavens. Heaven and Earth were boundless, the years infinite; even stealing the tiniest thread of Creation Realm was enough to restore one's youth.

But what did the latter half, "the Twelve Longevities," refer to?

Moreover, the word "borrow" was rather subtle.

As the saying went, what was borrowed must be repaid. What, exactly, would the Great Qian imperial family use to repay such a longevity method that defied the natural order?

Li Shun's thoughts churned, the light in his eyes flickering uncertainly.

Yet Feng Guan did not notice Li Shun's deep contemplation. At that moment, he seemed to possess inexhaustible vigor. Gesticulating excitedly, he abruptly changed the subject and began chattering away. "Lame, you have no idea! With the rank of Public Scholar, everything really is different. When had the county magistrate ever deigned to look us straight in the eye? But yesterday, His Honor not only personally encouraged me, he even kindly called me by name!"

"Not only that, His Honor even bestowed a courtesy name upon me! Jianwei! 'See the subtle to know the budding, see the beginning to know the end'..." Feng Guan swayed his head as he recited words whose meaning he utterly failed to understand, his eyes and brows brimming with barely concealed ecstasy. "I don't know what all this refined, scholarly talk means, but for some reason, it just sounds clear and pleasing!"

"Jianwei, Feng Jianwei... Lame, this old Feng finally has a courtesy name of his own!"

He paced back and forth in excitement, high-spirited and full of vigor. "You should've seen it. Today, when I walked through the market streets, Zhao Xu, Deng Hong, and those other yamen runners who used to bark at us and bully us at every turn—they scattered the moment they saw me, like mice spotting a cat! Hahaha, satisfying! Truly satisfying!"

After laughing heartily, he seemed to catch sight of Li Shun's crippled leg and the shabby room. His feverish emotions subsided somewhat. He stepped forward, heavily patted Li Shun's shoulder, and consoled him. "Lame, don't lose heart either. Though you didn't receive a title this time, merit in Great Qian can be accumulated over an entire lifetime. As long as you casually render some service next time, advancing by one noble rank will be as easy as turning over your hand!"

"Then, us brothers can both return to our youth and feast on the finest food and drink!"

"I still remember what it was like when we first met thirty years ago..."

He rambled on and on, as though he had an endless stream of old stories to pour out. Li Shun did not interrupt him. He merely leaned against the bed, smiling as he listened quietly.

More than an hour passed like that before the clamor in the room suddenly came to a halt without warning.

Feng Guan stopped his torrent of words. The wild joy and pride on that young, handsome face receded swiftly like the tide. He stared blankly at Li Shun, his lips trembling a few times before he rasped, "Lame, I'm leaving."

Li Shun's expression remained calm, as though he had long expected this. "Once you receive a title, you are freed from the base register. According to the Great Gan Code, you should return home in glory."

"Returning home in glory..."

Yet Feng Guan was nowhere near as happy as he should have been. Instead, it was as if all strength had been instantly drained from him. Trembling all over, he muttered those four words again and again like a man possessed.

After a long while, he suddenly raised his head and revealed a miserable smile a hundred times uglier than crying. "But... but I feel like Cold Mountain County is my home!"

"I've spent almost most of my life in Cold Mountain County."

"And that so-called 'home'... that Yunguan County—I haven't returned there in decades. I have no parents there, no relatives, not even a single friend I can truly talk to..."

Feng Guan's voice grew hoarser and hoarser. By the end, this "youth" with the vigorous face of a seventeen-year-old actually began to wail like a helpless child.

"Lame, I don't want to leave! I'm scared!"

Watching Feng Guan collapse to the ground in tears, Li Shun felt conflicted. Though that outer shell belonged to a youth, what it contained was still an aged soul battered black and blue by the years.

In the end, he could only let out a long sigh.

When Feng Guan's wailing gradually became intermittent sobs, Li Shun finally reached out and patted his somewhat thin shoulder. "I know you don't want to go back. But Great Qian's laws are strict. Those who complete their labor service must return to their place of origin and may not remain behind."

"Could we possibly defy the imperial court?"

The words "imperial court" were like a basin of cold water poured directly over his head. The fear of Great Qian's government, deeply rooted in his bones, finally forced Feng Guan awake from his grief.

He stopped crying and wiped the snot and tears from his face haphazardly. Yet that youthful face was still filled with panic and confusion toward the unknown.

Li Shun's expression was solemn. Like an elder, he gave his instructions with utmost seriousness. "After you return, remember to keep your tail tucked and conduct yourself quietly. Though Yunguan County is your homeland, times have changed, and to you, it is a place where you know neither people nor terrain. Do not believe everything others tell you. When something happens, watch more and think more. Never force yourself into the spotlight..."

Like a child earnestly attending lessons, Feng Guan reddened his eyes and carved every word into his mind, nodding heavily.

The seventeenth day of the second month, favorable for travel.

Outside Cold Mountain County's city gates, Feng Guan changed into a respectable outfit, carried a simple bundle, and set foot upon the official road leading to his hometown under the escort of two official Great Qian postal envoys.

Dragging his crippled leg, Li Shun stood hidden among the crowd. He watched Feng Guan repeatedly look back through the morning mist, his figure gradually receding until it completely vanished beyond the end of his sight.

At nine that night, news suddenly arrived.

Feng Guan was dead.

The two postal envoys escorting him had also met untimely deaths.

Upon hearing the terrible news, Li Shun sat in a daze inside the room for a long while. Feng Guan's face—once aged, yet young and bewildered before his departure—kept appearing and overlapping in his mind.

Li Shun spared no expense before finally obtaining more information.

"It was revenge by remnants of the Xiang Kingdom."

"Though the overwhelming majority of the rebels who attacked the city that day were captured on the spot, a small number of fish had slipped through the net and remained at large."

"And it was Feng Guan's report that caused their operation to fail and their leader to be captured, so naturally they sought revenge." Li Shun's gaze was shadowed, the chill within it steadily deepening.

As the day was about to reach its end.

Li Shun's primary consciousness descended into the [Square Inch] space with a thunderous crash, standing firmly before that half-ruined stone statue.

Without hesitation, he chanted in a deep voice:

"I daily, Three Reflections upon myself!"

In an instant, his words became law, and time reversed once more!

He returned to the morning of the seventeenth day of the second month.

Feng Guan was humming a little tune as he packed his luggage when Li Shun, who should have been bedridden while recovering, suddenly shoved open the wooden door and strode inside.

"Lame, what's wrong?" Feng Guan stopped what he was doing in surprise.

"I suddenly thought of something. If you leave alone today, might you suffer retaliation from the Xiang Kingdom remnants?" Li Shun went straight to the point, speaking extremely quickly.

"Xiang Kingdom remnants? Weren't they all captured?" Feng Guan froze.

Li Shun said nothing, merely staring at him fixedly. Pricked by that cold, stern gaze, the string in Feng Guan's mind suddenly tightened, and only then did he realize the severity of the matter.

"Then... then what should we do?!" Feng Guan's formerly ruddy complexion gradually turned deathly pale, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

"Two paths. Either disguise yourself and leave secretly, concealing your tracks from others; or choose a more reliable method..."

A sharp glint flashed through Li Shun's eyes as he said mildly, "Ask the county magistrate for help. After all, he surely does not wish to see a newly born first-rank noble within his jurisdiction die an untimely death before even leaving Cold Mountain County."