Grandpa

Cold winds carried drifting snow. Winter had come again.

In ten days, Lu Mingyue would turn thirteen by traditional age reckoning.

Over the past few years, Old Lu's health and spirits had declined day by day. To save trouble, he said, he had set both their birthdays on the winter solstice.

"Huahua, stop playing! Aren't you afraid you'll freeze your hide?"

"Woof!"

In the courtyard, Lu Mingyue shoveled the snow into a pile. Huahua plunged headfirst into it, then pulled his head back out, having the time of his life.

Huahua had long since grown into a big dog. Perhaps it was because he always stood guard outside whenever she cultivated, but she kept feeling that this dog looked even more magnificent than his scoundrel of a father.

It was not just his sturdy build. Even Huahua's gaze was distinctly different from other dogs'.

"Cough, cough... cough!"

A fit of violent coughing came from inside the house. It was Old Lu, who had caught a chill after winter began.

"Grandpa!"

Lu Mingyue hurriedly put down the broom, ran to the house, and gently opened the door. She went over to Old Lu, poured a cup of hot water, and helped him sit up.

"Grandpa, have some water."

Lu Mingyue held the cup to Old Lu's lips. He took a sip with narrowed eyes, then turned his head away.

"Hhh... hhh... hhh..."

Another bout of harsh, rasping breathing followed.

Even listening to it made Lu Mingyue uncomfortable. Looking at her visibly withered grandfather made it still harder to bear.

She knew her grandfather probably would not make it through this winter.

His age was there for all to see. This winter would mark Old Lu's sixty-first birthday, but when Lu Mingyue was little, he had told her that none of the grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and clan grandfathers before him had lived past sixty.

Old Lu thought it was because they spent so many years dealing with corpses.

"Mingyue... cough, cough... cough!"

Old Lu had caught his breath by then, but he had barely begun speaking before he broke into several more violent coughs.

"Grandpa, don't talk. Get some rest."

Lu Mingyue hurriedly rubbed Old Lu's back, mobilizing the Origin Power she could condense at any time in her Spirit Mansion and channeling it into his body to clear his internal organs and ease his suffering a little.

This was something Lu Mingyue had worked out herself after Old Lu fell ill.

Although she had no Immortal Cultivation Technique and could not store the Origin Power from her Spirit Mansion in her body for long, she had discovered that she could absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into her Spirit Mansion anytime, anywhere.

Simply put, her Spirit Mansion could not retain that portion of Origin Power, but she was constantly replenishing it with new Origin Power.

And thanks to that Origin Power, Lu Mingyue was not only light on her feet and healthy, but could not feel the winter cold at all.

So she felt that this Origin Power ought to have the ability to strengthen the body.

And that was indeed the case.

"Hhh... hhh... hhh..."

After Lu Mingyue channeled some Origin Power into Old Lu's body, he stopped coughing. Even his perpetually drooping eyelids opened a little wider.

"I'm not resting. I've been lying down all winter. These old bones of mine are about to rot..."

Old Lu waved a hand and looked at Lu Mingyue, a kindly smile appearing on his aged face.

"Mingyue, I feel like eating meat. Make me some braised pork..."

"All right! Grandpa, get up and warm yourself by the fire. I'll go make braised pork right now!"

Seeing that her grandfather insisted on not lying down, Lu Mingyue worried that this was his final rally before death. She stopped pressing him and helped him up to sit beside the stove in the room.

They had bought this stove a few years ago. It could burn charcoal and kept the room warm in winter.

Old Lu used to say he had no need for such a thing, that it made him too hot to sleep at night. Now, however, the glowing coals seemed to give off no warmth at all. Even sitting so close, his hands were still icy cold.

"Go on. I'll have braised pork at noon and lamb ribs tonight. Stew them until they're nice and tender. I haven't had any in so long..."

Once he was seated, Old Lu waved Lu Mingyue away and stared blankly at the coals.

"All right!"

Lu Mingyue answered, gently closed the door, and went to work in the kitchen.

She stewed the braised pork until it was tender and full of flavor, soft enough to swallow with just a light press of the lips.

After eating the braised pork, Old Lu looked noticeably more spirited. He smiled and said to Lu Mingyue:

"Get me a flask of April Green tonight, too. I haven't had a drink in ages. No keeping me in check today."

"...All right!"

Lu Mingyue thought it over. Perhaps her grandfather really was having his final rally, so she stopped denying the old man his last wishes.

Her grandfather was reaching the natural end of his life. He was old, and his body had already lost its vitality. The chill was merely a sign of his weakened constitution. Even in the world she had transmigrated from, there would have been no cure.

Lu Mingyue could only use Origin Power to ease his symptoms. If her grandfather could retain the Origin Power inside his body, perhaps the withered tree could bloom again. Unfortunately, even she could not retain the Origin Power in her Spirit Mansion, let alone her grandfather, who had no Spirit Mansion at all.

"Ah, that's good!"

That evening, grandfather and granddaughter sat around the stove, with a pot set over it. Lamb ribs simmered inside with radish, and there were leafy greens on the table beside them.

"At the very end, I've had my fill of food and drink. This trip through the world hasn't been wasted!"

Lu Mingyue's eyes stung. Seeing how happy Old Lu was, she picked up another lamb rib for him.

"Have some more, Grandpa. Lamb warms you up. You won't be cold once you've eaten it."

"Heh heh, I'm happy. Have a couple of cups with me, my granddaughter!"

"All right!"

Old Lu did not touch the leafy greens. He simply took a bite of lamb rib, then a mouthful of strong liquor. Because Lu Mingyue had channeled some more Origin Power into his body, he no longer coughed, and the drink brought a ruddy glow to his face.

"Grandpa, get some rest early. I'll stay beside you."

After supper, Lu Mingyue soaked her grandfather's feet, helped the old man into bed, and returned to sit beside the stove, adding charcoal from time to time.

"Crackle..."

Inside the house on that snowy night, the charcoal glimmered faintly. Although Lu Mingyue counted as half an immortal cultivator, she had been caring for her grandfather all this time and had drunk quite a lot of strong liquor that evening. She was a little tired, too.

Gradually, with her hands braced on her knees, Lu Mingyue fell asleep sitting beside the fire.

Huahua, who had also eaten a heap of lamb ribs, curled up beside Lu Mingyue, resting his head on his front paws as he quietly guarded his owner.

"Woof!"

Late that night, Huahua's alarmed bark rang out, and Lu Mingyue's eyes flew open.

"Woof, whine..."

"Yelp!"

Huahua's pained cry came from beside her. Lu Mingyue turned to look and saw that Old Lu had gotten out of bed at some point, a billhook in his hand. At his feet lay Huahua, his neck bloody from a slash.

At that very moment, Old Lu stood behind her, raising the bloodstained billhook high.

In the faint firelight, Old Lu's aged face looked hideously twisted.

"Grandpa..."

? ? I really felt this chapter as I wrote it, because I happen to have a cold right now: sore throat, sneezing, runny nose, coughing. It's miserable...

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