Chapter 1604 - In My Heart, This Old Man Understands
Chapter 1604 - In My Heart, This Old Man Understands
The carriage brought the two of them along with a few jug of wines out of the city of Su without anyone noticing. The slowly headed toward the direction of Wang Lin’s home.
It wasn’t until dusk that the two women from the boat got off and walked down the streets of Su. Their appearances gradually changed and became very ordinary.
“Senior Sister, you grew up here. Aside from the boat, is there any other fun place to go? We have been in closed door cultivation for so long and finally got to come out, we have to have some fun.”
“You, I’m going home to visit my parents, and you have to follow me. There is no fun place in the city of Su. Tomorrow, I’m going to visit the Grand Scholar Su Dao. He was a family friend in his earlier years. Once you go there, you must not be disrespectful. Although he is a mortal, even Teacher is very polite to him.”
As the two spoke, a scholar walking by heard this and smiled. He saw that the two women were very ordinary, but he still stopped and explained.
“You two ladies must have been away from Zhao for a long time. Su Dao died more than 10 years ago. The great scholar of Zhao now is named Wang Lin, he is Su Dao’s student.”
The two women were startled. The scholar shook his head and left with a smile.
“Wang Lin… Wang Lin… Ah, Senior Sister, I remember. The old man that looked at you on the boat, although he is old, he was that little scholar, Wang Lin!”
Zhou Rui stopped in her tracks and he looked back at the twilight. Before her, the image of the young man blushing appeared.
“Senior Sister, Senior Sister, what’s wrong?” Xu Fei looked at Zhou Rui as if she had understood something.
Zhou Rui silently pondered for a moment before gently shaking her head. She walked forward with Xu Fei, but she only walked 10 steps before she clenched her teeth as if she had made a decision.
“Wait for me!” After speaking one line, Zhou Rui’s body flickered and she charged off into the distance. Her sudden action caused an uproar in the surroundings. The people nearby were in awe and disbelief. They were in a daze for a long time before they reacted.
“Immortal!!”
“That was an immortal!!”
Xu Fei looked at Zhou Rui’s figure and her eyebrows slightly wrinkled. She let out a gentle sigh.
Zhou Rui’s divine sense spread across the river while flying above the city of Su. However, in the end, she couldn’t find that figure.
Even after she searched the entire city of Su, it was still the same.
“Did he leave…” Zhou Rui didn’t know what was wrong with her. She wanted to see Wang Lin, but fate had made a fool out of her. Once two lives cross paths, they won’t cross paths again for a short period of time.
Dozens of kilometers outside the city of Su, the carriage squeaked as it moved along the road. Wang Lin was sitting in the carriage, allowing the wind to blow past him.
He drank wine as he looked outside the curtain at the dim sky, thinking about something. Although he wasn’t old, he no longer looked young. As he continued to drink wine, a few more strands of white hair appeared.
He again saw the white bird circling in the sky and flying toward his home with him.
Now that he was older, his body was not as good as when he was young. After being on the bumpy carriage for a long time, he felt like his bones were going to scatter. He was extremely tired.
Just like this, they traveled and rested throughout the summer. After four months passed, Wang Lin and Big Fortune entered the area under the Heng Yue Mountain in autumn.
When he had left, the side of the road was covered in red and green flowers. When he returned, most of the flowers had withered and the leaves had turned yellow. Although they hadn’t all fallen off, that time wasn’t far.
“28 years…” Wang Lin looked at the grass and trees around him and his vision turned blurry. He remembered that when he left, he was only a young man, but now that he had returned, he was almost half a century old.
The carriage slowly followed the official road into a quiet and hidden village in the mountains. Wang Lin was very familiar with everything here, he grew up here.
He didn’t catch the attention of too many neighbors as he brought Big Fortune to the home he had left all those years ago.
His parents were still there, but his once tough father was now supporting himself with a stick. He stood there with the help of Wang Lin’s white-haired mother. They looked toward the road, at their child coming home.
Even though this child had become the grand scholar of Zhao and the pride of the Wang family, to them, Wang Lin was the same as he was 28 years ago. He was still their child.
It was the same now, and when they were taken to the city of Su, it was also the same.
The carriage stopped outside the courtyard. Wang Lin walked down from the carriage and immediately saw his parents.
He revealed a soft smile. Wang Lin stepped forward and knelt down.
“Father, Mother, Tie Zhu has returned.”
Big Fortune blinked. After he got off the carriage, he also knelt down and loudly said, “Father, Mother, Big Fortune has returned.”
Wang Lin’s father laughed. He ignored Wang Lin and quickly helped Big Fortune up. He shook his head and laughed. “You, still the same as back then. You have taken care of Lin Er for all these years, I can’t thank you enough. But don’t copy him.”
Wang Lin stood up and looked at his parents’ happy smiles. An unspeakable sense of warmth appeared in his heart. He held his mother’s arm, supported his father, and let Big Fortune into the courtyard.
“Tie Zhu, when will you leave this time?” Wang Lin’s mother looked kindly at her son. Wang Lin was her pride.
“Still calling him Tie Zhu? Wang Lin is now the grand scholar of Zhao. Do you know what a grand scholar is? Even the emperor has to respectful. Do you not see how the country lord always come over every year?” Wang Lin’s father stared at his wife.
“I’m not leaving this time. Tie Zhu will stay to take care of both of you.” Wang Lin looked at his mother. He saw her head of white hair and the wrinkles on her face.
Wang Lin’s return caused an uproar in the entire village for a few days. The neighbors all rushed over, they wanted to see the grand scholar of Zhao that made them all feel pride in their hearts.
Even the scholars and officials from the nearby city rushed over once they learned of this. Along with them were relatives from the Wang family.
In these few days, Wang Lin’s father was radiant and stood straight. What he was most proud of in his life was his son, the grand scholar of Zhao.
When he saw so many people coming, Wang Lin’s father became even more proud. He took out silver to prepare a banquet in the village.
The banquet in the village was originally very simple, but due to the push of many people, it became extremely luxurious. A chef was brought from the city along with materials and personally cooked it all.
Wang Lin saw that his father was happy, so he didn’t say anything. Given Wang Lin’s personality, he normally wouldn’t want a banquet and would prefer it to be quiet..
However, since his parents were happy, he just let them be.
The Wang family all came to visit Wang Lin. They were all respectful toward Wang Lin, and just one nod from him shocked them.
Among these relatives, there were older uncles, heads of families, and people in the same generation as him.
As Wang Lin looked at this, he felt like he had encountered this before in his dream, only there were great differences from his dream.
During dusk, Wang Lin’s parents seemed tired, so he left with them. The banquet gradually ended as everyone dispersed in the next few days. The mountain village became peaceful once more.
“Tie Zhu, you’re not young anymore, why haven’t you gotten married… Ah.” Wang Lin’s father was a bit drunk and muttered a few words. Then he let out a sigh and didn’t speak about it anymore.
Just like this, Wang Lin slowly watched the sun rise and set in the hometown he grew up in. He watched the years pass.
It was five years later, in the autumn of the 33rd year since Wang Lin originally left his hometown. The autumn leaves were being swept by the wind and rustling on the ground, looking for their roots. Wang Lin’s father laid in bed, holding Wang Lin’s hands. There was reluctance in his eyes, but what was even more noticeable was relief and pride.
“Tie Zhu, your father’s life will be unforgettable because of you… You father can’t read, but I found people to gather your books and read them all to me. You once said that the reincarnation cycle is like the four seasons. Father remembers…” Wang Lin’s father smiled, but under that smile, under that pride and relief, Wang Lin could still sense a strong sense of fear...
He was afraid of death, he was afraid of not being able to see his loved ones, and he was afraid of the loneliness and the unknown that came with death. He clung to Wang Lin’s hand as if it was his life, his last root, the last person he could rely on.
The light in his eyes dimmed; they were filled with helplessness.
“Dad, don’t be afraid, I’m by your side.” More than half of Wang Lin’s hair was white and he looked at his father with sadness in his eyes. He held his father’s hand and leaned forward. Wang Lin held his father’s thin body in his arms, just gently hugging him.
“Dad, you have me. Don’t be afraid, you have me.
“Dad, do you still remember the birthday present you gave me? That little wooden colt, I found it the other day…
“Dad…”
In the yard outside, the large tree that seemed to have existed in the village for more than 100 years gave off a sense of age. Most of its leaves had been taken away by the wind, with only one leaf still hanging on. The wind rocked the leaf, and the leaf was running out of strength. In the end, the leaf fell off and landed in the room of the Wang family.
Wang Lin’s father was no longer afraid. He slowly closed his eyes. He lost his breath and died in his son’s arms.
The leaf from the tree seemed to have gained a soul and flew off into the distance.