Renegade Immortal (WN)

“The world is an inn for all living things... Time is a guest of the ages... The difference between life and death is like being awakened from a dream!”

The city of Su left the season of recovery in June and entered the season when the flowers bloomed. The willow leaves that flew through the sky seemed to want to carry the passage of time with them.

The willow leaves filled the sky like snow; it was a very beautiful scene. They looked like snow in the summer as they drifted across the sky. If the wind was even stronger, they would flutter more and look like they didn’t have roots. While beautiful, they would also give off a hint of sadness.

They seemed like wanderers that had no home. They could only move with the wind, not knowing where they would go. Perhaps they would land in the river and become part of the water, or fall on the ground and mix with the dust. They would then be swept away by the powerful wind.

Their fate was the wind, and different winds gave them different lives.

There was one wisp of willow that was white and covered in flowers gently fluttering in the air. It landed in the palm of a young man in white who was on a small boat.

The young man was holding a wine jug in his left hand and drank a mouthful of wine as he recited a haughty poem. His voice wasn’t loud, but it gave off a leisurely feeling, like he was going to pursue the end of the world.

Behind the young man was a middle-aged man wearing the clothes of a book boy. He had a bitter expression, and every time the young man took a sip, the middle-aged man’s heart would ache a bit more.

“One jug of osmanthus wine costs seven silver pieces. Expensive, really too expensive!! Drinking a mouthful is almost like swallowing half a piece of silver…”

The willow leaf that landed in the young man’s hand stopped for a moment but didn’t seem to reach its end point. It seemed to release a faint sigh as it flew off from the young man’s hand. It fluttered into the distance with a hint of madness as if it knew where it was destined to go and charged tirelessly toward its goal.

There was a forest of peach blossoms on the river bank. As the willow leaves fluttered away, peach blossoms fell into the river, causing ripples to echo.

“The crazed willows dance with the wind, the light peach blossoms flow with the river.” Wang Lin drank the wine in his hand and his laughter echoed.

Aside from the boatman and these two people, there were three beautiful women on the boat as well. One was playing the zither and two were singing and dancing. The boat floated along the river, through the stone bridge, and leisurely into the distance.

“Big Fortune, bring out the wine!” Wang Lin turned around and looked at the middle-aged man as he laughed.

Big Fortune had a bitter expression and continued to sigh. He picked up a jug of wine and unwillingly handed it to Wang Lin. He began speaking as if he was about to cry.

“Young Lord, there really isn’t much silver left… We are renting this boat but also buying wine. These three little girls accompanying us cost a lot too, the daily cost is simply too high… How about… How about we go ashore and find a cheap inn to save some money?”

“What’s the rush? The person I’m waiting for hasn’t arrived.” Wang Lin shook his head and smiled. He took the jug and drank as he sat down. He listened to the beautiful woman playing the strings on the zither. The sound of the zither was gentle and cheerful but it couldn’t enter Wang Lin’s mind.

“Young Lord, I have taken out all the silver I hid. You, you… Damn it, this old man counted. If we continue spending like this, we are going to end up as beggars in seven days!!

“It has been more than one month, one month. Who the hell are you waiting for and why haven’t they come?” Big Fortune’s heart ached as he bitterly complained to Wang Lin.

As if he looked very funny, the woman that was taking a break from dancing laughed.

Big Fortune’s eyes widened and he stared at the woman. After muttering a bit, he picked up a jug of wine himself and took a big gulp.

“I need to drink more, this is good wine. One mouthful is half a silver…”

“The zither music is still not right.” Wang Lin leaned against the side of the boat and gently shook his head. After a long time, he seemed to have drunk too much. He got up and walked next to the woman playing the zither. He placed his hand on the zither and the beautiful woman’s face turned red as she withdrew her hands.

“I remember a song. I don’t know the name, but I heard it in my dream. It should be placed like this…” Wang Lin said as he closed his eyes and his hand began playing the zither.

At first it was very raw and the broken sound was not a song. However, as Wang Lin focused on playing, the song gradually became coherent.

An unspeakable sadness came from the zither music and flew out in all directions.

The two women resting on the boat went into a daze and looked at Wang Lin. The sorrow in the music was very light, but it could reach one’s soul. When you heard it, you couldn’t help but be startled.

It was unknown how long ago Wang Lin had sat down before the zither and started to play. The woman that was playing the zither sat beside him. There was an unspeaking splendor shining in her beautiful eyes as she seemed to be lost in the zither music.

Even Big Fortune was startled as he sat there. He drank mouthfuls of wine one after another. He forgot his heartache and began to stare at his right wrist.

Li Muwan had played this zither song. And a different song that contained the same charm came from the blind woman in the Demon Spirit Land.

At this moment, tears slowly flowed from Wang Lin’s closed eyes. His tears landed on the zither; they seemed to fuse with the song and scattered with the music.

He would have the dream every night. He saw a lot, but not everyone was clear. There were a few people that were still blurry. Although they were vague figures, that feeling of sorrow as very strong.

Under this zither music, the boat drifted across the river and passed through many bridges until dusk arrived.

Wang Lin waited for more than one month, but the person from his dream that should’ve appeared still hadn’t shown up.

As the boat floated under a stone bridge, two figures unknowingly appeared on the stone bridge and listened to the sad zither music.

These two people were old men with white hair. One of them wore a green robe. Although he was just standing there, he stood straight like a pine tree.

His expression gave off a sense of age and his eyes revealed wisdom. Even just standing there, he gave off the aura of a grand scholar.

He was Su Dao.

Su Dao revealed an emotional gaze as he looked at the boat floating away. He saw Wang Lin playing the zither and leisurely said, “What a sad song, such a song is not something an ordinary person can play… The sorrow reveals sadness that could only appear after one has experienced countless years. The image of that sad figure still lingers in his heart. Su San, this old man didn’t make this trip in vain.”

The old man behind Su Dao also let out a sigh. If Wang Lin saw this person, he would recognize him as the old man who watched him write his exam until the end.

“Student didn’t expect him to be able to play the zither. When I saw his exam paper, I felt that this child was not ordinary. When I came to meet you, I saw this child on the boat, so I thought I would bring you here to see him, Sir.” The old man respectfully bowed.

The boat went further away and the zither music gradually disappeared. At this moment, Su Dao smiled. He took a few steps down the bridge and shouted at the boat below.

“Young man, tell this old man what you think karma is.”

Wang Lin’s hands stopped and the zither music stopped. He opened his eyes and looked back with confusion. From his position, he could only see the old man and not the second old man on the other side of the bridge.

At this moment, night arrived and the bright moon hung in the sky. In the night, the figure of the old man was a bit blurry, and even the bridge seemed to be hidden under the moonlight.

Even Wang Lin’s gaze seemed to become blurry. He looked at the old man, at the bridge, and the surrounding haziness as he began to mutter, “Karma…”

“It shouldn’t be like this… If this was time reversing, if this was a reincarnation, if this was a dream, then I should have met the me in my dream… But why did I meet this old man… Why is it like this…”

Wang Lin had waited for more than one month. He had waited for that scene that caused him to awaken in confusion and spend a day drinking wine. In that dream, he saw the other him in the dream appear on the bridge in the city of Su.

However, instead of meeting his dream self, he met this old man.

“This can’t be explained… I know about the Soul Refining Sect. I can even vaguely guess that the person that will appear in the Soul Refining Sect hundreds of years from now is the dream me… I have gained enlightenment in all of this, but didn’t I see him here…” Wang Lin’s eyes were filled with confusion. He didn’t understand, even he himself became blurry.

As Wang Lin remained in a state of confusion, the boat floated further and further away.

When the old man saw that Wang Lin didn’t answer, he smiled and shouted again.

“Young man, tell this old man what you think karma is.”

“Karma… I’m karmic cause, I’m karmic effect…” Wang Lin’s voice slowly arrived and gradually disappeared with the boat.

Su Dao smiled as he looked at the boat that disappeared. He turned back and looked at the student behind him.

“What is his name?”