The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 8: The Red Thread Has Such a Use

Jiang Yuan suddenly understood that the red thread of fate was not used to deal with monsters, but to entrust his own soul to it.

Seeing that Jiang Yuan had grasped the meaning, Lao Niu revealed a little more of the secret.

Venus was, after all, a kind-hearted old Taoist priest. He left a net-like gap in the formation's gate of life, preventing living people and monsters from entering or leaving, but not hindering small fish and shrimp. Otherwise, this small blessed land within a radius of several hundred miles would surely have been cut off from life.

On the winter solstice, the water level drops, and the originally full underground river becomes half-full. The small peach wood hairpin, drifting with the current, has a very high probability of passing through the mountain.

But there was no guarantee that it would work out. By then, Jiang Yuan would be in poor health, and there would be no way to back out.

"If it succeeds, even Venus will not be able to lock down your aura."

To be put in a desperate situation and then survive?
Jiang Yuan stared intently at the old ox, suddenly realizing that this old monster was too ruthless. If the peach wood hairpin got stuck in some crack in the rock, it would never see the light of day again.

The old ox continued to chew the grass at a leisurely pace.

"It all depends on whether you have accumulated enough merit in your past life. Heaven and earth will not bury a true immortal. Even if only a wisp of spirit remains, there will always be a day when you rise again."

……

On the winter solstice, Jiang Yuan did not return home all night.

The Jiang family mobilized hundreds of people from the north and south villages to search everywhere, and finally found the source of the river underwater in the Dongshan River Valley, but he had already died.

The elder brother was heartbroken, the sister-in-law cried and wailed, and the villagers all felt sorry for her. How could she dare to go into the river to catch fish in such cold weather?

Qin Xiaoniang helped collect the body and searched it thoroughly, but she still couldn't find the peach wood hairpin, which made her suspicious.

The next day, Qin Xiaoniang wanted to ask the old ox, but she saw Zhang the hunter circling around the ox with a hunting fork, so she had to quietly retreat.

……

Three years later.

It was the winter solstice again, outside Wuling County.

There were seven or eight people, men and women, going upstream along the stream; it looked like they were on a picnic.

However, traveling at this time of year seems rather strange.

The two burly men in black, carrying swords and knives, found a bluestone slab, looked back, and knowing that the others behind them couldn't go any further, called out, "Young master, young lady, why don't you rest here for a while!"

The young master was dressed in a white outfit, but with a bright red cloak draped over his shoulders. He had very handsome features and was Li Qing, the eldest son of the governor of Wuling County.

Li Qing showed no signs of fatigue; on the contrary, he was full of ambition. However, the women behind him were too exhausted to walk any further.

A maid laid out a cushion on the bluestone slab, and another maid helped the young lady sit down.

All that could be heard was the young lady complaining, "My cousin said he was looking for some kind of immortal destiny, but where is there even a trace of immortal energy in this desolate wilderness?"

The young master was also annoyed, "I told you not to come, but you insisted on coming anyway. A chance encounter with immortals is not something that can be obtained easily."

“The Peach Blossom Spring does not say that the stream can be reached by boat. The stream is almost dry, so we must have gone the wrong way. My cousin actually wanted to abandon the boat and walk.”

Li Qing was too lazy to pay attention; he could never win an argument with a woman. He just kept looking around, observing the contours of the mountains and rivers.

He had come here to search for Peach Blossom Spring more than once or twice, and had even consulted a master to divine that he might find an opportunity on the winter solstice. He had no intention of bringing any burden with him.

When the young lady throws a tantrum, the maid suffers, constantly bringing her water, wiping her sweat, and carefully attending to her needs.

The maid, who was squatting on the ground massaging her legs, suddenly noticed something in a crevice in the rocks beside her. She picked it up and examined it; it was a peach wood hairpin with a red string tied around its head, and it looked rather simple.

The young lady was furious and kicked the maid, saying, "You're always slacking off!"

The maidservant casually stuck the hairpin in her hair and continued massaging her mistress's legs.

The governor's son's quest for immortality ended in failure once again, and he returned to the ship before nightfall. Only after the two maids had helped their young mistress to bed did they finally have a moment of peace.

The maid named Qinghe then remembered that she had picked up a hairpin from the stream during the day, pulled it out of her hair, and examined it closely by the lamplight.

The maid named Hongxiu across from her asked in surprise, "Huh, where did you get this hairpin?"

"I picked it up during the day!"

"Hmph, you're so lucky! A peach wood hairpin, tied with a red string, it must have been a gift from your lover!"

"Don't talk nonsense. Who would give away such a wooden stick? It's covered in dirt; it's obviously been abandoned."

Hongxiu took a closer look and saw that it was indeed very crude and rustic, probably something a child had carved out to play with. So she didn't bother to tease Qinghe and went to sleep.

Qinghe held the hairpin in a daze. Although she thought it was ugly, she couldn't bear to let go of it. She rubbed the red string on the hairpin and found that there was dirt mixed in with it.

This girl was a clean person. She wanted to wash off the mud with clean water, but she was afraid that she wouldn't get it clean enough, so she untied the red string.

Jiang Yuan's spirit cried out from within the red rope, "Don't touch that red thread!"

Unfortunately, the girl couldn't hear her at all. She carefully washed the hairpin and red string, and still tied the red string on, naturally ending with a knot.

Unexpectedly, even though a knot was tied, the knot slipped across my fingers and untied itself back into a straight line.

At that moment, something seemed to touch the girl's heart, and she was momentarily stunned.

Exhausted from the day's work, Qinghe wondered if she had dozed off. She tied another knot, finished binding the red string, put the hairpin in her hair, and then lay down on the table and fell into a deep sleep.

Jiang Yuan has collapsed!
It's a pity that a true immortal lay in that dilapidated stream for three years before finally being found and married to a mortal!

"What a tragedy! I don't even have a body, what kind of marriage is this!"

……

After Qinghe fell asleep, she had a dream. She came to a riverbank where peach blossoms were in full bloom. A little shepherd boy was playing with a one-horned water buffalo by the river. The fallen petals were beautiful and the water was sparkling.

Qinghe walked to the peach tree, wanting to play with the shepherd boy, but the boy suddenly shone with golden light, transformed into a golden dragon, and flew away. Qinghe was not afraid; she only wanted to go with him. She chased after him with all her might, shouting, "Take me with you!"

"Snapped……"

Qinghe was slapped hard, but when she opened her eyes, she saw her mistress standing in front of her with a fierce look on her face.

Before Qinghe could understand what was happening, she received another kick to the stomach. "You filthy whore, where did you seduce some wild man? Tell me the truth!"

Miss Zheng had to go on an outing with her cousin during the day, which was quite tiring. In the middle of the night, she was unbearably thirsty and called for a maid to bring her tea, but no one answered. She got up to find water herself, but then she heard Qinghe talking in her sleep about eloping with a man, which made her furious.

Miss Zheng had practiced some fancy but ineffective martial arts for a few years, and she was quite ruthless. Qinghe was beaten until her mouth bled, and she lay on the ground clutching her chest, feeling like she couldn't breathe.

You might wonder why Miss Zheng mistreats this maid. She was originally engaged to her cousin Li Qing and should have married him a few years ago, but Li Qing has been reluctant to marry her.

Now that Miss Zheng is over eighteen, she is afraid that Li Qing will change his mind, so she keeps bothering him.

Li Qingsheng was handsome and talented, skilled in both literature and martial arts, but unfortunately he lacked ambition and was always thinking about seeking immortality. Although he was engaged, he was always indifferent to Miss Zheng.

Li Qing found Qinghe, the maid, quite pleasing to the eye and even inquired about her background. As a result, she was resented by Miss Zheng and was often picked on and abused.

Seeing her mistress's fury, Hongxiu was also terrified. Trembling, she pointed out that Qinghe had accepted her lover's peach wood hairpin, which further confirmed the accusation.

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(End of this chapter)