Dong Zhi took a sip of the paste against the rim of the bowl.
The marching rations were made from rice cake paste and the taste was just average. It was not as good as rice porridge or millet porridge. However, Dong Zhi had not eaten hot and serious food for a long time, and the paste also contained shredded rabbit meat and this piece of rice cake. The wild vegetables growing in the forest actually contain salt, and when I eat them, I feel touched.
It seems to be some kind of fine delicacy.
It started to feel like a hallucination again.
"Sir... Since you are from Yizhou, why did you come here?" Dong Zhi quietly glanced at Song You.
"I am traveling down the mountain. I have traveled all over the world and have no fixed place. As for why I came here..." Song You smiled at him, "I am just like you, here to look for the grace of this sacred bird in Yuezhou."
"Then when will sir leave?"
"Have a rest overnight and leave tomorrow morning." Song You said to him, "The distance from here to get out of this green tung forest is actually only a few dozen miles away. We can go out tomorrow morning."
"Dozens of miles..."
Dong Zhi couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
The journey of dozens of miles seemed not far away, but it had already trapped him here.
"Since Ashoka came here via Guangzhou, he also went back via Guangzhou if he wanted to go back. In this case, after Ashita goes out, he should go south. After I leave, I will go east to Zhaozhou. I will probably leave Zhaozhou after the spring of next year. From Zhouzhou to Hanzhou." Song You said to him, "I will take my subordinates out tomorrow morning."
"go out……"
Dong Zhi shook his head again.
He was afraid that the next sentence would be that the Taoist coaxed him to sleep. When he was about to fall asleep or wake up, he would find himself still lying in the miasma of the woods, curled up into a ball, already unconscious from the cold, without the Taoist around him. The fire and the rice cakes were all burnt, not even the spirited deer or the green paulownia tree that provided shelter from the wind.
Fortunately, the Taoist didn't say that, but told him to eat slowly and continued chatting with him.
Ask him if it is easier to go to Yuezhou via Guangzhou than to Yuezhou via Zhaozhou. Ask him how the situation is in Hanzhou, what are the scenic spots, myths and legends, and what are the places worth visiting when traveling around the world? Then ask him how to travel through the world. Did you encounter any monsters or ghosts during the half-way trip across Yuezhou? How many people did you meet, and we had a lot of fun chatting.
Finally, the bowl of glutinous rice was finished.
Dong Zhi felt warm and relieved, but also had an inexplicable premonition and his heart tightened.
Sure enough, he just heard the man opposite say to him:
"My feet are cold again, I'm hungry again, my body has already been weakened, and it's also invaded by miasma. Now I drink some hot water and food. Even though I'm awake, I shouldn't be too tired. If I don't take a good rest, I'll be gone. I'm afraid there will be lifelong sequelae after this, so let's get some sleep for the time being. We will naturally wake you up tomorrow morning and take you out, so please relax."
When Dong Zhi heard this, his heart skipped a beat.
It's coming, it's finally coming, this scene including the conversation at this time is so familiar.
Only then did I remember——
Yes, there is miasma in this place. Without the help of spiritual talismans, it will make people dizzy, skin ulcers, and sores on the corners of the mouth. I didn't even notice it. I woke up until now, and I have been feeling refreshed, as if the miasma lingering around me is just... Just ordinary fog.
"What happened..."
I'm afraid that I won't be able to wake up from this sleep, or that I'll go back again when I wake up.
I really don’t want to sleep...
But somehow, it seemed that after eating and drinking enough, my body warmed up, and I naturally felt a little sleepy. It also seemed that as the Taoist said, I was really affected by the hunger, cold and miasma. I didn't feel it just now, At this time, as soon as the Taoist mentioned it, all the fatigue came out. Or maybe the Taoist's tone was calm and his demeanor was gentle, like an immortal descended from the earth, sympathizing with the suffering of the world. Coupled with the burning fire in front of him and the dry thin blanket wrapped around him, it naturally made people feel at ease and sleepy.
In short, Dong Zhi only felt a wave of sleepiness coming over him, and his eyelids were fighting. Although he didn't want to sleep, he couldn't hold it anymore. Before he could give the order, his body fell to the side.
I only had time to open my eyes and look ahead.
The Taoist's expression remained gentle and calm, and the little girl sat obediently next to the Taoist, staring at him curiously. The horse was chewing something next to it, and the swallows sat on its back and looked at him.
Dong Zhi narrowed his eyes and fell asleep.
When you fall asleep like this, you lose all consciousness.
Unlike ordinary sleep, there are still some thoughts left. He knows that he has slept for a while. If he is more awake, he can also know whether he has slept for a long time or a short time. But Dong Zhi has no idea at this time, and he does not even know that he has slept for a while. After a sleep, this time seemed to be lost.
It seemed like it wasn't just one night.
Just close your eyes and open them again.
"ah!!"
Dong Zhi was almost awakened.
When he woke up, he found that it was already bright and the surroundings were still filled with miasma. The towering and huge green tung trees were like giant pillars holding up the sky, reaching into the depths of the clouds and mist. They were not like the current world, but like the ancient demon world.
Dong Zhi immediately checked around him and found that he was still wrapped in a thin blanket. There was only a pile of cinders in the fire in front of him. The maroon horse without a rein was standing not far from last night, still saying something in its mouth. He was chewing something all at once, but the man and the girl were still sitting next to him. They seemed to have packed their things and were staring at him.
"this……"
Dong Zhi calmed down and stood up quickly with a stunned expression.
"Ashiba is awake?"
"woke up……"
"Does it feel good?"
"good……"
"In that case, let's go."
"oh……"
Dong Zhi is almost completely ownerless and just follows what he says.
So he got up, and before he could put away the thin blanket, the little girl took the thin blanket, folded it and stuffed it into the quilt bag. When the Taoist put the quilt bag on the horse's back, they set off.
Dong Zhi followed up and the little girl handed him a handful of rice cakes and a piece of rabbit meat. Her hands were very small, and the rice cakes were only a small handful, which was this morning's breakfast.
Dong Zhi walked and ate while stumbling.
The little girl sometimes climbed on the back of the horse, sometimes got down and followed, sometimes broke a wooden stick to hit grass everywhere, sometimes took out a dagger and poked it here and made a cut there. She looked very naughty and lively, while the swallows flew in front. They led the way, chattering conscientiously, rising into the sky from time to time, and flying back after a while.
The bay-red horse followed obediently.
Taoists walk with a stick and don't talk much.
The cry of a bear on the road frightened Dong Zhi, but the little girl just waved her flag and summoned more than a dozen big wolves. Before they saw the bear, the bear was driven away.
The Taoist smiled with the little girl and said:
"Unknowingly, Sanhua Empress is also a big monster who can fight bears and tigers."
A sentence called Sanhua Empress.
A big monster.
Dong Zhi was deeply impressed.
But they never showed any malice, and Dong Zhi really had no other choice, so he followed them.
That morning, almost noon, I had already walked out of Qingtong Forest. However, after walking for a long time, the group finally walked out of the miasma in the middle of the afternoon.
There is still snow all over the ground, and the whole world has turned white. There are a few trees growing on the side, with lush branches and leaves. However, the trees are not made of leaves, but crystal white ice crystals, like ice and snow. And in front of it The world was already clear, but when I turned around and looked back, I saw heavy fog.
Dong Zhi looked dull, feeling as if he had just stepped out of an ancient world and returned to reality.
At this time, the Taoist stopped.
I saw the Taoist pointing to the south and turned to look at him:
"There is no miasma here anymore. If you want to go from Gwangju, you have to go south. You have the ability to survive in the wild. If we don't go along the way, we won't send you more."
"me……"
Dong Zhi stretched out his hand and pointed forward, as if in disbelief: "Can we go back?"
"yes."
The Taoist smiled and nodded to him: "But there is still a long way to go. I just wish you a safe journey and be careful."
"this……"
"please."
Dong Zhi stumbled and took a few steps.
I remembered that I was trapped in the Qingtong Forest a few days ago. There was a lot of miasma and clouds covering my eyes. No matter where I went, it seemed to be the same. Now I walked out in just half a day. I remembered that the fog in the Qingtong Forest two days ago seemed like ancient times. The scene of the world, and then looking at the clear and clean world in the snow in front of me, it is inevitable to feel like a dream.
He raised his hand and touched his face. He wanted to wake up, but suddenly he found that the sores on his face and the blisters at the corners of his mouth were gone. His face felt clean to the touch, and he quickly used his tongue to I wiped my mouth again and there was no tingling sensation.
It's more like a dream.
Dong Zhi couldn't help but turn around.
I walked out of a series of fragmented footprints in the snow. At the other end of the footprints was a huge tree. The tree was covered with rime that was as snowy as ice and crystal-like. It was extremely beautiful. The whole world was covered in silver. That Taoist man He held a cane in one hand and held the little girl in the other, looking at him calmly. The maroon horse next to him was the most conspicuous color in the snow. The swallow had fallen on the tree and was looking down at him.
"..."
Dong Zhi couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
I heard this man say yesterday that he was afraid that he would not know whether it was an illusion or a dream until he returned to Hanzhou. He didn't think so at the time, but now it seems that he still thought it was a dream, and I'm afraid he still thought it was a dream all the way south. Dream, I am afraid that I have to wait until I go to Gwangju, walk into the city, see people, or even go back to Hanju and see familiar people, then I can be sure that this is not a dream.
If it was not a dream, it must have been an encounter with a god.
It was like the stories I had been telling for half my life.
Dong Zhi stumbled and walked further and further.
The Taoist still stood there, watching him, until he turned into a small black spot and the footprints on the ground spread far away and could no longer be seen, then he withdrew his gaze.
It was at this moment that he suddenly felt something, so he turned his head and looked behind him——
The miasma relies on the mountains and forests, and also covers the mountains and forests, but in the miasma, there is a figure of a deer.
The deer didn't move away and raised its head to look at him.
Song You was a little confused and bowed with him:
"What can I do for you, Shiba?"
The deer was no bigger than a sheep. It raised its head and looked at him. After a moment, it began to speak human words, and its voice was clear and ethereal:
"I heard that there is an immortal master in Yanzhou to the west. He came all the way from Hezhou to slay demons. He killed many demons who broke the rules in Yanzhou. Could it be that he is the Taoist Priest?"
"How do you know this?"
"There are many demons in the north. Although I practice in the mountains and forests in the north of Yuezhou, I often hear interesting news from outside."
"What do you want to say again, Shiba?"
"Where did the Taoist priest come from?"
"Don't you already know this? You came from Hezhou and Yanzhou."
"Where are you going?"
"Wandering around the world."
"Have you traveled all over Yuezhou?"
"We're mostly gone."
"..."
Xiaolu turned his head around, looking left and right, as if he had some concerns, and then said to him: "There are many monsters in Yuezhou, and there are also many interesting things. The Taoist priest should walk more carefully."
After speaking, without waiting for Song You to ask any more questions, he turned around and ran into the mist behind him, disappearing without a trace.
(End of chapter)
