"What's the future?"
The old voice sounded again, with a smile in it.
"The future is the future."
Jiang Qi replied like this.
"Keep moving forward."
Jiang Qi asked: "How far is it?"
No one answered, and Jiang Qi had no reaction. He nodded, walked around the pavilion and continued forward.
Further forward, people gradually appeared. Jiang Qi was not surprised, because it could be seen from just now that he was going down the mountain.
But it seemed like he was walking on flat ground, which was strange, but not strange at all.
This is, after all, a fantasy world.
That's right, it's no longer appropriate to call the world of pure fantasy a world of obsession.
Jiang Qi had an intuition in his heart that Sun Simiao's obsession did not exist in this world, or in other words, it was just a similar thought, not the carrier of obsession.
He continued to move forward, walking among the moving crowd, but the people here seemed to not see him, and they still did what they should do.
Jiang Qi tried to stand in front of a man carrying firewood and block his way, but the man walked straight through Jiang Qi.
Can we only observe?
Jiang Qi thought silently.
He looked around and gradually saw something very interesting.
This is a market located at the foot of the mountain. It seems that the concept of by-products of tourism has already existed at this time.
Jiang Qi's eyes fell on a bookstall. The stall owner was a young man who sold some of his own calligraphy and paintings.
A rich lady wearing silk and satin came over with her maid. Their eyes made contact for a moment, but they immediately fell apart.
The young lady pretended to look through the stall, rolled up a painting, then stood up and left.
The maid on the side took out her small purse, threw down a silver coin, and followed in her footsteps.
"give change."
The scholar said, but the rich lady had already drifted away and did not hear his words at all.
He hesitated for a moment, then picked up the silver coin, carefully put it into his backpack, and then forced himself to look away from the figure on the back.
This scene is a microcosm of what Jiang Qi saw.
There are many similar scenes like this.
A man with a lame leg, a broken arm, and a slim eye was limping on the street, surrounded by adoring eyes.
This is a soldier, the Iron Army of the Tang Dynasty.
Jiang Qi thought silently.
There are also beggars, stall owners, and all kinds of lustful people.
Scenes of various aspects of life were taking place in the market in front of Jiang Qi.
"What do you see?"
Suddenly, the old voice sounded again, but this time it was not in the void, but in Jiang Qi's ears.
"Didn't see anything."
Jiang Qi turned around naturally and looked behind him.
There, stood an old man in linen clothes. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with gray hair and beard. He was somewhat wealthy, and his eyes were shining. Jiang Qi saw an indifference to life in it.
But deeper down, there is also a thrilling great compassion.
"Jiang Qi, I have met Master Miaoying."
Jiang Qi bowed his hands in a meticulous gesture.
"Just call me Sun Simiao, the old man."
Sun Simiao said with a smile.
Then he waved his hand and asked, "Why didn't you see anything?"
Jiang Qi replied: "Because this is life."
"oh?"
Sun Simiao's expression showed that he was willing to hear the details.
Jiang Qi looked around and said: "These are healthy lives. If everyone in the world is like this, Mr. Sun, you can forget about your medical skills."
When Sun Simiao heard this, a flash of satisfaction flashed in his eyes, and he smiled and said, "Come with me."
"yes."
Jiang Qi nodded respectfully and followed Sun Simiao's footsteps.
The two walked through the market, but no one noticed the old man and the young man.
As Sun Simiao stepped out of the market, everything behind him came to a standstill, like a frozen movie.
"Everything here is my imagination, or in other words, it is the scene I have been looking forward to my whole life."
Sun Simiao looked back and sighed: "You are right. There are lovers who are separated by family background, soldiers who have been disabled to protect their families and the country, vendors who support their families, and people who place their hopes on others. A beggar who lives out of kindness.”
"But at least, they're healthy."
Sun Simiao looked at Jiang Qi and asked again: "Do you think this is enough?"
Jiang Qi did not answer this question, but instead asked: "Do you think this era is healthy?"
Sun Simiao knew that he was talking about the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, but
The old Taoist priest shook his head and said: "Throughout the ages, there has been no healthy era, not in the past, not now, not in the future."
Jiang Qi met Sun Simiao's questioning eyes and looked at the eagerness mixed in them.
After a moment of silence, he spoke.
"A counselor who was the most intelligent of his era asked a question to the founding emperor of the country who was brilliant and wise."
Sun Simiao's expression changed, waiting for Jiang Qi's next words.
Jiang Qi pointed at himself and continued: "What was it like in my era?"
"The emperor replied: There is hope for the unity of heaven and earth, but there is only a glimmer of hope."
"That's enough, that's enough."
Sun Simiao said repeatedly.
"A glimmer of hope is something that so many people, so many eras, and so many emperors can't get."
"We are lucky enough to live in an era where there are people who can hold the sky with their hands, and there are more than one."
Jiang Qi said this.
"Is this so?"
Sun Simiao didn't ask in detail and just continued to move forward.
Jiang Qi followed his footsteps.
The two of them left the mountain.
Jiang Qi looked back and asked, "Is this Zhongnan Mountain?"
"yes."
Sun Simiao nodded and said with a smile: "How will Zhongnan Mountain look like in the future?"
Jiang Qi thought for a while and replied: "I need a ticket to go up the mountain."
"Huh? Hahahahahaha!"
Sun Simiao was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then smiled happily.
"Good thing, good thing."
"Those people who cherish their own things, seal off the mountain and think that they are higher than the mortal world when they are in the mountain. They are stupid."
"It seems that there is indeed a glimmer of light in your era."
"If we want the world to be unified, the first thing to eliminate is the awe and fear of gods, immortals, monsters and the like."
"There is no god in the world, only humans!"
Sun Simiao said firmly.
"This is not something a Taoist priest can say."
Jiang Qi said with a smile.
"Then I will return to secular life."
Sun Simiao answered happily.
The two of them walked forward while chatting.
Until a small teahouse, placed on the roadside.
Sun Simiao called Jiang Qi over. As soon as he sat down, two large bowls of tea appeared in front of him.
"I believe you can also see that the old Taoist has no obsession."
Hearing Sun Simiao's words, although Jiang Qi had been prepared, he still couldn't help but feel his heart sink.
If there was no obsession, let alone why Sun Simiao would keep this idea.
Without obsession, there is probably no inheritance.
So
"However, if you want the inheritance of the old way, there is nothing you can do."
Sun Simiao watched with interest the change of expression on Jiang Qi's face, winking playfully like an old child.
"Just do something to help the old man."
(End of chapter)
