Mortal Dawn and Dusk, My Eternal Life - Chapter 16

After Su Mingyue gently stroked the little boy’s head and told him it was just a nightmare, she quietly disappeared into the crowd, never looking back.

The little boy (whom we’ll temporarily call “A-Mu,” derived from “ten years a tree, a hundred years a person,” also hinting at his tenacious vitality) awoke from that heart-stopping “nightmare” to a world that seemed to have returned to its usual calm. Those passersby whose memories had been erased were still rushing about, striving for their livelihoods, as if nothing had ever happened. Only A-Mu clearly remembered the fairy-like beautiful older sister, how she fearlessly protected him in her embrace, the miracle of her terrifying wounds healing instantly, and the fleeting sadness in her eyes when she was branded a “demon.”

“Fairy sister…” A-Mu murmured to himself. He didn’t know that the faint trace of blood on his lips, those few drops of sweetness unknowingly swallowed, had quietly altered his destiny.

Su Mingyue believed her “Dust-Wiping Spell” worked on everyone, but she never anticipated that her blood, imbued with the mysteries of immortality, had subtly nullified the spell’s effect on A-Mu, making him the sole conscious witness of that “accident.”

A-Mu was an orphan, usually making a meager living by scavenging scraps in the streets and alleys or running errands for people, barely getting by. The “fairy sister” who saved him was the first warmth and kindness he had ever felt in his life.

So, from that day on, A-Mu began searching everywhere for that “fairy sister.” He ran to every corner of the capital city, asking everyone he could, but no one knew where the mysterious woman who appeared like a fleeting night-blooming cereus had gone. He didn’t know that Su Mingyue, after exposing her “abnormality,” had, as usual, already left that prosperous yet suffocating city, heading towards an unknown distant place.

Modern Su Mingyue’s consciousness was now deeply immersed within A-Mu’s body, feeling his every hope and disappointment. As A-Mu wandered the streets and alleys again and again, as he searched longingly with his clear eyes for that familiar figure, always in vain, an inexpressible bitterness surged within Su Mingyue’s heart.

“Foolish child,” she gently sighed within A-Mu’s consciousness, speaking to herself, “I’ve already left there… you won’t find me…” She knew this was the choice her past self had made, to avoid trouble, to avoid being treated as an anomaly. But now, through A-Mu’s perspective, she felt for the first time how deeply her “quiet departure” had affected this innocent child, leaving him with such profound longing and regret.

Thus, time flowed like sand through fingers, quietly passing. Spring came and went, summer and winter. A-Mu gradually grew from a seven or eight-year-old child into a tall and upright young man. He still hadn’t given up searching for that “fairy sister”; this had almost become his sole obsession in life. He lived diligently, learning various crafts, solely to be able to travel more and inquire in more places.

However, as time went on, A-Mu gradually discovered something that confused and disturbed him. The people around him were slowly aging. Those childhood friends who once played with him in the streets had now married and had children, and wrinkles were beginning to appear on their faces. The kind neighbors who had once looked after him also gradually became frail, their hair turning white.

Only he, A-Mu, his appearance seemed to have been forgotten by time. After reaching an age of about twenty, his looks never changed. His skin remained smooth and firm, his hair still dark and thick, his eyes still clear and bright, as if time had paused for him.

At first, people didn’t pay much attention. After all, some people naturally looked young. But when ten years passed, twenty years passed, even thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years… As the people around A-Mu aged and died one by one, while he still maintained the youthful appearance of a twenty-something, that sense of anomaly could no longer be hidden.

“Monster!”

“He’s ageless! He’s a monster!”

“Stay away from him! He’ll drain our vitality!”

Once friendly gazes gradually turned into suspicion and fear. Once affectionate titles gradually turned into malicious curses. A-Mu once again experienced the loneliness and ostracism that his “fairy sister” had endured back then. He wanted to explain, but no one believed him. He wanted to blend in, but he was ruthlessly pushed away.

Modern Su Mingyue deeply felt A-Mu’s inner pain and confusion. She was all too familiar with this feeling of being treated as an anomaly. Endless years brought her not only eternal life but also eternal solitude. She watched A-Mu go from initial bewilderment to painful struggle, and finally to numbness and resignation, as if seeing her past self.

It turned out that the drop of blood he had unknowingly swallowed not only granted him an ageless appearance but also burdened him with a similar “curse” to her own. Because of his ageless appearance, A-Mu had to move again and again, wandering from one place to another, trying to hide his secret. He became taciturn, unwilling to form deep relationships, fearing to experience the pain of being rejected as a monster again.

His obsession with the “fairy sister” gradually transformed from initial admiration and gratitude into a complex, indefinable emotion. He began to suspect that his unusual agelessness might be connected to that “fairy sister.” Who exactly was she? And where was she now?

While A-Mu was troubled by his “agelessness” and wandered everywhere, his unusual characteristic finally attracted the attention of some special individuals. It was a Daoist temple hidden deep in the mountains, named “Qingyun Temple.” Unlike other Daoists who devoted themselves to cultivation and lived simple lives, the Daoists of Qingyun Temple pursued the elusive art of “eternal life.” They collected various ancient texts and secret formulas, researched various strange and unorthodox techniques, even resorting to sinister means, all to glimpse a shred of the mystery of eternal life.

Through some unknown channel, the abbot of Qingyun Temple, a gaunt-faced, sinister-eyed old Daoist, heard about a “strange person” in the common folk who was ageless and seemingly possessed the secret of eternal life. The old Daoist immediately rejoiced as if he had found a treasure. He immediately dispatched his disciples to search everywhere for A-Mu’s whereabouts. For them, A-Mu was a living “sample of eternal life,” a “key” that could help them fulfill their lifelong dream!

A-Mu didn’t know that an invisible net had quietly been cast upon him. He continued to wander in solitude, his heart filled with confusion about his own fate and complex emotions for that “fairy sister.”

And modern Su Mingyue, through A-Mu’s perspective, once again experienced the endless troubles and potential dangers brought by being “different.” Her heart was filled with regret and a hint of… guilt. If only she had been more cautious back then, if only she had noticed A-Mu accidentally ingesting her blood, perhaps this innocent life would not have borne such a heavy destiny.