Meng Hao began to walk. After he had left home, it had taken him fifty four years to reach this point. The return trip only took six.
Eastern Emergence County was still there, flourishing more than ever. Meng Hao’s hair was white when he entered the city. He was just barely able to make out some of the traces of the past.
The bordello was gone. The wall had long since been knocked down, and the location was now home to a large mansion.
The house where he grew up had vanished with the passing of time. In its place was an inn. Meng Hao stood across from it for a very long time, staring at it. His face was covered not just with the ravages of time, but with a complex expression. Finally, he turned and left.
When he returned to Master’s house, the person who opened the door was a stranger. After making some enquiries, Meng Hao turned his head to look at East Mountain off in the distance.
His father had been buried there more than fifty years ago. Master had been buried there more than twenty years ago.
Meng Hao sighed. Silently holding a pot of alcohol under his arm, he climbed the mountain. First, he visited his father’s grave, which was covered in weeds. “I know this is all an illusion,” he said softly, “and that you aren’t my real father. However… you let me feel the fatherly love that I’ve been missing. It was only a simple embrace so that I could sleep….” About thirty years ago, in the Daoist temple, he had come to understand everything. This world was nothing but an illusion, a test to become an apprentice.
The real Meng Hao was still in the world of the Celestial Land in the Violet Fate Sect, atop Violet East Mountain.
He closed his eyes. A long time passed before he left his father’s grave. Finally, he arrived at Master’s grave. He looked at it for a while before speaking.
“Becoming an apprentice involves three kowtows,” he murmured. “The first is during the time of innocence. The second is in the time of roaming. The third is when gazing at the sunset…. You gave me an entire life to decide whether or not to become your apprentice. Everything in this realm of illusions was created, not by you, but me. You only provided the starting point. Every person in the trial by fire will create their own world.
“In this world, I liberated my heart. I… I experienced everything. In the end, I’ve come back here. But I still haven’t found what it is that I wish to pursue….
“The Dao of alchemy? Obviously not.” He lifted the jug of alcohol and took a long drink.
“Eternal life?” he said quietly. “I’m not qualified.” Soon, the sun began to sink in the west, and the jug of alcohol was empty. He did not begin the third kowtow. Instead, he turned and headed back toward Eastern Emergence County.
He knew that once he performed the third kowtow, he would leave this world of illusions. But he still had not found his answer. Therefore, he would not leave. He would stay.
From then on, a very old man took up residence in Eastern Emergence County.