"Father passed away three years ago, and mother passed away two months ago."

Wang Ying stood beside Xiao Mo and spoke slowly.

The little girl who had once shared steamed buns with Xiao Mo had now grown into a young woman and married into a family in Qingshan City.

Wang Ying's daughter was already seven or eight years old.

"I didn't expect the village chief and Aunt Chen's graves to be next to each other," Xiao Mo said with a smile. "I remember how Aunt Chen used to say in my ear that she had married the wrong man, and when she died, she would definitely stay far away from that dead old man of hers."

Wang Ying also smiled, "Yes, mother was like that, but when father passed away, mother was the one who cried the most sadly. When mother was dying, she specifically instructed me to place her grave right beside father's."

Xiao Mo crouched down and placed a jar of wine in front of the tombstone, "Perhaps this is what being husband and wife means."

Wang Ying's daughter, Zhang Qianqian, wanted to step forward and tug at Xiao Mo's blue robe, but her mother pulled her back.

Wang Ying placed her palm on her daughter's shoulder, preventing her from moving around, "Big Brother Xiao, when father and mother were leaving, they had some words for me to pass on to you."

"Mm." Xiao Mo nodded.

"When father was leaving, he said the greatest fortune of his life was being able to teach Big Brother Xiao, such a top scholar, how to read. It's just a pity that father's learning wasn't high and he didn't know much."

"That's not true. The village chief taught me many things. If not for the village chief, I wouldn't even have been able to pass the children's examination." Xiao Mo shook his head. "Did the village chief say anything else?"

"Father also said that in his lifetime, he would at most be a county scholar, which couldn't compare to Big Brother Xiao. But there was one thing, father said he had eaten decades more rice than Big Brother Xiao, so he could see some things more clearly.

Father told me to tell Big Brother Xiao that when encountering matters, don't be too stubborn.

In the imperial court, the most important thing is to protect yourself well, don't worry about temporary gains and losses.

Being able to retreat safely and peacefully is the best outcome."

"The village chief had great wisdom." Xiao Mo praised.

Wang Ying looked at Xiao Mo's profile, bit her teeth lightly, her expression somewhat hesitant, but still spoke out:

"When my mother was leaving, she told me to tell Big Brother Xiao not to remain fixated on people who have already departed. Immortals and mortals are separated by different realms, when someone is gone, they are gone. Big Brother Xiao should find a wife and have children, otherwise growing old alone will be very difficult, and there won't be anyone to care for Big Brother Xiao in old age."

"Hehehe," Xiao Mo laughed. "That indeed sounds like something Aunt Chen would say."

"Big Brother Xiao," Wang Ying hesitated, "I also think..."

"It's fine." Xiao Mo interrupted Wang Ying's words.

Xiao Mo stood up, gently patted Zhang Qianqian's head, and smiled, "When Qianqian grows up, will you take care of Uncle Xiao in his old age?"

"Yes, yes!" The little girl nodded.

"You see." Xiao Mo smiled at the little girl's mother. "There is still someone to care for me in old age and see me to my final rest."

Wang Ying: "..."

"Alright, Little Ying, I'm going up the mountain. You should hurry back to Qingshan City, otherwise by the time you reach Qingshan City, it will be dark."

Xiao Mo adjusted his sleeves and walked step by step toward She Mountain, gradually disappearing at the end of the mountain path.

"Mother, why hasn't Uncle Xiao married even though he's so old?"

The little girl looked up curiously at her mother.

"Because," Wang Ying watched the gradually distant figure, "Uncle Xiao's heart can't hold anyone else."

After paying respects to the village chief, Xiao Mo went up She Mountain and came to the boulder at the cave entrance.

The open space in front of the cave was already full of blooming purple sun grass and blue waterfall flowers.

Not far from the cave, there was a small house. This wooden house was built by Little Green herself.

Over these years, Little Green had been living there, watching over her sister.

As for Xiao Mo's former old courtyard, Little Green would go clean it every two or three days.

Standing at the cave entrance, Xiao Mo quietly looked at the boulder blocking his way.

Although he was nearly fifty years old, his posture remained as upright as ever, like the old pine tree in the courtyard, as if no matter how strong the wind, it could never bend his back.

"Ruxue, I've come back to see you."

Facing the cave, Xiao Mo spoke slowly.

As if talking to her inside the cave, and also as if talking to himself.

"Don't blame me for not coming to see you these years. There really were too many things to do with the reforms, but after being busy for so long, it still failed."

"However, I'll be taking up a new post soon."

"I'm leaving the capital to serve as the governor of Behai Province. That's a place by the sea."

"You probably haven't seen the ocean yet, have you?"

"It's fine. When you come out, I'll take you to see it."

"Speaking of which, in the blink of an eye, twenty-seven years have passed." Xiao Mo smiled. "Look at me, my hair has turned white."

"Big Brother Xiao."

Just as Xiao Mo was talking to Bai Ruxue, Little Green's voice came from behind him.

Xiao Mo turned around and smiled, "Little Green, it's been so long since we've met."

"Big Brother Xiao, you..."

Seeing the silver hair at Xiao Mo's temples and his increasingly aged appearance, Little Green inexplicably felt heartbroken.

She and Big Brother Xiao had only been apart for six or seven years, but Big Brother Xiao had aged so much, so much.

"Oh, you mean my white hair? Or the wrinkles on my face? It's normal. People get these when they grow old." Xiao Mo said nonchalantly. "But Little Green, you're still the same as before, you haven't changed at all. That's quite good."

"..."

Little Green remained silent, stepped forward, and stood beside Xiao Mo, looking together at the boulder in front of them.

"In the years I haven't returned, has anything happened here with your sister?" Xiao Mo asked Little Green beside him.

"Nothing has happened with sister. A few years ago, some rogue cultivators came, but I drove them away, and they never came back. However, the village chief and Aunt Chen, along with several Aunt Wangs, have all passed away."

Little Green told Xiao Mo word by word about the village affairs over these years, such as who in Stone Bridge Village had died, whose grandchildren were born, who had passed the county examination, and so on.

Xiao Mo listened carefully, nodding in response from time to time.

"Big Brother Xiao," at the end, Little Green turned her head, her small hands clenched tightly, "Big Brother Xiao really doesn't need to wait anymore."

"It's fine." Xiao Mo shook his head.

"But Big Brother Xiao, you've already waited twenty-seven years... you're nearly fifty years old. It's really been enough." Little Green didn't know how many times she had tried to persuade Big Brother Xiao. "Big Brother Xiao, let it go..."

As the woman's words fell, a spring breeze swept through the mountain forest, gently tousling the man's white hair and caressing the man's blue robe that had already yellowed somewhat and been mended countless times.

"Little Green..."

Xiao Mo looked at the stone in front of him, his voice drifting leisurely through the mountain forest.

"In the past, she was always waiting for me. Now, it's my turn to wait for her."