Infinite Save: I Cultivate Immortality Through Reincarnation

A pair of thin horses were tied up in a corner of the inn, and beside them sat a wooden-wheeled carriage.

With a creak, when Chen Yan pushed open the inn’s wooden door, the hinge let out a dry, grating sound.

The inn’s main hall was furnished with old, worn-out items and sat mostly empty. Only a rickety square table, propped up on one side by a blue brick, had an old man seated beside it. He was nibbling on a dry flatbread while washing it down with coarse tea.

By the table leg of the crooked square table, two large bundles of luggage were stacked up, apparently belonging to the old man.

When Chen Yan stood at the inn’s entrance, the old man didn’t even lift his eyes; he just kept chewing on his flatbread.

Behind the counter, the innkeeper—who looked to be around fifty-something—was dozing off with his head resting on the counter, as if he hadn’t even noticed anyone enter the inn.

The innkeeper’s robe was neat and clean, though it had been washed so many times it was faded, with patches on the cuffs, making it seem like he’d worn it for a long time.

It looked like the inn’s business wasn’t very good, but that was hardly surprising.

Most of the people who passed through this small town were villagers from the surrounding countryside, coming to do small trades—selling things grown in their fields or game hunted from the mountains.

Those villagers would arrive at the town before sunrise and head back before sunset, so on ordinary days, apart from outsiders, the inn rarely had any guests at all. Chen Yan walked toward the inn’s counter, then raised his hand and lightly tapped on it twice.

Hearing the noise, the innkeeper jolted awake and turned his gaze toward Chen Yan.

His eyes darted to the inn’s entrance, and the night was beginning to fall.

“Staying the night?”

The innkeeper rubbed his eyes first, then asked in Chen Yan’s direction.

“Yes.”

Chen Yan nodded.

“Eight coppers a night for the rooms in the back courtyard, fifteen coppers a night for the upstairs private rooms.”

The innkeeper continued.

Without much talk, Chen Yan simply reached his hand into his sleeve and felt around.

Even though his sleeve had been empty before, when Chen Yan pulled his hand out, there was a small piece of silver resting in his palm.

Seeing the silver, the innkeeper’s eyes lit up.

“On the east end of the second floor, there’s an excellent private room. Usually, only folks on official business in the city or those capable men returning to their hometown to visit relatives stay there overnight. Please, guest, right this way!”

In an instant, the innkeeper’s drowsiness vanished, and his attitude toward Chen Yan improved by leaps and bounds.

Chen Yan simply nodded. However, instead of heading straight upstairs, he focused his attention on the old man behind him, who was still chewing on his dry flatbread.

Seeing that Chen Yan hadn’t moved, the innkeeper asked further:

“Would you like anything to eat, guest?”

“What do you have?”

Chen Yan countered.

The innkeeper thought for a moment. This young man in simple white robes, with his handsome features, was a generous guest who spent freely—he had to treat him well.

But the truth was, the inn didn’t really have much in the way of good food to offer right now.

“I can probably scrape together half a pound of spiced beef, and some flatbread… If you’d like a stewed chicken, I could go kill one now, but you’d have to wait a bit. If you’re in a hurry, I can also make some shredded meat noodles.”

The innkeeper said.

“Just half a pound of spiced beef with a flatbread will do.”

Chen Yan said, and once again reached into his daoist robe’s sleeve to pull out another small piece of silver, placing it on the counter.

“Right away, guest, please wait a moment!”

The innkeeper, who looked about fifty, broke into a cheerful grin, then turned and headed toward the back courtyard.

Chen Yan first sat down near the old man in the main hall. Then, after the innkeeper returned and set the plate of spiced beef and flatbread on the table, Chen Yan picked them up, walked straight over to the old man’s table, and sat down.

“Old sir, you must be tired from the journey. Don’t just nibble on that flatbread—have some beef.”

Chen Yan said very naturally to the old man seated by the rickety square table.

The old man didn’t react immediately. He took another bite of his flatbread first, then looked up and smiled in Chen Yan’s direction:

“Thanks.”

But he didn’t pick up his chopsticks or touch the plate of spiced beef that Chen Yan had set on the table.

Chen Yan didn’t push it. Instead, he began to chat with the old man:

“Old sir, are those two horses and the carriage in the yard yours?”

“Mm.”

Hearing this, the old man raised his eyes a little and sized up the young man in simple white robes before him.

When Chen Yan asked him that question, the old man naturally felt a flicker of caution.

The goods in the carriage weren’t worth much anyway—roughly the same value as the two bits of silver the young man had just tossed around.

What the old man really worried about was that this young fellow might be eyeing his two thin horses.

“Heading somewhere?”

Chen Yan pressed on.

“Nowhere far. I just got back from the capital. I’m heading home tomorrow morning—only about an hour’s ride.”

The old man said.

From his words, his wariness was plain, as if he feared being robbed.

“Old sir, you’ve been to the capital?”

Hearing this, Chen Yan’s eyes lit up, and he put on a look of apparent delight:

“I’ll be heading to the capital myself early tomorrow morning—I’ve never been before!”

“I’ve traveled far and wide all my life, picked up a few skills here and there. The Master up in the capital takes a liking to me now and then, and I go help out to earn a meal.”

The old man said:

“The cart’s just loaded with some pottery and seeds I brought back from the capital. I plan to go back, rest for a few days, work the land a bit. Occasionally, I’ll come to town to sell some pottery—basically just passing my retirement.”

As he spoke, he casually let slip that he didn’t have anything valuable.

Then, the old man shot another glance at Chen Yan:

“Little brother, judging by your look, you’re heading to the city to take the imperial exams?”

Chen Yan once again wore a “surprised” and “admiring” expression:

“Old sir, you saw right through me?”

Hearing this, the old man seemed quite pleased with Chen Yan’s expression and tone.

“Traveled far and wide all my life—got a decent pair of eyes for it. Seeing how delicate and smooth-skinned you are, dressed cleanly and spending freely, it’s obvious you’re a scholar from a well-off family.”

Saying this, the old man chewing on his dry flatbread paused for a moment:

“You’re still young. When you’re out and about, best to keep a low profile. If someone with ill intentions sets their eyes on you, that’ll be trouble.”

“I appreciate the advice!”

Chen Yan cupped his hands in the old man’s direction.

“Though our area is considered a remote backwater of Nanfeng, the public order’s always been pretty good. But once you head further north to the capital—that’s a whole different story!”

The old man continued, and Chen Yan’s flattery seemed to have fully opened his floodgates of chatter.