Chapter 1561: Reigning Over the Inner Realm, Liu Mei (the ‘mei’ from eyebrow)

The second year after his father passed away, Wang Lin's mother also never woke up after falling asleep. Her sleeping face showed a happy smile, as if in a dream, she had met Wang Lin's father, and the two were reunited, unwilling to return.

There was a person who, when you were a baby, held you, and no matter how tired she was, still hummed softly to make you sleep, to stop your crying.

There was a person who, when you wet the bed in your sleep, worried you might catch a cold, disregarded her own sleep, and woke up several times every night just to feel the bedding beneath you, to see if it was damp.

There was a person who, as you grew up, when you were studying, would endure sleepiness to get up, just to make you breakfast so you wouldn't be hungry.

There was a person who, after knowing you liked to eat fish, always ate the fish head and tail herself. You smiled and asked her why she didn't eat the body, and she smiled back, saying she liked the fish head and tail, but you took it seriously.

There was a person who mended your clothes as you grew up, and in those stitches, there were a few faint red marks that you rarely noticed.

There was a person who, even after you truly grew into an adult, would still gaze at you silently with eyes unchanged for decades, silently happy, silently smiling, until finally, she silently closed her weary eyes.

This person is called Mother.

There was also a person who, when you were a baby, held your body high with both hands, lifting you up, replacing the sun in his eyes, becoming his everything.

There was also a person who, when you hadn't learned to walk and were still falling, held your hands, and amidst happy laughter, helped you take your first steps in life.

There was also a person who, amidst your countless cheers, held your hand and led you through mountains and rivers, taking you to see the sky and the earth. In the silhouette of his back as you looked up, you would feel that he was a mountain, he was the sky.

There was also a person who, when you said that mother liked to eat fish heads and seriously left all the fish heads and tails for your mother, he stood by, looking at his wife, revealing apology and tenderness.

There was also a person who, after you grew up, whenever you thought of him, it was always with strictness and a gaze that made you increasingly annoyed, but as you gradually matured, you would discover that beneath that stern gaze, there was a hidden love you couldn't see back then.

There was also a person whose aged, slowly closing eyes on the bed revealed fear and helplessness, yet your embrace, your gentle voice, made him like a child, like when he lifted your body in your infancy, his happy laughter made him no longer afraid or helpless, but instead, in warmth, he collapsed into your arms.

This person is called Father.

Wang Lin sat before his parents' tomb, shedding tears, laughing and crying. Those memories pierced his heart and were unforgettable. He hadn't drunk alcohol, yet at this moment, he felt as if he were drunk.

In his dream, that other life, he didn't get to bid farewell to his parents, didn't get to hold his father's body, didn't get to kiss his mother's smiling, unwaking, wrinkled forehead.

In this life, he had done it.

If a person has a wife and children, then after the death of their parents, their sorrow might be equally deep and etched into their bones, but they still have something to rely on. But if a person, in this life, has neither wife nor children, then their sorrow is enough to overshadow heaven and earth.

From then on, there would be no embrace to warm his heart when he was weary.

From then on, there would be no smile to dispel his melancholy in solitude.

From then on, at the ends of the earth, only his solitary figure would silently watch the sun rise and set.

After guarding the tomb for three years, Wang Lin's hair had all turned white, and his body was no longer straight but slightly bent. Traces of vicissitude and time showed on him.

"Thirty-eight years have passed…" Wang Lin's face had wrinkles; he was now an old man nearing sixty.

Da Fu was even older, leaning on a cane, standing behind Wang Lin, silently watching him, then lowering his head to look at his right wrist, and after a long time, gently nodded.

"How many thirty-eight years can one have in life… I don't know about others, but I probably won't have another." Wang Lin whispered, then knelt down and bowed before his parents' graves.

"Do you still remember that ancient temple…?" Wang Lin stood up and looked back at the aged Da Fu, who seemed unable to walk much further.

"In that ancient temple, I said I needed a bookboy, and you followed me." Wang Lin's face showed a reminiscent smile as he looked at Da Fu. For over thirty years, Da Fu had always been by his side.

"Da Fu can still be a bookboy." Da Fu rolled his eyes and grinned.

"You're old, and I'm old too… but I still have unfulfilled wishes… Da Fu, guard our home for me, wait for me, wait for me to return." Wang Lin looked up at the sky, and there, he saw the white flying bird.

"I'm still a bit short in my comprehension of the world. I want to spend the rest of my life traveling to the many countries on this Vermilion Bird Star. When I return, perhaps I will have gained nothing, or perhaps I will have achieved enlightenment."

In the spring of this thirty-eighth year, Wang Lin left the mountain village alone. Da Fu stayed at home, silently waiting for Wang Lin's return, perhaps for ten years, perhaps twenty years, perhaps a lifetime.

Wang Lin rode a carriage alone, drinking wine, moving further and further away from Mount Hengyue. Several months later, the carriage arrived at the border of the State of Zhao. Here, Wang Lin got off, dismissed the coachman, took a deep breath, looked back at the State of Zhao, then turned and took a step, walking out of the State of Zhao's boundary.

This was the first time in his life he had walked out of the State of Zhao. Wang Lin didn't ponder where the road ahead led; he only knew that the path was beneath his feet.

The moment he took that step, several long rainbows suddenly whistled through the sky, faintly passing above Wang Lin. He didn't look up, but calmly continued forward.

A soft 'hmm' came from within one of the long rainbows whistling through the sky. Among the several Cultivators, there was an exceptionally beautiful and peerless woman. Besides her beauty, this woman also possessed a natural charm, not feigned, but inherent.

She stopped in mid-air, looking down at Wang Lin, who was walking step by step below. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, and her expression showed confusion and bewilderment.

"What's wrong, Junior Sister Liu?" A Cultivator beside her asked in surprise.

"Nothing. You all return to the sect first; I have some private matters." The extremely beautiful woman spoke softly, no longer paying attention to the others, and turned to fly downwards.

The Cultivator who had spoken earlier was startled and was about to follow.

"Senior Brother, I wish to be alone." The woman's gentle but extremely firm voice echoed, making the Cultivator stop. After a brief hesitation, he led the other equally surprised fellow disciples away into the distance.

Wang Lin stopped, turned around, and watched as a beautiful long rainbow descended from the sky behind him, landing within ten zhang in front of him in a blink, transforming into a woman dressed in purple robes.

This woman was beautiful, a beauty Wang Lin had never seen in his life, surpassing even Zhou Rui from back then by more than several folds.

However, Wang Lin was not entranced. He had seen through everything, pursuing the principles of heaven and earth, possessing his own thoughts. To him, this woman was indeed beautiful, but when her eyes eventually closed, her burial earth would be no different from that of any ordinary woman.

The woman looked at the aged Wang Lin ten zhang away, at his head full of white hair, his face covered in wrinkles, and at his bright eyes that revealed wisdom. After a long, long time, she bowed slightly with a lowered head.

"Elder, I saw you once decades ago. Meeting you for the second time today, do you still remember?"

Wang Lin looked at the woman before him, his eyes showing contemplation. After a long while, he smiled faintly, shook his head, and spoke hoarsely.

"I've forgotten."

"Since you've forgotten, then forget it. Elder, I don't know why, but seeing you, I always feel as if we've met somewhere before, not this time, but the last time I saw you. I want to know, what is your name?" The woman smiled, speaking softly.

"This old man is Wang Lin." Wang Lin's expression was calm as he slowly spoke.

"Wang Lin?" The woman frowned, thought carefully for a long time, and then spoke with a hesitant whisper.

"Could it be the Great Confucian of the State of Zhao, Wang Lin?"

"Precisely this old man." Wang Lin nodded, his eyes showing vicissitude, profound as if containing the heavens and earth.

"I must have remembered incorrectly…" The woman thought for a long time but couldn't understand why she felt such a familiar, heart-stinging sensation. She gazed deeply at Wang Lin. She didn't understand why, upon seeing him, the stinging feeling was infinitely more intense than before, especially his aged appearance, which, along with the pain, brought an unspeakable melancholy.

"I apologize for the disturbance. Farewell." She sighed, carrying the confusion in her eyes and the pain in her chest, turned, and departed.

"May I ask for the young lady's name?" Wang Lin said softly.

"Liu Mei, the 'mei' from eyebrow." The woman stopped, turned her head, and beneath her beautiful eyes, a smile appeared on her lips, enough to make one's heart flutter. After a moment of hesitation, she slapped her Storage Pouch and took out a Medicinal Pill.

"You are old, this pill can help you maintain your energy. Our meeting can be considered fated, so I'll give it to you. Goodbye." Liu Mei placed the Medicinal Pill down, and clouds appeared beneath her feet. As she floated up with the clouds, she looked very beautiful.

"Is it a past life, or Reincarnation, or a dream… or is it all nothing… Liu Mei, Liu Mei… the woman from that dream life who made me awaken with a sharp pain…" Wang Lin looked at the Medicinal Pill, his emotions well hidden.

After a long time, until the woman's figure vanished into the horizon, Wang Lin suddenly looked up and, with all his might, in a hoarse voice, shouted a sentence.

"Liu Mei, you must remember, no matter when, perhaps in the next life, perhaps in another Reincarnation, or perhaps in a dream, do not ever get to know a Cultivator named Wang Lin! Do not get to know him, do not come into contact with him…"

Liu Mei had already gone far. Wang Lin didn't know if she heard him. He shouted with all his strength until his throat was hoarse, until the long rainbow in the distance had completely vanished.