Five hundred years, can this wine still be drunk?
Xu Qing was doubtful inside.
After Tao Sanmei dug out two jars of wine, she kept working: "This is a jar of wine buried by a resident three hundred years ago, along with some gold and silver jewelry."
"This is a wine gourd buried by Hu Baosong over a hundred years ago."
...
Over a thousand years, many strange things were buried around the peach tree, the most common perhaps being wine and gold and silver treasures.
Xu Qing marveled: "It is indeed strange; when each person came to bury their things, no one dug up the treasures of those who came before."
"It's not that they couldn't dig them out; it's because I manipulated the land around here. Any place where items were previously buried becomes solid as iron, so people naturally look for softer ground and avoid old traces."
In Tao Sanmei's words, there was a hint of loneliness and sorrow that was hard to notice.
"Why is that?" Xu Qing asked.
Tao Sanmei smiled slightly, gazing at the sky outside the courtyard, and said softly: "I hope my old friends will return to retrieve the treasures of the past. If I can see familiar faces again, even a thousand years of solitude can be somewhat comforted."
"..."
Xu Qing raised his brow, no wonder the peach tree always seemed melancholic, its nature was inherently like that.
"If that's the case, why are you giving me these old treasures today?"
Tao Sanmei withdrew her gaze, her expression somewhat complex: "Hu Baosong lived here for nearly two hundred years. He entered the path of cultivation and was the longest-lived person among them, yet even he could not withstand the ravages of time."
"If Hu Baosong couldn't do it, how could the others come back to retrieve these old treasures?"
"They, like these old treasures, may have already returned to dust and earth."
After saying this, the big peach tree behind Tao Sanmei seemed to droop even lower.
Xu Qing knew without thinking that the peach tree was melancholic again.
After pondering for a moment, Xu Qing reached into the Mountain and River Map and took out several jars of wine that Grandpa Feng had given him and buried them in front of Tao Sanmei.
"Sect Leader, what's this?"
Xu Qing patted the soil and said with a smile: "This wine buried here, you must watch over it well. A thousand years later, I'll come to retrieve it."
"A thousand years?"
Can you really live for a thousand years? Tao Sanmei looked incredulous.
"Yes, a thousand years, I haven't tasted thousand-year-old wine before. This is a task set between me as the Sect Leader and you as the Branch Hall Master, you must complete it."
Xu Qing buried the wine not for any other reason, but to give the often melancholic peach tree something to look forward to, lest it feel empty inside.
Also, he truly had never tasted thousand-year-old wine!
The treasures left by Hu Baosong and the others gave Xu Qing some revelations.
A zombie is immortal, undeterred by the ravages of time. If he buried a few jars of wine today, when hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years have passed, when he returns, perhaps he would see shadows of his former self.
Xu Qing stood under the peach tree, gazing into the distance, as if he could see himself a thousand years hence, standing under the peach tree, holding a cup of wine, and looking back at him.
"If there really is a thousand years later, this wine should be the one I invite you to drink..."
Tao Sanmei heard this sentence abruptly and thought Xu Qing was speaking to himself.
"How about a hundred years? I'm afraid the Sect Leader won't live that long..."
Tao Sanmei cautiously suggested; she truly didn't believe that the ordinary-looking disciple in front of her could live until a thousand years later.
Xu Qing's well-prepared emotions suddenly dissipated completely.
He glared at Tao Sanmei: "You watch over yourself, be careful of some sunny day when lightning strikes your head, and I'll have to handle your body!"
After collecting all the old treasures in the courtyard, Xu Qing left the coffin shop with the wine gourd, satisfied.
Hu Baosong's wine gourd was a treasure. Inside, it had its own space and could hold over ten vats of wine. Xu Qing opened the stopper and gently shook it.
The wine inside, aged over the years, flowed like jade liquid, producing the sound of a murmuring stream.
Sipping a mouthful, a rich aroma filled his mouth, comparable even to Xu Qing's fake wine.
The last time Xu Qing's zombie felt this delight was with the brewed fruit wine from Monkey Mountain.
"This old fox knew how to enjoy himself in life, not just having countless beauties but also drinking extraordinary wine. If the old fox didn't indulge so much, he might have lived a few more years!"
Xu Qing sighed, but if Hu Baosong were given a chance to do it all over again, he felt Hu Baosong would still choose the same path.
"Cultivation, cultivation, if you cultivate for hundreds of years without desires and do not ask for earthly ties but still end up as a handful of yellow soil, you might as well not cultivate."
"But I'm different; I want to cultivate immortality, and I also want to walk the mortal world."
"After all, I'm a zombie; the old fox wants to envy but can't."
"Because he is already part of the earth."
Xu Qing walked through a bustling street, with people coming and going like wind swirling through the mortal world, flowing through the fingertips of time...
Before the County Magistrate's mansion, the zombie knocked on the door.
It wasn't the first time Xu Qing had come to the County Magistrate's mansion; most people there had crossed paths with him.
Years ago, he personally buried Gatekeeper Old Ding of the County Magistrate's mansion.
Walking into the County Magistrate's mansion, before seeing the County Magistrate, Xu Qing heard commotion and chaos inside.
The sound of a woman's complaints and scolding could be heard, along with laughter from maids and servants.
"Why does the County Magistrate's mansion sound so lively today?"
The new gatekeeper Old Chen, who was half buried into the earth, said helplessly: "Nothing much, just two young masters messing about, shaving their heads completely bald."
"People say the body and skin are bestowed by one's parents, and the two young masters have really committed a big mistake this time."
"When the master comes back, who knows how angry he'll be!"
Bald? Xu Qing looked puzzled.
County Magistrate Chen Guangrui has two children; one is his biological son, named Chen Zi'an, and the other, named Chen Liu'Er, is his adopted son.
In Xu Qing's impression, Chen Zi'an's temperament was gentle and calm, never behaving badly. Only Chen Liu'Er was a complete troublemaker!
The child ran around crazily; one moment playing in the mud with little beggars, another moment making friends with a little female ghost.
Not long ago, Chen Liu'Er went to Bao Sheng Temple to play with Little Shiyue and told Little Shiyue about meeting a fisherman selling fish at the Vegetable Market.
At the time, the fisherman had two fine-looking golden carps in his net bag. Chen Liu'Er pitied the carps and said that heaven has a virtue of life, begging the fisherman to give him the fish so he could release them.
The fisherman wouldn't agree; he caught the two golden carps with great effort; how could he release them just like that?
Unless he was paid!
Chen Liu'Er, being only five or six years old, had no money. Helplessly, he took off the Longevity Lock hanging around his neck to exchange for the fish.
"This silver lock was given by my godmother, opened with light by the Bao Sheng Goddess, you must wait for me to redeem it..."
The child knew nothing of human deceit; he exchanged the Longevity Lock for the golden carps and ran to the river.
Upon reaching the river, Chen Liu'Er carefully placed the two golden carps into the water, saying warm words.
"From now on, be smart, don't foolishly let yourselves get caught again..."
Strangely, after returning to the water, the two golden carps did not leave, swimming back and forth, occasionally poking their heads out of the water as if responding to Chen Liu'Er.
Chen Liu'Er didn't think much of it and was still delighted, but the next moment, the golden carps suddenly transformed into a boy and a girl.
The two children floated on the water, revealing half of their bodies and spoke to Chen Liu'Er to thank him.
They said Chen Liu'Er was like the benefactor they encountered before, one a great kind-hearted person, the other a small kind-hearted person.
Chen Liu'Er, the troublemaker, was born careless; he wasn't scared, instead asked if he could come to the river to play with them in the future.
The two children exchanged glances and said, "If it's meant to be, we will meet again."
After saying that, they gave Chen Liu'Er a piece of cyan-gold scale, turned into two golden lights diving into the river, and disappeared.
After saying that, they gave Chen Liu'Er a piece of cyan-gold scale, turned into two golden lights diving into the river, and disappeared.
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