In recent days, there have been no traces of foreign immortals in Yanguan Town, Liangzhou.
The slovenly watchman who used to bang his clappers and walk around the streets every night to remind the villagers of fire and theft prevention, one day asked the man who was still the salt official in the small town and was also the head of the family with the surname Li. , returned the watch errand, left the town early the next morning and headed eastward out of the town. After bypassing the back of the Hidden Dragon in the east of the town, his body disappeared behind the ridge and disappeared.
About two days later, Chu Yuanxiao guessed that the sinner from China that Mr. Cui had mentioned arrived in the town, because the four former salt official formation saints also left separately not long after. After entering the small town, it seems that they have also removed some of the titles hanging on them. For example, Mr. Cui is no longer one of the "Four Lives of the Confucian Sect" who is the candidate for the next Confucian Sect leader, and the old Taoist priest is no longer the Longhushan leader. The surname of Tianshi Mansion is Great Tianshi.
However, before they left, they seemed to have met at the top of the Golden Pillar Cliff in the west of the formation. They had a brief gathering, and then they dissipated and went to distant places.
The two groups of people before and after them had said goodbye to Chu Yuanxiao in advance as mentioned before, so when they were about to leave, they did not say hello to the young man again, and quietly packed their bags and left for other places, although they did not explain No matter what their respective destinations are, they will all leave Liguanzhou without exception.
When Chu Yuanxiao really confirmed that they had disappeared, looking back, he suddenly discovered that it seemed that a series of magical things that happened in the entire town in less than a month had completely changed in this small town with a population of thousands. Among the people, he was the only one who knew some of the causes and consequences.
When walking through the streets and looking around, you may even feel a little at a loss occasionally, because this state is similar to what is said in the book, "Everyone is drunk and I am alone." It always makes people feel dazed and confused. Those things are actually more like a big dream, just a slightly clear dream of someone who is awake alone.
One evening a few days later, the young man after dinner, as he had been used to for many years, crossed his legs and sat under the thick and lush old locust tree at the east entrance of the town. The long and narrow bamboo pole given to him by the elder before leaving was placed across the boy's legs.
The young man lowered his head and took a closer look at the subtle lines on the bamboo stick that seemed to be slightly different from ordinary bamboo sticks. He guessed that these were some kind of immortal marks left by the old Taoist priest for many years of practicing Taoism. Then he raised his head and looked far away. On the Jinzhu Cliff in the distance on the west side of the town, the sun was setting in the west, and it was about to set, leaving only patches of dazzling sunset, quiet and beautiful.
After tomorrow, he will leave the town for the first time and travel thousands of miles to Shijizhou, which he had never heard of a month ago.
I will leave my hometown tomorrow, and I don’t know when I will return to Qingshan.
…
Since we are traveling to a foreign country, we naturally need to make enough preparations before leaving.
During the day, the young man had already gone to the sea of clouds in the west of Zhenxi. He received more than a hundred copper plates from the new innkeeper and stored them in the jade plaque Xumi object given to him by Mr. Cui.
Although in the past few years, he has been dealing with the Five Zang Temple by going up mountains and rivers to collect wild game, he can naturally rely on this method to fill his stomach when going out, and it is easy to do.
But the current trip to a far distance is not a simple matter after all. I heard that the place he is going to is not only separated by mountains and miles, but also separated by several vast and endless seas, so it is necessary to prepare some transportation for self-defense. It's not the best, but it won't be too short-handed when used.
However, the young man did not dare to take too much money with him. In other words, more than one hundred pennies was already a huge amount of money for him. In the past many years, he had saved money at home frugally. At most, the number of copper coins did not exceed ten. It was not easy to save money.
So even if he went away this time, he did not dare to take too much with him. Even if Su Sanzai had promised that half of the Yunlin Sect's family fortune was not small, it would be enough for him to squander it for many years. Even the former Yunhaijian The old shopkeeper once said that when you need money, you can withdraw it at will without any scruples, but he still didn't dare.
It doesn’t matter whether he’s a petty person or he’s never seen the world. In short, for a young man who is used to living a wrinkled and tight life, suddenly having too many possessions will make him restless and unable to eat well. Can't sleep well either.
What's more, at that time, Su Sanzai went to those stores to extort money, and when he came back, he shared the stolen goods with the storyteller Mr. Lu in the bookstore, but he gave half of it to Chu Yuanxiao, who actually did nothing. Those things were not available in the end. All of them were stored in the sea of clouds, and a few items were left on him. Now they are lying quietly among the sumeru objects.
So when he was in Yunhaijian, he told the new innkeeper that he wanted to pay, but in the end he only took over a hundred Wen. The old innkeeper had obviously greeted him in advance and knew something. The new owner of the inn, as expected, was a little surprised. A flash of surprise flashed across his face. He didn't expect that this young man came to pay for a long trip, but he only took such a small amount.
But after all, he was a businessman who was used to doing business. Although he was stunned for a moment, he didn't put too much fuss on his face. He quickly counted out a pile of copper coins for the young man from the money box behind the counter, and even used it. There is no need to prepare the warehouse key.
The young man who left the inn carried a package on his back and walked all the way to his yard at the east entrance of the town. After having these coins, he still had one thing that he had not settled on, which was the old drunkard who had a relationship with the Zhu family when he was still alive. The yard was bought through negotiation.
There are less than 400 courtyards in the town. In the past, there were rarely any vacancies because they had to make up the 386 number. So as long as someone left, new families would soon move in, but The young man still knew that as long as a courtyard was uninhabited for a long time, it would soon fall into decay, with walls and houses falling down. This was his experience from the salt well shanties scattered around the town.
When I passed by Wufang Pavilion all the way east, I happened to bump into the little Taoist priest named Bai Sheng who had officially taken over the position of the leader of Zhennan Beiling Temple. He was wearing a green Taoist robe and a fishtail crown. With a smile, I walked through the Wufangting intersection from the south of the town, as if I was going to the north of the town.
The two met unexpectedly. Looking at Chu Yuanxiao, a young man carrying a package on his back, Bai Sheng raised his eyebrows and smiled, and said casually: "Judging from the way the donor is dressed, is he planning to leave the town?"
Chu Yuanxiao naturally had no need to hide anything and nodded without saying anything.
When the little Taoist priest saw this, he didn't look out. He took a few steps forward and approached the young man. Then he winked and smiled, "Would you like the little Taoist to divine a fortune for the benefactor and see if the trip goes smoothly?"
After saying that, he saw the young man looking at himself up and down first, and then with a look of doubt on his face. The little Taoist priest felt that his ability to learn from Guan Tianren's divination had been underestimated, so he quickly raised his head, straightened his chest, and looked through his nostrils. The man's chest thumped loudly, "Donor, please don't underestimate Xiao Dao's fortune-telling skills. He is from the lineage of my Taoist sect's great masters. He is very good at fortune-telling, fortune-telling, fortune-telling, and fortune-telling." No, after one hexagram, the benefactor will definitely be able to leave his hometown and go on his way."
Having said that, seeing that the young man was still unmoved, the little Taoist priest Bai Sheng rolled his eyes again, suddenly let out a long sigh, hit the palm of his other hand with the back of one hand, and then said to the young man with a painful look on his face: "If the benefactor still doesn't believe in the ability of fortune-telling, how about we make a deal?"
The young man who had made up his mind not to pay any more money for this little Taoist priest was a little curious after hearing this, "What kind of deal?"
"Presumably the donor hasn't found anyone to entrust you with the care of the courtyard, right?"
Bai Sheng chuckled and said: "If today's benefactor is willing to spend three cents to let Xiaodao show off his fortune-telling skills, in the future the benefactor will travel far away from home, and Xiaodao will take care of your yard and keep it in good hands for you. You can’t take it away, and you won’t let it leak when the weather changes, and you won’t take the benefactor’s maintenance money, how about that?”
This deal sounds good. The young man is worrying about who should entrust the yard to. After all, the acquaintances in the town who once had a good relationship with him have basically left this place. Now the remaining townspeople, one We can only be regarded as just a nod of acquaintance, and it is really difficult to ask for help.
Seeing that there was a way to buy and sell, and the Taoist temple could get three copper coins for incense money, Xiao Dao Baisheng hurriedly squeezed his sleeves harder, but he looked like he had made a lot of determination, gritted his teeth and said: "Donor If you are not at ease, you and I can also make a written note to guarantee that when you return to your hometown next time, your yard will still be the same as it was. If there is anything wrong, Xiaodao will compensate you for the money you spent to repair the house!"
The young man was a little suspicious, "Why is Master Tao so persistent? Is it worth it to take on such a troublesome thing for just three cents?"
Bai Sheng had a grimace on his face, "Donor, you don't know. As the saying goes, 'A penny beats a hero.' Although my old temple master has profound Taoism, his ability to make money is really poor. As a result, he is now I walked away, but left Xiaodao behind. He was so poor that he couldn't even boil the pot. He was about to be forced to follow your example and dig wild vegetables to fill his stomach. This was okay, but he couldn't be poor in the temple. Isn’t he a god?”
Chu Yuanxiao nodded, "Does that count as a hexagram?"
The young Taoist priest was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly agreed. However, he raised his hand and touched again and again in the sleeves of his Taoist robe, but he really couldn't find even a copper plate. Just like what he said, he was almost too poor to open the pot.
After a long while, he could only look at the young man with some embarrassment and said: "Can the donor lend me another three cents from Xiaodao? I will pay it back after I finish doing your fortune telling."
In this way, Chu Yuanxiao finally returned to the courtyard at the east entrance of the town with an extra piece of paper. The little Taoist priest did exactly what he proposed to do, charging him three cents to tell his fortune, and he also signed a responsible note. Look at the yard receipt.
However, the method of collecting the three cents was still the same as the one in the Taoist temple. They confiscated the money in his hand and explained that it was a preparatory payment. If you take away one cent, you will lose one cent. It would not be good if you don't have enough money when you go out. Well, he still used his old method to settle accounts among the sea of clouds.
As for the result of the fortune-telling, the little Taoist priest muttered a lot. He first said, "Thunder moves in the world, and everything is indistinguishable." He also said, "The gain for travelers is the disaster for the people of the city." Naturally, Chu Yuanxiao couldn't understand these, but He did understand the last explanation. All in all, it was a good omen that everything would go well and everything would go well!
When Chu Yuanxiao heard what the little Taoist said, he didn't take it seriously. He always felt that the guy with the Taoist name Bai Sheng was actually here for his three and three copper coins. He said that everything would be fine just to say two things. Just say something nice so that he can happily pay for it.
…
On the day he left Yanguan Town, the boy who got up early in the morning opened the door. The weather was not bad.
After leaving the courtyard, the door was locked again. The young man from the small town carrying a simple luggage stood under the old locust tree for a long time, and then walked out of the town entrance to the hill at the foot of Hidden Dragon Bei Mountain.
Spring has been here for a long time, and although the weather in Liangzhou warms up later every year, in the past few days, a lot of grass has grown around the two tombs on both sides of the hill.
When Chu Yuanxiao arrived at the grave, he first cleaned up some of the weeds that had grown over the grave, then picked up some pieces of loess to block some rat holes, and then put the incense he bought from the gold paper shop in the town yesterday. Burning paper was lit in front of the two tombs.
If nothing else goes wrong, in the next year or two, he may not have the opportunity to burn paper for these two old men in front of their graves.
Chu Yuanxiao didn't have many friends or acquaintances in Yanguan Town. Because his memory was sealed by Ya Sheng, most of the impressions of these fellow villagers on him still remained in the name of the evil god who "killed his relatives by force of fate", so No one should think about what would happen if there is a tough-minded young man with no relatives in the small town. Maybe they will feel relieved, because there is no evil star, and naturally no one will be willing to come for him. Here are some paper money for these two old men.
Chu Yuanxiao brought a lot of paper money for incense candles. The incense candles were placed in front of the simple offering table in front of the grave. The paper money was lit and burned to the two old men. While he knelt in front of the grave and burned the paper, he rambled on about many things that had happened in recent days. The two old men said it again.
In fact, there is nothing to hide. The old men are in heaven, and people will become immortals after death. I guess they know everything they need to know. I am just telling them to explain to them why I have to leave Liangzhou and travel far away.
In the past, staying in Yanguan Town for the rest of your life would actually not be a big problem. It might be a little difficult to live a lifetime without worrying about food and clothing, but if you just want to survive, it might not be that difficult.
But not anymore.
After burning the paper money, the young man kowtowed respectfully to the two old men. He stood up and swept away the dirt on his knees. He walked to the hill between the two graves and sat down, looking left and right at the graves on both sides. , then raised his head and looked at the small town three miles away to the west. After a moment of silence, he whispered: "Old men, the old Taoist priest of Beilinguan said that I might be able to live, but it might be difficult. If that stone If Senior Qingdi from Isoshima is willing to help, there is still hope. If he is not willing, I may not survive ten years..."
"So I don't know exactly where I can go when I go out... If I am lucky and have good fortune, I will definitely come back and burn paper for you two. If my fortune is not good enough, my grandfather and grandson will be able to be there. We have met, so you don’t have to worry about me, the three of us will definitely meet again.”
"You two over there, don't be the bad neighbors who don't deal with each other with a straight face anymore. Keep each other company and wait for me to come back."
The breeze came slowly, but no one answered.
The young man sat on that hillock for a long time, until the sky was bright and the sun was three o'clock in the sky, and the smoke of cooking breakfast was slowly rising from many houses in the town, then he stood up and left slowly.
At this time, it was almost the end of the hour, the sun was just right, the wind was warm and the sky was clear.
Just right for traveling.
…
