A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1-Chapter 200)

The clamoring even surpassed that of the shrilling children. Han Li’s spirit shook as he fervently continued to watch the courtyard gate.

Creak. The wooden courtyard gate opened. More than a dozen men and women came out, escorting a young woman wearing a red wedding dress in between them.

This young woman’s chin was sharp, and her appearance was graceful, belonging to a girl 16 or 17 years old. At this moment, her face was bashful.

Han Li widely opened his eyes and attentively observed this young woman’s appearance, trying to find some resemblance with the little sister from his memories.

Aside from her general facial appearance and the corner of her eyes, he found no other trace of familiarity from his olden days. The rest of her appearance could no longer be associated with the little sister from his memories.

“Sigh! A girl changes eight times from childhood to womanhood. These words truly makes sense!” Han Li bitterly smiled and then swept his gaze to the people at her side.

“This fatty is third uncle. I can already tell who he is with a single look. He’s just as fat as before!”

“That large tanned person at the side is Eldest Brother Han Tie. That woman close to his side should be his wife!”

……

Han Li’s mouth muttered as he called their names out one by one. This somehow made him relax a little.

When his gaze fell upon an old gray-haired couple, Han Li ceased speaking.

Motionless, he blankly stood behind the tree. His expression became extremely complicated.

Among these emotions included happiness, timidness, and bewilderment.

His parents had aged far greater than Han Li had anticipated. When he had gone up the mountains, he remembered that his mother’s hair was jet-black. However, all of her hair was now ash-colored. Furthermore, his father’s originally straight back was now hunched over.

Han Li remained speechless, while his mind became dizzy like a ball of paste. Because of everything that had occurred, he didn’t notice that it was already dawn.

By the time he cleared his head, his little sister had already sat in the red silk sedan chair and was carried off into the distance. Following closely behind was a scholar mounted on a large cyan horse.

Han Li focused his sight to look at the sedan chair that was moving further away. He gazed at his parents in the crowd, and then closed his eyes.

After he had deeply engraved the appearances of his parents and several kin into his heart, he turned around. His face expressed unwavering determination as he walked toward the village’s exit with large strides.

Han Li knew that if he were to walk across the village entrance once more, he would come across these people and spend the rest of his life here.

He clearly knew that ever since he had gained insights in the Eternal Spring Arts and learned about the existence of Immortal cultivation, he had walked on a path completely different from that of ordinary mortals.

Regardless of whether there would be misfortune or happiness, prosperity or hardship, he would never regret his choice!

Thank you for reading! This is the end of RMJI Book 1. I hope you've enjoyed the series so far.





Chapter 100: Jia Yuan City


The Lan Province is the eighth largest of the thirteen provinces in the State of Yue. It is located in the southern region of the State of Yue. Despite its small size, it is said to be quite wealthy, second only to the Xin Province. With fertile land, countless rivers, lakes, and canals running through the region, as well as constant favorable weather, the province was extremely suited to growing grain and rice. Thus, it became the State’s largest producer of crops.

Located in the center of Lan Province was Jia Yuan City. Although it wasn’t the Lan Province’s capital, it was, without question, the largest city its province. The Great Lu Canal, which spanned from the north to the south of the province, passed through the center of the city. In addition, several roads and waterways also ran through the city. As a result, the city’s transportation was highly developed and could be considered the hub of water transportation, as well as the main road of trade and commerce in the region. Every year, an innumerous amount of merchants and travelers passed through, spurring an enormous amount of trade at this location. Therefore, the fact that Jia Yuan City became the largest city in the province was not strange in the least.

In Jia Yuan City, there was traffic of all sorts. Docks and boatmen were numerous, and could be found anywhere in the city. Boatmen, cart drivers, and unskilled laborers were as many as number of the hairs on an ox. There were several tens of thousands of people, including Sun Ergou, who relied on the harbor to make a living.

(TL: ???: Sun Ergou. Sun being a surname (not the star in the sky) and Er’gou meaning Second Dog)

Like his name suggested, Sun Ergou had long, slanted eyebrows and crooked eyes. In addition, he had the appearance of a ruffian, a cross between a rotten pear and a spoiled jujube. However, because he was skilled in flattery and reading body language, he had actually been able to secure the position of minor gang leader. Managing several tens of unskilled porters, he made a living off the harbor transporting the goods and luggage of passing merchants.

This was the reason why Sun Ergou’s many subordinates had hastily gathered at early dawn and respectfully addressed him with “Good morning Grandpa Er!” and “Grandpa Er has come!”

(TL: In Confucianism, status is often associated with age. That is why you often see in Chinese stories, “I, your father.” or “This grandpa [referring to self]”, as a way of acting arrogant.)

……

Hearing these greetings, Sun Ergou could not help but be somewhat smug. After all, being addressed as “Grandpa” indicated that here, he was someone of status. Consequently, he exhibited an air of arrogance. He finally responded to his subordinates’ greetings after snorting from his nose, “Who is Grandpa Er? Shouldn’t it be Grandpa Ergou?”

“It should, but here, there’s only a two-legged dog imitating a man!”

(TL: A play on words from his name. ?? Ergou, Er ? Two, Gou ? Dog.)

“Haha! Haha! …”

……

The burst of mocking and ridicule could not mask the words that entered Ergou’s ear.

After Sun Ergou had heard this, his face suddenly sunk, and his mood dropped in an instant.

He slowly turned his head and looked to the several tens of people at the other side of the dock. He brought his gaze down to a large, burly, dark-skinned man as a hint of hate flashed in his eyes.

Among all the people that Sun Ergou hated the most in the entire city of Jia Yuan, this large, dark-skinned man would absolutely make it into his top three. If someone were to tell him that he or she would use the wealth of Sun Ergou’s entire family to thoroughly make this large, dark-skinned man disappear from the world, Sun Ergou might hesitate, but if he or she changed it to only half of Sun Ergou’s wealth, he wouldn’t hesitate to agree in the least. Naturally, this was because he led a life of decadence; the so-called entirety of his family’s wealth wasn’t much to begin with.

No one had known what the dark-skinned man’s name was for quite a long time. The people at the harbor either addressed him as “Grandpa Black”, or his nickname, “Black Bear”. He was the leader of the small gang “Iron Fist Group” while Sun Ergou held a similar status in the “Fourth Level Gang”. As a result, these factions had arrived at this dock to supervise the porters of their respective sides.