Song Xing: I am cultivating immortals in Qingcheng Mountain

Chapter 554: Immortal and Mortal Chess Game on the Wei River

"Old man, how did you harvest today?"

On the banks of the Wei River, a voice broke the silence.

A young man walked over slowly and looked around. The surface of the Wei River was rippling with ripples as the breeze blew past.

The reeds on the opposite bank swayed gently, with the occasional water bird flying low, breaking the tranquility of the water. The mountains in the distance were hazy and connected with the sky, adding a sense of vastness.

The old man wore an old straw raincoat and hat, half covering his face tanned by the sun. He sat cross-legged on the bluestone, his skinny hands firmly holding the fishing rod, motionless, as if he had merged into one with the stone beneath him.

The other person's cloudy eyes were half closed, but his gaze was always fixed on the float, and even his breathing was extremely light.

Occasionally, the fishing line trembled slightly, and he frowned slightly, shook his wrist, but returned to silence again - as if he was used to waiting.

"Today, I had bad luck and didn't catch any fish."

After a while, the old man's words came through.

The young man casually glanced at the floating objects on the river and found a place to sit down nearby.

Beside him, there was a sturdy weeping willow leaning against the water, its rough bark cracked like scales, and its branches drooping, almost touching the water.

The slender willow branches swayed gently in the wind, sometimes sweeping across the calm river water, creating tiny ripples.

The willow leaves are half-rolled, looking a bit dry. The sunlight shines through them, casting mottled shadows.

The tree roots are twisted and half submerged in the shallows, and a few small fish are swimming among them.

The young man casually broke off a willow branch, held it in his hand, and gently lit it on the water.

The tiny ripples were very inconspicuous on the surface of the river, and his movements were so light that the old man just glanced at him and said nothing.

"Where are you from, little brother?"

A breeze blew, and ripples appeared on the river again. The old man asked.

The young man chuckled.

"I came from the west, originally intending to find someone, but unfortunately, after searching for several days, I still couldn't find him."

The old man sighed when he heard this.

"This situation is normal. There are so many people in this world. If you don't know the situation in advance, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

The young man nodded.

"How old are you, old man? Why are you still fishing at this age?"

The old man changed his fishing rod and said with a smile, "I don't know clearly anymore. I just remember that more than 200 springs and more than 200 autumns have passed."

"As for talking about fishing, it's just a spur of the moment thing!!"

Two hundred springs, two hundred autumns, if you count carefully, it is already two hundred years.

It is impossible for ordinary people to have such a long life. The young man glanced at the old man from the corner of his eye and saw that he was still sitting there, motionless as a mountain.

A look of understanding flashed across his eyes.

"Old sir, I heard that there was a wise man in ancient times named Jiang Taigong. When Taigong fished, he never used a curved hook, but a straight hook. Whether he could catch fish or not was entirely up to fate."

“Thus there is the saying that Jiang Taigong fishes and those who are willing take the bait.”

After hearing this, the old man remained silent for a long time.

"A willing man takes the bait."

In a moment, the old man shook his wrist, lifted the fishing rod slightly, and the fishing line was stretched straight, as if a big fish suddenly took the bait. The young man narrowed his eyes, and the soft and boneless willow branch in his hand suddenly became straight. A vague momentum instantly descended on the Weishui River.

"Took the bait"

The old man laughed, his tone was full of joy, his half-closed cloudy eyes were now slightly widened, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were stretched, and his sun-tanned face was more wrinkled because of the smile. His originally focused expression became relaxed at this moment, and the corners of his mouth raised a hint of understanding.

Seeing this scene, the young man sitting under the weeping willow was unmoved. His eyes were very steady, with a kind of tranquility of time. Even if the world had changed dramatically before his eyes, he could still view it calmly.

The next moment, the old man swung the fishing rod in his hand, and the sky and the earth changed color.

Suddenly, there was a "splash" sound on the surface of the river, and the fishing hook broke through the water, dragging up a water curtain over ten feet high. The end of the silver line hooked not a fish, but half of the Weishui River!
The turbid river water was entangled on the hook and surging like a living thing. The exposed parts of the riverbed were covered with moss, and fish and shrimps were wagging their tails in vain in the suspended water.

"What a willing bait!!"

The old man seemed to be sighing and muttered to himself again.

Only this time, the old man sitting on the bluestone was no longer an ordinary fisherman, but an immortal who had come to the mortal world.

The young man swung the willow branch in his hand slightly, and one end touched the water of the Weishui River. There was a pop sound, and the space shook violently. The old man's face darkened, and then it swelled suddenly. The fishing rod in his hand creaked, and the fishing line stretched straight and began to whimper, as if it would break at the next moment.

"Old man, you can fish for the weight of the Wei River, but you cannot fish for the weight that the Wei River has left over the long years."

As the young man finished his words, the fishing rod broke.

Seeing that he was pushed back into the river by the water, the old man looked a little ugly. In the previous fight, he had intended to give the opponent a warning, but he didn't expect that his cleverness backfired. He couldn't help but shook his head.

“Young man, who are you??”

The young man leaned back against the weeping willow again and laughed.

"Old man, isn't it me that you are waiting for? Why don't you recognize me now?"

The old man's face darkened.

"Are you the guy who attacked before?"

When the young man heard this, he did not refute it, but continued as if nothing had happened: "We have fought each other in the long river of time, but I didn't expect that the old man was actually involved in the affairs of the ghost way."

The old man's expression changed, and he seemed to be quite afraid of the place called the River of Time.

"You comprehended the way of time? This is impossible!"

The young man raised his eyebrows.

“Why not??”

The old man's eyes flickered and he spoke again.

"The Way of Ages is also known as the Way of Time. Without a lifespan of thousands of years, how can you know the changes of dynasties and the vicissitudes of life in the world? How can you know that time is ruthless? You have only lived for a dozen years, so why do you say it is impossible?!"

The young man understood a little after hearing this.

But the other party did not know that deep in his own memory, in the brilliant five thousand years, he looked at himself in the mirror, seeing himself, that period of history, and everything buried underground by the dust and sand.

"Since you have achieved the Great Perfection of Returning to the Truth, why bother to get involved in Beili's affairs?"

The old man snorted coldly.

"You have also achieved the state of returning to the true self, so why do you care about my business?"

The young man heard the other party's tone was a bit unfriendly and sighed.

To be honest, he was quite reluctant to fight with such opponents. These old guys had too many cards up their sleeves. Besides, the opponents practiced the way of ghosts and must have comprehended the way of life and death. They were not as easy to deal with as he imagined.

"Heaven and earth have their own principles, but if they are different, they cannot work together."

"I came here today to ask the old gentleman to stop."

"Boy, since you are so compassionate, I will give you a chance. The two of us will use today's Apocalypse as a chessboard and play a game of chess. If I win, you will not interfere in my affairs anymore. If I lose, I will stop."

(End of this chapter)