When Luo Qi arrived at Yi Jin Garden, he saw Long Xuan standing at the entrance of Luo Wei’s bedroom.
“He’s inside,” Long Xuan said blankly to Luo Qi, “Take him away.”
Luo Qi hastily bowed to Long Xuan and rushed into Luo Wei’s bedroom. “Xiao Wei!” When Luo Qi was about to rush to Luo Wei’s bedside, he stopped. He felt a sudden apprehension and was unable to take another step forward.
“Elder Brother,” Luo Wei opened his eyes, looking at Luo Qi with a joyful smile, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Luo Qi suppressed the urge to hug Luo Wei and cry as he approached the bedside slowly. “It’s Elder Brother’s fault for being late.”
“Take me away,” Luo Wei said, “I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
“Alright,” Luo Qi picked up Luo Wei along with the thick blanket covering him and said, “Elder Brother will take you home. We’re going home.”
“Yes,” Luo Wei said in Luo Qi’s arms, “Home. I’ve been wanting to go home for a long time.”
Luo Qi swiftly carried Luo Wei out of the bedroom. Luo Wei looked outside and noticed that it was still snowing heavily that day.
“Are you cold?” Luo Qi asked Luo Wei softly.
“No,” Luo Wei replied.
“Your Highness!” At that moment, a chorus of voices called out from the courtyard.
Luo Wei saw the group of five Dragons, so he took a deep breath and said, “Elder Brother, you must take care of them in the future.”
“Your Highness!”
“Alright.”
Luo Qi and and the five Dragons had responded almost simultaneously.
“You go ahead,” Long Xuan said at the door, “I will make proper arrangements for the people here and ensure they are not mistreated.”
“Mr. Zhao,” Luo Wei called out to Zhao Fu.
“Your Highness!” Zhao Fu knelt before Luo Wei, weeping.
“I’m leaving,” Luo Wei said, “You must take care of yourself from now on!”
“Your Highness!” Zhao Fu kowtowed, tears streaming down his face, “Your Highness, go in peace. Zhao Fu will still serve you in the future.”
“In your next life, may you enjoy wealth and honor,” Luo Wei said softly, “I have done it for you, I have accumulated merits on your behalf. You will not suffer anymore.”
Zhao Fu cried bitterly, his head turning crimson from repeatedly knocking it on the ground.
Luo Qi carried Luo Wei out of Yi Jin Garden amidst the sounds of weeping. He walked quickly on the snowy ground, wanting to take Luo Wei away from here as soon as possible. This place was like an ominous cage, trapping his younger brother’s entire life inside.
Long Xuan walked into the courtyard, as if intending to follow Luo Qi. In the end, he stopped under the tung tree, slowly sinking down against its trunk until he was kneeling in the snow.
A mournful and desperate wail rose into the snowy night.
No one had ever seen the Emperor weep so heartbreakingly. People had never imagined that this cold-blooded and ruthless ruler would one day cry like a child.
After this life, never to meet again.
Long Xuan thought of the last words Luo Wei left him, and his despair and sorrow turned into tears. After this life, let’s never meet again. “Luo Wei!” Long Xuan cried out the name of this person to the heavens, but the only response he received was the swirling snowflakes and the echoes of his own cries into the snowy night.
“Xiao Wei, Elder Brother is taking you home,” Luo Qi said as he held Luo Wei in the carriage leaving the palace gates, “We’ve left the palace now.”
“I can’t go back,” Luo Wei said at this moment, “Elder Brother, I can’t go back.”
“You can go back,” Luo Qi said repeatedly, “Elder Brother will take you back. Father and mother are on their way here, don’t you want to see them? And your second brother, You’er, and Shuang’er, do you not want to see them?”
“I do, but it’s too late,” Luo Wei said weakly to Luo Qi, “Elder Brother, please bury me in the Qingshan Valley outside Xuanzhou City.”
“Xiao Wei!”
“The people of Xuanzhou City should still remember Nan’er and Fu’er from back then,” Luo Wei said, “Elder Brother, go find them. Lan and I have a wooden house in the valley, they promised me to keep the house for me. That’s our home. Bury me there. I love it there, it’s my favorite place in the world.”
“Alright,” Luo Qi promised, “Elder Brother will take you to Xuanzhou.”
“Take me to see Lan,” after a moment of silence, Luo Wei couldn’t suppress this longing in his heart, “I want to see him, I just want to take a look at him.”
“Alright,” tears welled up in Luo Qi’s eyes, but he held them back and said, “Elder Brother will take you to see Lan.”
The carriage raced through the streets of the capital before stopping across from the Luo Mansion.
Luo Qi was about to call someone to open the door when Luo Wei said, “Never mind, I won’t see him. Elder Brother, let’s go.”
“Why don’t you want to see him anymore?”
“I just don’t want to. I remember what he looks like,” Luo Wei explained, “There’s no need to see him again.”
At this moment, the gate of the Luo residence opened, and Wei Ning ran out with a little rabbit lantern in his hand.
Luo Qi quickly opened the carriage window a little, and pulled back the curtain so Luo Wei could see outside.
“Father, mother,” Wei Ning’s voice was cheerful, “come quickly.”
Luo Wei saw Lan supporting the slightly pregnant Yan’er and walking out of the gate. Luo Wei suddenly widened his eyes, almost greedily looking at Lan.
“Lan is right there,” Luo Qi whispered in Luo Wei’s ear, afraid he couldn’t see properly.
The corners of Luo Wei’s mouth raised slightly, revealing a smile. He looked at the smile on Lan’s face, wondering if this smile could accompany Lan for a lifetime. In their past life, this person gave him comfort, and in this life, he walked through most of his life with him. He was already satisfied. In this life, he had only sought to atone for his sins. Now that his family was safe, his Lan had a loving wife and children, even if his own life was as fleeting as a mayfly or as insignificant as a speck of dust, he had done his best to accomplish what he sought to do, to protect those he owed from his previous life. It was still a night of swirling snow, but he could now die in the arms of his older brother. The Heavens had allowed him to be reborn in this life, and had not treated him poorly.
The sound of New Year’s firecrackers crackled in the snowy night, ushering in another spring.
Luo Wei raised his arm as if reaching out to Lan. “If there truly is a next life,” Luo Wei said in his heart to Lan, who was so close yet so far away, “I want to meet you again. I owe you a lifetime together, growing old side by side.”
A snowflake passed through Luo Wei’s fingers.
Luo Wei’s hand twitched as if trying to catch the unexpected snowflake, but the snow was like flowing sand on his fingertips, impossible to hold on to. His slender hand fell helplessly to his side, and his life finally came to an end.
Tears streamed down Luo Qi’s face as he held Luo Wei tightly. If he never let go, would the youngest son of the Luo family smile at him again after waking up from his slumber?
The carriage passed slowly by Lan’s side, leaving deep tracks on the snowy ground.
Lan looked at the single-horse carriage passing him by, and suddenly, the wind and snow became violent, obscuring his vision. He quickly opened his arms to shield his wife and children. When Lan looked back in the direction where the carriage had gone, there was nothing left except the swirling snow in the air. Even the marks on the snow-covered ground had disappeared, as if they had never existed at all.
Passing each other by1, for a lifetime, a hair’s breadth became a world apart.2
- 擦肩而过 – cā jiān érguò: almost coming into close contact with someone, but then missing them. ↩︎
- 咫尺天涯 – zhǐ chǐ tiān yá : part of the idiom used in the chapter’s title, lit. “an inch apart, worlds away.” It refers to how people can be physically very close but separated by vast emotional distances. So the whole sentence mean something like “Although the distance was so close, for a lifetime, it was difficult to meet each other and we ended up worlds apart”. ↩︎
Translator Note: Tomorrow I will be releasing the last 4 chapters of the novel, and then a few extras every day (there are 9). We’re almost done everyone, hope you enjoy the finale!
Boundless Dao 
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