For the remaining nearly a month, Qin Bukong continued to rest his body, but there was no sign of improvement. Internal injuries are like this. No matter how strong a person is, they can't bear it. But after settling the matter of the Witch King's soul, Qin Bukong seemed to have no worries and no new goals. Even the beard that grew back has turned from black to gray.
Songzi and I thought of many ways to slowly cut out the entire half-meter-high pillar of the Witch King's Soul from its roots, then wrapped it in a thick quilt to prevent it from falling, and then transported it outside the cave. We were afraid of missing something, so we didn't backfill this tunnel for the time being, but we no longer worried about being found by others, because even if we found it, we wouldn't see any clues.
The current season has entered autumn, and the climate is starting to get cooler. Qin Bukong used to be physically stronger. In this season of previous years, he would not only wear single clothes, but would even sweat. However, after severe injuries, his body was not as good as before. When I was still wearing single clothes, Qin Bukong still wore She put on a thin cotton coat and hunched over her body, as if she was very cold. And he still coughs violently every day. When the situation is a little better, drinking some water can stop it, but more often he will cough up blood.
This gave me a bad feeling and started to worry a lot. Because I have experienced Master's death before, I don't want such a thing to happen again, but I also know in my heart that I will face it sooner or later. Qin Bukong's mood is quite cheerful, at least more cheerful than that of my master. He occasionally jokes with us, and he doesn't sound like an elder when he talks. He is just getting thinner and thinner, so that the clothes he wore last year will be worn again this year. By that time, I had already lost a whole circle of weight.
One day, Songzi pulled me outside the door while Qin Bukong was taking a nap and said to me, Brother Situ, I'm afraid we have to be mentally prepared for some things. Of course I know what he is talking about. Qin Bukong and I are both used to seeing life and death, but when life and death really happen to us, we often don't know how to deal with it. Songzi said that Senior Qin's condition seemed to have worsened a lot compared to the previous period. This autumn was followed by a cold winter, and he might not be able to survive it.
I nodded, because when I was discharged from the hospital, I quietly asked Qin Bukong's attending doctor, and he told me that this varies from person to person, and that family members need to pay more attention after being discharged. If the situation improves again and you can eat, drink and sleep, it may take a little longer. But if the patient is worried about it and is worried about it all day long, it is hard to say. It may take ten and a half months, or it may take half a year. One year.
I also asked the doctor to give me an approximate time. The doctor said that according to his experience, most people with damaged internal organs like Qin Bukong would not survive more than three months, and would eventually develop water accumulation in the body due to internal bleeding. , by that time, the hands and feet will be swollen, but the body will be as thin as a stick. Generally, when this happens, the person will die within a month or two at most. So I told Songzi that I had also noticed that although Qin Bukong was not as skinny as a stick, he asked me to go out and buy him a pair of larger gloves this morning, saying that the previous pair were already too small. Only then did I notice that his hands and feet were already swollen.
Songzi sniffed and began to shed tears. I didn't want to be so emotional, but when I saw Songzi crying, I couldn't help but feel sour in my heart. Songzi said, Senior Qin has lived a life of some grievances. It wasn’t until I met you in his later years that he felt a lot happier. Although he and I are not very close friends, I also admire him. Otherwise, let’s go and find out about Senior Qin. Where is his hometown? If that day is not far away, we can let his soul return to his hometown.
I nodded in my mind, because Qin Bukong's weird temper actually came from the rejection and disapproval of him by the people in that village. Even though he tried his best to blend in, he was always regarded as an alien. This feeling of not being accepted is very bad, especially when even your own relatives abandon you in the end, it is inevitable that you will go in the direction of extreme thoughts. But I told Songzi that you are not related to him, but I am his first and last disciple, so this matter should be handled by me. If you are willing to accompany him to see him die, I would certainly be grateful.
Songzi cried and said, "What are you talking about? Of course I will follow you."
I did not continue talking, but said to Songzi, maybe there is still some time, otherwise you can bring the soul of the Witch King back to the master first and then come here. Because I calculated the time, even with this heavy object, it would only take five or six days for Songzi to go back and forth, and Qin Bukong would definitely be able to make it in five or six days.
So Songzi agreed to me, and that night he told Qin Bukong that he would take the things back to the master first and then come back. Maybe Qin Bukong heard the clues about Songzi's deliberate words. He smiled and said, Songzi, you'd better take it back and don't come back. You will cry when you watch me die.
I don’t know why, but when I heard Qin Bukong say this with a smile and a joke in it, I couldn’t bear it any longer at the dinner table. This sudden sadness that surged into my heart made me feel sad. Tears flowed out all of a sudden and out of control.
Maybe it's because I've been suppressing it, but this sadness has already existed, but I just didn't realize it. I originally planned to hide it, saying that today's dish was so spicy that it made me cry. But I found that I couldn't even speak clearly through my sobs. A good meal was completely disrupted by my sudden crying. Qin Bukong's meaning was very clear. Let me and my apprentice spend the remaining days well.
Although Songzi was still expressing that he wanted to accompany him, Qin Bukong was very insistent, and even insisted that Songzi leave the next day, and then told Songzi that if he went there in the future, he would definitely let me tell him the burial place. , just come and worship again another day.
Qin Bukong was very calm when he said these words. He even patted my shoulder, which comforted me. Different from Master Lin Qishan, they both anticipated the consequences at the end of their lives. However, Qin Bukong did not have as many things to worry about as his master. Instead, he chose to come from heaven and earth, and then return to heaven and earth. Go, sadness and sorrow are just mediocre things. All these are just fate and the laws of nature.
Songzi couldn't help it and was sad for the whole night. When I left the next morning, I was still crying. After Songzi left, Qin Bukong and I were the only two people left in the house. Qin Bukong had been dragging his sick body and asked me to memorize some Wumen contents by rote every day. He said that in the future, he No more, if I admire my craftsmanship, as long as I practice it diligently and use it in conjunction with Taoism, I will definitely become famous in the future.
I don't care about him being famous, I just hope I can stay with him for a while longer. Perhaps this is what happens when people reach the last moment. After understanding the concerns in their hearts, there is no other hope, and the body will collapse faster. I saw that his health was getting worse day by day, so I said to Qin Bukong, now we have nothing to do at home every day, why not go out to play, see the mountains and rivers of the motherland, and change our mood.
Qin Bukong said that this was not bad, since he came to Wuhan, he never went out for a walk again. I am not familiar with the area around Wuhan. The only hometown I am familiar with is hundreds of kilometers upstream on the waterway. So I asked him if he wanted to go to my hometown to visit, because I was thinking that maybe the delay on the road would be longer, so I could give him something to look forward to and it would last longer. Qin Bukong readily agreed, and then said that after the old guy Lin Qishan died, I had not gone to pay homage to him, otherwise I would go and sweep his grave and ask him to make room for me next to it.
After saying that, he burst into laughter. Although I knew he was joking, the disciples were not in the same class, so Qin Bukong also knew that he would not be buried with Lin Qishan. You have to take a boat back to the mountain city. In order to make the journey more fulfilling, I specially bought a ticket to pass the Three Gorges during the day. Qin Bukong has always known about the Three Gorges, but he has never been there, so when we stood on the edge of the boat and admired the scenery, he He marveled at the red leaves all over the mountains and plains after autumn, and also marveled at the uncanny craftsmanship of nature, but soon he fell silent.
When passing through the Xiling Gorge, he suddenly pointed to the cliff on the opposite mountain peak and said to me, what do you think of it there? I asked him what was going on. He said, do you think this place will be developed and constructed in the future? I said this is a tourist attraction and it’s deserted, so that’s probably not the case. He looked at it blankly and said, "Wouldn't it be possible even in five hundred years?"
I didn't understand his intention, so I didn't answer. But I was thinking in my heart that the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River is the most important place on this river, and its beauty is precisely because it is primitive. Therefore, if the Chinese are not stupid, this place will not be developed or constructed for not only 500 years, but also a thousand years.
Qin Bukong suddenly said, after I die, burn me and put it in a strong jar. Then put my ashes on the cliff. I was amazed, and he said with a smile, you can find a way to get to the top of the mountain, hang a rope and slide down, cut a hole for me in the stone wall where you can see the river, and then put my ashes in it without sealing it. , let me blow the river breeze every day, look at the river scenery, feel the four seasons of the year, listen to the birds, and smell the fragrance of the flowers.
Of course I didn't agree, so I said what are you talking nonsense about? How could anyone tell the aftermath like this? Then if I want to come to worship you from now on, won't I have to climb mountains and ridges every time? Do you want to exhaust me to death?
I also told Qin Bukong in a joking tone because I thought he was joking. But he told me very seriously that if you want to worship me in the future, you only need to burn a stick of incense for me on the other side of the river, kowtow a few times, and worship across the river. By the way, it’s also a good idea to have fun along the way and take in the scenery.
After he finished speaking, he stopped talking, closed his eyes, and began to enjoy the breeze of the river.
However, Qin Bukong could not persist in going to pay homage to Master Lin Qishan. After we docked in the mountain city, he repeatedly used the excuse of feeling unwell and stayed in the house where Master and I lived in our early years. He also walked around every day and chatted with people we were familiar with before. However, he passed away while meditating on the twentieth day after arriving in the mountain city.
The strange thing is that although I was filled with sadness, I never cried. I used the special skill of falling flags and summoning souls that my master Lin Qishan taught me, and properly sent Qin Bukong's soul to paradise. However, I swore in front of his soul that the art of Miao witchcraft would never be lost from me.
Qin Bukong, until he died, I didn't know when he was born or how many years he lived. He taught me a lot, but I never called him master.
There was no funeral for him and I didn’t tell anyone. Afterwards, I cremated the body in accordance with Qin Bukong's last wish, and tried my best to go to the other side of the Xiling Gorge. I found a place on the cliff where I could enjoy the four seasons of the year and the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers. I dug a hole on the cliff. Place Qin Bukong's ashes there. In order to prevent his urn from being disturbed by birds and animals, I also made a special base to fix it. I carved a simple line of words at the entrance of the cave:
"My mentor Qin Bukong died in 1972 AD. The bad disciple Situ Shankong made his confession in tears."
In 1974, I made a special trip to Yunsheng Palace to visit Songzi and his master. After learning that the Witch King's soul was properly kept, I also conveyed the news of Qin Bukong's death. Songzi burst into tears and insisted that I lead the way to worship Qin Bukong. I told him that I was the only one in the world who knew that place, and that it was a secret between Qin Bukong and me. If you really want to worship, just light incense and kowtow at the mountain gate in the direction of Xiling Gorge.
Every year I go to the other side of the Xiling Gorge and look at the hole dug by myself on the cliff from a distance, because only I know where the hole is. Then I drink a pot of wine and eat some salted peanuts, but the wine must be I have to pour two glasses, one for me to drink and one for Qin Bukong. Some words are spoken in his heart, and I am convinced that he can sense them. And I will definitely light three sticks of incense on the other side of the river, and then worship across the river.
Song Zi is my lifelong friend. Although we had some differences for nearly ten years, we agreed that no matter who passed away first in the future, the living person would cover the other person's coffin and close his eyes.
This agreement lasted for forty years after that day.
