In front of her was a large living room, luxuriously decorated, with tables, chairs, and high shelves all made of rosewood. When Gu Chengyu was in university in her previous life, she had a roommate she got along well with, who was an archaeology major. Because Gu Chengyu was also a bit interested in archaeology, she would audit classes whenever she had time, and her teacher who loved ancient literature often took her along, so she was quite exposed to such things.
Gu Chengyu hurriedly went forward and touched the furniture a couple of times, confirming that it was indeed rosewood. Its surface was a deep purple like lacquer, and the wood was delicate, showing almost no growth rings. Rosewood is extremely rare, with a very slow growth cycle, thickening by only about three centimeters per hundred years, and taking nearly a thousand years to mature.
The use of this wood for all the tables and chairs here was truly extravagant. Looking at the porcelains on the high shelves, they were probably precious antiques, although he had never delved into these. Even if they were antiques, it wasn't known if they were from this dynasty, and they wouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary.
It actually took only a short while from entering the space until now. However, fearing Mrs. Gu would wake up and find him not there, he still had to save time. He took a rough look around and moved to the left of the hall, where he found a kitchen. Like the outside, it used a stove, with only a set of bowls and chopsticks in the cupboard. The bowls were made of jade, and the chopsticks were silver. Gu Chengyu's mouth twitched; how extravagant must this be? Presumably, the previous owner didn't cook much in the kitchen, as there was no firewood or food, and besides these, it was empty.
After checking the kitchen, Gu Chengyu went to the room on the right, which appeared to be a practice room. In the center was a meditation mat, and weapon racks were placed all around, filled with weapons. At a glance, there were spears and swords among others, but Gu Chengyu didn't look closely. Pressed for time, he could only take a cursory look.
Exiting through the corridor, next to the practice room was a staircase leading to the second floor. Going upstairs and moving inward, there were also three rooms; one of them was a washroom. Facing the door was an eight-panel screen, with a base and frame made of rosewood and inlaid with jade, and embroidered with flowers, birds, mountains, and stones, appearing grand and yet full of spirit.
Beyond the screen was a large wooden tub, clearly meant for bathing. Behind it, a row of low shelves held some porcelain and jade bottles, all labeled with names such as 'Ice-Skin Jade Bone Ointment' and 'Fragrance Ointment', and others alike. On the right, there was a Luohan bed covered with soft fur. It was clear that this washroom was used by a woman, and the Luohan bed was certainly for lying and applying ointments. She truly knew how to enjoy life. Unfortunately, now that he had become a man, he wouldn't need any of this.
The washroom was connected to the next room by a door. Entering through it was a lady's boudoir. Simple gauze curtains hung around the bed, which was covered with a brocade quilt embroidered with twin lotus blooms on a single stalk and a jade pillow. The pillow had a gold silk face, set with superior soft jade, appearing luxurious. Moving past the bed canopy, he found in front of the bed, a rosewood writing desk and stool were placed against the wall. On top of it was a dressing box, a square box with double doors at the front. Inside, there were several drawers, with a railing set on three sides of the surface and a gap left in the front. At the back, within the rear raised panel, were three to five small folding screens, with the side folds drawn forward, and a bronze mirror placed in the center.
Beside it, there were a few more boxes. Opening the top drawer of the dressing box, he was nearly blinded. It was full of gold ornaments, including hairpins, sticks, rings, and bracelets, some of which were inlaid with gemstones. The layer below contained only jade ornaments, glanced at quickly, the jade was warm and rich, with mutton fat jade being the most abundant. Opening the third layer revealed all sorts of gemstones, with emerald, aquamarine, cat's eye, yellow topaz, garnet, and other such stones prominently among them. The other boxes also contained various jewelry and hairpieces.
Initially shocked upon opening, he later became somewhat numb. It wasn't like he hadn't seen such things before. In the apocalyptic world, jewelry was the least valuable. He had collected some before, but finding them of no use later, he hardly ever looked at them, and yet he still amassed quite a lot. Thinking that they didn't take up space, he hadn't thrown them away. If he had known he would be this poor after crossing over, he would have collected more back then. But even if his space was piled like mountains of gold and silver, it wouldn't matter since he couldn't take them out!
The last room was a study, with two walls filled with books. Against one wall was a writing desk, with brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone neatly arranged on it. Only some old letters were placed in the center, evidently untouched since being placed there.
Having spent about half an hour in the space, he thought that if Mrs. Gu woke up and couldn't find him, it would be troublesome, so Gu Chengyu immediately exited the space.
Sure enough, shortly after, Mrs. Gu patted Gu Chengyu, who used the opportunity to nurse once more, pretending to go back to sleep. After waiting for a while and seeing Mrs. Gu make no further moves, it seemed she had fallen asleep again. A thought in his mind, Gu Chengyu returned to the space.
This time entering the space was indeed much easier. Before he had just left, he saw some letters on the desk in the study but didn't have time to read them, being in a hurry to leave. These were some notes of the owner.
Gu Chengyu pulled out one of them and began to read. It was written by the original owner of the space. The characters were in Yan Style, neat and vigorous, penetrating the paper, indicating the owner's nature as a person who valued rules and was resolute.
The contents mainly spoke of her life experiences, hinting that she was born in the Han Dynasty. The woman's name was Gu Qing, and her parents were high-level cultivators. Indeed, they were people of cultivation.
The higher the cultivation of a cultivator, the harder it was to conceive. They had managed to conceive Gu Qing, but who would have thought she was born without a Spirit Root? The couple was heartbroken. In the Cultivation World, it's survival of the fittest. Without a Spirit Root, their daughter couldn't cultivate. They had offended many while snatching treasures, so they decided to take their daughter to live in the Mortal World.
Thus, the couple accompanied Gu Qing as she grew up in the Mortal World, initially thinking of watching their daughter marry an ordinary man and have children, so they could be at ease and focus on their cultivation. But unexpectedly, at the age of fourteen,重大消息 came through from the Cultivation World.
At that time, Spiritual Energy was diminishing in the Cultivation World, making cultivation increasingly difficult in the future, especially for high-level cultivators who needed more Spiritual Energy to advance.
The Shushan Sect discovered a Transmission Array in a secret realm. This Transmission Array led to another Cultivation World, but it could only be activated once every thousand years. This year happened to be a cycle. Although Gu Qing's parents were high-level cultivators, they were also getting old and couldn't wait another thousand years. This was the only opportunity; staying would mean facing possible destruction. The couple hesitated, but ultimately decided to tell their daughter. Gu Qing also persuaded them to go to the other Cultivation World. As mortals only had a lifespan of a hundred years at most, her parents still had a long way to go. It's not as if they hadn't thought about soul transferring, but that required a powerful Divine Sense, and Gu Qing hadn't cultivated, so she had no Divine Sense. Moreover, even if they succeeded in transferring souls, future tribulations would be very difficult to overcome.
After much deliberation, the couple decided they must pursue the Great Tao, yet they were extremely reluctant to leave their daughter.