PFC Chapter 1013 The Zhang Family, Obsession
Chapter 1013 The Zhang Family, Obsession
Chapter 1013 Going Home, Obsession
Since ancient times, autumn has been associated with sadness and desolation. In this season, especially in the north, the temperature drops sharply. However, I happened to be there on a nice day and was able to see the beautiful scenery of "blue sky and yellow leaves" in the city.
Ye Fan led the little girl under the shade of trees, both of them dressed in casual modern attire.
When school lets out, groups of students, all dressed in slightly loose blue and white tracksuits, walk past you on orange-yellow maple leaves.
Unlike Ye Fan, who seemed somewhat aimless, these students had clear goals: small tricycles loaded with food, street vendors, and small stationery shops.
The whole street was noisy and bustling, or rather, lively and full of life.
Just a few years ago, Yanjiao was a satellite town on the outskirts of the main urban area, and it was hard to imagine that it would become so bustling.
Ye Fan's parents disliked the fast pace of big cities and therefore chose to stay instead of living with him in the main urban area.
However, Ye Fan had a prediction about the future direction of economic development, so he bought two courtyard houses in the capital in advance, thinking that the old couple could grow some vegetables in a quiet environment in the future.
Sure enough, eight or nine years later, just in time for the development of the internet economy and the real estate economy, these satellite towns and urban-rural fringe areas were completely incorporated into the new main city plan.
High-rise buildings and public facilities have replaced the original villa areas, old-style communities and self-built houses, making the area very different from the past.
"I foresaw the demolition and even invested in some real estate. The only thing I missed was that I would be taken to the stars by the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin." Ye Fan smiled bitterly.
Although the area had been redeveloped, he returned early and could still see some traces of what he remembered.
It's been less than ten years, so my parents should still be living in their old house and haven't moved out.
Nearly ten years have passed, and even though Ye Fan's current divine sense can withstand the suppression of the Earth's heavens and earth and sweep across the starry sky, he still has not identified the location of his parents.
Relying solely on old photo albums to identify streets that were both strange and familiar, I walked step by step toward the home I remembered.
It's a bit too unrealistic.
For a moment, Ye Fan had this illusion.
He has traveled to different parts of the world and found some solace in those similar yet different environments, cultures, countries and regions with the same names, and foods with the same taste.
But when you've made great strides and completely deviated from your predetermined future, entering into this joyful and fulfilling story...
He inexplicably felt as if he were standing on clouds, fearing that all of this was like a mirage, a fleeting dream.
This has nothing to do with cultivation level or Dao heart.
Excitement, guilt, unease, joy—so many complex emotions and feelings are constantly emerging.
Ye Fan could have erased these emotions, but he chose to let them grow and flourish.
As early as when cultivators were moving from the second to the third heaven of Sendai, they had to sever their obsessions, break through the most stubborn obstacles in their hearts, and form the pure Dao fruit of their true self.
He was different; he carried his obsession with it all the way, defying the path taken by those who came before him.
If you fail once, you try twice; if you fail twice, you try three times, until finally you cut not your own path, but the Great Dao itself.
After that, I could still dream of my parents waiting for me to come home, and I could also dream of the words from that series of novels, and these words even materialized into reality.
A spacious, dusty courtyard house, a moldy and damp bedroom, simple furniture, and spoiled instant noodles.
A man clutched his mother's diary, wailing and calling out to his parents like a child, tears streaming down his face.
When I woke up, the tear stains were already visible in reality.
The lingering emotions vanished in an instant.
He knew that he was afraid back then, afraid of repeating the same mistakes, recklessly setting off from the Big Dipper Star Region, only to be too late in the end, never to find his parents again, and even pinning his hopes on reincarnation.
"Brother," the little girl called softly.
Ye Fan suddenly snapped out of his daze and realized that he had somehow wandered to the vicinity of a lake. He had been staring blankly at the lake, and his right hand, which was holding Nannan's hand, had unconsciously tightened its grip.
"I'm sorry." Ye Fan squatted down and rubbed the red mark on the little girl's hand, asking, "Did I hurt you, brother?"
The little girl shook her head and gently rubbed Ye Fan's face with her tiny hands: "Brother, don't be afraid. I will always stay with you."
"Brother, don't be afraid." Ye Fan smiled again, picked up Nannan, and pointed to the natural lake in front of them, saying:
"My brother's father used to fish here often, so I thought I would run into him here."
Unable to resist, I found myself once again immersed in that textual description that never happened. In my extreme vulnerability, after my obsession was shattered, I briefly believed in reincarnation and hoped that it truly existed. But in the end, I only realized that reincarnation was futile.
'Family Reincarnation'
Ye Fan looked at the little girl's face and suddenly felt a moment of disorientation. Then, he gave a bitter smile.
He understood that feeling, and he understood that obsession.
"Will my brother's parents hate me?" the little girl asked timidly, a little worried. "I'm a good girl, I'm obedient, and now I can cook and even fight monsters!"
She was afraid that she wasn't likable enough, so she separated from her older brother.
"How could that be? They like you so much, just like their brother." Ye Fan laughed when he saw this.
The gloom brought on by the emotional turmoil I had just been caught in was swept away.
Ye Fan looked around the lake again, but still couldn't see his father. However, he did spot a few familiar uncles from the neighborhood. It seemed that his father had lost much of his interest in fishing since he left.
He didn't linger this time, and walked home along the lake.
The old, five-story building with a "Demolish" sign hanging on it, along with its dusty staircases, worn-out handrails, and piles of debris and firewood in the stairwells, all indicate that no one wants to manage the building anymore.
Even the voice-activated light was flashing, clearly indicating a connection problem.
Even in such a small building, almost every household is filled with a cheerful atmosphere, and you can hear discussions about future plans.
The land is going to be demolished, and I'll have money. I'll move to a bigger house, send my kids to school in the city, and trade in my lifelong truck driver for a BMW.
There was one exception.
Even though other places have been demolished, this place is only just about to start construction because an elderly couple refuses to sign the demolition agreement, because they are worried that their son will not be able to find his home when he comes back.
The incident in Mount Tai caused a huge uproar, known both domestically and internationally, but it wasn't reported in the news. The son of this family was one of the missing persons.
Despite everyone's repeated attempts to persuade them, even suggesting that their child had ascended to immortality, they still refused to sign at first.
Fortunately, they had been neighbors for decades. After reasoning with them and appealing to their emotions, and considering that some people were counting on this money to save their lives and change their fate, the elderly couple reluctantly signed the agreement to relocate.
“I have secured a new Hope Project, and this money can be used to build a Hope Primary School in the mountains.”
The white-haired old man took off his reading glasses: "Everything is packed. Let's move to the courtyard house left by our son tomorrow."
"Okay." The woman washing vegetables nodded, but after a short while, she wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her already damp hand:
"Remember to leave Xiao Fan's name; he might need this merit."
“I know you’ve said it many times,” the old man said with a smile. “Besides, my son has become an immortal, how can I, as his father, bring shame upon him?”
"It's good to accumulate some good karma. Maybe he'll be able to finish his studies and return soon. A day in heaven is a year on earth, so there's no rush."
Mr. Ye comforted her, while Mrs. Ye nodded with her lips pursed.
The rice in the rice cooker was soon cooked through, and a plate of stir-fried water spinach and cucumber soup, along with three sets of bowls and chopsticks, were placed on the rickety old square table.
"Let's eat."
The elderly couple picked up their bowls and chopsticks, but then Ye's mother remembered something.
“It’s almost the fifteenth of September,” Mother Ye murmured, picking up a piece of vegetable leaf. “The children in the orphanage can finally get some new winter clothes.”
"The clothes only cost a few dollars, and we still have enough money. Those kids wrote to us a few days ago. It's just that my rheumatism has flared up. I'll find someone to move over in a few days. Don't worry, leave it to me," said Mr. Ye, taking a bite of rice. His tone was casual and relaxed.
"I'll put on some plaster later, and then I'll go with you." Ye's mother glanced at the group photo in the living room.
The clock inside the house ticked away, and the sounds of pots and pans clattering and being washed could be heard from upstairs and downstairs. The neighbor's grandson came home from school shouting that he wanted to eat braised pork.
The elderly couple stared at their television set, watching today's evening news broadcast on time.
Just like that year at Mount Tai, who knows what might have been leaked?
However, it seems that today's news is mostly from foreign countries.
A Mercedes-Benz lost control and crashed into the Vatican, tragically killing the Pope who was attending Mass. The incident is under further investigation.
[Breaking news! A train has lost control and crashed into the British Museum]
[Yesterday, the green haze over Kunlun Mountain was identified as an optical phenomenon, with the bronze cauldron among the clouds being a mirage. Now, let's invite Professor Zhang to explain it to us.]
boom.
Boom!
"Did Aunt Zhang make dumplings for us again?" Ye's mother asked.
"I'll go see." Mr. Ye got up to open the door, laughing, "I guess Old Li is here to brag about the fish he caught today. In a couple of days, when my rheumatism gets better, I'll teach you a lesson."
The iron gate opened, but Ye's father's voice stopped abruptly. He stood blocking the doorway, remaining motionless for a long time.
Ye's mother was watching the news broadcast when she glanced at Ye's father, who was motionless.
"Who is it?" she asked, picking up her bowl.
"dad"
Over the past twenty years, I've heard that voice countless times, from his first words to his teenage years, and then to seeing him mature and steady. That call instantly brought to mind the figure I've been longing for day and night.
Father Ye shifted his body shakily, his mouth agape and his body trembling uncontrollably. The boy peeking out from the gap looked at Mother Ye with tears streaming down his face.
"mom!"
The bowl and chopsticks in Ye's hands fell to the ground, and her expression froze.
Tears streamed down Ye Fan's face as he knelt down, trembling, and cried out, "I'm back!"
He had so much to say along the way, but the moment he knocked on the door, all his thoughts went blank.
My parents should only be in their early sixties, but they look like they are in their seventies or eighties. They are even looking haggard and extremely weak. Guilt and sadness instantly overwhelmed me.
"Dad! Mom! I'm so unfilial!"
Ye Fan bit his lip until it bled, then crashed to the ground, causing the entire old building to shake violently. Many residents exclaimed that an earthquake had struck.
Cultivation, business associations, sacred bodies, invincible Heavenly Emperor, future achievements—all of these were thrown to the back of his mind.
Ye Fan knew that if he were to one day reach a realm beyond the Path of Sacrifice, everything he had lost would be restored in the future, and he also knew that they were in the future.
But now, seeing his parents, he understands that making amends after things have happened and achieving fulfillment in the present moment are two completely different concepts.
If one truly missed the existence of their parents in this life, even knowing the future will not be able to mend the regret in their heart.
His initial goal in cultivating himself, risking his life, was not to become an immortal, but simply to return home.
"Get up, son, get up!"
Tears streamed down Ye's father's face as he nearly fainted. He tried to help Ye Fan up, but stumbled and fell onto Ye Fan, gripping his arm tightly as if afraid that if he let go, he would disappear.
"It's good that you're back. It's good that you're back."
Mother Ye stumbled over, and the three of them embraced and wept bitterly.
The past is history, the future is uncertain, only the present remains.
If even one of the myriad lights in this starry sky is lit for oneself, that is enough.
"Come in, son, come in quickly."
There was a sound of a door opening upstairs, and footsteps climbing the stairs in the hallway. Ye's mother quickly called out to them.
As soon as Ye Fan stood up, a small hand reached out from behind him to touch his cheek and wiped away the tears on his face with his sleeve.
"Darling, we're home."
"this?!"
Only then did Ye's father and mother notice that behind Ye Fan was a little girl with two braids, her big, dark eyes looking at them with a mixture of curiosity and timidity.
The two elders were stunned for a moment. Before Ye Fan could introduce them, a delicate shout came from downstairs.
"You've abandoned your wife?"
Boom!
A thunderbolt seemed to flash through Ye Fan's mind. He turned around in astonishment to see Ye Qingxian, dressed in pristine white, standing angrily at the corner with Ji Ziyue by his side.
"I...I'm just really curious about where your family is from." Ji Ziyue hadn't quite recovered from seeing all the new and interesting things along the way: "I never said I wanted to be your wife!"
She muttered something, then looked towards the door, somewhat surprised that these two ordinary-looking elderly people were Ye Fan's parents.
"daughter in law?"
"They even have children now."
Mr. and Mrs. Ye muttered to themselves and laughed foolishly. At the same time, they felt dizzy and fell backward.
This is because the heart meridian was damaged and the spirit was further impacted by excessive joy.
Ye Fan quickly helped his parents up, his eyes blazing with anger, and said, enunciating each word clearly: "Ye! Qing! Xian!"
"Huh?! Great-grandpa and great-grandma, save me!"
"No one can save you today!"
"Grandpa Su, Grandpa Niu, save me!"
Who the hell are Grandpa Su and Grandpa Niu?!
Ye Fan's blood pressure shot to his head, and he immediately understood how this girl had bypassed the City of Heavens and his own divine sense, and even brought Ji Ziyue with her.
Su Niu Ma!
(End of this chapter)