Ever since the senior sister's expression suddenly changed, no matter what Zhao Rang asked, she no longer had any answers. Although his attitude was very indifferent before, he at least responded to Zhao Rang's words. Now, Zhao Rang couldn't figure out why. He could only follow behind him silently, walking on a road with no end in sight. There are countless steps on the stone stairs.
As I walked, a biting cold wind blew in my face, mixed with particles of ice and snow. Only then did Zhao Rang realize that there was an extremely obvious white air in his breath. It seemed that he had reached the heights of Baihe Mountain. Unfortunately, the thick fog surrounding the stone steps has not been blown away by the cold wind, and the boundary between heaven and earth has become even more chaotic, making it impossible for Zhao Rang to judge his current position.
He just opened his mouth and wanted to ask the senior sister in front of him, but he remembered her previous attitude and had to close his mouth again.
Fortunately, such coldness was not worth mentioning to Zhao Rang. What made him uncomfortable was the boredom caused by this endless stone staircase.
I thought that traveling alone would be boring, but when I meet someone who doesn't talk to me, it's worse than being alone. At least I can walk and sit whenever I want.
After climbing again for a stick of incense, the senior sister suddenly stood firm, turned around, and looked at Zhao Rang with a complicated expression.
After not communicating for a long time, Zhao Rang didn't know how to speak. Even the gag words were choked in my throat and I couldn't say them out.
"arrive?"
The word "run" was forced out of her mouth, and the senior sister nodded solemnly.
"What is this place?"
Once the conversation started, Zhao Rang became agile.
It's a pity that the senior sister still didn't speak and only nodded.
Her eyes suddenly became unpredictable, and her originally clear pupils suddenly lost focus. If she hadn't been standing upright in front of him, Zhao Rang would have been afraid that she would fall down the stone steps accidentally.
If someone fell from such a high mountain, no matter how strong his martial arts skills were, he would probably be dead.
Zhao Rang waved his hand in front of her and said:
"Hey! What happens when we get here? It's very windy here!"
The senior sister grabbed his wrist, her expression returned to its previous appearance, and she said:
"You can only go up there by yourself, and the wind is even stronger up there!"
Zhao Rang frowned.
Going further up is nothing more than a certain peak of Baihe Mountain. Do you need to be so mysterious? He could understand that there must be some strange rules in the so-called faith, but it would be too rude to lead people to a set of stone steps without saying anything.
"Okay, okay, I'll have no problem going up by myself. I'm thick-skinned and can withstand strong winds. But you have to tell me who wants to see me, where and what I'm doing, right? It's too unreasonable to say nothing!" "
In the current situation, Zhao Rang was in charge. The senior sister thought for a while, sighed, then saluted him, and then replied:
"The person who wants to see you is my uncle, who is currently the highest-ranking person in the mountain sect. The place he wants to see you is in the Nine Heavens. As for your last question, I didn't answer it."
Zhao Rang remembered that when she first entered the mountain, she once said that there were nine heavens in Baihe Mountain, but the ninth heaven only had a hall dedicated to the golden body of Lu Zu. Even Bai Hezi, the master of Baihe Mountain, can only live in the eighth heaven. It can be imagined that this great uncle is not only senior, but also has a transcendent status within the mountain gate.
In such a training sect, status is often linked to strength. Otherwise, it will be in vain if you have seniority and are not hard under your hands.
As for the question that the senior sister couldn't answer, Zhao Rang knew from the moment he opened his mouth that there was probably no answer, so he didn't bother with it. I followed the way she saluted just now, saluted back to her, and then continued walking up.
Not long after, the stone steps reached the end.
A courtyard that is not spacious but is extremely well built comes into view.
This is completely different from what senior sister said just now.
There was no wind at all in the courtyard.
However, Zhao Rang didn't think that the senior sister was deliberately lying to him. The most reasonable explanation is that she never came up at all.
If there is a courtyard, there should be a gate.
Zhao Rang didn't enter the courtyard for a long time because he couldn't find the door to the courtyard.
There was a smooth gap in the enclosed courtyard wall, but Zhao Rang did not dare to enter rashly.
Even though he was laughing and talking freely when he was at the foot of the mountain, he could not tell that he had any respect for Baihe Mountain. But after climbing the stone steps for so long, Zhao Rang's mood had changed unconsciously.
People will always cherish things obtained through hardship more. If it is too easy, it will be too casual. ?
After circling half a circle around the courtyard wall, Zhao Rang still walked in through the gap.
I thought that even if I went wrong, I couldn't blame him for anything. He has never been to this place before, so it makes sense that he went wrong. What's more, doesn't Jiuchongtian enshrine the golden body of Lu Zu? They have become gods, so they must be much more open-minded than ordinary people. The uncle who lives here must also be infected with a lot of immortal energy, and he will never care about such trivial matters with him.
In the center of the courtyard is a large hall, which is neatly built and covered with a golden roof. There is also a faint golden light inside. It should be the main hall where the golden body of Lu Zu is enshrined.
The door of the main hall was open, as if it had been waiting for a long time.
This time Zhao Rang didn't hesitate and walked in with great strides.
Just when his feet stepped on the blue bricks of the hall, snow suddenly began to fall outside the hall.
Zhao Rang looked back at the heavy snow falling from the sky, and slowly closed the door, shutting out all the wind and snow that had not changed for thousands of years in the Nine Heavens of Baihe Mountain.
The hall was very warm, because there was a stove in front of Lu Zu's golden body.
An old man with white beard and hair, wearing a fur cloak and holding a copper poker in his hand, was stirring the charcoal fire to make it burn more vigorously.
Zhao Rang looked at the old man quietly, with no intention of getting closer.
The old man also quietly fiddled with the charcoal fire, without even looking at Zhao Rang.
Finally, a cluster of purple flames rose from the bottom of the charcoal fire. The old man relaxed his body and leaned back, using the hand holding the copper tongs to move towards Zhao Rang.
Zhao Rang approached with interest, looked down at the purple flame burning evenly in the stove, and said:
"It's not cold here, why are you lighting a fire?"
The old man asked in a pretentious manner:
"Besides lighting a fire to keep warm, can't it do anything else?"
Zhao Rang nodded and said:
"Well, it's the kid's decision. Then I wonder what the senior's skill is in lighting a fire?"
These words seemed to make the old man unhappy.
He raised his head, stared directly at Zhao Rang, and said word by word:
"I still like the way you look at the bottom of the mountain. So you don't need to be self-effacing and call me "senpai". As you can see, I am just an old man living alone in this hall who makes a fire for fun."
Zhao Rang was stunned.
For a moment, he felt that Baiheshan's great uncle should be someone else.
His face was flushed, which was a sign of lack of Qi and blood. Looking at him sitting in the warm hall but still wearing a fur cloak and lighting a pot of charcoal fire, it seems even more unlikeable.
"Are you the only one in the store?"
"I am the great uncle that the little girl said."
The old man directly answered the question that Zhao Rang wanted to know most, without any tactful detours.
Zhao Rang suddenly felt a little cold.
He sat cross-legged next to the stove, stretched out his hands, and felt the warmth of the coals without saying a word. He thought to himself that it would be a pity not to roast something on such a good fire... preferably beef, of course the beef has been roasted. After that, if he didn't have a few ounces of good wine, he would rather have no beef at all.
"Well, it's true that there's no beef, but I have a whole rabbit. There's also wine, so you don't have to worry about the meat being tasteless."
Zhao Rang swallowed and unconsciously moved closer to the stove. He felt his body getting colder.
"You can tell what I'm thinking even if I don't speak, so I don't need to speak."
Zhao Rang said.
After hearing this, the old man shook his head and said:
"I still have to say it. Although I can know what you are thinking, I don't know what tone you would have if these thoughts came out of your mouth."
"Can you read minds?"
Zhao Rang asked.
This is a method commonly used by charlatans. Those fortune tellers spread out a hexagram, and as soon as the guests sit down, they can talk about their thoughts without saying anything, as if they really have magical powers.
The old man didn't comment on this. He just raised his eyes and looked at the towering golden statue of Lu Zu. He pulled out a tray from behind and opened the cover, revealing a freshly skinned rabbit inside.
The rabbit meat is pink and tender. When you put it on the stove, it makes a "sizzling" sound, which is very pleasant to your ears.
Watching the rabbit meat change color little by little and become golden, the old man turned it over and said:
"I have nothing important to do with you. I just want to talk to you about your own changes."
"Variety?"
Zhao Rang was puzzled.
But when it comes to changes, he really has a lot to say.
"What changes are you referring to?"
The old man shrugged and replied:
"Anything is fine, as long as you think it's a change."
"I've gone from being a young man from an aristocratic family to being a wanted criminal that everyone wants to beat. Is this a change?"
The old man said:
"Forget it! But this change is external, and it's not the same as what I want to talk about."
"I feel that I have reached a bottleneck in my sword practice. There is always one foot that I can't cross over, and I have completely reached the fourth level. Is this what you want to talk about?"
The bottleneck seems to be motionless, but compared with Zhao Rang's rapid progress in the past, motionlessness is also a change. And it is not external, it originates from himself.
"You have to ask your master for this. You are not a disciple of Baihe Mountain. You have not practiced the martial arts of Baihe Mountain, so I can't tell you."
"You can't say anything about the external changes, but you can't say anything about the internal changes. I really don't know what you want to talk about."
As Zhao Rang spoke, his eyes were already fixed on a rabbit leg, which was about to be roasted.
"Don't worry, I didn't say what you said is wrong, it's just that you haven't found the source of all these changes. Just like when you came here just now, you need to walk up many steps. I ask you about changes. You can't just think about the steps. Which level you go to, you have to think about what’s after the steps.”
