Water Reflects Peach Blossoms

The next time I saw Cen Sheng was in Chenshui Town at the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

Sima Ming said that after Cen Sheng retired and returned to his hometown, he has been living alone in Chenshui Town.

……

When Jiang Ruan arrived, it was almost midnight. It was winter on earth and the New Year was coming soon.

The pure white snow fell thickly on the ground, firecrackers rang out from every household, bright red spring couplets were pasted on the doors, and children holding sugar figures ran happily on the streets from time to time.

Jiang Ruan seemed not to see it and was in a state of great disarray.

"Miss Jiang..." Siming, who was following Jiang Ruan, wanted to say something, but in the end he just sighed and said, "Mr. Cen is just inside the door."

Jiang Ruan pushed the door open and went in.

This is Mr. Cen’s home.

He was born here, grew up here, and even got engaged to her at a grand banquet here.

Jiang Ruan stepped over the threshold, his eyes scanning every corner. When he walked around the wall behind the door and into the yard, he saw Cen Sheng lying on a recliner next to the persimmon tree, covered with a thick fox fur coat.

This fox fur coat was originally given to Jiang Ruan by his father, who feared that he would be cold on his way to Jian'an for the imperial examination. He also said that if he encountered any problems and needed money in Jian'an, he could sell the fox fur coat to help him out of his immediate trouble.

Jiang Ruan's eyes fell on Cen Sheng's face.

Unlike the old but energetic Cen Sheng she had seen before, the Cen Sheng lying on the recliner had gray hair, wrinkles all over his face, and his fingers were as dry as dead wood.

Jiang Ruan's eyes instantly turned red.

She took a few steps forward, stepping on the thick snow, making a "squeaking" sound.

Cen Sheng moved his fingers on the fox fur and tried to lift his drooping eyelids, but he couldn't open his eyes no matter how hard he tried.

He thought: Forget it, it’s better not to see Jiang Ruan, so that he won’t see Jiang Ruan’s sad face, and the defense line that he had built up with great difficulty in his heart will collapse in an instant without a trace left.

"You're here." Cen Sheng's voice was old and hoarse.

"Are you waiting for me?" Jiang Ruan tried hard to suppress the sob in his throat, but a slight tremor was still revealed in the last words.

"Ever since I retired and returned home, I've been waiting for you every day." Cen Sheng pretended not to hear. "I think I have to explain everything to you."

"why?"

"A year after I passed the imperial examination and you came looking for me but disappeared, the emperor granted me a marriage with Princess Chenhua. I would rather die than obey. The emperor gave up because he didn't want me to die. He needed me to live and work for him. But I know that if you were here, you wouldn't be able to survive, and neither would I."

Jiang Ruan's hands hanging by his side suddenly tightened!

Cen Sheng smiled calmly, "When I learned that you were taken away by the gods, I was so happy. You don't have to die, and neither do I. The deadlock of our fate has been broken because of the kindness of the gods."

"Ruan'er, if it were you, how would you choose?"

A tear rolled down her cheek. Jiang Ruan paused for a long moment before saying, "I want you to live."

"Yes, nothing is more important than being alive. If we can all survive, but just can't be together, our hearts will be warm even if we are thousands of miles apart."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Cen Sheng coughed weakly a few times. When Jiang Ruan approached to help him breathe, he raised his hand slightly to stop her: "Don't come over."

Jiang Ruan's anxious steps stopped immediately.

Cen Sheng gasped for breath, and it took him a long while to regain his balance. He said unsteadily, "I know you can't let go, but looking back on my life, I've made the most of my life for the court and the people. This is much more worthwhile than my death."

"Sacrificing petty emotions for the greater good is not something we both willingly do, but in the end, we realize that our youthful frivolity was always too impulsive, believing that the only thing in the world that matters is emotion. In fact, the people of the world are ranked higher than this word."

"So, if the arranged marriage can be resolved, I still hope that we can both survive..."

"Look at me... You're only talking about me... Ruan'er, what about you? What did you do?"

Knowing that Cen Sheng was lying and that he was speaking against his will, Jiang Ruan's eyes were already blurred with tears, and the tears running down her cheeks were as cold as if they could freeze her skin.

She wanted to reassure Mr. Cen and make him feel at ease at the end of his life.

She opened her mouth, feeling bitter: "I haven't had time to do it yet."

Cen Sheng smiled, but his face turned even paler: "You are still so bad at lying."

"You can't get over me in your heart, you're depressed all day long, and you don't know where to go in the future."

"But you have more abilities and opportunities than most people in this world. Every choice you make is crucial and impacts the world. How can you continue to live in obscurity?"

"Our parents gave us life, so we shouldn't talk about death lightly. We have to do something while we're alive, and we should do things within our capabilities. I'm almost at the end of my journey. Looking back, the road I've walked is magnificent and picturesque. You must also do something within your power to make this life worthwhile."

"Ruan'er, become an immortal. This is the path you should take."

In the empty and lonely courtyard, Cen Sheng lay on a recliner with his eyes closed, muttering softly, "Become an immortal, become an immortal, become an immortal..."

In the last moments of his life, he did not hear Jiang Ruan's answer.

But his stubborn mouth was still slightly open, as if he was still muttering.

Jiang Ruan threw herself in front of him and burst into tears.

"...I became an immortal..." Her voice was shaking violently, and she couldn't stop crying as if she had lost her soul.

All the leaves on the persimmon tree have fallen, leaving only the yellow fruits that have been dried by the sun and covered with frost and snow hanging from the branches.

Cen was afraid that Jiang Ruan would lose the will to live after his death.

Jiang Ruan was afraid that Cen Sheng would not rest in peace and would be worried about her on her way to the underworld.

A streak of crystal slowly floated down. Jiang Ruan looked up in shock and saw countless white snow falling from the gloomy sky, as if to cover up all the sad things in the world.

"It's snowing." She was stunned and raised her hand to take a touch of white snow.

Looking at the melting snow in her palms, she looked at Cen Sheng who was no longer breathing, and suddenly understood what Mo Yuan said to her.

If there is no small love in a person's heart, there will be no great love.

The same is true for Mr. Cen.

If Donghua had not intervened, she would have died facing the imperial decree of marriage, and if she died, Cen Sheng would also die.

But Donghua took action to change her fate. Cen Sheng resisted the imperial power alone. With his fox body free of any weaknesses, he defeated the imperial power.

After all, she was his weak spot.

He can only live if she lives.

But he was going to die, and he didn't want her to die with him.

It's snowing heavily.

Soon, Jiang Ruan's body and head were covered with snow, and he was about to become a white snowman.

She looked at Cen Sheng and said, "I owed you the promise of growing old together, and now I have fulfilled it."

As if in response to her words, she saw a crystal-clear color like a dark blue flame coming out from Cen Sheng's chest, flying around her, and suddenly seemed to be sucked by something. Although it struggled to resist, it still flew quickly into the distance.

Siming, who was guarding outside the gate, was shocked when he saw this scene. He hurried to the courtyard to remind Jiang Ruan: "That's Cen Sheng's soul! It seems like something has sucked it away. If there is no soul, there will be no reincarnation!"

Siming took Jiang Ruan and hurriedly chased after Cen Sheng's soul.

The soul was moving very fast, and no matter how hard Siming tried to catch up, he was still some distance behind.

The more he chased, the more he felt something was wrong, until he saw the boundless Ruoshui River and the Donghuang Bell in the dark sky that had been unsealed and was devouring everything.

Sima Ming thought: It’s over now!