Farewell to Old Friends

The temple gate was pushed open.

A pale-faced man, who looked to be in his early forties, stood at the door.

Rainwater drifted in from behind him, wetting the old threshold, but his clothes remained dry.

Strictly speaking, the people standing at the door are not people.

Bai Xingjian, a ghost with considerable strength.

We've known each other for hundreds of years.

Bai Xingjian did not step in immediately. He stood at the door with his hands behind his back, looked around the dilapidated temple, and finally settled on the pile of straw in the corner.

"I've been searching for your whereabouts for a long time."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I've thought about snow-capped mountains, islands, an abandoned imperial tomb, or even the demon clan's lair in Nanyangzhou."

Bai Xingjian stepped across the threshold.

"And so you ended up here, in a small town whose name few people even know."

Shen Gui did not answer, but continued to stare at the wormhole in the wooden beam, as if there was a new world inside.

As Bai Xingjian walked, he said, "In the two hundred years since you began your search for immortality, the Yan Kingdom has been in a period of transition, with several emperors being incompetent and unable to govern the country. The entire court relied on the prime minister, which led to the court listening to the prime minister rather than the emperor. In short, there were internal and external troubles, and neighboring countries were eager to make a move."

"It has nothing to do with me."

Shen Gui finally spoke, his gaze still fixed on the roof beam, answering with complete indifference.

"If there really are immortals in this world, you are the first one that comes to mind for our generation. You are immortal and powerful. In a sense, you are already an immortal."

Bai Xingjian approached, "So, are you truly seeking immortality, or are you searching for something else...?"

He wanted to say more.

"Stop," Shen Gui interrupted.

"What do you want?"

"I want to make a deal with you. You know, you're the only one in the world who catches my eye."

"No."

Shen Gui didn't even think about it.

Bai Xingjian pretended not to hear: "After I die, please take care of the ghost clan of Yinling lineage in Beichezhou for a thousand years... just don't let them be wiped out. In return, I'll tell you something interesting."

He took something out of his sleeve.

A necklace.

The chain was silver, extremely thin, and when wrapped around a finger, it looked like a piece of spider silk.

The pendant was a stone, about the size of a fingernail, with several extremely fine cracks on its surface.

Shen Gui glanced at the stone fragment and then looked away.

"It's really interesting," Bai Xingjian said.

He opened his palm, letting the stone shard lie in his hand, then closed his fingers and grasped the shard.

The stone slab lit up.

Tiny dust particles in the air glowed softly and dimly.

This was a color that Shen Gui had never seen before.

He had seen Buddhist relics, warm and smooth as jade; Taoist alchemical fire, reddish with a hint of purple; Confucian righteous energy, white as silk; and the cold flames of ghosts, chilling blue to the bone.

The light before my eyes seemed to blend the sunset and the morning light together, its color indescribable.

Shen Gui's brow twitched slightly.

Having lived for so long, he has seen countless rare treasures, and there are very few things that he has seen for the first time.

"It's called the Fragment of the Immortal Path."

Bai Xingjian said, "According to the information I have collected, the ancient immortal sect collapsed, causing cultivation in our world to become a dead end. The fragments of the immortal sect are scattered in the human world. I don't know exactly how many. If you collect them all, you can seek an opportunity to ascend."

Shen Gui still did not answer.

But Bai Xingjian knew he was listening.

A person who doesn't speak might be too lazy to care, or they might not care. There's also a kind of silence where they're weighing their words, considering whether what they're saying is true.

Shen Gui is now the third type.

"I found this fragment at a cost. I've studied it, and there's only one way to repair it: the seven emotions and six desires of the world. Unfortunately, I don't have enough lifespan to do it."

Bai Xingjian glanced at the sky outside, then placed the necklace on the ground.

Just then, a rooster crowed, a muffled sound coming from the far distance of the city.

"Well, my life has been quite fulfilling, and I have no regrets. I'll be going now."

Bai Xingjian's voice was tinged with laughter, but his body had already begun to dissipate.

Starting from the fingertips, it turned into fine ash particles, blown by the wind out of the temple like sand in an hourglass, slipping away irrevocably.

Ghosts also have lifespans, just longer than humans; their declining yin energy is what's currently in sight.

In the instant Bai Xingjian dispersed, Shen Gui's shoulder twitched.

But in the end, he didn't reach out his hand or say any goodbye.

A smile returned to Bai Xingjian's face, quickly spreading from his shoulders to his chest, and from his chest to his face. His voice also softened, his tone sounding less like he was discussing a deal and more like an old friend saying a few heartfelt words before parting.

"You're afraid—afraid of interacting with people, afraid of making friends, even afraid of making enemies. You're afraid everyone you know is dead..."

Shen Gui did not answer.

Bai Xingjian didn't need to answer; he simply looked at Shen Gui, his gaze unusually devoid of calculation.

Then he left with one last sentence.

"Life is like a long night; who can speak of the dawn? How pitiful, how lamentable."

The gray smoke was blown away by the wind and disappeared.

There were no ceremonies, no extraordinary phenomena, no universal mourning; he was simply gone. The sky was still dark, the moon was still hanging, and the rooster crowed once or twice before falling silent.

The first ray of gray light appeared on the horizon, falling on the dilapidated temple as if it were covered with a layer of gray.

Inside the temple, a stone pendant lies quietly.

Shen Gui reached out and picked up the necklace.

The stone pendant wasn't cold to the touch; instead, it had a comforting warmth.

He held the necklace, and the stone shards in his palm gave off a rhythmic sound, like a heartbeat.

He remained in that position, as if in a daze, or as if deep in thought, for a very long time.

three days later.

He stood up and walked out of the dilapidated temple.

Outside the temple gate, many leaves had fallen from the rain last night.

A blade of grass leaned against the wall, its broken end already wilted. Shen Gui had already stepped over it, but then stopped, looked down at it, and gently straightened the broken blade of grass with his toe, letting it lean against the earthen wall again.

The pancake shop at the city gate had already opened, and the aroma of crispy pancakes mingled with the dampness from the evaporating rainwater.

Shen Gui walked over and placed two copper coins on the chopping board.

The old woman selling the pancakes recognized him and, as usual, wrapped the pancakes up, muttering, "Eat them while they're hot; they'll upset your stomach if they get cold."

She didn't expect a response; the poor man had never said a word to her.

"Um."

Shen Gui's voice was very soft, as soft as a breeze amidst the aroma of roasted bread.

The old woman was stunned for a moment, thinking she had misheard. When she looked up, Shen Gui had already turned around and was walking towards the city gate with a biscuit in his mouth.

The old soldier, whose teeth were already worn out, was still dozing off when the yellow dog that always wandered the street walked up to his feet, tilted its head, and wagged its tail. Shen Gui glanced at it, broke off a piece of the pancake in his hand, and threw it on the ground.

He continued walking towards the edge of the city.

A morning breeze blew, blowing across the now lifeless torch basin, carrying away wisps of dust.

At the same time, it also stirred up tiny sparks hidden at the very bottom.