These things were usually harmless, but when one transcended tribulation and became an immortal, they could well turn into inner demons.
He had come this time to sever these earthly attachments once and for all.
"You... Why have you come back...? Did you... succeed in your search for immortality?"
Seeing that Ye Lin's appearance had not changed, his silver hair draped over his shoulders, the woman instinctively touched the wrinkles on her face and looked at her hands, covered in scratches from farm work.
Decades had passed. She, once renowned for her peerless beauty, had grown old, while Ye Lin looked exactly as he had when he left, without the slightest change...
"I'm back..."
At Ye Lin's words, tears streamed uncontrollably from Qingling's eyes. Ye Lin took the hands of the two little boys and slowly walked toward her.
The boys' eyes were clouded with confusion. Clearly, they were still too young to understand something so complicated...
"Why...? Why didn't you keep your promise? Why...?"
Qingling pressed her face against Ye Lin's chest and sobbed loudly. Back then, Ye Lin had resolutely abandoned her to seek immortality and the Dao, and the two of them had agreed on a ten-year deadline.
Ye Lin had to return within ten years, whether or not he succeeded in his quest for immortality. If more than ten years passed, it would mean he was dead.
The year Ye Lin left, she was in the prime of her youth, at the most beautiful age of her life. She waited desperately for him for ten years.
Every day and night, she stood by the stone at the village entrance, gazing at the path Ye Lin had taken when he left.
One year, two years, three years...
Three years passed. Ye Lin did not return.
Four years,