Bai Er leaves the scene.
Bai Er had initially held back. Having cultivated to this level, he had a clear direction for his future. As the supervisor had said, his emotional entanglement with Xu Yi wasn't yet deep enough, making it the most opportune time to leave. Besides, Xu Yi could already see the red thread of fate. If he didn't hurry and catch up, he might truly never have the chance to see Xu Yi again.
So he was determined to leave immediately, afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would feel even more reluctant to part... But at this moment, Xu Yi's tear-blurred eyes looked at him with earnestness and reluctance... His own lingering feelings were subtly stirred... He couldn't help but stroke Xu Yi's face, forcing a smile to comfort her: "It's okay, it's okay, you don't need to learn now... If we're meant to be, we'll meet again..."
"But...but...but where is fate? Why can't I see it, Bai Er?"
“I…I don’t really know either…” Bai Er choked up, “When I saw my brother and Xiang Qi before, I thought I understood fate…but, at the end of the story, I realized…I might not be able to believe in love in this world anymore…”
"sorry……"
"What does this have to do with you?" Bai Er laughed through his tears. "Why are you apologizing?"
"I want to... say sorry to you on behalf of this world..."
"Heh..." Bai Er looked up, forcibly holding back the tears welling up in his eyes. He couldn't help but hug Xu Yi and murmured, "Take care, Xu Yi."
"Take care, Bai Er," Xu Yi stepped out of Bai Er's embrace, took the small bell from between her brows and handed it back to Bai Er, and said in a deep voice, "Since you said you wouldn't look for me, then I won't... We... we'll meet again someday..."
"Okay!" Bai Er nodded, put away the brass bell, and patted Xu Yi's head: "We'll definitely meet again... You go first..."
"But...I want to give it to you..."
"Let's go..." Wu Zi felt the same way as Bai Er and naturally understood Bai Er's thoughts, so he pulled Xu Yi along and left first...
Xu Yi was being led by Wu Zi and was about to turn around when Wu Zi pulled her back again and urged, "Go! Don't turn around."
After Wu Zi and Xu Yi had been gone for a long time, until even their backs were completely out of sight, Bai Er looked thoughtfully at Xu Yi's tears on the ground... In the end, he used magic to collect the two tears that hadn't yet dissipated at his feet...
He turned and strode away, only to hear his brother sigh in his arms, "So, between the two of us, you were the smarter, the more rational..."
Bai Er laughed: "I'm just lucky that I have a proper future with Xu Yi. Compared to Wu Zi, I'm already so much happier..."
"Hmm," Bai Da's gentle voice came softly, "Yes, you're so much better off than him and me..."
Xu Yi was led by Wu Zi until they walked back into the city gate before she looked back at the path that was no longer visible. Tears streamed down her face the whole way, and Bai Er's words, "She is not in the state between him and Wu Zi," kept echoing in her mind. Now that Bai Er was no longer visible, she looked up and asked Wu Zi, "Wu Zi... Bai Er said I am not in the state between you two. What state are you two in?"
What state? The state of having overcome an emotional hurdle...
Wu Zi sighed in relief: "You're not in our situation, so you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Let's not ask..."
“But…” Xu Yi burst into tears: “I’m so heartbroken… Bai Er left and wouldn’t let me go to see him; you left after that and wouldn’t let me go to see him either… Why do three people who were perfectly fine have to go their separate ways? Can’t friends stay together forever?”
"Sigh..." Wu Zichang sighed, turned around and wiped away all her tears, patted her face and comforted her, "All good things must come to an end... Everyone walks a different path, it's only a matter of time before we part ways. You've been cultivating for so long, you've seen so much, don't you understand? Don't cry..."
“I know…” Xu Yi took Wu Zi’s hand and held it tightly: “I know it’s normal to part ways, I just… I just can’t bear to part… I thought, I thought you, the Bai brothers, and I could go together, we are all kindred spirits… I thought that in the future, the only separation would be me sending you off to the Immortal Realm… I never thought, never thought it would be so soon… so soon to part ways…”
"Parting is always so sudden, which is why it's so regrettable... You'll only see more of these things in the future... Just get used to it..."
"What?" Xu Yi's tears, which had almost stopped, started falling again. "There will be more in the future? Waaah... I might... I might never be able to adapt..."
"Sigh..." Wu Zi sighed again, raising his hand to wipe Xu Yi's tears once more, but the more he wiped, the more tears flowed. Wu Zi felt angry, jealous, and heartbroken at the same time, and could only hug Xu Yi and gently comfort her, "Don't cry, don't cry..."
Hearing Xu Yi's cries and feeling her body tremble with sobs, Wu Zi's feelings for her grew stronger, but he dared not let Xu Yi notice, so he could only hold her tighter and tighter... Xu Yi felt Wu Zi's arms tightening around her. Now that she had bones, she naturally felt uncomfortable with her chest being constricted, so she patted Wu Zi's back: "Wu Zi, you...you're hurting me..."
But Wu Zi didn't dare let go. He knew very well that if he saw Xu Yi's glistening eyes right now, he would definitely kiss her uncontrollably... He didn't want to scare Xu Yi, so he didn't dare loosen his grip and could only mumble, "Bear with it, Xu Yi... It'll be over in a bit..."
Xu Yi had always been a submissive person, so she obediently mumbled, "Okay, then... then hurry up... I'm really not feeling well..."
Wu Zi's heart immediately calmed down... Yes... Xu Yi would never know, would never even think of it that way... She was simply in a state of 'indifference'...
His senses returned instantly. He released Xu Yi, patted her head, and comforted her, "It's okay... don't cry..."
"Okay," Xu Yi agreed verbally, but her body betrayed her by shedding two more tears...
Wu Zi felt a sharp pain from Xu Yi's tears, and a pang of jealousy welled up inside him again. He loudly questioned Xu Yi, "Are you really that reluctant to part with him?"
"No... it's because I was thinking about how you'll be leaving soon... and then... I couldn't control myself..."
"Sigh..." Wu Zi sighed helplessly, "I'm really doomed to be with Xu Yi for the rest of my life." He then took Xu Yi's hand again and slowly walked towards the Imperial Observatory. "Forget it, go ahead and cry. Maybe you'll feel better after you've cried..."
Xu Yi then started crying again, sobbing all the way back to the Imperial Observatory...
Not long after entering the Imperial Observatory, the Director came running at the sound of crying. He looked at Xu Yi with a smile and asked kindly, "What's wrong? Little Xu Yi, why are you crying so hard..."
“Supervisor…” Of all the people Xu Yi had met along the way, only the old man, the Supervisor, seemed like an elder. She rushed over, grabbed his sleeve, and sobbed, “Bai Er is gone… Waaah… Wu Zi will be leaving soon too… From now on… From now on, I’ll be all alone… Waaah…”
The supervisor patted Xu Yi's head: "Nonsense, don't you still have this old man? And your brother Yu Tong, and the mountain lord of Wuji Mountain, and that big cat? Aren't you surrounded by fellow travelers?"
"But...but I can't bear to part with him...Waaah...I can't bear to part with Wu Zi, and I can't bear to part with Bai Er..."
"Alright, little girl," the supervisor patted her head again, "You've been crying all the way here, you really should stop. Be good, don't cry..."
"But the more I tell myself not to cry, the more I want to cry... Waaaaah..."
"Then tell yourself to cry it out, maybe you won't want to cry anymore after a while..."
"Oh..." Xu Yi nodded blankly, "Okay... I... I'll give it a try..."
The supervisor couldn't bear to see the little girl crying, nor could he bear to see the increasingly anxious look in his old friend Wu Zi's eyes. So he simply pulled Xu Yi away, saying, "Come on, come with me, I'll teach you some Taoist arts..."
"Oh," Xu Yi was taken back to her room by the supervisor. Wu Zi naturally understood the supervisor's concerns and intentions, but every time he thought about the fact that he and Xu Yi had no future, his heart ached uncontrollably... At this moment, he sighed, touched his beating heart, and endured the pain as he returned to his room...
Xu Yi stood at the feet of the supervisor, listening to him explain the Daoist teachings and the myriad things in the world. Gradually, his thoughts drifted with the supervisor's words to all living beings in the world...
It turns out that all living beings suffer. Although everyone suffers in different ways, they are all struggling to survive, to satisfy their desires, and to achieve what they want in this vast quagmire...
As she listened, Xu Yi fell asleep... In her dream, she saw the Mountain Lord of Wuji Mountain. The Mountain Lord stood alone atop the peak of Wuji Mountain, gazing at the myriad colors before him, watching over them all by himself... That silhouette seemed to be telling a story, but it remained silent...
Xu Yi felt a surge of inexplicable joy. Just as she was hesitating whether to take a few steps closer to Brother Tong, he walked into her line of sight from the side, flicked her forehead, and said affectionately, "It's time to go, little Xu Yi..."
"Huh?" Xu Yi was wondering where she was going when she woke up from her dream... Oh, so what Brother Tong meant was that it was time to wake up...
Is it time to wake up? Is it time to leave?
This... seems to make no difference?
Xu Yi was deep in thought when the supervisor's voice rang out: "Awake? Let's go eat, the timing is perfect..."
"Oh," Xu Yi nodded and went to the Imperial Observatory's dining hall alone. She happened to run into Wu Zi, who was staring blankly at his food. So she went over and patted Wu Zi on the shoulder: "Wu Zi, what are you daydreaming about? Eat your food first..."
"Oh, right..." Wu Zi seemed to snap out of her daze instantly: "Yes... I was just spacing out... How did you sleep last night?"
"Great! The supervisor told me a lot of things, and I fell asleep while listening..." Xu Yi looked at Wu Zi with a contented expression: "What about you?"
He didn't sleep well, not well at all... but at this moment all he could say was, "Okay, I slept well too, without a single dream until dawn..."
Xu Yi swallowed a mouthful of food and asked Wu Zi, "Where are we going today?"
Wu Zi finally smiled: "Where do you want to go? I'll go with you."
“Okay, although the thought of you leaving soon makes me unhappy, it’s not good to be unhappy every day, so let’s travel and have fun as much as possible before you leave…”
"Okay!" Wu Zi nodded in agreement, "I'll listen to you."
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