Heavy ceremonial robes were not suitable for daily activities. After a long silence, Fu Su bent down and pulled up the shopkeeper who was still prostrate on the ground. After removing all the cumbersome ornaments and crown, Fu Su wore only black upper garments with crimson lower garments, which made his entire figure appear handsome and upright, graceful and distinguished.

The two sat down to drink tea. The shopkeeper knew Fu Su certainly wanted to know what exactly had happened, but he naturally couldn’t recount in detail everything from his two thousand years—the other wouldn’t be interested either. So he only briefly explained why he could live forever, and about discovering that Fu Su’s reincarnations died young in every lifetime and his subsequent following, and so forth.

Fu Su listened quietly throughout, his slender fingers caressing the rim of the blue and white porcelain covered bowl, as if fond of this lustrous and translucent porcelain. Only when the shopkeeper mentioned a certain matter did he suddenly speak: “According to what you say, this body I now inhabit is actually my reincarnation?”

The shopkeeper was stunned upon hearing this, feeling an indescribable panic in his heart. “Yes.” He could only squeeze out these two words from his lips, unable to say a single word more. What could he say? If he said that although the doctor was Fu Su’s reincarnation, they were two different souls, wouldn’t saying such words mean suspecting that Fu Su wouldn’t return the body?

Fu Su said nothing, only elegantly covered his mouth and yawned, saying somewhat wearily, “It’s late at night. I wish to rest.”

Only then did the shopkeeper realize the night was very deep. Since he rarely needed sleep, the canopy bed in the bedroom was basically just decoration. After changing the bedding again, the shopkeeper left the bedroom to Fu Su and returned upstairs to the Dumb House. After Hu Hai’s visit, everything was in chaos. Besides needing to apply medicine to San Qing, many disturbed antiques also needed to be reorganized.

The night passed without words. After the shopkeeper finished cleaning in the courtyard and found dawn had broken, recalling everything that happened yesterday still felt unreal. He stood dazedly in the cold wind for a long time before remembering that Fu Su was different from him—now in the doctor’s body, he naturally needed breakfast. He hurriedly put down the broom in his hands, planning to go out to buy breakfast. But when he turned around, he saw the doctor in casual clothes, smiling as he gestured to the breakfast box in his hands.

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, thinking everything that happened yesterday was just a dream he had, that the doctor was still the doctor, nothing had happened, and he was still dragging him to eat together regardless of his wishes as usual.

“Here, steamed buns from the street corner, fresh from the steamer.”

Pulled into the warm room with ivory chopsticks he usually used placed in his hands, the shopkeeper looked up and made contact with the other’s face without glasses, unable to help trembling. That gentle smile would absolutely never appear on the doctor’s face.

“Startled, weren’t you?” Fu Su’s smile deepened, obviously very satisfied to see shock on the shopkeeper’s face. He pointed to his own head and smiled: “Last night, I saw his entire life. Perhaps it’s because I’m borrowing his body. However, he has also seen my entire life. Very fair.”

Only then did the shopkeeper understand. Fu Su’s last sentence referred to this time last year when the doctor’s longevity lock broke, the doctor’s incomplete soul returned, and he had seen Fu Su’s life trajectory. And now that Fu Su had seen the doctor’s memories, he would naturally know how to wear modern clothes and know that the steamed buns from the street corner were delicious.

The shopkeeper ate without tasting anything, listening to Fu Su skillfully using his phone to call the hospital for leave, and an even stronger sense of incongruity surged up in his heart. Although he knew what Fu Su was doing was normal, after the doctor saw Fu Su’s memories, he had never displayed even half a word or action related to Fu Su in front of him. But now everything Fu Su was doing gave the shopkeeper a feeling that the doctor would be completely replaced.

The shopkeeper still remembered once mentioning that incident to the doctor, asking him how he felt after seeing Fu Su’s entire life. The doctor had answered very frankly that he felt nothing—that series of scenes was just like watching a legendary holographic movie. How could anyone now think they were a character from a movie? Liking Jia Baoyu’s life couldn’t possibly make someone think they were Jia Baoyu, right? He was Fu Su’s reincarnation? This was completely different! Just like playing games with several avatars—what did what happened to one avatar have to do with another avatar?

It was precisely because of that conversation that the shopkeeper completely distinguished between the doctor and Fu Su as two people. These were two completely different souls with no essential relationship.

But now, right before his eyes, scenes he had never imagined were unfolding.

“What are you thinking about?” Fu Su closed his phone and looked over with raised eyebrows. He was an extremely perceptive person who understood the crux of the matter with just one glance, then smiled broadly: “Don’t worry, it’s just a necessary measure. If I don’t take leave, when this person returns to his own body, he’ll find he’s lost his job. Fortunately, he hasn’t used his annual leave this year.”

The shopkeeper felt he was overthinking and smiled embarrassedly.

“You should keep this. I feel a lot of pressure carrying around this naked man.” Fu Su sighed and removed the pale jade pendant from his neck, handing it over.

The shopkeeper accepted this light blue Jesus Christ pendant. He knew this was just Fu Su’s excuse, because if Fu Su didn’t want to return the doctor’s body, he only needed to destroy this pendant, and without a vessel to depend on, the doctor’s soul would naturally be scattered.

The shopkeeper lowered his head, feeling guilty for suspecting Fu Su. But after a long silence, he ultimately hung this pendant that still carried body warmth around his own neck.

Seeing this, Fu Su, who had been smiling gently across from him, had a sharp glint flash through his deep eyes.

Each harboring their own thoughts, they finished breakfast. The shopkeeper as usual brought out fine Longquan celadon to brew a pot of digestive Biluochun tea. Looking at the familiar face across from him through the rising steam, he felt inexplicably awkward.

He also tried to find things to say, but his and Fu Su’s time difference spanned over two thousand years. When they were together before, they always had endless government affairs and policy discussions to talk about. Now that the Great Qin Empire had become history, these topics were obviously outdated. And with Fu Su now possessing the doctor’s memories, explaining the changes of these two thousand years also seemed somewhat redundant. For a moment, the shopkeeper could only sit there dazedly smelling the tea fragrance, not knowing what to say.

Fortunately, after the time it took to drink one cup of tea, Fu Su expressed a desire to browse around the Dumb House. The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief and gladly led him toward the inner chambers of the Dumb House.

The Dumb House contained numerous antiques. The shopkeeper knew that even though Fu Su possessed the doctor’s memories, relying on the doctor’s pitiful historical knowledge, he probably couldn’t make sense of these antiques. So he paid attention to Fu Su’s gaze, and whenever he saw him curious about an antique, he would provide detailed introductions beside it. The day quickly passed, and the shopkeeper took Fu Su to the Sichuan restaurant where he and the doctor often ate dinner, thinking to himself that the words he spoke today probably exceeded all he had said in these many years.

This day, the pale jade at the shopkeeper’s neck remained silent. He remembered that after the mystery novelist’s soul was sealed in this pendant, he had awakened the next day. He was somewhat worried whether something was wrong with the doctor’s soul, but then thought that the doctor was originally destined to die last year, his soul power was much weaker than ordinary people’s, so it was normal that he hadn’t awakened yet.

This night, the shopkeeper picked and chose among the Dumb House, planning to prepare the antiques for Fu Su to appreciate the next day in advance, staying busy until dawn. He went out first to buy breakfast, and when he returned, after searching the entire Dumb House, he finally found Fu Su in the room where Little Red Bird was confined.

Little Red Bird, which had been starved for a day and two nights, was lying half-dead in the birdcage. The wounds on its body had healed, but many feathers had fallen out, and the crimson feathers still had dried bloodstains, looking extremely pitiful.

Fu Su took the breakfast the shopkeeper handed over but didn’t eat it himself. Instead, he broke off pieces from the steamed bun in his hand and used chopsticks to feed them into the birdcage. “Ming Hong, come, eat something.”

The shopkeeper didn’t stop him. He wouldn’t go so far as to take out his anger toward Hu Hai on a small bird by not feeding it. It was just because San Qing was still angry. Moreover, this little bird that could transform into a divine blade probably wouldn’t die from being hungry for these two days. And he didn’t think that even if he fed it, this proud little bird would eat.

Sure enough, the chopsticks Fu Su extended had no attraction whatsoever. Little Red Bird just glanced once and resolutely turned its head to the other side.

The shopkeeper was silent for a moment, then gave Fu Su the beef jerky he was holding. Based on experience, this creature should eat meat, right?

The beef jerky indeed received Little Red Bird’s special attention. It almost immediately pounced over without even struggling. Fu Su was in a good mood. Seeing Little Red Bird leaning against the cage edge eating the beef jerky, he extended his finger into the cage to groom its pitiful feathers.

“Bi Zhi, let’s release it later.” Fu Su said gently.

The shopkeeper was stunned. He hadn’t planned to do anything to this little bird, but he had been thinking that Hu Hai would come personally for it, and they could have an opportunity to meet and talk. This incident all started because of Hu Hai—he must have an explanation.

“The ancient territory of Qin was shaped like a bird. There’s an old saying: ‘Qin is a great bird, bearing the realm and dwelling there, facing east and standing, its left arm grasping the southwest of Zhao, its right arm touching Chu’s Ying and Ying, its breast striking Han and Wei, its head hanging over the Central Plains. Having both convenient positioning and geographical advantage, spreading wings and flapping, spanning three thousand li.'” Fu Su’s voice was always so unhurried, pleasant to listen to.

The shopkeeper was somewhat surprised, not knowing why Fu Su would suddenly tell him these things.

“Bi Zhi, do you know the origin of our Ying family?” Fu Su withdrew his hand, used a nearby silk handkerchief to wipe clean the bloodstains from Ming Hong, picked up another piece of beef jerky, carefully tore it into pieces and fed it to Little Red Bird.

The shopkeeper nodded, found a chair in the room and sat down, saying lightly: “In the ‘Qin Basic Annals,’ it’s recorded that the ancestor of the Ying family was Da Fei. Da Fei assisted Yu the Great in controlling floods. Emperor Shun gave him a ‘Soap Banner’—a flag hung with black streamers. That great banner was also…” The shopkeeper paused slightly, steadied himself, then continued, “…also the fabric of this Red Dragon Robe I wear.”

“Yes, it’s said that Soap Banner was made into two sets of clothing and actually had the effect of preserving flesh from decay. Truly marvelous.” Fu Su smiled lightly. “Setting that aside, after controlling floods, ancestor Da Fei assisted Emperor Shun in taming birds and beasts, and was granted the surname ‘Ying.’ And Ming Hong is the guardian spirit bird of the Ying family.”

The shopkeeper’s gaze fell on Little Red Bird eating voraciously in the birdcage, completely unable to sense where this fellow had any guardian spirit bird capabilities. “But why have I never seen it before?”

“During the Shang Tang Dynasty, the Ying family was a major noble clan, incomparably wealthy. But during the Zhou period, they were driven west for three hundred years, gritting their teeth through hard times in poor lands. The Ying family treasures from the Shang Tang period were hidden in one place, guarded by Ming Hong, and only our clan’s leader could know the exact location.” Fu Su clapped the crumbs from his hands, narrowed his eyes and said: “It seems Hu Hai obtained that treasure.”

The shopkeeper had already noticed that Fu Su’s way of addressing Hu Hai was no longer a pet name but his full name.

“You blame him.” The shopkeeper’s statement wasn’t a question but an affirmation.

Fu Su held his forehead and laughed softly: “What use is blaming him? People cannot change the past.”

The shopkeeper felt dejected and no longer tried to persuade him, instead getting up and opening the birdcage door, then walking to the side to open the window.

Cold winter wind poured into the warm room. Little Red Bird, which had been buried in eating, shivered from the cold, looked up blankly at the wide-open cage and window, and immediately flew out excitedly with spread wings. Naturally, before leaving, it didn’t forget to carry away the package of beef jerky by the cage. The habitually clean shopkeeper couldn’t tolerate Little Red Bird eating and scattering crumbs everywhere, so he went out to get a broom to sweep up.

“Bi Zhi, though people cannot change the past, they might be able to change the future.” As he was about to leave, Fu Su’s murmuring voice came.

The shopkeeper only paused his steps slightly, and after a moment, resumed walking away.

But when he returned to the room, it was already empty except for the unclosed birdcage door swaying back and forth in the cold wind blowing through the window, making “creak, creak” sounds…