Chapter 2549: Crossing Time and Space

Although Ye Chen saved the lives of Old Mrs. Jiang and her son, he still felt a sense of gratitude toward Old Mrs. Jiang.

This was because Old Mrs. Jiang had given him her ancestral Phoenix Bone Vine bracelet without the slightest hesitation.

Originally, Ye Chen had assumed that the old lady didn't know the bracelet was an ancestral heirloom or that the material was rare, and that she likely had no idea how difficult it was to obtain or how valuable it truly was.

But after this meeting, Ye Chen discovered that Old Mrs. Jiang actually had a relatively clear understanding of the value of the Phoenix Bone Vine bracelet.

Back then, that ancestor Meng Changsheng had only asked for one Phoenix Bone Vine bracelet from the Jiang family's ancestor, yet he had kept him by his side for decades and even gave him two Rejuvenation Pills one after the other.

Not only that, in order to seek a breakthrough, Meng Changsheng had even promised before parting ways with the Jiang ancestor that if he ever attained immortality, he would certainly grant him a stroke of good fortune.

Although Meng Changsheng likely didn't do all this solely to repay the favor of the Phoenix Bone Vine, Ye Chen guessed that the Phoenix Bone Vine definitely accounted for a very important portion of it.

These past events had been passed down through the generations of the Jiang family, and Old Mrs. Jiang knew them clearly.

Yet, when they were in Mexico, she was still willing to use this bracelet to thank him, which made Ye Chen feel a sense of gratitude in his heart.

Moreover, the use of the Phoenix Bone Vine was by no means limited to refining those twenty Reshaping Pills; if he wanted to refine high-grade medicinal pills in the future, the Phoenix Bone Vine would be an almost indispensable and important material, which would be of great help to him later on.

It was precisely because of this that he had taken full responsibility, deciding to use his own strength to ensure that Old Mrs. Jiang and her son would have no worries for the rest of their lives.

Seeing that the villa and the storefront were both settled, Ye Chen felt much more at ease. Chen Zekai also instructed the Ye family's subordinates in Shudu to do their best to take care of the mother and son, and once their business got up and running, to try their best to provide extra care in a gentle and low-key manner.

With everything settled, Ye Chen bid farewell to Old Mrs. Jiang. After Old Mrs. Jiang thanked him profusely and watched their car drive out of the residential complex, Ye Chen and Chen Zekai rushed to Shudu Airport overnight to catch a flight back to Jin Ling.

On the plane, because Chen Zekai had been driving for a whole day and was already somewhat exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep on the comfortable flat-bed seat after the plane took off. Ye Chen, however, felt no fatigue; he took out the scroll Old Mrs. Jiang had given him, placed it on his lap, and slowly unfurled it.

In the painting, Meng Changsheng, with his immortal air and crane-like bones, once again leaped off the scroll. When he had seen this painting in the old Jiang family residence in Southern Shu, it was hanging high on the wall, and the lighting was dim. Furthermore, because Old Mrs. Jiang had been telling him about those past events, Ye Chen had been quite distracted, so he hadn't examined the painting very carefully.

But now, spreading it out before him and examining it carefully under the plane's reading light, Ye Chen was struck with admiration for the painting's technique and spirit.

Because the ancients of China valued charm over realism, in fact, the vast majority of famous ancient painters were not skilled at realism.

Landscapes, fish and insects, and figures all focused more on a lively spirit and charm.

Yet, the painting by this Jiang family ancestor, while still in the traditional Chinese painting style, was extremely detailed and painstaking in its depiction of details, to the point that the Meng Changsheng in the painting felt very real and vivid; even the long beard swaying in the wind appeared exceptionally lifelike.

Perhaps because people in the Tang Dynasty didn't have the habit of inscribing their paintings, Ye Chen couldn't find any signature or handwriting on it. However, he firmly believed in his heart that if this painting were to be revealed to the world, with its miraculous style, it would likely cause a sensation throughout the entire art world.

It was even possible that the rankings of famous Tang Dynasty painters would be rewritten because of the emergence of this painting.

However, Ye Chen naturally had no such intention. He decided to treasure this painting well, and after returning to Jin Ling, he would not let anyone else see the content within it.

Gazing intently for a long time, just as Ye Chen was about to roll up the scroll again, he suddenly felt a faint, infinitesimal fluctuation of Qi within the scroll.

This made his entire being freeze instantly!

According to Old Mrs. Jiang, this painting was created by her ancestor in his old age.

Since it was in his old age, it must have been long after he had parted ways with Meng Changsheng.

And the Jiang family ancestor did not have the talent to master Qi, so apart from having taken two Rejuvenation Pills and living longer than ordinary people, it was absolutely impossible for him to possess Qi.

This meant that the painting he created in his old age should not have had any existence of Qi at all.

Yet, there were indeed very faint traces of Qi in this painting. Ye Chen couldn't help but ask himself in his heart: "Could this Qi have been left behind by Meng Changsheng?! Perhaps the Jiang family didn't know that Meng Changsheng had returned at some point in time!"

Thinking of this, he immediately calmed his mind, channeled a bit of his own Qi, and carefully covered the entire painting with it, searching for the source of that trace of Qi.

Soon, he found the trace of that Qi at the head of Meng Changsheng's portrait.

Ye Chen was overjoyed and immediately used his Qi to perceive the other party. The moment the two strands of Qi merged, a first-person perspective scene suddenly flooded into Ye Chen's mind!

In the scene, a mountain village was holding a grand funeral. The people at the funeral were not dressed in modern attire; they looked more like the attire of the Tang Dynasty.

From the terrain and landscape, Ye Chen could recognize that this mountain village was the very same one where Old Mrs. Jiang lived.

And the mountain village in the scene didn't look as dilapidated as it did today. In the scene, there sat a rather grand wooden courtyard, carved with beams and painted rafters, clearly the home of a wealthy family.

However, the funeral in the scene was not a continuous real-time video, but rather more like a time-lapse recording sped up many times over.

A group of people gathered in front of a coffin in the main hall. A middle-aged man was kneeling on the ground, wailing loudly, while a group of women and children were also crying incessantly behind him. On the wall directly opposite hung three paintings, which were exactly the same three that Ye Chen had seen in Old Mrs. Jiang's home.

The subsequent scenes were of people mourning and offering condolences. Although there were many rituals, fortunately, the entire scene moved extremely fast, and the rituals were completed one by one like a fleeting glance.

After all the necessary rituals were completed, more than a dozen strong men carried the coffin to the foot of the mountain behind the village and buried it there.

Afterward, the group returned to that deep wooden mansion. As the bustle faded, several women cried as they left one after another with their families, leaving the middle-aged man alone to keep watch in the mourning hall.

However, there was not a hint of pain on this middle-aged man's face. Instead, he stood in the middle of the hall with a face full of joy, looking at the portrait of Meng Changsheng hanging in the center of the wall, and said with a grin: "Old Ancestor Meng, my father passed away three days ago and has been buried today. Even if you had the ability to bring the dead back to life, it would likely be in vain now. If you can truly attain immortality and return, you should naturally bestow the good fortune you promised my father upon me. My father lived for one hundred and thirteen years, the envy of others. I am now forty-two; I only hope you can attain immortality soon and fulfill the promise you made to my father back then!"

Although the middle-aged man's speech was obscure and difficult to understand, Ye Chen still understood the other party's meaning. He must have been the son of the Jiang family ancestor. At this moment, he was standing in front of Meng Changsheng's portrait, muttering about wanting Meng Changsheng to attain immortality soon so that he could return and bestow the good fortune promised to his father upon him.

To put it bluntly, he was hoping for Meng Changsheng to return so that he, too, could become immortal.

After this person finished speaking, a gust of wind suddenly blew through the hall, and immediately after, he slumped to the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

At the same time, a middle-aged man dressed in a green robe walked in with a powerful, rhythmic stride. His clothing and appearance were identical to the portrait of Meng Changsheng, only he looked a few years younger than the Meng Changsheng in the painting.

Ye Chen could conclude that this person was Meng Changsheng.

Meng Changsheng paused before the three paintings for a long time, then looked at the self-portrait of the Jiang family ancestor in his old age on the right, and sighed: "The work is done, but the person is gone... Muyun, if you had waited for your master for three more days, I could have fulfilled the promise of that year. But now that you are gone, I should fulfill the promise to your son. However, having just observed his words and deeds, I am truly disappointed. This stroke of good fortune, it is better not to pass it on."

After saying this, he reached out and tapped lightly on his own portrait, murmuring: "I have left the events of today within this painting. If your descendants blame me in the future and tear up this portrait, they will know the reason. When I meet you again in the underworld, do not blame me."

Having said this, he turned around gracefully and vanished into the night.

At this moment, all the images came to an abrupt end.

Ye Chen was immersed in the shock of this experience, which was almost like crossing time and space, and it took a long time for him to come back to his senses.

Once he had recovered, while marveling at Meng Changsheng's ability to leave his thoughts within a painting, he couldn't help but lament the tragic fate of the Jiang family's descendants.

Undoubtedly, when Meng Changsheng returned to that small mountain village, he must have attained immortality.

However, Ye Chen could also conclude that the "immortality" Meng Changsheng attained must have only broken the limit of a two-hundred-year lifespan; it was definitely not eternal life or being undying and indestructible.

He was so certain of this partly because, after mastering the "Nine Mysteries Heavenly Sutra," he could analyze it from the perspective of an insider: in reality, there was no such thing as true immortality; there was only living longer relative to others.

As for the other reason, it was also because of the last sentence Meng Changsheng said to the Jiang ancestor's portrait in the scene just now. To put it plainly, that sentence meant: when we meet again in the underworld, don't blame me for this.

Since the Northern Wei Dynasty, there had been the saying of "the underworld," and at that time, "the underworld" represented the world after death.

Since Meng Changsheng said he would meet the Jiang ancestor again in the underworld, it meant he knew he would eventually die.

Therefore, Ye Chen judged comprehensively that Meng Changsheng back then must have found a way to extend his life before his two-hundred-year lifespan was up, so he returned to find the Jiang ancestor to fulfill his promise, but he didn't expect to be one step too late.

But according to Meng Changsheng's original plan, even if the Jiang ancestor had already died, he should have bestowed the good fortune upon his son.

However, because of the son's rebellious remarks in front of the portrait, Meng Changsheng was deeply disappointed, and thus he missed out on this great opportunity to live to two hundred years or even longer.

However, Ye Chen couldn't help but lament that the temperaments of the other Jiang descendants were actually quite good. Up until Old Mrs. Jiang's generation, they had waited for over a thousand years, still waiting for Meng Changsheng to appear.

If there had been even one person with a hot temper among them, seeing that he didn't come after waiting and waiting, and had torn up Meng Changsheng's portrait, they would have likely known the reason long ago.

But sometimes, fate plays tricks on people. The Jiang family never waited for this result, yet it was discovered by him inadvertently.

At the same time, Ye Chen was also secretly pondering in his heart: "I wonder what method Meng Changsheng found to allow his lifespan to break through the two-hundred-year limit, and I wonder how many years he lived in the end. If he were still alive today, wouldn't he be over fourteen hundred years old?"

Thinking of this, Ye Chen shook his head and firmly muttered to himself: "It is impossible for anyone in this world to live to be fourteen hundred years old. I suppose this senior must have already been buried somewhere!" ===== CHAPTER 2550 =====