Chapter 231: To What Extent Must One Reach
A leaf fell from the tree in the courtyard with the wind. It landed on his shoulder, then slid to the ground.
Zhang Xiaoqi lowered his head and looked at the fallen leaf.
Many doubts filled his eyes. Right then, he grasped what truly climbing this mountain meant.
“Rustle…”
The leaves rustled. Zhang Xiaoqi snapped out of his daze and asked, “If I go… can I come back?”
Chen Changsheng looked at him and said, “Perhaps you can still come back.”
Zhang Xiaoqi turned to the Divine Crane and asked, “Really?”
The Divine Crane hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
But it was still just a perhaps.
Yet this journey was long and perilous, crossing the Desolate Sea and passing towering mountains. Returning would be incredibly difficult. Moreover, once within the Daoist Sect’s gates, time would no longer pass year by year… Zhang Xiaoqi seemed to understand a little. He turned back to the Green-Robed Gentleman and asked, “If I go, what about my dad and mom?”
“Life will go on as before,” Chen Changsheng said.
“Is that so…”
Zhang Xiaoqi looked toward the distant Green Mountain veiled by floating clouds. His gaze seemed to pierce the clouds to glimpse the mountain reaching above them.
Yet he suddenly lowered his head again, staring down at the bustling Autumn Moon Market.
In the ensuing long silence,
Zhang Xiaoqi withdrew his gaze and asked,
“Can I go down the mountain?”
Chen Changsheng paused inwardly, then nodded. “You can.”
Zhang Xiaoqi started walking. The moment he got the answer, he bolted outwards.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned his head for one last look at the white crane and the man in green robes in the courtyard, but quickly turned back around and sprinted downhill.
Moyuan, witnessing him run out of the Taoist Temple, arrived at the temple gate. His eyes followed the teen stumbling down the mountain path.
Moyuan shook his head with a sigh, his gaze turning to the horizon.
“Humans desperately seek what they cannot grasp, yet some flee in haste as if fleeing. The mortal world is truly fascinating.”
…
Zhang Xiaoqi stumbled and fell on the slope below. The skin on his palm tore, blood oozing out.
He scrambled to his feet. Ignoring where he was hurt, he ran towards his home.
The Autumn Moon Market was its usual self. The waiter called out customers outside the Wine Tavern. Elders chatted in the cool shade under trees. Women near the well beat laundry with sticks…
Zhang Xiaoqi arrived at the dilapidated shack by the river, shouting,
“Dad! Dad!!”
He barged into the shack, only to find the doorway empty. Panic seized Zhang Xiaoqi instantly, and he rushed towards his main house.
He panted heavily, not daring to stop for even a moment.
People saw him running frantically and occasionally asked what was wrong, but received no reply from the young man.
All that mattered now was the path ahead in his eyes.
Zhang Xiaoqi ran past the street corner where his mom usually set up her stall. Seeing the Baked Pancake stall deserted, his breath ragged, a growing unease took hold.
Clenching his jaw, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, he raced home with desperate speed.
Bang!
Zhang Xiaoqi burst into the house.
“Mom! Dad!”
He searched frantically. But the house was empty. Only six sticks of Incense and Candles still burned before the family altar in the Ancestral Hall.
Zhang Xiaoqi’s eyes darted sideways and immediately spotted the letter placed clearly on the altar table.