Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 443: Sunset and Falling Leaves

After leaving the capital, Su Ming rode hard southward.

He had no flying apparatus, so he channeled water-attributed spiritual energy into his legs, performing an escape art similar to worldly lightness skill but far more wondrous.

The Like Water Art circulated endlessly within him, leaving his stamina almost untouched.

The farther south he went, the weaker the suppressive Dragon Qi of the imperial way became. Though the world's spiritual energy was still thin, he could already feel a breath of freedom.

Three days later in the evening.

An orange-red sunset hung lazily on a distant ridge, setting the clouds ablaze in brilliant dusk.

Su Ming’s steps stopped before a familiar archway.

Qingshi Town.

The characters on the arch had weathered five years of wind and rain and looked a little worn, but the carver’s strong strokes were still clear.

Su Ming stood beneath the arch but did not enter immediately. He pressed the conical hat on his head and let his gaze extend down the bluestone-paved street.The town looked much the same as five years ago. The shops flanking the road were still the old names; the tofu seller Wang Da-niang seemed to have been replaced by her daughter-in-law, and the clang of the blacksmith’s hammer still rang from the corner forge.

Everything felt peaceful, full of ordinary life.

Yet beneath that seeming constancy there was an unmistakable melancholy of change.

Su Ming did not go to Su Family Village first. Five years ago he had already left the paper-making business to his Second Brother and explained every contingency in a letter. He knew that with his brother’s steadiness and Village Chief Zhao Dequan’s shrewdness, Su Family Village would prosper for generations so long as it avoided great trouble.

When cultivators involve themselves in mortal affairs, they often bring disaster rather than blessing. As long as they were safe and did not meet, that would be the best protection.

Su Ming crossed most of Qingshi Town and came to a quiet alley at the east end.

stood a residence—the Zhou

walls were high. The copper ring on the black lacquer gate shone, and the stone steps were

the gate and gently knocked

Knock, knock, knock.

gate attendant in a clean short brown robe opened the side door, peered out, sized Su Ming up from head to toe, and politely

off his conical hat and revealed his face. “Student Su Ming, here

delight. “Young Master Su! The master speaks of you

calling into the inner yard, “Uncle Fu, Young Master Su is

hurried out from the inner yard. When he saw Su Ming, his cloudy eyes began to glisten with tears. “Young Master Su,

head slightly. “Uncle Fu, I

nodded repeatedly and, while leading the way, chattered, “All well, all well, we’ve been thinking of you. The master’s

front courtyard, rounded the screen wall, and reached the main hall of the inner courtyard. The old locust tree in the yard was still

Su Ming reached the main hall doorway, a figure hurried

in his early fifties, wearing a somewhat worn blue robe, with three strands of long

It was Zhou Wenhai.

his steps

fine lines had appeared at the corners of his eyes and

the County School as a bewildered boy. It was this very man who taught him how to live and how

pays respects to

aside, dropped to both knees, and in the fallen leaves of the

Wenhai’s eyes warmed. He hurried forward, hands on Su

Ming’s shoulders, “Good boy, it really is

over with evident pride. “You’ve changed,

said softly, “Student has been unfilial and

talk nonsense!” Zhou Wenhai took his hand and led him inside. “Come in and

servant

hall was tastefully appointed. A landscape painting hung on the wall and a few classical books lay on the desk. Tea steam rose and

sat facing

bloodshed and the cruel reality of the cultivation world, only saying that he had met a master in the Northern Frontier and learned ways to survive and stand