Nie Qing

The old man only smiled wordlessly at the couple's reactions. He held his hands behind his back and walked down a small path on a slope next to the road.

"Sir, you forgot something!" Su Jin yelled behind him. She was referring to the shovel he had stashed into the trunk when he first got into the car…

"You can keep it. Come with me or the road will disappear soon!"

Huh? How could the road disappear? The old man sure had a sense of humor. Nevertheless, the couple locked their car and followed him. 

There was a flight of stone steps running up the slope. Each step was extremely short, probably to accommodate the old man, Su Jin thought. 

After they walked for some time, Lu Hao turned around and saw that the road they had taken to get in here had vanished…

He just continued following the old man without a word.

As they walked, the three of them saw a huge bolder appear in their path. The bolder was right next to a turn in the pathway too, so they could not see the path behind it. 

"We're here. This is where I stay," said the old man, walking up to the bolder and turning around it. 

Lu Hao and Su Jin hurriedly followed him, only to see an old-fashioned stone cottage before their eyes. Rather than a cottage, it was more like a temporary shelter built out of a few flat rocks. The cottage did not have a door either, only a narrow opening and what looked like a pitch-black interior. 

The old man walked in without hesitation. 

…

Could she not go in?

Su Jin thought to herself as Lu Hao led her in by the hand. 

The two of them had no words for what they were feeling right now. Rather than the light at the end of the tunnel, it felt more like they had transmigrated into a totally different world! A celestial utopia, at that!

The first thing they saw was a clear pond, with a large waterfall next to it. 

The water in the pond somehow had three colors. The edge of the pond was deep blue, clean and bottomless; the area around the center of the pond was orange, warm and comforting; and the center of the pond itself seemed to be a mix of gold, deep green, and sky blue. Inside the pond, schools of fish swam about. 

There were many flowering trees next to the pond too— Snow-white pear blossoms, pink peach blossoms, and some trees they could not name.

Surrounding the entire beautiful scene were grey tiles, white walls, and a tall gate. The walls around the gate had intricate carvings, and the roof of the gate was even more ornate. The entire building had an irrigation system running through it, and there was plenty of greenery everywhere with the flowers perfectly complementing each other. The two of them felt as though they had stepped into the garden of Eden. 

The old man just now did not look anywhere as plain and frail as he did earlier. Instead, he sat under a peach tree in the middle of the courtyard, wearing Han clothing with large hanging sleeves as he sipped some tea.

He looked at the astonished couple and waved at them to go over to him.

"Lu Hao, do you think we just encountered an immortal?" Su Jin whispered. 

"The world is vast. Anything could happen. At any rate, he doesn't seem like the demonic type," Lu Hao replied. 

Neither of them knew that the old man in the distance could hear their every word.

Nie Qing, who was nearly mistaken for a demon, was speechless. "..."

"Grandpa Immortal, you mentioned that you're moving, right? Where do you want us to help you move to?"

Su Jin asked as soon as she sat down. Although she was in a paradise too beautiful to be true, she had not forgotten that she and Lu Hao were here to be movers. 

"Oh, moving can wait. Young lady, is this man next to thee thy husband?"

"Urk… indeed. He is my husband."

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? Su Jin started emulating the way people talked in those period dramas. 

The old man nodded and introduced himself. "Nie Qing be mine name. In your modern language, I suppose you could call me Grandpa Nie."

Why did it feel like he was taking advantage of them? They had barely just met, but he was already calling himself their grandfather.

Su Jin was not especially thrilled about it, but on the surface, she obeyed sweetly. "Nice to meet you, Grandpa Nie!"

Nie Qing nodded, his smile widening. How long had it been since anyone called him that?

Nie Qing was not an immortal at all, just a hidden master who was adept at ancient divination. He had been living in this mountain for several years now, and the whole place was littered with his spells. He even cast some barriers most people could not see around the edges of the mountain. If anyone entered his territory, he would be the first to know. 

When Lu Hao stumbled into the mountains that day, Nie Qing immediately knew that someone had entered his barrier. Thinking that his arch-nemesis had come for his head, he transformed into the guise of an old villager and hurried to the foot of the mountain. In the end, all he found was Lu Hao, who had wandered in here by mistake.

The moment Nie Qing saw Lu Hao, however, he knew that they were fated to meet.

Nie Qing was the number one heir to these arts of ancient divination. A long time ago, his senior brother had read his fortune and predicted that he was doomed to live a long life of solitude, without any children or disciples of his own. If he could meet a certain fated person, however, he might yet stand a single slim chance of escaping his destined loneliness.

His senior brother had not told him when this fated person would appear, but the moment Nie Qing laid eyes on Lu Hao, he knew that Lu Hao was the one.

"Soooob, I can finally leave this godforsaken pile of rocks!"

Nie Qing burst into tears of happiness.

No one could possibly understand the agony of living so long all alone. He watched as his senior and junior siblings age and pass away, followed by their disciples and their disciples' disciples. All the while, he remained healthy and unchanged, walking down the road of life all alone with none to accompany him but his shadow…

He had tried to find disciples or even lovers before, but all of them, without exception, ended up dying far away from home.

And now! Finally! His fated person was here! He could finally put an end to all of this!

"So you lied to us, Grandpa Nie? You tricked us into coming here?" Su Jin said, pretending to be angry.

"I tricked you? Such deception is far beneath me! Why would you say so, girl?"

"You said you'd show us the way if we helped you move!"

"Oh, I'll move. We can move right now. I'll leave this place with you two right away."

He did not want to stay another second on this stupid mountain.

"With us? Why?"

She must have been mistaken when she thought he looked like an immortal. He was clearly a lying old man.

"You don't know me, but I know you! He, that man right there, he's my fated disciple!" Nie Qing pointed at Lu Hao, exclaiming excitedly.

"Lu Hao, I didn't know you had a master." As if she would believe that.

"I don't think I have one either."

Lu Hao felt the urge to laugh. The old man was strange, yes, but he was also fascinating. His interactions with Su Jin were especially amusing.

"Young man, don't you know who I am? What I can do? Who would you call your master if not me?" Nie Qing demanded, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. In the past, everyone begged him to teach them his spells and skills. If it were not for his cursed fate, he would have disciples and grand-disciples all over the world!

"Why would I need a master anyway?" Lu Hao retorted.

"So you can learn new skills, of course," Nie Qing replied.

"Why do I need to learn those skills?" Lu Hao continued.

"Uh, because… Ah! So that you can be renowned far and wide!"

Nothing moved a man's heart like fame and fortune!

"Nah. Not interested," said Lu Hao.

"It can make you live long and prosper."

That had to work, right?

"I don't want to live too long on my own. I'll pass," Lu Hao said.

"You can rule the world?" Nie Qing did not give up.

"No, thanks."

Next to them, Su Jin was laughing until her sides hurt. Nie Qing gritted his teeth and said, "If you learn my spells, you can protect the one you love and live a long life with her."

"Alright, I'll do it."

Su Jin, "..."

Nie Qing, "..."

To Lu Hao, his only weak spot was Su Jin. All the fame and fortune in the world could not make him bat an eye.

Nie Qing wondered if he had just accepted a disciple with absolutely zero ambition. The boy only seemed to care about his wife!

Just then, someone in long pink robes walked toward them with a tray.

Wait, since when were there other people in here?