Chapter 24 – The Path of No Return

“What did your master say?” Lynn Naya asked.

“Master is in secluded cultivation. Now, my senior brother is teaching us. I know he’s always looked down on my bad talent. He said that if it wasn’t for the fact that humanity is in decline, a person like me wouldn’t even be able to get into the Dao Palace. He said that no matter how hard I cultivate for decades, I’ll only ever be a servant in the sect.”

“I’m not willing to accept that, but all my senior and junior brothers who came in with me are already at the second layer of Qi Condensation, and I’m the only one who hasn’t made any progress at the first layer.” When he talked about his cultivation, Zhou Feibai looked dejected. “Healer Lynn, I’m so useless.”

Lynn Naya considered her words. “How long did it take for you to draw spiritual energy into your body?”

“Three months.” Zhou Feibai gave a bitter smile. “The fastest people around me succeeded in one day, and the slowest took no more than half a month. Only I took a full three months to even feel the energy.”

Lynn Naya asked the question to build his confidence, not to bring him down. Seeing his despair, she immediately made up a story from a book she had read. “I once read a book with a senior immortal’s notes. It took him three years to draw spiritual energy into his body, but he later reached Core Formation and became famous everywhere.”

“I think cultivating is like studying for the imperial exams. It’s not about how well you do at the beginning. There are plenty of people who were called geniuses when they were young, but how many of those geniuses actually passed the final exam? Just like studying, cultivating is a lifelong thing. Temporary setbacks don’t mean you’ll always be behind. That senior immortal who reached Core Formation lived for hundreds of years. By the time he died, the people who were more talented than him had already reincarnated multiple times.”

“Three years to draw in spiritual energy, and he still reached Core Formation?” Zhou Feibai was skeptical.

Lynn Naya just smiled. “Who can say for sure when it comes to fated opportunity? You’re only a teenager. You have endless possibilities ahead of you. Who knows what kind of opportunities you’ll have in the future?”

“That’s true.” Zhou Feibai sighed, lost in thought. After a while, the despondent look on his face finally disappeared. “Thank you, Healer Lynn. I feel much better now. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I should spend this time on cultivating.”

“Yes, it’s good that you understand.” Lynn Naya didn’t expect her words alone to immediately inspire Zhou Feibai. Her verbal skills weren’t that good.

So she changed the topic and took the deerskin gloves from Zhou Yuan out of her sleeve. “Your sister made these for you. Also, I have some good news for you. Your sister is getting married on the eighth day of next month.”

Zhou Feibai, who had been happy to see the gloves, was stunned by the news. “My sister… is getting married?”

“Yes.”

After Lynn Naya confirmed it, Zhou Feibai’s eyes quickly dimmed. “I can’t go down the mountain.” He paused before asking, “Who is my… brother-in-law? What kind of person is he? Is he good to my sister?”

“Your brother-in-law is Scarface Qing. As for what kind of person he is…” Lynn Naya thought for a moment and gave him an honest assessment. “His character is pretty good, and he’s capable.” She then told him what Scarface Qing had done. “As for whether he’ll be good to your sister, he won’t be bad to her with you around.”

“Oh…” Zhou Feibai lowered his head and squeezed the gloves in his hand, not saying another word.

Lynn Naya stood with him for a moment. When she felt the time was right, she patted his shoulder and told him to cheer up before going to get water.

Some things had to be accepted by the person themselves. She was just an outsider who could offer a sympathetic ear.

The eighth day of next month came quickly. During the day, Lynn Naya did her usual work, but she was surprised not to see Zhou Feibai.

She thought that on a special day like this, even if he couldn’t go to his sister’s wedding, he would find her to give her a congratulatory gift.

Did something happen to him again?

The forest around the cold pond was quiet, and there were countless restrictions. Lynn Naya lingered for a moment, and when no one came, she left with her bucket.

That night, she didn’t temper her body. She washed up and changed into a clean set of clothes before going to the Zhoufamily’s house.

Maybe it was because everyone was only free at night, but when Lynn Naya arrived, the bride still hadn’t gotten into the sedan chair. The Zhou family’s courtyard was full of people.

When Zhou Feibai was found to have a spiritual root, Scarface Qing built the Zhou family a new house next to his to curry favor with him.

Now that they were getting married, they didn’t tear down the wall between the two houses. It was said that the bride would get into a sedan chair and be carried around West Street before entering Scarface Qing’s house next door.

When she stepped into the inner room, Lynn Naya saw the bride dressed in red, seated inside. The bridal veil had yet to be lowered, and she was still receiving gifts from the other women.

Lynn had no jewelry—her only hairpin was wooden, hardly a present fit for the occasion. Instead, she had prepared her bridal gift: a small vial containing six Life-Preserving Pills.

On today’s market, such medicine was worth a fortune; whether kept for one’s own use, offered as a gift, or sold for profit, it was invaluable.

Someone saw her and immediately said, “Healer Lynn is here. The bride was just talking about you.”

Hearing someone call her “Healer Lynn” Zhou Yuan immediately looked at her. Lynn Naya noticed that Zhou Yuan’s gaze went past her and looked behind her. When she saw no one, a hint of disappointment appeared in her eyes.

It was the most important day of Zhou Yuan’s life, and Lynn Naya wouldn’t let her down. So, in addition to her own gift, she took out a long, narrow wooden box from her sleeve. Inside was a ginseng root that was several years old.

When the others saw she’d come with two gifts, they joked in playful complaint., “Healer Lynn, two gifts? You’re making the rest of us look stingy.”

Zhou Yuan’s lost eyes lit up when she saw the wooden box. She didn’t say anything. She just looked at Lynn Naya with a hopeful expression.

“It’s not me being extravagant. One of these is my gift,” Lynn Naya said, placing the things in her hand. “And the other is a gift from someone else.”

She didn’t say who the “someone” was, but she trusted Zhou Yuan would know.

Sure enough, Zhou Yuan grabbed the wooden box, and tears welled up in her eyes. The others saw it and told her to look up and not cry. But she lifted the wooden box in her hand, tears falling, but a smile on her face. “I have no regrets.”

After that, the wedding party arrived at the courtyard. The wedding coordinator helped the bride with her makeup, and the other women in the room left. But Zhou Yuan begged Lynn Naya to stay with her.

There were many orphans in this world, and they had no elders to support them. If she could make Zhou Yuan feel more at ease, Lynn Naya was happy to agree.

It wasn’t until the bride’s veil was lowered and she was carried out, settling into the sedan chair to begin the next important chapter of her life, that Lynn Naya was invited to go next door to Scarface Qing’s house and wait for the feast to start.

Scarface Qing put a lot of effort into the feast. There was plenty of meat, but unfortunately, there was no alcohol. XueYong, who was sitting at the same table as Lynn Naya, expressed his regret and said that next year he would get some wild grapes to grow in his courtyard to make wine.

Listening to Xue Yong, Lynn Naya couldn’t help but smile.

She remembered when she first transmigrated, the Xue family wanted to plant the Mud-Root Gourds in every empty space they had. They later gave up on the idea because they were afraid the plants would be stolen. Now, things were different. Even without the paddy fields, he was starting to think about producing things that would bring them joy.

Life was getting better, and people were moving forward. That was enough.

*

On the third day after Zhou Yuan and Scarface Qing’s wedding, Lynn Naya saw Zhou Feibai again. Unlike his clean and tidy appearance before, his nose was bandaged, and he had several bruises on his face. He was limping, and he looked seriously hurt.

“What happened?” Did he beat someone up, or did he get beaten up? Lynn Naya thought the latter was more likely.

Zhou Feibai just sulked and refused to say anything.

If he wouldn’t talk, there was nothing Lynn Naya could do. She took out a bottle of healing medicine and gave it to him. She then told him about how lively Zhou Yuan’s wedding was. “…It’s rare to have such a lively event in the mortal area. Your sister was very happy that day.”

“But I couldn’t even give her a congratulatory gift.” Zhou Feibai finally spoke.

“Of course you did,” Lynn Naya said. “You being selected for the Dao Palace has allowed her to live a prosperous life. That is the best gift. The stronger you are and the higher you stand, the more protection she will have. Mortals don’t have the same lifespan as cultivators, but you can at least ensure she lives a good life.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course it is.” Lynn Naya affirmed.

Zhou Feibai looked up. “I actually wanted to buy her a protective charm that day, but my senior brother saw it. He said he was short on spirit stones and asked to borrow some, but those were the last spirit stones I had. I refused, and then…” He pointed at the bruises on his face. “This happened.”

A moment later, he continued, his voice full of sorrow. “Now that I know she’s doing well, I’m relieved. She has a husband now and will have a child in the future. I’m no longer her only close family member.”

“My master always said ‘the paths of immortals and mortals are different’ and I always thought that since my sister was at the foot of the mountain, I could see her whenever I wanted, so our paths wouldn’t be different. Now, I think I understand.”

“You’re right. I’ll cultivate well from now on.” he said before limping into the depths of the cold pond forest. Him coming to her seemed to be a way of saying goodbye to his past.

Lynn Naya sighed, watching him go. There was nothing she could say.

After that day, Lynn Naya never saw Zhou Feibai again.

The mountain was quiet. The tall ancient trees blocked out the noise from the outside world, leaving only the sound of the wind and birds. Aside from hearing people when she returned home at night, Lynn Naya felt like she was in a secluded cultivation retreat.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, perhaps because her body tempering had paid off, Lynn Naya didn’t get stuck at the end of her Qi Condensation second layer. She naturally broke through to the Qi Condensation third layer.