Xuantian Temple at the beginning of spring. A guest came to the house of Taoist Master Qingxu.
A weirdo that people in the Five Realms always miss, but who rarely comes across.
A weirdo who can make people throw away all their gold coins just to get drunk, which made Nalan Yu owe Hua Tian 10,000 gold coins back then.
A guy who is known as a drunkard in the Five Realms.
A weirdo who has a lot of money but a slovenly appearance.
Seeing the hypocrisy of Qing who was getting older but still unwilling to ascend, the alcoholic took out a jar of wine from his arms, looked at him and said with a smile: "I've drunk all the good wine, and this is the only one left. Let's just have a drink."
Qingxu looked at him and smiled: "Come on, I'm determined this time."
The drunkard took two glasses from the table and filled them, looked at him and said with a smile: "That's good, this way I will have a companion, otherwise my life will be as lonely as snow!"
Qingxu was stunned after hearing this, looked at him blankly and asked, "Are you not leaving this time?"
"If you don't want to leave, just stay in your broken Taoist temple. When you finish what you are doing, we will leave together." The drunkard looked at him and smiled, raising the wine glass in his hand.
"That's very good." Qingxu also picked up the wine glass and took a sip. "Good wine. After all these years, your wine is still delicious."
Looking at the spring scenery outside the window, the wine addict shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I once brewed a vat of wine, which was the only pride of my life. However, I was in a mood at that time and forgot one process."
"How?" Qingxu was stunned, thinking, is there any process in this world that you can forget?
The drunkard looked at him and shook his head. I once auctioned it in the Buddhist capital and sold four jars for 20,000 gold coins. You must know that I only brewed nine jars in total. "
"Four jars of wine, 20,000 gold coins? That's a sky-high price." Qingxu looked at him and smiled lightly.
The drunkard looked at him and shook his head, and said with a bitter smile: "If I had known at that time that I would never be able to brew it again, I wouldn't have sold it for ten thousand gold per jar."
"Hey, is that an exaggeration? Isn't it just a tank of wine? With your ability as a wine addict, what's wrong with it?" Qingxu said with a smile.
"That's it. Later, I tried dozens of bottles of wine and spent countless efforts, but never succeeded."
Thinking about the effort he put into that wine, the alcoholic felt that it was more troublesome than his cultivation to reach the Nine Realms.
"I'm really convinced by you, isn't it just a vat of wine? You can continue brewing it after you go somewhere." Qingxu glanced at the alcohol addict and saw that he was really uncomfortable, so he stopped asking any questions.
Have friends come from afar?
What's more, today is a rare sunny day in Xuantian Temple in spring.
He ordered his disciples to put the food on the table, with a jar of wine and two glasses on the table.
Even if you are a drunkard, you are not polite, just pick up the bowl and start eating. Qingxu added wine to their glasses and smiled at the drunkard in front of him.
In order to brew a kind of wine, a person may spend more than a dozen tanks of fine wine and spend countless energy on research. If you have such a mind to practice, I am afraid that the master will ascend and leave the five realms.
"Tell me, what are the big things in this broken Taoist temple that you can't let go of?" asked the drunkard while eating food.
"I'm different from you. I have a lot of things that I can't let go of. How can I be alone like you?" Qingxu looked at him and sighed softly.
"Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. Can you control them for the rest of their lives?" This is all the drunkard said.
Qingxu didn't answer him. He just picked up the cup and took a sip of wine. He looked at the door and was silent for a long time.
"My new disciple went to an unknown place to look for someone... No matter what, I have to wait for him to come back and tell me accurate news before I can leave with peace of mind."
Looking at the drunkard in front of him, Qingxu thought of Li Ye, Mu Mu and Xiao Qing who had left for three months and had not returned yet.
The drunkard was very calm and was not surprised by Qingxu's statement.
Anyone who is unwilling or unwilling to leave is mostly because of the people around them.
"He has already gone to March. How can I not get angry when I see him coming back?" Qingxu was not only worried about whether the disciples in the temple could come back, but he was also afraid that something would happen to Li Ye.
After all, it is an unknown place, but it is a place that no one has ever been to.
"He is the last disciple I accepted, and he is also the only disciple I am proud of in this life. No matter what the outcome is, I will wait for him to come back."
Qingxu looked up at Jiu Chi with a serious look on his face.
"It must be very painful for you to say something like this." The drunkard knew that he could not persuade him to leave immediately, so he could only agree with him lukewarmly.
Qingxu looked at him, shook his head, and said, "You have never experienced this kind of pain, so you don't understand. The most uncomfortable thing in the world is self-blame, constantly suffering in self-blame."
In Qingxu's heart, he has been blaming himself for why he didn't take them there in the first place.
Jiu Chi thought about his various experiences, nodded, and agreed with Qingxu's statement. Because he also lost the person he loved most and blamed himself for decades, and he still feels pain in his heart to this day.
"In addition to the fact that the temple is currently out of business and I can't find a suitable person to be the master of the temple, I have been looking forward to going out on adventures and looking for a way out. Junior brother and disciples can return safely. Even if they have no hope of ascending, with their cultivation, they can stay here. The world also has a long life.”
Thousands of years can change many people and things.
"I stay here to give myself hope that they can come back. This way I can feel more at ease when I leave, and I don't have to worry about these things day and night..."
Raising her head, Qingxu said in a deep voice, feeling unwilling, hopeful, and somewhat disappointed.
The drunkard looked at him and nodded, saying: "I can understand what you said. The problem is that whether you stay or leave, it can't change this fact! What are you going to do?"
"Just wait a little longer. This time my little disciple can come back. The treasures of Prajna Temple and Xuantian Temple have been given to him. He can return to these when the time is up."
When Qingxu thought of Li Ye and the others, he couldn't help but smile.
"That's pretty much it!" the drunkard said with a smile.
With hope, you don’t have to wait a long time.
"I can't sleep well in the house, and you're pouring wine here! This is so inappropriate, I told you, Taoist priest."
While the two were whispering, Minghui's voice came from outside the door.
"Hey! What day did you come here in person today?" Qingxu looked at Qingxu who walked in and said with a smile.
"It's not just me, but also your precious disciple!" Minghui glared at him and said with a smile.
"Master, I'm here, have you missed Yu'er?"
Before Minghui could sit down, Nangong Ruyu was already like a cheerful bird, flying into Qingxu's arms from outside the house, followed by Xiaohua with a timid face.
"It's just the beginning of spring, Yu'er, why did you come up the mountain?" Qingxu held Nangong Ruyu, who was about to be five years old, with a loving look on his face.
Nangong Ruyu looked up at him and smiled: "Because I want to find the master. Uncle Minghui said that the master will come to the master. Yu'er will come here with him to wait for his return."
From the moment she left the Buddhist capital, Nangong Ruyu made the decision that she would never leave her master again. One winter made her anxious.
But I miss my father Wu Xin on the mountain, and I don't miss Li Ye as much.
Qingxu looked at Minghui for a long time. It wasn't until Nangong Ruyu also complained that he was hungry that he called the disciples outside the door to come over and ordered some more dishes to be fried and served.
Looking at Minghui, he said: "Count the days, it's either today or tomorrow. The three of them should be back. I hope he can bring us some good news."
Minghui smiled bitterly and said: "I went to the yard and kept watch for a long time, but there was no movement, so I thought of coming here to have a look. This little girl also shouted to find the master..."
"It's okay if you come, let's chat together and introduce him. This is the legendary figure in the Five Realms, the guy known as the 'Drunken Maniac'."
Qingxu pointed at the drunkard and introduced Minghui.
"This is the eminent monk of Prajna Temple, the honest monk, Master Minghui." Qingxu continued.
"Why didn't Master introduce me?" Nangong Ruyu was dissatisfied. He saw that Qingxu didn't even mention him.
Qingxu was stunned, touched her head and said with a smile, "Because you are too young."
When Nangong Ruyu heard this, she hugged Qingxu and giggled.
"I once heard a saying: If a person who loves wine can't drink the wine made by a wine lover when he is forty years old, his life will be in vain..."
Minghui explained the legend of the Five Realms' obsession with wine in front of the two of them.
Nangong Ruyu smiled and shouted: "Then Yu'er must be promising, and she will have to take a sip of the wine brewed by the alcoholic grandpa."
Upon hearing this, the wine addict smiled and picked up three wine glasses from the table, poured a little for Nangong Ruyu, stuffed it into her little hand, and said with a smile: "Take a sip and remember the taste."
"It's okay, mortals have to remember all kinds of flavors when they are alive." Qingxu looked at Nangong Ruyu and said with a smile.
Holding the cup, Nangong Ruyu smiled and took a sip of wine.
Before Ming Hui could speak, she frowned and vomited on the ground, and said with a grimace, "Master, is this poison?"
If Li Ye was talking about this, he would definitely laugh when he heard this. Mumu had the same expression when he drank for the first time.
Minghui looked at Nangong Ruyu and said, "This is the wine that everyone in the five regions has legendary about. In fact, it is also a taste of life. Yu'er, you must remember it!"
Nangong Ruyu nodded.
He tilted his little head and thought for a while, then picked up the cup and took a sip. Then he shook his head desperately, looked at everyone and said, "Yu'er has remembered this taste."
Then he reached out and poured the remaining half of the wine into the wine glass in front of Qingxu.
"Leave it for you to drink, Master!" This was Nangong Yu'er's filial piety to Qingxu.
"Old Taoist priest, you are so lucky!" The drunkard looked at Nangong Ruyu and laughed.
Qingxu looked at him and said calmly: "Envy me, quickly find an apprentice and pass on your skills before you leave."
The wine addict poured wine for Xiaohua and Minghui, and said with a smile: "It's not really good wine, so I'll make do with it."
Qingxu was stunned, looked at Minghui and asked, "Can a monk drink?"
Minghui looked at him and smiled: "Can't a monk drink?"
The drunkard looked at the two men and shook his head, sighed and said: "This is not wine, this is loneliness!"
Minghui looked at him and smiled and said: "In my eyes, this is not loneliness, it is the taste of the world."
Qingxu and Jiuchi both looked at Minghui, their mouths wide open and speechless.
Nangong Ruyu looked at the three of them and chuckled: "I wonder what my master would say if he is here. I haven't seen him for a long time."
"Is this the smell of the human world?" Qingxu asked.
"In my eyes, it is just a cup of loneliness, but when it comes to the master's mouth, it tastes like the human world. The master is the great Buddha in the human world!" The drunkard said seriously, clasping his hands together.
"Isn't it said that the most bitter thing in life is nothing more than a glass of wine, and the coldness of the world is nothing more than a cup of weak tea?" Minghui looked at the two of them, without meditating, but pointed directly at human nature and explained seriously.
"The bitterest thing is wine, the lightest thing is tea!" The master has such profound Buddhist teachings.
"Monk, why don't you leave everything in the temple and leave with us? The three of us will have company together." Qingxu had already admired Minghui's Buddhism, but he was still shocked by his words.
"Master, do you want to leave here? Are you going down the mountain to the Buddhist capital? I will ask grandpa to entertain you." Nangong Ruyu heard this
Qingxu touched her little head and said with a smile: "You can't go to wherever the master goes now, but as long as you practice hard with the master, you can go there one day."
"That's it. She, Yu'er, will practice well with her master. Grandpa also said that Yu'er can practice this year." Nangong Ruyu recalled what Nangong Xuanyuan told her and nodded thoughtfully.
"You practice well with the master, and you will be able to meet the master in the future." Qingxu replied seriously
"What the old Taoist said makes sense. Yu'er, you have to practice with your master. There are not many practitioners like your master in the five realms." Minghui felt a sense of pride whenever he thought of Li Ye.
"Is the guy you are talking about the master of this little girl?" The drunkard looked at the little girl in front of him and asked with a smile.
Not long after he arrived here, he had already heard Qingxu mention it more than once. What kind of person was the guy Minghui and the little girl in front of him mentioned repeatedly?
"My master..." Nangong Ruyu tilted her head, trying to find a word to describe her master.
"Which one, are you talking about me?"
While Nangong Ruyu was in a daze, she heard a gentle voice outside the door.
