Teacher, I found a child.

His talent far surpasses mine.

He also has many friends.

There is the most benevolent ruler I have ever seen, and a big bearded man as proud as a knight-errant.

I think they can truly break this era.

Really, Shifu.

But…

He died.

The Daoist sat on the ground.

One night of moonlight, and the next day, his head was full of white hair.

……………………

When Yuan left, he saw Zhuge Liang’s disciple, Jiang Boyue.

The Daoist, with his head full of white hair, his lofty Daoist practice seemingly vanished in an instant, softly asked, "Boyue, if you are content with Shu, defending its natural barriers, you should be able to protect Ji Han for another generation, at least to a peaceful end, able to be enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed as a general."

"But if you continue the Northern Expeditions, I am afraid that the world will eventually be intolerant…"

The young general with clear eyebrows and eyes said in a low voice:

"I wish to inherit the Prime Minister's unfinished ambition."

The Daoist was stunned, as if he saw the young Daoist with dimples on his cheeks, and the strategist who gently shook his feather fan, seeing them turn their heads to look at him, it seemed that his lineage was destined to follow one after another, rushing towards an impossible grand wish.

He laughed.

But suddenly burst into tears.

He left alone.

……………………

After that, no one ever saw this white-haired Daoist again.

Until the very end, in the sixth year of Jingyao, Liu Shan surrendered, and he was never seen again. Then the last Great General of Han, Jiang Boyue, died in battle, and Liu Shan moved to Luoyang the following year. Until the Jin Dynasty replaced Cao Wei, and then sent people to Shu.

The young Jin Dynasty official looked at the old Daoist in front of him, and for some reason, the latter stroked the feather fan.

But said nothing.

The official couldn't help but ask:

"Then, old sir, tell me, how does Zhuge Liang compare to anyone now?"

The old Daoist looked at him and only said:

"When Lord Ge was here, we did not realize his extraordinariness; after Lord Ge passed away, we have seen none to compare."

The young official was stunned and was about to continue to ask. It was clear that this Daoist looked older than Zhuge Wuhou, so why did he still use an honorific? But the old Daoist had already left, and the official had no choice but to sigh, not pursuing the matter, and casually recorded this sentence.

He returned to the courtyard where he lived.

There was also a girl there, with a tassel mixing ancient Qin Dynasty thumb-rings and Kunlun jade hanging from her waist. This girl, named Jue, had been visiting him, this dying man, frequently recently, and later it could be said that she was taking care of him.

A hundred years in the world, but this girl looked exactly the same as when they first met.

Yuan could already be said to be one of the most accomplished cultivators of the era.

Of course, he knew the difference about the girl before him.

Yuan sat in a chair, the girl letting the flowing wind dispel the heat, and also bringing clear water. The old Daoist looked up at the distance and said, "I didn't expect that my life, wandering alone, whether parents, teachers, friends, or disciples, have all passed away. In the end, the one accompanying me is you, Jue."

The girl took a sip of water and said softly, "Your life has been long enough, and wonderful enough."

The old man smiled, "You didn't come down the mountain for this reason."

"You are a Kunlun Celestial Maiden, aren't you?"

The girl seemed startled, holding the teacup and not speaking, but her shoulders trembled.

Like a kitten frightened by the rain.

The Daoist, with his blurred eyes, muttered to himself, "It was that woman who sent you to ask me if I regret it, right? She should have told you to return to the mountain immediately after asking me, but you have been with me for almost ten years."

Celestial Maiden Jue lowered her eyes, her voice low, and said:

"I just think that question is too cruel for you."

The old man laughed loudly and said, "So you feel uneasy and plan to stay with me until I also leave this world, before asking this question? Cough cough cough… Aren't you afraid that I will, in the end, not answer this question for you?"

Jue shook her head and smiled softly, "I'm not afraid."

The Daoist laughed, but coughed violently. Finally, he looked at the sky, murmuring about his life, and when he looked at the girl, he reached out and touched the Qin Dynasty thumb-ring. Immediately, his palm froze slightly. In that instant, using this object as a catalyst, Wei Yuan’s consciousness revived, merging with this generation's foremost cultivator.

Or rather, it should be Yuan in this late Three Kingdoms period, who was finally able to ‘remember’ his memories at this moment of passing, except that these memories were from the future, and the events that had occurred during the time of the First Emperor were now also happening.

Yuan, or Wei Yuan, slightly moved his eyes and raised his eyes to see the young girl.

Seeing the flowing wind and fallen leaves that truly existed at this moment.

He suddenly remembered the tribulation that the girl would encounter in just a few decades.

Wei Yuan looked at his palm, reached out, and lightly wrote in the void. His entire life of true cultivation, his final Daoist practice, scattered and rippled like flowing light, falling on the girl's clothes, turning into hidden talismans, enough to protect her, so that myriad demons could not invade, and these clothes seemed to become particularly special.

He was Yuan, and also Wei Yuan.

His palm gently fell, and his original silver hair lost its luster, turning into a dim white.

And Wei Yuan suddenly remembered the first time they met in the future.

The legendary Celestial Maiden Feather Garment that repelled all things, that demons could not approach, he was not hindered in the slightest when he went to retrieve it, and it was so easily taken into his hands. He seemed to suddenly realize, and burst out laughing. After laughing, he leaned against the bamboo chair and murmured, "You should still want to ask me that question, right?"

He recalled the past.

Whether it was Zhuge or Zhang Jiao, their light was bright enough. He had accompanied them all the way, fighting against famine and epidemics, rebelling against the powerful Han Dynasty, resisting the chaotic world of brutal city massacres, and never gave up resisting along the way.

The Daoist's eyes lost their divine light.

It was just a pity, only a pity that he himself was too weak, too ordinary, and could not help.

I am just one of the masses.

………………

This year was the first year of Taishi. Sima Yan usurped Wei and established the capital in Luoyang.

In Luoyang City.

A young man, after hearing the story, couldn't help but sigh with regret:

"It's such a pity, Uncle Shan, the Great Han ended just like that…"

"That Daoist Yuan who knew Emperor Zhaolie and taught Wuhou, why did he disappear in the end?"

Liu Shan replied, "Because, he actually wasn't that great. Not as brave as my second uncle, and not as resourceful as the Prime Minister. But ah, not being great is one thing. Many things started with him. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't know what the previous era would have been like."

"He was just a spark, whose light and temperature could not compare to a raging fire."

"But ah, that fire started from him."

The young man in front of him was in the same situation as him, both being held as hostages in this Luoyang City. Counting back, he could also be considered to have the blood of the old Liu family. This young man's father, Liu Bao, was once a foreign tribe general led by Cao Mengde. His mother was a Han woman that Liu Bao found after coming to the Central Plains, but he was raised by the Huyan clan.

And in this Luoyang City, everyone looked down on him. Only Liu Shan, who also had the Liu surname, would still talk to him. And this foreign youth also liked to hear about the struggles of the previous world, and liked the Liu family's Yan Han world. He couldn't help but ask again, "But, has Yan Han really ended?"

Liu Shan couldn't help but laugh, "You and I are both hostages, what else can we do?"

"The story of that era ended a long time ago."

That young man was at the age of high spirits and didn't like the man's appearance of hiding his abilities. He raised his head and said, "I don't believe it. If I have the opportunity, I will rebuild Yan Han. When that time comes, ah, um, I'm just saying, if I can really do it, Uncle Shan, I will bring you over too, how about it?"

Liu Shan burst out laughing.

He only ridiculed him, saying, "This place is pleasant, why think of Shu?"

The young man was annoyed and pointed to the sky with his fingers, saying, "Then I will swear an oath here."

"I only have the name of our tribe, but now I want to ask Uncle Shan for a name."

"Oh? What name?"

"Yuan!"

The young man with some Liu family blood raised his head and said:

"From now on, I will be Liu Yuan."

"Starting today, I swear to imitate Guangwu and re-establish the Han Dynasty!"

People influence each other, and such subtle influences continue to expand, becoming an era, or the next generation. But people cannot reverse the era, cannot change generations, and may not even know which direction this era will eventually go, and can only stumble forward in accordance with the trend of the times.

The Daoist in Shu finally slowly closed his eyes.

Yes…

I am just one of the masses.

But perhaps precisely because I am just an ordinary person, the resistance along the way has its value.

It is not the struggle of a hero, but the life of someone who is not so great, an ordinary person constantly resisting and constantly failing in the face of fate and the times. Faced with injustice and darkness, as long as there is resistance, it is enough to create great waves.

He murmured to himself, "The heavens have never forgiven me."

"And I have never forgiven them…"

Regret?

No regrets.

ps: Second update today... The Three Kingdoms chapter, complete. Thank you to Alliance Leader Shui Wangshi ~

Liu Yuan, Emperor Guangwen of Han, (Yuan deeply warned his generals whenever he heard of the brutality of their massacres, employed the wise and accepted advice, was respectful, frugal, and hardworking, and possessed the qualities of a Chinese monarch.) He died a few years after claiming the title of emperor. However, in a few years, his descendants changed the name of his country to Zhao. For various reasons, the era after his death was also the era that plunged China into the darkest turmoil, the era after the War of the Eight Princes.

Filled with grief and indignation, I cannot bear to look back, so the story of that period of history will not be written much.

The saying "When Lord Ge was here, we did not realize his extraordinariness; after Lord Ge passed away, we have seen none to compare" is a reference from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, brought forward.