Chapter 1: The Green Hills Remain Unchanged
“Pah, pah, pah!”
In an unmarked burial ground, Qin Changsheng struggled to push aside the coffin lid and climbed out of the grave.
Cradled in his arms was a mysterious stone stele—his Longevity Stele.
A long-lost vitality surged through the connection between him and the stele, flowing into his body and restoring his depleted lifespan to its original state.
Once he regained his vigor, the Longevity Stele transformed into a streak of light and vanished into his body.
“Finally, my lifespan is fully restored. Tsk tsk, no need to sleep for a hundred years now.”
“I wonder how Qing He is doing, if she’s still waiting for me. Before I went into slumber, I barely convinced her to be with me—didn’t even get the chance to fight alongside her.”
Since the last time his lifespan reached its limit and he fell into slumber, many years had passed.
From the moment he transmigrated into this world, the Longevity Stele had been embedded within him, continuously providing him with endless vitality.
The stele, combined with the Longevity Technique, offered a unique method of longevity: absorbing the life force from the heavens and earth during slumber, converting it into cultivation and lifespan.
Though some could be absorbed while awake, the effect paled compared to that during sleep.
Before transmigration, Qin Changsheng suffered from eight incurable diseases. Consequently, upon arrival, his lifespan was remarkably short; at just twenty years old, he was forced into deep slumber.
Before his slumber, what weighed heaviest on his heart was the young maiden with whom he had silently pledged his future—the girl he loved first. Of course, part of his hesitation was tied to breaking the vow of his twenty years of innocence.
Qin Changsheng composed himself and hurried toward the place he knew so well.
Seeing the house still standing at the village entrance, he breathed a sigh of relief.
It proved that his slumber had not lasted too long.
.......
Knock, knock, knock!
“Hey, is Qing He home? I’m looking for Qing He.”
The door opened, revealing an adorable eight or nine-year-old girl.
The girl eyed Qin Changsheng warily, then suddenly slammed the door shut.
Inside, the sounds of the girl and an elderly man talking drifted out.
“Grandpa, there’s a handsome uncle outside asking for Qing He. Who is Qing He?”
“Qing He? That’s your grandmother’s name. Are you sure he’s looking for Qing He?”
A trembling old man emerged. Upon seeing Qin Changsheng, his pupils contracted sharply.
“Qin Changsheng??”
“Who are you??”
Looking at the familiar yet aged man, Qin Changsheng was utterly bewildered. This wasn’t the way he had imagined things. The plump, beautiful Qing He hadn’t appeared—only a little girl and her frail grandfather stood before him...
“Sigh, little Xiao Hei Zi, we used to play together all the time when we were young. It’s normal you don’t remember me now that you’re old, but weren’t you dead? How have you returned, and in this state...”
“Could it be that you’ve come to claim my life because you found out I married Qing He after you died?”
The old man instinctively shielded the rosy-cheeked girl behind him. He looked frail beyond recognition...
“I feel my time is near too; I’m ready to meet Qing He soon. If you’ve come to claim my life, could you at least not scare this child? Her life’s been harsh... She lost her parents at birth, and now I’m about to leave her too...”
His words sent a chill through Qin Changsheng’s entire body...
“What did you say?”
“You married Qing He?”
Qin Changsheng was dumbfounded.
“How could Qing He marry an old man... Wait, you say you’re Xiao Hei Zi? How did you grow so old?”
“What year is it now?”
“The Tianyuan Era, year 385...”
Three hundred eighty-five years?
When he fell asleep, it was year 315.
“Seventy years have passed?”
His body trembled.
Before his slumber, Qing He was a blossoming young maiden; the man before him, Xiao Hei Zi, had been only nineteen then, now aged and frail.
Xiao Hei Zi was the son of the village blacksmith, Wang, and the boy who loved to follow Qin Changsheng everywhere.
Because Qin Changsheng was a transmigrator, possessing wisdom beyond his youthful years, many in the village called him the “Longevity Chief.”
Qing He was the girl he taught the most—beautiful beyond the common beauty of a small village. Qin Changsheng had planned to venture beyond the village, but Qing He had not yet matured. He hoped that once she grew up and with her parents’ consent, she could travel with him.
Yet, his body, burdened by illnesses inherited from his previous life, forced him into slumber in his early twenties.
Seventy years of sleep...
“I’m not here to claim your life. When did Qing He leave? Take me to see her...”
Though Qin Changsheng felt a profound sense of loss, he held no grievance against Qing He or Xiao Hei Zi.
Mortal lives rarely exceed a century; no one waits forever in one place.
“Qing He passed away three years ago. She’s buried in the land where your house once stood. I thought since no one’s living there anymore, letting the land lie fallow was a waste...”
“You old bastard, are you addicted to freeloading? You took my future wife, and you took my family’s land too?” Qin Changsheng’s anger flared, and he wanted to teach Xiao Hei Zi a lesson. But seeing the once lively boy now struggling to speak and on the verge of collapse, his hand hung in the air, unsure where to strike.
He sighed heavily, “Damn it, I sleep for a while and wake up a grandpa. Ah, forget it—no beating Xiao Hei Zi will bring Qing He back.”
Before Xiao Hei Zi could respond, Qin Changsheng turned and left.
When he saw Qing He, Qin Changsheng’s expression was complex.
At their first meeting, she was a chubby little girl with braided hair.
When they parted, she was a blooming young woman awakening to love.
Looking back now, she was but a mound of earth.
“If only one could gather the splendid bones in a brocade pouch, then a handful of pure soil could cover all the romance.”
“Qing He, oh Qing He...”
After sitting a while by Qing He’s grave, Qin Changsheng returned to his former home. The house had long fallen into disrepair and was no longer habitable.
Next to the ruined dwelling, he constructed a simple thatched hut and settled there.
The next day, the trembling Xiao Hei Zi came to see him. After confirming he was not a ghost, they talked at length. When Qin Changsheng left without a word before, Qing He had cried for a long time.
Qing He had waited five years for him, but eventually married Xiao Hei Zi.
Together, they had a son. After their son had a granddaughter named Wang Yuyan, they both passed away while seeking a livelihood elsewhere.
In the end, two elderly people and a newborn survived by relying on each other.
Her life had not been easy.
Now that Qin Changsheng had returned, the green hills remained unchanged, but he was no longer the youth he once was.
“Changsheng, I’m going to leave soon too. Could I shamelessly ask a favor of you?”
“Yuyan is still small. When I die, no one will care for her. She won’t survive... Even if she does, who knows what kind of life she’d lead. I pity this child. Could you please watch over her? Just raise her well and marry her off when she’s grown.”
With a thud, Xiao Hei Zi knelt, crying and kowtowing.
“Bastard, just taking advantage of me all these years, huh? I won’t agree—kneel all you want!”
Qin Changsheng flatly refused.
After hesitation, Xiao Hei Zi shakily rose. “Qin Changsheng, just feed Yuyan for now. When she grows up, she can be your wife. You’re still young, and she’ll surely be more beautiful than Qing He. Consider it repayment for all we owe you.”
Qin Changsheng was momentarily stunned. Xiao Hei Zi said no more and hobbled away on his cane.
A month later, Xiao Hei Zi also passed away.
Qin Changsheng cursed for a long time but ultimately buried him in Xiao Hei Zi’s family land...
He would never let Xiao Hei Zi take advantage of him completely, and only Qing He was buried on that land.
Wang Yuyan became an orphan. Seeing the delicate, sorrowful young girl, Qin Changsheng could not bring himself to abandon her and took her in.
He didn’t move into Xiao Hei Zi’s house but repaired his own thatched hut into a wooden cabin and lived there.
In his spare time, he transformed the Longevity Stele into a chair and lay upon it, slowly absorbing vitality and power.
Wang Yuyan lived with him in the cabin. During leisure, he taught her to read, write, and many practical skills.
The child was intelligent and sensible, much like Qing He once was.
“..........”