Chapter 936: Reincarnation Is Empty
The sorrow of the wind through the trees!
A child wishes to care for their parents, but they are no longer waiting. A wanderer returns home, but finds neither father nor mother. Separated by life and death, where can one pour out their grief?
Ye Fan's tears fell silently. All his efforts had come to nothing. He had returned at all costs, crossing boundless star domains, but he could not cross the river of time. In the end, he was too late.
His body trembled gently as he chanted the Salvation Scripture. What kind of pain was this? With tears in his eyes, he recited Taoist scriptures for his parents, hoping they would find rebirth.
Ye Fan bit his lip until blood dripped down. He called out softly, again and again, each word stained with blood. The entire room was filled with runes, imprinted into the very void.
For over twenty years, his life's goal had been to return, to see his parents, to reunite with them, to bring smiles back to their aged and sorrowful faces. For this, he had risked life and death, just to come back. But his parents were no longer here... In an instant, his life had no goal. The entire world had collapsed.
"Dad... Mom..." Ye Fan murmured, tears streaming down endlessly. Trembling, he silently recited the Salvation Scripture, never imagining he would see his parents off like this.
There is no greater pain in the human world than this.
He had so much to say, to express the longing of these twenty-plus years. But they were gone. What could he do? Only sob, only let tears roll down endlessly.
Ye Fan's heart was bitter. All his efforts had turned to nothing before the passage of time. Nothing could be done again, nothing could be changed.
The paleness of life, the ruthlessness of time—he was so sorrowful and helpless. Reaching into the void, he grasped nothing at all.
He felt so ridiculous. He had thought that one day, if he were unmatched in the world, he could shatter everything and change everything. But now, Heaven had directly struck him a heavy blow, leaving him so pained he was powerless, kneeling on the ground, unwilling to rise.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back. I've come to see you." Ye Fan knelt there, weeping bitterly again and again.
"I really miss you. But the road was too long, so long that I struggled with all my might, barely making it through, only to return... and it was too late. Why is it like this... I would rather die myself!" Ye Fan growled.
Now, it was too late for anything. He grabbed his own hair, feeling the lingering presence of the two elders. Why couldn't he even see them one last time? He was unwilling and full of regret.
In the end, Ye Fan was dazed, silently shedding tears. Sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, he suddenly felt that life had lost all meaning.
What was cultivation? What was severing the Dao? What was the Sacred Body? What was invincibility? It was all empty. If he couldn't even protect his parents, what use was any of it!
He felt so ridiculous. All his efforts had come to nothing. Throwing everything aside, in the end, he was still too late. An empty tragedy, unable to do anything.
He cried loudly and laughed loudly, coughing all the while, with traces of blood at the corners of his mouth. He suddenly felt he was nothing, pitiful and laughable.
"I can't change anything. I didn't even see my parents one last time. I'm useless!"
Ye Fan cried for a while, laughed for a while, utterly despairing. He had no attachment left to this world. He felt life was boring, with more suffering than joy.
He cried and laughed, then fell weakly to the ground, silent. Only tears silently fell. He didn't want to move, wanting to sleep forever.
The aged faces of his parents appeared before his eyes from time to time. Ye Fan was in a daze, slowly losing consciousness. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and passed out.
"Ye Fan... you're back." A gentle call sounded by his ear.
"Don't be sad, don't cry. We don't blame you. We just miss you very much. Seeing you safe makes us happier than anything." A soft whisper, full of affection.
"Your mother and I always believed you were still alive, that one day you would return and see us. We waited a long time, but we were truly tired and couldn't hold on any longer. Now, knowing you're safe, we're at ease." The words were aged, with both relief and comfort, yet heart-wrenching.
Like a dream, Ye Fan, in his coma, kept shedding tears from the corners of his eyes. It seemed he saw two balls of light. He tried hard to grasp their hands, but he couldn't no matter what.
"We're leaving. You must live well. Take good care of yourself..." The voice faded, the two balls of light slowly dissipated. The aged faces grew faint, then turned into a rain of light, completely disappearing.
Ye Fan shouted, struggling desperately, trying to chase after them, to keep them, but he grasped nothing.
"Bang!"
He suddenly woke up. There was nothing before him. The warmth from just now was gone. There was no trace of his parents' presence. Everything was empty and desolate.
"You're awake."
Xu Qiong sat beside him, handing him a cup of water, saying, "Grieve in moderation. People have joys and sorrows, partings and reunions; the moon waxes and wanes."
"Did you see anything just now? Did you hear anything?" Ye Fan grabbed her hand, shaking it forcefully. The water in the cup spilled onto the ground.
Xu Qiong frowned. Ye Fan's strength was immense. Even though he was carefully controlling it, she still felt pain. She said softly, "You miss them too much. Your mind is too exhausted. Don't overthink. Get some rest."
"Did you really not see or hear anything?" Ye Fan stood up, releasing his divine sense, trying to find that familiar, moving, and intimate presence.
Everything just now was too real, as if he had experienced it personally, right before his eyes. He wasn't quite sure if it was a dream or reality.
He pulled open the curtains. The night was deep. A meteor shower was fading, disappearing at the edge of the sky.
Ye Fan suddenly trembled. It looked very much like the rain of light that had dissipated in his dream. His body couldn't stop shaking. Tears flowed as he stared at the pitch-black night sky.
"Strange, there was no forecast of a meteor shower." At another window, Xu Ye rested her chin on her hand, blinking her big eyes curiously, looking at the sky.
Ye Fan pushed open the window, soared into the air, and quickly chased after it, turning into a golden light that vanished into the distant sky.
Inside the room, Xu Qiong's mouth fell open in shock. The teacup in her hand fell to the ground with a crisp crack, water spilling everywhere.
She could hardly believe what she had just seen. Although she had been mentally prepared, she still couldn't accept this fact. Ye Fan had cut through the sky like a Golden Wing Peng. Was he even human?
Having seen Ye Fan return so suddenly, in her understanding, she associated it with extraterrestrial civilization. Her first thought was of abduction, etc. But now, she was petrified. Was this... a civilization of gods and demons?
In another room, Xu Ye screamed, loudly calling for her mother, shouting that a meteor had crashed into their home.
The fearless girl quickly ran into the room, saying, "Mom, did you see that just now? It looked like a meteor streaked past near our house. So amazing!"
Xu Qiong held her hands to her chest, stopping her trembling. She didn't want to lose her composure in front of her daughter. She tried to calm herself down. Everything that had happened was too shocking.
Xu Ye was sixteen or seventeen years old, lively and active. She scurried to the window, leaned out, and kept looking, trying to find where the meteor had landed.
"Mom, your face looks a bit pale. Were you scared just now? Don't worry, your precious daughter is here. No matter what demons or monsters come, I'll beat them all away. Hmph, ha, hey!" She playfully struck a Tai Chi starting pose.
But when she saw that her mother's expression still wasn't natural, she quickly stopped her mischief and said, "Mom, what's wrong? Let me get you a glass of water. Hey, where's that little uncle? He's gone. Where did he go?"
Xu Qiong calmed her emotions and finally settled down, saying, "He had something to do and left first."
At the edge of the sky, Ye Fan stood alone in the night sky, staring blankly. He couldn't possibly catch up with anything. The meteor shower had long since disappeared.
"Why? Was it you? Where did you go?"
He felt that perhaps there really was some inexplicable force in the human world. Was that his parents saying goodbye to him just now?
But then he shook his head. He was a cultivator, especially one who had reached such a powerful state. He was most sensitive to the primordial spirit and understood its essence.
What was gone was gone. It couldn't reappear or be reborn. This was the irreversible nature of heaven and earth. Everyone must die. Even the ancient Great Emperors were no exception.
"Maybe it was my own subconscious trying to heal my heart's wounds." Ye Fan sighed long, reaching into the night sky, but grasping nothing.
He didn't believe in fate, didn't believe in reincarnation. There was no rebirth in the human world. But the experience just now was both real and illusory, leaving him puzzled.
He thought of the words of the old monk who had dissolved into the Dao when he went to the Western Desert: "The afterlife—believe and it exists, doubt and it doesn't. Over the long years, two identical flowers will appear in the world. After a thousand years of looking back, one flower withers, and one flower blooms."
Whether they are the same flower is left for future generations to ponder and discuss. Even that ancient Buddha couldn't say for sure.
"Was it my own subconscious deceiving myself, or were they really saying goodbye to me?" Ye Fan's tears silently fell.
He preferred to believe the latter. Having crossed the star domains to return, he was ultimately too late, unable to see his parents even once. Was that just now their way of filling his regret?
Ye Fan murmured, no one could hear what he was saying. He kept whispering, standing alone in the night sky, wanting to stay there forever.
He didn't want to think rationally. If he delved deeper, ancient sages had long discussed it. Their notes recorded that reincarnation was impossible.
Ye Fan walked alone under the stars, not thinking, not pondering. His heart was empty and desolate. At dawn, he landed on the ground. After the sun had risen high, he arrived at the Xishan Villa District. Xu Qiong welcomed him in.
"Wow, little uncle, where did you suddenly disappear to last night? I don't remember seeing you leave." Xu Ye was sleepy-eyed, liking to sleep in. She had just gotten up, hugging a large stuffed bear.
"Be good. Go wash your face, brush your teeth, and eat breakfast." Xu Qiong gave her a push.
Although Xu Ye was only sixteen or seventeen, she was as tall as her mother, with a slender figure. She obediently nodded and said, "Oh, okay."
This was the greatest blow Ye Fan had ever faced in his life. He wanted to leave this place, to escape this mortal world. Everything he saw made him sad and pained.
But he couldn't leave just like that. He wanted to know about his parents' final days, to know everything about the past.
"Eat something first. I'll tell you slowly later." Xu Qiong smoothed her long hair and comforted him softly.
"I can't eat. You go eat. I'll wait for you, and then you can take me to their graves." Ye Fan felt heavy all over. He slumped on the sofa, not wanting to move. His eyes were dry, but his tears had already dried up.
Xu Qiong sighed. She had no appetite. She took Ye Fan out, drove into the distance, and after more than an hour, they arrived at the cemetery.
The cemetery was large, planted with evergreen grass and shrubs. It was built against a low hill, with some ancient pines and cypresses adding a solemn and dignified atmosphere.
"It's here..." Suddenly, Xu Qiong showed a strange expression. In front of the tombstone was a bunch of white flowers, swaying in the wind. Petals fell rustling, emitting a faint fragrance.
"Is there someone else who comes to sweep the grave?" Ye Fan asked.
"I think no one else knows about this. It's a bit strange." Xu Qiong was puzzled.