Lu Jingnian walked over and bowed deeply to the old Taoist priest.

"Thank you for not telling my wife about my situation."

"That's your business. I'm not one to meddle. Besides, you helped me with the work, so there's no need to thank me."

After the old Taoist priest finished speaking, he walked up to Lu Jingnian, took out a photo, and handed it to him. "Young man, do you recognize this person in the photo?"

He had been detached from worldly affairs for a long time, and many people had come to him asking for help, but no matter how sincere they were, the old Taoist priest had never agreed.

They wouldn't even open the door.

The reason he agreed to Lu Jingnian's request so easily this time was because he saw in Lu Jingnian the lingering traces of the Daoist magic left by the person he had been searching for.

Upon seeing the person in the photo, Lu Jingnian looked at the old Taoist priest in surprise.

"How do you have my uncle's photo, Taoist priest? Who are you to him?"

"You do know him. He is my junior brother." The old Taoist priest looked at Lu Jingnian excitedly. "When I saw you at the door just now, I saw the residual Taoist magic he left on you, which is why I let you in."

"Kid, tell me quickly, is he still alive?"

Seeing the old Taoist priest's excited expression, Lu Jingnian couldn't help but purse his lips.

“The old man passed away twenty years ago.”

"What?"

The old Taoist priest swayed and took two steps back, the excited light in his eyes fading away.

"I should have realized it sooner. He was so badly injured saving me back then, how could he possibly still be alive?"

He just refused to believe this cruel truth.

"How did you meet him? What was he like when you met him?"

The old Taoist priest asked Lu Jingnian with a choked voice.

"I met the old man when I was a child, when I went up the mountain to chop firewood."

Lu Jingnian still remembers that day very clearly. "It had just rained heavily, and because of the strong winds that accompanied the rain, my second uncle said that many trees on the mountain had been blown down, and asked me to go and get some of them so that I could dry them and use them as firewood."

At that time, Lu Jingnian's adoptive parents had already died.

He was only six years old at the time. Because he was often hungry, he was thin and small. Going to the mountain after it had just rained was practically suicide.

But if he didn't go, his second uncle would beat him.

Lu Jingnian was so afraid of being beaten that he had no choice but to go up the mountain.

"Because it had just rained, the mountain path was particularly difficult to walk on. I hadn't walked for long when my foot slipped and I rolled down the mountain, injuring my leg. It was almost dark by then, and I shouted for a long time in the mountains hoping someone would come to rescue me."

But in that kind of weather, no one could possibly go up the mountain. Just when I thought I was going to die there, the old man suddenly appeared and saved me.

"When the old man appeared, he was dressed in tattered clothes, his hair covered his face, and he looked just like the man-eating savage that the villagers had been talking about. I was terrified at the time."

But the old man simply carried me back to his cave, found some herbs to treat my leg wound, and gave me some wild berries to eat.

That was the only person who was kind to Lu Jingnian in the years after his adoptive parents died.

"The old man couldn't speak, but he was very kind to me. He would pick sweet wild fruits from the mountain for me and grill fish for me. After my leg healed, he even taught me kung fu."

I stayed with my uncle on the mountain for half a year. I thought I would live on the mountain with him forever, but one day after half a year, my uncle and I came back after picking wild fruits. Suddenly he vomited blood and then fainted. No matter how I called him, he wouldn't wake up.

I didn't know if the old man was sick or injured. I was afraid something had happened to him, so I ran down the mountain to find the villagers and begged them to help me take the old man to the hospital.

But when I led the villagers back up the mountain to the cave and saw the old man, he was already…

"I see."

The old Taoist priest looked as if he had aged more than ten years in an instant; the black hair on his head that was originally there was now completely white.

"Kid, thank you for being there for my junior brother in his final days."

"I should thank the old man. If it weren't for him, I would have died long ago."

Lu Jingnian shook his head with red eyes. If his uncle hadn't carried him back that day, he would have died on the mountain long ago.

Later, he used the kung fu taught by his uncle to help Uncle Jiang complete his mission.

"Where is my junior brother buried? Is he on that mountain?"

I want to bring his remains back and bury them next to my master and grandmaster.

The old Taoist priest asked.

His junior brother was implicated by him during his lifetime, and after his death, he insisted on finding his junior brother and burying him next to his master and grandmaster so that he could go home.

“He was buried on the mountain before,” Lu Jingnian said. “I used to live in my hometown and could visit my uncle often, but after I went to university, I went back less often.”

Once, during a heavy rain, many places on the mountain were damaged, including Uncle's grave. My family called me, and I went back to bring his remains back to City A and reburied him in the Nanshan Cemetery there.

"City A?"

The old Taoist priest immediately said, "Then tomorrow, after I help your wife stabilize her soul, take me back to City A. I need to bring my junior brother back..."

After recounting his junior brother's story, the old Taoist asked Lu Jingnian, "Liaoqing is the most skilled fortune teller. Has he already told you that you will face a calamity?"

This kid has a connection with his junior brother, and out of respect for his junior brother, he can help this kid out.

Lu Jingnian nodded, "Master Liaoqing has already reminded me that if I can exchange my life for my wife's safety for the rest of her life, I will not regret my choice."

Before he came to see this Taoist priest, Liao Qing had already reminded him that the priest could only help Jiang Yue temporarily, and that Jiang Yue's situation could not be solved by one person alone.

This is why Lu Jingnian insisted on doing that mission even after Jiang Yue returned.

The old Taoist priest originally had a way to help Lu Jingnian avoid this calamity, but after listening to Lu Jingnian's words, he shook his head regretfully, "I could have helped you avoid this calamity, but now that you've given up, this old man has no way to help you."

Even a god can't save someone who has given up hope.

Besides, he's not a god.

"Thank you for your kindness, Master, but I would prefer my wife to live a good life. Please don't let my wife know about this matter, especially the part about her dying young. I hope you can explain it to my wife tomorrow."

Lu Jingnian came out tonight specifically to ask the old Taoist priest for this favor.

I never expected that the old Taoist priest would know the old man.

The old Taoist priest nodded. "Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who talks too much."

After saying that, the old Taoist waved his hand and said, "It's getting late, you should get some rest. I will help your wife stabilize her soul first thing tomorrow morning. After that, I will go with you to City A to bring my junior brother back. After that, I will have nothing to do with you."