Super Soldier in the City

Chapter 1768 - 1821: Growing Old

This time, there was no fight, because Li Yifei’s injury hadn’t healed yet, and the Saintess would never make a move against Li Yifei in such a condition.As for this decision, the people in the Holy War Organization were helpless; they were really worried that the Saintess wouldn’t be able to overcome her inner demons, but they had no way to assist, and some even wanted to secretly assassinate Li Yifei. Others suggested poisoning Li Yifei to control him so that when he fought the Saintess, he couldn’t exert his full strength, allowing the Saintess to naturally win.

But the Saintess had already issued a strict order: no one was allowed to interfere in the battle between her and Li Yifei, nor make a move against Li Yifei, or they shouldn’t blame her for finding trouble with them.

Regarding this prohibition, many people in the Holy War Organization listened, while others may or may not have heard; the Saintess didn’t know. In any case, Li Yifei had safely returned to Huaxia, landing at the capital airport, exiting the terminal, and taking a taxi to the city center. He didn’t transfer flights home directly; instead, he came to Old Master Su’s place.

Recently, Old Master Su’s health had been poor. Last month, Su Mengxin had just taken care of him for a while, and his health improved a bit. But in recent days, he was said to have caught a cold again, so Li Yifei came by to check on him. Old Master Su was the backbone of the Su Family. Not many in the Su family’s younger generations had become prominent, which made Old Master Su helpless. Still, his granddaughter was doing well, and even her husband was considered excellent; this brought some comfort to the old master.

People, regardless of their position, have some knots that can’t be untied. Old Master Su had spent his life on the country, rarely managing his own children, but seeing them unpromising always made him anxious and worried.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Yifei arrived, Old Master Su began to talk about the trivial matters of his descendants.

Li Yifei listened seriously but seldom gave opinions. Unless the old man asked him directly, he would then carefully consider and share his thoughts.

Suddenly, Li Yifei felt a bit sour in his heart. Seeing Old Master Su’s graying hair and wrinkle-covered face, he suddenly realized something; perhaps, the old master really was getting old. When he first met Old Master Su, he wasn’t like this. Yet in just a few years, he had aged so much, even more than the last time he’d seen him.

This rate of aging wasn’t normal. The old master might really not have long to live.

Especially, after Old Master Su finished nagging about his children, he said something that left Li Yifei speechless for a long time. The old master opened a drawer beside him, took out a box, slowly opened it, and said, "This is a gift for my great-great-grandson, but it’s a pity I haven’t seen the child yet or given the gift. Who knows if I’ll even get to see that poor child while I’m alive? Despite storming through life, now that I’m old, I can’t even protect my own great-grandson."

Li Yifei almost burst into tears; it is said that tears don’t fall easily, except when truly pained. People inevitably grow old. He hadn’t felt this way about others, but hearing Old Master Su say such words, Li Yifei found it hard to control himself.

"Alright, people get old, and sometimes they can’t control their emotions. I have no one to talk to about those unfilial children and grandchildren of mine, only when I see you can I nag a couple of words. Just take it as it is and let it pass. For this family, I have to live well. I haven’t yet seen my little great-grandson. This gift... I’ll keep it until I see him and personally give it to him, telling him it’s from his great-grandfather!" the old man said, then laughed, as if he had already imagined the scene.

Li Yifei held the old man’s hand and nodded heavily, earnestly saying, "Grandpa, don’t worry, I will definitely find the child and bring him to see you."

"Yes, I know, and I believe you can find him!" Old Master Su said.

That night, Li Yifei stayed in the bedroom next to Old Master Su’s, and at night, he could still hear the frail coughs of the old man.

Li Yifei couldn’t sleep half the night; he really wanted to check Old Master Su’s health, but he knew very little about medicine. However, he knew that True Qi could cure many diseases and strengthen the body, but Li Yifei currently didn’t possess it and didn’t know when he could fully recover it.

Li Yifei even thought of asking Murong Yuanqing and the others how to make an old man’s body better, at least let him live a few more years.

But he also understood that organ failure in the human body is an irretrievable process, and even organ replacement might not work. It’s not a disease, but natural aging.

For practitioners like him, it’s true they can live much longer because cultivating True Qi is a defying process; absorbing Spirit Qi from nature into the body, converting and nourishing every cell, each organ and tissue of the body, expelling impurities and toxins. Such a person can naturally live much longer.

But at the same time, it’s a process of depriving other creatures of the better Spirit Qi. When you have it, others do not, since the total amount is limited.

Li Yifei wrestled with this idea all night and couldn’t come up with a good solution. He wanted Old Master Su to live a few more years, not to leverage his background for anything. The Li family didn’t rely much on the Su family, although there were times they did. But more than anything, Li Yifei didn’t want to lose a grandfather.

However, Murong Yuanqing and others also had no good solution. Li Yifei knew this. He had asked about it when a war veteran saved Old Master Su the last time. And methods like using True Qi to stimulate the body’s potential didn’t apply to Old Master Su. Li Yifei wanted to extend his life, not just snatch a few extra days.

In the morning, after visiting Old Master Su, Li Yifei even thought of taking the old master home for close care, but the old master had no intentions of leaving; he wouldn’t even visit his own children’s homes, let alone the Li family.

So Li Yifei stayed one more day, accompanying the old master throughout the day, playing chess, drinking tea, and chatting away. The wise and well-read old master imparted considerable wisdom to Li Yifei, for which he was greatly grateful.

On the third day, Li Yifei had to leave for the airport. The old master, however, was very open-minded, sending Li Yifei off at the door, waving him on, saying, "Go, bring my great-grandson the next time you come."

Dropping the ’great-’ prefix, it showed the anticipation in the old man’s heart. Li Yifei took a deep breath, nodded firmly, and told him to take care before turning to get in the car.

As the car drove out of the alley, Li Yifei could still see the figure of the old man, seemingly reluctant to go back inside. Li Yifei also turned around to look, wanting to deeply engrain this scene in his memory.

Ultimately, he was just an old man, one who could die at any moment.