The little red-haired monkey burst into laughter.

The middle-aged Taoist priest stood up and looked at the old locust city not far away. "The old locust city has returned to its original state, and the aura of the four-eyed evil god has disappeared without a trace. What a terrifying woman."

"Squeak, come on, follow me to the capital of Yue Kingdom to eat delicacies from land and sea," the middle-aged Taoist said with his hands behind his back.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

The little red-haired monkey nodded excitedly, climbed onto the middle-aged Taoist priest's shoulder, and stretched out its hand to gaze into the distance.

...

Huaxi Village.

In a farmhouse courtyard.

Qin Luo sat quietly in her wheelchair.

The old white dog curled up at Qin Luo's feet, basking in the sun.

Hua Ying, dressed in simple clothes, was sweeping fallen leaves in the yard, talking to herself, "I put Zi Yue in danger, you must be very disappointed in me."

"I can hardly feel my own existence anymore. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. If it weren't for your existence, I might not have been myself a long time ago."

"..."

After finishing her chores, Hua Ying sat under the wisteria tree and took out the bamboo flute that Qin Luo had given her.

...

On the hillside.

Qin Luo gazed at the village not far away. The world was silent, and time seemed to stand still.

The bright moonlight fell on Qin Luo, and he heard the melodious flute music, mixed with a faint sadness. He could actually hear what Hua Ying was saying.

Qin Luo shook his head and sighed softly. He stood up. The grass around him was bent over by the wind. The sound of rushing water came from the foot of the mountain. The chirping of insects and frogs echoed in the fields. In the distance, there was the roar of tractors. Time began to flow.

"I'd better go home and visit."

Qin Luo arrived at the foot of the mountain. He crossed the clear river and walked up the bluestone steps to the street paved with gravel.

A blacksmith shop with flames rising from it came into view. The sounds of hammering and shouts could be heard from inside. In Qin Luo's memory, that was where his grandfather used to work.

Grandpa was an old blacksmith who had taken on many apprentices and was very famous in the nearby villages. However, Qin Luo's grandfather closed the blacksmith shop several years ago due to health reasons, and the blacksmith shop had long since become a place for the Qin family to store miscellaneous items.

Sparks flew in the blacksmith's shop. Qin Luo watched his grandfather sweating profusely through the crack in the door. He knew his grandfather was a blacksmith, but he had no memory of his grandfather forging iron. Yet the scene before him felt incredibly real.

Grandpa was afraid that Qin Luo would get hurt in the blacksmith shop, so he forbade him to go near it. In the distance, he heard the cheers of a group of children. Qin Luo followed the sound and saw a boy rolling a hoop, followed by many children of the same age.

Qin Luo's eyes were filled with laughter. The boy rolling the iron hoop was him when he was a child. Everyone else's iron hoops were made from old water pipes, but only little Qin Luo was using a real iron hoop made by his grandfather, which made a loud sound when it rolled.

"Xiao Luo, can I borrow it for a while?"

"Okay, but you can't lose it."

Don't worry.

A skinny boy borrowed Qin Luo's iron ring. Qin Luo remembered that the iron ring was eventually lost, but he had no recollection of where it was lost.

Little Qin Luo ran towards the center of the village, and Qin Luo followed behind him, watching him climb the big locust tree in the village.

Qin Luo was very mischievous as a child, until he fell from a big locust tree and broke two bones. After that, he became well-behaved and stopped causing trouble.

The elderly people in the village call the big locust tree the Locust Immortal. They believe that the big locust tree protects the people around the village. However, the young people do not believe in these things, let alone children like Qin Luo. They often climb the big locust tree to play.

When Qin Luo fell from the big locust tree and broke two bones, some elders in the village gossiped that he was being punished for disrespecting the Locust Spirit. Afterwards, Qin Luo's grandfather even came to the vicinity of the big locust tree to burn paper money.

Qin Luo was staring at the old locust tree when a clear voice rang out, "Who are you?"