Chapter 609: The Hometown That Cannot Be Returned To
In a guest room of the Yang family estate...
The young master, as the host, sat at the head seat, with Lady Chai seated beside him. The Daoist, having come from afar, was the guest, and sat with the cat at the guest’s side. Both host and guest treated each other with mutual respect, especially the young master, whose manner bordered on deferential.
Outside, the servants wandered back and forth, their eyes wide with curiosity.
“Lady Chai, how did you come to be here?” Song You set down his teacup, speaking in the tone of an old acquaintance making small talk.
“I don’t know myself...” Lady Chai’s tone carried a hint of sorrow, perhaps because she felt this Daoist before her was the only person in this world who had shared in her early life. So upon seeing him in this unfamiliar place, even if they had only known each other for a few days, and hadn’t seen one another for ten years, she still felt an unusual warmth and closeness.
Especially since the Daoist remained so gentle, so calm, as if nothing had changed, not even his appearance. That made him feel all the more familiar.
“Back then, Grandfather went out to plow the fields and didn’t return for a long time. We didn’t know what had happened and were worried, so we went out to look for him. Our fields were close to the lakeside, and I was afraid something might’ve happened to him near the water. So I searched through the reeds by the lake. I looked for a long time and still couldn’t find him. In the end, I accidentally fell into the water. When I climbed back out... I was already here.”
“I see...”
Song You had once studied the spiritual resonance within the painting and had discussed its mysteries with Sir Dou.
The world within the painting was a reflection of the real one, an actual representation of this land. While Master Dou’s painting skills were divine, in truth, he was also a cultivator, with a deep and singular path of cultivation. Though his family’s art had been passed down for a thousand years without ever manifesting overt spiritual power or technique, with Master Dou’s generation, a genius emerged. His talent rivaled that of the greatest experts in any field, including those who walked the path of true spiritual cultivation.
His gift had finally transformed that long line of heritage, allowing it to touch upon the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. Thus, he acquired abilities akin to those of powerful cultivators. Even so, Master Dou still could not create a world from nothing, and the incomplete world within the painting remained tethered to the external world for its existence.
And the world it relied upon was precisely this Heaven and Earth.