Chapter 34: Traveling in the Mortal World
Since the uprising began, Su Che has rarely had time to rest. He is either practicing or handling government affairs. He doesn't even have time to rest, let alone travel around.
Now that his life span is running out and he has retired from his high position, he finally has some time for himself. Su Che decides to take a good look at this beautiful land, this mundane world, and see if there have been any changes because of his appearance.
Su Che sat on the red dragon, flying through the clouds and mist, and in a blink of an eye he arrived at the Taihang Mountains. Time had not left any traces here, and everything looked not much different from a few years ago.
Su Che touched the red dragon and asked it to stop here. It was enough to send it all the way here.
"Let me stay with you and escort you on the last leg of your journey." The red dragon lowered his head and spoke in human language.
Su Che smiled and politely refused: "You have been with me for these days, and you have already become a real dragon. It's a pity that you lack the foundation and still need some accumulation. You should stay here and practice hard to become a real dragon as soon as possible."
"Master, don't you want me anymore?" Chi Jiao looked at Su Che and suddenly spoke.
Su Che laughed in silence, shook his head, and still refused Chi Jiao's request to follow him.
He is like a candle in the wind, no longer the heroic spirit he once had. Now he is in such a miserable state, it is better for him to move forward alone.
After packing up his luggage, Su Che left the Taihang Mountains and walked forward. He didn't know how many hundreds of miles he had walked when he suddenly stopped. What came into his sight was endless farmland with a few children running and playing on the ridges.
A little girl with two ponytails came up to Su Che and said, "Grandpa, where are you from? Why are you here alone?"
Su Che smiled and said gently: "Grandpa, I am a city dweller. I woke up and I don't know how I ended up here."
"In the city? Wow, that's so far away. Was the old man thrown out by his family? Then let's go to the police!" The little girl said mischievously.
"Uh..." Su Che was stunned for a moment, shook his head, and asked, "What's your name?"
"Grandpa, my name is Chu Mingyue." The little girl said with a smile.
"Chu Mingyue, what a nice name." Su Che nodded, then followed the little girl into the village.
When Chu Mingyue's father, Chu Yuan, saw Su Che's elegant Taoist robes and the aura in his every move, he knew that the old man in front of him was definitely not an ordinary person. He also felt that he looked strangely familiar, and he looked a bit like the portrait of the Great Sage of the Taiping Dao hanging in his home...
His eyelids jumped, and he quickly asked respectfully, "Old man, may I ask your name?"
Su Che smiled and said, "Your surname is Su, and your given name is Che."
Chu Yuan felt relieved. It turned out that his surname was not Zhang... He quickly said, "It turned out to be Mr. Su. May I ask what are your plans for coming here?"
"I came here to travel around and look around. I don't have any plans. I wonder if I can bother you?" Su Che asked politely.
"That's no problem, it's my honor." Chu Yuan said quickly.
Su Che nodded. Actually, he was not very old, not even as old as Chu Yuan. It was just that his life force was exhausted, which made him look very old. In order to kill the Taoist clone of Emperor Shenwu, he paid too much price. Fortunately, all this was just a simulation and would not affect anything.
After staying in the Chu family for a few days, Su Che ate simple meals and felt very comfortable, just like an old farmer. He also had many topics to talk about with the villagers and had a lot of fun chatting with them. Gradually, he became familiar with the people in Chujia Village.
This morning, it was drizzling. Chu Yuan got up to cook. Seeing the bad weather, he couldn't help but grumble: "This humid weather is going to cause my old backache again..."
Speaking of back pain, he suddenly realized something and said in surprise: "Hey? Why doesn't my back hurt today?"
Not only did the pain go away, he also felt extremely relaxed. His years of illness were suddenly completely cured, and this comfortable feeling surprised him inexplicably.
Humming a song, she cooked breakfast, then knocked on Mr. Su's door, but no one responded for a long time. She apologized and opened the door, only to find that the room was empty. There was only a silver ingot and a note left on the bed.
But the note read:
"I've been bothering you for a few days. The food these days is very good. This ingot of silver is the meal fee. Please accept it. I am leaving without saying goodbye. Please forgive me."
Chu Yuan looked at the neat and tidy house again and couldn't help but sigh: "This is really a god-like person, with high moral integrity and noble character, which makes people admire him!"
In a blink of an eye, Su Che traveled another hundred miles and came to a river. There were several pleasure boats on the river, with bright lights, singing and dancing all night long.
Su Che went straight onto the boat and came to a corner. He drank a little wine and appreciated the singing and dancing in front of him. He looked at the beautiful face with light makeup and the graceful figure and cheered with the crowd.
After the dance, dozens of dancers in thin clothes began to dance around the courtesan in the middle. Their movements were very bold and seductive, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little strange.
After a while, a dancer came up to Su Che, her almond eyes showing some worry, and she couldn't help asking: "Old man, can you still go on in this state? You are so old, and you still come here to play, is it okay?"
Su Che: “…”
Generally speaking, what men hate to hear most is a woman asking them if they can do it.
Who are you saying is not good enough?
However, before Su Che could say anything, sirens suddenly sounded and several warships surrounded the pleasure boats. Everyone on the boats panicked instantly. Men and women alike were in a mess, taking off their clothes. Some even jumped off the boat and escaped, but were eventually rescued.
As the saying goes, the net of heaven is vast and wide, and nothing can escape it!
Next to Su Che, a middle-aged man with a big belly said in shock, "Oh no! The Taiping Security Team is here to arrest prostitutes! This is my third time, and the fine has doubled again. I'm going to bleed a lot!"
Su Che was speechless. What was going on?
He did not cast a spell to leave, but followed a group of prostitutes onto the warship, paying the price for his freeloading!
However, the captain of the Taiping Police on the warship was troubled when he saw that he was so old and dying. He said helplessly, "Old man, you are so old, aren't you afraid of dying on the ship?"
Su Che said calmly: "However you want to punish me is up to you."
"You are so old, why do you still need to be punished? I am really afraid that you will die in prison. How about this, when the warship returns, you can get off the ship directly." Captain Li Pingan said helplessly.
"Does this count as favoritism and abuse of power?" Su Che asked with a smile.
"You and I have nothing to do with each other, so how can it be considered favoritism or bending the law? This is called leniency! Also, I advise you not to irritate me!" Li Ping'an said unhappily.
"You are a good person." Su Che nodded.
Just like that, Su Che followed the warship all the way away. After getting off the ship, Li Pingan looked at Su Che's gradually disappearing back and couldn't help whispering, "I always feel that this old man looks familiar... "
A colleague beside him suddenly said, "This old man's demeanor is somewhat similar to that of the Great Sage Master."
"You're right, they do look a bit similar, but they're just similar. What kind of person was the Great Sage Teacher back then? How could he be so disrespectful to his elders?" Li Ping'an shook his head.
"Captain, you haven't told the story of beheading the gods for an hour." Another colleague joked.
"This is what you want to hear. Back then, the Taiping Army swept across the world and arrived at the imperial capital Luoyang with great force. However, at this time, the immortals and gods descended, and their majestic aura was frightening, but our Great Sage Teacher was not afraid at all... Hundreds of thousands of Taiping Army soldiers were united and followed the Great Sage Teacher to go against the will of heaven and kill an immortal god..." Li Ping'an thought of the battle back then and couldn't help showing a nostalgic look, and began to talk about it in a rambling manner.
