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In the year 2020 of the Human Calendar, a virus called COVID-19 ravaged the entire world.

Governments around the world are currently facing a major challenge and have introduced a series of epidemic prevention measures in an attempt to contain the virus.

The most common approach is to implement lockdowns in various areas.

The world suddenly became much quieter, and the once bustling streets became empty.

Summer beaches, famous tourist destinations, and major shopping malls in the city are all deserted, no longer bustling with crowds.

In some countries, even animals from deep in the mountains are beginning to venture out of the forest.

In some big cities, animals that used to hide in corners are now swaggering out onto the streets.

Humanity may need to change its perspective and begin to re-examine the world.

However, there is one world that is completely unaffected by this virus.

That is the immortal realm.

December 1st in the human calendar. The underworld of the celestial realm.

Inside the cave, a woman dressed in colorful clothes was drinking with a man in black robes.

"Fairy Luo, you don't need to worry. Your disciple has already reincarnated 80 times without a single mistake. You really don't need to go personally. Leave this to us, you can rest assured."

The man in the black robe wore a bitter expression, which contrasted sharply with his naturally thick eyebrows and large eyes, creating an indescribably comical scene.

The woman called Fairy Luo is named Luo Chan, and she is the daughter of the Immortal King Garan.

She has a quiet and gentle appearance, but when she speaks, she is absolutely clear and articulate.

Luo Chan slammed the wine cup onto the stone table with a wave of her hand and shouted angrily.

"You know nothing! This is the final tribulation of my disciple's eighty-one tribulations. If something goes wrong this time, wouldn't all our previous efforts have been for nothing?"

The man in black robes was named Gou Qi, the same General Jia from before. We've all gotten to know each other over this long period of time.

At this moment, I'm so worried that my nose and eyes are practically squeezing together.

"What could possibly go wrong? Her time for tribulation is complete; she'll ascend directly here. Even if we wanted something to go wrong with her, we couldn't!"

The fairy named Luo Chan pondered for a while, then shook her head.

"No, I haven't answered once in the previous 80 attempts, but this last time, I have to answer it myself no matter what."

"Oh...oh no!!" Gou Qi was so anxious she was about to cry.

"Fairy Luo, please don't make things difficult for me. What you've done is considered unauthorized departure from the boundary, which is prohibited by the rules. You're still under house arrest; this is against the rules!"

*Smack!* Luo Chan slammed her hand on the table.

"Gou Qi! You're talking to me about rules? Don't think I don't know you. None of you with your thick eyebrows and big eyes are any good."

Luo Chan's finger was almost poking the other person's forehead.

"You dare say you didn't know that the Flowing Glass Immortal Wine you're drinking was the last jar my father saved?"

"You even have ill intentions, not only tricking the Immortal King's naive daughter into stealing her father's wine, but also trying to get her drunk and plot against her!!!"

Upon hearing this, Gou Qi was completely dumbfounded.

Do I have that much guts? Does this woman have that much charm? ...

Before he could figure it out, Luo Chan continued.

"Hurry up and fix your pig brain! Do you want me to complain to my dad, or to Uncle Hades?"

Waaaaah... This is the real deal when it comes to honey traps! Gou Qi grinned widely, choking back tears.

Seeing Gou Qi's troubled expression, Luo Chan didn't press him too hard.

But she was unwilling to give up. She put her hands on her hips, thought for a while, and then picked up her wine cup and said boldly.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's drink!!"

Under the flickering lamplight, a woman could be seen with one hand on her hip and the other slapping the stone table, occasionally shouting a few words.

"Drink it! Are you even a man...?"

"Why the long face! Don't you know how much of a bargain you got? This cup contains ten billion immortal crystals. Enough for you to earn for a hundred years..."

"Drink up! If you're too slow, I'll take off my clothes and accuse you of indecent assault..."

After a long while, Gou Qi finally cooperated by slumping his head down, his upper body slumped onto the stone table, clearly having drunk too much.

She couldn't possibly drink less; even Fairy Luo Chan was pretending to take off her clothes...

Luo Chan chuckled smugly and skipped over to a candlestick-like object.

The object was decorated with rows of milky-white beads.

Luo Chan carefully examined them and then picked one out.

"Yay! I got the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl!"

He glanced back at Gou Qi, who was fast asleep, and muttered apologetically.

"Little Gou, I'm sorry! I'll just steal a magic fruit for you to eat next time."

Having said that, his sense of guilt vanished instantly. He turned and transformed into a streak of light, disappearing into the distance.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the big head that had been lying on the stone table slowly lifted up, revealing a pair of bright, piercing eyes, showing no signs of being drunk at all.

It was obviously an act before; as expected, those with thick eyebrows and big eyes are rarely good people.

After listening intently for a while and confirming that the person had left, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh well! Finally, we've gotten rid of that shrew."

After calming myself down, I suddenly remembered something.

"Oh no! This is bad, this is bad. Before taking down the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl, the old custom is to blow three breaths of immortal energy. If this girl takes it like this and something goes wrong, we're doomed."

After sitting there blankly for a long time, Gou Qi slammed his fist on his head.

"Whatever, there's nothing I can do about it. I'll just keep pretending to be asleep. I'm not getting up for seven or eight days straight, no matter what."

After saying that, he slumped head down, spread his hands, and pretended to be dead drunk.

Soon, a series of loud snores began to rise, carrying far and wide from the cave.

......

The location is in the countryside of a town in Jiangnan Province, China.

At the village entrance, on the bumpy dirt road, an old Jialing motorcycle is parked.

A short, stocky middle-aged man was sitting with his legs spread apart on a motorcycle.

He was wearing a large cotton hat and was putting on cotton gloves.

A rural woman in her thirties, wearing a light red cotton-padded coat and a red cotton towel wrapped around her head, was giving instructions over and over.

It's winter now, and it's cold and damp.

"Shuanzi, be careful on the road, don't drive too fast..."

"I know, are you done yet?" the man interrupted impatiently, twisting the handlebars and starting the motorcycle with a roar.

The man shook his head, smiling wryly, "Your dad's been dead for so long, how come your mom's still in such good health?"

The woman sighed and didn't respond to the question.

Some things are better left unsaid; it's enough to keep them unspoken.

The man didn't say much, stepped on the gas, and the motorcycle sputtered and sputtered through the misty countryside, heading into the distance.

This winter was terribly cold. The woman hunched her shoulders, tucked her hands into her sleeves, and without lingering, turned and quickly walked back.

......

The man's name was Li Suo. He went out early in the morning to pick up his mother-in-law.

According to the agreement among the siblings, starting this month, it is his family's turn to take care of the elderly.

The elderly woman he was going to pick up this time was named Luo Xinlian, born in the late 1950s.

That era was the most difficult time for China, and the old man suffered a lot from birth.

Fortunately, I grew up in the countryside, where there was always something to eat, and I managed to survive.

In the early 1980s, she married a farmer from the same village.

With a capable man, one can ensure a comfortable life.

In the first year of their marriage, their child was born—a daughter.

At that time, China was implementing a family planning policy, which allowed couples to have only one child.

However, in rural areas, the concept of carrying on the family line remains unchanged.

So, in order to have a son, the couple went on the run, hiding in various places and traveling almost all over the country.

Just like the skit on the Spring Festival Gala one year - the "Overpopulation Guerrilla Team", they had one baby in the east and one in the west.

Finally, after giving birth to her third daughter, she gave birth to a son.

The couple traveled extensively with their four children, wandering from place to place and visiting almost every corner of the country.

It wasn't until her youngest son was two or three years old that she dared to take him back to her hometown and live a stable life, no longer wandering around.

To be fair, Luo Xinlian's man is quite capable, and he can also endure hardship.

After things settled down, the family's financial situation improved quickly.

If all children can afford to go to school, they won't be trapped in the countryside for their entire lives and continue to be farmers.

As the children grew up, they gradually reached the age of getting married.

First, the eldest daughter fell in love with a young man from the neighboring village. The two were high school classmates and knew each other very well.

After graduating from high school, the man's family came to propose marriage. Both sides were quite satisfied, so she happily married him.

The second daughter was admitted to a vocational school and found a job in town after graduation.

She later married a low-level employee in a government department, which meant she finally got a government job.

The most successful one is the youngest daughter, who was admitted to a 211 university.

He is quite capable of venturing out on his own after graduation.

I'm now a department manager at a well-known internet company, earning tens of thousands of yuan a month.

The youngest daughter has also gotten married. Perhaps because she is attached to her hometown, she bought a house in a town not far from home.

To be honest, his three daughters are all relatively easy to take care of, but his youngest son is the one he cares about the most, and he is always worried about him.

My youngest son wasn't a very good student, and he didn't get into a good university after graduating from high school.

Despite his hopes for his son's success, the father still spent money to send him to a third-tier university, hoping that he would find a better job after graduation and then settle down and start a family.

As a result, after graduating, the youngest son was picky about jobs, only taking them lightly and working only sporadically. He changed jobs several times but never settled down.

They are unwilling to do rural work, and even less willing to stay in the countryside.

He rented an apartment in town, found a girlfriend, and they've been living together ever since, but they're not getting married.

He hasn't changed girlfriends, probably because if he did, it would be hard to find another one.

The old man had been wanting a grandson for a long time and had urged his son many times, but his son just wouldn't get married, much less have children.

The old man had no choice but to urge him, and he never got to hold his grandson before he passed away four years ago, which was a great regret for him.

After the old man passed away, a problem arose: his children were not around, and the old woman was now living alone at home.

Because she traveled around giving birth when she was young, the old lady developed some health problems and couldn't do heavy physical work, so she really needed someone to take care of her.

Logically speaking, the best place for the old lady to go would be her eldest daughter's place, which is in the neighboring village and not far away.

The important thing is that they are all in the countryside, and the elderly women can easily adapt to the lifestyle there.

Besides, there are plenty of rooms in the countryside, and the eldest daughter's place has enough room for the old lady.

However, things are far from being as simple as they seem.

First of all, the elderly couple left behind a large house of nearly 200 square meters in the village, with a considerable amount of land for their homestead, as well as some private plots.

In recent years, with the booming real estate development, rural homesteads have become quite valuable.

Moreover, we live in a new society, unlike in the past, where an inheritance could be given to a single child.

Nowadays, men and women are equal, and sons and daughters have the same inheritance rights.

The daughters and sons all knew this.

If an elderly person lives with their eldest daughter, there may be some unclear issues in the end, and it could lead to troublesome matters when dividing the inheritance.

Based on the above situation, the three daughters and son, along with the four families, went through a thorough negotiation and finally reached an agreement.

It means taking turns supporting the elderly, with each family supporting them for three months each year.

This process continued until the old man passed away, at which point the property was divided equally among the families.

They claim that the elderly belong to everyone, and every child has the obligation and right to be filial.

The elderly were initially quite happy, as their children arranged for them to stay in different homes in rotation, and they could see each child every year.

But after a year, the old man was starting to feel uneasy.

I stayed at each place for three months, and before I even got used to it, I moved to another place.

Living like this doesn't feel like home at all; it's more like staying in a hotel.

Moreover, in several families, the elderly cook their own meals, and neither the daughters nor sons-in-law eat lunch at home.

His son and his girlfriend can't cook and order takeout all the time.

When the elderly woman has free time, she wants to chat with her children, but they basically don't talk to her. After dinner, they go back to their rooms and don't even watch TV anymore.

The elderly man was like a passerby, moving from one house to another.

What worries the elderly woman the most is that every time it's her eldest daughter's turn, it's a journey of more than 20 kilometers from the city to the countryside, and it's always in the dead of winter.

The eldest son-in-law would always pick her up on his motorcycle. After picking her up, he would help her sit on the back seat, tie her up tightly with a leather belt, and then rush off into the countryside against the cold wind.

The roads in the countryside are all dirt roads, and the ride is extremely bumpy.

The journey was cold and bumpy; the old lady practically shivered all the way home, and by the time she arrived, her bones felt like they were about to fall apart.

Every time she went back to her eldest son-in-law's house, the old lady felt like she had escaped death.

Compared to the other children, the most disheartening family is that of the second son-in-law.

The other families faced limitations in their living conditions, but they didn't make things too difficult for the elderly.

Even if they don't eat at home, they still remember to bring back some leftovers for the elderly.

Moreover, the elderly didn't have to worry about household necessities like cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

The second son-in-law's family is different. The second son-in-law is more cunning. The second daughter has been with her husband for a long time, and like a chicken following its rooster, she has also become mean-spirited.

The old woman had saved up some money, which her husband had worked hard for his whole life and left her. It wasn't much, less than 20,000 yuan.

The other children never considered taking the money while their parents were still alive, and probably didn't even know how much it was.

However, the old man had only been staying at his second daughter's house for less than a month when his second daughter found out everything about him.

Then, the second son-in-law started putting on an act in front of the old man every day: that he didn't have enough money to pay for his son's school tuition, or that he didn't have enough money to give as a wedding gift to a colleague, and so on.

They didn't ask the old man for it; they just said it to him.

They would talk while eating and watching TV, until the elderly person handed over money.

Think that's the end of it? Not at all. As long as the elderly person lives in their house, there will be endless ways for them to ask for money.

For example, during the Lunar New Year, the couple would make their son kowtow to the old lady to wish her a happy new year. How could you not give her a red envelope? If you didn't, they wouldn't let the child get up.

The old man gave 200 yuan the first time, but his daughter was still not satisfied. She said that nowadays red envelopes are 400 yuan, and that the pronunciation of "4" in music is the same as "prosperity".

That's not all. Ever since the old man's stay at his house was set, his son also "coincidentally" had his birthday around that time.

The elderly woman recalled that her grandson was not born during that period, but the couple insisted that their son's birthday was during that time.

Then, when the grandson of the elderly couple had his birthday, they gave each of their sons a large red envelope, the kind with 800 yuan.

Then, her own grandson began to look at the old woman with longing eyes.

Given the situation, should you give a red envelope or not? The elderly have no choice but to give a red envelope every time, and it can't be less than what their daughter and son-in-law give.

Sigh! This couple has really messed things up; their son is now obsessed with money.

Not only that, after the elderly couple moved in, they stopped buying oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, firewood, and rice.

Although I don't eat lunch at home, I must come back for dinner.

The elderly not only have to cook, but also have to spend their own money to buy these things.

If they don't buy it, her son-in-law will then be in the kitchen, making sarcastic noises and loudly announcing, "No rice left~~" "No oil left~~" "No soy sauce left~~~"

The old man isn't stupid, he just cares about saving face, so he endured it and bought all those things.

Later on, back then, water, electricity, gas, and other utilities were all charged by having someone come to your door to read the meter and check the bill.

The elderly couple usually live alone at home while they are at work. They asked the elderly couple to pay these fees, but they did not prepare any money for the elderly couple to pay.

To put it another way, almost every time the elderly person stayed at his house for three months, they had to pay around two thousand yuan.

The elderly man couldn't tell his other children about this.

Because the couple never asked for anything; they had to find ways to squeeze money out of the elderly, like toothpaste.

On the surface, it seems that the elderly person did it voluntarily.

The old man actually intended to leave this money to his son, but that's just how rural people are—they have a deep-seated preference for sons over daughters.

Another crucial point is that their son is currently unemployed, and the two of them are renting a place outside and spending money idly.

Fortunately, although her son was a freeloader, he never asked her for money.

If they give it to me, I'll take it; if they don't, I won't say a word.

The son's main source of income from his parents is his girlfriend's family. His girlfriend is not good-looking, but I don't know what she is attracted to about him. She will stay with him even if they don't get married.

After his girlfriend's parents tried to dissuade their daughter to no avail, they had no choice but to accept their fate.

If I wanted to ignore her, I was afraid my daughter would suffer.

So they give us some money every month, just enough to get by.

Every family has its own problems, but the only one that's a little easier is the eldest daughter's situation.

The elderly don't need to do anything; they just eat simple meals.

But every time I went to my eldest son-in-law's house, the motorcycle ride was too bumpy.

The only son-in-law who owns a car never considers driving the elderly couple there.

The rule is: if he picks you up by car, he can't drive you home anymore, because that's breaking the rules!

This is too much trouble!! The old lady couldn't take it anymore and suggested that she go to live alone in the old house in the countryside.

Although the old lady can't do heavy work, she can still take care of herself, and living alone isn't too difficult.

When the old lady brought this up, to her surprise, she was met with strong opposition from her children.

The reason is that they have to fulfill their obligations as children and support their elderly parents.

If the elderly go back to live alone in the old house, the villagers will scold them for being unfilial and not supporting their parents, which will make them lose face.

The old lady was naturally a rather gentle person, not the assertive type.

Her children were adamant in their stance. Although she didn't want to live like this, she had no other choice but to let them dress her up however they wanted.

As the years went by, the old lady grew increasingly disheartened by her life.

Unfortunately, she couldn't reason with them or refute her children's sense of righteousness and morality.

On this day, it was time for her eldest son-in-law to come and pick her up again, and she thought of the bumpy journey and the biting cold wind.

The old man didn't eat a single bite of food after getting up in the morning.

He just sat there blankly, his eyes vacant.

There's nothing left in this world to cherish; it's time to leave.

Having figured this out, the old man pushed open the door and went out...

By the way, this old woman is Qingyan, the disciple of Fairy Luochan. This is her 81st tribulation in the mortal world.

After completing this trial, she will return to the Immortal Realm.

Of course, as a mortal, she doesn't know these things yet; she will only understand them after she dies.

The moment the old man pushed open the door and went out, a ghostly figure followed him.

The illusory figure was none other than Luo Chan. She had arrived in the mortal realm two days ago and immediately sought out her disciple, who was undergoing training.

The moment she saw her disciple, she understood all the hardships the old man had endured.

At the same time, she also knew that her disciple had gone through this tribulation and had completed his training, and it was time for him to return to the Immortal Realm.

On her first day, she thought her disciple had a pretty fun life.

After playing with her for a day, she lost interest.

All she wanted now was to get the soul summoned back as quickly as possible.

However, she had no experience in summoning souls, and she was unaware that by taking the Soul-Stabilizing Bead in this way, she had caused instability in time.

She had no control over the old woman's life or death, nor did she know when or how she would die.

All she could do was be prepared at all times.

The old woman went to the balcony. Ah! It turned out she had committed suicide by jumping off the building. She excitedly ran downstairs to catch the dead person's soul.

The old man went back, so her trip was in vain.

An elderly man was crossing the street to buy groceries. Oh! He was about to be hit by a car.

She waited, squatting by the roadside with the beads in her hand, watching as the old man crossed safely.

She froze, cars rolling over her blurry silhouette, and she was... well, more like disheveled in the wind.

After this happened a few times, she became impatient.

These past few days, the words she's been muttering to herself most often are: Why isn't she dead yet? Why isn't she dead yet?

This isn't a curse, it's anxiety, something mortals can't comprehend.

Today, whenever the elderly woman goes out, we have to follow her, regardless of whether she has any hope or not.

"I hope this trip is really going to happen!" she prayed silently.