The night after mediating the conflict between Mr. Zhou and Mr. Ma, Li Yuan sat in his backyard, gazing at the star-filled sky. A cup of warm tea steamed in his hand, and the night breeze carried the scent of blooming jasmine from Lin Sao's garden.
Four months.
Four months since he arrived in Hexin as a wanderer looking for a temporary place to stay. Four months since he decided to try living as Li Qingshan, an ordinary human who wanted to experience a normal life.
"Four months," he thought, sipping the tea that was both bitter and sweet, "and I've never felt more... whole."
Not whole in a spiritual sense—he had achieved spiritual wholeness centuries ago. But whole in a simpler and perhaps more important sense: whole as a human living among other humans, who had a place in a community, who could give and receive affection without a hidden agenda.
Li Yuan got up and walked around his small house—a house that now truly felt like home. No longer just a shelter or a base of operations, but a place where Li Qingshan lived, breathed, and built a meaningful life.
In the front room, he saw the wooden bench that Chen Wei had made for him. On the wall hung a simple calligraphy he had made himself with the character "家" (jiā)—home. On the small table, there was a plate of fruit from Mrs. Zhou and a few books borrowed from Mr. Shen.
Traces of a real life. Traces of sincere relationships.
"This," he realized, touching the wooden bench, "is something I never had in three hundred and ten years of life. Not just a place to live, but a home built with people who care."
In the small kitchen, he saw the simple cooking utensils he had bought at the market—an iron wok, a knife that Chen Wei had sharpened, a ceramic bowl gifted by Lin Sao. Each object told a story of an interaction, of small moments that made a simple life feel rich.
Li Yuan returned to the backyard and sat on his favorite bench, feeling the wood that had conformed to the shape of his body after months of use. He closed his eyes and turned his attention to his Zhenjing.
The fourteen understandings were still neatly wrapped in a ball of light in his stomach, vibrating softly like seeds sleeping in warm earth. They weren't gone, they weren't weakened, they were just... waiting. Waiting for the right moment if they were needed.
Meanwhile, the three active understandings—Body, Existence, and Wrapping—had developed in ways he never imagined. Not becoming stronger in terms of power, but becoming more... integrated. More harmonious with daily life.
The Understanding of Body now not only maintained his physical projection, but also understood the rhythm of work, the pleasant exhaustion after a productive day, and even how to share physical space with neighbors without feeling bothered or bothering them.
The Understanding of Existence had grown from simply "being" to "being with"—being present in a community, contributing, being part of something larger without losing individual identity.
And the Understanding of Wrapping had become more than just a protector—it had become a wise mediator, which allowed the fourteen understandings to remain active within Li Yuan without overwhelming the world around him. Like a fine silk cloth, it filtered the spiritual resonance so that only the gentlest and most appropriate could be felt by others, while ensuring that the understandings remained alive and developing in the depths of his soul.
"It's interesting," he thought, feeling the subtle harmony between the three understandings. "I thought living as an ordinary human would make my understandings stagnant. It turns out it's made them develop in a direction I never imagined."
The sound of slow footsteps made Li Yuan open his eyes. Chen Wei appeared from behind the bamboo fence, carrying two glasses of tea and a familiar smile.
"Still not sleeping? It's almost midnight."
"Just enjoying the quiet night," Li Yuan answered, accepting the glass of tea. "Why aren't you sleeping, Chen xiong?"
"Just finished a bench for Mr. Ma and Mr. Zhou. They asked me to make a place to sit in their small garden." Chen Wei sat down next to Li Yuan with a satisfied sigh. "Seeing them get along again... it feels good, doesn't it?"
"Good?"
"Yeah. It feels so relieving to see problems resolved peacefully." Chen Wei sipped his tea slowly. "You were great this afternoon, Qingshan xiong. The way you talked to them, so patient. You didn't take anyone's side, but you still found a way out."
Li Yuan smiled faintly. "I was just lucky they were both good people at heart. All they needed was a little space to remember that."
"Still, not everyone can do that." Chen Wei looked at Li Yuan with eyes full of appreciation. "You're... different, Qingshan xiong. I don't know how to say it, but there's something about the way you look at people, the way you listen to them talk. Like you truly care."
Li Yuan felt warmth in his chest. "Perhaps it's because I understand what it's like... not to be heard."
"Have you experienced that yourself?"
"In the journey of life, who has never felt unheard?" Li Yuan answered carefully, touching on the truth without revealing unnecessary details. "That's why when I have the chance to listen to someone else, I think it's... a valuable opportunity."
Chen Wei nodded with deep understanding. "Yes, that's so true. Sometimes what people need isn't a solution, but an ear that's willing to listen."
They sat in comfortable silence, sipping tea while listening to the small symphony of the night—the sound of crickets, the rustling of the wind in the leaves, the sound of a door being slowly closed at a neighbor's house.
"Qingshan xiong," Chen Wei said after a moment, "are you... happy here?"
The question was simple, but it made Li Yuan silent for quite a long time. Happy? A concept he hadn't seriously considered in a long time. For centuries, he had pursued understanding, wisdom, enlightenment—but happiness? Happiness felt too... human to pursue.
"Yes," he finally answered with a certainty that surprised himself. "I am happy here."
"That's good. We're all happy you're here too." Chen Wei smiled. "This alley has become... more alive since you came."
Alive. The word echoed in Li Yuan's heart. In the last four months, he had indeed felt something he had never felt before: the sensation that he was not only existing, but truly living. Living in a way that was spontaneous, unpredictable, full of small surprises and simple joys.
"Chen xiong," Li Yuan said slowly, "thank you."
"For what?"
"For accepting me. For treating me like family. For... teaching me how to live among good people."
Chen Wei laughed, patting Li Yuan's shoulder. "What are you talking about. We should be the ones thanking you. You're the one who has helped all of us so much."
After Chen Wei went home, Li Yuan remained in the backyard, feeling the night silence that now felt different. Not the empty silence of a lonely wanderer, but a full silence—the silence of someone surrounded by people who care, who has a place to return to, who has a routine and relationships that give meaning to every day.
He felt a subtle vibration from the Understanding of Existence, which had now grown into something richer: not just an understanding of individual existence, but of existence as part of a living and dynamic web of relationships.
"This," he realized, gazing at the dark houses of his neighbors, "is a form of cultivation that is never recorded in any book. Cultivation through being a good neighbor. Cultivation through building a meaningful life with the people we care about."
Cultivation through simple happiness.
Li Yuan got up and went into his house, feeling a pleasant exhaustion after a fulfilling day. It wasn't like the spiritual exhaustion after intense meditation or a breakthrough in understanding, but a human exhaustion after a day well lived, among good people, in a life that was real and meaningful.
When he lay down on his mat, Li Yuan felt something he had never felt in his three hundred and ten years of life: complete satisfaction. Not because he had reached a higher spiritual level or understood a deeper cosmic secret, but because he had found something perhaps more valuable: a way to live peacefully and happily as a human among other humans.
"Tomorrow," he thought, closing his eyes, "I will wake up in this house again. I will go to work at the Word House again. I will shop at the market and greet Mrs. Wang again. I will sit with Chen Wei in his workshop again. I will listen to Lin Sao's stories about the neighbors again."
And that is more than enough. That is a perfect life.
The dream that came that night was simple and warm: about the morning to come, about the tea to be brewed, about the friends to be met, about the small house that had become the center of a new and beautiful world.
A dream about the life he had chosen and that had chosen him back.
A dream about home.