Dao Companions Help Me Live Forever

Chapter 198: Wrapping Up (Part 1)

Taxation Department.

Zhao Shiwen finished her day's work and was planning to work overtime since she didn't know what else to do when she got home.

The empty house was deserted, with only her alone.

Then she saw the nominal director walking in confidently.

"You... why are you here?"

Zhao Shiwen's attitude was somewhat restrained.

Calculating the days, she hadn't seen Yu Xian for almost half a year.

She had been worried when she heard that Lin Jiazao had suppressed everyone at the Gold Core ceremony of Wan Zhenren, and later went up to Shangyang Mountain under the gaze of many people.

She was worried about Yu Xian's safety, worried that Yu Xian would lose power, and everything she had would disappear.

Later, Lin Zhenren disappeared without a trace, and the Lin family was directly raided by Wu Laozu and the Taxation Department led by her.

Her heart also settled down.

In her impression, except for the thrilling incident when the ancestor returned that year, Yu Xian had never made a mistake.

He seemed to not care about anything, but nothing was difficult for him.

This time was no exception.

But now, Yu Xian was too mysterious for her. She could no longer see through this man and sometimes even felt a bit unfamiliar.

"At least I am also a part-time director. Do I still need to report to you when I come to my own territory?"

Yu Xian looked at Zhao Shiwen playfully and said, "Deputy Director Zhao, such a great official authority?"

Zhao Shiwen blushed and said, "You know that's not what I meant."

Yu Xian sat down on his own, beckoned to Zhao Shiwen, patted his thigh, and gestured for her to sit down.

"I missed you, so I came to see you."

Yu Xian's hands were not idle, he began to probe Zhao Shiwen's conscience.

"Look, without my supervision, you've become smaller. In the past, you had a broad mind, but now you can only rein in your ambitions. It's really a waste of the heavens' masterpiece."

Zhao Shiwen felt as if Yu Xian's hands were carrying a different kind of magic, making her cold body suddenly become hot.

She felt joy in her heart, but her mouth was half coquettish and half annoyed, saying, "Anyway, the Lord doesn't care, so what does it matter if it's big or small?"

Hearing this, Yu Xian paused for a moment and sighed.

"Think about it, I have indeed neglected you too much in the past, and I haven't cared about your feelings. I have to apologize to you."

Hearing Yu Xian say this, Zhao Shiwen was not happy at all. Instead, her face turned pale, and she quickly grabbed Yu Xian's hand, speaking in a very humble manner.

"Lord, I don't blame you. I... I was just joking with you. Please don't drive me away, okay?"

Yu Xian smiled helplessly, "When did I say I was going to drive you away?"

"I know that after the Lord apologizes to me, the next sentence will be to set me free. I don't want freedom, I just want to be the Lord's concubine. Wherever the Lord goes, I will go."

Zhao Shiwen expressed her loyalty.

She couldn't live without this man anymore. He gave her dignity, honor, wealth, power, and everything.

She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose him.

She and Yulan were actually very similar, both were vines entwined around a big tree.

The only difference was that she liked to climb the vine higher, letting the flowers bloom in the sight of everyone, enjoying the feeling of being in the spotlight.

But her roots were ultimately on the big tree. If she lost the support of the big tree, she would fall from the sky to the dust, which she couldn't bear.

"Alright, you're still answering questions."

Yu Xian's words almost sent Zhao Shiwen into hell, but the next sentence brought her back to heaven.

"But I've changed my mind again."

"In a few days, I'll accompany you back to the Zhao family and meet your mother. This will probably be your last time seeing your mother."

"We are about to go to a very distant place, where everything is unfamiliar, like a new world."

"And most likely, we won't come back."

"So you still have a chance to regret."

"I won't force you, and you don't have to worry that your refusal will make me angry. I respect your choice."

Despite his words, Yu Xian's actions didn't stop.

If Zhao Shiwen didn't want to follow him to Xuan Yang Realm, leaving her hometown, then a breakup would be reasonable.

But Zhao Shiwen's reaction surprised Yu Xian.

"The place where the Lord is, is my home."

"Even if I'm just an unloved concubine? You should know that once we arrive in the new place, you won't be Deputy Director Zhao, respected by everyone."

"You will just be Zhao Shiwen, an ordinary Foundation Building female cultivator."

Yu Xian was not particularly moved; his attitude was almost indifferent.

Zhao Shiwen stubbornly held Yu Xian's hand, tears streaming down her face without her realizing.

"I don't care! If Master doesn't want me anymore, I'll leave. But if you don't drive me away, I'll follow you!"

Yu Xian quietly looked into Zhao Shiwen's eyes. These eyes were tinged with faint bloodshot due to excitement, but the sincere emotions within them could not be changed.

As someone who had contributed to the level of an award-winning actor multiple times, he could clearly perceive the changes in Zhao Shiwen's qi, blood, and heartbeat. He knew that what Zhao Shiwen was saying at this moment was true.

He had never thought that Zhao Shiwen, who followed him because of interests and whom he regarded as dispensable, would truly fall in love with him.

Clearly, he had put the least amount of effort into Zhao Shiwen.

They had only met a few times, and he had taken advantage of her youth and ignorance, coercing her into a relationship. Later, he used her name to take over the Zhao family, gaining all the advantages.

Everything he had given her, she had already paid a price for.

Perhaps in the eyes of some people, the value of all this was not equal, but for him, there was no difference between the two.

It was like how for a millionaire, one dollar and ten dollars were both insignificant.

In this situation, why would she like him?

It couldn't be just because he was good-looking and not clingy, right?

But the feeling of being liked by someone was always good.

Yu Xian's expression softened, gently wiping away the tears from the corners of Zhao Shiwen's eyes, and smiled gently.

"Alright then, I won't drive you away. You just have to obediently serve me like a cow and a horse. When the time comes, you won't be able to run even if you want to."

Zhao Shiwen stopped crying and smiled. Suddenly, she straightened her body, her slender waist leaning forward, her head resting on Yu Xian's shoulder, exhaling a fragrant breath, with a hint of seduction.

"I am Master's cow and horse, naturally meant to be ridden by Master."

Damn!

Yu Xian felt a surge of warmth in his heart. The words had reached this point, if he didn't make a move, it would seem like he couldn't do it.

So he picked up Zhao Shiwen in his arms.

With a loud bang.

The door of the room closed tightly, and a transparent barrier blocked the melodious and graceful tone of gratitude inside the room.

Although Yu Xian's initial intention was to keep Zhao Shiwen, apart from Yulan and Luo Han, the two designated Dao companions, he didn't want to bring anyone else. After all, the Xuan Yang Realm belonged to the advanced level of the map, and the Gold Core realm couldn't provide much protection.

The more people he brought, the more uncontrollable factors there would be, which could easily bring unnecessary trouble.

But the visit to the Wu family made him change his mind.

After Wu Laozu broke through to the Gold Core stage, the spiritual energy of the Heavenly Dao he absorbed allowed him to see another path of cultivation for himself - to become an angel investor!

He would support those struggling Foundation Building cultivators to break through the False Core stage and absorb their Heavenly Dao spiritual energy as his own cultivation nourishment.

Later, Wan Tianchou's breakthrough proved that his idea was feasible.

And to achieve all this, he needed a force under his control to handle trivial matters and gather information for him.

But obviously, he couldn't do it himself, starting from scratch to create a force. So a ready-made force framework became particularly important.

Wu Laozu, Wan Tianchou, and Zhao Shiwen were the core figures in his plan.

Wu Laozu was a tool for alchemy, Wan Tianchou was the number one thug, and Zhao Shiwen was his spokesperson, controlling the two Demon Kings under his command.

The three of them supervised and balanced each other, searching for prey for him, while he was responsible for reaping the benefits.

So even if Zhao Shiwen refused to go with him, he wouldn't really set her free, otherwise, where would he find another spokesperson who knew everything?

From the Zhao family's market to the Taxation Department, he had become familiar with everything.

In a sense, Zhao Shiwen was the one who truly didn't cling to him.

...

The next day.

After working all night at the Taxation Department, Yu Xian brought Zhao Shiwen back to her family.

Shangyang City was five hundred miles away from the Zhao family's territory. Taking a small flying boat with a speed of three hundred kilometers per hour, it would take less than half an hour to get there.

So Zhao Shiwen had actually returned to her family many times over the years.

However, this time was different.

Unless something unexpected happened, this would be her last time coming home. Even if she could come back next time, there would no longer be any loved ones in the family.

After all, she was already in her fifties, and there weren't many Foundation Building cultivators of her generation left, let alone those with many years left to live.

Her mother, needless to say, was almost eighty years old.

And her mother was just an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator who had only practiced for a short period of time when she was young. Her cultivation had long been abandoned for many years.

If it weren't for the good conditions in recent years, with various nourishing elixirs, she would have probably passed away long ago.

"Master, I suddenly feel a little scared."

Zhao Shiwen stood in the air above the flying boat, overlooking the familiar scenery of the Zhao family's territory, her cold hand tightly holding Yu Xian's hand.

Yu Xian returned the gesture and smiled.

"I'm here."

"Mm."

Zhao Shiwen nodded gently, took a deep breath, calmed herself, and piloted the flying boat to land in a small town.

"After we left, Mother moved to live in the town. She said it's livelier here and she has people to chat with."

With more people living in the Zhao family's territory, a small town naturally developed on the outskirts of the spiritual veins.

Most of the residents are relatives of the Zhao family and some people with connections to the Zhao family, as well as many ordinary people.

In a small courtyard.

The courtyard gate was wide open, and through the doorway, one could see an old woman with a hunched back, holding a small basket filled with tiny corn kernels, feeding the chickens in the courtyard.

"Cluck cluck cluck, it's mealtime, it's mealtime."

The old woman scattered the corn kernels, and soon a group of chicks ran out and gathered around her, pecking at the corn kernels.

Occasionally, two chicks would fight over the food, attracting scolding from the old woman.

"Don't fight, there's enough for everyone."

The old woman looked at the chicks gathered at her feet, occasionally scattering a handful of corn kernels, with a kind smile on her face.

"Mother."

Suddenly, a call came.

The old woman looked up and saw her long-awaited daughter walking in with a man, holding his arm.

"Wenwen!"

The old woman dropped the basket in her hand, and the corn kernels scattered, causing the chicks to rush over and happily eat.

"You didn't even tell me when you came back?"

The old woman wiped her hands on her apron and carefully looked at Yu Xian, asking, "And the esteemed guest, why did you come back together?"

She knew her daughter's identity and had heard bits and pieces of speculation from the Zhao family members about Yu Xian, so she didn't dare to act like a mother-in-law, not even daring to call him "son-in-law" casually.

Yu Xian smiled and said, "Aunt, just call me Xiaoyu. Shiwen said she missed you, so I accompanied her to see you."

"This is a gift I brought for you."

As he spoke, he presented a brocade box containing the pills he had refined during his daily practice, which were used to strengthen the foundation, cultivate vitality, and prolong life. It couldn't be better.

"Aunt... Xiaoyu."

The old woman awkwardly took the brocade box and forced a smile on her face.

"You've really troubled yourself."

Yu Xian said, "It's no trouble. I still have some matters to attend to, so I won't stay with you and Shiwen."

He nodded at the two of them and turned to leave.

This time, accompanying Zhao Shiwen back was not only to ease her mind, but also to meet an old friend.

After Yu Xian had walked away for a long time, until his figure was no longer visible, the old woman dared to whisper in Zhao Shiwen's ear.

"Wenwen, has the esteemed guest ever bullied you?"

She had little contact with Yu Xian, only meeting him briefly when he married Zhao Shiwen and received a hundred spirit stones as a betrothal gift.

But she hadn't spent a single spirit stone, instead saving dozens of them as her daughter's private money, so she wouldn't suffer in her husband's family.

At the time, marrying Yu Xian was mostly to avoid disaster and prevent her from being mistreated by the Lin family.

Later, when she heard Yu Xian's name again, he had already become an esteemed guest and elder of the Zhao family. And later, her own daughter also became the head of the Zhao family's market, and she was brought back to the family's territory by the Zhao family.

In the blink of an eye, several decades had passed.

Zhao Shiwen scolded, "Mother, Lord has treated me well. Don't always think that I'm not living well. This time, he specially accompanied me to see you."

"And I'm already a Foundation Building cultivator now. The most powerful cultivators in the Zhao family are no match for me. I'm no longer the little girl who was bullied in the past."

The old woman felt relieved and grabbed Zhao Shiwen's hand, smiling.

"As long as you're not being bullied, I don't understand anything. Over the years, there have been people coming to me, asking me to introduce them to you for work. I was afraid of causing trouble for you, so I didn't agree to any of them."

"This time, you've finally come back, so you must stay for a few more days."

The old woman chattered on, often speaking incoherently, but Zhao Shiwen listened with relish.

She had relied on her mother since she was young.

If it weren't for her mother saying that she couldn't adapt to living in Shangyang City and there was no one to talk to, she would have taken her to live there and enjoy her later years.

But this time...

Zhao Shiwen suppressed her thoughts and smiled.

"Mother, I'm a little hungry. What do you want to eat? I'll cook for you."

The old woman smiled and said, "I like everything my daughter cooks."

"Then I'll make a chicken stew with mushrooms as a treat."

Zhao Shiwen rolled up her sleeves and grabbed two unlucky hens that were watching the commotion on the side.

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

...

Moon Sect.

Under a thriving moon bud tea tree in the back mountain, in front of a simple tombstone, there were several large characters that read "Grave of Master Liu Yueru."

Yu Xian stood in front of the grave, lifted a cup of wine, and poured it onto the ground.

"I'm leaving. Before I go, I want to come and see you again."

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to be so foolish. It's just a Foundation Building Pill. You owe me so little. If you can't repay it, you can spend your whole life repaying it. What's the big deal?

You probably don't know how wealthy I am now. Foundation Building Pills are like candy to me."

"Unfortunately, I won't have the chance to show off to you."

Yu Xian poured another cup of wine and drank it all by himself.

"There's no return from this journey."

"No need to worry."

After saying that, he turned to look at Wenren Yue, who was silently standing behind him.

"I came over earlier and saw that Moon Sect is developing well now. There are several Foundation Building seeds. Your master, under the spring, must be pleased."

Wenren Yue nodded with a cold expression.

"Thank you."

"What for?"

Yu Xian chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Actually, if you hadn't appeared in front of me back then, I would have almost forgotten about you and your master.

If I had paid a little more attention to you, maybe your master wouldn't have died."

"But men, their nature is always cheap."

"After your master died, I'm afraid I'll never forget her. I'm leaving, but I wanted to say goodbye to her."

Wenren Yue said, "I know, it's just that my master was foolish. But for her, it was worth it for you to come and bid her farewell."

"Actually, these past few years, I've been waiting for you to come and see my master. But I waited and waited, and you never appeared. I thought you would never show up in front of us again."

"I didn't expect you to come after all."

Wenren Yue smiled bitterly, "It seems that I lost, Master."

"What?"

Yu Xian was taken aback, and his powerful divine sense instantly surged out, finally sensing something amiss.

He saw a faint wisp of smoke rising from Master Liu's tombstone, transforming into a familiar figure - Master Liu!

"Moon, you finally accept it now. Your master's judgment of men, she can make a mistake once, but she won't make the same mistake twice."

Master Liu's appearance was still the same as the one Yu Xian was most familiar with, that of a charming young woman, full of charm, but she no longer had a physical form.

"You've become a ghost?!" Yu Xian smiled bitterly, "Your obsession is so deep."

Ghosts are a peculiar creature in the cultivation world, a kind of naturally nurtured spirit born from the Yin Spirit Land after thousands of years of cultivation. They can be seen as a special race, the Ghost Clan.

But there are also acquired ghosts.

These ghosts are mostly vengeful spirits, because their resentment and obsession before death were too heavy. Under fortuitous circumstances, their scattered souls combined with the Yin Spirit Qi, turning them into ghosts.

There are also some cultivators who, in pursuit of immortality, deliberately transform themselves into ghost spirits to obtain a second life. These cultivators are also known as Ghost Cultivators.

Like the True Beast True Immortal, he belongs to the category of half-human and half-ghost.

Yu Xian also obtained some information about ghosts from him.

And Master Liu was naturally not a Ghost Cultivator, but rather a form of acquired vengeful spirit. However, looking at her appearance, where was the resentment?

It could only mean that her obsession was too heavy, and she couldn't bear to leave the mortal world.

Master Liu smiled gently, "At that time, I just wanted to see you one more time. I didn't care about anything else.

I don't know how long I slept, but I suddenly woke up and saw Moon scolding you mercilessly in front of my grave.

I didn't believe it, so I made a bet with her.

It seems that I won."

Master Liu, with a hint of excitement, floated in front of Yu Xian, extending her hands and embracing his waist, softly saying,

"Senior Yu, it's really nice to see you again."

"I can finally leave without regrets."

Master Liu's soul became increasingly faint. She was born out of obsession, and now that her obsession was gone, there was no longer any power to sustain her existence.

Wenren Yue stood by, tears streaming down her face.

She hoped that her master would win, but she also didn't want her master to win.

Because if her master lost, she could accompany her forever. But if her master won, it would prove that her choice was correct, and Senior Yu still cared about her, even if it was just a little bit.

Yes, all they wanted was just a little bit.

(End of this chapter)