The town is too remote. Except for the rugged mountain road heading east to Qingchai, there is only wilderness to the south. Not to mention official roads repaired by the government, even hard dirt roads are rare. If nothing else, if the carriage shop knew about the current situation, they probably wouldn't rent the carriage to this fat man even if they paid ten times the price.
Yunzhong has not yet come out of leaving his hometown, so he talks a lot less on the road. He is not as lively as before, just leaning against the window and looking at the scenery outside. I am a child who lives in a mountain nest. I have never seen much of the world. What I see and hear is nothing more than the owner's parents and the Li family's shortcomings, and their daily necessities. So this long trip was quite novel for the young man. Young people have no permanent worries, and most of the knots in their hearts will be slowly worn away over time.
Wu Shuang, on the other hand, seemed to lack interest. He didn't care about the jolting of the carriage, and yawned constantly every day. When he was awake, he would either tease his cheap disciple, or cross his legs and pick his ears. There was no way he could act like a model for others. Fortunately, Yunzhong has long been accustomed to the strange things and turned a blind eye. But if you think about it carefully, his master is fat and has shaved off the oil on his face. To be fair, he really has a bit of a dash of chivalry, and if he can't get a wife, the problem is probably because of his sloppy appearance. While his mind was wandering, the young man was hit on the top of his head and grimaced in pain.
The young man glared at Wu Shuang fiercely, but the latter didn't take it seriously. He put Erlang's legs down and smiled contemptuously: "What did you look at me just now when you looked at me? Why, don't you admit it? Do you need to find a bronze mirror for you to look at?" The young man said. Reasoning for the loss, he grinned and said nothing, silently making up his mind that he would never reveal his flaws in the next arrangement.
It was already evening when the two of them left the town, and it turned completely dark not long after walking. Traveling at night is a taboo for both tourists traveling around the country and merchants and porters transporting goods. Not to mention anything else, when traveling long distances, horses are more valuable than people. Traveling day and night, even a good horse that travels thousands of miles cannot withstand such consumption. Secondly, the visibility is poor in the dark night. Once the horse stumbles and becomes unable to move, let alone rushing, it is not impossible for ordinary people to be trapped and die in the mountains with the strength of ordinary people's feet. Furthermore, path-cutting thieves are especially likely to take advantage of the darkness, so it never hurts to be more careful.
Wu Shuang's eyesight was very good at night, and he saw a huge boulder rising from the ground twenty or thirty feet in front of him, which was more than half a man tall. The surrounding area was a flat gravel beach, which was perfect for resting and protecting from the wind. So he stopped the car, patted the boy who was already starting to feel sleepy, got out of the car and made a fire to spend the night.
The young man reluctantly moved a few pieces of gravel to form a pile, spread dead branches inside, lit a fire with a twig, picked a clean place under the boulder, sat down, and never wanted to get up again.
Untying the rope from the cart, Wu Shuang tied the horse to the axle, fed him two handfuls of hay, and squatted by the fire to keep warm. The weather in April is not very warm, and the spring cold has not left completely. Especially at night, when the cool breeze blows, there is still a slight chill on the face. Wu Shuang added a few pieces of firewood and fiddled with the charcoal fire with dead branches. Sparks jumped and the flames licked the red dead wood, making a peeling sound.
Throwing the water bag to the boy, Wu Shuang squatted by the fire, chewing half-dried sesame seeds and looking at the horizon aimlessly.
The distant mountains are only vague outlines in the night. Unknown birds flutter their wings and return to their nests, and their chirps can be heard far away.
As agreed in advance, Wu Shuang will be keeping vigil today. After a tiring journey, Yun Zhong was not polite to his master. He leaned his head on the boulder, with sesame seed cakes in his mouth, and soon fell asleep unconsciously.
"You bastard." Wu Shuang's face was full of helplessness. Seeing that the boy was fast asleep, he tiptoed over, pulled the sesame cake out of the boy's mouth, and put it back in the dry food bag. Only then did he remember that he had left in such a hurry and the owner had forgotten to bring it, and it was hard to turn around to get it. Wu Shuang was a little distressed for a while.
After confirming again and again that the boy was indeed asleep, Wu Shuang stood facing the town, gently closed his eyes, and the spring breeze blew up.
The town was quiet and still, and the waiter in the teahouse was sitting in the shopkeeper's seat and taking a nap. I have no choice but to leave the shopkeeper alone and go out in style. As a waiter, he always has to help take care of things. But having said that, if the shopkeeper hadn't paid him two years' salary in advance before leaving, he would have been willing to stay there until the end of time. He sighed softly and thought, spring has arrived, and it's time for the eldest daughter in town to change from the bloated and thick cotton clothes and put on an underskirt so thin that her waist can be seen. It's a pity that I am tied up in a teahouse in a cocoon. Whether I have the blessing of eye addiction is still a question.
Anyway, he had nothing to do, he was alone in such a big teahouse, and no one stopped him from taking a nap, so the waiter rested his head on the counter and fell asleep drooling.
What he didn't see was that there was a broken sword in the corner of the backyard, covered with rust. The blade of the sword was shining, reflecting in the well, like three-quarters of the moonlight falling.
On this day, many people in the town heard the roar of the sword and seemed to be extremely happy.
It’s like meeting old friends every year.
