I’ve Lived for Three Centuries, and Spent a Hundred Years Guarding the World from the Mountain Peak

My name is Zhang Ruoxu, and my Daoist name is Yunhezi. I was born in the late Qing Dynasty, lived through three dynasties, and reached the age of 159. Everyone thought I was an ordinary Daoist living atop a mountain, never realizing I had mastered the tortoise-breathing technique. Once every ten years, I would feign death and sleep for days at a time, from five days to nineteen. The first fourteen times, I woke up safe and sound. The world mourned me as dead, while I laughed at how little they understood. In times of chaos, I saved the people. In times of peace, I guarded my lonely peak. I delivered babies, treated the sick, and saw the dying off. Everyone in Jiugong Village revered me like a god. Seven generations of dogs died, and five generations of people passed away. Only I still stood atop the mountain. Reporters came to investigate, experts came to examine me, and tycoons came seeking immortality. I had only one reply: No visitors. Then, during my fifteenth long sleep, I finally chose not to wake up again. In this life, I would neither cultivate immortality nor fight for supremacy. I would simply guard one peak, one temple, one village, and one lifetime. The world called me a living immortal. I thought of myself only as an ordinary man who had lived long enough.