Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

On New Year's Eve, Mu An and Mu Ling'er talked for a long time.

In the first half of the night, the two of them ate hot pot and drank wine in the courtyard of the Mu residence, watching fireworks bloom in the darkness.

In the latter half of the night, the two walked through the increasingly deserted streets, strolling through the light snow like willow catkins until they reached Ling'an Temple, and wandered through the bustling temple fair.

Two cups of plum juice and two strings of candied hawthorns—that's all Mu Ling'er bought after shopping at the entire temple fair.

The plum juice was sold by a couple, and their child was helping out as well.

The man selling candied hawthorns was an old man, sitting alone in front of his stall, selling candied hawthorns that he had made in advance.

The sour plum drink still tastes the same as it did back then, but the candied hawthorn has changed quite a bit.

Mu An didn't ask, but Mu Ling'er started talking on her own.

The plum juice seller is a descendant of the Chen family, whose lineage traces back to that middle-aged man who sold plum juice in the sweltering heat long ago. (Chapter 156)

Mu Ling'er's kindness back then gave the Chen family's ancestor great hope, allowing the Chen family to prosper through the beverage business. It has been passed down to this day and is now a well-known century-old brand in Qing'an Prefecture, with branches all over Qishan Road.

The branch of the Chen family that sells sour plum juice at the temple fair lives a comfortable life thanks to the support of their main family.

The old man selling candied hawthorns was surnamed Wang, a descendant of Wang Lao Er, who used to make candied hawthorns for the Mu family. (Appears in Chapter Six)

Decades ago, Wang Lao Er's descendants were also very successful and were respectfully addressed as Master Wang.

However, it was ultimately a misfortune for the family. Twenty years ago, a gambler who was addicted to gambling emerged from Wang Lao Er's descendants and squandered the family fortune.

After going through all this, not only did he lose his life, but he also dragged his entire family down the path of decline.

The old man selling candied hawthorns tonight is the younger brother of that gambler from back then. He only has a shop outside Ling'an Temple because of the support of the main branch of the Wang family.

Perhaps having done some research, Mu Ling'er knew these somewhat trivial matters very well. As they walked, she finished telling Mu An about the development and rise and fall of the two families.

After recounting the experiences of the two old friends, she suddenly stopped, standing in the dim light, her eyes narrowed into slits with laughter.

"So, any thoughts?"

Mu An lowered her eyes and took a sip of the plum juice in her hand.

"Life is unpredictable, full of ups and downs. Even a once-powerful empire will decline, let alone an ordinary family."

Mu Ling'er didn't press further. She simply stopped and, when Mu An walked up to her, took his arm.

"Let's go, I want to go to the temple to pay my respects."

"Worship yourself?" Mu An lowered his head and glanced at Mu Ling'er.

Under the lamplight, Mu Ling'er smiled brightly and nodded gently to Mu An.

"Worship yourself!"

……

At Ling'an Temple, Mu Ling'er finally burned incense.

She was not worshipping herself, but rather the statue of the Five Elements True Lord in the temple.

Mu An was not a person who cared about etiquette. From childhood to adulthood, he had never made Mu Ling'er bow to him.

The act of kneeling and bowing was not practiced among the four members of the Mu family.

Seeing Mu Ling'er making a wish and praying to the clay statue, Mu An felt somewhat strange.

Even though she was right next to the statue, Mu Ling'er was still worshipping it.

People pray to gods and Buddhas because they have nowhere else to express their wishes and aspirations, so they entrust their hopes and visions to gods and Buddhas.

For Mu Ling'er, who could see Mu An at any time, such behavior seemed meaningless.

Mu An had no way of knowing what wish Mu Ling'er had made, nor what she was thinking.

But Mu An waited at the temple entrance for a long time until Mu Ling'er came out of the temple with a smile on her face, and then he handed her a cup of hot water.

"What did you wish for?"

"It's a secret, I'm not telling you."

……

Sunset at dusk, fireworks lighting up the pavilion.

The stone pavilion that was once hastily built has long since collapsed under the erosion of time, and the once relatively flat hilltop is now full of shrubs and weeds.

It took Mu An and Mu Ling'er a full hour to clear the hilltop.

In the pavilion, which is much more refined than it was a hundred years ago, Mu An and Mu Ling'er sat facing each other.

The two set up a stove and started cooking a hot pot.

Mu An warms herself by the fire, Mu Ling'er arranges the dishes, and the dolls of Xiao He and Xiao Lü pose for photos on the side.

The dolls were a gift from Xiaohe to them; there were four in total, each a life-size replica of one of the four of them.

Two pomegranates, half-peeled, were placed in front of the doll, as if they had been peeled by the two dolls themselves.

As dusk faded and night deepened, a crescent moon hung on the branch, appearing even more serene and cold against the backdrop of the stars.

The copper pot, brimming with red oil, sizzled and steamed, the bubbles bursting and spreading the rich aroma of the oil throughout the entire mountain.

Sitting in front of the hot pot, Mu Ling'er picked up some tripe with her chopsticks, but then she just stared blankly into space.

Her fair and delicate little hands were suspended above the boiling pot, and the splashing red oil left slight marks on her hands.

"Seven dips up and seven lifts down, any more and the tripe will shrink completely."

The sound snapped Mu Ling'er back to her senses, and she haphazardly stuffed the tripe into her mouth.

After chewing a couple of bites, Mu Ling'er stared blankly at the copper pot once again.

After a long while, she whispered.

"Back then, I loved eating tripe the most, but I was too impatient and burned my hand."

Grandma Green was the gentlest; she comforted me for a long time. Grandma He was always saying one thing but meaning another; she would complain, but she would also heat up a lot of things I wanted to eat...

"That night, Da'an, you also saved a doe that was about to give birth..."

"It feels like it hasn't been that long, as if they're still here with me..."

Looking at Mu Ling'er, who was lost in her memories, Mu An silently took out the wine he had prepared and handed it to her.

"Would you like some of that intoxicating elixir?"

"Okay, give me two more cups."

Under Mu An's watchful gaze, Mu Ling'er gently placed the cups in front of Xiao He and Xiao Lü's dolls, holding the wine gourd in both hands and filling both cups completely.

After doing all this, she looked at Mu An again and raised the gourd of wine in her hand.

"Drink until you drop?"

"Alright, tonight we won't leave until we're drunk..."

One gourd after another was scattered on the ground by the time the star rain arrived.

Mu Ling'er's cheeks were flushed, her hair was disheveled, and she reeked of alcohol.

Thousands upon thousands of streaks of pale blue light flashed across the sky, trailing long tails of flame as they pierced the dark heavens.

"The stars are falling..."

At some point, Mu Ling'er leaned against Mu An's chest. The small Mu Ling'er sitting there overlapped with the small figure from a hundred years ago.

At this moment, she held the dolls of Xiao He and Xiao Lü in her arms, sitting in Mu An's lap, looking up at the miracle brought by the starry sky.

"So beautiful."

"Yes, it's so beautiful..."

"An old legend says that wishes made under a shooting star will be blessed by the stars. It was you who told me this back then, Da'an..."

As she said this, Mu Ling'er squinted her eyes and raised her hands high, as if she believed that if she raised them higher, the doll in her hands could clearly see the starry sky.

Before Mu An could respond, she murmured again.

"Children can only make one wish, and the stars don't like greedy children. But I'm not a child anymore, so I can make as many wishes as I want."

"Um……"

Mu An grew increasingly silent, but Mu Ling'er stood up. In the dreamlike starlight, she closed her eyes and made a new wish.

It's been a hundred years...

Sitting on the edge of the bluestone, Mu An closed her eyes and fell into memories.

In a daze, Mu Ling'er shook his shoulder.

When Mu An opened her eyes, she saw a smiling face with tear stains and an outstretched little finger.

"Pinky promise, for a hundred years, never to be broken!"

"Hurry up, you didn't say that last time, so you can't go back on your word this time."

Meeting Mu Ling'er's expectant gaze, Mu An stood up, extended his fingers, and joined them with Mu Ling'er's.

"Pinky promise, for a hundred years, never to be broken!"

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

……

Under the starry sky, Mu Ling'er rested her head on Mu An's lap, her eyes half-closed.

"Ling'er, you asked me to make a pinky promise, but you didn't say what your wish was. Wouldn't it be a huge loss if I just agreed without saying anything?"

Mu Ling'er smiled brightly, tilting her head back and gazing at the starry sky above.

"Da'an, have you forgotten? You told me that yourself."

"Oh?"

"Wishes don't come true if you say them out loud!"

……

Just as dawn was about to break, two full glasses of wine were spilled on the ground.

"We are doing very well, we are happy every day, as we were before, as we are now, and as we will continue to be in the future."

"Ling'er, from the bottom of my heart, I hope that your spirits in heaven can also be happy..."