A belated and continuous drizzle finally surrounded the entire island at dusk.
But this spring rain did not break the souls of a group of craftsmen.
Even Qingyu, who had returned from the mountain, gradually returned to his previous calm mood.
After washing up at the top of the mountain and changing into clean clothes and shoes, the green jade in front of him finally regained its former vitality and did not frighten Xiaobao and the others.
After eating the dragon's broth, Xiaobao complained that it was too hot, so he slipped back into the cave to rest.
Even Old Man Zhang and others left early and returned to the cave to rest.
Under the wooden shed, only Gao Yue'er and Qing Yu were left.
Li Xiuyuan cooked a pot of spiritual tea and planned to talk to Qingyu about Gao Yuer'er.
But Qingyu handed over the two jade bottles and said: "These are the souls of the two empresses. They were suppressed by Niu Sanduo under the main hall. Please help them, sir..."
Li Xiuyuan put away the jade bottle and replied: "Let's talk after we return to the imperial city."
Qingyu nodded and asked carefully: "Sir, who is in the imperial city now?"
"Back then, there was only one old shopkeeper. I sold it to a guy named Qin Xiangyu on the 46th. When you go back, go to the snow mountain to practice."
Li Xiuyuan smiled lightly: "I planted plum trees and spiritual tea on the snowy mountain. It can be regarded as a nice paradise."
Qingyu smiled slightly when he heard this: "If I had known this, I might as well have stayed on the snow-capped mountains in the imperial city."
Li Xiuyuan shook his head: "If you don't experience wind and rain, how can you see the rainbow?"
Qingyu sighed, pointed at the sleeping Gao Yue'er and asked, "Sir, what should I do, junior sister? Do you want to feed you some antidote?"
Qingyu felt very guilty for Gao Yuer'er.
Shaking his head, Li Xiuyuan replied sternly: "Absolutely not. We will wait until we return to the imperial city. I'm afraid she won't be able to pass her own hurdle..."
After saying that, he poured two cups of spiritual tea and looked at Qingyu and smiled: "You feed her the spiritual tea first, and restore her vitality first along the way. I will figure out the rest later."
Qingyu thought about it. If her husband hadn't come here, she might not have survived.
Not to mention Gao Yue'er who was tortured by Niu Sanduo...
He sighed, picked up a cup of spiritual tea, blew gently, walked to Gao Yuer'er, lifted her up and gave her a sip.
Looking at Qingyu's appearance, Li Xiuyuan said: "The dragon soul in your body will be slowly refined in the next ten years. Just like your cultivation, it will also slowly recover."
Gao Yue'er drank a cup of spiritual tea, and her face regained some vitality and ruddy color. Qing Yu then helped her lie down.
He came over and sat down at the table and asked, "Sir, when will we return to the imperial city?"
Naturally, she would no longer worry about her own cultivation, now that she was reunited with her husband.
"Take those children back to the fishing village first. Have you found the antidote? After taking care of the children, we will set off immediately."
Li Xiuyuan replied quietly: "There is still trouble in the imperial city, waiting for me."
Qingyu nodded: "The antidote has been found. The children are all fine. I will just follow the teacher's arrangements."
He picked up the spiritual tea in front of him and took a sip. He thought for a moment and asked, "I wonder where Xiao Hei went? How have Qingqing and Yan'er been doing over the years?"
Li Xiuyuan sighed and smiled bitterly: "You are better than me. I didn't even see them for the last time..."
"I don't know where they went. Should they be better off than us?"
Since the two sisters are the daughters of the Immortal Emperor, there are probably not many people in the world who would dare to trouble Xiao Hei. Besides, there is still a master watching over them.
The two drank two cups of spiritual tea quietly, and Qingyu wanted to take Gao Yue'er back to the cave to rest.
He looked at Li Xiuyuan and asked, "Sir, do you want to take a rest?"
Li Xiuyuan shook his head: "I am in this shed. We will leave Penglai early tomorrow morning."
…
Leaving Penglai, stand on the bow of the ship.
Qingyu looked at this island where she had lived for nearly a hundred years, and felt an indescribable feeling in her heart.
I couldn't help but look at Li Xiuyuan and asked, "Sir, is this place really going to be closed for a hundred years?"
Li Xiuyuan was holding Xiaobao's hand and talking. When Qingyu asked, he couldn't help but frown.
He replied: "I wish I could destroy this island and seal it for a hundred years, just to cut off the minds of those elders and disciples."
Qingyu nodded: "That's good, but it should stop them from thinking about going back."
Xiaobao took Li Xiuyuan's hand, looked at the faint coast in the distance, and asked, "Have you been here before, sir?"
Li Xiuyuan smiled faintly: "When I came back last time, I happened to encounter a storm. Even the big ships were capsized. Some even drowned in the sea."
Xiaobao chuckled: "Don't be afraid, sir is a god."
Qingyu standing aside couldn't help but smile, thinking, isn't it?
This day is the most lively day in the small fishing village, even more lively than during the Chinese New Year.
When Old Man Zhang and his gang returned to the village with forty-eight children, the entire village, including people from nearby villages, came looking for the news.
It wasn't until after noon, when the children drank the antidote and regained their consciousness and started crying to find their parents, that Qingyu sighed quietly.
In my mind, perhaps only by doing this kind of thing can I become a Bodhisattva.
Forty-six of the forty-eight children were brought home by their parents that day.
The villagers who found the lost treasure thanked Old Man Zhang profusely, but Old Man Zhang said that this was the merit of the Bodhisattva.
Although the other two children were noisy all afternoon, they calmed down after the persuasion of the Zhang family.
After all, there are some places further away that haven't received the news yet.
Li Xiuyuan stayed in the fishing village for three days, waiting for the last two children to return home, before taking Qingyu and the others into the carriage and preparing to leave.
Zhang's family of three, together with hundreds of people in the village, were sent to the entrance of the village.
Li Xiuyuan thought for a while and asked Qingyu to give some of the money collected from Niu Sanduo to Old Man Zhang.
Looking at everyone, he said: "This money can be regarded as compensation for Penglai's forced labor for two years. Those villagers who died can get a little more."
When the villagers saw it, they called the Bodhisattva to appear and let them see the blue sky.
Waving his hands, Xiaobao said goodbye to his grandfather and parents: "Grandpa, parents, when Xiaobao grows up, I will come back to pick you up."
Old man Zhang wiped his tears and said with a smile: "Xiaobao, you have to listen to your husband, you know?"
Xiaobao nodded, hugged his husband's neck and replied, "Xiaobao remembers it."
The wheels were turning, and after a thousand years, Li Xiuyuan left the small fishing village again.
It was the first time for Xiaobao to travel far away from home. He was a little nervous and a little hopeful. He looked at Li Xiuyuan and asked, "Sir, how long will it take for us to get to the imperial city?"
Li Xiuyuan thought for a while and replied: "When summer comes, it will be almost done."
Qingyu and Gao Yue'er were sitting on the carriage in front.
Opening the curtain and looking at the bright spring light outside the window, Qingyu couldn't help but murmured: "Junior sister, we are going home."
Qingyu, who turned out to be an orphan, felt like going home for the first time.
In her opinion, from now on, the wooden house on the snow mountain will be her and her junior sister's home.
A hundred years have passed, just like a dream.
…
The sunshine in early summer is not so hot yet, and the fruits on the peach and apricot trees in the yard will soon be ripe.
After finishing morning classes, Mingkong went back to the Zen room to rest, but he took a bowl of sour plum soup and sipped it early.
Although it's not that hot yet, the gluttonous woman can't wait any longer.
Two birds flew over the courtyard wall, chirping non-stop.
She was very puzzled. She had entered Buddhism, so where could she get such a happy event? Did you come to my door to congratulate me?
Bathed in the golden sunshine, the sky of Ganye Temple looked solemn and silent. The believers burning incense at this time of the year had not yet arrived, and even the sound of chanting sutras had temporarily stopped.
As soon as he came to the temple from the palace to become a monk, Mingkong felt as if he had died, and he no longer had any desire to live.
If junior sister Qin Xiangyu hadn't come to see her from time to time, she might have been unable to hold on and committed suicide by taking poison.
She got up early in the morning and did morning classes. Now she seemed a little sleepy and just wanted to lie down and rest for a while.
Unexpectedly, a series of footsteps sounded in the yard, followed by a voice: "Senior sister, I'm here to see you again."
Mingkong yawned and replied softly: "Junior sister, you don't know how to come over in the afternoon."
Before the two met, they yelled out what they wanted to say.
Qin Xiangyu spat at her after entering the Zen room.
He smiled and said, "You lazy idiot, if the master knows that you just want to sleep all day long, you will be pissed to death."
Mingkong got up to boil water and make tea, and asked lazily: "Tell me, what do you want from me today? Or is it that the master has brewed new wine and asked me to go over and taste it?"
Shaking her head, Qin Xiangyu did not answer her question immediately.
Instead, he looked at the scroll of scriptures spread out on the table and asked in a daze: "Does Senior Sister really want to practice Buddhism all her life? Can't she return to secular life?"
In her eyes, the senior sister's beautiful life has just begun, how can she guard the ancient Buddha's green lantern for the rest of her life?
She couldn't even think about this.
"Otherwise? Is it possible that you can help me think of a way to escape?"
He picked a futon and handed it to Qin Xiangyu. Mingkong leaned on the mat and closed his eyes to rest.
After thinking for a while, he closed his eyes and said lazily: "Junior sister, you can hear the birds chirping non-stop, but I don't see you bringing me any surprising good news."
Qin Xiangyu put the cakes he bought from the street on the table, sat down on the futon, poured himself a cup of tea, held it in his hands and drank lightly.
It wasn't until he finished a cup of warm tea that he said softly: "Master said, Li Xiuyuan is coming back soon."
"Whoosh!"
Mingkong sat up instantly, leaned forward, stretched out his hand to pull Qin Xiangyu's sleeve and asked, "Really? Big brother is going back to Chang'an?"
Mingkong has been looking forward to Li Xiuyuan's return.
Even the Tripitaka monks who went west to obtain Buddhist scriptures have returned, and even Emperor Taizong has passed away...
His brother, who was like a dragon, disappeared in the Western Region, and there was no news about him.
Just when she was about to despair, Qin Xiangyu told him that Li Xiuyuan was coming back. This gave her an instant hope of living again.
Qin Xiangyu sighed, pointed outside and smiled: "Didn't the bird tell you? It's because you are confused."
Mingkong quit, stared into her eyes and said, "Quickly, tell me when will your eldest brother return to Chang'an?"
Qin Xiangyu smiled, pulled her to sit, and reached out to add tea to his cup.
He said quietly: "Master said he was already on his way back. I guess it won't take a few days. When he left, my inn hadn't opened yet?"
Only then did Mingkong become quiet.
He picked up the sour plum soup that was no longer cold on the table, took a sip, and then sighed.
He chuckled and said, "I'm afraid that my eldest brother wouldn't have thought that my junior sister is already married, right?"
Qin Xiangyu sighed and smiled bitterly: "This is what you and the master advised me at the beginning, saying that it would be good to be a mortal first and then think about cultivating immortals. But when you look back, you come to make fun of me again."
Mingkong sighed and said, "Junior sister, don't be ignorant of your blessings."
