Xiyao

General Chu fell ill.

The disease is lingering, and the mountains and buildings are falling in an instant, and the medicine and stone are useless.

His face was ashen, and the temples were white with stars. That stubborn and depressed young man was completely annihilated in the old days, leaving behind a decadent and dying old man.

Chu Genglou sat beside his bed, thinking, how could it be?

He's only 45 years old.

He hadn't waited for his adopted son to actually grow up enough to repay the favor of nurturing.

It is like a rotten tree in the wind, a dying candle, and may die at any time.

Chu Genglou always thought that they still had a lot of time.

While Chu Jiangli is getting old, the youth will grow up and be able to give him a stable and worry-free old age.

However, time is always in a hurry and cannot tolerate parting.

When you realize it, there is no other way but to say goodbye.

In the middle of the night when no one was around, he took advantage of Chu Jiangli's drowsy sleep and asked Li Ruo if there was anything he could do.

A demon in Su Yi like snow emerged, standing silently beside the bed, shaking his head.

There is a thin loneliness between his brows, like the mist on the Cangshan Mountain, the smoke is like hail, and his eyes are as clear as glass: "There is dragon's blood grass in the world, and there is longevity medicine to prolong life."

"If you desire eternity, you can also establish a way and enshrine the gods."

"But these are useless to Ah Li." Yao blinked, and the expression in his eyes was covered by his slender eyelashes, "He is not sick or sick, but a natural exhaustion, and the dragon's blood grass has no effect."

"The last elixir of longevity in this world also disappeared with the destruction of Yunyun City."

"In the end, his soul was broken and he couldn't become a god."

He was so calm and indifferent that Chu Genglou became angry, "Are you just watching him die?"

"Father is not half a century old, so old, who is to blame?"

The demon is not angry, or in other words, there is no one worthy of his anger in front of him.

He just turned his face sideways, looked out the window, and said with light gray eyes: "Don't you think, I'm not sad?"

"Many, many times, I resent him for using sleepiness, not because he imprisoned my freedom, not because he destroyed my eternity."

"Instead, sleepiness tore his soul apart, leaving him with no chance of reincarnation."

Li Ruo spoke very quietly, but for some reason Chu Genglou felt that he was sad. That sadness was hidden under the cold appearance of a monster, and there was no clue, but it did exist. "If it wasn't for his incomplete soul, I would You can also go to find his reincarnation."

"For a long time, I can watch different people who have the same face as him, and look for his shadow in the gap between reincarnations."

His mint green eyes turned around: "What else do I have now?"

The light and shadow fell, making the demon's expression unpredictable. He seemed to be expressionless, and the corners of his lips seemed to be raised in self-mocking, and it seemed that the pupils of his eyes were shining with broken spring ice.

Yao Hang eyes, and closed those inhuman eyes: "He destroyed my eternity."

"The short period of less than 20 years is just the opening and closing of my eyes."

"Human beings are too fragile after all."

Chu Genglou was silent.

Just when the two waking beings were silent and the room was silent, the sleeping Chu Jiangli whispered a few words.

Chu Genglou didn't hear clearly, leaned over and listened, but still couldn't catch his adoptive father's sleep talking.

He looked at Li Ruo questioningly, and found that Yao was unmoved, and folded his arms, looking like he was watching from the sidelines.

"What did father say?"

"A few names, I haven't heard of them before." Li Ruo repeated indifferently, "Aunt Zhang, Brother Li, Xiaofu..."

Chu Genglou didn't know what it was, he couldn't figure it out, listening to Yao and adoptive father maintaining the same frequency, uttering names one by one, and finally heard a familiar word, "...Xiaozhi."

"Xiao Zhi?" The young man thought hard, "I seem to have heard my father mention it."

He tried his best to search for all of the name in his mind, and when he glanced out of the corner of his eye, he found that the demon's expression moved slightly, and the retelling suddenly stopped.

Li Ruo turned her head, her delicate and flawless eyebrows frowned little by little.

Chu Genglou was puzzled: "What's wrong?"

The demon said quietly: "He is not reciting names, but talking to people."

"What he just said was, Xiao Zhi, I want to go home."

The young man was stunned.

He knew his adoptive father's life experience, and he also knew that he had left Yuan City almost as long as he had stayed in Yuan City.

However, in Chu Jiangli's last remaining time, he dreamed back in the middle of the night, and what he was thinking about was still "going home".

Zhedan City is not his home, and this hut is not his home.

What Chu Jiangli wants to go back to is Yuan City, which he will never go back to.

Xiao Zhi, I want to go home.

I miss you all, I want to go home.

"I think," Chu Genglou said slowly, "the only thing my father will regret about mobilizing is that he can never go back."

He caught a monster who was blatantly fearless in the face of immortals and gods, which alarmed Kyushu, and he had to leave his hometown and flee in a panic.

Because he couldn't reveal the source of his sleepiness, because that lazy beauty in red clothes was the quickest sinner after both races were wiped out.

Ran Xianchen helped him, he couldn't do her any harm.

Chu Jiangli told Li Ruo about his confusion: "I always feel that the biggest crime committed by the boss, the so-called murder of the Emperor, may be a misunderstanding."

"She said a word, she killed a person, and she will never be clear about it for the rest of her life. At that time, in that scene, she didn't need to lie. I think she was telling the truth."

That woman who was full of dust and vicissitudes of life continued her path of redemption, but the police did not want to betray her.

Not only for Ran Xianchen, but also for Ruan Zhi, he didn't want to hurt Ruan Zhi's heart, and make his best friend's devotion and sacrifice ridiculous.

Chu Jiangli didn't want to hurt others, so he had to bear the heaviest price by himself, far away from his homeland, and could only go back in his dreams.

He misses Yuancheng and his "home" so much.

Chu Genglou looked at his adoptive father's trembling lips, clenched his hands into fists, and finally made up his mind: "Go to Yuan City."

Li Ruo tilted her head and heard him continue, "It has been almost 20 years since one incident, and what can be traced is like finding a needle in a haystack. No matter what, it is impossible to affect my father."

He lowered his head and stroked Chu Jiangli's face: "Father's last wish, I must fulfill it for him."

Yao snorted lightly: "The distance from here to Yuan City would take a month at the speed of human beings."

He deliberately emphasized human beings, so Chu Genglou didn't get annoyed and waited for his next words.

Yao paused, and said: "Find something like a carriage and sedan chair that can block his sight, and I'll take you to Tengyun."

Li Ruoteng's speed in the clouds and fog was indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people. As a result, when Chu Jiangli woke up the next afternoon and found out that he was in Yuan City, he was startled and his thoughts fell into confusion for a while.

"I'm dreaming." He finally said firmly.

"I've had this dream many times, and this time it's especially real." Chu Jiangli blinked, forcing back the wetness in his eyes, "But I know I can't go back, Xiao Zhi repeatedly told me , for everyone's safety, I can't go back."

"I can't inquire about everything about Yuan City, and it has nothing to do with this place."

"You know you're not dreaming." Chu Genglou sighed helplessly.

He knew that his adoptive father couldn't believe that he had returned to his hometown after the dream was over, and he was afraid that he would be even more hurt when he woke up from the dream.I also know that my adoptive father doesn't want to think about why he was able to return to Yuan City within half a day.

So, he didn't force him any more, just said: "I found out where Ruan Zhi lived, and I will visit him the next day."

"Father," the young man whispered, "he has a whole family of children and grandchildren, and they are doing well, so you don't need to worry too much."

He tucked in the corners for Chu General Li, watching the wandering wanderer being eroded by sleepiness again, his eyes gradually blurred, and comforted him: "Go to sleep, you have already returned home."

Come home to what you thought was your true home.

Chu Jiangli struggled to prop up his eyelids in a daze, but slowly fell asleep, muttering indistinct words.

Although he knew that Ruan Zhi'an was fine, in order to comfort his adoptive father, Chu Genglou went to visit the man who had become the owner of the theater.

He walked through the magnificent theater, not feeling much about the exquisiteness and beauty, and followed the leading maid all the way to the backstage.

A middle-aged man was waiting for him with his hands behind his back.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he turned around slowly and looked Chu Genglou up and down: "Are you the young man who claims to know 'Brother Li'?"

Chu Genglou nodded.

For the sake of caution, he used a less conspicuous title, which Ruan Zhi would definitely recognize.

"He is my father." The boy replied.

Out of some subtle and unspeakable psychology, he didn't say he was the adoptive father.

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "If this is the case, then I am not the person you are looking for."

His words stunned Chu Genglou for a moment, confused: "Aren't you Ruan Zhi?"

"Peach Blossom Eyes, loves acting like a fool, and knows 'Li Geer'."

"I'm Ruan Zhi," the middle-aged man replied, "but I'm not the Ruan Zhi you're looking for."

He pointed to the seat: "This is a long story, you can sit down and listen slowly."

After Chu Genglou sat down in a daze, he spoke again: "More than ten years ago, my mother was seriously ill and used up all the family savings. My father went around borrowing money to see a doctor for her."

"I have studied for several years, and I have also written a few romantic dramas, but I couldn't help my family. When I was desperate, I sold myself to the slave market, hoping to exchange some money for my family."

"A young man who looks very similar to me and also has peach blossom eyes bought me, tore up the deed of sale, and said he would make a deal with me."

"As long as I change my name and use some of the money to open a theater, I will receive a regular sum of money from the bank every month. In other words, he hired me to play him and replace him."

He looked around the backstage: "Now I am the owner of the theater, my wife and children are safe, and my parents are still alive. Everything stems from that strange transaction."

"If," Chu Genglou heard this, he was a little confused, "You are not the person I am looking for, then it is really Ruan Zhi, where is he?"

"Dead." The middle-aged man replied.

"He hired me to pretend to be him and used up all his savings. He sold his belongings. I asked him why he did this."

"He said that he was going to a situation where he was going to die, and he didn't plan to come back. He didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him. So he had to fake an illusion that he was not dead, so that those people thought he was fine."

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment: "He was kind to me to rebuild, and he was imprisoned and sentenced to death. I also collected money, but in the end I couldn't even get out the bones."

"He's dead?" Chu Genglou murmured.

For more than ten years, Chu General Li thought that Ruan Zhi was safe and sound, and he was at ease guarding his hometown.

However, the person who told him not to come back died more than ten years ago.

Died quietly, no one knew.

"He said that if anyone finds me, especially someone named 'Li Geer', he will give him a letter." When sending him out, the middle-aged man said, turning an old paper into a piece of paper. The fragile letter was handed to him.

On the envelope, it was written from my friend.

Chu Genglou pinched it, hesitated for a long time, but still did not open it.

He had no position to read the last letter of his best friend on behalf of his adoptive father, and walked back in a daze holding the thin piece of paper, thinking about how to tell Chu Jiangli about it along the way.

Then, in the inn room where he was staying, he saw Li Ruo standing beside the bed in the backlight.

The room was very quiet, Yao Ban's back was facing him, his profile was shrouded in the dizzy sunlight, his outline blurred, like a phantom.

Chu Genglou was stunned: "Why did you come out, father will wake up at any time."

Li Ruo turned around, glanced at him indifferently, turned his eyes, and moved back to Chu Jiangli without making a sound.

Yao didn't say a word, but the young man suddenly had a bad premonition, and rushed to the bed with a stride, and before he could bend over, he stood on the spot.

He finally understood why he felt the room was too quiet.

The demon doesn't need to breathe, so from the beginning to the end, only his breathing echoed lonely.

"Why?" After a long, long time, Chu Genglou finally recovered his voice, "He woke up once before I left, and he was still in good spirits."

Li Ruo's toneless voice was as faint as the water of a lake: "His wish has been fulfilled, he has no more worries, and he let go with a strong breath. Naturally, the oil is exhausted and the lamp is dry, and there is no way to recover."

"Shouldn't you know about this ending before you came to Yuan City?"

"You know?!" Chu Genglou was stunned, "You know that after he fulfills his wish, he can leave with peace of mind?!"

"Then why did you take him soaring thousands of miles and return to Yuan City within half a day?"

Li Ruo blinked, looking a little careless: "I promised him that I will do for him all the things he can't do."

"Not seeing Rushi, seeing off Rushi."

His mint green eyes glanced at Chu Genglou: "If it wasn't for you, I would never have known that after all these years, he still couldn't let Yuancheng go."

Chu Genglou wanted to say something more, the demon had already disappeared, and turned back into a white and flawless conch, which was tied around Chu Jiangli's waist.

The young man stood still for a while, raised his hand to hand over the unsent letter, handed it a candle, and burned it to ashes.

When the fire tongue scrolled, the words "desired ending" could be vaguely seen, but the person who should have read it and the person who wrote it down were no longer there.

Being in a different place, the funeral was simple. Chu Genglou worked part-time for half a month to scrape together enough money to buy a coffin for his adoptive father.

During the midnight vigil, he knelt beside the heavy coffin, with neither sadness nor joy in his eyes.

All the emotions were burnt to ashes as early as the belated letter, the hasty farewell.

The chrysalis finally emerges, and the butterfly breaks out of the cocoon.

The young man who is precocious but still can't change his youthful temperament sometimes grows up rapidly and becomes more calm and sophisticated.

His face was washed away by parting and death, and perseverance had taken root in the corners of his lips.

At the deepest moment of the night, Chu Genglou slowly knocked on the coffin.

"Don't you come out, my father will be buried tomorrow."

Just like his hallucination, a cold and faint voice said lightly: "Bury me together."

Then, there was no more sound.

Chu Genglou didn't speak again, and counted the leaks in his ears, waiting for the arrival of tomorrow.

At dawn, he supported the coffin and sent it all the way to the new grave.

Looking at the person who raised him for more than ten years, buried under the thick loess, I thought, my father is not alone.

The wanderer, who has been wandering for a long time, returns to his dreaming hometown.

Beside him is an existence that has never been separated and has been with him for half his life.

Li Ruo did not make a mistake in saying a word.

Chu Jiangli easily destroyed his eternity.

Then, another eternity was created.

The demon, who will always accompany his catcher, will sleep in the ground forever.

The story that belonged to them that was annihilated in time will also be deeply buried in the loess.

After the funeral, the boy packed his bags and embarked on a new journey.

Leave that long story behind in that small border town.

Over time, decay into soil.

The author has something to say: end the flowering.

The story of Chu Jiangli and Li Ruo is a branch line in the world of Xihuang. It tells the story of Chu Genglou's father's generation, and the theme is "companionship".

The catcher and the demon are, after all, never separated.