I spent a very happy afternoon playing football with my childhood friends. When the moon climbed to the top of the tree, we held the fireflies that we had been waiting for so long to catch. Then, in twos and threes, we said goodbye and started our journey home.
Li Xingkong had a lot of fun. Although it was the same football he used to play, he felt like he hadn't been this happy in a long time.
He didn't understand where this strange sense of temporal and spatial discontinuity came from.
Walking the road home that he had walked countless times before, Li Xingkong saw the smoke rising from the chimney in the courtyard from afar.
All thoughts vanished from his mind, leaving only the desire for dinner.
Pushing open the door, Li Xingkong habitually called out first.
I'm back!
"Hey, you're back so early today? You're obviously starving!"
My mother wiped her hands on her apron and came out of the cooking shed. Cooking pots are perfect for cooking large meals; with a family of almost ten people, it's only convenient to have one of these big pots.
"Where? I used to come back around this time too."
After taking off his dirty clothes, Li Xingkong skipped over to the tap and drank a couple of mouthfuls of cold water before groping his way toward the cooking pot.
The moment the pot is started cooking, it means someone has come to visit. It's probably their maternal grandparents coming to see them, and there's bound to be something delicious to eat.
"You little glutton, it's not ready yet, don't go over there."
Mom reached out and grabbed Li Xingkong, slapping his pants.
"So dirty, where have you been again?"
"You have no idea how awesome I was at soccer today..."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Xingkong's mouth was stuffed with a handful of boiled peanuts.
"Eat something of this to tide you over, and don't lift the pot!"
"Come inside, your grandfather is inside."
"Good!"
Upon hearing his grandfather's name, Li Xingkong's eyes lit up, and before he had even finished chewing what was in his mouth, he ran into the house.
Upon opening the door, Li Xingkong saw a figure with an air of otherworldly elegance sitting quietly on the sofa, watching the news broadcast on television.
Grandpa!
Li Xingkong only uttered a single cry, and strangely enough, tears began to flow uncontrollably from his eyes.
He hadn't seen her for only a few days, and he didn't know why he had lost his composure like this.
"Oh, the little one's back? Why are you crying like that?"
Grandpa put down the remote control he was holding and caught Li Xingkong, who was running towards him crying.
"I don't know, maybe some sand got in my eyes."
Li Xingkong rubbed his eyes, and the sadness vanished completely in his grandfather's strong arms.
What did you learn today? Tell Grandpa!
"Yes, on this very day last year, within this very gate, faces and peach blossoms reflected each other's rosy hue..."
"By the way, Grandpa, I had a really strange dream today..."
Li Xingkong to speak, but found that even with the words on his lips, he didn't know what to say.
"Don't rush, take your time, Grandpa will take a look at you."
Grandpa got up and went to the bookshelf next to him, and pulled out a well-worn copy of "Zhou Gong's Interpretation of Dreams".
"Come here, Grandpa has a magic weapon."
Li Xingkong had naturally read the books in the bookcase as well. These were all books that his grandfather had read one by one. When Li Xingkong began to learn to read, he started learning from these books.
The Investiture of the Gods, Three Words and Two Slaps, The Jade Box, Flowers in the Mirror...
Li Xingkong picked up and read many old books after he began to learn to read, but there were a few that he still couldn't understand.
"Zhou Gong's Interpretation of Dreams" and "Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber"...
Feng shui, palmistry, face reading, divination—although Li Xingkong understood what they were all about, they still seemed somewhat mysterious to him.
My grandfather, however, always cherished them, and whenever he saw them, he would be studying some of the books.
"I dreamt that I could cultivate myself, and I even went to the Jade Void Palace."
Li Xingkong's mind was somewhat dazed.
"Great! That means you're a potential cultivator. Maybe you can figure out something your grandfather couldn't do in his entire life."
Time flies when we sit around the fire and chat.
As Li Xingkong drifted off to sleep again, he felt as if he were experiencing sleep paralysis.
His body felt incredibly heavy, and his eyes Huhu and he couldn't open them, but Li Xingkong could sense that he wasn't at home, but rather lying in that valley once again.
It seemed as if something was urging me to wake up, but this urging was faint and indistinct.
The dream lasted too long; Li Xingkong felt as if he were being held in solitary confinement.
But the strange energy within his body flowed according to his will, and he could also see through his body to see every part of his body.
This dream felt so real.
A sentence suddenly flashed through Li Xingkong's mind as he woke up in the morning.
Would you be persistent in pursuing a dream?
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he began to think.
I thought of that dream, of my grandfather who was still meticulously studying things even in his old age, and of so-called spiritual practice.
A weight seemed to have been lifted from Li Xingkong.
What's there to hesitate about? He's going to give it his all for this goal!
For the first time, Li Xingkong. Instead, he reached for a book of Xuanmen annotations on the table and began to read it seriously.
Twenty years later.
"After twenty years of desperately seeking inspiration, I have found nothing. Has everything been in vain?"
Li Xingkong, who already looked like an adult, clearly felt somewhat helpless.
What he wanted was not the so-called ability to predict the future or improve his health; what he wanted was to truly embark on the path of cultivation.
"No, it must be that I don't know enough. I need external help!"
Li Xingkong turned his gaze to the index beside him, and after careful consideration, he set his sights on modern medicine.
Another twenty years passed.
"Medicine has its limits. No matter how much research you do, it's just like fixing a car. You keep fixing it, but you're still just a weak body. How can you expect to rise with the wind?"
Even though he had become a medical expert, Li Xingkong still felt somewhat unwilling.
This time, he turned his attention to machinery.
Flesh and Blood are weak and vulnerable; perhaps mechanical advancement is also a viable path?
Even as the wind blew away the last embers, Li Xingkong was already unable to move, still couldn't bear to part with them.
Although he achieved some success in his life, he still failed to achieve the goals he pursued, and he was unwilling to accept it.
If the spring breeze has a heart to pity the flowers, may I be young again...
"May!"
The sound, coming from an unknown source, made Li Xingkong's eyes widen in surprise.
With his last bit of strength, he managed to lift himself from the hospital bed.
I blinked, and the world before my eyes spun around me, as if a song had ended.
" Li Xingkong? Out playing ball!"
"I..."
When Li Xingkong opened his eyes again, he heard that familiar call once more.
This time, however, his mind was no longer blank; all the memories from his previous life existed within him.
"Well!"
This time, Li Xingkong is full of fighting spirit.
He is determined to fulfill the unfinished business of his previous life!