In Her Sixties, an Old Friend Departed

"Ling'er, I'm back." Su Yueli nodded softly.

Hearing that voice she had nearly forgotten, Tie Ling'er could no longer hold herself together. Like a child, she threw herself into Su Yueli's arms and burst into tears.

To onlookers, the scene was deeply strange.

An old woman nearing sixty, her hair streaked with gray, was weeping her heart out in the embrace of a young girl barely over twenty.

Yet Su Yueli's eyes held only heartache. She gently patted Tie Ling'er's back, allowing her tears to soak her own collar.

The two went to sit in a side hall of the inner courtyard. Tie Ling'er wiped away her tears and personally poured Su Yueli a bowl of freshly brewed wine.

"Sister Yueli, after you left back then, I learned to drink too." Tie Ling'er gave a self-mocking smile, lifted the wine bowl, and took a fierce gulp. A flush rose to her face.

Su Yueli raised her bowl and drained it in one swallow.

"My father passed away four years ago."

Tie Ling'er set down her wine bowl, her gaze dimming. "He lived to ninety-eight and passed peacefully, but before he died, he kept murmuring about you, wondering whether little Yueli had met with trouble outside."

The fingers gripping Su Yueli's wine bowl turned faintly white.

"Thirty years ago, when my father heard that something had happened in the Imperial City, he personally carried his blade there to look for you."

Tie Ling'er continued on her own, "But he was only a Fifth Realm martial artist. In a place like the Imperial City, he couldn't uncover any news at all. After returning, he fell gravely ill, and his vital energy and blood were completely ruined..."

Su Yueli remained silent as guilt surged through her like mountains collapsing and seas overturning.

She had thought hiding in the ruins was the foolproof solution, never imagining that old friends outside had suffered thirty-one years of torment because of her.

"Where exactly have you been these past thirty-five years?" Tie Ling'er asked, unable to help herself as she looked at Su Yueli's face, untouched by time.

Su Yueli sighed and told her everything: how she had won the Martial Dao Tournament all those years ago, how she had crippled a Pang Family prodigy, and how she had been forced into the Azure Cloud Ruins.

When Tie Ling'er heard that Su Yueli had endured thirty-five whole years in those lightless ruins, her heart pounded with terror.

When she heard that Su Yueli had now entered the Tenth Realm and become a legendary Martial God, Tie Ling'er's mouth fell open in shock.

"The Tenth Realm... a Martial God?" Tie Ling'er's eyes brimmed with shock and envy. "Sister Yueli, you've actually become a legend of Martial Dao?!"

After the shock faded, Tie Ling'er's gaze fell upon Su Yueli's ageless face. She asked tentatively, "Sister Yueli, you haven't aged in thirty-five years. Could it be... you've become an immortal?"

Su Yueli shook her head with a bitter smile. "I'm not an immortal. I merely came down with a strange illness in my early years, which made my appearance difficult to age. What mortal in this world truly lives forever? It's nothing more than dragging out a wretched existence."

At the words "strange illness," the envy in Tie Ling'er's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a trace of pity.

She herself was already past fifty. Though her body had aged, she at least had neighbors and townsfolk around her, and had experienced all the myriad faces of life.

But Su Yueli... she possessed shocking Martial God cultivation and an ageless face, yet had to battle thirty-five years of deathly silence alone in the darkness.

And what lay ahead would likely be even longer.

"Not aging... is quite painful too."

Tie Ling'er took hold of Su Yueli's still fair and delicate hand and comforted her, "Watching the people around you grow old and die one by one while you remain where you are... that feeling can't be easy, can it?"

Su Yueli clasped her younger sister's rough palm in return, warmth rippling through her heart.

Night settled in, and a cool breeze swept by.

Two figures strode out of the side hall and hurried through the night toward the barren mountains outside Azure Province City.

On a remote hill thick with wild grass stood an inconspicuous lone grave. Its stone marker bore the inscription: Grave of the Late Tie Tu.

Su Yueli swept aside her robes and dropped to her knees before the grave.

She took out a jar of aged strong liquor from her Storage Pouch, broke open its clay seal, and slowly poured the clear wine over the earth before the tombstone.

"Senior Tie Tu, I've come to see you."

Looking at the gravestone, a rare gentleness flashed through Su Yueli's eyes. "I am now a Tenth Realm Martial God and have the strength to protect myself. Down there... drink in peace."

Tie Ling'er stood to the side, watching Su Yueli speak to the tombstone. Tears began flowing uncontrollably down her face again.

After paying their respects to Tie Tu, they descended the mountain beneath cold moonlight that stretched their shadows long.

Su Yueli tilted her head and looked at Tie Ling'er beside her. Her steps were somewhat unsteady, and she had to stop for breath after only a few paces. Su Yueli frowned slightly. "Ling'er, why haven't you found yourself a husband all these years? With a man to support you, you wouldn't have had to struggle alone running the distillery."

Tie Ling'er shook her head and smiled freely. "When I was young, my standards were too high. I was used to seeing martial artists like Father and you, Sister. How could I possibly fancy the ordinary men in the city?"

"Later, I grew older. Being alone for so long, I got used to it. I think things are quite good as they are now, with no ties and no burdens."

As she said this, Tie Ling'er mischievously poked Su Yueli's arm. "But you, Sister Yueli—you look no different from a twenty-year-old young lady. If you meet a man you like, you'd better seize him while you can and start a family too."

Start a family?

An unpleasant image instantly surfaced in Su Yueli's mind.

It frightened her so badly that she shuddered from head to toe, every hair standing on end.

The corner of her mouth twitched as she shook her head repeatedly. "No. Do you want that blessing instead? I can't accept that sort of thing. It's nothing but looking for suffering."

What she pursued was the Ultimate Martial Dao, longevity, and endless years.

To her, the love between mortal men and women would only become an unseverable worldly bond, a burden upon her Dao heart.

Most importantly, those few ounces of flesh were gone. She couldn't accept that kind of thing.

Chatting all the way, the two returned to Iron's Distillery. Su Yueli pushed open the most secluded room in the inner courtyard.

When the door opened, there was little dust on the tables and chairs. Though the bedding on the bed was somewhat old, it had been washed spotlessly clean and carried a faint scent of soapberry.

Thirty-five years had passed, yet every furnishing here was exactly as it had been when she left.

"I personally clean this room once every three days."

Leaning against the doorframe, Tie Ling'er watched Su Yueli's back, her expression somewhat complicated. "I knew Sister Yueli would return someday."

Su Yueli turned around, her heart filled with a jumble of emotions.

Tie Ling'er looked at her in silence for a long time before finally asking the words hidden deep in her heart. "Sister... this time, you won't be able to stay more than a few days before leaving again, will you?"

Su Yueli's body stiffened slightly, then she silently nodded.

She did not hide it from her. Though Pang Jinbiao was dead, the Pang Family's foundations still remained in the Imperial City. Not to mention that behind the Pang Family, there seemed to be ties to lofty immortal cultivation sects.

She had caused such a huge commotion upon leaving seclusion this time. The undercurrents of the Imperial City had certainly already set their sights on her.

She was a Martial God and feared no trouble.

But Tie Ling'er was merely an ordinary old woman without cultivation. If she remained in Azure Province City and the Pang Family, driven to desperation, sent people to retaliate, Tie Ling'er would have no chance of survival.

She had to leave and take every storm and every trouble away from Azure Province City.

Tie Ling'er had actually guessed the outcome long ago. Looking at the still young and beautiful Su Yueli before her, she understood that once they parted, with the little life left in her worn-out body, they would likely never see each other again in this lifetime.

"Sister Yueli, let's sleep together tonight."

Tie Ling'er rubbed at her reddened eyes and forced a smile. "Just like we did thirty-five years ago. I still have so much I want to tell you."

Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, Su Yueli nodded.

"Alright, I'll listen to you."