"How long have you been waiting, senior brother?"
"Nine years."
"Senior brother, are you waiting for me here? Don't you want to travel around the world again?"
"Yunkong, senior brother is already ninety years old. Nine years ago, his physical strength was not as good as it used to be. How many more places can he travel?" He stroked his beard and said expressively, "It's long past time for me to learn from my master and build a house to practice Taoism. "
Speaking of Master's broken shoes, it turns out that since their separation more than twenty years ago, neither of them has seen Master in person.
Yun Kong took out a talisman folded into a horse shape. The yellow paper was so fragile that it almost broke into pieces: "This is the talisman that my senior brother gave me."
Iwakora looked at Yile and said, "Jiama? Why is there still one?"
He used it to examine the technique he used to draw the talisman. "It seems that you haven't even used it. Isn't there a moment to escape?"
"It's used, but I don't want to throw it away." Yankong smiled and walked towards the door, "Reminiscing about the past is only harmful to the body, and it is not suitable for Taoists. Come, senior brother will take you for a walk."
The scenery around here is slightly different. The gloomy forest is no longer scary, and the sun can shine in. Yankong has cultivated a small piece of land on the edge of the forest and planted a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
"Everything we eat is grown by ourselves, and everything we use is picked up from the ruins at the foot of the mountain."
Iwakora smiled contentedly.
Walking into the forest, Yun Kong suddenly saw five wooden boards of different lengths inserted in the shade of the trees. There were also faded words written on the wooden boards: "Whose tombstone?"
Yankong patted his back: "Go, Yunkong, Master and I buried him back then."
Yun Kong stepped forward and saw the two tombs of "Chen Da" and "Chen Family Li Family". They were the tombs of his parents. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten their parents' faces, but he would never forget their parents who saved him before they died. In fact, the two human bodies in the flames had been entangled in his nightmare for a long time, and they were finally officially annihilated at this moment.
"Rest in peace, father and mother," he prayed silently. "Although my son has not achieved great achievements, he can finally live up to others, do not bully others, and do not harm others. He is not afraid at night and sleeps at night without being frightened."
Yun Kong is still curious, whose are the other three tombs?
He looked carefully and saw that although the ink on the wooden board was light, he could still see the surnames on the tomb, one was "Duan", the other was "Chai", and the other was "Zhao".
"Brother, who are these three people?"
Yankong pondered for a long time: "I have been thinking about how to tell you this story."
He scratched the tombstone with his finger: "The porridge cooked by senior brother is about to be cooked. It's getting late. Let's talk slowly."
"Chai Tomb" Yankong and Yunkong sat under the shade of the trees, enjoying the coolness of the evening and slowly sipping multigrain porridge.
Yunkong couldn't help but be curious about the three tomb plaques. While eating porridge, he kept looking at the three tombs, hoping to see some clues.
Seeing this, Yankong pointed to the wooden board with the word "Chai" written on it: "Let me talk about this first. Do you want to listen to the simple one or the long one?"
"Let me tell you something simple first, so that I can satisfy my craving."
"Okay, to put it simply, this tomb is my disciple's."
Yun Kong was surprised for a moment, and instantly regretted arousing his senior brother's sadness.
Only now did he know that during the years when the two of them had not seen each other, his senior brother had also taken on a disciple.
"The first time I met this disciple was during the Zhenghe period. I think it was a year or two after the master and you and I parted ways..." It turned out that it had been more than twenty years, and Yun Kong suddenly felt the cruelty of time.
After the two brothers separated, they knew nothing about each other's situation. This meeting seemed to fill in the blanks in the past.
"At that time, I was wandering alone in Quanzhou..."
As he spoke, Yankong's pupils gradually dilated, his vision became blurry, and the scene in front of him became far, far away, as far away as a day long ago.
That day, Yankong walked to the river and saw that the water was clear. He bent down and washed his face. He also quenched his thirst. He felt cool all over and wanted to take a rest to relieve the heat after a long journey.
He sat by the river and looked at the quiet surroundings. The shadows of the trees on the shore were dancing, the river reflected a green color, and the swimming fish were looking for food on the shore where the water was flowing slowly, and they were gently picking at the dead leaves floating on the water's edge.
Suddenly, there was a small commotion in the bushes. Someone pushed aside the bushes and slowly stepped out of the bushes. They stared intently at the river, as if they didn't see Yankong, who was enjoying the cool weather on the side.
Iwakong looked at him curiously. He was a teenage boy, dressed in rags. He said he was wearing clothes, rather than cloth dyed with mud.
The most clear thing on his dirty face was a pair of white and bright eyes, without any emotion in them, like an old monk who had seen everything in the world, staring blankly at the river.
Is there anything on the river?
Yankong looked at the river curiously.
The young man slowly stepped into the river with his bare feet. After walking for a while, he stood in the water and slowly stretched his hands toward the water.
Then the boy said something.
Iwakong was startled, sat up straight, and stared at the young man's palm to make sure he was not dazzled.
A fish jumped out of the water, jumped as high as it could, and jumped into the palm of the boy's hand. Then it stayed still quietly and obediently.
The boy put the dead fish on the shore and returned to the river.
This time Iwakora wanted to see and hear clearly.
The young man said something, but the breeze on the river blew the words away. Yankong still couldn't hear it, but he guessed from the young man's lips that what he said was: "Ascending to heaven."
He almost didn't make a sound, but when he said these words, the air above his palm shook, and the background image was distorted, and Iwakong could see it clearly.
Then, the fish jumped onto the water and died peacefully in the boy's palm.
The young man felt that enough was enough. He held the fish with respect and walked slowly back to the shore. His feet that had been soaked in water became white and white, revealing the skin that was originally hidden under the dirt.
Many swimming fish lingered at the spot where the young man stood, seeming to regret that they had missed the opportunity.
The boy then turned to look at Yan Kong, his big eyes seeming to see through Yan Kong in an instant.
He picked up two fish and walked towards Yankong, handing one to Yankong.
Iwakong shook his head: "Thank you."
The boy was noncommittal, took back the hand holding the fish, walked to the edge of the trees behind, piled up a pile of small pebbles, and placed the fish on top.
Soon, Iwakong smelled the fragrant smell of fish.
Soon, the boy came over again and handed Yankong a fish that was hot and still steaming with white water.
Iwakong couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. After seeing the young man's insistent eyes, he had to appreciate it: "Thank you very much."
He took the grilled fish and smiled at the boy.
The young man said: "If you have just survived, eat it immediately."
When Yankong heard the boy's voice, he was startled again, and then he realized that the boy in front of him was not a boy, but a girl. Under the rags hanging on her body, there was a body full of youthful atmosphere, looming.
Even though Iwaku was quite old and had been abstinent for many years, he still couldn't help but blush.
The first thought in his mind was: "It's too dangerous for a girl to be in the wilderness. We should find some clothes for her to wear."
Second thought: “Why isn’t this fish seared?”
There was no charring on the fish as it should be after being grilled, and the appearance of the fish was almost the same as before it was grilled.
Yankong stood up and took a look. The pile of stones where the fish was grilled had no embers from the fire and was clean, but every stone was so hot that it turned red and struggled to emit heat.
Iwakora had no idea what he saw.
To understand, he started eating fish.
The fish is delicious.
The fish that was alive not long ago still has residual vitality in its flesh, and it still feels like jumping when eaten. This is what the girl means by "freshly alive".
He peeked at the girl, who was eating the fish respectfully, as if she was sincerely grateful to the fish. Her eating appearance was not as wild as her eyes and body, but was instead very elegant, like a lady.
He knew that the girl trusted him, and although he had many questions that he wanted to know right away, he didn't want to disturb the girl's delicate mind.
A young girl, who is about to marry into a family, why is she wandering in the wilderness?
Judging from her clothes and mess, she had been wandering for a long time.
After eating the fish, the girl buried the fish bones properly and returned to the riverside, squatting blankly and watching the river water.
Yan Kong thought he had rested enough, so he stood up and bowed, "Thank you for the hospitality."
The girl didn't respond.
Yankong left the shore and walked toward the city. Within an hour, he rushed into the most crowded place in Quanzhou City.
He searched around and finally found a stall selling used clothes in the downtown area.
He rummaged through the pile of old clothes and suddenly felt distressed.
He had never bought anything from a woman.
He didn't know whether the girl would like what he bought, he didn't know how to match a woman's clothes, and he didn't know what fabric was most comfortable to wear on a woman.
