Night falls, the stars rise, and a bright moon hangs in the sky!
At this moment, Liu Ruyan rode a white horse and finally walked out of the "black valley" in the devil's domain. He went through many hardships and climbed over the rolling mountains and came to a wide road.
At this moment, the stone hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground. He was still frightened when he thought about the frightening experience when he passed the cliffs and the thrilling fight when he encountered bandits in front of the Earth Temple in the valley.
He finally overcame the difficulties and obstacles in the valley. He sat on his horse, reined in the reins, and couldn't help but look back at the "black valley" shrouded in night behind him, and let out a long sigh.
He stood at the foot of the mountain for a long time, and then started galloping on horseback. On both sides of the road is a green field full of crops. The white horse galloped on the road, the horse's hooves clattered, the dust flew up, and the surrounding fields flashed by in the extremely fast gallop.
The dangerous moment has passed. What he needs to do now is to rush to Cuihua Mountain, meet Huamei and Uncle Xu's family, and then have a hot meal, take a nice hot bath, and lie down comfortably. Take a nap in the warm and elegant guest room's big bed in Hongqinju, and maybe have a beautiful dream!
At this moment, the night has completely shrouded it, and it is almost impossible to see the road ahead clearly. Under the pale moonlight, we traveled more than ten miles and arrived at a village. The village is not big, with about ten households, and lights are on in every household.
Seeing the village, he suddenly felt an inexplicable warmth in his heart. Perhaps, for travelers who have traveled long distances, seeing the flickering lights of other people's homes seems to bring peace to their hearts, full of beauty and hope!
He tightened the reins, jumped off the horse, and led the horse straight towards the village.
It was already nighttime, and the doors of every house were closed. The fight with the thieves in the dark valley just now had consumed a lot of his energy. Coupled with the fatigue from the long journey, he was already hungry. At this moment, he just wants to eat a steaming bowl of egg noodles, or a fragrant plate of beef fried with green onions, and drink a few glasses of strong wine, and then he will be satisfied.
At this time, there was no one in the village, and he could only smell the aroma of vegetables wafting from the kitchen, which made him feel even more hungry. He originally wanted to find an inn in the village, fill his stomach first, then stay overnight, and then continue on his way until dawn tomorrow morning.
However, he walked around the village for several times without seeing an inn. He thought to himself: Is there not even an inn in this village? It was already dark, and he couldn't help but feel worried in his heart.
He thought for a moment, and it seemed that he could only ask the villagers here. When he came to a house, he was about to knock on the door, but then paused, thinking: It is already night, so rudely knocking on someone's door. Will the door scare the villagers? But if you don't go forward and ask, you can't find an inn to stay, alas! What should we do? After thinking about it for a while, he decided to ask the villagers to see if they could find a place to stay!
He then reached out and knocked lightly on the door three times. "Dong dong dong!" The lights were on in the room, but no one responded. After staying for a moment, he stretched out his hand and knocked three more times. "Dong dong dong!" This time the knock was harder. At this time, it was faintly audible. Someone was whispering in the room. After a while, the door clicked open. An old man stuck out half of his face and looked out cautiously. He saw a young man holding a horse standing outside the door, with a long sword on his back and a suit of clothes. Immediately, the old man was frightened and dared not speak. Just as Liu Ruyan was about to speak, the old man quickly closed the door.
When the old man saw the young man in front of him, dressed as a gangster, he thought it was a robber or bandit who had come to his door. The sight of him frightened him so much that he hurriedly locked the door. He took a few steps back in panic, and found tables, chairs and benches to hold against the door.
When Liu Ruyan saw this, he sighed secretly, knowing that such a presumptuous move of his would definitely frighten the old man. He was startled for a moment, and then he said: "Old man, don't be afraid. This junior is passing by here today, and it's already getting late. , I want to find a place to stay here, so I have just taken the liberty to disturb you, please forgive me!" After that, he stood outside the door and said no more.
After a while, an old man's slightly frightened voice came from the door and asked: "Who are you? Why are you knocking on the door so late?"
Liu Ruyan pondered for a while and said respectfully: "This old man, the junior's name is Liu Ruyan, came all the way from Zhongnan Mountain in the Qin Dynasty, passed by here, and wanted to ask the old man, is there an inn where I can stay here? "He reported his name humbly and repeated what he just said.
Then he said from the door: "Young man, are you telling the truth? Don't lie to me, an old man." The old man looked extremely vigilant.
Liu Ruyan calmed down and comforted the old man and said, "Old man, please don't worry! Everything I said is true. I don't dare to lie to you. Old man, could you please open the door?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened with a click. But they saw the old man standing in the door just now, and beside him stood a girl in purple. The old man and the young man all had uneasy expressions on their faces, looking at Liu Ruyan. When the old man saw the injury on Liu Ruyan's arm, he frowned and Nuonuo said: "Ah, young man, are you injured? Please come in!" Then, he turned sideways to welcome Liu Ruyan in.
Liu Ruyan smiled slightly, clasped his fists at the old man and the girl and saluted, and said, "Thank you, old man! I accidentally fell when I was passing through the valley just now. It's just a minor injury, nothing serious." He followed the two of them inside. Come to the living room. The living room is not very spacious, and the furnishings are very simple. There is a table and four benches in the middle of the living room. There is an old wooden cabinet in the corner. There is a golden statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva on the counter, and there is a small statue next to it. Burning incense burner, there is remaining incense in the burner, and there is only a few clear smoke. This is a house made of strips of stone. It looks a bit dilapidated. It must have been built many years ago.
Liu Ruyan raised her hands to the old man and asked, "May I know your surname?"
The old man said softly to Liu Ruyan: "Young man, please sit down! My surname is Yang. All the villagers in this village are surnamed Yang. This is called Yangjia Village." Then he introduced the girl next to Liu Ruyan. : "This is my granddaughter, her name is Chunlan." The girl looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, elegant and charming. There was just a hint of sadness between his eyebrows. A girl of 17 or 18 years old, who should be in a high-spirited age, seems to be depressed and sad for some reason?
Chunlan lowered her head, looking a little reserved. She looked up at Liu Ruyan from time to time, and then looked away embarrassedly. The girl's shy attitude was clearly revealed in the dim candlelight.
The old man was already in the state of a dragon. He looked to be about seventy or eighty years old. His hair was dry and gray, and his face was wrinkled and furrowed, but his eyes were extremely bright and piercing. The old man asked Chunlan to pour tea for the guests. Chunlan responded, turned around and walked to the kitchen. When she was young, Xianxian came to Liu Ruyan with a cup of hot tea in her hand, looking too shy to look at the young man in front of her. He just whispered: "Master, please drink tea!" He placed the tea cup in front of Liu Ruyan, turned around and walked away.
Liu Ruyan smiled slightly, took the teacup, and said, "Thank you, Miss Chunlan!"
The old man frowned and asked, "I wonder where Mr. Liu is going?" He stroked his gray beard with his hand and stared at Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan said: "Back to senior, this junior was ordered by the master to go to Cuihua Mountain Mingyue Peak to pick up my little sister and take her home." He held the tea cup and took a sip.
The old man pondered and said: "It's a long way from Zhongnan Mountain in Qinland to Cuihua Mountain, at least a hundred miles. It's not easy. I heard that there are often bandits in the dark valley. Mr. Liu needs to go more." Be careful!"
Liu Ruyan nodded and lowered her eyebrows, thanking the old man for his concern.
At this moment, the old man's inner wariness has been completely eliminated, and he is smiling. At first glance, he is a loyal and honest person. He frowned again and said, "Mr. Liu, what did you ask me just now?"
The old man is old and his ears are no longer very bright. Just now, she didn't hear clearly what Liu Ruyan said outside the door.
Liu Ruyan smiled and said: "This junior passed by here today and saw that it was getting late, so he wanted to find an inn to stay overnight and start his journey again early tomorrow morning."
The old man stroked his beard, nodded and said, "Oh, I see, this is Yangjia Village, far away from the market, but there are only farmhouses here and no inns!"
At this time, Miss Chunlan who was standing aside stood up and nodded at Liu Ruyan, then turned around and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Seeing that his granddaughter was a little shy, the old man couldn't help laughing and said to Liu Ruyan: "Mr. Liu, my granddaughter has never seen much of the world. She will be so shy when she sees a stranger coming. Don't do it, sir." Sorry!"
After saying that, with a strange look in his eyes, he looked at Chunlan in the kitchen, and then at Liu Ruyan beside him, and then he greeted Liu Ruyan for tea. Liu Ruyan smiled and said politely: "What the hell! It's the junior who has taken the liberty to disturb me. I feel very uneasy. Please don't be offended."
Liu Ruyan had been climbing the mountain trail for a whole day. Now she smelled the aroma of vegetables wafting in the air, and felt even more hungry and thirsty. Without being polite at the moment, he started drinking tea in big gulps.
The old man stood up and walked slowly to the inner bedroom, took out a dry tobacco bag, rolled up a handful of tobacco leaves, lit it, and started to smoke "bada bada" in his mouth. In an instant, wisps of green smoke rose in the living room, and the faint smell of tobacco filled the air.
The old man suddenly remembered something, squinted his eyes, and said with a smile: "I see that Mr. Liu is an honest young man, and he has no ill intentions. It is still late at this moment. If Mr. Liu doesn't dislike the humble house and its simplicity, why not just stay there for one night?" ," he muttered, "There happens to be an unused guest room in the back room, but it has been unoccupied for a long time and is a little messy. I will ask Chunlan to clean it up in a while, and then we can move in." He took a deep breath of dry smoke and said slowly.
Liu Ruyan thought to herself: "There is no inn in this village. Since the old man is willing to take him in, we can only stay for one night." Then he bowed to the old man and said gratefully: "Thank you for the old man's willingness to take you in. I can't thank you enough." ! Then thank you very much, old man.”
The old man waved his hand and said with a smile: "Who wouldn't encounter some difficulties when going out? It's just a trivial matter, Mr. Liu doesn't need to be polite!"
While the two were laughing and talking, Miss Chunlan had prepared dinner. Holding the food in his hand, he came to the table with a shy face and said softly: "Grandpa, Mr. Liu, the food is ready, let's eat!" Then he warmed a pot of old wine, put the bowls and chopsticks on the table, and the three of them Start eating.
The three of them were eating and chatting. Liu Ruyan thought for a moment and said, "Old man, are there any other relatives here?" He asked with concern.
The old man's eyes suddenly dimmed, and after a while, he sighed and said slowly: "To be honest with Mr. Liu, Chunlan's father suffered from a serious illness a year ago, and he has been looking for several doctors but nothing can be done. He has been gone for more than a year. "He couldn't help feeling sad. After saying that, his eyes gradually became moist, as if tears were about to fall.
After a while, he continued: "When Chunlan was five years old, her mother went to the mountain to collect medicine and never came back. Her father and I searched the entire mountain, but could not find any trace of her. Her whereabouts are unknown. I don’t know whether I am dead or alive! Now, only our grandfather and grandson are left to depend on each other!" The misfortune of losing relatives one after another made the old man in front of him unable to help but burst into tears. It's very heart-wrenching to watch.
After listening to the old man's story, Liu Ruyan couldn't help but think of his parents and sister who were still missing for more than 20 years. They also lost their closest relatives. Such experiences were so similar that he had a different understanding of the old man in front of him. A trace of compassion made his eyes turn red.
Then he comforted the old man and said, "Oh, life is unpredictable. Don't be too sad, old man. Speaking of which, you and I are all in the same boat!" Then, he couldn't help feeling sad and told the old man about his unbearable tragedy. More than 20 years have passed since childhood. Things have changed, the world has changed, and there is a huge sea of people. But where will they be? I'm afraid it will be difficult to find them again.
Miss Chunlan was already choked with sobs, crying so hard that her pear blossoms were covered with rain, which was even more pitiful!
The old man gradually calmed down, and then said quietly: "That's all, why are you bringing up those old things that make you sad? Don't mention it! Don't mention it!"
He raised the wine in his glass and said cheerfully to Liu Ruyan: "Master Liu, today you and I are destined to meet each other, how about we become a lifelong acquaintance?"
When Liu Ruyan heard what the old man said, her blood immediately boiled in her chest and her eyes became hot. She immediately knelt down in front of the old man and solemnly shouted: "Grandpa, please accept my grandson's obeisance!" He kowtowed to the old man three times in a row. Then he raised his glass and toasted to the old man. The old man was immediately startled and quickly helped him up. He smiled cheerfully, his wrinkled face showing kindness.
Then she took Chunlan's hand and said, "From now on, Chunlan will be your sister." She turned to Chunlan and said, "Lanzi, why don't you call me brother?"
Miss Chunlan turned her sadness into joy, and called out softly, a little embarrassed: "Brother Liu!" Another hint of shyness appeared on her tear-filled face.
The three of them said some heartfelt words. The food on the table was already cold. Chunlan stood up and wanted to warm the food. Liu Ruyan said, "Little sister, I've already eaten, so there's no need to bother anymore!"
Chunlan picked up the wine jug and filled a cup for her grandfather and brother, then sat aside and said nothing.
After the grandfather and grandson drank the last glass of wine, they chatted in the living room. Chunlan was busy clearing away the dishes. After washing, she took out the sheets and quilts from the inner closet and made Liu Ruyan's bed.
At this time, the night was deep, the starlight outside the window had gradually dimmed, and the crescent moon was floating in the clouds, appearing and disappearing. The night at midnight was eerily quiet, with only the chirping of insects in the grass and the occasional barking of dogs in the distance.
After washing up, the three of them returned to their rooms and fell asleep.
