Chapter 366: A Parting in Life

Chapter 366 -141: A Parting in Life

Snow filled the sky, falling as gently and silently as goose feathers.

On this cold winter night, the stove inside glowed red-hot, crackling and popping.

「That day.」

That evening, after Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family had made dinner, the family ate together.

Unlike other nights, she didn’t go to bed early. Though usually a woman of few words, she sat with her family and reminisced at length, her words flowing as she recalled the past.

In the end, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family gazed at Fang Rui for a long, long time, her eyes filled with a love and concern that could not be set aside.

—Even though Fang Rui had long since made something of himself, becoming a man of great standing, and even though he was well past his youth, in a mother’s eyes, he would always be her child who never grew up—someone she would always worry over.

She opened her mouth, so many words wanting to spill out, but in the end, all she said was an admonition: “Brother Rui, you must take care of yourself!”

…

The next day, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family never woke up.

…

The following spring, Fang Rui planted a pear tree in the courtyard. He stood before it for a long, long time.

“Brother Rui, birth, old age, sickness, and death are inevitable,” Third Lady said, consoling him. “For Auntie to pass away so peacefully… it’s a departure that countless people would wish for.”

“I know.”

Indeed, Fang Rui knew. ‘But does knowing mean you don’t feel grief?’

‘The way of a Saint is to encounter emotion yet not be burdened by it. How could he not understand? Yet he couldn’t achieve it. He just couldn’t!’

“Brother Rui, after all these years, do you think I don’t know you?”

Third Lady reached out and smoothed the lines on Fang Rui’s brow. “I’m so afraid… afraid of leaving before you do. The loneliness you would feel… How could I bear to watch you endure that? How could I ever leave you with peace of mind?”

She understood Fang Rui. And it was precisely because she understood him that she would rather be the one to endure the pain of such a final separation.

Such love… perhaps it was the stage beyond togetherness, the ultimate expression of devotion.

…

In the end, Third Lady did not outlast Fang Rui. She passed away in another season of lush green and soaring orioles.

“Brother!”

“Brother Ah Rui!”

“You two go on ahead. I’ll stay here and keep Third Sister company for a while longer.”

Fang Rui waved his hand, dismissing Fang Ling and Nannan. He sat down by Third Lady’s grave mound.

Third Lady had lived a very simple life and left few things behind. Her most important possession was a sketch from their early years in Huaiyin Prefecture, now mottled and yellow with age.

RUSTLE!

Fang Rui unrolled the carefully mounted scroll. Though traces of frequent viewings were visible upon it, it had been protected with great care.

In the painting, Third Lady wore a sweet, gentle smile. Beside her was an inscription: ‘The moon in my cup is the moon in the sky, and the one before my eyes is the one in my heart.’

FLUTTER!

A butterfly fluttered down and landed on the painting, right amidst the strands of Third Lady’s hair. It lingered for a moment before flying off into a white mist as thin as morning smoke.

DRIP.

A dewdrop fell from a branch, landing on Fang Rui’s cheek. He stared blankly as a pair of butterflies disappeared into the distance. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He remained silent for a long, long time.

The bright moon on the sea, a pearl sheds a tear; warm sun on blue-tinged fields, from jade rises a haze. This feeling could have become a memory to cherish, but even at that moment, all was a blur.

“All was a blur…”

Fang Rui took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

…

「Back in the courtyard.」

After pacing for a long time, Fang Rui planted a loquat tree beside the pear tree.

…

「Ten years later.」

In the courtyard, the pear and loquat trees that Fang Rui had planted with his own hands years ago now stood tall, their canopies spreading like great parasols.

The wind blew past, and pear blossoms drifted down, showering his head and face.

“Your bones have returned to dust beneath the earth, while I linger in the Mortal World, my hair as white as snow.”

Fang Rui sighed, turned, and went into the house.

Fang Ling, too, was on her deathbed. “Brother… do you remember the roasted buns from that night in Changshan County? I… I never tasted anything so good again…”

…

A jujube tree joined the others in the courtyard.

…

The last tree, a peach, was planted by Fang Rui and Nannan together.

“‘The peach tree is young and elegant, its flowers brilliant and bright.’ I love that line so much.”

Nannan paused, then added, “Brother Ah Rui, I also really, really like… you!”

As if that one sentence had taken all the strength she had left in her life, her eyes slowly drifted closed.

…

“In the end… I’m the only one left.”

In the bleak autumn wind, his words went unanswered, met only by the RUSTLING of the trees.

…

“Li’Er, I’m leaving everything here in your care, and in the care of your disciples.”

As a successor of the Primordial Path, Fang Li naturally had disciples of her own.

“Brother, you…”

“Let me spend the last moments of this life alone.”

Fang Rui took one last, deep look at Fang Li. Her hair was white as snow, her own time growing short. She was his last remaining kin in this world. He waved his hand, turned, and strode out the door.

Without realizing it, he found himself outside Shangluo City, on the banks of the Luo River Water.

RUMBLE!

The Luo River Water surged and churned, ceaseless. It looked exactly the same now as it did the year the Fang Family first arrived in Shangluo.

‘A person’s life is but an instant compared to the mountains and rivers. Yet, an entire age for the mountains and rivers is also but an instant to an Immortal.’

‘What does it mean to be an Immortal? Mountains shift and rivers reroute, but I alone remain unchanged!’

‘But even now… I am not a qualified Immortal.’

Fang Rui sighed and closed his eyes. Scene after scene from the past floated before them.

A family reunion where he pointed at the surging Luo River and quoted, ‘Thus does the past flow by, never ceasing day or night.’

Atop Luoyun Building, where Yu Qian faced the Luo River, weeping as he recited, ‘Before me, I see no ancients; behind me, no one yet to come. Thinking of the endlessness of heaven and earth, I am alone with my sorrow, and my tears fall.’

…

“Before me, I see no ancients; behind me, no one yet to come. Thinking of the endlessness of heaven and earth, I am alone with my sorrow, and my tears fall.”

Fang Rui murmured the words, his eyes fixed on the churning Luo River. He could finally understand that feeling.

‘But how many years ago was that? Twenty? Or was it thirty?’

‘Immortality… all these years… I once had everything, and in the blink of an eye, it all scattered like smoke.’

Fang Rui took a deep breath. “Those who have passed are gone. The living must go on.”

“This world…”

He tilted his head to the heavens, gazing at the clear Qing Tian. His voice was detached, as if he were uttering a Celestial Decree. “This realm shall not be defiled. My family’s True Spirits shall have eternal An Ning!”