“The people of ancient times all lived past the age of a hundred, yet their movements showed no sign of decline.” Ye Fan closed the Huangdi Neijing and found himself lost in wistful longing for the ancient era described in the Plain Questions chapter.
As for that earliest antiquity, no detailed or precise written records survived. To modern people, it was a stretch of ancient history shrouded in endless mist — a source of boundless reverie.
A gentle breeze stirred, and several paulownia trees in the courtyard swayed softly, their lush branches and leaves rustling with a hushed sound, while fresh air drifted in through the open window.
Ye Fan was fond of reading books on curious and unusual subjects. He brewed himself a light cup of green tea and settled in to continue leafing through the ancient volume in his hands.
“All people could live past a hundred years, moving about without any sign of aging. In the most ancient times — what a mysterious chapter of history that must have been…”
Regarding the ages attributed to people in the Plain Questions chapter, as a modern person he naturally had no inclination to believe it. What piqued his curiosity was simply why the “ancient era” that those early writers had longed for was alluded to so obliquely in so many old texts — as though an ancient civilization shrouded in endless mist had vanished from the river of history.
Could there truly have been a chapter of history unknown to the world? After a brief reverie, he returned to his reading.
The Huangdi Neijing was an ancient text of extraordinary value, composed several thousand years ago and counted among the three great wondrous books of ancient China. Though one could not take the entire work as gospel truth, it was nonetheless, broadly speaking, of immense and precious worth.
“Hold aloft Heaven and Earth; grasp the interplay of Yin and Yang; breathe in the Life Essence; stand alone, guarding the spirit; flesh and body as one — and thus one may outlast Heaven and Earth, with no end to one’s time. This is the way of life born from the Dao.”
The Plain Questions chapter repeatedly references ancient figures — those who could perceive the transformations of Heaven and Earth, who cultivated and refined Life Essence, and who could achieve undying immortality — a notion utterly impossible for any modern person to believe.
Without realizing it, the red sun gradually sank in the west. The evening glow spilled across the scene, tinting the lawn and the paulownia trees outside the window with a faint rosy hue.
Ye Fan set down the Huangdi Neijing and prepared to attend an important reunion gathering with his former classmates.
Three years had passed since he left the university campus. After graduating, Ye Fan had stayed in this city. Looking back, that simple and pure chapter of student life was gone and would never return.
Three years — not so long, not so short. Former classmates had long since scattered to the four winds, each following their own distinct path in life.
The pleasant ringtone of his phone interrupted his thoughts. It was a call from his classmate Lin Jia — a remarkably sharp and beautiful woman who, after graduating, had gone to a neighboring city and, through her exceptional abilities, had been promoted to department manager a year ago.
The moment he pressed to answer, he heard Lin Jia’s teasing tone. She had already displayed outstanding social skills back in university, finding it easy to close the distance with people.
“What, did you miss me?” Ye Fan fired back lightly.
A melodious laugh came from the other end. “I’m not too sure of the gathering location — let’s go together.”
After agreeing on a meeting spot, Ye Fan drove out. Back in university, he had once pursued Lin Jia, but had been gently informed that the two of them were not suited to be together.
Lin Jia was an extraordinarily beautiful and captivating woman, yet her sharpness and clear-headedness surpassed even her beauty. She knew precisely what she needed and how to go about getting it — one could say she was very grounded in reality.
There were still ten minutes left before the agreed time. Ye Fan found a parking spot in front of the Parkson shopping mall, then got out and went to stand by the roadside to wait for Lin Jia.
The entire city was bathed in the lingering glow of the setting sun. Many buildings were covered in a soft golden light, while on the roads vehicles streamed past in a continuous flow, with a constant tide of pedestrians.
Seven or eight minutes later, a Toyota pulled up to the curb, revealing a beautiful and refined face — Lin Jia opened the car door and stepped out.
Ye Fan went to meet her, smiling. “You’ve got a personal chauffeur now?”
“Stop teasing me — I don’t have a personal driver. That’s our classmate Liu Yinzhi.”
Though they had stayed in occasional contact over the three years since graduation, he had only seen her once in the past two years, yet Lin Jia was as youthful and radiant as ever. She was dressed casually — fitted jeans paired with a purple T-shirt — which accentuated her slender and graceful figure, making its curves all the more striking.
“It’s been over two years. How have you been?” Lin Jia’s shoulder-length hair was jet black, smooth and lustrous, shining as though it could reflect light. She had a pair of phoenix eyes — framed by long lashes, they tilted gently upward at the outer corners in a natural way that lent her an especially distinctive charm, alluring and captivating.
“I’ve been alright.” Ye Fan smiled and added, teasingly, “Lin Jia, with natural beauty like yours, not going into the entertainment industry is really doing yourself a disservice.”
“You’re asking for a beating, aren’t you?” Lin Jia’s smile was enchanting — her phoenix eyes glanced sidelong, light shimmering in their depths, her red lips extraordinarily sensual and beguiling.
At that moment, the window of the Toyota parked at the curb rolled down, and from the driver’s seat appeared a familiar face — their former classmate, Liu Yinzhi.
Like Ye Fan, he had stayed in this city after graduation. Thanks to the patronage of a relative with some connections, he had opened a company of modest scale, making him someone considered to have achieved a measure of success among their classmates.
Though they lived in the same city, he had almost no contact with Ye Fan — largely stemming from a conflict that had occurred during their university days.
Liu Yinzhi did not get out of the car. He smiled mildly and said, “It’s been a long time.”
“It has. We should get together sometime.” Seeing that the other man hadn’t even stepped out, Ye Fan kept his greeting equally brief.
“Did you take a taxi here?”
In the face of this naturally and unguardedly expressed contempt, Ye Fan couldn’t be bothered to argue, and responded with an offhand reply.
Lin Jia was a remarkably sharp and quick-witted woman; she could naturally sense the atmosphere between them. She smiled at Ye Fan and said, “I rushed here in a hurry this time around. I’ve called several of our old classmates who stayed in this city — let’s all ride together in Liu Yinzhi’s car.”
Before Ye Fan could say anything, Liu Yinzhi had already spoken first with a slightly apologetic air: “I really am sorry — I already made prior arrangements with two other old classmates. They’re just up ahead at the intersection. I’m afraid there may not be enough seats.”
“That’s fine. You go on ahead — I’ll be there shortly.” When Ye Fan finished speaking, he turned to Lin Jia and smiled. “Are you coming with me, or…”
While Lin Jia hesitated briefly, Liu Yinzhi urged, “Lin Jia, the great beauty, you’d better ride with me first — otherwise I’m afraid I’ll be drowned by people’s complaints.”
After standing by the roadside for a few minutes, Lin Jia expressed her apologies to Ye Fan and, under Liu Yinzhi’s urging, ultimately got into the Toyota.
The instant the car window rose, Ye Fan faintly caught Liu Yinzhi’s low, faintly disdainful murmur: “With it being rush hour right now, he’ll be lucky if he can even flag down a taxi!” And then the Toyota sped away, leaving only dust in its wake.
Back in university, Ye Fan had been something of a prominent figure on campus. Now, being mistaken for someone who had arrived by taxi, he naturally looked rather down on his luck compared to Liu Yinzhi.
As for someone like Liu Yinzhi — he simply ignored him. It was Lin Jia’s conduct that he found a little surprising.
Even so, everyone had their own way of navigating life. After all, one had to live in the real world, and it was natural and unavoidable to contend with self-interest, self-esteem, vanity, and the like. Ye Fan did not find it especially off-putting.
The red sun had already descended below the horizon. The skyline, stained as though by blood, was gradually dimming. The entire city seemed to have draped itself in a thick, grey overcoat, and the curtain of night was about to fall.
At this very moment, the nine colossal Dragon Corpses were pulling an Ancient Bronze Coffin as they lay sprawled across the pitch-black and frozen cosmos — that breathtaking sight seemed to be frozen there for eternity.
The astronauts aboard the International Space Station had already transmitted this world-shaking information back to the ground and were now awaiting further instructions.