Dao Eternal

For a long time, neither of them spoke.

The forest was eerily quiet, as though even the birds had fled from the scent of blood. A gentle breeze carried the smell of smoke through the trees, reminding Ye Chen that somewhere beyond the dense woods, Green Willow Village was still burning.

His hands would not stop trembling.

No matter how tightly he clenched them, they continued to shake.

He stared at his palms.

The blood was not his.

Yet it felt as though it had seeped into his very soul.

Lin Yue knelt beside him without saying a word. She took out a small cloth from her sleeve and gently wiped the blood from his fingers, just as she had done countless times after he scraped his hands working in the fields.

Only this time...

The stain was far more difficult to remove.

Ye Chen's voice was hoarse.

"...I killed him."

There was no pride.

No excitement.

Only disbelief.

Lin Yue continued cleaning his hands.

"You protected us."

"I killed a man."

She stopped for a moment before looking into his eyes.

"No."

Her voice was soft, yet unwavering.

"You protected your mother."

Ye Chen lowered his head.

"I was afraid."

"I know."

"My legs wouldn't move."

"I know."

"I thought I was going to die."

She placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Being brave does not mean you are never afraid."

Tears filled her eyes.

"It means you keep moving even when fear is trying to stop you."

Ye Chen closed his eyes.

His mother's words eased the storm within his heart, but they could not erase it.

He knew they never would.

Some memories were not meant to disappear.

They existed to remind people who they had once been.

After several minutes, Lin Yue slowly stood.

"We have to leave."

Ye Chen looked toward the smoke rising above the trees.

"The village..."

Her expression darkened.

"There is nothing we can do now."

The words felt cruel.

Yet they were true.

The two of them walked deeper into the forest, following a narrow trail used by hunters gathering herbs in the mountains. The ground became steeper with every step, forcing them to climb over exposed roots and moss-covered rocks.

Neither noticed how silent the forest had become.

No birds sang.

No insects buzzed.

Even the wind seemed reluctant to disturb the ancient woods.

After nearly an hour, they reached a rocky cliff overlooking the valley.

Ye Chen stopped.

From there, Green Willow Village was clearly visible.

Or rather...

What remained of it.

Columns of black smoke rose into the morning sky.

Flames still devoured the scattered homes.

The fields where he had worked beside his father only yesterday had become blackened scars upon the earth.

The willow tree beneath which his family had shared countless meals stood engulfed in fire.

Ye Chen's chest tightened.

Everything that had made this place home was disappearing before his eyes.

Lin Yue quietly placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"Your father loved this village."

Ye Chen nodded silently.

"But he loved us more."

Her voice trembled.

"That is why he stayed behind."

The words carried no bitterness.

Only acceptance.

Ye Chen remained standing upon the cliff until the final roof collapsed beneath the flames.

He did not cry.

The tears had already been exhausted.

Instead, he knelt facing the valley and pressed his forehead against the cold stone.

"I swear..."

His voice was barely audible.

"...I will remember."

Not revenge.

Not hatred.

Only remembrance.

He would remember the laughter of the villagers.

Old Liu's stories.

His mother's songs.

His father's patient teachings.

He refused to allow them to disappear from the world as though they had never existed.

When he finally rose, something within him had quietly changed.

The grief remained.

The pain remained.

But beneath both...

A resolve had begun to take root.

As mother and son continued climbing toward the mountains, neither of them noticed an elderly fisherman standing beneath a lone pine tree several hundred meters away.

His weathered robes moved gently in the wind.

In one hand rested an old bamboo fishing rod.

He watched the two figures in silence.

His gaze lingered upon Ye Chen for a long time.

Finally, he spoke to no one in particular.

"A seed does not choose the storm that breaks its shell."

His eyes reflected neither joy nor sorrow.

"But only after the shell breaks... can it begin to grow."

The old man turned and slowly disappeared into the mountain mist.

By the time Ye Chen instinctively glanced back a few moments later, the hillside was empty.

Only the whispering wind remained.

Ahead of them lay endless mountains.

Beyond those mountains waited the martial world.

Neither Ye Chen nor Lin Yue knew where they were going.

They only knew one thing.

They could never go home again.