The next day, the sun shone brightly.

Qin Shou came to the back mountain to look for Changsheng and saw Changsheng spreading out a book under the eaves and writing something seriously.

Over a hundred years have passed, making Changsheng's face look even older, and his back has become a little hunched.

"Chang Sheng, what are you doing?"

Qin asked curiously.

The cowherd boy who used to go up the mountain was illiterate. It was Qin Shou who taught him to read and write, stroke by stroke. But after learning to read, Changsheng preferred cultivation. Qin Shou rarely saw him writing something with such care as he did today.

"Oh, Master, you've arrived!"

Changsheng looked up and smiled, explaining, "I'm recording my insights on tending to spiritual herbs in this book. If I'm no longer here, Master, you can simply follow the methods in this book to care for the herbs."

"Pah, pah, pah! What nonsense are you spouting?" Qin Shou rolled his eyes and scolded, "Don't worry, with your master here, as long as you don't go down the mountain to court death, you won't die."

"hehe. "

Changsheng just chuckled, unusually not responding, but his eyes, which were slightly red as he wrote with his head down, were probably red from the wind.

"Moo~ Moo~"

At this moment, the old ox under the tree mooed twice, breaking the brief silence between the master and his apprentice.

"Hey, this cow is still alive." Qin Shou said with a smile.

"Moo~" The old ox mooed twice more in a hoarse voice, as if to say, 'What are you saying? Don't you know how to respect an ox?'

Afterwards, Qin Shou and Chang Sheng had lunch together.

After the meal, the master and disciple sat under the eaves and chatted idly... When they first met Changsheng, Qin Shou noticed that the boy's honest and simple appearance resembled an old friend. Qin Shou remembered that he had asked him, "Why do you want to cultivate immortality?" Changsheng replied, "Because I'm afraid of death." This answer was the same as Qin Shou's original intention in cultivating immortality.

At that time, Qin Shou felt that he had a connection with this boy, but he only wanted to cultivate quietly by himself and did not want to get involved in karma. However, he saw that the boy was dressed in rags and looked pitiful. He worried that the boy would not be able to leave the Great Wilderness alive. So he took pity on him and left the boy on the mountain for two years to consider.

Later, the boy became Qin Shou's first disciple.

The master and apprentice spent decades together on the mountain, until tenderness arrived...

"Master, I have disgraced you."

Changsheng leaned back in the bamboo chair and suddenly uttered this sentence.

Qin Shou glanced at him and asked, "Why do you say that?"

A wrinkled smile appeared on Changsheng's aged face. "Disciple knows that his talent is extremely poor, not even one ten-thousandth of that of his junior brothers and sisters. Over the years, Master has poured countless resources into me, yet I have not met Master's expectations and have caused Master so much worry. It is all my fault..."

"Immortality."

Qin Shou suddenly interrupted.

"Um? "

Changsheng glanced sideways.

Qin Shou said earnestly, "Your name was given to you by me. If you cannot achieve immortality, it will only be a sign of my incompetence as your master."

"Master..."

Changsheng raised his withered hand to wipe his reddened eyes, then suddenly said in a trembling voice, "Master, do you ever regret taking me in as your useless disciple?"

Qin Shou looked at him with some surprise. For some reason, he felt that Changsheng was different from the past, especially... strange.

Perhaps it is the wear and tear of time that has etched sorrow onto the heart of an ordinary person.

well......

Qin Shou sighed inwardly, then said firmly, "Never—"

Then he added another sentence.

"Having a disciple like you is a great blessing for me."

Thinking about it, he added another sentence.

"This is genuine."

"Hehe, haha...that's good, that's good."

At this moment, Changsheng resembled an excited old child, nodding his head repeatedly.

Even as Qin Shou was leaving, his laughter still echoed in the back mountain, occasionally accompanied by the mooing of cattle.

......

Back at the front mountain, Qin Shou spent half a month relaxing before throwing himself back into his unfinished business.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the seasons change, and the snow on the mountain is covered year after year. In the blink of an eye, another sixty years have passed.

On this day, Qin Shou was urgently awakened by Song Ningsheng using his mind.

As dusk settled, fine snowflakes dotted the green hills.

Qin Shou, amidst the wind and snow, arrived at the bamboo house on the back mountain.

The room was brightly lit by candlelight. Changsheng, his face aged and weathered, lay on the bamboo bed woven from Chaos Bamboo by Qin Shou, his expression serene and peaceful as he gazed at Qin Shou. A gentle smile played on his lips as he said, "Master, you've come."

"It's my fault. I've been in seclusion for too long and have lost track of time." Qin Shou patted his head and laughed, "Wait a moment, I'll go refine a Longevity Pill for you."

As he spoke, Qin Shou was about to walk outside.

"Master—"

Changsheng interrupted, "Never mind."

"What? "

Qin Shou paused, stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard, so he asked again, "Disciple, what did you just say?"

"Hehe, Master, I want to say that you shouldn't refine any more pills for me," Changsheng said with a smile.

"Why?" Qin Shou suddenly frowned deeply, indicating his incomprehension as to why Changsheng would say such a thing.

"Master, I just suddenly feel... that immortality seems to be just so-so."