Lighting a lamp, Xu Xian took out several medicine bottles of different colors and gave instructions for each one by the flickering light.
"Old man, remember this. The medicine in this red bottle is for external injuries. If anyone in the village gets seriously hurt, give them one pill."
"The white bottle is for colds. For headaches, fevers, stomachaches, or even the runs, give them this..."
"And there's this one..."
"And this..."
"Since you can't read, I've drawn little figures for you. You should be able to understand them. But don't use these recklessly; they're quite expensive. Only give them out as a last resort. I guarantee the medicine will drive the illness right out..."
The Old Village Chief nodded repeatedly.
"Right!"
"Got it!"
"Understood!"
Finally, Xu Xian took out a small medicine bottle and whispered, "This one is for you. It's a Lifespan Elixir. Once you're in your seventies or eighties, take it. It'll guarantee you another ten years of life."
"Giving this to me? That's too much of a waste."
"What waste? If I give it to you, just take it."
"I've already got one foot in the grave. It doesn't matter if I live or not," the Old Village Chief said.
Xu Xian scoffed. "Didn't I just say I'd ensure you live a long life? Just live your life in peace. Yanwang won't be coming for you for a long time yet."
Though the Old Village Chief kept grumbling, his body was honest as he carefully tucked away the pills Xu Xian had given him.
These... these were medicines that could save the villagers' lives.
Mountain folk feared nothing except falling ill. There were simply no treatments available, and every year, a few people would pass away because of it.
"Xiao Xian, you should give these things to your father and mother. I'm just an old man with a bad memory. If I mix them up, it would be a sin."
Xu Xian joked lightheartedly, "Come on, I'm doing this for your own good. You're getting up there in years, right? I'm worried your position as village chief might get shaky. With these things, your prestige will be solid, won't it?"
"You brat, you've really thought of everything."
Xu Xian said with an air of feigned maturity, "I have no choice. Now that I've joined an immortal sect, I definitely can't inherit your position as village chief for now. So, I need you to stay alive and keep the seat warm for me. One day, when I've attained the Dao and become an immortal, I'll come back to take over. Let's agree on this now—you can't go behind my back and give the position to someone else."
The Old Village Chief glanced at Xu Xian and said irritably, "You little brat, is that all the ambition you have? Didn't those Immortal Masters say you're the successor to the Sect Master? Why are you still thinking about being a lowly village chief?"
Xu Xian replied leisurely, "It's different. Being the chief of Houdao Village was my childhood dream."
"Keep on fooling me."
"I'm serious!"
The night deepened, and the moon in the sky drifted toward the west. It was getting late, and the Old Village Chief grew drowsy. He leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, drifting off.
Xu Xian covered him with a blanket, stood up quietly, and began to leave.
As he reached the door, the Old Village Chief's voice drifted over, sounding like a dream-talk.
"Xiao Xian!"
The youth stopped and looked back. "Yeah?"
"Go."
Xu Xian was confused. Wasn't he already leaving?
He instinctively replied, "Okay!"
"And don't come back!"
Xu Xian froze, bewildered. He could hear the hidden meaning in the Old Village Chief's words.
"What?"
The Old Village Chief pulled the blanket tighter around himself and said meaningfully, "The birds in the sky and the fish in the water cannot live together. A summer cicada never sees the winter snow, and a frog in a well can never know how vast the heavens truly are."
"You've entered the gates of the immortals; you're different from the people in the village now."
"Don't come back. You don't owe the village anything. Just focus on walking your path. Houdao Village can't help you, but we won't hold you back either. This village will be the same whether you're here or not. Don't worry about me, and don't worry about your father and mother. The village will look after them."
"You're not a child anymore. You should understand what your grandfather means."
Xu Xian silently lowered his gaze, his fists instinctively clenching. He didn't say a word.
The old man raised a thin, withered hand and waved it, murmuring again, "Go. Head back when dawn breaks. Do your best in the immortal sect, and don't bring shame to the people of Houdao Village."
Xu Xian gritted his teeth. After a long silence, he said heavily:
"Alright! Old man, take care of yourself!"
The old man remained silent. Only the candlelight in the room flickered in the wind.
Xu Xian stepped out of the house, out of the courtyard, and into the night beneath a star-filled sky.
It was true.
Houdao Village would be the same with or without him.
He wasn't a child anymore; he understood the truth.
Immortals and mortals... how could they live together?
If he stayed, he would only witness their aging and death. Whether for him or for the villagers of Houdao Village, that was not a good thing.
The villagers didn't want Xu Xian to see their frailty and decline, and they certainly didn't want him to be affected by these trivial matters on his path of cultivation.
They were mountain people, and they were uneducated, but that didn't mean they were fools who understood nothing.
The path of cultivation, the way of longevity—there was a separation between immortals and mortals!
They couldn't help Xu Xian, so they didn't want to become his burden.
After Xu Xian left, the old man stood up and walked to the door. Leaning against the frame, he secretly watched the youth's back as it slowly disappeared into the darkness.
On the old man's face, filled with kind affection, his eyes held both reluctance and relief. He muttered to himself:
"Stupid brat, go fly!"
"Soar like an eagle!"
Xu Xian eventually made his way back home. By then, the villagers had all dispersed. His elder sister and her husband were tidying up the courtyard by the moonlight.
"A-Xian, you're back!"
Xu Xian took a deep breath, his brow relaxing. He hid the melancholy and sorrow in his eyes, replacing them with a bright smile.
"Yeah, I'm back. Where are Father and Mother?"
Xu Yue said, "Father is drunk. Mother took the little brother and Chu Yi to sleep. You should rest early too; your room has been tidied up for you."
Xu Xian glanced toward the house. His Pupil of Insight ignored the doors and windows, piercing the darkness to see everything inside clearly.
His father was sleeping soundly.
His mother's eyes were closed.
And the two children were fast asleep...
After a busy day, their faces were all filled with happy smiles.
Xu Xian thought of the Old Village Chief's words, and he also remembered what Wen Qingxue had told him on the way here.
'When you become an immortal, every reunion with a mortal is merely the beginning of the next parting—and every parting could very well be the last.'
The corners of Xu Xian's mouth turned up, but his brow furrowed. It was the same face, yet it expressed two completely different emotions.
The sadness following joy was more piercing than a pain that had always been there.
He had come back.
He had been happy today.
But how long would it take for his father and mother to forget today's happiness?
Standing at the door day after day, eyes straining for a glimpse of him.
Tossing and turning under the moon night after night, unable to sleep.
Xu Xian seemed to understand. He looked up at the sky, where the stars were silent, then looked back at Xu Yue and shook his head. "No, I won't."
Rate on N.U.
