Chapter 63: Two Destinies Rewritten
Xie Rong’s expression remained unchanged. Upon hearing the Taoist’s words, he merely tilted his head ever so slightly.
"Once?" A faint smile slowly appeared at the corners of his lips."I suppose the Taoist Master’s informant was not particularly thorough."
The entire courtyard fell silent.
Xie Rong continued in the same calm tone, "My encounters with death... have long ceased to be countable."
The old Taoist quietly looked at Xie Rong for several moments before slowly shaking his head, "This humble one is not referring to those encounters."
The smile at the corner of Xie Rong’s lips gradually faded.
The old Taoist’s aged voice remained calm as ever. "This humble one speaks of the moment when the Young Master’s fate should have come to an end."
The entire courtyard instantly fell into silence and the servants unconsciously lowered their heads further.
Master Xie’s brows slowly knitted together. "What does Master mean?"
The old Taoist did not answer immediately.
Instead, he slowly stepped down from behind the altar and stopped several paces before Xie Rong.
His weathered eyes quietly observed the young man standing before him. "The pulse of one’s fate cannot be seen by ordinary people but to this humble one..."
He paused, "the Young Master’s destiny is unlike any I have encountered before."
Wang Gege unconsciously tightened her grip on her sleeve.
The old Taoist slowly continued, "Ordinary people measure one’s life by the number of breaths they take but fate..." He gently stroked his beard, "records only the moment it is destined to end."
His gaze remained fixed upon Xie Rong. "One year ago... The Young Master’s thread of fate should already have been severed."
The moment those words fell, the expressions of everyone present changed.
Master Xie’s face darkened, "What nonsense are you speaking?" His voice carried obvious displeasure. "My son has been standing before me for an entire year."
The old Taoist neither argued nor became flustered. He simply shook his head.
"That is precisely why this humble one finds it incomprehensible." His weathered eyes never left Xie Rong, "A severed thread of fate cannot be rejoined."
"Once a person’s destined end arrives... there should be no tomorrow."
He paused for several breaths before continuing, "Yet the Young Master not only survived.. his destiny continues to flow as though someone had forcibly rewritten what Heaven had already decided."
The old Taoist slowly narrowed his eyes, "This humble one has cultivated for over fifty years... yet this is the first time I have witnessed such a fate."
The courtyard fell into complete silence, no one dared to utter a single word.
Xie Rong let out a faint, almost inaudible scoff. The corners of his lips curved into a subtle smile before he gently reached for Wang Gege’s hand.
"Come, Furen." His fingers lightly wrapped around hers as he turned to leave.
"I truly fail to understand the purpose of summoning us in the middle of the night..." He paused briefly, "Only to listen to speculations that cannot be proven."
The courtyard fell silent. No one had expected the Young Master to react so directly.
Master Xie’s expression immediately darkened. "Rong’er!"
Xie Rong’s footsteps came to a stop, though he did not turn around.
"I have no intention of disrespecting the Taoist Master." His voice remained calm and unhurried.
"But I have lived for twenty-seven years... If Heaven truly intended to claim my life a year ago..." A faint smile slowly appeared on his lips, "then perhaps Heaven simply lacks the ability."
The moment those words fell, a collective gasp echoed throughout the courtyard, even Wang Gege’s eyes widened in shock.
Just as Xie Rong was about to take another step...
"Young Master." The old Taoist’s voice quietly stopped him.
Xie Rong did not turn around, "What else does the Taoist Master wish to say?"
The old Taoist slowly lowered his gaze, "This humble one may have been mistaken."
Those words caused everyone to look at him in confusion. He remained silent for several breaths before slowly lifting his head once more.
"No..." His weathered eyes swept briefly across Wang Gege before returning to Xie Rong. "Perhaps it is not merely the Young Master’s fate."
Wang Gege’s heart skipped a beat.
The old Taoist frowned slightly, as though even he could not understand what he was seeing.
"The threads of fate surrounding the two of you..." He paused, "should never have crossed."
Another long silence followed.
"And yet... They now move as one." The old Taoist slowly shook his head, "This humble one has spent half a lifetime studying the Heavenly Dao... yet I have never witnessed two destinies rewritten in such a manner."
Xie Rong let out a faint chuckle, "Then... Perhaps the Taoist Master still has much to learn."
"Rong’er," Master Xie called out once again, his tone carrying a note of warning.
However, Xie Rong merely tightened his grip around Wang Gege’s hand before continuing toward the courtyard entrance as though he had heard nothing at all.
Wang Gege instinctively followed beside him in silence. Although countless gazes remained fixed upon their backs, neither of them turned around.
"Rong’er! Stop right there!"
Master Xie’s voice echoed throughout the courtyard, yet Xie Rong’s footsteps never paused.
Behind them, the entire main courtyard remained deathly silent.
The servants lowered their heads, not daring to utter a single word, while the elders exchanged bewildered glances, each trying to comprehend the Taoist Master’s cryptic remarks.
Even Master Xie stood rooted in place, his brows tightly knitted as he looked toward the old Taoist, seemingly waiting for an explanation that never came.
No one noticed the young woman standing quietly near the back of the crowd.
Xie An’an.
She watched the departing figures of Wang Gege and Xie Rong until they disappeared beyond the courtyard gate.
Only then did the corners of her lips slowly curve upward, her brows lifting ever so slightly.
"Interesting."
The faint smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She lightly brushed the creases from her sleeves before quietly turning around and leaving the main courtyard, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.