The fire went out, and darkness returned to the mountain.
The mountain breeze blows, and the sound of the wind is so pure.
Song You stood there, still holding the lantern.
He lifted it up, turned his head towards the lantern and blew another breath. The lantern immediately lit up again, just like before. But just after taking a step, he stopped to think about it, shook his head, blew out the lantern again, put it away, hung it on the horse's back, and walked slowly with only the starlight.
The horse knew the way and led him back the way he came.
Unknowingly, the road turned back into a mountain path. When you look back and see the same mountain scenery and lights as at the beginning, it means you have walked out.
Song You did not return to the place where he originally stopped, but found another flat place on the same spot, spread out the felt again, sat down cross-legged, covered his legs with a blanket, and looked at the lights in the distance in trance.
Those evil spirits cannot stay in his heart.
Only the strange things you see on the road and what you see in the market towns have some value worth recalling.
This is undoubtedly an amazing journey.
If you practice on Yin Yang Mountain, no matter how deep your Taoism is, how can you see such wonderful things?
The most wonderful thing was the encounter with the little ghost.
This encounter was truly pure and simple.
Song You had read many articles about wonderful encounters described by the ancients. He didn't realize how interesting they were at the time, but now that he has met them himself, he realizes that this water-like fate and intersection are really unforgettable. I am afraid that this short conversation of one or two hours will be unforgettable even decades later.
"Taoist priest……"
"Um?"
"What are you doing?"
The calico cat crawled over and approached him with a puzzled expression.
"not dead."
"what are you doing then?"
"Just in a daze."
"oh."
"Ms. Sanhua, do you know what being in a daze is?"
"Miss Sanhua is often in a daze."
"Then I guess my skills must be very deep."
"Why did you set the fire so hard?"
"Um?"
"Why are you so angry?"
The calico cat sat down in front of him, sitting upright, staring up at him, with light shining in his eyes.
"Maybe you can in the future too."
"What can I do?"
"Miss Sanhua is a very studious cat."
"What can I do?"
"Sanhua Empress needs to know that for a spell to become powerful, it is inseparable from one's own Taoism, attainments in this spell, even the right time and place, and one's own state of mind."
"Can't understand."
"The most important thing among them is one's own conduct." Song Youchao lowered his head and looked at the calico cat, his voice soft, "Sanhua Empress is good at collecting firewood to light the fire, isn't she?"
"Yes!"
"It's like gathering firewood to light a fire. The deeper your Tao practice, the more firewood you can put into the fire, and the firewood you put will burn better. If your Tao practice is shallow, there will not be enough firewood, and it will not be good firewood. If you want a big fire, you need a lot of firewood, and it must be good firewood. If you want more firewood, you must practice spiritual methods and improve your Taoism."
"Well!"
"The other thing is your attainment in this magic, like how you lay out the firewood and how you light the fire." Song Youyou said, "With the same amount of firewood, the firewood is the same. Some burn quickly, some burn slowly, and some burn slowly." Some have big fires, some have small fires, some can be burned cleanly, and some seem to be burned out, but when you look away, there is actually a lot of unburned food left inside. If you want to burn well, you must practice hard. Spells.”
"Well!"
"Needless to say, the time and place are favorable. It is definitely not easy to light a fire outside the house on a rainy day. Empress Sanhua is extremely intelligent and must know that."
"knew!"
"There is also the state of mind and belief. The state of mind is the most mysterious, the most difficult to cultivate, and sometimes the easiest. Everyone is different, so it's hard to say. On the contrary, belief is very simple." Song You said, "Although the Five Elements Magic is not like The art of escape from the earth is so greatly affected by belief, but it also has an impact. If two people are of the same Taoism and have similar attainments in this art, and they compete together at the same time and place, if one party is confident and the other is guilty, they will definitely lose. The winner is determined.”
"no yet?"
"If we only talk about 'skills', that's it. But if you want to reach the advanced level, you have to have your own experience of different 'Tao'." Song You said with a smile, "Then it's even harder to say, you have to concentrate on understanding the Tao. Sanhua Empress does not need to worry about it for the time being, just let nature take its course."
"Well……"
The calico cat pondered for a moment, then continued to stare up at him: "So what can we do?"
"Practice diligently and practice more."
"Miss Sanhua has been doing this!"
"Ms. Sanhua has perseverance and perseverance. I am ashamed of myself." Song You said with shame.
"How long will it take?"
"Hard to say."
"How long will it take?"
“Everything in the world is unpredictable and it’s too complicated to talk about.”
"Is ten years okay?"
"May be."
"Then what if I practice for so long and practice so much more every day?"
"That might be twenty years."
"Ah? Why?"
"It's complicated to say..."
"Well!"
The calico cat lay down and listened carefully.
The felt beneath him gradually became warm.
It was already midnight at this time, and there were stars in the sky overhead.
Unconsciously, I saw the lights on the mountainside in the distance suddenly extinguished. When I looked up again, there was already a hint of fish belly white in the sky. The white was yellow, the yellow was green, and the green was blue.
Song You covered himself with a blanket and took a nap.
The calico cat huddled on his waist, feeling the warmest.
…
The morning light came from the top of the mountain opposite, and the cypress tree next to him blocked him for a while, but not long after, the sun reached the branches, and the light hit his face directly.
"..."
Song You slowly opened his eyes and sat up carefully.
No matter how careful you are, you can't hide the cat's alertness unless she doesn't want to get up.
So before Song You left the bed, a cat's head came out first, turning his head in a daze, squinting, looking left and right, and then stared at Song You.
"Are you leaving?"
The calico cat asked, acknowledging that he was leaving, and got out of the bed, yawned, stretched, and sat down to wait for him.
"Roughly the same."
Song You said and stood up, facing the mountain opposite, stretching and stretching his muscles.
In mid-spring, the mountains are already green.
Although it is not early in the morning, there is still a line of white mist surrounding the mountainside in the distance. It is light and thin, and the color is light. It is not white as rich or dazzling, but it only looks more refreshing. The green hills are a hint of blue this morning, and the picture is clear and clean.
As for the foot of the mountain I visited last night...
Where is the main road? Where is the market town? Where are the lights? It's just a barren mountain, flat jungle, and a narrow path in the middle.
"..."
Song You smiled and said nothing.
Not long after, we set off again.
The tinkling of horse bells echoed above the mountains and amid the mist.
Song You punched his bamboo stick and walked around one mountain after another. Empress Sanhua also transformed into a human form, holding her small bamboo stick and imitating Song You, punching the ground every step she took.
I don’t know how far I have walked, but I only know that the sun is gradually passing over my head, and the shadows are slanting from one side to the other.
As March approaches, the sun becomes even more scorching.
Sanhua Empress suddenly trotted past Song You from behind, holding the bamboo stick high in her little hand. She deviated from the mountain road before running far, rushed up the dirt slope beside the road, and looked forward.
Then he turned around and shouted to Song You:
"There's water ahead!"
"good."
Song You thanked her and told her to come down.
After passing a bend, I heard the sound of water. A mountain spring flowed down from the mountain on the right, forming a small waterfall and a stream flowing out below. There is a flat land next to it with shallow grass. The predecessors used stones to build several small stoves here. I don’t know how many years they have been there, and I don’t know how many people have used them.
We stopped here to have lunch.
Even if it is just a temporary stop, you should take off the horse's quilt, pat it immediately, say thank you for your hard work, and then let it go to eat grass.
Song You calculated that there was still a pound of ham slices he bought last night, and the mushrooms he bought were well wrapped in banana leaves. Even the wild fruits in the mountains were not crushed. He happened to rest here and stew a pot of ham mushroom soup. It will be more delicious than the dry mushroom soup last night.
Make a decision and start cleaning up.
Having been out for a long time, picnicking in the barren mountains has become a habit. I saw that the Taoist moved briskly and without any delay, and the girl was also actively collecting firewood and lighting the fire.
Soon there was smoke again in the mountains.
At this time, the Taoist had nothing to do, so he lay down half under the shade of a nearby tree, eating wild fruits and looking at the girl: "If Empress Sanhua wants to play, just let me light the fire."
"I'll burn it!"
"Then just keep the fire low. With Sanhua Empress's ability, she will definitely not make a mistake."
"Will not!"
"Sanhua Empress also knows that it is poisonous if it is not cooked well, right?"
"Cats don't eat fungi!"
"Where's the calico cat?"
"The calico cat won't eat it either!"
"But ham and soup can't be eaten either."
"I won't steal food!"
"good……"
The Taoist narrowed his eyes, concentrating on enjoying the leisurely moment, and carefully comprehending the world at this moment.
The sunny spring is really comfortable, neither cold nor hot, and the spring breeze blows with the fragrance of green grass and wild flowers. This mountain is quiet and quiet. Apart from the sound of the wind, there is only the sound of horses grazing and the sound of bells. It is so comfortable that you can't help but feel that you are enjoying the spring scenery of this place to yourself. Although his stomach was empty, there was a kitten helping to make the fire and make the soup. He only had to wait and he would soon be able to taste the delicious mushroom soup. This half-moment of leisure was somehow more fascinating than an ordinary half-day.
Gradually the fragrance is getting richer.
The little girl was burning, suddenly raised her head, stretched her neck, and looked into the distance.
"somebody is coming!"
"..."
Song You opened his eyes slightly and followed her gaze.
It's just that the road is winding, and it's blocked behind a mountain not far away, so you can't see anything at all.
After a while, I heard the faint sound of bells, tinkling, and there seemed to be a lot of them. After a while, the sound of the bell gradually became clearer, and a group of merchants appeared at the end of the mountain road.
Four or five dark-skinned adults and two teenagers were walking towards here, leading horses and mules carrying goods.
Song You sat up a little.
There is an open space here and a mountain spring. It was originally a resting place for merchants coming and going. When this group of people saw Song Youzhi, although they were a little surprised and looked at him cautiously for several times, they also came to get water and then they sat together. , take out the dry food and share it.
Song You's mushroom soup was almost ready. He climbed up from under the tree, filled a bowl with it, and gave Sanhua Empress more meat. He mainly ate mushrooms and soup, and steamed buns as his staple food.
The merchants kept looking at Song You.
Song You also glanced at them from time to time.
Finally the two sides looked at each other.
A dark-skinned merchant smiled and nodded at Song You, and Song You quickly smiled and returned the salute.
So the other party handed him over and asked:
"Where are you coming from, sir? Where are you going?"
"I'm coming from Xiangle County and going to Nanhua County in Pingzhou." Song You replied, "Where are you from?"
"We are coming from Nanhua County and going to Xiangle County."
"That's a coincidence."
"This road is mainly from Nanhua to Xiangle, and from Pingzhou to Xuzhou. There are very few people walking on this road, and even fewer people come up or go down from the middle." The merchant smiled and said, "Let's go Most of the people on this road are us businessmen traveling between Pingzhou and Xuzhou."
"I see."
"Sir, have you walked this way?"
"It's my first time leaving." Song You replied, "I am from Yizhou. I traveled to Xuzhou and want to go to Pingzhou."
"First time leaving?"
"yes."
"..."
The merchant seemed surprised. He looked Song You up and down again, and then looked at the little girl next to him who was holding a bowl and was not listening to anything outside the window. She only focused on eating the meat in the bowl. She gradually frowned and turned her head. Go and look at each other with the companion next to you, not knowing what you are communicating.
The mountain was quiet for a while. Only the two teenagers were confused, but they also felt that something was wrong in the atmosphere.
I just heard the merchant suddenly ask:
"Are you humans or demons?"
"I'm a human being."
Song You remained calm and answered sincerely.
