Sun Fuyu becoming a senior cultivator himself would be only one of the many things that will happen in the future.
One day, in the future, Lin Yijun would learn that Wen Zhihao was in fact a transmigrator, finally laying to rest why this second chance of his had deviated so much; Wen Zhihao would confirm that Lin Yijun was a reincarnator.
In the future, the Golden Sun Sect would grow increasingly popular.
The Calming Gardens was a place-to-visit upon many travelling cultivators' lists. The demonic tiger would rise up in strength and become a senior cultivator in the Sect. He would be granted a great spot to nap in the sun. Many of the other demonic cats were too lazy to accept any senior position. Weren’t they already working hard (lazing around) helping other cultivators avoid qi deviation??
And the welfare of all demonic beasts as a whole would increase, because if one did not treat them well, then they’ll preferably escape to the Golden Sun Sect.
(Meanwhile, Huang Jialing would find a new calling in calming gardening arrangements and cat furniture)
In the future, Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu’s children will grow up.
Xiao Bai would go from a little talisman cultivator following behind his Uncle Wen’s robes, to a bigger refined—though still shy—talisman cultivator with his own cultivation robes, sitting next to his Uncle Wen as the two of them wrote talismans.
Ruan Lanxi would go from a sword enthusiast to a bigger sword enthusiast. Liu Zhongmin became her mentor, and later her shifu, helping Ruan Lanxi advance in multi-sword cultivation.
Zhang Yi—everyone called him Ah-Yi—with his encouraging and protective nature, would become a healing cultivator. One day, in the far future, he would be able to recreate his Uncle Wen’s calming aura and use it to help even more people to avoid qi deviation, enhance cultivation, and extend lifespans.
Peng Tiantian would become the traveller of the family. She would spend time with Li Fanghua to craft even better fast-flying objects to ride on. She would travel across the continents and return home with new and delicious treats for her family to try out.
Xu Yifan would become the Golden Sun Sect’s first-ever chef cultivator, combining skills from multiple disciplines: from knife skills to heat control, to medical knowledge. The food in the Banquet Hall of the Golden Sun Sect would soon include dishes that were both advantageous to cultivation and were also delicious.
Wu Zhe, the most well-behaved child of all, would grow into a big and tall young man, working hard in the fields as a farming cultivator. He wouldn’t be mentored by the stogey herbalist cultivators in the sect: instead, he would work directly with the mortal farmers and with other cultivators with skills he can incorporate into his own cultivation framework.
And as for Wen Yubao, the spoiled but well raised little baby of the family, he would follow in Father Sun Fuyu’s footsteps to become a single-sword cultivator. Under the love and guidance of his dads and older sisters and brothers, he would truly advance upon this path this time.
Many of the teenagers would also become cultivators around the Golden Sun Sect. Some of the saved mortal adults would eventually leave the Sect and resettle in a mortal town after recovering, mentally and physically, from their past ordeals. Connections would remain, establishing stronger-than-ever business relationships between the cultivators and the mortals, benefiting both sides.
In the future, Wen Zhihao’s method of cultivation would spread among everyone: it was very suitable to any breathing cultivators mortals, did no harm, and only helped. Many other sects took the initiative to send cultivators to learn under Wen Zhihao so that they could then return to their own sects to help with individuals at risk of qi deviation.
Under Sun Fuyu’s and Zhou Sheng’s direction, many underlying problems leading to qi deviation would be brought to light, and slowly fixed. These initiatives will all be backed by the great cultivator Lin Yijun, who would become the leader in many continent-wide sect activities (i.e., he would be saddled with all the administration since he did it before, didn’t he?).
And Liu Jing would be so proud of her children and grandchildren.
In the future, Wang Li Wei will grow into a kind and confident man, no longer shadowed by his parents and grandfather. In the future, Zhang Wu will find a niche that he is good at, old anger mellowing out to poise.
And Wen Zhihao will be so proud of his small children and big children.
…
In the far future, Elder Liu Ru and her wife Liu Zhongmin will retire and go into seclusion together before ascending.
Senior Cultivator Qian Jiarui will take Elder Liu Ru’s place as the new head talisman cultivator, and her own wife Huang Jialing will pass the days no longer able to be bothered by Wen Zhihao’s plots and plans. Meanwhile, Senior Cultivator Hu Jingyan with Senior Cultivator Gao Ming will take Liu Zhongmin’s place.
Array cultivator Cheng Yahui will join hands with Li Fanghua to create a new class of transportation arrays, connecting the two distant sides of the continent, and ushering in a new era of trade and sharing.
And in the far future, Liu Jing and Old Tang and the other mortals will pass away peacefully in their sleep and re-enter the reincarnation cycle. They can’t live forever, but the years they did live will be full of joy and love. Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu will keep them in their hearts and memories.
...
And as for the far, far future?
The Golden Sun Sect and the surrounding area will become places filled with calming qi.
Plants and trees and flowers will flourish, leading to the Golden Sun Sect’s first few plant-spirit, flower-spirit, and tree-spirit cultivators. One of those tree-spirit cultivators is the very tree under which the Venerable Wen Zhihao would sleep every warm afternoon with the large demonic cats.
In the far, far future, Wen Zhihao’s philosophy of everyday talismans will be widespread. Cultivators and mortals alike will use this renewable technology in their everyday lives, alongside inventions from great crafting cultivators such as Li Fanghua. Names like Liu Ru, Liu Zhongmin, Lin Yijun, Zhou Sheng, and their disciples will be written into the history books as leaders in their respective fields.
In the far, far future, Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu will ascend together to the Heavens. There, they will meet the minor god involved in Wen Zhihao’s accidental transmigration, and they would become good friends.
In the far, far future, Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu will have their 100...000th honeymoon in the Heavens.
…
...
But that would be the future.
At this moment, spring had returned to the Golden Sun Sect. In between majestic buildings were lush green gardens and sweet-scented flowers. Golden robed cultivators strolled about, along with many other cultivators in different coloured robes.
It was the afternoon after lunch. The sun shone warmly down on a certain house near the base of a mountain in the Golden Sun Sect.
A flying cart with humans and a line of big cats and a few dogs (wolves) followed them from the kitchens back to the house. Wen Zhihao’s eyes drooped slightly, sleepily from his full stomach and the sun’s rays. He held Sun Fuyu’s hand, while Sun Fuyu responsibly drove the cart.
As they passed by, plants and flowers turned almost imperceptibly towards them, soaking in the qi that radiated from Wen Zhihao. Later, these plants would release this calming qi back into the Sect, promoting a peaceful atmosphere.
Not long after entering the house, the curtains in the large ground floor building were pulled back, letting in the afternoon light through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the room as it was designed. The wooden floor was covered with blankets and pillows. Wen Zhihao languidly flopped down in the centre. Sun Fuyu followed him, snuggling close.
One of the big white-and-black cats settled in a protective manner around baby Wen Yubao—weren’t the cats the uncles and aunties of this kitten human baby? They must care for Baobao too!
The other children also found their spots to sleep, and the furry animals filled the rest of the space. The room contained piles of fluff interspersed with small and big humans.
Wen Zhihao’s gaze swept around the room, making sure that everyone had a comfortable position. If he listened carefully, he could make out the happy conversation and indistinct chatter elsewhere in the Sect.
There was his husband by his side, his family, the cats; he was full of good food. He placed a light kiss on Xiao Yu’s forehead and was rewarded with Sun Fuyu snuggling closer to him.
This simple happiness suffused through Wen Zhihao.
The plan later in the afternoon was to go to the kitchens and help Mama Liu make dumplings for a big dumpling party. But first...
As his breath deepened into sleep, the gentle waves of Wen Zhihao’s aura expanded out.
And they all had a tranquil afternoon nap.
!!!!!! And that’s it!!! That’s the end of the extras, the end of official Dao Of The Salted Fish! (⊙_⊙)
Thank you so much everyone for coming along on this journey! Thank you for reading, for commenting, for the kofis~, and for all the support!! ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ
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Unfortunately you can't win a bonus chapter since Salted Fish is now over ༼☯﹏☯༽
I’m sure some of you are curious about what I’m going to write next...I have a fun short BL that will come out at (an unknown time) in the Trick Or Treat BL Anthology.
There is also the Kinktober event at the Daily Eggplant, so someone will be writing a hopefully nsfw fanfic of Salted Fish, and I'll be writing fanfic for someone else [my ao3 is here]
But as for my next webnovel...you’ll have to just wait and keep an eye out for it |−・;) *hides*
Until then, you can...re-read salted fish? Check out my other past stories?