Longevity Candle

Chapter 24 Emperors Seek Immortality

Liu Lang returned to Liujia Town in a daze; his wife and children were already asleep.

He sat blankly in his room, which had long lost its former luxury and contained only a bed and a chair, and was very simple.

Immortality!
Jiang Zhu awoke from his deep slumber, and after all these years, his appearance remained unchanged, just as it had been back then.

Back then, Ayan was obsessed with immortality because of him.
Liu Lang never thought about immortality. Unlike A Yan, he was filled with awe for Jiang Zhu.

He was not a greedy person and dared not hope to get anything more from Jiang Zhu.

Having completed "Qingjiang Yin," he spent his life freely swimming in the Qingjiang River, like a free and unrestrained fish, and he was very content.

He felt that his life had been good enough, so he dared not ask for more.

The scene of Jiang Zhu silently and effortlessly killing the river bandits in a single thought was deeply etched in his mind.

But now, there are mortals who want to wield their swords against such beings, seeking immortality and eternal youth.

Will swinging a sword be of any use?
It's all clear now. Everything makes sense.

Someone seeking immortality brandished his sword at the God of Qingjiang, inevitably angering him and bringing about natural disasters.

For some reason, he became tired and fell into a deep sleep.

In a daze, he heard the cry of the crane again.

Liu Lang stood on the banks of the Qingjiang River once again. A white crane descended from the sky, spotless and as white as snow.

"Can't the eternal God of the White Cranes stop them?" Liu Lang bowed down.

“You can’t stop it,” the white crane said.

"And what about you? What about the God of the Green Lamp?" Liu Lang's eyes were full of anticipation. Could it be that even they, with their great power, could not stop it?
“We can’t stop it either,” Baihe sighed softly.

"Is there really no way out?" Liu Lang frowned. "Are there truly things in this world that are unsolvable?"

“There is a solution: to get the emperor of Qian Kingdom to change his mind. Can you do that?” Bai He asked.

"The Emperor?" Liu Lang was stunned. It was the Emperor who wanted to live forever.
Bai He calmly said, "Yes, almost every dynasty has emperors who seek immortality and longevity."

"Can you achieve immortality by wielding a sword against immortals and gods?" Liu Lang's face turned ugly.

“We are not so-called immortals or gods, but merely spirits nurtured by heaven and earth. Wielding swords at us will only bring disaster, and will not grant us immortality.”

"Then how come Ayan doesn't age?" Liu Lang asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen the mundane world in a long time."

The white crane spread its wings: "Take your wife and children and leave. This is my final warning."

He spread his wings and flew high into the clouds, disappearing without a trace.

Liu Lang woke up from his dream, understood everything, but felt deeply powerless and sorrowful.

That's the emperor, the ruler of the Qian Kingdom.

Throughout his life, the most important people he came into contact with were the Qin family.

But they, too, could not look up to the emperor.

From that day on, Liu Lang became erratic, constantly muttering that a natural disaster was imminent and the god of Qingjiang was angry.

No one believed him, and no one paid him any attention.

The officials of the imperial court only treated it as amusement, and occasionally someone would sigh and say that the once wealthy family and skilled boatmen on the river had come to such a state.

The embroiderer, despite having children, remained steadfast in her commitment to her family.

Liu Lang walked along the Qingjiang River, telling everyone he met about the natural disaster, which angered the god of the Qingjiang River.

He saw the relocated villages, only in a different location, and saw them again, with men in black secretly guarding them.

He saw the new city downstream, near the Qingjiang River, where people were moving in.

Liu Lang tried to stop them, but no one believed him, and the soldiers drove him away.

Everyone thought he was just a madman.

Gradually, apart from the embroiderer and her son, almost everyone in Liujia Town forgot about Liu Lang.

No one in the other villages ever saw him again.

The embroiderer sent her son away, but she didn't know where he was. Liu Lang was nowhere to be found, and she felt somewhat relieved.

She looked into the house; she knew there was a secret room in the house, but she had never been inside.

She desperately wanted to go in, yet she dared not. If she went in, her mission might be accomplished, she might rise to the top, and her son might have a wealthy future.

It's possible they'll die inside.

But regardless of the reason, she could never be Liu Lang's wife, so she never went inside.

The 48th year of Yong'an.

Endless dark clouds stretched across the entire Qingjiang River, completely enveloping it.

The continuous drizzle fell unnoticed; rain was a common occurrence along the Qingjiang River.

Fishermen fished as usual, and their catch was better than ever.

The next day, it continued to drizzle, and there were more waves on the Qingjiang River, but it didn't bother the fishermen.

On the third day, the drizzle continued, and even intensified slightly, but no one paid any attention.

On the fourth day, the drizzle suddenly turned into a downpour, so heavy that fishing was impossible, and everyone stayed at home, waiting for the rain to stop.

bang
On the fifth day, thunder rumbled across the sky, lightning flashed like snakes, and raging winds and giant waves battered the fishing boats at the ferry crossing, smashing them to pieces.

In one day, the Qingjiang River rose, submerging the ferry crossing, where countless fish swam.

Some daring fishermen catch fish at the ferry crossing and can barely keep up with the catch, resulting in a bountiful harvest that makes them marvel at their good fortune.

Suddenly, the embroiderer went berserk, rushing out of her house and shouting in the rain, "Natural disaster is coming! Natural disaster is coming! Run! Run!"

She seemed to know something and wanted to warn me.

But just like Liu Lang before him, no one believed him. Their faces were filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest, and they all marveled at how good the rain was.

The thunder in the sky grew louder and more urgent, as if urging people to leave.

Some people wanted to leave, but as soon as they stepped out of the village, they were violently driven back by a group of soldiers.

Night falls.

The embroiderer finally pushed open the door to the secret room and saw the blue lamp enshrined on the shrine.

"I don't know who you are. Since you're protecting the Liu family, I beg you to open your eyes and look down at Qingjiang. This rain can't stop..."

She knelt and kowtowed, praying for the lamp to grant her a miracle.

However, she received no response.

That single lamp was like a lifeless object.

Rumble

Lightning illuminated the night sky, making the sky above the Qingjiang River as bright as day.

The rain intensified, pouring down like a celestial river.

Amidst the rolling thunder, the mountain collapsed, and raging winds and giant waves, carrying boulders, rushed downstream.

When the unparalleled power of nature arrived, the aquatic creatures fled in panic. Some villages upstream were submerged by the flood, houses collapsed in an instant, and their terrified cries were drowned out by the thunder.

A natural disaster has struck!

Man-made disasters have always existed!
How can mortals withstand the wrath of heaven and earth?

In the Qingjiang River, a figure dressed in black sails upstream, like an indestructible ship, riding the wind and waves.

唳

The cry of cranes rang out, and two white cranes descended from the sky, arriving before the figure in black: "Liu Lang, what are you doing?"

"If my family had died at the hands of river bandits back then, perhaps we wouldn't be in this mess today. I have found the essence of the sun and moon and want to awaken Jiang Zhu," the figure in black replied.

“I will take you back and leave with Jiang Zhu. He is too young and cannot be obtained by the emperor.”

As soon as Bai Shuang opened her mouth, a wisp of breeze carried Liu Lang towards Liu Family Town.

Bai Ling looked up at the sky: "It's starting. This time there are no evil immortal masters or Taoists, so we should be able to get through it smoothly."

"Hundreds of years of arduous cultivation, all for naught. He shouldn't have coveted worldly offerings." Bai Shuang sighed softly, letting out a loud cry as it faced the surging torrent.

They used their great magical powers to forcibly pull the floodwaters, changing part of their direction and trying to avoid the villages.

However, countless villages have already been built along the banks of the Qingjiang River.

(End of this chapter)