Time flies, and decades have passed in a hurry.
Jiang Ziyu got his first sword in his life, which was given to him by Wen Shili, the Feiying Liuyun, and he liked it very much.
He threw away the small branch he had used to practice swordsmanship for many years, hugged the beautifully crafted sword, and smiled like a fool.
It snowed particularly heavily that day.
"Master!"
When Wen Shili reached the mountain gate, Jiang Ziyu caught up with him from behind.
"Master, where are you going?"
Wen Shili said calmly: "The demons are invading. This time, their force is so great that it seems to have been planned in advance. The four great sects have invited me to come out many times..."
Jiang Ziyou was shocked and interrupted him hastily: "Is this very dangerous?"
For a moment, neither of them spoke again.
When the bird flying over the mountain chirped for the third time, Wen Shili raised his eyes and looked at him, "You stay in the mountain well."
"Master, I want to go with you."
“No.”
Jiang Ziyou said anxiously, "Master, you always took me with you when you went down the mountain to fight demons these past few years."
"This time is different." Wen Shili said, looked at Jiang Ziyu meaningfully, turned and left.
"Master, don't leave!"
“…”
"Master, please don't leave me alone on the mountain!"
“…”
“Master!!!”
Jiang Ziyu wanted to run after him, but how could he catch up?
He fell to the ground with a thud, his knees and palms were rubbed raw, blood mixed with snow water was shocking to see.
When he looked up again, Wen Shili was no longer on the mountain path.
Only the echo was still ringing in the mountains, and the sound of "Master, Master" continued.
Jiang Ziyu lay in the snow for a long time before he stood up and slowly walked up the mountain.
He felt strange. He was so sad, but he couldn't cry. He could only howl.
Jiang Ziyu didn't know that Wen Shili actually stood there for a long time out of his sight, watching him crawl out of the snow before he left.
…
Jiang Ziyou stopped practicing sword every day and just stood at the mountain gate looking in.
Like a teacher-looking stone.
Snow began to fall on the mountain again. He wrapped himself in a jacket, hugged his knees, and sat on the stone steps, watching the snow flying all over the mountain like pear blossoms.
Wen Shili had been gone for several months.
From time to time, there are people going up the mountain to cut trees, chatting while they cut trees.
"Hey, have you heard? In this immortal-demon war, there is a cultivator named Wen Shili. He is really a killer. It seems that our human race has hope in this battle."
"Yes, yes. I also heard that his cultivation has already entered the Mahayana stage. Now everyone calls him the True Lord Qinghe."
"So amazing? I wonder what kind of cultivation method you are practicing?"
"Ruthless."
"No wonder..."
Another day passed, Jiang Ziyou sat in front of the mountain gate, waiting from sunrise to sunset, and finally waited for the returnee in the wind and snow.
He saw Shi Li, covered in blood and with red eyes, walking up the mountain path step by step with difficulty.
"Master!" Jiang Ziyu hurriedly ran up to support him, but his pupils suddenly shrank.
Wen Shili coughed up some blood and fell straight into the snow.
Jiang Ziyu stretched out his hand and found that Wen Shili's spirit image was already shattered.
For those who practice cultivation, their spiritual appearance will be shattered and their life span will come to an end.
"Master! Wake up! Don't scare me!"
…
In the following days, Wen Shili remained in a coma.
Jiang Ziyu was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, but there was nothing he could do except washing Wen Shili's body, feeding him medicine, and talking to him by his bedside every day.
"Master, please wake up soon. I can't sleep well alone..."
"Master, please don't abandon me..."
"Master, please talk to me...Master..."
"Master... I'm so sad, but strangely, I can't cry..."
The spiritual visions became increasingly fragmented, and Jiang Ziyou became desperate.
His usually clear voice became slightly hoarse. “Master, you once said that the saddest thing in life is not being able to leave a name behind until death. So I want to carve a detailed inscription of your life for you, so that people who see it in the future will know that there is still a Pure and Harmonious Master like you in this world.”
He muttered to himself, "Yes, I need to write down Master's life story. I have to go to the stele shop at the foot of the mountain... the stele shop..."
He squatted by the bed for too long and stood up too quickly, feeling dizzy and falling back. It took him a long time to get up. He took two steps with difficulty, which loosened his muscles and bones. He walked faster and faster, and finally ran to the foot of the mountain to find the nearest stele engraving shop.
Several fences surrounded the thatched-roof earthen house, and the entire yard was filled with stone slabs stacked more than a dozen layers high.
Jiang Ziyou shouted, "Is anyone there?"
"Are you looking for business?" A somewhat sarcastic male voice came from inside the house, and then the craftsman walked out quickly: "Yes, yes!"
"Boss, I want to carve a tombstone."
The craftsman smiled and said, "Sure, sure. What do you want, sir?"
"Yes." Jiang Ziyou took out a booklet from his arms and handed it over: "Engrave these on the tombstone."
This booklet was written by him stroke by stroke, and it records the contributions that Wen Shili made to benefit the people in recent years and even earlier.
The craftsman took it, opened it and took a look, and was dumbfounded: "This is too much, which immortal is this, to have so many achievements?!"
"My master."
The craftsman twirled his beard and said: "Everyone is destined to die. After death, there is only a grave and a monument. Why bother?"
"My master is different. He is not a mortal. He is a deity."
Jiang Ziyou added: "On the day the stone tablet is completed, help me place this stone statue next to the tombstone."
The stone was taken from Master's room, and the stone statue was carved in his own image. After Master passed away, he could not be with Master all the time, and Master would be lonely there alone.
"...Okay then, but this is a huge project. It will take at least five days to complete. As for the price, let's say 800 Spiritual Stones."
Jiang Ziyou hesitated: "But I don't have so many spirit stones..."
The craftsman's expression changed instantly: "No spiritual stones? Why would you carve a stele without spiritual stones? And why do you have so many requirements? Get out!"
"My master was seriously injured in order to protect all living beings..."
The craftsman pushed him and threw the book at him, "You don't have the spiritual stone. Even if the king of heaven comes, you won't carve for me. Get out!"
"Wait! It's not that I don't have any, it's just that I don't have that much..." Jiang Ziyou took off the Feiying Liuyun Sword from his waist, hesitated for a long time, and then gritted his teeth and said, "This sword is a good sword. Can I mortgage some of it?"
The craftsman's eyes sparkled as he examined the sword from inside to outside: "Tsk, it's a good sword."
He asked: "You really want to sell this sword, right?"
Jiang Ziyu looked at the sword reluctantly and said, "...This is all I have."
"All right." The craftsman put away the sword and said, "I'll send it to you in five days. Where do you live?"
"The top of the Impermanence Mountain."
When the craftsman heard this, his legs trembled: "..."