Peach blossoms in their prime

The cavern was silent and still.

The gray-robed man fell motionless. After a long while, he suddenly raised his head and looked toward the deep passage.

"Imprisoned for a hundred years, and now I catch a drifting fragrance. Have the peach blossoms bloomed outside?" the gray-robed man suddenly asked.

"The spring breeze is warm, and the peach blossoms are in full bloom," Meng Yuan replied.

"Break off a branch of peach blossoms for me," the gray-robed man said softly.

There was nothing to discuss. Meng Yuan and Pei Liuguang immediately turned back. Once past the candle stand, they found Pei Huasheng and Bai Xingshuang waiting.

"Auntie!" Pei Liuguang bounced up happily and caught Pei Huasheng's sleeve. "We met an immortal!"

Pei Huasheng said nothing. She took Pei Liuguang with her and only spoke after they had left the Immortal Mausoleum.

Pei Liuguang rattled off everything she and Meng Yuan had encountered and seen.

When they learned that Meng Yuan possessed blessed fortune and had actually won the immortal's favor, neither could help sighing.

"Two thousand years of guarding have finally borne fruit." Pei Huasheng even felt somewhat relieved.

"A pity Yucheng is dead and Yuyin has gone away. Of our three households, only two remain to witness it," Bai Xingshuang lamented.

"Our three households guarded the mausoleum for dozens of generations. Who would have thought the blessed fortune would fall to him?" Seeing Meng Yuan go into the peach grove to pick blossoms, Pei Liuguang rose on tiptoe to look.

Pei Huasheng looked at Pei Liuguang tenderly and said, "This is a good thing. From now on, our Three Surnames won't have to lose people generation after generation. If he remembers old ties, he might even bring blessings to our Three Surnames someday."

Pei Liuguang nodded without saying anything, no longer smiling as she usually did.

"Silly child, there are plenty of good men in this world. You've only spent every day with him for this past year and more, and he happens to have a silver tongue and know just how to make people happy. You merely mistook his meaning." Pei Huasheng smiled reassuringly. "Before you entered the Immortal Mausoleum, I asked whether he was interested. He didn't even decline politely-he rejected it outright. Falling flowers and flowing water: this is more or less how it goes."

Meng Yuan entered the peach grove and found blossoms everywhere, so many that his eyes were dazzled for a moment.

"The peach tree flourishes, its blossoms blazing bright." Meng Yuan walked around, sighed a little, then casually broke off a branch.

Seeing Meng Yuan return with the blossoms, Pei Liuguang stepped forward with a smile. "Oh, how swiftly we meet and part. Last year's peach blossoms weren't as pretty as this year's. I wonder whether next year's will be even prettier."

Meng Yuan wanted to say something, but could not get the words out. He only said, "If I can return someday, we'll watch the peach blossoms and spring rain together again."

"Then I'll remember what you said!" Pei Liuguang grinned and bumped Meng Yuan with her shoulder. "Only, hardly a word out of your mouth is true. Who knows if you're just sweet-talking me!"

The three accompanied Meng Yuan into the Immortal Mausoleum, past the Sword Qi bottle and then the bronze candle stand, until they reached its deepest recess.

They paid their respects to the immortal. The gray-robed man stared at Pei Huasheng briefly, then fixed his gaze on Bai Xingshuang, a look of disgust appearing on his face.

It seemed cultivators upheld the way of yin and yang and likewise disliked the likes of Bai Xingshuang, who inverted yin and yang.

Pei Liuguang hurriedly introduced Pei Huasheng and Bai Xingshuang to the immortal master, but the gray-robed immortal master asked, "The Three Surnames stand guard. Why do I see no one from the Chen Household?"

"Immortal master, the Chen Household's people went out and have yet to return," Pei Huasheng replied.

"Never mind. They lack the destined affinity." The gray-robed man asked no further questions and looked at Meng Yuan instead.

"Cause and consequence follow one another."

The gray-robed man's eyes were clouded, without the slightest gleam. He said, "Since I have chosen you, you have taken on the cause. You must do three things for me."

Fluorescent light drifted through the cavern, and the gray-robed man's voice was likewise wavering and elusive.

Hearing this, Meng Yuan relaxed a little, though he remained wary.

"I would not refuse even ten thousand deaths!" Meng Yuan said.

"Ten thousand deaths? No need." A trace of a smile squeezed onto the gray-robed man's skeletal face. Then he raised his left hand, and a faint wisp of flame ignited in his chicken-claw palm.

The flame was exceedingly weak, flickering uncertainly.

After a moment, the gray-robed man flicked out that tiny, dim green flame.

The green flame flew extremely slowly, drifting through the air until it reached Meng Yuan.

At the sight of this immortal art, Meng Yuan instinctively wanted to retreat and dodge, only to discover that he could not move a muscle.

Soon, the green spark landed on Meng Yuan's forehead, then vanished into his skull.

For a moment, Meng Yuan felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. Then he heard faint murmuring, but could not make out what it said.

"What is this...?" Pei Liuguang seized Meng Yuan's arm and shook it hard. Only after seeing that he was unharmed did she look at the gray-robed man.

"This is the Soul-Tracking Thread." The gray-robed man smiled again, making his clouded eyes look even larger. Looking at Meng Yuan, he said, "You have ten years. If you reach late-stage Qi Refining, you will naturally learn what those three tasks are. If you fail to reach it before the deadline, you will suffer its harm instead."

Meng Yuan was completely reassured. He was not afraid of the gray-robed man scheming against him; he was afraid that the gray-robed man would not scheme against him.

"I can hold on for another three to five years at most, but you need not come looking for me again. First, preserve your life and secure your footing. Second, devote yourself to cultivation. That will suffice," the gray-robed man said.

So the three tasks he entrusted to me are matters for after his death! But will this Soul-Tracking Thread still be able to restrain me then?

Meng Yuan was full of questions.

"Come here. Stand here." The gray-robed man pointed to the stone platform before him, seemingly sighing again. "This is a transportation formation. It can barely be used one more time."

Meng Yuan immediately stepped forward. Pei Liuguang first caught his arm, then let go.

Once he stepped onto the stone platform, the peach blossoms in Meng Yuan's hand floated into the gray-robed man's hand before he could offer them.

The gray-robed man stood up. He was remarkably tall, but so thin that he resembled a bamboo pole.

Holding the peach branch, the gray-robed man gazed at it for a long time before saying with a smile, "Flowers bloom and fall; meetings and partings are ever-changing. Imprisoned for a hundred years, I see spring's beauty once more."

Seeing the immortal master sigh, none of them dared respond.

"Off you go, then." The gray-robed man shook his sleeve. Unable to control himself, Meng Yuan's feet left the ground, and he floated onto the stone platform.

"I... I'm leaving just like this?" Meng Yuan had still been hoping the other man would bestow an Immortal Method or reward him with some treasure.

"Go!" the gray-robed man shouted. His robes billowed as he pointed with his left hand. The whole place suddenly shook, leaving everyone unsteady on their feet.

"Close your eyes and guard your mind." At the gray-robed man's instruction, Meng Yuan immediately and obediently closed his eyes.

For a moment, Meng Yuan felt as though his head would split and his entire body would be torn to powder.

"Little Daoist!" Meng Yuan suddenly heard someone calling, but his mind immediately plunged into confusion. All manner of jumbled thoughts flooded his head, as though he were having a long dream.

In his daze, Meng Yuan suddenly felt cold all over. A tremendous force bore him upward, and in the space of a breath, a mouthful of salt water poured into him.

After taking a moment to recover, Meng Yuan immediately held his breath and opened his eyes, only to discover that he was underwater, utterly unable to tell east from west or north from south.

Heaven and earth were inverted. In one direction lay bottomless darkness; in another, there seemed to be a faint trace of moonlight.

Meng Yuan immediately pursued that moonlight. Only after breaking the surface did he let out a breath in relief.

But when he looked around, the bright moon hung high, and he could not see far. There was no doubt, however, that he was surrounded by boundless water.

"I was transported into the sea?"

Meng Yuan had nothing to push against and could only float on his back. Fortunately, there was no wind at sea and the water was calm, so he barely managed to keep from sinking.

After more than an hour, the bright moon disappeared from the sky, and wind began to rise over the sea.

Another half hour passed. The wind gradually grew fierce, and the waves surged.

In the blink of an eye, dark clouds lowered, thunder and lightning erupted together, and heavy rain swiftly followed.

Meng Yuan rose and fell with the waves. He had passed through the wheel of reincarnation for several lifetimes, yet all his accumulated experience was useless. He could only await death.

Seawater filled his belly until it swelled. Just as Meng Yuan was about to reach his limit, a flash of lightning revealed a large ship tossing in the distance.

The large ship rose and fell with the waves. Beneath and around it, countless purple points of light darted about, though whether they were sea fish or something else, he could not tell.