Yun Ye furiously drove everyone away and lay alone on the dry sand by the Yellow River’s shore, staring up at the sky as tears streamed down his face. He discovered that no matter how hard he struggled, in the end he was still all alone.

The sun set, and stars slowly emerged. He desperately hoped the horse herd would return. He had even prepared sheep fat and freshly sprouted dandelions from autumn—as long as Wang Cai came back, Yun Ye wouldn’t mind patting its rump more often. Doing so every day wouldn’t be a problem…

As midnight approached, Yun Ye’s heart grew colder and colder. He couldn’t help but cry out in grief, feeling as though a part of his body had gone missing, making every movement feel wrong.

The sand beneath him gradually cooled, eventually becoming bitterly cold.

Xinyue, Na Rimu, Lingdang, and Xiao Miao walked over from the distance. Xinyue embraced Yun Ye and gently patted his back, as if soothing a child. Yun Ye cried even more sorrowfully, his beard soaked with tears and mucus.

“Wang Cai is gone!” Yun Ye had so many things he wanted to say, but only this one sentence came out. This sentence seemed to suddenly open the floodgates of his grief as his hands helplessly pounded the sand.

“Wang Cai hasn’t left. He’s just gone home. He watched over you for forty years—that’s enough. It was time for him to go home. Everyone must go home; no one is an exception.” Xinyue choked back tears as she comforted her husband.

Na Rimu’s eyes were red, yet she smiled as she draped a blanket over Yun Ye and said, “Wang Cai was the smartest horse this concubine has ever seen. Tengger will surely treasure him dearly, just as you treasured Wang Cai. He’ll give him the finest pastures, the cleanest water sources, and the flattest plains to gallop across. Look at the stars in the sky—Wang Cai will become the brightest one.”

Yun Ye groggily lifted his head to glance at the stars, then began beating his chest and stamping his feet again, roaring, “What is Tengger compared to me? Wang Cai was my brother! Why should Tengger treasure him? If anyone’s going to treasure him, it should be me!”

Na Rimu wept but smiled as she said, “Horses are born with four legs—they’re meant to run. If they want to run, they can’t be bound by reins. Husband, don’t you want to see Wang Cai happy?”

Yun Ye gradually stopped crying. A long breath of pent-up depression exhaled from his chest. Ignoring Na Rimu, he looked at Lingdang, who was warming his hands, and said, “When your rabbit died, you were sad for half a year. Back then, I even laughed at you and tried to trick you with other rabbits. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Lingdang lifted her pale face and smiled, saying, “When you were tricking this concubine, those were the happiest times for me. I wasn’t sad for that long—I just wanted you to keep deceiving me. Later, my sadness was just an act.”

Xiao Miao, however, had no time to comfort Yun Ye. She lit a fire in the sand nearby, hugging her knees and sitting far from the others, appearing quite desolate. Apart from her husband and children, she had no relatives at all. She had a master who hid in a coffin every day and wouldn’t come out—now his whole body had turned white. Her husband said if he grew fangs, they’d need to eliminate him quickly.

A household warrior hurried over and reported, “My lord, Wang Cai is in good spirits. He’s now less than thirty li away from us. The herd hasn’t driven him out again, but he still won’t eat.”

At the mention of eating, Yun Ye turned to look at the dandelions he’d picked. Sighing, he set a pot over the fire and began slowly frying them in sheep fat. After frying them, he sniffled and transferred the greens to a plate, which he handed to Xinyue, saying, “After I fell out from my master’s place, I walked alone through mountain valleys, trying to find a way out. But there wasn’t a soul around, so I could only follow the stream. I killed a wild sheep and finally had something to eat.”

“There were wolves in that place—you probably saw them during the day too. When I was so exhausted I was about to fall asleep, wolves would come to bite me. I split one wolf’s mouth open with a shovel, but there were several wolves. To survive, I had to stay with the horse herd, because there was a lead stallion that was extremely formidable. Judging by its coat color, it looked like Wang Cai’s father—they were both the same date-red color, very magnificent. They could easily trample wolves into pulp.”

“At night, I would fry wild vegetables in sheep fat for the lead stallion to eat. Without that herd, I probably would have been eaten by wolves long ago.”

Xinyue, Na Rimu, and Lingdang ate the wild vegetables. Na Rimu even forcibly pushed Xiao Miao over. The four of them ate while listening to Yun Ye tell stories—this was the first time their husband had shared these things with them.

“The next day, when I opened my eyes, the herd had left. They only left me the injured Wang Cai. Wang Cai and I made an agreement—we’d never abandon each other for our whole lives. If I ate well, he would certainly drink well. And so we muddled through life together for a lifetime. Wang Cai can live at most three more days. The tonic medicine Mr. Sun gave him can only sustain Wang Cai for three days, but it can make him young, strong, and vigorous. However, it’s only for three days. After three days, once Wang Cai exhausts his vital essence and spirit, he’ll certainly die.”

“Perhaps I’ve lived too long. Wang Cai kept trying hard to stay alive, hoping to accompany me for a lifetime. It seems I’m the one who didn’t keep his word.”

“The landscape here is excellent feng shui. Wang Cai sleeping here would be very good. Once Wang Cai passes, let’s seal this place as forbidden ground. When I came here, it was primordial wilderness. I hope when I leave, it will still be primordial wilderness.”

Xinyue removed a gold chain from her neck and took out the mobile phone from her bosom to give to Yun Ye. Whenever Xinyue wasn’t home, she would definitely wear this item on her person.

Yun Ye smiled slightly. As time passed, this thing had become useless. To hear the moving music inside required luck. He gently activated the phone—that ridiculous logo was still there. The songs were gone; only various strange ringtones remained. Just these few sounds left Na Rimu, Lingdang, and Xiao Miao staring in astonishment.

Unfortunately, the time was too brief. Soon the screen dimmed and there was no more sound.

Xinyue said regretfully, “Husband has been away from White Jade Capital for too long. The immortal energy here has gradually dissipated. Before, there were little people dancing inside. Later, only songs remained. Now even the songs are gone—only these pleasant sounds are left. In a few more years, I’m afraid even these sounds will be gone.”

“Husband, what is White Jade Capital like? What is the land of immortals really like? Could you tell this concubine? I won’t tell anyone.” Xinyue had endured for a long time before gathering the courage to ask Yun Ye.

“White Jade Capital? It’s not much different from the Great Tang. It’s not as wonderful as you imagine. The only place it surpasses the Great Tang is that they have extremely powerful weapons. A single bomb could kill everyone in all of Chang’an. Their airplanes are also extremely formidable—from Chang’an to Lingnan takes just over an hour.”

That world was very dirty. The sky was gray. Much of the ground didn’t grow grass. The sky was filled with floating plastic bags. You don’t need to worry—in a few decades, such scenes will appear in the Great Tang. Your husband has been continuously transforming the Great Tang into White Jade Capital these years.

“Look—aren’t the Great Tang’s bombs becoming increasingly powerful? Doesn’t Qing Que’s airplane fly farther each time? Haven’t the people of the Great Tang become increasingly worldly? When the merchants of the Great Tang start using kerosene to fry dough fritters, it will be pretty much like White Jade Capital.”

“That’s not a good place. I don’t like it. I like the Great Tang, but the Great Tang will eventually become White Jade Capital one day.”

“The White Jade Capital that Xiao Wu is building is just a cave. Apart from using more gemstones, it’s completely useless. She doesn’t know that she’s actually already within the embryonic form of White Jade Capital.”

Xinyue looked around excitedly and said in a low voice, “Husband, you should transform the Great Tang into White Jade Capital. Others don’t know what White Jade Capital is like, but you do. This way our family will have the advantage and will forever stand in an undefeatable position. Only today does this concubine understand your great ambitions.”

Not only did Xinyue find her husband unfathomably profound, but Na Rimu, Lingdang, and Xiao Miao all unanimously thought so too.

Yun Ye glanced toward the direction the household warrior had mentioned and said quietly, “This place is utterly silent—most suitable for telling ghost stories. I’m telling ghost stories, so you should just listen to them as ghost stories. Don’t think I’m superior to others.”

After Yun Ye finished this sentence, his four wives lost their desire to talk. Xiao Miao spread out sleeping bags, one for each person. The five of them crawled into the sleeping bags with their heads exposed, gazing at the brilliant starry sky for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

In his sleep, he felt something wet on his face, as if someone had washed his face with their tongue. Opening his eyes, he saw Wang Cai’s large head right in front of him. Seeing that Yun Ye had awakened, Wang Cai happily paced about, trampling the other sleeping bags into complete disarray.

Yun Ye opened his mouth and smiled. Wang Cai had come after all. Just as he was about to reach out to embrace Wang Cai, he discovered there was another horse beside Wang Cai. This horse was small, and its leg also bore a terrible wound.

“Is this your descendant?” Yun Ye asked Wang Cai softly. Wang Cai nudged the small horse forward with his muzzle, then looked at Yun Ye once more, called out joyfully once, then slowly walked into the grass. This time, Yun Ye was absolutely certain—Wang Cai would never appear again.

This was a date-red colored young horse with soft fur. The wound on its leg was severe, with the muscles around the wound twitching unnaturally—clearly it was in great pain.

“Since your elder entrusted you to me, then come back to Chang’an with me. Right now I can tell you very responsibly that you won’t need to suffer hardships like Wang Cai did before you can eat well and drink well. You can enjoy worldly riches and honor right now. This is my promise to you, and also my promise to Wang Cai. Since Wang Cai likes being a wild horse, naturally he can’t use a name, or else other horses will laugh at him. So the name Wang Cai will be yours—is that good? Wang Cai!”

Yun Ye squatted down and tore some strips of cloth from his own body. He carefully applied the white medicine that Sun Simiao had prepared to the wound, then wrapped it with the cloth strips.

The young horse finally lay down beside Yun Ye, allowing the old groom with tears streaming down his face to help groom its disheveled coat, while also cleaning out the parasites in its fur.

“My lord, Wang Cai has become young again!” The groom, who didn’t know the reason, trembled violently in his hands. He gently stroked with his finger the white patch on Wang Cai’s nose—this was a characteristic unique to Wang Cai…