Just past midnight, Ambrose Lu arrived at the outskirts of a village.
Many households in the village had already extinguished their lights and gone to rest, but a few still had lights on.
This village wasn't too far from the mountains.
With this in mind, Ambrose entered the village. In a flash, he arrived in front of a house with lights on and gently knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Footsteps sounded from inside, and soon the door creaked open.
An old woman with vacant eyes appeared before Ambrose.
Before she could speak, Ambrose smiled softly and said, "Ma'am, it's past midnight. Someone knocks on your door, and you open it without asking who it is. Aren't you afraid it might be a bad person?"
The old woman seemed to look at Ambrose through her hazy eyes and smiled, "The village is so close to the mountains, it's quite safe…"
Ambrose smiled and looked into her eyes.
"It's already so late. Are you looking for a place to stay?" the old woman asked with a smile.
"If it's not too much trouble…"
Before Ambrose could finish, the old woman smiled and said, "Of course, it's no trouble at all."
She turned and took small steps to the bedside, sat down, and slowly began to weave some fabric.
Ambrose glanced at the sleeping girl on the bed, then stepped inside, gently closed the door, and sat down at a table, silently watching the old woman's hands at work.
The old woman seemed to sense Ambrose's gaze and smiled, "Sir, there's another bed in the inner room. You can rest there, though it's old and worn. I hope you don't mind."
"I'm in no hurry," Ambrose smiled. "But what about you? Shouldn't you be resting?"
The old woman continued her weaving and smiled, "I need to weave more fabric to sell and make money for my granddaughter's schooling. It's quieter at night, so I can work faster."
"Indeed, it's quieter at night than during the day," Ambrose said softly, glancing at the old woman's vacant eyes. "Ma'am, I wanted to ask you about the Immortal Tomb in the mountains."
The old woman's hands paused, and she said softly, "Ask whatever you want to know, sir. The legends of the Immortal Tomb in the mountains are well-known, nothing special. But I'm afraid what I know, you might have already heard."
"No matter, just tell me what you know. I'm all ears," Ambrose said softly.
"Immortality…" the old woman murmured to herself, then continued weaving as she began to speak, "No one knows how long the Immortal Tomb has existed in the mountains. People only know… it might be the resting place of an immortal…"
Ambrose quietly listened to the old woman's story.
"I heard from the villagers that some have seen shimmering lights in the night sky heading towards the Immortal Tomb…"
At this point, the old woman suddenly fell silent.
Ambrose looked over and saw that her hand had been pricked by a knitting needle, with a bit of blood oozing out.
"Sorry, sir, I'll continue…" The old woman gently wiped her palm and prepared to continue.
"I know enough. You should rest early too."
Ambrose said softly, standing up and walking towards the inner room.
The old woman paused, smiled, then turned to tuck the blanket around the sleeping girl more securely.
***
In the inner room.
Ambrose lay flat on the bed, his eyes open.
He hadn't gotten any useful information from the old woman, likely because she was a mortal and knew little.
No one knew when the Immortal Tomb appeared, nor how many years it had existed.
But judging by the quality of the tombs, they were at least ten thousand years old.
As for the shimmering lights in the night sky heading towards the mountains, Ambrose didn't need to think to know they were just passing cultivators, unrelated to the Immortal Tomb itself.
With this in mind, Ambrose slowly closed his eyes. He wasn't in a hurry to solve these mysteries.
After all, the one thing he had in abundance… was time.
***
The next day, as the sun rose.
The girl sitting by the bed reading suddenly noticed her grandmother stirring. She quickly turned and saw her grandmother opening her eyes, a smile immediately spreading across her face.
But the old woman's eyes were trembling violently. After a blinding flash of light, she was stunned!
The girl's face, with its sweet smile, appeared clearly in her eyes for the first time…
"Grandma's awake. I will fetch water for you to wash your face!"
The girl didn't notice the old woman's expression and was about to get out of bed.
"Little Amelia!" the old woman hurriedly called out.
The girl paused, turned around, and looked at her grandmother in confusion, only to be shocked to see her grandmother's eyes fixed on her, no longer vacant but full of spirit and tears.
"Grandma, you…" the girl stammered, uncertain.
The old woman reached out and touched the girl's face, her voice trembling, "Grandma can see you now. So this is what my granddaughter looks like…"
"Grandma!" The girl threw herself into the old woman's arms, sobbing loudly.
***
A moment later.
"Little Amelia, there's a gentleman in the inner room. Go wake him up to wash. Grandma will start cooking."
The old woman smiled and, after glancing around, hurriedly went to prepare.
With her sudden restored vision, she felt like her life had changed completely.
The girl looked puzzled. A gentleman in the inner room?
***
"Grandma, there's no gentleman in the inner room?"
Soon, the girl came running out, calling.
The old woman paused in her cooking, then walked into the inner room to see only a broken bed and neatly folded bedding.
For some reason, the old woman couldn't help but touch her eyes and murmured, "Maybe I'm remembered wrong… Come, let's eat."
***
Ambrose had left the village at the hour of the tiger.
It wasn't for any particular reason, just that he suddenly wanted a drink, his mouth feeling dry.
In the river of time, the only thing that could always accompany him was wine, even more so than that noisy turtle from before.
By noon, a small town appeared in Ambrose's sight. This town was some distance from the Immortal Tomb…
"Moyu Town."
With this thought, Ambrose followed the crowd towards the town gate.
His ethereal, almost immortal aura made him stand out like a crane among chickens, exceptionally conspicuous.
Many passersby cast their eyes on this young man in blue, thinking he must be a young master or a great scholar from somewhere.
Such an aura was not something common folk could possess.
Entering the town required a fee, a common way for the town master's or city lord's mansion to collect money, and it also helped control the population.
Ambrose saw many people paying five copper coins each. Soon, it was his turn.
Ambrose reached into his sleeve, ready to take out some coins… when he heard.
"Sir, you don't need to pay the entry fee. Please, go ahead."
He saw two town gate guards bow slightly and gesture with a smile.
Seeing this young man with such an aura, they figured he must have a significant background. Without knowing his origins, they were willing to show some courtesy.
Five copper coins were nothing to the town master's mansion, just a drop in the bucket.
Moreover, the town master had already given instructions…
Seeing this, the common folk looked at Ambrose with envy. For them, five copper coins weren't much, but not too little either.
"No problem." Ambrose's face remained calm. He withdrew his left hand from his right sleeve and placed a few copper coins into the guard's hand.
Then he stepped into the town.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
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