The Last Goodbye

In the end, Han Li still walked, step by step, into the village.

The moment he set foot at the village entrance, he heard a joyous clamor of musical instruments. Following the small path through the village, he saw not a single villager.

Han Li’s heart stirred. This kind of scene, this kind of sound, was the most familiar thing from his childhood. It was unmistakably a wedding celebration. The entire village had gone to celebrate or join the fun.

Rousing his spirits, he slowly extended his spiritual sense. As expected, he found every last person in the village, young and old, gathered in one place. But the location felt strangely familiar. Wasn’t that his own home?

Han Li was greatly surprised.

“Could it be…?” He had a vague guess.

He quickened his pace, swiftly rounding a few houses and turning several corners. Suddenly, his vision opened up.

Hundreds of villagers were crowded around a mud-walled courtyard.

Inside the courtyard stood several tiled houses, looking far superior to the nearby dwellings. Large, joyful “Double Happiness” characters were pasted on both sides of the courtyard gate and the doors of the houses. A small band of musicians was playing before the gate, filling the air with lively sound.

Some villagers stood, some crouched, and some, less particular, simply sat on the ground. They clustered in small groups, whispering to one another, some arguing loudly, others peering into the yard with envious eyes. Beside the adults, many children were chasing and playing.

Faced with this familiar scene, a daze fell over Han Li. For an instant, it was as if he had returned to the past, become one of those children again, chasing and playing with them.

“Tsk tsk! Fourth Sister Han is really blessed. I hear the groom is a scholar from the county town—a very learned man from a bookish family!”

“Isn’t that right? And she’s going as the official wife, becoming a lady of status!”

“I hear the dowry the Hans are sending is terrifyingly large—tens of taels of pure silver!”

“They’re really rich!”

……

The villagers’ noisy gossip pulled Han Li from his reverie.

“Fourth Sister Han… that’s not Little Sister, is it? Could this really be her wedding day?” A complex, unnameable emotion surged within him, churning incessantly.

On an impulse, he dodged behind a large tree nearby, fixing his gaze on the courtyard gate.

Suddenly, a shout came from afar: “The cart is here! The groom has come for the bride!”

Hearing this, the villagers stirred. A storm of voices erupted!

“The bride is coming out!”

“The bride is stepping out! Come see!”

……

The children joined the shouting with equal energy. Han Li’s spirits lifted, his gaze turned eager.

Creak. The wooden courtyard gate swung open, and a dozen men and women emerged. At their center, they escorted a young girl in a red bridal gown.

She had a pointed chin, delicate features, and looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. Her face was full of shyness.

Han Li’s eyes widened as he studied her face, searching for any trace of his Little Sister in his memory.

Apart from a faint familiar feeling at the corners of her brows and eyes, nothing else matched the Little Sister he remembered.

“Hah. ‘A girl changes eighteen times before she’s a woman’—those words hold real truth.” Han Li smiled bitterly, then swept his gaze over the people around her.

“That fat one is Third Uncle. I can see that at a glance—still as fat as ever.”

“That big, dark fellow is Big Brother Iron. The woman pressed close to him must be my sister-in-law.”

……

Han Li murmured to himself, naming each person one by one, as if it could ease the tightness in his chest.

His gaze fell on a pair of white-haired elders, an old man and an old woman. He stopped muttering.

He stood frozen behind the tree, motionless, his expression incredibly complex.

There was joy, there was timidity, and a little bewilderment.

The degree to which his parents had aged far exceeded Han Li’s expectations. He remembered that when he had gone up the mountain, his mother still had black hair. Now her temples were streaked with gray. His father’s formerly straight back was now stooped.

Han Li was speechless, his mind hazy, as if filled with paste. He was unaware of everything that followed.

By the time he recovered his senses, his Little Sister was already seated in a colorful cart draped in red silk, receding into the distance. Beside the cart, a scholar in a green scholar’s robe rode a large black horse.

Han Li strained to look at the departing cart. Then he turned his head back and took one final look at his parents in the crowd. He closed his eyes.

After imprinted his parents and a few close relatives deeply into his heart, Han Li turned around. A look of firm resolve appeared on his face. He strode with large steps back toward the village entrance.

He knew that when he walked out of the village again, this might be the last intersection between him and these people.

He understood clearly. Ever since he had learned the Eternal Spring Art and come to know of the existence of Immortal Cultivators, he would walk a path completely different from ordinary people.

No matter what calamities or blessings, good or ill fortune lay ahead, he would not regret his choice.