The immortal is beside me

Chapter 10 Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

When footsteps were heard, the middle-aged man who was sitting in the street office hall waiting looked up, stood up hurriedly and stretched out his hand.

"Are you Zhou Qing? Nice to meet you."

The man shook hands solemnly. "My name is Wu Shi'an, Wu Jianguo's son. My dad always calls me and mentions you, saying that you always play chess with him and take good care of him. I thought I had to come and meet you and thank you in person."

He was wearing ordinary casual clothes and didn't look like anything special at first glance, but his calm tone when speaking and his gesture when shaking hands revealed the aura of a successful person.

"You're welcome." Zhou Qing said with a smile, "I just share the same interests with your father and am just passing the time. I can't say I'm taking care of him."

He played chess with Grandpa Wu just to kill time. If he was to take care of him, it was probably just to help the old man treat his low blood pressure.

"Little brother, you are too modest. You have helped me a lot this time."

Wu Shian said, "To be honest, I'm usually busy with business and rarely go home. It was fine in the past few years, but my father has grown old in the past two years, and I can't rest assured relying on a nurse to take care of him. Thanks to the people from your street office who are helping to keep an eye on him, I thought I'd send you some cigarettes, alcohol, rice, or flour, or if you have anything else you need."

"Your presence here already shows my gratitude. No need for any extra preparations." Zhou Qing released his hand. "By the way, this bone bracelet is of good quality."

Wu Shian was slightly startled, and subconsciously looked at his hand. He had a light brown finger ring on his right thumb. From the side, it was a trapezoidal shape, low in front and high in the back, with a few animal patterns outlined on the surface.

To most people, this is just a ring with a somewhat peculiar shape. Very few people can recognize it as a thumb ring, and those who can call out its accurate ancient name "韘" like Zhou Qing are even rarer.

"Little brother, can you tell where this thing comes from?" Wu Shian raised his eyebrows slightly, and his voice became more serious.

"It looks like a Han Dynasty animal-patterned elephant bone bracelet, but the patterns are a little different from those of the time." Zhou Qing glanced at the bracelet. "So, it seems like it's from after the Wei and Jin dynasties."

"Little brother, you have good eyes. This is indeed from the Northern and Southern Dynasties." Wu Shi'an said, "This is a little thing I found. Do you like this kind of thing?"

"I am indeed somewhat interested." Zhou Qing nodded and continued to chat idly, but his eyes looked slightly deeper when he looked at the bone bracelet.

He spent the first few hundred years of his life as a casual cultivator, wandering the mortal world. In his memory, it was just a period of turmoil that lasted a short while. Later, he learned that the period was called the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

It was an era of poverty and despair among the people. The powerful and extraordinary fought against each other like pigs and dogs. Dynasties in the human world often changed hands after just a few months, and the various sects and factions behind them were naturally like dry gunpowder that could explode at any moment.

As a casual cultivator without a sect or school, he naturally encountered a few explosions. On one occasion, he happened to come into contact with a magical treasure, and within a few days, it attracted the attention of dozens of sects, including greedy individuals coveting the treasure, those competing for it, and those seeking to bully others with their power.

Later those people died.

To avoid being killed, one must first kill. This was the only rule for those centuries. It was the same for starving people fighting for food, for princes fighting for power, and for cultivators seeking survival.

At that time, he was caught in a vortex of killing and could not extricate himself. His actions became increasingly radical, and he even directly or indirectly led to the demise of several sects and dynasties. It took him hundreds of years to completely eliminate the accumulated karma.

Many years later, he read the history books written by later generations and learned that those centuries had not only seen rivers of blood and countless lives lost, but also the lives of Wang Xizhi and Xie Lingyun. The evil cultivators who fought against him were also accidentally witnessed by others, and a hermit named Tao Yuanming was inspired by them to write a masterpiece that has been passed down for thousands of years, called "Peach Blossom Spring."

The existence that caused bloodshed in the world of immortal cultivation was transformed into a paradise on earth by the writings of mortal scholars. This is the wonder of history. "I didn't expect that you, at such a young age, could possess such a deep understanding of historical materials and antiquities. You really can't judge a person by his appearance."

After the casual chat, Wu Shian thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "In that case, are you interested in the antique market?"

"market?"

"Yes, it's a small market that sells all sorts of niche antiques. It's located in the West Market. They hold events from time to time, mainly for the appreciation of antiques from various periods. Of course, they also include some legal transactions. I bought this one there."

Wu Shian said, "I happen to know the organizer of that market. If you're interested, I can introduce you to him. It's like a conversation between like-minded people. I just hope you can take care of my father who lives here in the future. I'm away from home all year round, and sometimes it's hard to help someone close to me."

He hid the purpose of his trip at the end of his words.

Although the person in front of him was just a small employee of the street office, Zhou Qing was close to his elders after all. As a businessman with many years, his habit was not to miss any possible connections.

"So, what do you think, little brother?"

Wu Shi'an put on a perfectly sincere look and watched Zhou Qing's reaction. He saw the young man opposite him hesitate for a moment and finally nodded.

"It sounds quite interesting." Zhou Qing nodded and said, "I'll go and take a look when I have time."

"No problem." Wu Shian smiled sincerely. "Then let's add WeChat first. When there are any activities over there, I'll notify you as soon as possible."

A few minutes later.

A luxury car drove out of the small road in front of the street office and soon disappeared at the end of the road.

In the hall, Zhou Qing looked at a new friend that appeared on the screen of his mobile phone, deep in thought.

For mortals whose lifespan is less than a hundred years, the dynasties of the past are just history in books, but to him they are like cities he has visited in his life.

It's like the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, like the hometown I lived in as a teenager: poverty, desolation, rampant theft, rape and prostitution—not a good place. But years later, when I stumble upon a piece of low-quality bubble gum in old packaging, I can't help but take a second look, and then I remember the dusty supermarket in my hometown, and remember that there was once a piece of bubble gum on the shelf there.

The bone bracelet on Wu Shian's hand just now was like that piece of bubble gum.

Compared to his bloody first half of life, he prefers his current peaceful life as a mortal, but it's nice to taste a candy from the past occasionally.

He put his cell phone in his pocket and prepared to go back to the office to pack up. Halfway there, his dormant spirit suddenly stirred. He raised his head and glanced at the sky where the clouds were rolling.

It seems that things have changed.

(End of this chapter)