The hot pot is of course cabbage vermicelli.
Lu Xiaosan and Song Guo were taken to those white flower floating islands by Ye Zhuliu early in the morning.
As for Le Chaotian, he had already gone there long ago.
The two boys and girls who had slept for a while were walking on the white flower paths, and some hot breath was already coming from the early morning sea breeze.
Lu Xiaosan was very curious and passed through a large forest of lush white flowers, and a not very wide open space appeared in front of him.
About one foot square.
In the middle is a low stone platform. On the platform is a steaming copper hot pot, a pot of wine and a plate of meat beside it.
Le Chaotian was squatting beside a small pool brought in, washing some stone bowls and dishes.
Another Taoist who looked unsmiling was tearing some cabbage he got from who knows where.
There are also some sweet potato vermicelli soaked on the side.
White flowers scattered all over the ground like snow.
Lu Xiaosan looked at the old Taoist who was tearing the cabbage in surprise.
Does this person lack a divination skill?
The little boy became a little cautious for a moment, and stayed at the edge of the clearing with Pinecone.
As for the young Taoist Ye Zhuliu, he had already left when he brought the two here.
Le Chaotian washed the dishes there, then turned to look at the two people who were parked by the side. He smiled softly and said, "It's almost done. You go and sit down first."
"Okay, uncle."
Today's "Master Uncle" voice is particularly sincere.
Relieved, Lu Xiaosan took the pine cone and ran to the hot pot and sat down upright.
A cabbage and vermicelli hotpot in a forest of white flowers naturally doesn’t take long to prepare.
There were probably just some simple seasonings added to the hot pot, and the soup base was very clear, not at all like the brightly colored hot pots I had originally.
Lu Xiaosan looked down at the circle of hot pot soup, and could clearly see his face reflected in it, with a white flower on his head that he didn't know when it fell on it.
The pine cone on the side probably saw it too, so he reached out and took it down for him.
Le Chaotian started joking with Bu Suanzi.
"I didn't expect that senior brother there would be some vermicelli here."
It is normal for senior brother to have vermicelli.
But if there is no vermicelli in one of them, it may be something that people find weird.
Bu Suanzi just said softly: "I probably know that you will come to have such a hot pot meal on a certain day."
Le Chaotian chuckled softly and placed the pile of dishes on the low table.
"It seems that senior brother has indeed been waiting for many years."
"Yes."
Lu Xiaosan looked at the emotional smile on Le Chaotian's face, and then looked up at the old Taoist sitting there tearing cabbage.
This is probably a story that I have been waiting for for many years.
Le Chaotian also sat down on the edge of the low table. Without saying anything, he put the soaked vermicelli into the pot, then held the chopsticks with both hands, and then smiled slightly, like a young man full of expectations. There was a wait.
Just like when I had that cabbage and vermicelli hot pot meal with the boy under the umbrella in the small building.
The old Taoist tore the cabbage slowly.
Le Chaotian waited for a long time, looked at the two people sitting next to him who were a little reserved, smiled and said warmly: "Brother, the cabbage is not ready yet?"
The old Taoist laughed for some reason and said softly: "Okay."
So the torn cabbage was brought over.
The four of them finally sat down beside the steaming pot.
Probably because Le Chaotian finally had that smile again, Lu Xiaosan felt much relieved. He looked at the old Taoist who put cabbage in the pot, thought about it, and asked: "You are the fortune teller. senior?"
Lu Xiaosan finally lost his courage.
Bu Suanzi looked at the young man carrying a gourd sword and smiled lightly.
"Yes."
Lu Xiaosan finally got a solid answer and took a deep breath.
This is of course a serious Taoist senior.
Different from that old dog Cao Weiying, although Qi Yimen is not concerned with worldly affairs, he is still in the world after all.
A senior person in the human world is certainly more intimidating.
So Lu Xiaosan also grabbed the chopsticks and sat there upright.
Le Chaotian looked at the young boy with a smile and said, "Why are you so quiet today?"
This probably means asking questions knowingly.
Lu Xiaosan said sincerely: "I have always been quiet. You must have remembered wrongly. Lu Xiaoer is the naughty one, uncle."
Le Chaotian just laughed softly, but did not reveal the young boy's disguise.
A forest of white flowers slowly fell, like a yard covered by snow.
Lu Xiaosan and Song Guo were still reserved, and Le Chaotian didn't say much to his senior brother, just like they had during countless hot pot meetings many years ago.
Naturally, people who are familiar with each other rarely have much to say, and when it snows heavily, there probably won't be anything interesting to say.
The only lively things were the hot pots rolling on the stove.
The four of them ate hot pot quietly and drank some wine.
Finally, after getting a little drunk, the young boy's true nature was revealed again.
After Lu Xiaosan drank half a glass of wine in one gulp, he felt a little dizzy, so while swiping the vermicelli in the bowl, he looked at the old Taoist and asked with a smile: "I want to ask senior a question."
Bu Suanzi sat upright, holding the cabbage in the pot.
"I have no idea."
Probably an experienced Taoist knows everything and nothing.
Lu Xiaosan sighed melancholy and said, "How could senior not know this?"
Bu Suanzi smiled faintly.
"Why do you need to be so clear about youth? It's never a good thing to see everything about your life at the age of eleven or twelve."
Lu Xiaosan tilted his head and thought for a while, then said, "Then I'll come back and ask you when I'm 70 or 80 years old?"
Le Chaotian smiled softly: "By the time you are seventy or eighty years old, senior brother will have been turned into a pile of loess."
Lu Xiaosan thought that this was indeed the case, so the young man said more sincerely: "Then senior, why not leave some prophecies and bury them on this island. How about I come and take a look at them in the future?"
Le Chaotian raised his eyebrows, probably thinking it was interesting, so he turned to look at the old Taoist sitting across from him and said with a smile, "What do you think, senior brother?"
Bu Suanzi did not refuse, but said softly: "That's okay."
So Lu Xiaosan stood up, ran not far away, staggeredly moved a small stone slab, and moved it to Bu Suanzi. The latter looked at the young boy calmly, and then Tao Yun appeared on his fingertips.
Lu Xiaosan felt as if he was in a drunken trance for a moment, and Bu Suanzi had already finished writing something.
The young boy subconsciously looked towards the stone slab, but unfortunately it was covered with a layer of Taoist rhyme and could not see anything.
The old Taoist returned the stone slab to Lu Xiaosan and smiled slightly.
"Go ahead and bury it."
Although the little boy saw nothing, he still became excited. He nodded solemnly, carried the gourd on his back and hugged the stone slab, and walked towards the white flower forest.
Le Chaotian smiled softly and looked at Bu Suanzi.
"What did senior brother write?"
Song Guo also looked over curiously.
Bu Suanzi just smiled and said nothing.
After a long time, the young boy came back slowly and bowed to Bu Suanzi seriously.
"Thank you, senior."
...
Naturally, such a cabbage and vermicelli hot pot won’t last long.
When some white flowers fell on the low platform, the hot pot meal had come to an end.
The young Taoist Ye Zhuliu also appeared in the forest, stood behind Bu Suanzi and said softly: "It's time for you to go back and recuperate, Master."
During the incident in the East China Sea, Le Chaotian was struck by a sword, and Bu Suanzi also endured a lot of sword intent. He is an old Taoist, and his body is old, so his injuries are naturally more difficult to recover from.
So a simple hot pot also came to an end in a simple story.
But for a young boy, such a hot pot will be remembered for a long time.
Lu Xiaosan rode on Hu Lukou, waving to the two Taoists in front of the White Moon Mirror on the edge of the White Flower Forest, and then drifted away in the sea.
Ye Zhuliu stood there and stared for a long time, then looked at the old Taoist and said softly: "What did Master write down?"
Bu Suanzi said calmly: "I didn't write anything."
The young Taoist was stunned for a moment.
The Taoist with white temples turned around and headed up the stairs.
"Is there anything destined in life?"
Ye Zhuliu was silent for a while, looked at the old Taoist's back and asked, "What about the picture in the mirror yesterday?"
Bu Suanzi said softly: "It's just a possibility."
Beyond every possibility, there are millions of possibilities.
For example, the first drop of water falling from a drip has countless destinations among thousands of drips.
...
Probably because he was drunk, the gourd did not fly in the sky, but slowly floated on the sea water.
The little boy didn't care where the gourd would float, he just lay on the gourd's belly and looked up at the distant clouds.
"Uncle Master."
Le Chaotian, who was sitting in front, looked back at the young boy.
Lu Xiaosan rested his arms on his head and said softly: "What do you think Senior Bu Suanzi will write down?"
Le Chaotian turned his head and smiled softly.
"How do I know? I didn't look."
"Oh well."
The two of them were talking there, and Pinecone, who had never existed, was sighing softly.
Lu Xiaosan sat up curiously and looked at the little demon girl while blowing the sea breeze.
"Why are you sighing?"
Pinecone looked very melancholy.
"Actually, I also want senior to help me take a look."
Le Chaotian raised his eyebrows and looked at the little girl.
"What do you want to know?"
Pinecone said melancholy: "I want to know where I will be in the future."
Pinecone is naturally confused.
After running out of Bailu, he met a young boy, so he followed Le Chaotian and followed them around with the idea of having roast duck.
It’s just.
There will always be separation in life.
Song Guo knew very well that this would not happen forever.
What will happen to the world at that time?
As a demon clan, where should I go?
But Song Guo probably didn't have the courage like Lu Xiaosan, so he didn't ask.
Le Chaotian chuckled softly: "I know, it may not be the case. Subtle changes will cause the flow of fate to deviate. Unless such a person can really observe the trajectories of all missing particles."
Pinecone was silent for a while and said softly: "Actually, sometimes I don't necessarily really want to know, but I also want to own a stone slab like that and go and have a look many years later."
Le Chaotian stood up with a smile and said, "If you just want a stone slab like this, most people will actually have it."
Lu Xiaosan and Songguo were stunned for a moment, and then they heard Le Chaotian looking at the endless East China Sea and saying, "That's the one on the grave."
This is probably not a very funny joke.
But Lu Xiaosan and Song Guo couldn't tell whether Le Chaotian was joking or serious.
...
Someone in the town stayed in a very secluded alley for a long time.
As if looking at something.
But there was nothing in the alley. The deepest part of the secluded alley was covered with moss, and even the stones looked green.
The eaves on both sides are very deep, turning the black and gray into the color of this alley.
So it looks very deep, and sometimes it feels like there is still a long distance there.
But the alley is very short, and even the children in the town don't have to walk for too long.
But the sword cultivator looked there for a long time without even passing a step.
Some kid in town recognized the swordsman.
His name is Chen Huaifeng.
I came to a certain river outside the town on a certain spring day.
He once disappeared strangely, and then reappeared in this town.
As if looking for something, maybe someone. Until I suddenly passed by such a secluded and ordinary alley, I suddenly stopped and started looking there for a long time.
The child thought of the blind swordsman in white clothes, and also thought of another Taoist priest in blue and white clothes who said he wanted to eat children.
But the child didn't tell anyone in the town.
But sometimes when passing by, I would look at the tall swordsman in a daze.
The child didn't know why he was looking at him like this, or what he was looking at.
The child also tried looking at the alley, but unfortunately he saw nothing, only darkness and tranquility.
Stories like this are indeed curious.
Finally, after a long time, the child walked over, sat down next to the swordsman, hesitated for a long time, and then asked softly: "What are you looking at?"
The sword cultivator named Chen Huaifeng turned to look at the child he had met once by the river, then turned back and said calmly: "Look where this alley leads."
The children were a little confused.
Of course, this alley leads to the other side of the town. If you walk there and turn a corner, you can see another street.
Even as a child, he knew that something like this was not the answer the sword cultivator wanted.
So the child scratched his head and thought for a long time, and then asked: "Then where do you think it will lead?"
Chen Huaifeng said slowly: "I don't know."
The child hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Maybe you try to walk over and have a look?"
Chen Huaifeng was silent for a long time, and then said softly: "I dare not leave."
The child thought to himself: What is there that dares not to leave?
It was probably the conversation between the two that day that made the child feel that this swordsman did not look like a bad person, so he stood up and bravely extended his hand to Chen Huaifeng.
"I'll take you there. I've dared to walk this way at night before."
Chen Huaifeng sat there for a long time, probably hesitating.
So the child grabbed the sword cultivator's hand and dragged him up hard.
This small town child was probably very surprised by something, so he looked at the sword cultivator in confusion.
When he held the sword cultivator's hand, at that moment, he seemed to feel a heavy yet light feeling.
The heavy thing is the weight of the tall swordsman himself, what is the light weight?
The child thought for a while and then realized that it was because this swordsman seemed to have no bones and felt powerless all over his body.
"are you sick?"
The children looked at Chen Huaifeng with some confusion.
The latter leaned against the alley wall with his sword on his back and said softly: "No."
The child suddenly remembered that it seemed that at that time, when the sword cultivator carrying the sword suddenly caught a glimpse of this alley, his whole state was different.
At that time, the profile of his face seemed to turn pale in an instant.
So this feeling of powerlessness started at that time?
But the child still held the sword cultivator's hand sincerely.
"Don't be afraid, just walk over and you will know. There is really nothing at the end of the alley."
Chen Huaifeng leaned against the wall, looked at this very sincere child, thought for a long time, and then said softly: "Okay."
So this sword cultivator, who was clearly only thirty-three years old, looked like an old man in his twilight years, being held by a child and walking slowly down the alley.
"Why are you so afraid?"
The children walked in front of them very doubtfully.
Chen Huaifeng did not answer, but looked at that alley for a long time.
The remaining distance in the alley is getting shorter and shorter, and the eaves on both sides are getting lower and lower.
The wind from April was winding around the alley, blowing slowly on the sword cultivator's back, which had become soaked without knowing it.
The child didn't get an answer, but he could feel the sword cultivator's hands behind him, which should have been steady and strong, trembling slowly.
It felt like he was walking through an unusual alley.
It's a period of time where everything is unknown, or the same fate.
Of course, the child could not understand such a thing, but he turned back seriously and said: "Don't be afraid, we will be out soon."
Perhaps the comfort did have some effect. Chen Huaifeng's hand gradually became calmer, although it was still a little cold and still covered with a lot of sweat.
"When I left for the first time, I held my father's hand."
"I was also very scared at that time. It was so dark and quiet here. Could there be some evil person or ghost hidden inside?"
"Although sometimes I think so now."
"But I'm not that scared anymore."
"Sometimes after you go through it once, you won't be afraid anymore."
The child said, stopped, turned around, and pointed not far away.
"Look, there's nothing here."
Chen Huaifeng followed the child's gaze and looked over.
Yes, nothing.
There are no bad guys, no ghosts.
It's just a small short alley that is getting brighter. Outside the alley is a long street that is still a little deserted, but is slowly returning to liveliness.
