Longevity: Starting as a Sect Servant-Chapter 322 - 230: Deceased Wife in the Mortal World (Long - ) (Part 4)
"Li Lang, I want us to have our own home in the village, is that possible?"
So Li An bought a piece of land in the village, but the villagers directly gave him one. Uncle Zhang, Aunt Wang, and others came to help build the house. In just two days, a stone house was erected, with a living room, bedroom, kitchen... at Gu Hong’s request, there was also a study for Li An.
On the day they moved in, the villagers were extremely enthusiastic, everyone came to celebrate, bringing lots of rice, flour, and oil. Gu Hong cooked and set up tables of delicious food and wine to entertain everyone. The villagers all said that Li An was fortunate to marry such a kind and beautiful wife.
Gu Hong said she liked the yard to be full of fruits and vegetables, so Li An built a pergola in the yard and planted grapes, gourds, and more. Gu Hong said she wanted a vegetable garden, so Li An cultivated a plot for the two of them.
Li An raised chickens, fish, geese, and ducks... He was busy every day because he felt that Gu Hong’s life was slowly fading away, and he could no longer prolong it for her.
So, he worked hard to fulfill her every small wish.
In the evening, the dinner was simple yet abundant; tomato scrambled eggs, vegetable gourd soup, fried eggplant, and country-style stir-fried pork, three dishes, and one soup, all made by Gu Hong.
After dinner, Gu Hong nestled beside Li An, and the two of them gazed at the stars in the sky.
The sky was covered with stars, flickering unknown for whom, year after year, never ceasing.
"Li Lang, do you think the stars in the sky, so many and yet so far apart, would they feel lonely?"
Gu Hong asked with a smile.
Li An laughed and said, "No, because they are watching stories. The stars in the sky are watching the stories on earth, many stories, very beautiful... they wouldn’t feel lonely."
"Oh? What stories?"
"For example, have you heard the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl? I heard it when I was young; there is a great god in heaven called the Jade Emperor. Once, his granddaughters secretly descended to bathe..."
Li An told Gu Hong the story, and she listened intently. After listening, she tried to identify the stars of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl and said, "Li Lang, your story is so beautiful."
"So, for the Weaver Girl, even though she had eternity and was a celestial being, all she wanted was that love with the Cowherd in the mortal world, right?"
Li An was silent, Gu Hong’s rhetorical question made him feel a pang of melancholy.
To become immortal, to become immortal, but what did one gain in the end?
Gu Hong said nothing more, just gently leaned against him, "Li Lang, I’ve never felt life so beautiful."
"Centuries of cultivating immortality, yet they couldn’t compare to this short month; I finally felt... I have lived."
She closed her eyes and said, "Li Lang, promise me one thing, will you?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"Okay."
Gu Hong smiled, and a tear escaped from under her long eyelashes, as she spoke her last words in this life:
"When I’m gone, if you ever have the chance, marry Qingxue, will you? She truly loves you, and I don’t want to see you lingering in immortal Dao but forsaking the mortal world; that would be too forlorn... let her accompany you."
As the words fell, her breathing ceased.
Li An held her tightly. For a moment, amidst the splendid river of stars, the night wind cut like a knife, leaving him forlornly miserable like a homeless dog, shivering in this cold night...
...
The next day.
Li An buried his late wife in the village.
When he returned home, he didn’t seem to have a trace of sorrow on his face, just calmly washed all the dishes from last night’s meal, leaving them spotless, and cleaned the house immaculately.
Then he closed the door and locked it.
Rose to leave.
When he came, he held his wife’s hand; when he left, he was alone.
The morning sun was like fire, shining from the direction of the village, casting a huge shadow of his weary body, that shadow was as steadfast as a mountain...
In the village, Uncle Zhang was still sunbathing at the entrance, Uncle Zhang led two cows to the fields, Aunt Wang was fertilizing in the vegetable garden... everything was as usual, except there was one more lonely grave.
...
