Forty years passed.
The valley was their sanctuary, their eternity. Their "average" talent, nurtured by a lifetime of
slow, uninterrupted, peaceful cultivation, had carried them far. They had reached the ninth stage
of Qi Condensation, the absolute peak of what a mortal could achieve without a 'heaven-defying'
opportunity. They were masters, ageless and powerful, but they were masters of nothing but
their own small, perfect world.
They... lived.
Ren An, their son, was a man. He was a perfect, terrifying synthesis of them both. He had his
father's cold, analytical mind and his mother's lethal, silent grace. When he was twenty, he had
come to them.
"I... I want to see," he'd said. "I want to test your theories."
Ren Wei and Li Mei had... let him go.
It was the hardest thing Li Mei had ever done. It was, Ren Wei knew, the only thing they could
do. They had not built a cage for their son. They had given him the keys.
He had thrived. He returned every year, a "traveling scholar," a mystery in the mortal world. He
even brought a woman home, a sharp-eyed mercenary who seemed to be the only person in
the world not afraid of Li Mei.
Now, they were old. Or... ageless. Their hair was still black. Their skin was still smooth. But they
were ancient.
They sat on their porch, the one they had built together, half a century ago. The wood was worn
smooth.
Li Mei was leaning her head on Ren Wei's shoulder. Her hand was in his. The bond between
them was no longer a leash, or a vow. It was... just them. It was a part of their soul, like an arm
or a leg. A constant, warm, humming presence that was neither 'his' nor 'hers,' but 'theirs.'
"He's... late," Li Mei murmured. Her motherly obsession had never faded.
"He's fine, Mei," Ren Wei said, his voice a calm rumble. "He's bringing our granddaughter. The
road is slow."
She sighed, a contented sound.
Ren Wei looked out at the lake. At their valley. Their world.
He never returned 'home.' He never saw Earth again.
He never "fixed" her.
He had become a stranger to the man he was. A monster. A manipulator. A killer.
He looked at the woman leaning against him. The creature of absolute, terrifying, perfect
devotion who had built this 'cage,' which had become their home.
He was happy.
Truly, perfectly, darkly... happy.
He wouldn't change a thing.
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
"I love you, Mei," he whispered.
"I know," she smiled, her eyes on the road, waiting for their son.