This hoarse and low voice was extremely familiar to me. I quickly turned to look outside the door and saw my grandfather walking towards us.
I hurried over to open the glass door and respectfully asked, "Grandfather, why did you come?"
"I came to see you." Grandfather glanced at me, then pinched my shoulder and nodded in satisfaction, "No lingering illness, right?"
"No," I scratched my head and grinned. My grandfather's abilities were beyond my comparison. He should not have come here just to visit me.
After asking him to sit down, Du Xiaolan brought a glass of water and placed it on the table. My grandfather nodded at her and then looked at Meng Xier and Shang Jingtong, sipping some water before saying, "Your behavior will scare the children."
I was shocked by this statement. Grandfather was just an ordinary person, but Meng Xier and Shang Jingtong, one was a figure lurking in the underworld, and the other was an official from the heavenly realm. He actually dared to speak to them like this, which was beyond my imagination.
I thought the two of them would look down on me. But what surprised me even more was that Meng Xier actually released the bone claw from Shang Jingtong's neck and looked at Grandpa, asking my question, "How did you come?"
"I came to see my grandson," Grandpa chuckled, drank from the water glass in one gulp, and handed the glass to Du Xiaolan, saying, "Please fill it up for me again."
After Du Xiaolan took the glass, Grandpa took out a cigarette lighter from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff, saying, "You can tell us now, what big grudges can't be resolved, leading to this situation."
"You don't know!" Meng Xier snorted coldly, turning away.
Shang Jingtong sighed, sitting beside Grandpa and said, "Only the two of us knew about the things in the past, as she said. The misunderstanding has continued for thousands of years, and it's difficult to explain at the moment."
"What's so difficult about it?" Grandpa finished speaking and asked me to go out and buy two candles and a piece of white paper. Although I didn't know what he wanted these for, I still went out unconditionally.
There were no shops for these funeral items at all, and it took a long time to drive, but I finally bought the things Grandpa needed and brought them back.
I was worried that Meng Xier would turn the shop upside down, but when I returned, I found out I had worried unnecessarily. With Grandpa presiding over the shop, they all sat quietly on the chairs.
At Grandpa's signal, I fixed the two candles on the table and lit them. Grandpa knocked on his cigarette lighter and stood up from his chair, waving at us to come closer.
After walking over, Grandpa spread out the white paper I had bought and muttered for a while before laying the white paper flat over the burning candles.
The burning flames caused the white paper to turn slightly yellow, and Grandpa looked at us and said, "Watch closely in a moment!"
I was about to nod when I suddenly saw the yellowed paper undergo a change.
A Taoist temple appeared on the white paper, with a lone woman standing outside. The patterns were very blurry, and only a rough image could be seen, but the real face was not visible.
Just as I marveled at Grandpa's magic, I saw surprise on Meng Xier's face.
The image on the white paper changed rapidly like a sand painting. In the blink of an eye, the scene inside the Taoist temple was revealed.
A man knelt on the ground, clasping his hands and looking up at the sky. Soon, dozens of people appeared behind the man, pressing him to the ground, but his struggles were in vain. The next second, the seasons changed, and the woman remained standing alone outside the Taoist temple, waiting in agony.
The man was imprisoned in the meditation room, with dozens of people outside. The woman finally turned and walked toward the cliff not far from the Taoist temple, leaping off.
After the woman jumped off the cliff, the man sat under the laurel tree day after day.
The scene appeared here, and Grandpa suddenly pulled the white paper away, sat on the chair, lit the cigarette lighter with the candle flame, and asked, "Do you understand now?"
I sighed deeply and looked up again, seeing tears all over Meng Xier's face.
That woman was her, and the man was Shang Jingtong.
What Du Xiaolan told me about the legend was true, but there were some details that were wrong. It was not Shang Jingtong who abandoned Meng Xier because Taoists couldn't love, it was because there were so many people hindering them.
After Meng Xier's suicide by jumping off the cliff, he sat under the laurel tree and became an immortal. This also proved that he felt extremely guilty in his heart after Meng Xier died.
"Do you understand now?" Grandpa tapped on his cigarette lighter.
"I understand," I replied, then asked Meng Xier, "What do you think of this outcome?"
Meng Xier took a step back, covering her mouth in surprise as she looked at us.
Shang Jingtong hurriedly walked over, but was resisted by Meng Xier. With tears in her eyes, she murmured, "It's been a thousand years, I've been waiting for you for a thousand years, I didn't expect things to turn out like this."
"Xier!" Shang Jingtong's voice choked up.
Meng Xier wiped away her tears and turned away, saying, "A thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye. I'm sorry to you, and to myself."
Shang Jingtong quickly said, "You haven't let me down, or yourself. If I hadn't been wholeheartedly devoted to the Tao back then, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way."
Tears fell from Meng Xier's eyes as she said, "You are of the immortal realm and I am of the ghost realm. Just like a thousand years ago, you were of the Taoist sect, and I was an ordinary person. A thousand years ago, it was destined that we would not be able to be together, and today, a thousand years later, we still cannot hold hands."
Shang Jingtong held Meng Xier's hands and said, "For you, I can give up everything, as long as you can return to my side."
Meng Xier trembled slightly and said, "No, Jingtong, let go. This is not beneficial for you or for me."
I found it hard to intervene and was about to say something to them, but my grandpa coughed softly and shook his head at me.
This was their moment, and I really shouldn't interrupt. I could only sit on the stool and quietly watch.
Shang Jingtong let out a long sigh, and Meng Xier broke free from his grasp, saying "farewell" and suddenly disappeared from our sight.
I rubbed my eyes in astonishment. After confirming that she had indeed disappeared into thin air, I exclaimed, "Grandpa, where did she go?"
"She's gone," Grandpa squinted, looked at Shang Jingtong and said, "Want to chat?"
Shang Jingtong nodded, and Grandpa walked towards the innermost part of the place.
Seeing their mysterious manner, I was ready to eavesdrop by leaning on the door, but was glared back by Du Xiaolan's disapproving look.
Feeling awkward, I absentmindedly scrolled through my phone. After about half an hour, the two of them finally came out.