I returned to the shore with a dog in tow. Little Rascal seemed dazed, as if it still held some memories of the kitten. The spirit of Dongling Zi had already departed from its body. The life that truly belonged to Little Rascal was just beginning.
I returned to River City with the jade ruler and compass. In another two days, it would be Labor Day—roughly a year had passed. The years slipped away, leaving behind what should have been beautiful scenery, now empty and meaningless. Even if there were a thousand emotions to express, who would I share them with?
The air in River City grew increasingly polluted, with smog everywhere. Subway lines and rapid bus lanes were under constant construction, and demolition and building projects sprawled across the city. Even Hanchu Avenue had been marked for demolition. Brother Jun’s auto repair shop, only a third of the way through its renovation, no longer needed to be finished. The White Dream Flower Shop, after a year in business, also faced the fate of being torn down.
The roaring wheels of progress rolled forward, and the sentiments of small people were always the first to be sacrificed. Brother Jun said that since demolition was inevitable, he would take Zongbao and the others back to their hometown county to open a larger repair shop—after all, there were plenty of car owners there. The night before their departure, I treated Brother Jun to drinks, congratulating him on prosperous business, an early marriage, and a few plump grandchildren. Brother Jun laughed, “If I ever have a son, I’ll make him your apprentice.”
I nodded in agreement. We drank the same Zhijiang liquor and smoked the same four-yuan pack of Baisha cigarettes, the smoke curling around us like the melancholy of dreams and the weariness of reality—both of which one slowly grows accustomed to. Behind Brother Jun’s smile, loneliness lingered. “Bottoms up for true friendship,” he said, “and may we meet again someday.” I downed the liquor, and tears fell in rapid drops.
In this vast sea of people, why do we still shed tears?
Stranger, please pause your steps. Tell me your story, and I’ll share mine in return. With the flower shop gone, I was unemployed once more. Perhaps I had been disconnected from society for too long, for job hunting felt increasingly alien. But Yi Miao told me, “It’s not that you don’t fit in—it’s that you’re unaccustomed to dealing with people. Zombies may be deadly, but they’re ultimately foolish creatures with predictable weaknesses. Humans, however, are far more complex.”
After recovering from his gunshot wound, Yi Miao retreated into seclusion—supposedly to cultivate himself in the Wudang Mountains, though with Lian Xiaoyao following him, true cultivation was likely difficult. In the end, he opened an inn there, with Lian Xiaoyao seemingly taking on the role of proprietress.
Uncle Jianguo and Cici’s relationship had its ups and downs, but after Uncle Jianguo expelled the twin-faced ghost from Cici, their bond deepened. Still, the judgmental eyes of society remained harsh. Yet, under Uncle Jianguo’s protection, Cici found happiness. Gao Mo and Uncle Jianguo had made a pact—once Uncle Jianguo ended his bachelorhood, Gao Mo would marry herself off.
Some time later, Gao Mo indeed found a young boyfriend, one strikingly similar to Shen Yihu, albeit slightly more immature—untempered by time and ignorant of life’s hardships. Uncle Jianguo clapped the young man on the shoulder and said, “If you mistreat my disciple, I’ll send someone to deal with—” Gao Mo cut him off angrily, “Shut up!” Uncle Jianguo had meant to say, “I’ll send someone who specializes in handling zombies to deal with you.” But the words remained unspoken. After all, mentioning zombie hunters made it sound like something out of a movie.
With Gao Mo in a relationship, even her idol Shen Yihu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Shen Yihu had recently stumbled into luck—Meng Xiaoyu was pregnant, and he would soon become a father. I told him, “A man in his thirties can’t keep pushing himself so hard once he’s a dad.”
Shen Yihu, once a reckless daredevil, now clung to life. During a criminal arrest, two bullets struck his chest, nearly killing him. After a day and night in a coma, he awoke to Meng Xiaoyu’s ultimatum: resign. After some deliberation, she cited River City’s smog and poor air quality, then whisked Shen Yihu away to Seattle, where he began his new life as a stay-at-home dad.
After Zhong Li married, she quickly became pregnant and took paid leave. From Gao Mo, I learned that Zhong Li was planning to rent a shop and open a milk tea store, hiring a couple of employees. She had decided against continuing as a mortician—since her husband was one, she resolved to become a part-time housewife, with the milk tea shop as a side income. Perhaps I had misread Zhong Li’s fate of fleeting beauty. The teardrop mole at the corner of her eye had no bearing on her happiness. When love is right, destiny quietly shifts. Shared joy and sorrow reshape one’s very countenance.
From Gao Mo, I also caught wind of Chen Tucha’s news. Diligent, capable, and highly regarded by her superiors, she had recently handled several major cases. In April, leveraging family connections, she transferred from River City to Shanghai. Gao Mo scolded me, “You let a good girl slip away for nothing. A guy like you deserves to stay single forever—may lightning strike you!” I smiled bitterly. “You’re not me. How could you understand?”
I turned and left. The young man beside Gao Mo, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Shen Yihu, pointed at my retreating figure and said, “He looks like a dog.”
…
Back in my hometown, the village dance team failed to advance in the Labor Day square dance competition, leaving my mother disheartened—no trip to Hong Kong for her.
I reassured her that there would be other chances. “I know a white parrot over there—it’s quite entertaining.” She sighed, “That would cost money. Better not go. Our home is beautiful with its mountains and clear waters—why travel so far?” A few days later, Feng Shiqiao called to say that my mother’s biological father—her legal grandfather—was on his deathbed. Accompanied by my father and me, my mother went to bid the old man farewell. She had no interest in the Feng family’s wealth and returned to the village to resume her pastoral life.
My father, no longer engrossed in Hunan TV’s romantic dramas, had recently become obsessed with the Hong Kong series “Lives of Omission,” declaring it utterly captivating. “It’s just a shame the female lead died in the end—what a pity. Damn the villains, damn the ending.”
I said, “Blame the screenwriter. If it were me, I wouldn’t have killed off Fala Chen—I’d have killed Laughing instead and let the heroine live. But it’s just a TV show. Who knows? If the director’s in a good mood, the screenwriter gets inspired, and someone invests, they might make a sequel where the female lead comes back to life. There’s no such thing as a final ending.”
My father sighed. “Forget it. It’s too sad to think about. I’ll just read ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ instead. No more dwelling on endings.” After a while, he closed the book and asked, “Don’t you think our little black dog is a bit strange? I’ve seen it almost fly twice now.”
I burst out laughing. “Impossible, Dad! Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. If dogs could fly, that’d be something.” He shook his head and returned to his reading, though his gaze occasionally drifted to Little Rascal, who sat by the courtyard gate. His expression was odd. I knew Little Rascal had consumed the elixir of immortality—had it truly become a celestial dog?
I scoured ancient texts for records of the River of the Dead or ways to reach it, but found nothing—no traces, no paths. I even traveled through the lands of Yan and Zhao, searching for traces of Xie Lingyu. But after a hundred years of history, Xie Lingyu was merely an ordinary official’s daughter—no records of her existed, let alone any mention of a fox spirit cultivating immortality. It seemed the three-year promise was nothing but a delusion. My eyes welled with tears.
Then, on a day of gentle breezes and clear skies, a sudden intuition stirred within me. I bid my parents farewell, took up the jade ruler and compass, packed a few clothes, and set off southward—one man and one dog.
(The End.)
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage