After Beitai, the eldest young master of Nanyi City, left Xuanshuyuan with Nandao and walked for a while, he said goodbye at an intersection and walked into the alley while talking boringly.
Nan Dao walked a long way, and when he turned around, he found that this eccentric young man was standing alone at the end of the alley, quietly looking at the Nanyi River that was not covered in the mist of spring rain.
Nandao looked at it for a long time, and Beitai also looked at it for a long time. Then they both held umbrellas and left in silence.
When he returned to Su's Inn, it was already dusk. Nan Dao canceled all the days he had reserved for the room at the inn, exchanged some money, and then spent three pennies on a bowl of noodles in the lobby downstairs. Then he went back to his room, packed up his things, and left the inn.
Su Guang, the young innkeeper, watched Nan Dao leave at the door and couldn't help but sigh. After all, the money he earned was gone, which inevitably made people unhappy.
Nan Dao took the things and walked towards the direction of Xuanshuyuan.
After Mr. Mei finished drinking tea at that time, he told Nan Dao that he could go to Xuanxu Courtyard to do some small things. On the one hand, he could earn some small money, and on the other hand, he could go to the library to read books or attend classes in the courtyard.
Xuanxuyuan has never refused outsiders to attend, on the contrary, it welcomes this kind of behavior. This is probably the long-cherished wish of the Huangliang scholar to "ruminate the world with culture."
Nan Dao rushed back to Xuanxuyuan at nightfall. The rain had stopped. Mr. Mei was holding an oil lamp and was chatting with Mr. Xie at the moss-covered gate.
Seeing Nan Dao coming, the gentleman named Xie smiled at Nan Dao in a friendly manner, patted the open space next to him, and said, "Come here to sit down and have a chat."
Nan Dao sat down as he was told, and heard Mr. Xie looking at Nan Dao and saying, "How do you feel?"
Nan Dao smiled bitterly and said, "There are some big ups and downs."
"Hahaha." Mr. Mei smiled wildly and looked at Nan Dao and said, "Young people, it's better to suffer some setbacks."
"I remember when you registered, it said that you were only fifteen years old this year. Actually, there is no need to be too impatient." Mr. Xie said, "Although you are only a hundred years old, there is no need to be impatient."
"But sir." Nan Dao looked up at the edge of the umbrella and said softly, "I might be dying soon."
Mr. Mei and Mr. Xie both looked at Nan Dao in astonishment.
"I may be a person burdened with a curse. Many years ago, I was about to die. It was the Human Sword Sect who gave me a peach blossom and transferred the cause and effect of my life and death to the peach blossom. I only lived to be fifteen years old, but now that The peach tree is dead." Nan Dao said to himself, "I went to the Jianzong Garden and met with the sect master, and he asked me to come to Xuanshuyuan..."
"What are you doing in Xuanxuyuan?" Mr. Xie asked puzzledly, "If it is for cultivation, Jian Zong was willing to give you peach blossoms back then, so naturally he can also take you under his sect and practice there, and your starting point will be standing in the human world. Peak, why come to Xuanheyuan? If it is for treatment, not only going to the Northern Daomen, but also going to Huaidu is better than going to Xuanheyuan."
Nan Dao shook his head and said: "I don't know either, but he said that I am hated by some kind of existence in the world, and he doesn't want to be involved in more causes and effects with me. I think the dean refused to accept the boy, It’s also for this reason.”
Mr. Mei kept looking at Nan Dao, looking at his umbrella, and said, "This umbrella seems to be something extraordinary. I see that you have never put it down."
"Umbrella?" Nan Dao looked up at the umbrella in his hand, thought for a moment and said, "I don't know, my father forged it for me. And I won't put down the umbrella..."
Nan Dao fell silent as he spoke, and then started to cough. He smiled to himself and said, "Two gentlemen, just think that I am afraid of death."
Mr. Mei and Mr. Xie looked at each other, but did not continue to ask. Mr. Mei glanced at some of the blood overflowing from the corners of Nan Dao's lips, stood up, and returned to the small house.
Mr. Xie looked at Nan Dao and said, "You probably rarely interacted with others in the past?"
Nan Dao nodded as he recalled his life under the umbrella in a small town for more than ten years.
Mr. Xie sighed and said, "Do you know why Lao Mei and I were surprised at first?"
"Sir, please speak."
Mr. Xie patted Nan Dao on the shoulder and said: "It's not that I am surprised at your fate, but that you said these things so easily. Nan Dao is unknown in the world. You can have good intentions towards it, but You can’t trust anyone easily.”
"I am a person who doesn't know if I will wake up tomorrow..."
"But if you have nothing to do tomorrow, how will you face yesterday's indulgence?"
Nan Dao looked at Mr. Xie, stood up, raised his hands and bent down, saluted respectfully, and said, "Thank you, sir, for your teaching."
Mr. Xie shook his head with a smile, stood up, and said: "I am the fifth teacher of Qingniu Yuan Taoist school. If you can still wake up tomorrow, you can come to Xinziting at Shenshi to listen. Tomorrow is Qingniu Five Thousand Words ’s first lecture.”
Before Nan Dao could answer, Mr. Mei came out with a pot of hot tea and said, "This kid is acquainted with Mr. Yunhu, the great master of your Taoist school. If you really want to listen, then go and listen to Mr. Yunhu." , why are you listening to this class where you were demoted from Mr. 1 to Mr. 5 in three years?"
Mr. Xie was not angry at all. He laughed and said, "That's right. Mr. Yun Huda's class is in Chenshi. If you want to listen, you have to get up earlier."
Nan Dao bowed again and said, "Thank you sir."
Mr. Xie waved his hand, stretched out his hand towards Mr. Mei, and said, "Give me a light, I'm going back."
Angrily, Mr. Mei went back to his room, took an oil lamp and gave it to Mr. Xie, and said, "Remember to send it back. You gentlemen are so polite in everything you talk about. You always borrow something and never repay it."
Mr. Xie laughed while holding the oil lamp, walked through the bamboo forest after the rain, and said: "There are too many things, and it is always easy to forget. I will give it to you next time."
Nan Dao and Mr. Mei continued to squat at the door, drinking hot tea. After a long time, Nan Dao asked: "Is Mr. Xie a practitioner?"
"Of course." Mr. Mei took a big sip of tea, raised his head and gargled, then tilted his head and spit it out by the door.
"Do practitioners also need to use oil lamps to walk at night?"
Mr. Mei rinsed his mouth, took another big sip, swallowed it and said: "The scallion pancakes we had in the afternoon were too smelly. Practitioners certainly don't need to use oil lamps, not to mention that Mr. It’s a small path, but they say it’s cultivation and conforming to the great path, who knows?”
Nan Dao asked with some confusion: "What are trails and avenues?"
Mr. Mei turned to look at Nan Dao and said earnestly: "It's too early for you to understand this now. Of course, the main reason is - I'm not a fucking practitioner. How could I know if you ask me."
Mr. Mei rolled his eyes at the end.
"Uh..." Nan Dao scratched his head in embarrassment.
"But Mr. Xie and I have known each other for many years. We came to study in the same batch. We were both ten years old at the time. He entered the Taoist School and I entered the Wenhua Academy. Unfortunately, I couldn't continue studying after half a year. I always wanted to go to practice, but I went to Qingniu Yuan for a long time and never stepped through that door, so I left Xuanxu Yuan and went out for several years. I stayed in the Lingnan Sword Sect and also went to some small towns in the north. Taoist sect, but still nothing, so he returned to Nanyi City. Mr. Before, he finally returned to Xuanxuyuan and became a teacher of Qingniuyuan."
"What is the Small Dao Realm?" As soon as Nan Dao finished asking, he was hit on the head by Mr. Mei.
"Of course it is a spiritual realm. I have never even entered the Taoist realm. How do I know what a small Taoist realm is? If you ask such emotionally hurtful questions again, be careful I slap you." Mr. Mei said, glaring at Nan Dao.
Nan Dao nodded and said, "Ah, yes, yes."
Seeing that Mr. Mei was still staring at him, Nan Dao said with a smile: "No, no, you continue."
Mr. Mei then continued with satisfaction: "Although I have not embarked on the path of spiritual practice, I can still tell you these things. The realm of Taoism is very simple. It is nothing more than the realm of entering the Tao, the realm of becoming the Tao, the realm of the small Tao, the realm of the great, and so on. There is the last saint.”
Nan Dao asked curiously: "Saint? Are there any saints in the world?"
Mr. Mei sighed and said: "There has been only one saint in the world, Li Er, the master of Hangu Temple thousands of years ago."
Nan Dao said in confusion: "After so many years of cultivation in the world, there is only one saint?"
Mr. Mei looked at Nan Dao with disdain and said, "How many do you want?"
"..."
Nan Dao was left speechless by the rhetorical question, and then asked: "What about Jian Zong?"
Mr. Mei looked back to the east and said slowly: "Jianzong needs to climb the cliff."
"What cliff to climb?"
"East China Sea, Mojian Cliff."
"Why climb the cliff?"
"Because the Sword Sect cultivates sword intent, the best way to verify one's sword intent is to climb the 3,650-foot sword ladder on Mojian Cliff. The number of steps you climb is the level of the realm. For example, a thousand From ten feet below, everyone is in the realm of white clothes.”
Nan Dao scratched his head and said, "It seems to be very troublesome."
Mr. Mei smiled and said, "Do you know how many years of history this world has?"
"have no idea."
"What about the way to practice?"
"I heard it's more than two thousand years ago."
Mr. Mei stood up and stood at the entrance of Xuansha Courtyard, which was covered with moss and green vines, and looked at the lively and bustling world outside the alley.
"In the face of the long history of the human world, the path of cultivation is as short-lived as the newborn. You are the latecomers and the pioneers. Therefore, the Xuanxu Courtyard in Nanyi City does not want to overhaul the Taoist gates in the realm of Huai'an Trail and Dao Dao. I would rather start from Huang That's why Liang invited Mr. Yunhu."
"I don't understand very well." Nan Dao was a little confused.
"Because he was the first person to systematically analyze and sort out the entire practice system from the perspective of a bystander."
Nan Dao suddenly remembered the book that the woman in the white dress was reading - "A Brief Discussion on the Differences in Inner Characteristics between Monks and Witches and Ghosts".
"Is Mr. Yunhu a practitioner?"
Mr. Mei chuckled and said, "No."
"?"
"But the entire world of spiritual practice needs such a person. Once a practitioner practices Taoism, he becomes obsessed. He only cares about his own height and does not think about future generations. He is different. He measures the height of the spiritual world from the human world. people."
Mr. Mei said, patted Nan Dao on the shoulder, and said: "After you clean up in Xuanxuyuan, you can go and listen to his class when you have time, but it may be difficult to listen, because all the gentlemen know about his class." Go and listen.”
Nan Dao nodded and drank the cool tea in his hand.
"By the way, if you want to sleep tonight, you can sleep inside." Mr. Mei pointed to the concierge behind him.
"Mr. Mei, don't you sleep here?"
Mr. Mei put the teapot into Nan Dao's hand, raised his legs and walked out of the alley, and said happily: "My wife and children are on the hot bed at home, why do they sleep here?"
"..."
