The town was sultry at night, and fell into silence again.
The children were all sent home to sleep. The old people who were enjoying the cool air and playing chess were still interested and agreed to play again tomorrow night. There was a bright lamp on in the school, probably because the master was reading at night.
Ye Ling and Qu Zhiruo sighed several times as they walked in the alley. In just three years, he returned to the ordinary world with high spirits after leaving Yunlan Town. Everything is fleeting, coming and going in a hurry.
If this is all a dream, is it good or bad? Ye Lingshang couldn't figure it out. I just feel like it’s not real enough.
Qu Zhiruo, who was on the side, was worried and sighed softly: "I wonder what happened to my father and sister."
Ye Ling turned to look at her, and also thought of his eldest brother, third brother, junior brother, and close friends. After the disaster, they were scattered where they were. Are they okay?
The two of them walked slowly, but soon they returned to Xu Guo's home. The Sai Da Chong next door had gone back to rest early. After all, I am getting older and I am tired after scolding for a long time.
The two of them entered the room. Jiuye and Xu Guo had not finished drinking yet, and seemed to want to make up for all the delay caused by the escort.
Yun Shu held her sleeping little Xu Nuo in the inner room, feeling heartbroken.
Little Xunuo was born not long ago and had not received a single sip of milk from her mother. Being led by Ye Ling and others, Feng Dian slept in the open and was fed only rice soup, making him very thin.
Yun Shu was unable to give birth, and she had no milk or water, so she had to carry her to the neighbor's wife and ask her to feed her a few mouthfuls.
Yun Shu didn't know, but Ye Ling knew it. There is an innate spiritual power in Xiao Xunuo's body, which makes his origin strong. Otherwise, if it were an ordinary baby, he would have already suffered from the disease and would not be able to withstand the bumpy journey.
At the wine table, Master Jiu saw Ye Ling and the others coming back, so he said to Ye Ling: "Little Ye Zi, brother Xu Guo has an unkind request. He has no shame to mention it. Brother, I am too old, so I told you for him. "
After hearing this, Xu Guo lowered his head in embarrassment. In the inner hall, Yun Shu also walked to the door with her promise in mind, but she couldn't help but cross the threshold.
Ye Ling smiled slightly and stepped forward to look at Xiao Xunuo, who was sleeping soundly: "Jiuye, Brother Xu, sister-in-law. I know what you want to say. Xiao Xunuo is my friend's support before his death. I must take good care of him. It's a pity that I Now that I am still floating like duckweed, how can I talk about taking care of a baby that has just reached full term? If you really want to do this, I am willing to entrust him to you!"
"Brother Ye, are you telling the truth?"
Xu Guo stood up tremblingly, his eyes filled with hot tears that were about to pour down at any moment.
Ye Ling nodded and said: "What I said from the bottom of my heart is just a promise. It was given by his mother. Brother and sister-in-law, please don't mind."
"No, no, it's called a promise, it's called a lifetime!"
Xu Guo hugged Yun Shu who had crossed the threshold, and the two cried together: "We have a son, we finally have a son again, God is blessing us, God is blessing us!"
Beside him, Mr. Jiu lit his cigarette bag and said with a smile, "Everyone is happy now, and it saves a bad old man like me from wasting his breath."
After taking a puff of cigarette, Master Jiu stood up and walked out: "My family of three is getting together, I should go back!"
Ye Ling asked Qu Zhiruo to live in the Xu country, but he followed Jiu Ye out.
Master Jiu turned around and asked, "Why did you follow me out?"
Ye Ling said: "I heard that Master Jiu's house is spacious, so I plan to go and make some noise."
"Brat!"
An old man and a young man walked side by side in the alley, surrounded by the night wind and the pungent smell of smoke.
Ye Ling suddenly remembered what Xu Guo had just said, and asked, "Brother Xu said that the couple had a son again. So, does that mean that Brother Xu had a son before?"
"I have," Master Jiu took a breath and slowly recalled, "To put it this way, it was about eighteen or nineteen years ago. Xu Guo and his wife gave birth to a son, and it was difficult to give birth. It was difficult to give birth to a son, and both of them were pregnant. She was killed. The doctor said that Yun Shu is ill and will only have this son in her life. No matter how much she wants to conceive, she will never be able to conceive."
"The result is great. The child was only one year old and was lost. Somebody who had been stabbed a thousand times had it stolen. There has been no news to this day. I guess I will never get it back in this life."
"If Xu Guo didn't love his wife so much, Yun Shu would have committed suicide a long time ago. Fortunately, there was a good man and the neighbors persuaded her, so she gradually thought about it."
As Master Jiu spoke, his face showed a bit of vicissitudes of life, as if he was introducing someone else's family affairs.
Ye Ling nodded. Speaking of which, he and his third brother Wu Qing were also orphans. It was unknown whether their parents died early or were stolen and separated. After all, he and Wu Qing had their elder brother to take care of them, and they never thought about finding their biological parents.
After turning a corner, he came in front of a dark door. Jiuye pushed the door open and walked in. He explained to himself: "I am a lonely old man. I have nothing at home, and there is no need to lock the door. That's it. The same goes for someone who has been away for a year and a half. If you can leave it for a passerby to rest for the night, it will be considered a blessing for the next life."
Ye Ling stepped in and saw that the small courtyard was not as clean as Xu Guoguo's. The ground was full of weeds and there was a large locust tree in the middle, as thick as a canopy. There is a deck chair and a stone table under the tree. There is no dust on it. It seems that Master Jiu just moved it out today.
Directly in front is the main room and wing rooms on both sides. The window paper is a little worn, and there are some reeds growing on the eaves, swaying in the wind, which is quite poetic.
Master Jiu sat on the lounge chair under the tree, holding the cigarette pole, pointing to the house, and said: "Wherever you want to sleep, clean it yourself. There is a lot of water in the well in the corner."
Ye Ling was not polite and looked for the east wing.
When he opened the door, the room was filled with dust. It was empty except for a chair and a wooden bed, covered with a layer of young tilled dust. I don’t know how many times the peace in this room has been broken.
Ye Ling didn't care at all and just fetched water, swept, and tidied up the house.
Master Jiu shouted in the yard: "Why don't you live in the west!"
Ye Ling had a black line on his forehead. The old man wanted to hire free labor to clean the house, but he really didn't want to do a loss-making business.
After cleaning up, Ye Ling sat on the bed with the wooden sword across his knees. Close your eyes and meditate, trying to feel what's going on in your body.
Although Ye Ling's Dantian was shattered, all his Tao power was lost. But his consciousness was still there, and he tried hard to look inside at his physical condition, but found that his eyes were always dark and he couldn't see clearly.
Afterwards, he followed the exercises, sensed the aura of heaven and earth, breathed in and practiced.
It's a pity that now that the Dantian is broken, it's like a bottomless basin. Even if it contains rivers and lakes, it will eventually flow away without even a drop remaining.
Ye Ling's mind sank into a trough. Falling suddenly from the peak to the ground requires a psychological acceptance process, and he has not yet fully experienced it. Even if you don’t say it, you will always be anxious in your heart.
That night, Ye Ling tried several times, but ultimately failed.
Opening his eyes, looking at the wooden sword lying across his knees, Ye Ling gently touched it with his hand: "I am a useless person after all, do you want to become a useless sword too?"
There was no movement from the wooden sword. Since that day against the thieves chasing Qu Zhiruo, the wooden sword seemed to have lost its edge and turned into a piece of ordinary wood, leaving Ye Ling unable to feel any resonance.
Ye Ling sighed softly and looked out the window. The moonlight poured into the atrium, like accumulated water. It makes him always remember the past.
…
For three days in a row, Ye Ling sat quietly in the room almost all the time, thinking about what he should do in the future.
Master Jiu sits on a deck chair in the courtyard every day. To him, life is just like an ordinary street, walking through it without any regard for it. As for how many times I can walk, I don't even care.
But three days later, Master Jiu still knocked on the door of Ye Ling's room gently: "It's sunny, but I won't go out to bask in the sun. No matter how good your body is, it will be broken!"
Not long after he finished speaking, Ye Ling walked out as expected.
Master Jiu smiled and said, "Go out for a walk. Maybe you will settle here in the future. You have to get familiar with it, right?"
Ye Ling thought it was reasonable, not to mention that he should also go see Xu Guo and his wife and Xiao Xunuo. So, he bid farewell to Master Jiu and went to Xu Country.
Xu Guo went out to do errands, and Yun Shu's sister-in-law also went shopping for groceries and was not at home. Qu Zhiruo then took responsibility and took care of Xiao Xunuo.
I don’t know if it’s because of women’s nature, or because they are kind-hearted. Qu Zhiruo took care of Xiao Xunuo, was kind of heart-warming and loved her, and tried his best to fulfill his responsibilities. The worry about my father and sister has also dissipated a lot.
Seeing Ye Ling coming, Qu Zhiruo curled his lips and said, "I haven't seen you for three days. What big thing are you busy with?"
Ye Ling shrugged helplessly: "Look at me, what else do I have to do now? I have to rely on others to help me survive, not to mention other things."
Qu Zhiruo was displeased, and her daughter Nanzhi looked down upon those who were content with the status quo and willing to degenerate.
While talking, Ye Ling went over to look at Xiao Xunuo, but saw that his face was red and his expression was not right.
Ye Ling's face was startled: "No, Xu Nuo is sick!"
"What?" Qu Zhiruo seemed to be even more anxious than Ye Ling: "Why are you sick? Could it be that you caught the cold?"
It happened that at this time, Yun Shu came back from buying vegetables. When she saw Ye Ling, she smiled and said, "Brother Ye is here just in time. We will eat at home tonight."
"Sister-in-law, Xu Nuo is sick."
"What?"
Yun Shu dropped the vegetable basket on the ground and hurriedly ran into the house. She picked up little Xunuo and looked at her: "I'm really sick. What can I do?"
Qu Zhiruo said: "Why don't you take her to the hospital quickly and see a doctor?"
"This..." Yun Shu sighed softly and said, "There is only one medical clinic in our town, but the doctor sitting in the hall is a lunatic."
"madman?"
"He's a madman. People call him a madman. He looks slovenly, talks erratically, and behaves very strangely. Who dares to seek medical treatment from him!"
Yun Shu was in a dilemma, but Ye Ling said: "Whether you are crazy or not, you have to be a dead horse now!"
So, with Ye Ling holding the promise and Yun Shu leading the way, the three of them went out to the hospital.
When the big insect next door saw it, he curled his lips and said sarcastically: "You cry every day and disturb me when I sleep. This is called retribution. You deserve it!"
…
The medical center is on the other side of the town. After passing through several alleys, we come to a spacious street. Not far away is the medical center. Four words on the big sign: "See death without saving"!
Qu Zhiruo couldn't help but was stunned: "What kind of nonsense is this? This is considered a medical practitioner, and this is also a medical clinic? With the door closed in broad daylight, is there anyone there or not?"
As he spoke, Qu Zhiruo stepped forward and pushed the door open, but he yelled and hurriedly backed away.
Ye Ling looked intently and saw a sloppy old man sitting cross-legged in mid-air in front of the door. He was hanging in the doorway with his eyes closed tightly and his gray hair hanging on the ground. No wonder Qu Zhiruo was frightened.
Before Ye Ling could say anything, the old man spoke first: "Whoever disturbs the old Taoist Qingxiu, get out of here!"
Qu Zhiruo got angry when he heard this and said: "You old guy, do you still have any kindness as a doctor? We are here to ask you to cure diseases and save people. You don't even look at it and just let the patients go. What a shame in the world." How can this be true? I don’t care, if you don’t treat your illness, I...I will burn your shabby shop down!"
The old man didn't know whether he was scared or something, but he actually opened one eye and glanced at the little girl first: "Bad luck is here, disaster is not far away."
He glanced at Yun Shu again: "No illness, no disaster, no good death."
Finally, he looked at Ye Ling, but his face changed slightly, and he closed his eyes hastily, as if he was a little scared: "It's hopeless, it's hopeless, leave now!"
