Snow flew everywhere outside the window, yet inside the ancient alchemy chamber it was warm as spring.

The Boss sat before an alchemy furnace half a person’s height, intently staring at the fire beneath it. He was extremely close, the firelight illuminating his cheeks. Anyone else would have found it unbearable by now, but not a single drop of sweat had fallen from his face.

A pale hand reached out from behind him, wrapping around his neck and pulling him back slightly. A voice tinged with concern said: “Don’t get so close. What if you get burned?”

The Boss blinked and patted the hand resting on his shoulder reassuringly: “It’s fine, I won’t feel any pain anyway.”

“That’s exactly the problem – that you can’t feel pain.” A face wearing a half silver mask emerged from the shadows. Though only half the face was visible, one could still see the straight nose bridge, moderately thick lips, and beautifully contoured jawline.

The voice was also pleasant to hear: “Why do people feel pain? It’s because pain makes us protect ourselves and avoid doing things that would harm us again. For example, if injured by swords, we’ll dodge in advance when encountering blades next time. Having been burned by fire once, we’ll keep our distance when using fire. Since you can’t feel pain at all, it’ll be too late when your fingers are actually burned to a crisp.”

The Boss helplessly pressed the Yintang acupoint between his eyebrows. As Fu Su shed the burden of the Great Qin and increasingly adapted to this society, his personality had become more and more cheerful. Along with that came an increasing tendency to lecture people, and he was becoming more and more talkative.

When they left the Dumb House a year ago, he had indeed intended to give his body to Fu Su, but how could the latter agree to that? After discussion, Fu Su returned the body to the Doctor, with his soul attached to the water-pale jade, which the Boss took along to find a suitable body. Of course, this process had a seventy percent chance of the soul being scattered to the winds.

Perhaps it was truly fate – before long, he found a young man who had died in a traffic accident. Unfortunately, part of his face was burned, so he wasn’t perfectly intact. However, Fu Su wasn’t someone who cared much about appearances, and usually just wore a half-mask to avoid frightening others.

After Fu Su successfully borrowed this corpse for reincarnation, because this body wasn’t as suitable as possessing the Doctor had been, there were occasional soul-body rejection reactions. So for the past half year, the Boss had been refining elixirs for Fu Su, hoping to smoothly resolve this problem.

“If only Master were still here,” the Boss murmured to himself as he was forced to move back half a meter, watching the fire-wreathed alchemy furnace. What he had learned from his master since childhood wasn’t alchemy, but rather the various schools of philosophy. If Master were here, perhaps he could refine an elixir of immortality… Thinking this, the Boss smiled self-mockingly. Even if Master were here, he probably couldn’t create one now. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth was now sparse, and those spiritual herbs and medicines from ancient times had long since become extinct. Where could he gather all the medicinal materials listed in the prescriptions? He had traveled through famous mountains and rivers, finding only a few herbs that could barely be used medicinally, and had failed several furnaces.

“No matter. If this furnace fails again, you can accompany me to travel around. This body can last at least three to five more years. I’m already very satisfied.” Fu Su sat cross-legged beside the Boss, reaching out to smooth the furrows from his brow, his tone gentle.

Such peaceful and harmonious life was something he couldn’t have imagined before. He deliberately spoke in a relaxed tone: “I’ve been busy for a year to keep that brat from losing his job – it’s been exhausting. This body’s family background seems quite good, and there’s no need to work. You can go abroad, right? Come travel the world with me. Besides, I’ve read the historical records – the later Ming and Qing dynasties were really awful. That Zhu fellow actually let foreign tribes rule over the Central Plains, and that Manchu Qing was even more outrageous, finally being invaded by barbarians from that tiny island nation. Many treasures were stolen away. When we travel around the world, we should also find ways to bring them back.”

This time the Boss didn’t mind Fu Su being talkative. He watched the dancing flames beneath the alchemy furnace, momentarily speechless.

Fu Su didn’t speak further either. He drew his hands together and quietly accompanied the Boss. He had only seen those fragments in history books, while the person beside him had actually lived through those turbulent times. Fu Su could hardly bear to think deeply about how this man had endured these past two thousand years.

The alchemy chamber remained silent until an explosive sound came from within the furnace. Only then did the Boss jump up and lift the scalding lid without regard for the heat, looking disappointedly at the charred blackness inside the furnace.

Fu Su wasn’t surprised. He pulled the Boss’s hand into a nearby water vat, letting the cool water soothe the latter’s reddened fingers while comforting him: “Don’t be like this, Bizi. It’s heaven’s will – don’t force it.”

The Boss looked down at his fingers soaking in the water vat for a moment, then let Fu Su pull them out to carefully dry them and apply a thick layer of badger oil. Though his fingertips felt no pain, he still felt like a knife was sawing back and forth in his heart, hurting so much he could barely speak.

If it had been a year ago, perhaps he wouldn’t feel this way, but after spending day and night with Fu Su again for a year, those memories buried deep in his mind had resurfaced. He was his lord; he should always stand behind him, no matter the cost.

Moreover, he only wanted to live. Even having a normal person’s lifespan would be fine, since his Prince Fu Su had died in the most beautiful years of his life.

“I need to go back once.” The Boss said flatly. It had been almost a year. He had left in haste then, fearing Fu Su’s soul would dissipate, and not knowing when the Doctor would wake up, so he had disappeared without leaving any word. He should go back and say hello.

“Back to the Dumb House? Good, I’ll come with you.”

Fu Su secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid Bizi would get stuck in his stubborn ways again. This person seemed extremely gentle on the surface, but was actually so stubborn that ten oxen couldn’t pull him back.

He touched the mask on his face and smiled: “Which country should we visit first? How about we go to Korea first since it’s nearby? I’ll get skin grafts and plastic surgery there, so I won’t have to wear this mask and scare children.”

The Boss’s mouth twitched twice. Having spent a year in the hospital, Fu Su knowing about plastic surgery wasn’t surprising, but he really hadn’t expected this Great Qin Crown Prince to be so open-minded about it.

He glanced at Fu Su’s somewhat shoulder-length hair and teased: “Didn’t you say ‘body, hair, and skin are received from parents and must not be damaged’? And you want plastic surgery? Cut your hair first before talking about anything else.”

Fu Su’s hand touching the mask stiffened, then moved to the Boss’s neat, short hair, asking curiously: “Bizi, when did you cut your hair? During the Republic era?”

“I’ll tell you when there’s a chance. Let’s pack up and go back,” the Boss casually changed the subject. “I need to get something from the Dumb House.”

“Hmm? What thing?”

“A compass.”

“…We won’t need a compass for navigation abroad, will we? Phone GPS navigation works very well now.”

“That’s GPS navigation, Your Highness.”

The Doctor walked out of the hospital building, the rare bright winter sunlight overhead making him squint uncomfortably after being accustomed to indoor lighting. He stopped, removed his glasses, and pressed the Yintang acupoint on his nose bridge. He had become a full doctor and had just assisted the director in a major surgery lasting fifteen consecutive hours. After hastily eating something and taking a brief rest in the break room, he had struggled to get up.

Because today was the agreed-upon time.

The Doctor put his glasses back on, took out his phone to confirm once more that he was indeed off duty today, then strode toward the Dumb House.

Would the compass successfully return to a year ago this time? He really wanted to know where the Boss had been taken by Fu Su, and why there hadn’t been a single bit of news…

Ah… almost a year had already passed in the blink of an eye…

Arriving at the commercial street, the Doctor could see the Dumb House sign from far away. It looked no different from usual, but only he knew that no matter how many times he pushed open that heavy carved door, he could never again see that familiar figure.

The Doctor’s steps unconsciously slowed. Physical exhaustion inevitably made him mentally pessimistic too. Sometimes he didn’t know if his persistence was right or wrong. Perhaps the Boss had ended his years of waiting and was living anonymously somewhere else with the person he had always hoped to see.

But… this didn’t match the Boss’s personality. By all rights, the Boss should have said goodbye to him rather than leaving without a word.

Even if he could just see him once more, even if they couldn’t talk and he could only observe from afar, he had to confirm that the Boss was still living well in this world. Even if they never met again, it wouldn’t matter.