A pattering autumn rain came suddenly, dragging the originally hot Buddhist capital into the cool autumn.
Mu Mu silently leaned against the window of Wujian Inn, watching the figures rushing past outside the door, and Nalan Yu's back, standing casually in the rain, dressed in white.
Suddenly, I felt a little missing in my heart, missing Li Ye who had just separated.
"My brother is the same. He went into the mountains right away. If I had known we would be separated for so long, I would have followed Mr. Zai. At worst, if I can't walk anymore and let my brother carry me on my back, it would be better than feeling blocked when I miss him." It’s a pleasure to come!”
Mu Mu was still in love. In her heart, Li Ye was a brother who loved her and was an indispensable treasure.
Apart from Bai Susu, her master who had disliked her when she was a child, the only one she disliked was Li Ye.
Li Hongxiu shook her head, sighed, reached out and picked up a piece of peach blossom cake from the table and put it in her mouth to savor it.
After a while, he took out a pair of small scissors from nowhere, gently took Mumu's little hand, and cut her nails for her.
"Let me tell you, Mu Mu, you can't comb your hair now, and you can't cut your nails, are you still a girl? How will you live your life without the master's wife by your side?"
Li Hongxiu couldn't help but chatter.
The waiter in the inn came up with a pot of tea and set it up, pouring a cup for each of the master and apprentice.
Then he bent down and asked softly: "The shopkeeper asked me to ask you two, do you want to invite the other two people who came together yesterday to come down for tea?"
After saying this, he did not walk away immediately, but looked at Li Hongxiu and Mu Mu with questioning eyes.
"Sister Wutong, please come over and have some cakes. It's raining so hard that you can't even go out. It's boring!" Mu Mu muttered.
Li Hongxiu glanced at Mu Mu, nodded to the waiter, and waved.
He squeezed Mu Mu's little hand and continued: "Your little problem of not combing your hair is all caused by that boy Li Ye."
Mu Mu was unhappy when she heard this, and reached out to grab the pastries on the table.
While saying: "Brother said that I am his precious sister, and he should love me. Besides, after coming back from Tianshan Mountain, brother stopped talking about me. It was you, my wife, talking about Mu Mu."
When Li Hongxiu heard this, he reached out and pinched her face, and said angrily: "That boy is a good person. I have done all the bad things. It's not thankless for all the hard work."
...
While the two were having fun, Tang Qiuyu led Xia Wutong over.
The master and apprentice pulled out their chairs and sat next to the table by the window.
Seeing Li Hongxiu cutting Mu Mu's nails, Xia Wutong couldn't help but said: "Mu Mu, you are so lucky that your wife is still cutting your nails."
Mu Mu was pinching some bits to eat, stuffing the last bit into her mouth, and then wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
He looked at Xia Wutong and said with a smile: "Sister Wutong, if you like it, I will ask my wife to cut it for you later?"
When Tang Qiuyu heard what Mu Mu said, he couldn't help but turn his head and glance at his apprentice, with a strange look in his eyes.
Xia Wutong was joking, but Mu Mu, who was simple-minded, actually took it seriously. Her face suddenly turned red, and she unnaturally reached out to pick up a piece of pastry from the table, put it to her mouth and took a bite.
After a while, he gently replied: "I'm older than you, so I don't need a master to do these things for me."
In her memory, there seemed to be a few times when Tang Qiuyu cut her nails.
But as she grew older, these became distant memories.
When he was still in the Imperial City of the Central Region, Tang Qiuyu led Xia Wutong, who had just entered the path of spiritual practice. The master and the disciple also lived through the days full of fireworks in the first-level world.
On weekdays, apart from teaching Xia Wutong how to practice swordsmanship, the two of them sneaked out of the imperial city to go shopping and find delicious food.
In Xia Wutong's memory, it was a carefree life at that time. It wasn't until I grew up later that I followed my master into the mountain gate of Qingcheng. Seeing that the senior brothers and sisters in the sect were much higher than myself, my little mind felt a sense of crisis and pressure.
In addition, Tang Qiuyu was so anxious about breaking through that he was distracted, so he naturally cared less about Xia Wutong.
Over the past few years, Xia Wutong suffered a lot at a young age. Many times she woke up crying in her dreams and regretted following her master up the mountain to suffer. If she had known better, she would have been better off staying in the imperial city and being a little princess.
It wasn't until she met Li Ye and saw that Li Ye, who was a few years younger than her, was working harder and harder, that she realized that she was not the only one in the world who was struggling on the road to spiritual practice.
Gradually, the hard days were forgotten a lot, and each mile of practice became even harder.
Tang Qiuyu saw all this in his heart, feeling both happy and sad. Happily, my precious apprentice is finally becoming more sensible, and I don't have to force her to practice.
What's sad is that she still doesn't understand the status of Li Ye's practice. In addition, the second prince sent people to assassinate Li Ye because of the Oriental Pearl incident. Naturally, this problem cannot be solved easily.
What she was worried about was that her apprentice was gradually falling in love with Li Ye. If one day, Li Ye had a direct conflict with the second prince, she didn't know how Xia Wutong would deal with it.
Thinking of this, Tang Qiuyu couldn't help but sigh quietly, picked up the teapot on the table, poured tea into the cup, picked it up and took a casual sip.
Wei Qing looked at Li Hongxiu and Mu Mu and said with a smile: "I really envy you for your carefree life. Unlike Wutong and I, we can't live in peace in the sect and have more worries when we return to the Central Territory."
"On the other hand, that kid Li Ye is so happy. He just slaps his butt and follows his husband into the mountains to have a good time. He doesn't care about the life or death of us women."
Xia Wutong, who was eating the pastry, was stunned for a moment when he heard what the master said. His little hand holding the pastry stopped near his mouth for a while.
After thinking about it for a while, I still felt that it was hard to answer, so I blushed and lowered my head to look at the cake in my hand.
Mu Mu, on the other hand, roared heartlessly and said, "Brother abandoned Mu Mu once on Tianshan Mountain. Mu Mu and my wife are already used to it!"
After speaking, he reached out and grabbed two pieces of pastry from the plate on the table, holding one in his hand and handing it to Xia Wutong, who had his head lowered next to him.
She giggled and said: "Sister Wutong, don't worry. When my brother and husband come back from the mountains, we will come down to play. We will sell the herbs that my brother collected and we will buy new clothes."
After hearing this, Li Hongxiu couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. Even Tang Qiuyu, who was sipping tea with a cup in hand, and Xia Wutong, who was eating cakes with his head down, couldn't help but chuckle.
Li Hongxiu stretched out her hand to straighten the messy hair on Mu Mu's forehead, and said with a smile: "Let that boy Li Ye know that the gold coins he earned so hard are just to satisfy your random shopping. Let's see if he will give you such a lot in the future." Money spent.”
Unexpectedly, Mu Mu tilted her head, looked at the three women, and thought about it seriously.
Grinning, he said: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid! My brother said that all his money belongs to Mu Mu, and all the money in the future will be handed over to Mu Mu."
Xia Wutong, who was standing next to him, lowered his head even lower after hearing this.
Tang Qiuyu looked at the appearance of his precious apprentice, and suddenly felt sour in his heart. He thought that he was so devoted to the Tao that after decades, he still didn't know the taste of love between men and women.
On the other hand, my disciple has been in love since he was young, and he doesn't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.
He sighed again and pulled Xia Wu, who was eating cakes with his head down.
He reached out and touched her pigtails and said, "Look, master hasn't combed your hair for a long time, and your hair has become more and more messy. Come on, master will teach you again today."
After saying that, he loosened the braid on Xia Wutong's head, took out a wooden comb, and carefully combed it for her.
...
While the four of them were chatting happily, Nalanyu walked in carrying a pot of autumn pears.
While saying hello with a smile, he put the washed pears on the table, picked one up and handed it to Mumu.
He smiled and said: "Come on, let's have a try. These are pears that have just been soaked in ice water from a deep well. I won't be able to eat them in a few days."
Tang Qiuyu asked Nalanyu to sit down, and obediently picked up an autumn pear with water drops on it, put it in his mouth and took a bite.
After a long while, he sighed softly and said: "I didn't expect that after leaving the Central Region, I could still eat such sweet and delicious ice-soaked autumn pears. It is really a rare enjoyment."
After saying that, he picked up another one and handed it to Xia Wutong, who was in a daze.
He turned his head and looked at Li Hongxiu and Mu Mu and said, "You two should try it too. This is the last autumn pear season before winter."
Li Hongxiu looked at Tang Qiuyu's satisfied look and couldn't help but pick one up and hold it in her hand.
He brought it to his mouth, and after taking a bite, he touched Mumu's head and said, "Mumu, this is sweet and ice-cold, hurry up and get started."
After saying that, he didn't take care of his ladylike image and started to take a big bite.
Mu Mu glanced at her with disgust, then glared at Xia Wutong who was eating with gusto. She frowned and pinched one and weighed it in her hand.
After a long while, he tried to take a bite, but unlike Li Hongxiu, who paused for a while before speaking, he looked at Nalan Yu with disgust.
Said: "Brother Nalan, although your autumn pears are sweet, they lack a bit of flavor. I also have a pear tree in the yard on the mountain. A few days ago, my brother came over from Prajna Temple and brought two jars of honey. The ripe pear on the tree was pickled in several jars, and it was said to be a snack for my wife and I to soothe our throats."
"Oh, my brother can also pickle autumn pears. How does it taste? I have to go up the mountain and try it!" Nalan Yu looked at her and laughed.
"I tasted one secretly before going down the mountain. Although it still tasted raw, it was sweet with some sourness. That's the real delicacy. I'll give it a try when I go up the mountain another day."
Even though he said this, it was very true. He ate up the pear in his hand in just three bites.
After he finished, he reached out and grabbed another one and put it in his mouth. As he said this, he greeted Li Hongxiu: "Master, eat quickly. Once the heat comes up, it will lose the ice-soaked taste."
Xia Wutong, who had been eating pears honestly, finally couldn't help but giggle after hearing Mu Mu's words.
Even the serious Tang Qiuyu felt dizzy when he looked at Mu Mu. A pot of autumn pears was obviously delicious, but the little guy in front of him had to find fault with it, but he couldn't find the words to reply to her.
He could only glare at Li Hongxiu and said, "Is this what that boy Li Ye taught you?"
Li Hongxiu looked at Mu Mu who was eating a mouthful of pear juice and felt a little dizzy.
While taking out a silk scarf to wipe her mouth, he looked at Tang Qiuyu and Nalanyu and said, "The pears on the mountain and below will be different after all because of the different climate and environment."
"It's true, the environment is different, and the natural taste is also different!" Tang Qiuyu looked at her and said quietly.
"Mumu has a food memory because she ate the autumn pears from the mountain. Naturally, she feels that the food at the bottom of the mountain is not as good as the food at the top. It's no wonder for her. Who doesn't think so?"
However, Nalan Yu reacted quickly. He looked at Mu Mu who was eating happily and said, "Sister, eat more slowly. There is still some in the store. I will go up the mountain with you in a few days and bring some more for my brother to try." , although everyone has their own preferences for radish and greens, it’s always good to try different flavors, don’t you think?”
Mu Mu, who had just finished eating an autumn pear, looked up at Nalan Yu and said in an old-fashioned way: "Brother Nalan is right. Mu Mu will go with you to get some more later and put them in the room for a while." Eat slowly, we can’t play even if it’s raining, it’s annoying!”
When Tang Qiuyu and others heard this, they almost laughed again.
...
The autumn rain was still falling, but after a while a layer of mist appeared on the street outside the window. Looking from the inside out, the figures of the pedestrians passing by could not be seen clearly.
Everyone in the room was sitting around the table. Nalan Yu had already asked the store clerk to set up a red clay stove, burn a charcoal fire, boil a pot of mountain spring water, and wait for the water to boil.
Tang Qiuyu also took out the tea brought from Zhongyu and placed it gently on the tea set on the table.
He said lightly: "On this rainy day, it is a rare treat to be able to calm down and sit down and drink a pot of tea."
Xia Wutong stared at the drizzle outside the window, looking at the peak of Fangcun Mountain in the distance in the rain and fog, and her originally depressed mood gradually became calmer.
She doesn't know why, but she feels that there is something very attractive to her in the deep mountains...
To the east of the Buddhist capital and to the north of Prajna Temple is the Xuantian Temple.
