Chapter 257: Chapter 239: Death Is Not the Loss of Life, But the Exit from Time (Life and Death Illusion Realm · Part 2)_4
[This is ten taels of silver, if exchanged for grain, it’s enough for her family to eat for a whole year.]
[So, without any reluctance, the peasant woman left with the matchmaker, delightfully.]
[And you exchanged a glance with Xiulian, and both of you couldn’t help but laugh.]
[Because both of you knew.]
[In this world where countless households are brightly lit, you have a home of your own.]
.....
...
[You and Xiulian got married.]
[Without notifying anyone, and without any grand ceremony.]
[Just pasted a bright red ’double happiness’ character on the window, replaced the bedding, bought a new set of clothes from the town, and that was it.]
[That evening, with red candles flickering, the two of you sat by the bedside, eating wedding candy, and started giggling together uncontrollably.]
[You both knew that outsiders were secretly discussing you, saying that one of you lives off the dead, and the other is a consumptive ghost, with many rumors going around.]
[But you didn’t care at all.]
[Living life is for yourselves, not for others to see.]
[Only when the gossip becomes too annoying do you say, "Tonight, I’ll have my friends from the Clan Benevolence Hall pay you a visit."]
[As soon as you say this, it frightens those people to the point of wetting themselves and scaring their souls away.]
[And you couldn’t help but chuckle silently.]
[The days after getting married were very plain, without the romantic and intense dramas of novels and biographies.]
[However, in those tranquil days as calm as water, they were your greatest happiness.]
[You have a home now.]
[In this world, you’re no longer all alone.]
[Every morning you wake, there’s someone to prepare breakfast and help you dress.]
[Every night when you return home, no matter how late, there’s always a light on, a steaming bowl of rice in the pot, heated again and again, always someone waiting at the threshold for you to return, whatever the season.]
[She would fetch hot water for you, gently wiping the dirt off your body with a towel.]
[The bed isn’t cold anymore, you don’t need to worry about finding time to wash clothes, and even a small yard is set up at the front of the house, raising chickens and planting vegetables.]
[Xiulian, though often frail and sickly, unable to do heavy farm work, still finds ways to help you, not only managing the house in an orderly, clean manner but also assisting by making paper figures, gluing paper horses, and weaving clothes when you work outside.]
[At this moment, you finally understand what life is. This is life!]
[Of course, people reciprocate.]
[You treat Xiulian equally well; despite her frugal nature and fear of you spending too much, you still provide her with the best of everything regardless.]
[For a time, the women in the village went from being jealous at first, to eventually falling silent, and finally showing undisguised envy on their faces.]
[Everyone says, unexpectedly, this unfortunate Xiulian managed to fly up to become a Phoenix, finding such a good family.]
[In the meantime, there was Xiulian’s cousin-in-law, seeing Xiulian’s days getting better, with rising displeasure, trying to stir up trouble.]
[You directly called upon other coffin carriers, paper craftsmen, paper horse makers, and suona masters from the Clan Benevolence Hall, and at night, went to that cousin-in-law’s house, hung paper figures at the door, beating gongs and drums, playing mournful music, making a grand display.]
[That cousin-in-law’s family was terrified and shocked, thinking doing a funeral for the living was a curse for their early death, wasn’t it?]
[Watching those eight burly coffin carriers with you, holding sticks, the cousin-in-law’s husband who rushed out with a machete to fight, silently put the knife away, instead giving you a red envelope, smiling apologetically as he sent you off.]
[For a time, no one dared to disturb your life anymore.]
[A few years later, Xiulian bore you a child.]
[The child was robust, with complexions and features resembling her, but the face shape and features were yours.]
[Watching the birth of new life, you couldn’t help but sigh, how wonderful it is.]
[You’ve lived through half your life, while this new life’s journey is just beginning.]
[In this world, people are constantly dying, and people are constantly being born.]
[Between life and death, you vaguely grasp something.]
[Life and death are beyond control, but the life in between is within one’s control.]
[The greatest pleasure in the Mortal World is a simple joy.]
[Time flies like an arrow, like a shuttle.]
[Years never spare anyone.]
[In the blink of an eye, spring goes, autumn comes, and twenty years pass by.]
[In those twenty years, you have grown old, your body is no longer what it used to be, your hair mostly turned white, unable to carry coffins anymore.]
[Your child has long gone to the capital for exams, and has been away for many years without returning.]
[In this life of yours, almost the same as your father’s, the biggest difference being you didn’t stifle your child’s dreams.]
[Although you knew the chance was slim for him to succeed in his studies, you still resolutely supported him.]
[Not for anything other than him living his own life.]
[The funerary work, you’ve involved yourself in less; others naturally manage it now.]
[Most of your time is given to Xiulian.]
[Only now do you understand, in one’s life, parents and children are but passersby; only the person beside your pillow is the one who walks with you through life.]
[Actually, you’ve never known if you’ve ever loved Xiulian.]
[But it doesn’t matter anymore, because Xiulian has long become the water you drink, the meal you eat, a habit embedded in your daily life.]
[However, her lung disease has worsened.]
[When young, she could endure it with her body, but when older, as all her bodily functions quickly declined, naturally, she couldn’t withstand it anymore.]
[At first, it was severe coughing, but then, she was out of breath, with each cough bringing up copious amounts of blood.]
[You spent a lot of money on her; later, she cried and begged you not to.]
[Because if she dies, those living must continue living.]
[If all the money is gone and she passes away, what are the living to do?]
[Another deep autumn arrives.]
[She couldn’t endure any longer, falling onto her sickbed.]
[Tormented by illness, there was no trace left of the shining figure she once was.]
[On the contrary, every breath was torture, every word she spoke was pain.]
[Every day she spent on earth was excruciating to the extreme.]
[On a deep autumn morning, after many overcast days, the weather finally cleared.]
[A warm sun rose from the horizon.]
[However, as the sun rose, welcoming a new day, Xiulian’s life stopped at yesterday.]
[She passed away.]