The Long Journey to Immortality

After standing up, the short, thin monk even patted his buttocks to remove the dust, as if nothing had happened.

"You little thief, you're still so arrogant even after losing!" Wenren Ou was very displeased.

The short, thin monk argued confidently, "We didn't lose to you; this fairy hasn't even spoken yet."

These words left Wenren Ou speechless.

Just as Han Lu was about to say something, the short, thin cultivator suddenly bowed and said, "I didn't expect the fairy to be so powerful. This time, my three brothers and I have lost. We are inferior in skill and admit defeat."

"We hope that the fairy will show mercy and refrain from killing us three as she decides how to deal with us."

"If you insist on killing the three of us, then I have nothing to say."

The short, thin cultivator naturally couldn't understand how Han Lu, whose cultivation level was the same as his, had defeated the three of them.

However, he was an open and honest person, able to take things in stride. Since he had chosen to engage in highway robbery, he had naturally prepared for the possibility of his life ending in disaster.

"I don't like killing people," Han Lu said bluntly since the other party was so straightforward, "but it's not right to just let you get away like this."

"Come here, show me the price list you brought."

The short, thin monk breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that Han Lu was probably going to charge them "life-saving money" according to the price list.

Holding the price list, Han Lu compared prices and offered a discount, saying, "Give me a thousand spirit stones, and I'll not only let you leave, but I'll also give you a healing pill that only the Extreme Heaven Palace has. How about it?"

"Your second brother, if he doesn't receive proper treatment, he may not live much longer."

Upon hearing this, the short, thin monk noticed that the charred humanoid figure not far away was his second brother, who had just been thinking about lewd things.

“Alright,” the short, thin monk readily agreed, “Thank you for sparing my life, fairy.”

As the team's strategist, the stolen spirit stones were already stored in the short, thin cultivator's storage bag, which saved him some trouble.

They exchanged money for pills.

Han Lu was very generous, dividing the thousand spirit stones into two portions, and giving one of the smaller portions to Wenren Ou.

"Here's the money for your pills."

That makes sense. Although Wenren Ou wasn't short of spirit stones, he still accepted Han Lu's kindness.

"I never expected that hiring Sister Han as a bodyguard would not only save me money, but also make me some money back."

As they were talking, the short, thin cultivator carefully fed the slightly plump cultivator the Hundred Spirit Pill he had obtained, and then cast two spells with restorative and healing abilities.

Han Lu had no interest in knowing how the three of them ended up. After taking the pills, she used her magic to make some simple repairs to her flying carriage before leading Wenren Ou back into the carriage and continuing to fly towards the small county town where Wenren Ou's parents used to live.

Chapter 348 The Long Wait

Han Lu's flying carriage was damaged in the first wave of the sudden attack, though she managed to get rid of the three thieves in no time and even made a thousand spirit stones.

For safety reasons, Han Lu did not drive to a nearby county to find a weapon refiner to help repair the Pegasus Carriage. Instead, she gritted her teeth and continued driving the Pegasus Carriage, which was now only at 70% speed.

Fortunately, cultivators who robbed people on the road in remote and impoverished areas like those three brothers were ultimately a minority. For the next two days, Han Lu and Wenren Zhen did not encounter any further trouble on the road.

The journey was smooth, and although it was a little slow, the two arrived at Wenren Ou's first destination on the third day after arriving in Jiang'an Prefecture.

Hualing County, the county where Wenren Mu and his childhood sweetheart, Wenren Ou's parents, once lived and grew up.

"Have you been here before?" Han Lu asked casually, lifting the curtain of the Pegasus carriage and gazing at the distant city.

Han Lu asked casually, but Wenren Ou answered very seriously, "I have been here before."

"Huh? When?" Han Lu pressed.

“It was about twelve years ago, when I was five and a half years old,” Wenren Ou always claimed to Han Lu that he was eighteen years old, but he was actually only seventeen and a half, which was still a minor in the ancient cultivation secret realm. “I remember that at that time, I was still young and didn’t know what was going on. I just followed my father here and there in a daze. I think I made my father unhappy for something.”

Wenren Ou's eyes darted around as he spoke, and his memory was somewhat hazy.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, Han Lu could guess that Wenren Ou's mother had reached the end of her lifespan, and Wenren Ou had come to Hualing County with the funeral procession.

Because Wenren Ou's mother was only a Qi Refining cultivator, her funeral arrangements were made according to the standards of ordinary people.

Fallen leaves return to their roots, finding peace in the earth, and they complete their final journey accompanied by their childhood sweetheart.

As for the matter that Wenren Ou mentioned that displeased her father, Han Lu could easily guess what had happened.

"Back then, you must have been pestering your father, asking where your mother was, right?"

Wenren Ou scratched his head sheepishly and sighed, "Oh, it's just that I'm young and don't know any better."

"And now? Are you more sensible?" Han Lu asked.

Wenren Ou nodded, "Of course I'm sensible. Otherwise, I would have asked Sister Han to help escort me here. Isn't this just to pay tribute to my mother and make up for what I couldn't do before?"

After saying this, Wenren Ou fell into memories again.

They flew a little closer, and at Wenren Ou's request, Han Lu lowered the flying carriage ahead of time, and the two of them switched to walking to enter the city.

Because of the Golden Core cultivator Wenren Mu's protection in the Jitian Palace, Hualing County's status in Jiang'an Prefecture rose day by day, and the mortals in the city also benefited from Wenren Mu's influence, and their lives improved day by day.

On her way into town, Han Lu was surprised to find that, despite it being early spring, there was a carefully arranged flower avenue outside Hualing County.

Looking at the patches of unidentified purple flowers on both sides of the road, Han Lu remembered that the traveler she had defeated in the deep blue desert had mentioned this in his travelogue and praised this flower avenue as one of the must-see attractions in Jiang'an Prefecture.

Wenren Ou suddenly had a brilliant idea, "Sister Han, how about I pick some flowers as a gift for Mother?"

Smelling the fragrance of the flowers, Han Lu saw that there were quite a few ordinary people playing in the sea of ​​flowers, and knew that these flowers should be unclaimed. She said, "Do as you please, just don't ruin this beautiful scenery."

Wenren Ou was never the arrogant type.

They said they were picking flowers as gifts, but they only picked a few scattered flowers from the sea of ​​blossoms and held them in their arms.

Looking at the flowers in her hand and smelling their delicate fragrance, Wenren Ou, whose mood had become somewhat depressed because of the story, finally smiled.

“Let’s go, Sister Han,” Wenren Ou said, walking ahead. “My family has a large house in Hualing County, and my mother’s memorial tablet is enshrined in the ancestral hall of that house.”

"If Sister Han doesn't mind how shabby this place is, you can stay here for a few days and let me treat you well."

"Next, let's talk about going to the wilderness."

Wenren Ou's arrangement was reasonable, and Han Lu naturally had no reason to refuse.

"I must say I'm sorry to bother you, but I'll do as you say." Although Han Lu was eager to return to the Central Plains, a few more days wouldn't make a difference.

“There’s no disturbance at all,” Wenren Ou said. “The house isn’t big, but it’s very empty. It would be a waste of money to keep a dozen or so servants. It’s just right to entertain Sister Han.”

Chatting casually, the two entered Hualing County.

Because of the war in the neighboring prefecture, the situation in Hualing County was not as beautiful as the flower-lined avenue outside the city.

Notices recruiting cultivators to "die" in the neighboring prefecture were everywhere in the city. Many cultivators and even ordinary people were talking about the war that was so close to them and had already begun to affect their lives.

The Wen family was undoubtedly one of the most prominent families in Hualing County.

Although Wenren Ou had only visited this place once when he was a child, his memory of where his home was was somewhat vague.

But in this small county town, the two of them found out the location of the Wen family with just a casual question.

After walking a few more steps through the small Hualing County, Han Lu finally saw the small house that Wenren Ou had mentioned.

"As expected, the second generation of immortals looks down on such a mansion."

Looking at this large mansion that occupied almost a tenth of the area of ​​Hualing County, Han Lu didn't know what to say.

"Sister Han, please wait a moment." Wenren Ou said as she stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Although it was his own home, Wenren Ou still made sure to observe proper etiquette.

After knocking on the door, a middle-aged man opened the door to the Wenren residence for Wenren Ou in a short while.

Wenren Ou was about to speak when he realized he had no way to prove his identity, and he froze, not knowing what to say.

On the contrary, the young gatekeeper, upon seeing Wenren Ou and Han Lu, took the initiative to speak, "Oh, it's Young Master and Fairy Han. Please come in, please come in. Master has been waiting in the mansion for quite some time."

"Ah? Father is waiting for me here?" Wenren Ou asked in surprise.

Han Lu connected the story through the doorman's words, verifying her previous conjecture.

"Sure enough, Wenren Ou thought he had broken free from his father's control and went out on adventures, but in reality, everything was still under Wenren Mu's control."

"Yes, the master arrived yesterday," the gatekeeper replied. "He just instructed us that the young master and a fairy named Han would be coming together, and told us servants to prepare in advance. I didn't expect the young master to arrive so soon."

The gatekeeper opened the door a little wider and said, "Young master, Fairy Han, please come in. The master is waiting for you in the ancestral hall."

Wenren Ou's smile was slightly stiff, but led by the gatekeeper, he and Han Lu entered through the gate.

Chapter 349 Wenren Mu

Judging from this large mansion that occupies one-tenth of the county town, one would never guess that the owner of the mansion is a Golden Core cultivator belonging to the Extreme Heaven Palace.

The decorations and layout of the residence would lead an uninformed person to believe that it was the home of a very wealthy merchant.

In many parts of the residence, precious and vulgar metals such as gold and silver were used for decoration.

Along the edge of the courtyard that Han Lu passed by, there were also many exquisitely carved jade statues, most of which were related to "money".

These dazzling and gaudy decorations made Han Lu erase the image of the dashing and debonair Wenren Mu that Xiao Ran had instilled and shaped in her mind.

The image of Wenren Mu, the Confucian scholar and strict father, as described by Wenren Ou, has also faded.

Instead, there was a portly, wealthy merchant.

In Han Lu's opinion, this pot-bellied businessman was the most fitting image for the owner of the house.

However, this is just a guess made by Han Lu based on her own stereotypes and subjective assumptions, and it cannot be taken seriously.

"Anyway, we'll be meeting the real person soon, so there's no need to overthink it."

Thinking of this, Han Lu focused more on Wenren Ou, carefully listening to his whispers and sensing the nervousness of a young man about to face his strict father.

When Wenren Ou learned from the gatekeeper that his father was already waiting for him at the old house, he was devastated.

His supposedly brilliant plan to "escape the cage" was doomed from the start.

This wasn't what frustrated him the most. What frustrated him the most was that he was completely unaware of this and was even complacent about it. The result was completely contrary to what he had expected, and everything was still under the control of his strict father.

If he initiated the conversation with Han Lu, it was his initiative.

Wenren Ou always felt that Han Lu was either a "spy" and "bodyguard" planted by his father, and not the best candidate for stepmother whom he had just met.

“Maybe it really is,” Wenren Ou, who was muttering to herself in fragmented words that no one else could understand, turned her head to look at Han Lu, and their eyes met. “But then, Sister Han’s acting skills are just too good.”

Han Lu could tell what Wenren Ou was thinking just by looking into his eyes.