The shopkeeper heard this and couldn't help but fall into thought.
After a long while, he nodded slightly and said, "Now that you mention it, I do recall something. It seems someone once said those two shops used to be a single shop."
The shopkeeper shook his head as he continued, "But even if those two shops were called the Hall of Forgotten Rivers in the past, they have split up now, so naturally, it's not the same. Therefore, it's still gone."
Su Qing, listening to their conversation from the side, was momentarily stunned, and then she couldn't help but feel a bit of joy.
It was just a pity that they were no longer called the Hall of Forgotten Rivers.
But as long as the descendants were still around, it was worth her while to go and take a look.
After thinking for a moment, Su Qing asked, "Could you tell me more about these two shops? For example, why did they split up before? And when did they split?"
The shopkeeper heard Su Qing's words and, although he found it strange that she was interested in two funeral parlors,
But the customer is king, and since she had bought so many things, he should help if he could.
It wasn't like he had to give her any money; he was just talking about things from the past.
However... the shopkeeper actually didn't know much about the past of the Hall of Forgotten Rivers.
After all, he had barely remembered that the predecessors of the 'Hall of the Next Life' and 'Hall of the Past Life' was the Hall of Forgotten Rivers, so it was naturally impossible for him to know much more.
"Old Lou, tell the young lady everything you know!" the shopkeeper said to the shop assistant beside him.
The shop assistant nodded, bowed slightly to Su Qing, and said:
"Forgive me, young lady, but I actually don't know much either."
"I'm not very clear on why the Hall of Forgotten Rivers split up back then... I only heard it was due to some ancestral reasons that caused a conflict between the two families. The Hall of Forgotten Rivers, which was doing perfectly fine, was thus split into two shops."
"But as for the detailed reasons, an outsider like me doesn't know much."
"And the split of the Hall of Forgotten Rivers into two shops happened decades ago. It's been so long that I can't remember many things clearly."
Su Qing listened to the shop assistant's words, pondered for a moment, and nodded slightly, saying, "Then do you know where these two shops are located now?"
The shop assistant stroked his beard, thought for a moment, and said, "I remember they seemed to have moved over to West Street... it's quite far from the busy market."
"However, there aren't many shops over on West Street, so those two shops shouldn't be too hard to find."
"If the young lady wants to find them, you should see them if you stroll to North Street."
"Besides, those two shops don't seem to be very far apart. If the young lady finds one, you should be able to find the other as well."
"I see..." Su Qing nodded slightly and bowed in thanks. "Thank you, this has really been a great help to me."
The shop assistant quickly shook his head and said, "It's just a small favor, no need for thanks! It's just that I'm a bit curious, why is the young lady looking for those funeral parlors?"
"I've come for my ancestors' old friends," Su Qing said with a faint smile and added casually, "By the way, take those two packages of pastries back and eat them; consider them my thank-you gift."
"This, this cannot be accepted!" The shop assistant hurriedly shook his head. These things were not cheap, and he didn't dare to take them lightly.
"I imagine you have grandsons and granddaughters. Just take them; it'll be nice to give them to the children in your family."
The shop assistant thought of his own children upon hearing this and couldn't help but hesitate.
At this time, the shopkeeper on the side spoke up, "Since the young lady is giving them to you, just take them."
Seeing the shopkeeper say this, the shop assistant also hurriedly nodded and placed the two boxes of pastries in front of himself.
Su Qing smiled at the sight, and after paying for the pastries, she left the shop.
After Su Qing left, the shop assistant thought for a moment and prepared to return the pastries to the shopkeeper...
Seeing this, the shopkeeper chuckled and shook his head, saying:
"Since the young lady paid and gave the things to you, then they are considered sold to you. Just keep them. I didn't lose any money on these pastries!"
"This... thank you, boss."
"Thank the young lady!" the shopkeeper laughed. "Alright, after you put the things away, get back to work quickly."
The shop assistant put the pastries away and then continued to work diligently, attending to the next customer.
The shopkeeper looked in the direction Su Qing had left and couldn't help but think, "This truly is a strange young lady."
After leaving the shop, Su Qing made her way all the way toward West Street.
On the way, Su Qing turned to look at Leng Xiang beside her and said, "It's really thanks to Leng Xiang this time. If it weren't for Leng Xiang, I'm afraid I would have missed it."
Leng Xiang shook her head slightly at the words and said, "Even if I hadn't said it, Master would have thought of it sooner or later."
"But didn't you say it?" Su Qing said. "So just accept my thanks properly!"
Leng Xiang couldn't help but smile upon hearing this, then she nodded and asked:
"After Master finds them, what are your plans? Do you intend to reveal your identity to them?"
"Actually, I don't think it's very necessary..." Su Qing shook her head. "Setting aside whether it would bring unnecessary trouble, whether they would even believe it is a question. So, it's better to just take a look first!"
Leng Xiang also nodded slightly.
The two moved very quickly and in a short while had already reached West Street.
This West Street was relatively quiet and not very bustling...
Although there were still many vendors carrying poles and selling things along the way, the number was clearly much smaller.
However, Su Qing wasn't here to go shopping after all, so fewer vendors actually made it easier for her to find the location of the shops.
She and Leng Xiang took a turn around the vicinity of West Street... and soon found the two shops.
Just as the shop assistant had told her, the two shops were not hard to find, and they were not far apart.
The two shops were diagonally across from each other...
They were only about ten meters apart.
This was even including the width of the street.
"The shop is much smaller than before," Su Qing couldn't help but think as she looked at the two shops. "It seems... after the split, things have gone downhill!"
Regarding this, she wasn't actually very surprised... nor did she find it unacceptable.
After all, nothing in the world is ever truly everlasting... even powerful dynasties don't last more than a few hundred years!
Not to mention, this was just a funeral parlor.
The only thing she found a bit regrettable was that her original vision had probably completely fallen through.
Su Qing shook her head as she thought, letting out a bitter smile.
Then she walked into the shop that was closer to her...
The people in the shop saw a customer coming and hurriedly came forward to welcome her.
"Is the young lady here to arrange a funeral? Or do you want to buy some incense, candles, paper money, and the like?" The speaker was a woman in her late forties or early fifties, whose face looked slightly haggard, as if she hadn't slept well.
Su Qing nodded slightly at the sight and said, "Help me get some incense, candles, and paper money. I'm going to sweep a friend's grave."
"Please wait a moment, young lady. I'll go get them for you," the woman said, turning around to fetch the items.
Su Qing looked around. Although the shop was much smaller, the decor and layout still showed some shadows of the old Hall of Forgotten Rivers.
Especially seeing the little girl in the corner helping to weave some things, it made Su Qing recall some things from the past.
When people see familiar things, it inevitably evokes old memories.
For someone like Su Qing, who had lived a long time yet hadn't shed her ordinary emotions, this was even more true.
"Little girl, what are you making?" Su Qing walked over to the child's side and asked as she crouched down.
The little girl heard the voice and couldn't help but look up, staring at Su Qing with pale, sightless eyes.
Seeing this, Su Qing's brow couldn't help but furrow slightly...
The child's eyes clearly had a problem.
"In response to Big Sister's question, I'm weaving flower baskets!" the little girl replied.
"It's quite well-made, very pretty."
"Thank you for the compliment, Big Sister!" The little girl smiled slightly and tilted her head to ask, "Does Big Sister need to buy one? It's very cheap! Only five copper coins."
Hearing this, Su Qing was stunned for a moment, then she couldn't help but smile as she reached out to rub the girl's hair. This child was quite good at doing business.
"Then..."
Su Qing was just about to speak when the woman who had finished fetching the items returned and interrupted her, forcing the words back into her throat.
"Yuer, don't be troublesome."
"Mother~ I'm not being troublesome..." The little girl, having been scolded, couldn't help but retort, "I just wanted to earn a little money..."
However, the woman paid no heed to the little girl's words and only apologized to Su Qing, saying, "Forgive me, young lady, my daughter is still young and ignorant. Did she disturb you?"
"I was the one who spoke to her first; she's not to blame," Su Qing shook her head and said, "By the way, her eyes... was she born blind?"
The woman sighed slightly upon hearing this and shook her head, "She only started losing her sight in recent years..."
"Do you know what the illness is?"
Hearing this, the woman shook her head, "The doctors can't tell what kind of illness she has... and they can't prescribe a formula. We've tried all sorts of ways, but all have been to no avail."
Speaking of her daughter's illness, the woman couldn't help but show a look of bitterness.
"Sigh, perhaps it truly is as the fortune-teller said—this is the punishment from our ancestors for our family being greatly unfilial!"
Su Qing was stunned for a moment. When had she ever punished them?
This was truly a false accusation!
But Su Qing thought again...
The ancestor they spoke of might not be her!
After all, if she wasn't mistaken, this family should be the descendants of Su Lian and Su Yu.
But Su Lian and Su Yu were essentially from the Li family.
So the ancestor should be the ancestor of the Li family! It had nothing to do with her.
Of course, as for the child's eye ailment.
Su Qing felt that it certainly had nothing to do with any so-called ancestor...
After all, the people of the Li family had been ordinary humans for generations, with nothing special about them.
Not to mention, in a certain sense, the Li family's lineage should have been broken.
Su Qing thought for a moment, raised her eyebrows, and asked directly, "Punishment from the ancestors? Where did that come from?"
The woman showed a look of difficulty upon hearing Su Qing's words... she didn't seem to want to talk about this past.
Seeing this, Su Qing didn't force her and only said, "Forgive me, I was being meddlesome. If you don't wish to say, then don't."
The woman shook her head slightly and said, "No... it's alright."
Then, the woman sighed, stroked her daughter's head, and changed the subject, saying, "Young lady... is there anything else you need?"
Su Qing knew the woman didn't plan to chat with her any longer, so she shook her head slightly and said:
"No more! These will be enough. How much in total?"
"Fifteen copper coins in total," the woman said.
Su Qing nodded and took out a piece of broken silver to hand to the woman.
This silver was naturally worth more than fifteen copper coins. After taking the silver, the woman turned to the counter to get change.
Meanwhile, Su Qing looked at the little girl and quietly performed a calculation in her hand.
After a bit of calculation, Su Qing's eyebrows rose slightly.
In her heart, she had gained some understanding of the cause of the child's eye ailment.
Of course, it was quite clear that the child's ailment had nothing to do with anything the family had done in the past.
After all, whether it was the ancestors of Li Er's family or herself, it was impossible for them to do anything to them...
Her eye ailment had another cause.
And it was not incurable...
At least for Su Qing, she had a way to treat it.
Looking at the child, Su Qing thought for a moment.
She still decided to find a way to help.
After all, for such a small child to spend the rest of her life in darkness was a bit too pitiful.
But... how should she help?
Give her a healing pill directly?
Would they even believe her?
Su Qing stroked her chin, considering her approach.
While she was thinking, the woman came over and handed the change to Su Qing.
Seeing this, Su Qing nodded slightly and then left with her items.
Su Qing left so directly not because she couldn't think of a plan and had given up; on the contrary, she had already thought of what to do.
Don't forget...
She still possessed the transformation technique!
Her original identity wasn't convenient for handling things, so she would just change to another one.
And changing to another identity would make it easier to fool them.
Su Qing thought as she walked to a secluded spot with Leng Xiang, then said to her, "Return to the Cold Fragrance Sword for now!"
Leng Xiang understood her master and naturally knew what she was going to do.
So she put the things away and returned to the Cold Fragrance Sword.
Su Qing smiled at the sight, then performed a hand seal and chanted a True Word Incantation.
Immediately, her figure became a blur, and after a moment, it gradually solidified.
But after her figure had completely solidified, her appearance had changed drastically.
At this moment, she had turned into an old man with an immortal air, looking like a high-level master who had attained the Dao.
Then she felt something was still missing, so she took out the Cold Fragrance Sword and transformed its appearance into a horsetail whisk.
After finishing this disguise, Su Qing nodded with satisfaction.
In this form, even if she walked right in front of Ao Ying, the dragon princess might not recognize her.
"It seems my transformation technique hasn't become rusty even though I haven't used it for a long time!" Su Qing smiled faintly and then walked toward the shop once more.
However, this time, she put on a dignified air...
After all, she wasn't Su Qing right now, but an old immortal; that was the effect she wanted.
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