Without anyone noticing, the carriage carried the old master and servant and a few jugs of wine out of the city of Su. On the official road, it slowly headed in the direction of their home.
When dusk arrived, the two women on the boat on the river in Su City walked down from it. They slowly walked on the streets of Su City. Their appearances changed, and they became very ordinary.
"Senior Sister, you grew up here. Aside from the boat, are there any other good places to go in the city of Su?
After being in closed door cultivation for so long, it was rare for me to come down the mountain. I have to have some fun. "
"You … I went home to visit my parents, but you insisted on coming back with me. There are no fun places in the city of Su. Tomorrow, I'm going to visit the Great Confucian Su Dao. In the past, he was a friend of my family. When you go there, don't speak nonsense. Although he is a mortal, even Master has to be very polite to him."
As the two of them were talking, a scholar walked past the two women. When he heard what they said, he laughed. He saw that the two women looked very ordinary, but he still stopped and said with a smile, "Why are you here?
"I'm afraid the two of you have left the country of Zhao for a long time. Great Confucian Su Dao returned more than ten years ago. Now, the great Confucian of the country of Zhao is called Wang Lin. He is Great Confucian Su Dao's disciple."
The two women were startled. The scholar shook his head and walked away with a smile.
"Wang Lin … Wang Lin … Ah, Senior Sister, I remember now. During the day on the boat, the old man who looked at us. Although he looked old, he was that little scholar, Wang Lin!"
Zhou Rui's footsteps stopped and she suddenly turned her head. She looked at the river that was fading into the dusk. The image of that young man blushing seemed to appear in her mind.
Xue Fei looked at Zhou Rui and seemed to understand something. He asked softly, "Senior Sister, Senior Sister, what's wrong?"
Zhou Rui was silent for a moment and gently shook her head. Then she walked into the distance with Xue Fei. However, before she took ten steps, she clenched her teeth as if she had made up her mind.
"Wait for me."
With that, Zhou Rui's body flickered as she shot up into the sky. Her sudden action immediately caused the surrounding people to cry out in shock. The people in the area stared in awe and disbelief at what had just happened, and only after a long time did they come back to their senses.
"Fairy!!"
"That's a fairy!"
Looking at Zhou Rui's departing figure, Xue Fei frowned and sighed softly.
In the sky above Yisu City, above the river, Zhou Rui spread out her divine sense. As she sped past, she searched. But in the end, she still couldn't find that figure.
Day after day, she searched the entire city of Su.
"Is he gone …" Zhou Rui didn't know what was wrong with herself. She wanted to see him, but fate made fools of people. It was like two different trajectories of life. Once they crossed paths, they wouldn't meet again in a short period of time.
Dozens of miles outside Su City, the carriage bumped along the palace road. Wang Lin sat in the carriage and allowed the wind to lift the curtains and sweep past him.
As he drank, his gaze peered out from behind the raised curtain and landed on the dusky sky. No one knew what he was thinking. Although he couldn't be said to be old, he was no longer young. The white hair on his temples seemed to have grown a few more strands as he gulped down mouthfuls of wine.
Slowly, he saw a white bird circling in the dark sky and flying home with him.
As he got older, his body wasn't as good as when he was young. After being bumped for a long time in the carriage, he felt like his bones were about to fall apart and he was extremely tired.
Just like this, they traveled and rested as they passed through the summer. Four months later, one afternoon, Wang Lin and Big Fortune entered the Heng Yue Mountain from the distant city of Su. The autumn sun hung high in the sky.
When they left, the flowers and leaves on both sides of the road were dotted with red and green. When they arrived, most of the flowers had withered and the leaves had begun to turn yellow. Although it wasn't time for them to fall, they weren't far away.
"It's been 18 years …" Wang Lin looked at the grass and trees around him. His vision became blurry. He still remembered that when he left, he was still a teenager. Now that he returned, he was already 50 years old.
The carriage creaked as it slowly followed the road and entered a quiet mountain village hidden in front of them. Wang Lin was very familiar with everything here. He grew up here.
Without alarming too many neighbors, Wang Lin brought Big Fortune back to the home he hadn't seen for a long time.
His parents were still there, but his father, who used to be strong and healthy, now needed to use a walking stick. With the support of Wang Lin's white-haired mother and her old mother, they smiled as they watched their wanderer return home.
Even though this wanderer had become the eldest son of the State of Zhao, the pride of the Wang family, and stood at the peak, in front of them, Wang Lin was still the same as when he left 28 years ago. He was still their child.
It was like this now, and it was like this when they were brought to Su City.
The carriage stopped outside the family's courtyard. Wang Lin held onto the shaft of the carriage as he alighted. He immediately saw his parents.
A gentle smile appeared on his face. Wang Lin walked forward and knelt on the ground.
"Dad, Mom, Tie Zhu is back."
Big Fortune blinked. After he got off the carriage, the man surnamed Suo also went forward and knelt down. He said loudly, "Dad, Mom, Big Fortune is back."
Wang Lin's father laughed and ignored Wang Lin. Instead, he went forward and helped Big Fortune up. He shook his head and smiled. "You are still the same as before. I can't even thank you enough for taking care of Ping 'er all these years. Don't learn from him."
Wang Lin stood up and looked at his parents' happy smiles. An indescribable warmth filled his heart.
He supported his mother, his father, and Big Fortune as they walked into the courtyard.
"Tie Zhu, when are you leaving this time?" Wang Lin's mother looked kindly at her son. He was her pride.
"Why are you still calling me Tie Zhu? Wang Lin is now the great scholar of the State of Zhao. Do you know what a great scholar is? That is a status that even the Emperor has to be respectful to. Don't you see that the county magistrate has been coming over all these years?"
Wang Lin's father glared at his wife.
"This time, I won't be leaving. Tie Zhu will serve you until you grow old," Wang Lin said softly as he looked at his mother's white hair and wrinkles.
Wang Lin's return caused an uproar in the entire mountain village a few days later. His neighbors came one after another. They wanted to see the great scholar of the State of Zhao, who was also their pride and joy.
Even the scholars and officials in the county rushed over as soon as they heard about the matter. At the same time, the relatives of the Wang family also came.
Wang Lin's father's face was glowing these few days. He no longer looked old and his back was straight. In his life, the thing he was most proud of was having a son like this, a great scholar of the State of Zhao.
Especially when he saw so many people coming at the same time, Wang Lin's father was even more proud. He took out some silver and arranged for a banquet to be held in the village square.
The banquet in the village was originally very simple. However, with everyone's careful planning, it ended up being extremely luxurious. The food and wine were all personally prepared by the chefs who had been called over from the County, who had rushed over with the ingredients.
It was difficult to describe all of these. When Wang Lin saw that his father was happy, he didn't say anything. Otherwise, he would have preferred peace and quiet.
However, since his parents were happy, he let them make the arrangements.
During the banquet, the relatives of the Wang family came to greet Wang Lin one by one. They all looked very respectful. Wang Lin had seen them too many times. Just a slight nod was enough to make them feel flattered.
Among these relatives were his old granduncle, the head of the Wang family, and some of his peers.
As Wang Lin watched this scene, he felt like he had seen it in a dream before. However, there were many differences between that dream and now.
When dusk fell, Wang Lin saw that his parents were a bit tired. He waved his sleeves and left with his parents. The lively banquet ended. The remaining people gradually dispersed over the next few days, and the mountain village returned to its peaceful state.
"Tie Zhu, you're not young anymore. Why don't you get a wife … Ai."
Wang Lin's father was a bit drunk. After muttering a few words, he sighed and didn't say anything else.
Just like this, Wang Lin slowly watched the days rise and fall in the hometown where he grew up, watching the years pass by.
Five years later, in the autumn of the third Shi San year after Wang Lin left the mountain village, the autumn leaves were swept by the wind and rustled on the ground, searching for their roots. Wang Lin's father was lying on the bed, holding Wang Lin's hand. His eyes were filled with reluctance, but even more so, they were filled with gratification and pride.
"Tie Zhu, I will never forget you in my life … I don't know how to read, but I found someone to recite for a long time what you said in the books. You once said that in the cycle of reincarnation, birth, old age, sickness, and death are like family, summer, autumn, and winter. I remember …" A smile appeared on Wang Lin's father's face. However, under this smile, under that pride and gratification, there was also a fear that Wang Lin could feel … he was afraid of death, afraid of not being able to see his family, afraid of the loneliness and unknown after death.
He tightly held onto Wang Lin's hand as if it was the last root in his life, the last thing he could rely on.
The light in his eyes dimmed, revealing helplessness.
"Father, don't be afraid, I'm by your side."
Most of Wang Lin's hair had already turned white. He looked at his father with sorrow in his eyes. Holding his father's hand, Wang Lin leaned forward and gently hugged his frail father.
"Father, I'm here. Don't be afraid, I'm here."
"Father, do you still remember the birthday present you gave me when I was young? That little wooden colt, I found it a few days ago …" "Father …"
Outside the courtyard, the tree that seemed to have existed in the village for a hundred years gave off a vicissitude of life. In the autumn of this year, most of its leaves had been blown away by the wind, but there was still one leaf hanging there, as if it was unwilling to leave. It swayed in the wind, swayed, swayed, and used the last of its strength to fly down from the tree. It flew in a circle, drew an arc, and landed on top of the Wang Family's house.
Under Wang Lin's gentle patting and gentle voice, his father, who was in Wang Lin's embrace, slowly stopped harming him. He slowly closed his eyes, stopped breathing, and fell into his son's embrace.
The leaves on the roof seemed to have a soul. They flew up again and flew away with the wind.