Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Morning.

Yujing City, Subway Line 2.

It’s still over an hour before the rush hour, yet the carriage feels quite empty.

Zhang Fan had deliberately taken half a day off to return to the old family home.

”I haven’t been back for many years.” Zhang Fan sat in his seat, lost in thought.

From as far back as he could remember until he was twelve, right before that calamity ten years ago, his family of three lived in that old house.

The old residential area in Sanqin District should count as the oldest area in Yujing City; it should have been relocated long ago, but who knows what it looks like now.

Since his father disappeared, this was the first time he took the initiative to contact someone, and it was Uncle Liu who he found. Bringing up the old house suddenly made Zhang Fan take it seriously.

”Dad... what could he have left there?” Zhang Fan wondered aloud.

Beep beep...

Just then, a soft sound came from his pocket.

Zhang Fan took out his phone, opened WeChat, and Li Yishan’s message popped up.

”I’ll tell you something that’ll definitely move you.”

”What is it?” Zhang Fan replied.

”I’ll tell you, but you have to call me dad.”

”Are you going to tell me or not?” Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

”It’s about Xu Zhixia!”

Li Yishan’s message came back, with a mischievous smile emoji.

”Xu Zhixia!?” Zhang Fan was stunned.

This name was both familiar and strange to him.

Once upon a time, this name took up more than half of his life, but after they separated, the hardest thing he tried to do was to forget everything related to this name.

Time passed, and after being apart for so long, seeing this name again still made Zhang Fan feel a little bewildered.

Xu Zhixia was Zhang Fan’s college girlfriend, or to be precise, his ex-girlfriend.

”Do you want to know how she’s doing now?” Li Yishan’s message pulled Zhang Fan’s thoughts back.

”I don’t.” Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

It wasn’t that he didn’t mean it; he really didn’t want to know. As time changes, so does one’s mentality.

Shortly after they broke up, his mind was indeed filled with distractions, emotions were high, and he found it hard to control himself. But once he detached himself from the situation, his mood changed, and the obsession of that period now seemed childish and ridiculous in retrospect.

Su Dongpo, a master of words, once said, people come like autumn geese with messages, events pass like spring dreams without a trace.

This saying captures the essence of Zen.

In this life, you will meet many people and say goodbye to many others. Their coming and going are like the geese in autumn, with traces to be followed, but the experiences are like spring dreams, passing clouds and smoke, with no trace left, nothing to remember.

”It’s kind of interesting.”

At this moment, Zhang Fan looked at the name that once stirred his emotions, but his heart felt calm.

This change affirmed what he had learned over time in the Daoist Sect, with a special sense to it.

”Yesterday’s events have formed today’s me. Today’s events will form tomorrow’s me.” Zhang Fan murmured to himself and prepared to put his phone back into his pocket.

”Xu Zhixia has returned to Yujing.”

Just then, Li Yishan stopped teasing and sent the timely message.

”She can return if she wants,” Zhang Fan replied and looked up at the station where the train had stopped.

”Don’t you have any thoughts on this?”

Li Yishan asked.

Xu Zhixia wasn’t from Yujing City; her hometown wasn’t even in Jiangnan Province. When they graduated, it was the geographical distance that caused them to split.

”It’s early in the morning, are you drunk or just full?” Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

How can a broken mirror be made whole again, is water ever retrieved once spilled? Since they broke up, is it possible to get back together?

It’s known that for men, there are three types of ’grass’ that shouldn’t be eaten.

The grass of regret, the grass by one’s side, and the grass of unknown origin.

”The next stop is Shangmafang Station. For passengers heading to the Five Spirits Rainbow Light 4S Store, please pay attention...”

Just then, an announcement sounded, and Zhang Fan got up to prepare to get off the train.

After leaving the subway, the street in front of him seemed somewhat familiar, as it was an old area unlike the new districts, where changes occur every year or so.

This place had been left out of urban planning for a long time, unchanged for almost a decade or more.

Especially now, many young people had left, leaving behind mostly elderly folks.

Zhang Fan walked through a few alleys, and the single-story houses around him reminded him of his childhood.

Such old buildings could only be seen here, with many walls marked with large characters denoting ”demolition,” and many houses already vacated.

”Why is the road closed?”

Following the address, Zhang Fan found the whole old residential area’s roads barricaded, with signs prohibiting entry and exit at the entrance.

”Sir, what’s going on?”

Zhang Fan approached the entrance and asked an elderly man cooling off there.

”There was a slight earthquake some days ago, and the government officials said the geological structure has changed... These are all old buildings, many are hazardous,” the old man said casually.

Originally, not many people lived in this old residential area, and the remaining elderly had been evacuated. They would have to wait for expert assessment before they could return.

”How long will it take?” Zhang Fan asked.

”It should be soon, they’ve been assessing for over two months, and I see many experts have left. I guess it’s in the next few days,” the old man responded.

”A wasted trip.”

Zhang Fan shook his head helplessly. It had been so long since he last returned, he’d probably have to search for the old house, and getting kicked out would be troublesome.

”I’ll wait a couple more days.”

Since he had taken half a day off, he couldn’t let the trip be in vain, so Zhang Fan wandered around the area, revisiting his childhood in the process.