The lingering sound of the piano dissipated into the wind, and was what Qi Wuhuo saw when he raised his eyes.

The evening wind stirs the fields, and the slanting moon hangs in the forest.

Soon, a girl about sixteen or seventeen years old was seen walking out of the sedan chair.

She wears a jade lotus crown, a purple gauze robe, a red jade pendant, and a phoenix-shaped hairpin.

She has bright eyes, fair wrists, and a charming way of walking. She is so beautiful that no one has ever seen anything like it.

The eyes are bright and moving.

Qi Wuhuo looked calm and asked for her name. The girl told him the truth and called herself Qiong Yu. The two of them remained close friends and regarded each other as close friends. Several months passed like this.

Before the big exams, students used to go for fun in the mountains and visit Taoist temples in various places to pray for good luck in their exams.

Qi Wuhuo and his friends climbed up Dingyan Peak, the most famous peak outside the capital. The highest point of the peak was a Taoist temple, where a legendary goddess was enshrined.

I heard that it is very effective and nine out of ten people who come here to make a wish will get something in return.

Qi Wuhuo lit three incense sticks and stepped into the hall.

The hall enshrines a goddess, whose face is covered with a veil. The entire hall is built to a very high level, making it almost invisible to the naked eye. Qi Wuhuo has no interest in looking at the face of this so-called goddess.

But when he was about to burn incense, his eyes glanced to the side, and his expression suddenly froze. People followed his gaze and saw that it was the maid who was serving the goddess in the main hall. She was dressed in green, holding a ruyi in her hands, with long white hair and a bright and cunning smile.

Qi Wuhuo stared at the maid in green.

His facial features and demeanor were exactly the same as the one he saw every night!

The Taoist priest next to him saw Qi Wuhuo pause and asked:

"Why don't you burn incense, sir, but stand here instead?"

Qi Wuhuo's expression remained unchanged, he just said:

"I don't know the title of this goddess yet, so I haven't offered any incense yet."

The Taoist priest smiled and replied:

"Goddess Qiongyu."

Qi Wuhuo nodded slowly, straightened his back, and inserted the incense into the incense burner:

"Qiong Yu..."

That night he went to the place where they used to meet. When he met his friend again, the latter came to say goodbye to him and said with emotion: "Originally, we were just friends through playing the zither, but now that you know my identity, it will be difficult for us to communicate on an equal footing."

"I was originally a daughter of a noble family. I died because of a frame-up. Because I practiced orthodox techniques when I was young, I was not completely dead. After practicing for several years, I was able to reach a Yin spirit of a hundred miles. That's why I met you."

Qi Wuhuo frowned slightly: "Mountain God... God..."

"Can you really achieve immortality?"

Qiong Yu shook her head and said:

"It can't be considered immortality, just like a ghost, just living a miserable life."

"With your talent, you will surely be famous in the world in the future."

"This volume is the method of nourishing the spirit that I obtained in Canxia Cave that year. I will pass it on to you, so that we can get to know each other."

The girl stretched out her hand and touched Qi Wuhuo’s brow.

A mysterious charm that could not be expressed in words flowed into his brows, and his spirit shook slightly before dissipating.

It felt like just a flash, but when I opened my eyes, it was already the next morning. My clothes were stained with morning dew, and I couldn't see my old friend. I sighed for a long time, then turned and left.

Later, Qi Wuhuo passed the imperial examination in one go, became a Jinshi, and was appointed as a proofreader in the Secretariat. However, because of his upright and cold character, he chose the [Zhi Ke] examination a year later and was transferred to the position of Huainan County Lieutenant.

Seven years later, when Qi Wuhuo was 25 years old, he was promoted to Censor-in-Chief. Later, when he was 36 years old, he returned to Beijing and was promoted to the position of Jiujiu Sheren, and concurrently the Director of Imperial Edicts.

Three years later, he left the capital to take charge of the Governor of Tongzhou, and was later promoted to the Governor of Zhongzhou. He was busy welcoming and seeing off guests, and was very kind to the people. Because of his experience of hunger when he was young, he was especially kind to the people. He built water conservancy projects, dug canals, reduced taxes during his tenure, and used most of his salary to help the people.

The people even carved a stone tablet for him to record his merits.

After his term of office expired, he was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Bianzhou. At the age of 46, he was summoned to the imperial city and served as the Jingzhao Yin of the imperial city.

During this period, the country was in turmoil. The human emperor was in the Shenwu period and was at war with the demons. The generals of the Zhulong tribe broke into the border and performed the art of riding on clouds. The Jiedushi general was killed, and someone was needed to suppress the situation.

Qi Wuhuo had never formed cliques with others, so such a mission of sending himself to death naturally fell on him. He was appointed Chief Censor and went to command the army. After more than 20 years of traveling outside, Qi Wuhuo also met many heroes. In this battle, the heroes fought bravely and the brave soldiers died for their service. It took several years to finally defeat the demon country.

He opened up more than 900 miles of border and built three cities to suppress the attacks of the demon clan with the Three Talents Formation. The people in the border areas erected a monument to commemorate his achievements on the original sacred mountain of the demon clan.

After returning triumphantly, his reputation grew even more and he was transferred to be the Minister of Rites. Later, with his accumulated merits, he was promoted to the Minister of Revenue and Chief Censor. Everyone praised him as a potential general and a prime minister. His reputation was so great that it even surpassed that of the prime minister.

The prime minister was jealous and, under the influence of rumors, Qi Wuhuo was demoted and sent to be a governor. At this time, he still felt aggrieved. When he was playing the piano alone in the yard, he would press the strings and sigh deeply. He seemed extremely unconvinced in his words and deeds, and was very angry at the treacherous prime minister.

Three years later, Qi Wuhuo was summoned to the capital again.

This time, his reputation was extremely high, and he was appointed as the co-minister of the Secretariat, with great power, and he was in charge of the government together with the Minister of the Secretariat and the Palace Attendant. However, when he entered the capital this time, he was not very interested, and once sighed to his friends:

"When I was famous, the emperor suppressed me and supported the prime minister. Now that the prime minister is powerful, he called me back."

"I also found two other people to check and balance me."

"In this court, everyone is just a pawn of the emperor. Even if they want to do something for the people, they have to scheme against each other."

"Speaking of which, when I was young, my family didn't have much money and lived at the foot of a small hill. But in the spring, we farmed on our own, in the summer, we went to the hills to enjoy the cool breeze and pick wild fruits in the fall. It was much more comfortable than it is now."

"Thinking of the carefree days of youth and collecting firewood in the mountains is like a dream. How I wish I could go back to my youth and play the zither with you by the bamboo forest. I really want to go back, but how can I go back? How can I possibly go back..."

Qi Wuhuo was filled with melancholy that was hard to express.

After several more years, Qi Wuhuo had almost become the most famous scholar in the world, but suddenly there were rumors that he had colluded with border generals and was planning something ill-gotten. The day before, he was a senior official who did not bow when entering the palace or kneel when entering the court, but the next day he was thrown into the imperial prison. Qi Wuhuo looked cold and calm, and he no longer cared about these things.

When those cruel officials holding sharp knives and chains kicked the door open and came in, the world's most famous scholar in a cloth robe just ate a bowl of rice porridge, glanced at them calmly, and was so calm that he intimidated those dozens of cruel officials.

Then he calmly let himself be tied up.

Because of his great achievements and his fame throughout the world, he was not killed but simply exiled to a deserted place.

When the next emperor ascended the throne, he immediately rehabilitated Qi Wuhuo and summoned him to the capital, making him the Minister of the Central Secretariat and Duke of Qi, and offering him the title of Princess Qi as his wife. Qi Wuhuo declined and said to his disciple, who was also the emperor's eyes and ears, in a calm tone:

"The old emperor is about to die, and he wants to leave a sword for the next emperor."

"So he deposed me and asked his son to vindicate me? He used me as a sword, using both kindness and force. This is the mentality of an emperor."

The young man said, "The imperial power is high and far-reaching. Are you afraid, sir?"

The old man with white hair still had deep eyes. He smiled faintly and said, "I just find it boring."

Immediately, ignoring the boy's faint fear, he simply asked:

"You don't like money or sex, you don't like luxury, and you don't love beautiful women."

"Is it possible to find out the name?"

After a long pause, the smart and handsome boy replied: "I am still young and have not yet experienced the world and seen everything..."

"The word 'name' must be broken in this life."

Qi Wuhuo drank and laughed, then he became tired and waved his sleeves to order his disciples to leave.

After the disciple walked out, he hurried to the palace and told Qi Wuhuo everything he had said. The emperor was always majestic, and no one knew the turbulent waves in the young emperor's heart. Later unofficial history only used simple words to record the emperor's inner struggle and the result of that day.

The emperor was afraid.

Send the imperial guards out.

By the time these armored guards rushed into the luxurious mansion, the old man was already sitting safely inside the house with his eyes closed. His aura was as deep as the ocean and no one dared to move.

But he was already dead.

His fame spread all over the world during his lifetime, and the wealth and treasures rewarded by his family were countless; and his carriages, horses, land and houses were even more innumerable.

The mansion was empty, and only a poem remained on the wall.

Qi Wuhuo was a man of upright character. He was a general and a prime minister. He did not like poetry and left very little of it. This is the only sentence he has, looking back on his official career.

"Seventy years of chaos."

The cruel official suddenly felt that these six words were filled with melancholy and sadness.

Seventy years of chaos...

In the outer city of the capital, Qi Wuhuo's soul walked out. He practiced the method of nourishing the soul, and when he died, his soul was still there. He walked a hundred miles in one step. He saw that the world was prosperous, but the house where he studied hard was now dilapidated.

The mountain god Qiong Yu, whom he had seen in his youth, appeared. She seemed to know that Qi Wuhuo's life was over, and there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. Qi Wuhuo was now gray-haired and had age spots on his face, while Qiong Yu was still as beautiful as she had been decades ago, like an immortal goddess.

"I've aged like this, but you're still the same as before."

Qi Wuhuo sighed, then suddenly laughed and said:

"Is it possible to achieve immortality in this world?"

This was the only time they met in decades, and the questions were the same as they were back then.

But the emotions expressed were completely different.

The girl replied: "Flowers in the mirror, moons in the water, can be seen but not grasped."

The white-haired old man played the piano, and the music moved the mountains and made the sea of ​​clouds surge, almost like a Tao. When the song was over, the mountains remained the same.

Suddenly I thought of my youth. It was impossible to go back. What was the point of chasing fame and fortune for the past seventy years? What was it all for? Qi Wuhuo played the zither and hummed:

"For seventy years, there has been chaos, from east wall to west wall."

"Now I am packing up and returning..."

"Still, the water and the sky are blue."

The song ends, and everyone leaves; the soul scatters as the eyes close.

Only the mountains remain the same and the water flows as it did in the past.

Also, melancholy.

Suddenly someone pushed his shoulder hard.

It was as if I stepped into a cliff and fell down in a dream, and I was covered in cold sweat.

Qi Wuhuo shuddered and suddenly opened his eyes. He was in a trance when he saw an old man pointing at him and said with a smile: "Boy, you are just dreaming, why do you look like you are about to cry?"

Qi Wuhuo was at a loss for a long time:

"Where is this? What time is it?"

The old man laughed and scolded: "Don't you even recognize your family?"

"As for the time?"

He pointed to the stove, where steam was rising, and said:

"It's midday."

"The snow hasn't stopped falling."

"The yellow rice will be ready in a moment."