"According to media reports, experts in our city discovered a modern-era tomb in a ravine on Sword-Washing Mountain, uncovering more than three hundred precious cultural relics inside."
"Among them are ancient artifacts suspected to date back to the Tang-Yu period or even earlier, which may fill gaps in our nation's history..."
The discovery of ancient artifacts in Qingzhou City drew countless experts and scholars.
Meanwhile, halfway up Sword-Washing Mountain, Su Yi walked along the blue-stone path in the ravine, dressed in a long robe. Tourists bustled all around him, making for a lively scene.
"Fifty years ago, this should still have been a stretch of barren mountain that few people visited. I never expected it to change so much."
Su Yi surveyed the passersby with a faint smile on his face, yet his eyes were as deep as the ocean. His features were refined, and he looked barely twenty, but who could have imagined how many years this young man had already lived?
Countless memories surged in like a tide.
Once, gods and Buddhas had filled the heavens, vying against one another with their divine arts. Simply because they angered Su Yi, he ended their entire era with a single palm strike.
Afterward, Su Yi taught Suiren to make fire, Shennong to identify medicinal herbs, and Yu the Great to control the floods, and the Human Clan flourished.
To Su Yi, that already counted as a fairly recent era.
Later still, Su Yi no longer wanted to change the entire world because of himself.
But things went against his wishes!
The Human Clan built temples to him everywhere and worshipped him.
King Zhou of Shang suffered the destruction of his kingdom merely for uttering a single blasphemous remark about him.
Not wanting anyone to remember his existence anymore, Su Yi had people rewrite history and mythology, inventing Pangu and Nüwa.
Later, Ying Zheng was fortunate enough to become his disciple. After spending three months under Su Yi's tutelage, he unified the six kingdoms.
Qin Shihuang had once asked Su Yi how to attain immortality.
Su Yi merely smiled faintly. Even he did not know why he could live forever.
Qin Shihuang had also built an underground palace specifically for him and enshrined his statue there-the place now known as the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang.
Over the years, Su Yi had also guided some promising talents. Every person who received his guidance left a name in history, but those disciples and followers had long since passed away. Only Su Yi remained alive.
Su Yi had long since stopped caring what later generations said.
But upon waking this time, he warned himself that he must never again alter the world's existing order because of his own joy or anger.
To Su Yi, fifty years were no more than the flick of a finger, but to ordinary people, they were already half a lifetime of ups and downs.
"I wonder whether those people from back then are still around." Su Yi's eyes were calm, yet filled with the vicissitudes of time. Walking among the tourists in his black robe, he had already drawn countless gazes.
"Is there a film crew on Sword-Washing Mountain? Is this guy here to shoot something?"
"No idea, but he's so handsome. I wonder what movie he's in."
"There's something so distinctive about his bearing. I don't even know how to describe it."
The people hurrying past Su Yi could not help whispering among themselves.
Su Yi had previously lived at the summit of Sword-Washing Mountain. Before falling asleep, he had instructed the people around him to disperse. Only his household's steward, if he was still alive, might still be keeping watch over the residence.
As he continued onward, Su Yi overheard many tourists whispering and learned that an immortal still lived on the mountain, a master of fortune-telling and divination.
Su Yi could not help shaking his head. Everyone who had followed him had gained something. His steward back then, Jiang Changfeng, had learned a few minor tricks such as geomancy and fate-reading at his side, yet people now revered him as an immortal.
Geomancy and fate-reading were nothing much to Su Yi, but if mortals learned them and spoke recklessly, the harm to themselves would be immense. Since Jiang Changfeng was so famous, that meant he was still frequently offering people guidance. Was that not courting death?
Su Yi could not help quickening his pace a little. He disliked divining the future. He already lived forever; if he also knew what would happen in the future, would life not be even more dull?
It was just that a sudden premonition arose within him: Jiang Changfeng would probably face trouble today.
By now, Jiang Changfeng's name was known to practically everyone under heaven. All those who managed to meet him and receive his guidance had soared to success.
Most importantly, he was close friends with several powerful figures in the country. On every festive occasion, luxury cars lined the foot of Sword-Washing Mountain, and those who came to pay their respects were truly powerful and distinguished people.
Even Lin Tianyang, the richest man in the country, had not dared disrespect him while he was alive.
When Su Yi reached the summit, he saw his former residence from afar. Fifty years had passed, yet it remained just as it had been. It must have undergone repairs.
There were practically no tourists here, either, because security guards stood everywhere a hundred meters outside the residence to prevent intruders. There really was a post every ten paces and a sentry every five, guarding the entire residence tightly.
Quite a few people hoping to meet Jiang Changfeng could only wait by the stone tables in the distance.
Su Yi took a few steps toward the old residence, and a security guard immediately approached him.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
The guards' duty here was to stop irrelevant people. After all, Jiang Changfeng did not meet just anyone.
Before Su Yi could speak, two rich second-generation heirs sitting nearby began to laugh.
"Well, well, this kid's outfit sure is flashy. He doesn't think dressing like that will get him in to see Old Mr. Jiang, does he?"
"Idiot! Even the Lin Family's old patriarch has to send someone with a visiting card a week in advance if he wants to get in. Who knows where this kid crawled out from?"
Su Yi turned his head and gave the two young men an indifferent glance.
The instant their gazes met Su Yi's, they shuddered and involuntarily shut their mouths.
For some reason, fear filled the depths of their hearts. A single glance made these two rich second-generation heirs, who feared neither heaven nor earth, tremble all over, robbing them even of the courage to speak.
The guard, however, noticed something amiss. He watched Su Yi warily and barked, "I'm talking to you! This isn't somewhere you belong. Leave now! Don't force me to get physical!"
Su Yi ignored him, because at that moment, Jiang Changfeng already knew he had returned.
Creak!
The old residence's door slowly opened, and an elderly man with a head of silver hair, dressed in white hemp clothing, emerged with his back stooped.
Everyone who had been sitting nearby waiting for an opportunity stood up.
"Old Mr. Jiang has come out!"
"Could he be coming to see me?"
"Don't speak. It would be a grave offense to disturb him."
Everyone waiting at the summit watched Jiang Changfeng nervously. The guard blocking Su Yi's way also hurriedly stood at respectful attention, not daring to speak.
Only Su Yi remained standing where he was, gazing at Jiang Changfeng from afar.
Jiang Changfeng's face was already covered in wrinkles, the traces of time etched deeply into it. The moment he saw Su Yi, tears streamed down his aged face, and he tottered toward him.
Su Yi also strode forward. The guard in front of him tried to stop him, but in the next instant, Su Yi had already appeared before Jiang Changfeng.
The minds of everyone around them went blank. It was as though time had slipped out of order just now; none of them could remember how Su Yi had gotten there.