The immortal is beside me

Chapter 27 Meeting Senior Wuqing
"Hey, come to think of it, didn't Xiao Zhou come to walk the bird today?"

"Indeed, I don't think Old Wu played chess with him. Could he be out on a date with a girl?"

"Hey, that guy is pretty good, but he's not very ambitious. It would be nice if he could find someone to motivate him."

Under the shade of the trees, a few old men were chatting with each other, with cracked melon seed shells scattered under their feet.

The elderly always like to chew on life, but the lives of most people are like low-quality betel nut, which loses its taste after chewing it twice, so they can only spit it out and eat a new one.

The betel nut at hand was clearly of little use, so they chatted for a moment, the topic shifting from Xiao Zhou's relationship progress to the romantic history of his neighbor, Lao Wang. As they chatted, one of them suddenly looked up, his gaze directed toward the road.

"Hey! Look over there, two white-label cars are entering the community!"

"White card?" The others immediately stretched their necks.

"Where? Where?"

"Oh, I saw it! It's a real white card!"

"Are you here to pick someone up? Is there any important person in our community?"

"Impossible? What big shot would live in this little place of ours?"

The people under the tree were amazed like birds singing, watching the car pass through the community, turn around and around through the extremely narrow streets, and finally stop next to a red brick building.

The car door opened, and Lu Zhenhai and a group of people from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau opened the door, got out and looked around.

What appeared before them was an old red brick building that looked older than most of them. Clotheslines were tied outside the iron security windows, and the air conditioners hanging outside the building had turned yellow.

According to the intelligence, this is the residence of "Zhou Wuqing" - now should be called Zhou Qing.

A group of people walked into the unit door and walked up the dusty stairs. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the slightly dark corridor, mixed with people's slightly heavy breathing.

They had previously learned from Qin Jiajia that Zhou Qing had allowed them to visit, which was why they were able to come and look for someone. But this didn't make them feel much more at ease.

A powerful being with a lifespan of over 1600 years, a god of war who personally experienced the war between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and a legendary ancestor of the Jiuli Sect.

These labels stacked together would be a bombshell even in the archives of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. Even though those who came here were battle-hardened elites, they couldn't help but concentrate on them.

The footsteps gradually subsided, and the group finally stood in front of an old iron gate.

The door was not locked, but Lu Zhenhai still raised his hand and knocked politely. When he knocked for the third time, he heard a muffled voice coming from behind the door.

"Enter."

The tone was drawn out and seemed a little lazy, as if the owner of the voice had just gotten out of bed not long ago, but when everyone in the Environmental Sanitation Bureau heard it, their heartbeats instantly accelerated.

Lu Zhenhai let out a long breath and exchanged a few glances with the specialists around him, as if giving a silent signal. Then he exerted force suddenly and pushed open the iron door in front of him.

The sunlight from the room rushed in, its strong light causing everyone to squint. In the hazy glow, Lu Zhenhai was the first to clearly see the familiar figure before him.

The house is a simple one-bedroom and one-living room, about 40 to 50 square meters. There is almost no decoration inside, and the furniture only consists of a coffee table, a bed, a desk, a clothes hanger, a storage cabinet, and a gas stove. It is shockingly simple.

In a corner of the room, a young-looking man was half lying on a bamboo rocking chair by the window, bathing in the sunlight coming in from the window. He was holding a thermos cup of tea, drinking it while reading a newspaper.

A bamboo birdcage was hung above him. The thrush in the cage sensed the presence of people at the door, and it shook out its feathers and let out a clear cry.

"Congratulations on getting rich! Congratulations on getting rich!" The loud cry echoed in the room, startling everyone in the group.

Those present were all elites among the commissioners. Each of them had seen countless monks of all kinds and had made corresponding mental preparations before coming, but when they saw the real scene, they were still a little uncomfortable.

Isn’t this a bit too down-to-earth?

Just as everyone was thinking about it, they heard the creaking sound of a rocking chair. The young man half lying on it closed the newspaper and glanced casually towards the door.

The noises around him suddenly died down. Just this one aimless glance froze the commissioners in their places, their invisible aura engulfing them like a huge wave, making it difficult to even breathe.

What realm is this?!

This question appeared in everyone's mind at the same time, but at this moment they didn't even have the energy to think. They were already trying their best just to fight the instinct to escape.

The sound of footsteps could be heard. It was Lu Zhenhai who was at the front of the team, stepping forward under pressure. He couldn't look Zhou Qing in the eye, but just bowed slightly and saluted him.

"Please allow me to apologize to you on behalf of the entire Environmental Sanitation Bureau for disturbing you without any hesitation."

He whispered, "We are here at the request of the Jiuli Clan. We heard that you were once a Jiuli acquaintance, so we came here to present you with some old treasures."

Zhou Qing watched them quietly. In fact, even without Lu Zhenhai's words, he sensed something unusual: all of these specialists had experience in cultivation, most at the entry-level stages of Qi Refining and Foundation Building. Because of this, the aura of one among them, belonging to a Golden Core, was particularly eye-catching.

His gaze passed Lu Zhenhai and fell on Jiang Ruifeng, who was wearing casual clothes beside him.

Perhaps he had noticed something, so he took a step forward and took the thing in his arms with both hands.

"I am here to return this sword to its original owner, following the orders of the Jiuli Sect Master."

Such a small movement seemed to freeze the entire space. Everyone couldn't help but slow their breathing, all eyes focused on the sword and the figure before it.

Zhou Qing was also looking at the sword in front of him. Even after a thousand years, he still recognized it at a glance.

All in all, this should be the second sword in his cultivation career.

The first one was a low-grade spiritual sword he brought with him when he first started practicing. Its quality was so low that it could only serve as a transition for novice cultivators. Later, the sword was accidentally broken in battle, and he had no choice but to seek a new weapon.

That was the time when the Two Jin Dynasties were just beginning and the Five Barbarians were invading. Both the mortal world and the cultivation world were in chaos. As a casual cultivator, he naturally could not find any stable source of spiritual weapons. He had no choice but to use whatever he could pick up. Over the course of hundreds of years, he became proficient in all kinds of martial arts.

Later, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the cultivation world faced the rebellion of the Peach Blossom Spring. The Jiuli offered him a generous gift, including this high-quality spiritual sword. He found it very comfortable to use, and so the sword remained with him for hundreds of years, from the time he entered the Jiuli until his departure.

Initially, his relationship with Jiuli was purely a transactional one based on money, with no emotional connection to speak of. However, after spending hundreds of years in the sect, there were always a few people and a few things that left some traces in his memory.

Now seeing this old sword, those dusty traces seemed to come alive, and his expression couldn't help but relax a little.

Zhou Qing stretched out his hand, and the spirit sword in front of him shook slightly with his movement, as if it had received a silent summons. Amidst the humming sound, the spirit patterns on the sword body lit up. Under the gaze of everyone, the flame faintly flowing in the blade seemed to boil in an instant, and a sense of heat immediately swept over.

The curtains on the wall were suddenly lifted up, and strong hot wind spread out from the center. The people from the sanitation bureau standing at the back unconsciously took a half step back and subconsciously squinted their eyes.

When they opened their eyes again, all movement had ceased. The sword that had been glowing with aura just now had lost its luster and was held steadily in Zhou Qing's hand.

Opposite him, Jiang Ruifeng clenched his empty palms and clasped his fists in front of him, his wrists trembling uncontrollably.

"Jiuli Sect's Jiang Ruifeng, greetings to Senior Wuqing!"

(End of this chapter)