dognovel Chapter 114 The Origin of the Longevity Lock
Chapter 114 The Origin of the Longevity Lock
The head of the Lin family naturally recognized that this was the longevity lock that Lin Leyou had worn since childhood.
He didn't know how this thing ended up in Fan Li's hands, but he didn't dare ask too much. He just answered whatever the immortal asked.
"My Lord, this is Youyou... My aunt gave it to me when I was three years old. As for where she found it, I don't know."
"Where is she?" Fan Li glanced at everyone, his tone a little anxious.
Patriarch Lin said sadly, "My dear Immortal, my sister passed away a year ago due to illness."
Fan Li was slightly stunned.
I feel a little disappointed to get this answer.
She stroked the longevity lock, which felt cold, and an indescribable sour feeling rose in her heart.
The head of the Lin family secretly observed Fan Li's expression, and seemed to have noticed something. After thinking about it carefully, his eyes lit up.
He quickly said, "My sister came back from Jiangzhou to visit my seriously ill mother. I believe she also brought this little thing from Jiangzhou. I remember that she said she saw it in a pawnshop and thought it was quite exquisite, so she bought it."
"Jiangzhou?" Fan Li searched for the place name in his mind.
Li Changyu leaned forward slightly and said softly, "Senior, Jiangzhou is three hundred miles away from here, which is not far."
They all saw that Fan Li cared very much about the longevity lock, and guessed that the longevity lock must have a great origin.
The head of the Lin family may not have any other special abilities, but he is very good at seizing opportunities.
He said earnestly, "How about this? Immortal, please stay at the Lin family for a while. I will send someone to your brother-in-law's house overnight to find the pawnshop owner from back then and bring him to the Lin family by noon tomorrow at the latest."
Fan Li: "Alright."
After getting Fan Li's nod, the head of the Lin family immediately arranged for personnel.
Everyone in the Lin family started to move.
Li Changyu stood up.
"It won't take that long. I'll take you there. If everything goes well, I'll be back in two hours."
Li Changyu grabbed the shoulder of the head of the Lin family. The head of the Lin family was stunned for a moment. The other party did not give him a chance to think at all, and whooshed him into the sky.
At his old age, the head of the Lin family experienced the feeling of being in heaven for the first time.
"You all get out."
Fan Li sat in his original position without moving. His voice was not loud, but everyone could hear it clearly.
The Lin family quietly retreated from the lobby, and soon, only Fan Li was left inside.
She came under the lamp and looked at the longevity lock.
"I was wondering why it looked more and more familiar..."
A sneer crossed Fan Li's lips.
If she remembered correctly, she had seen this thing on Song Xixi several times.
Of course it was in the previous life.
Song Xixi treasured the longevity lock extremely much. In the past, she would intentionally or unintentionally show off any good things she had, but this longevity lock was the only one that Fan Li was not allowed to touch.
Fan Li always thought that this thing was given to her by Yunmeng Zhenren. After all, the longevity lock is usually a gift from elders to younger generations, implying longevity and good health.
At the moment, it seems that this longevity lock has nothing to do with Master Yunmeng.
If that’s the case, why does Song Xixi regard this thing as so important?
Fan Li was certain that this was just an ordinary longevity lock, devoid of any magical power and useless for cultivating immortality. This didn't fit Song Xixi's style at all.
Therefore, it is definitely not that simple. The longevity lock must have uses that others don’t know about.
There seemed to be a layer of fog in front of him. Fan Li tightly grasped the longevity lock in his hand, eager to see the truth behind the fog.
Fan Li circulated the Wuxiang Heart Sutra in his body, and after his mind was completely calm, he sorted out the timeline in his mind.
Fan Li didn't know whether Song Xixi had been to the Lin family in Shui County in her previous life, but he was sure that the longevity lock appeared on Song Xixi's body two years after she entered the family.
Before this, what Song Xixi had hanging on her chest was not a longevity lock, but something else.
Of course, she doesn't wear it all the time, but only on certain occasions.
In his previous life, Fan Li was solely focused on pleasing his senior brothers and never noticed that there was anything wrong with this. Now that he thinks about it, it's really strange.
It's like she wore it on purpose for someone...
Who on earth is it?
Fan Li intuitively felt that this direction of thinking was correct, and this person was the key to solving the mystery.
But she just couldn’t remember!!
Fan Li slapped her forehead in annoyance. If she had focused her mind on other things in her previous life, she wouldn't be so stupid.
Fan Li suddenly had an idea and thought of another suspicious point.
Song Xixi treasured this longevity lock so much, but in the end she casually threw it at the foot of the mountain. Fan Li picked it up by accident and thought she had lost it accidentally, so he kindly returned it to her.
But Song Xixi had a very unlucky expression on her face and reluctantly took it back. Only then did Fan Li realize that she had lost it on purpose.
So many things happened in her previous life that Fan Li had long forgotten such trivial matters. It was hard for her to still remember them now.
Fan Li really didn't know what the longevity lock's final fate would be.
Thinking of this, Fan Li felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
Li Changyu came back quickly.
The good news is that he brought back the pawnshop owner from that year.
The bad news was that the pawnshop owner was old and had a poor memory. He stared at the longevity lock for a long time but couldn't tell what it meant.
Is this a wasted trip? Li Changyu was getting anxious.
"Old man, please think about it carefully."
Several pairs of eyes were staring at the pawnshop owner, and he felt very pressured.
"I, I really can't remember." The pawnshop owner was in tears.
Although his pawnshop was a small business, the items he had handled over the years accumulated to thousands of items, large and small.
He has more than a dozen longevity locks. He is just a businessman and doesn't care about the origins of things.
Time passed little by little, and the pawnshop owner still had no clue.
Fan Li had already given up hope.
The head of the Lin family suddenly had an idea.
He ordered someone to bring a portrait of his sister, hoping that the pawnshop owner would be able to recall something from it.
I didn't expect this method to be so effective.
"I remembered!"
The pawnshop owner, with his mouth full of gold teeth, said, "This is a rather sad story. Alas, I'm a little thirsty. Could you offer me some tea?"
"Yes, yes, tea will be here soon." Seeing that he remembered, the head of the Lin family looked happy and poured him tea personally.
There was a muffled thunder in the sky above the Lin family, and soon there was the sound of dripping rain.
The pawnshop owner narrowed his cloudy eyes and looked out the door. Through the hazy rain, he recalled the scene of that year and said slowly:
"It rained that day, too, just as suddenly. But that time the rain was much heavier, with thunder rumbling, and the sky became dark, and the streets quickly emptied out."
"The weather was bad, and I thought there wouldn't be many customers, so I was about to close the door, but suddenly two little beggars, soaking wet, came in."
The pawnshop owner changed his address again when he said this.
"No, you can't say beggars, you should say refugees."
Patriarch Lin caught the key words and seemed to remember something, and hurriedly said, "Could it be from the north?"
The pawnshop owner nodded. "That's right. The Jiangzhou prefect was kind-hearted and took in those refugees."
Fan Li couldn't help but interrupt: "What refugees?"
Patriarch Lin explained, "Your Excellency, you may not know this, but Jiangzhou is close to the border of Jing State, and right next door is Yue State. That year, Jing State enjoyed peace and prosperity, while Yue State was tragically destroyed, leaving its people destitute."
The head of the Lin family narrated this history calmly, but it made Fan Li's heart jump suddenly.
No one noticed Fan Li's abnormality.
"Those refugees fled to Jing State at that time. They were really pitiful." said the head of the Lin family.
Fan Li seemed unwilling to listen to this heavy history and brought the subject back.
"What about those two children? What do they have to do with this longevity lock?"
The pawnshop owner said with a rather pitying tone, "Those are two siblings, and the longevity lock belongs to the little girl."
Fan Li: "She wants to sell the longevity lock? Why?"
Pawnshop owner: "To exchange money to save my life."
"Whose life are you saving?" Fan Li asked, holding the armrest tightly.
"Of course it's her brother's fate."
"What happened to her brother?"
The pawnshop owner hesitated, "Maybe he's sick."
"What is should?"
"His body was half cold and half hot, like a world of ice and fire. I've never seen such a strange disease before. In my entire life, I've only seen it once."
Under Fan Li's guidance, the pawnshop owner's memory gradually became clearer, and the scene of that day emerged in his mind.
The little boy lay on the bed, his body stiff, his breath weak, his skin as white as a dead person.
The little girl held her brother's hand all the time and was surprisingly strong. She didn't cry or make a fuss and was very quiet.
It makes people feel very distressed when watching it.
He accepted the longevity lock and kindly found a doctor for the two siblings.
But after taking the patient's pulse, the doctor was either amazed or shook his head with regret, saying that the patient would not live long.
He is a businessman and doesn't want anyone to die in his store. He has done his best to this extent.
I gave the two siblings a little extra money and let them go when the rain stopped.
In my memory, the little girl was small and weak, carrying her brother, who was taller than her, on her back and walking away step by step.
He felt a little regretful that he didn't ask the names of the two siblings that day.
The pawnshop owner blew on the tea leaves in his cup and sighed, "This is the origin of the longevity lock. I just don't know what happened to the two brothers and sisters later."
Fan Li had a complicated expression and looked down at the longevity lock in his hand.
She couldn't help but worry, is the little boy still alive?
The pawnshop owner said it was so serious, so I guess there's no chance of a miracle happening...
Suddenly, the pawnshop owner slapped his thigh and remembered something important.
"Oh, by the way, a young man came to my shop later and said he wanted to redeem the longevity lock!"