Unintended Immortality-Chapter 418: The Meaning of Slowing Down

The further they walked, the more scattered rocks appeared along the shore. Many of the small tide pools were no longer still.

Under normal circumstances, in any other place, Lady Calico would never let a single fish or shrimp escape her grasp—even the tiniest ones, no bigger than a pinky finger, would be caught. Even if the Daoist wouldn’t eat them, she would meticulously clean and dry them into little fish jerky for storage. After all, she was small, and fish of that size were just right for her.

But today, in this place, Lady Calico was different.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care for them. Lady Calico was very frugal.

She simply decided to let the tide pools temporarily keep them for her. Once she was done collecting all the big fish and big shrimp, she would return for the smaller ones and turn them into fish jerky.

As she went, she fully applied the skills she had secretly learned from the local villagers—along with her own natural abilities. It was almost as if she was deliberately demonstrating her newfound expertise to the Daoist.

She constantly bent down, searching through the cracks between rocks for hidden fish, shrimp, and crabs. Sometimes, she lifted stone slabs to look beneath them. No matter how well-hidden, nimble, or ferocious the creatures were, none could escape her cat’s claws.

And when she caught something? Not everything went into her pouch. If she deemed it suitable, she simply gave it a rinse in fresh water—then popped it straight into her mouth.

By the time noon approached, she was already standing behind an elderly woman wearing a straw hat, watching her pry shellfish and oysters off the rock walls.

At the same time, she pulled out her own Water-Splitting Blade, lowering her head to study it carefully.

“Enough,” Song You quickly called out to her. “Your harvest is already more than plentiful. If you keep going at this rate, you’ll have caught so much in just one day that the next few days will be incredibly boring.”

“I’ll just catch more the next few days!”

“We won’t be able to finish eating it all.”

“Then we can sell it!” The little girl pointed in the direction they had come from yesterday. “Past that village, there’s another one where we can sell fish!”

“You really remembered that well...”

“I have an extraordinary memory!”

“But the sun is getting really hot now.”

“Oh, that’s true!” Lady Calico nodded in deep agreement, then earnestly said, “Then you should go back and hide from the sun! I don’t mind the heat!”

“...”

Song You could only look at her helplessly, feeling as though she had fallen into some kind of addiction.

It was, in truth, the thrill of harvesting. Fortunately, he had a way to deal with this.

Glancing up at the sky, Song You casually remarked, “But it’s already noon. I’m hungry. You’ve gathered so much seafood—it’s time to go back and taste it. And if I have to cook, start the fire, gather wood, and prepare everything by myself, I won’t be able to handle it all.”

“Oh!?” Lady Calico looked genuinely surprised. Hearing his words, she quickly tilted her head back to check the sky—only now realizing that, unknowingly, it really was noon already.

“So? What do you think?”

“You’re right!”

“Then let’s come back tomorrow.”

“Let’s come back this afternoon!”

“...Alright.”

Only then did Song You lead her back.

Her pouch was stuffed full, bulging at the seams. Her hands weren’t empty either, yet she showed no signs of exhaustion. She stubbornly refused to let Song You help carry anything. Instead, her steps grew even lighter, her entire being brimming with accomplishment.

“Was this fun?”

“Super fun!”

“I told you a long time ago, didn’t I? Several years back, in Changsheng County, at the foot of Yunding Mountain,” Song You said. “I wasn’t lying to you, was I?”

“It’s even more fun than what you said!”

“Then let’s stay here for a while longer,” Song You suggested. “Lady Calico, you can take your time playing—there’s no need to rush.”

“I’m looking for food!”

“Alright, take your time looking.”

“Then when are we going out to sea?”

“In a few days. We’ll head out in a few days.” Song You thought for a moment before adding, “Of course, sea foraging along the shore is fun and rewarding, but the real abundance of sea creatures is out in the ocean. Everything you’ve found so far was washed ashore by the waves.

“Once we set sail, you can try fishing or even diving into the water to catch fish. There might even be shrimp and crabs bigger than yourself—and they’re delicious.”

“Really?”

“I wouldn’t dare deceive you, Lady Calico.” Song You paused briefly. “And when we return from the sea, we can still stay here for a few more days.”

“Do you enjoy eating this food?”

“I do.”

“Good!”

The little girl followed closely by his side, yet she couldn’t resist chasing after tiny crabs along the way—pretending to step on them while scooping up any stray fish or crabs she found, stuffing them into her pouch.

As they approached their campsite from the previous night, Lady Calico suddenly picked up speed, dashing toward the small pool she had built to check if all her hard-earned catches were still there. She carefully counted them one by one. Only after confirming that not a single one was missing did she finally sigh in relief.

Then, she took out her new haul and carefully placed them inside, counting aloud as she went.

But she didn’t stop there—immediately, she began gathering firewood to start a fire. The Daoist, meanwhile, handled the seafood.

Before coming here, Song You had already anticipated a situation like this, so he had prepared accordingly. His supplies were well-stocked, with no shortage of seasonings, spices, ginger, scallions, or garlic. All that was needed was to set up a pot, and a delicious meal would be ready.

With a few rare days of leisure, Song You didn’t mind the effort and prepared the dishes according to his taste. He steamed the black porgy and sea crabs, made the razor clams into a tangy and spicy dish, and stir-fried the sea shrimp. As for the small fish and shrimp, they were the most convenient—deep-fried in oil and paired with his secret dipping sauce, they made the perfect snack.

Lady Calico watched the entire process intently.

To be honest, this was one of the few times Song You didn’t feel anxious about her secretly learning his cooking techniques—at the very least, he was sure she wouldn’t be using these skills on rats anytime soon.

The excess seafood was left under the scorching coastal sun to dry into fish jerky—perfect to bring along for meals once they set out to sea.

That afternoon, Song You originally planned to take the boat out and practice rowing. However, the midday sun was simply too blistering. Unbothered, he decided to find a shaded spot and take a nap, postponing his practice until the evening.

Lady Calico, on the other hand, had no intention of resting. pouch in hand, she headed out once more to busy herself. These past few days had been nothing short of divine for her.

Song You, too, enjoyed the rare leisure—switching up his usual routine.

In this era, it was truly difficult to find mountain delicacies when far from the mountains and seafood when far from the coast. The locals here might have grown tired of their daily catch, but Song You certainly hadn’t.

That evening, he planned to cook scalloped spiny lobster and stir-fry some cat eye’s snails[1].

Every day, the meals were something new.

Beyond that, his only tasks were to accompany Lady Calico on her outings—taking morning or evening strolls, sometimes drifting out to sea in their boat. At other times, he would simply sit in stillness, attuning himself to the spiritual resonance of this land and sea—or lie back, allowing himself to drift into vivid dreams.

In such moments, time carried a meaning vastly different from the rush and fullness of daily life.

***

About ten days later...

The morning sky stretched in a flawless expanse of blue, without a single cloud in sight. The calm sea reflected its brilliance, an endless sapphire mirror to the heavens.

Barefoot, the Daoist stood on the beach. The gentle waves lapped against his feet as he untied the rope securing the wooden boat and began pulling it toward the water.

Swish...

The boat left a long mark on the sand.

Pausing briefly, Song You turned his head toward the distance.

A small girl dressed in a tricolor robe, her hair tied up in a round bun, stood beneath a coconut tree, looking up expectantly. A swallow fluttered its wings, perching lightly atop the coconut fronds.

“Lady Calico, move aside!”

Following the sound of the swallow—

Thud!

A coconut dropped.

It fell almost directly in front of the little girl, landing just inches from her feet.

Yet, she didn’t flinch, didn’t dodge, didn’t even blink. As if she had already known it wouldn’t hit her. She merely lowered her head to glance at the coconut before nudging it with her foot, rolling it toward a pile of others nearby.

A whole stack of coconuts had already been gathered. The cat and the swallow were harvesting coconuts together.

What was strange was that, despite being so tiny—his beak seeming nowhere near strong enough—the swallow could make a coconut fall with just a light peck.

One pecked, while the other transported. The two little demons were working together with astonishing efficiency.

Song You withdrew his gaze and continued pulling the boat until it reached the edge of the waves. Then, turning back, he looked toward his horse.

“The sea is unpredictable, its winds and waves constantly changing. It really isn’t a place for you,” Song You said, lifting the saddlebags. “So I’ll have to trouble you to wait here for us.

“If everything goes smoothly, we may return in a few days, maybe ten or so. But if things take longer, it could be a few months—no one can say for sure. However, if all goes well, we’ll send the swallow back to update you on our journey.”

Snort...

The horse huffed softly.

“Lady Calico prepared a whole stack of semi-dried hay for you—she traded it for fish and shrimp she gathered these past few days. If you finish it all and don’t like the seaside grass, you can head to the mountains in the distance. When we return, I’ll call for you. Just come find us here.”

Snort...

“Thank you for your patience.” Song You patted the horse’s neck before lifting the bedding and placing it onto the boat.

The young boy and the little girl each carried armfuls of coconuts, making several trips back and forth to pile them onto the boat.

“Let’s go,” Song You called to them.

Whoosh—

In an instant, the boy transformed back into a swallow, flapping his wings and soaring into the sky.

The little girl also shifted into her cat form. She lifted her head, glancing at the swallow above, then turned to look at the horse in the distance. With a powerful leap, she landed at the bow of the boat. She carefully shook off the sand from each of her four paws before hopping into the cabin.

Song You placed a straw hat over his head to shield himself from the sun. With a firm push, the boat was fully released into the sea.

The oars dipped into the water—one stroke, and the boat began gliding toward the open ocean.

The calico cat lay against the boat’s edge, her chin resting on the wooden railing. Her wide eyes stayed fixed on the shoreline, watching the beach—and the horse standing upon it—as they slowly drifted further and further away.

Only when the shore had shrunk into the distance did she finally look away.

“Daoist priest...”

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t you do that?”

“...Do what?”

“You know—that thing!” The calico cat tilted her head up, staring at the Daoist rowing the boat. “The thing where the boat just whooshes forward really fast!”

“Rowing is quite enjoyable, too.”

“But that would make us go really fast and really far!”

“Indeed.” Wearing a straw hat and rowing the boat, the Daoist looked every bit like a fisherman at sea. He smiled at the cat while paddling, saying, “And I know that you want the boat to go faster so we can return sooner to keep gathering fish and shrimp along the shore. But how can you be so sure that the deep sea isn't even more fun than the coast?”

“Mm?”

“Have you ever seen countless fish swimming together in massive schools, like migrating birds in the sky or locust swarms in Jiyan County—so dense that they form whirlpools or fish tides in the sea?”

“Mm?”

“Have you ever seen fish of all colors and patterns, each one unique, fearlessly swimming right past you as if you weren’t even there?”

“Mm?”

“Have you ever seen a giant fish leaping out of the water, larger than our boat, flipping onto its back before crashing back into the sea?”

“...”

“We are going slowly so we can witness all these things we've never seen before,” Song You explained patiently, his voice warm and steady. “Of course, most of what I just mentioned are things you want to see. But what I want to see is even more than that—so we must go even slower.”

“Like climbing a mountain to watch the stars!”

“Exactly.” Song You smiled at her. “Lady Calico, you’re getting sharper by the day. You understand things in an instant.”

The cat seemed deep in thought, as if she had truly grasped something.

In just a moment of distraction, the coastline and sandy shores had completely disappeared from view. Earlier, they could still see the tops of the coconut trees—but now, only the peaks of distant mountains remained on the horizon.

Finally, Lady Calico stopped clinging to the boat’s edge. She slid down, stretching out inside the cabin.

With a single blink, her gaze was filled with nothing but endless blue sky.

Not even a single seabird was in sight—only one lone swallow, flitting tirelessly back and forth through the air, as if it would never grow weary.

1. Lunella smaragda, common name the cat's eye snail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinidae, the turban snails. ☜