The spring is cold and the mountains are steep.
The thinly dressed young man was carrying a bamboo basket on his back and stepping on a pair of straw sandals as he shuttled through the mountains, forests and swamps. The young man who was extremely familiar with this land was like an ape, with a strong and flexible body.
Xia Chengyi climbed to the top of a small hill with ease. Looking up, a towering mountain came into view. It seemed to be surrounded by clouds and mist. If the mountain at Xia Chengyi's feet was compared to it, it would be even half way up the opposite mountain. Not even close.
Xia Chengyi heard the old people talk about this mountain. It is the largest mountain around the town, called Zhenlu Mountain. There are different opinions about the origin of this mountain. Some say it was transformed from a spiritual bead thrown into the world by the gods in the sky. It is also said that it was formed after a hundred years of the real dragon's head chopped off by the sword fairy.
The young man found a tree pillar and sat down, took out the dry food prepared in the bamboo basket, and started to eat it. Looking at Zhenluo Mountain in the distance, he thought about when he would be able to own such a big mountain, and then he would be considered a rich man. Thinking of this young man grinned, and he was so happy that he could not close his mouth from ear to ear.
After resting for a while, the young man got up and continued on his way. He took out his hatchet and hung it on his waist, because there were many mountain wild animals in the mountains, and ordinary hares and roe deer were fine. The beast hit him so hard that even a strong adult man couldn't bear being hit like that, let alone Xia Chengyi's lean body.
Fortunately, Xia Chengyi didn't encounter any big wild beasts along the way. He also picked a lot of bamboo shoots during the process, and he walked unsteadily like a drunk man.
Xia Chengyi bumped the bamboo basket behind him, holding a long-eared hare in his hand. He grinned and said, "It's good luck. I didn't expect an unexpected harvest."
The long-eared hare's eyes were extremely smart, and he seemed to be able to understand what Xia Chengyi said. He bit Xia Chengyi's hand with two fangs that were larger than an ordinary rabbit. The rough-skinned young man was at this moment He also exclaimed and let go of his hand, and the hare took advantage of the moment to break free from Xia Chengyi's hand. When Xia Chengyi came back to his senses, he discovered that there was a faint purple barrier surrounding the rabbit's body. It was also because of the young man's excellent eyesight that he could observe this mysterious scene.
The rabbit jumped onto a moss-covered stone step, scratched it left and right, and then took out a pebble as big as a bowl. It was the same as the pebbles on the creek bed in the southwest of the town, but the quality was different. It is extremely bright in comparison, with clear veins and golden lines snaking through it, showing every detail. The rabbit held the pebbles and stared closely at Xia Chengyi, fearing that Xia Chengyi would snatch the pebbles away.
Xia Chengyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "I won't steal your things, I just happened to pass by."
The rabbit stared at it for a while. Xia Chengyi saw that he had no intention of taking it, so he jumped into the depths of the mountain forest holding the pebbles.
Xia Chengyi turned around and left in the opposite direction. He wanted to get out of the mountain before sunset so that he would not get lost in the mountain. Although the young man was very familiar with these winding mountain roads, he was not afraid of anything but ten thousand. , besides, there is a little sister waiting for him at home.
Xia Chengyi tightened the straw rope, closed the bamboo basket, and accelerated his hiking pace.
Xia Chengyi slowed down when he reached a deserted and remote place. There were overgrown weeds nearby, surrounded by clay statues that were swaying and missing arms and legs. This place used to be a large ancestral temple, but somehow... Suddenly the incense was cut off, and all the clay statues enshrined in the temple tilted and collapsed overnight, and pieces of bricks were scattered everywhere.
In the past, many people who went hunting in the mountains would stop here to burn incense in order to be safe and return with a full load. Occasionally, they would help clean the temple. It's good now. After the incense stopped, no one came to clean it. Even if they went into the mountains to hunt, they wouldn't take a look here. It didn't take long for the temple to become a desolate scene without anyone taking care of it.
Xia Chengyi walked through countless collapsed statues with broken limbs and came around to a huge gold powder statue. Different from other clay statues, this statue had a majestic face and was not angry. At the same time, the statue was well preserved. Although the paint powder fell off, It's better than those statues with broken limbs. One can imagine what a majestic sight it would be if this statue were sitting intact in an ancestral temple.
Xia Chengyi took out an offering money and placed it in front of the statue, clasped his hands together, bowed his head, and thought to himself.
————
In a shop on Taolu Street in the small town, an old man called Mr. Ma by the school teacher was sitting on a small bench in front of the door, stroking the "Spring Festival Ingot" in his left hand and smoking a cigarette in his right hand. He smoked a cigarette and frowned slightly.
The long-eared hare that Xia Chengyi had caught in the back mountain suddenly appeared in front of the shop, holding in his arms the pebbles he had found on the stone steps. The rabbit jumped up to the old man and rubbed it affectionately. He rubbed the old man's thigh.
Old Man Ma glanced sideways at the rabbit, kicked it away, and said calmly: "Go away, do you think your monster's life span is too short or do you think you are not afraid of the way of heaven and can withstand the disaster?"
The rabbit was not bothered by being kicked to the side. He jumped up and put aside the pebble he was looking for.
Only then did Old Man Ma realize that he was holding a bowl-sized pebble in his arms. He pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh, you found such a high-quality magpie stone? Why, do you want to offer it to me, the old man?"
When the rabbit heard what Old Man Ma said, he immediately trembled and looked a little nervous. He neither dared to disobey Old Man Ma, nor did he want to give up the magpie stone he had earned through hard work.
Old Man Ma sneered: "You really think I would care about such a piece of junk?"
The rabbit was speechless, silently approaching the magpie stone and slowly absorbing the spiritual energy from it. The first task for it at the moment was to transform. For the spirits, whether they transform or not is related to the path of their practice. If they can successfully transform , then the path of spiritual practice in the future will be much smoother. This is the mystery of the human body’s acupoints.
Old Man Ma continued to smoke dry cigarettes. The old man smoked dry cigarettes so fiercely that his whole body was covered in smoke, like a golden god sitting in the clouds overlooking the world.
After a while, Old Man Ma asked slowly: "Have you seen that boy?"
The rabbit who was absorbing the spiritual energy was stunned for a moment, then remembered the scene he encountered in the mountains before, and nodded in response to Old Man Ma's question.
Old Man Ma continued to ask: "How?"
After asking this question, Old Man Ma continued to fall into deep thought, like an old monk in meditation, and did not speak in a hurry.
After a moment, a timid female voice came, "Great Immortal, I feel that the young man is no different from ordinary people, or even worse. The young man's energy is dead and silent, and he doesn't look like a person who can practice at all. On the contrary, he is a spiritual person." The spirit of energy is extremely strong, perhaps due to the years of hunting in the mountains."
Old Man Ma continued to smoke his dry cigarette and said calmly: "Have you finished talking? Why don't you get out of here after talking? Do you want me to invite you out personally?"
The rabbit spirit had long been accustomed to Old Man Ma's unpredictable temper, but before leaving, he still timidly asked, "What about the magpie stone of the Great Immortal..."
Old Man Ma twitched his lips: "Take it and get out of here."
The rabbit spirit was overjoyed, used his magical power to collect the magpie stone, and left in a hurry.
After taking the last puff of dry tobacco, Old Man Ma touched his pocket and found that the dry tobacco was already empty. So he knocked the tobacco stem lightly on the ground, put away the tobacco stem, hunched his back, looked up at the sky, and said with his tongue: "This world Things are going to change eventually.”
————
There is a small courtyard behind the school, which is surrounded by green bamboos and green vines.
The Confucian scholar in blue robes sat facing north and south, while the swordsman in white robes sat down opposite Lu Ran. He took out his wine gourd and took a sip of wine. He poured beans out of the bamboo tube and told his bitter story about how difficult it was for him to go down the mountain. Before leaving, He was tricked by the old swordsman before. He also said that during his long journey, he traveled through mountains and rivers, and slept in the open air. He was very haggard. He even changed his robes several times, and had many pairs of shoes worn to pieces. It was a miserable situation. Those who hear it are sad and those who hear it cry.
Lu Ran always had a smile on his face.
The white-robed swordsman felt like his saliva was drying up before he stopped. He raised the wine gourd and planned to take another sip of wine. Only then did he realize that the gourd had reached the bottom, so he took it back angrily.
This wine is called Immortal Drunk. It has a mellow taste and a good taste. It is a fine wine for people like the man in white robe who like to drink. The man originally wanted to ask for a pot of wine before going down the mountain for a long trip, so if he gets greedy on the way, It can cure your alcohol addiction and miss the taste of hometown, right?
Unexpectedly, the wine shop owner, Madman Xie, knew about it and told him with a smile on his face, "Get out of here!" You haven’t paid back the money you owed for the wine, and now you’re planning on opening my own wine shop? Li Qi, your face is much thicker than the city wall outside.
The man named Li Qi was not annoyed. He smiled and said to Madman Xie, "What kind of friendship do we two have? Doesn't talking about money hurt our feelings?" You see, I will have to go through thousands of mountains and rivers on this long trip down the mountain. I can look forward to having a sip of my brother’s fine wine every day, right?
Madman Xie just sneered.
After that, for several days, Madman Xie saw Li Qi wandering in front of the shop. He refused to go in, and squatted outside the house. The seventh-ranked swordsman in the Mingjian Pass squatted on the curb in front of the shop, rubbing his teeth. , those who didn’t know thought it was some family begging for food that came to the street to ask for food.
A few days later, perhaps Madman Xie couldn't stand Li Qi's lack of stinginess, so he threw a bottle of wine from the shop. Li Qi was overjoyed, took the wine and turned around to leave.
Crazy Xie thought that bastard Li Qi would calm down a bit this time. Unexpectedly, before leaving, he came to the wine shop again. He rubbed his hands and said to Crazy Xie with a smile, "Old Xie, look, brother, I'm going to do it soon." Let’s start the journey. You, the elder brother, don’t have to prepare two more bottles of fine wine for your younger brother to try. Then traveling far away will be fun, right?
When Madman Xie heard this, he became very angry. He blew his beard, glared and roared, "Get out of here!"
Li Qi had no choice but to retract his hand angrily and walked out of the shop with his tail between his legs, but before leaving, he did not forget to take a peek at the wine vat in the hall.
In the end, Li Qi got his wish and used his sword-raising gourd to contain a gourd of Immortal Zui. However, he came out of seclusion in a rather embarrassed state. Madman Xie chased him for hundreds of miles before he gave up. If it weren't for his amazing skills With the help of Thousand Diseases Art, I am afraid that I will be captured by the madman Xie, and I will have to peel off my skin even if I don't die.
