In Zheng Xiu's memory, Richan Valley, located in the far west of the desert, was a desolate scene of yellow sand before encountering "that incident".
The blood-red sunset, dry land, withered vegetation, and yellow sand dunes constitute Zheng Xiu's impression of this land.
But when Zheng Xiu and his family stepped out of the Bund of Qingshi San, there were lively shouts in the distance and the smell of human fireworks coming towards his face, making Zheng Xiu feel like he was in another world the moment he walked out of the Bund.
Richan Valley was not destroyed by "that accident".
Richan Valley is lined with green trees, and the sides of the canyon that should be weathered rock and soil are actually covered with green moss. A stream of gurgling water flows down from the top of the mountain, flowing clearly along the cracks in the rocks. Finally, in front of Richan Valley, the trickling streams converge into a crystal clear lake.
The blue sky reflects on the lake. From a distance, it looks like a mirror embedded in the earth.
"Choo Choo Choo--"
Flocks of unknown birds build nests and sing in the mountains, and flowers of various colors compete in the mountains, exuding elegant fragrance.
Zheng Xiu stood in astonishment in front of this valley filled with birds and flowers. When he looked back, he saw that the "Green River" of the past had really become a "Green River", a continuous oasis, like a river, with green grass stretching between the rivers and bending towards the desert. deep.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard for Zheng Xiu to believe that the former yellow sand desert had been "transformed" into a large oasis with pleasant temperatures today two hundred years later.
Qing Shisan said in surprise: "Qing once heard that after crossing the desert, there is another cave. I never expected that this place would be so prosperous."
Seeing the beautiful scenery, Yue Linglong should have been in a good mood, but when she saw Zheng Xiu's lost expression, her beautiful eyebrows frowned slightly, and the joy and joy on her face turned into depression in an instant.
Zheng Xiu walked along the canyon in a daze.
Richan Valley is adjacent to the Western Region and Daqian. The two countries are at the hand of each other. Travelers were in such a hurry that no one noticed the three "foreign visitors".
As soon as we came out of the canyon, our eyes suddenly opened up. The peak in the distance that was once called "Sunset Mountain" was now full of green. A waterfall flew down from the top of the mountain. When the sun was reflected, two rainbow bridges of seven colors rose up beside the waterfall.
"What a nice view."
Oasis, rainbows, waterfalls, mountain shades, tourists, camels.
This may be what Yue Linglong imagined a "paradise" should look like.
Many people rode camels on the straight streets. There was a spacious open space not far away, where camels of different coats were lying down, spitting foam, or rubbing their ears and temples together.
Zheng Xiu walked over.
Two camels appeared in his memory.
…
"Here, I picked the two best camels."
"I want this one."
"Why?"
"Uh...because this one is female."
"Your reason... it's a coincidence. I also like riding male camels." A beautiful face with crescent eyes and a happy smile: "Then, I happily decided."
"Huh? O_o?"
"Yours is called Xiaohe, and mine is called Xiaomo."
"I can ride Xiaohe, but you can't ride Xiaomo!"
"You want you to take care of it? I want to call you Xiaomo. Xiaomo, Xiaomo, run faster! Fight!"
…
"This gentleman, you look strange. Are you from the east? Do you want to buy a camel?"
A dark-skinned camel breeder came forward to greet him.
Zheng Xiu shook his head and walked inside in silence.
He walked faster and faster.
As he walked, he murmured to himself:
“Once upon a time, this road was all sand.”
"There is a house over here, and there is a well in the house."
"There is a big brother living in the building next to him. His name is Sundi."
"Here... there is a gallery."
Zheng Xiu walked away with his eyes open at first.
As they walked, Zheng Xiu closed his eyes.
He seemed to have returned to the painting, two hundred years ago.
In the painting, he is Gongsun Mo, and he has a story with a woman named "Xie Luohe".
But Xie Luohe once said...what did he say?
Will she become a mystery of her own?
Why?
Obviously all the memories are very clear, but there are some causes and effects. Zheng Xiu can't figure it out, and he always feels that there is something wrong in it.
Zheng Xiu walked in the streets with his eyes closed. He found that the layout here was exactly the same as the "story" he had experienced. Even the location of the streets had not changed.
corner.
When Zheng Xiu said the word "gallery", he opened his eyes and looked up.
The paint on the plaque has long since peeled off, showing the weather, but the words on it are still clearly legible. What kind of gallery is this? The plaque clearly says: Longmen Inn.
The courtyard wall of Longmen Inn is still made of loess, but the color of the loess on it is like patches, with obvious differences. It seems that later generations deliberately repaired it with loess in order to maintain the style of the year.
But as Richan Valley became an oasis, the loess was covered with green vines, with strings of nameless small red fruits hanging down heavily.
There are people coming and going around.
Zheng Xiu was holding an orange-haired kitten and standing in front of the inn, as quiet as a painting.
"Sir, do you want to stay in a hotel?"
At this time, a dark-skinned, tall man inside, holding a cattail leaf fan in his hand to fan himself, walked out, looked at Zheng Xiu thoughtfully, and asked enthusiastically.
Zheng Xiu nodded and walked in.
There are three or two square tables on the first floor of the inn, and there are only a few tea guests.
On the wall, hung a long bow wrapped in animal skin.
Zheng Xiu's breath stopped, he walked under the long bow and looked at it quietly.
After a while, Zheng Xiu walked behind the counter as if he was in a deserted place, sat down with his eyes closed, and stared straight at the entrance of the inn.
The man watched the guest take his seat, opened his mouth, but said nothing, shrugged and sat down at the tea guest's seat.
The atmosphere at the scene was slightly weird.
Zheng Xiu, who was originally a guest, sat in the shopkeeper's seat, but the shopkeeper, who was originally a shopkeeper, sat in the guest's seat.
Yue Linglong and Qing Shisan, who entered later, did not dare to disturb Zheng Xiu. They had different eyes and thoughts.
"Living."
Zheng Xiu suddenly decided.
But what happened next made Zheng Xiu feel extremely embarrassed.
They didn't bring any money.
"You didn't bring it?" Zheng Xiu glared at Qing Shisan.
"I have no money."
Qing Shisan answered confidently.
Across the counter, Zheng Xiu and Qing Shisan stared at each other.
"I..." Yue Linglong pitifully took off a bracelet from her sleeve: "This is Linglong's dowry, can I use it?"
"Ha ha--"
The man looked at these three strange travelers and couldn't help laughing and waving his hands: "Forget it, it's the off-season on the trade route, there are a lot of empty rooms, this meal is ours, you can stay for as many days as you like. , not in the way."
Qing Shisan thanked him continuously.
On the night of check-in, at dusk, Zheng Xiu took Mao Mao and Qing Shisan and planned to go to Sunset Mountain.
Yue Linglong originally wanted to go with her, but Zheng Xiu persuaded her to keep her in the store on the grounds that "the journey up the mountain was difficult."
The innkeeper's name is "Brother Dao". If Zheng Xiu's guess is correct and they still use the surname "Ri", he should be called "Ri Dao", a good name.
Noticing that the two were going on a trip, Brother Dao casually asked about Zheng Xiu and Qing Shisan's itinerary.
"Sunset Mountain?" Unexpectedly, after hearing Zheng Xiu's destination, Brother Dao scratched his head in confusion: "Maybe you are looking for the wrong place. It is not called Sunset Mountain."
Zheng Xiu asked calmly: "What's your name?"
"That mountain is called Moshan."
"Moshan."
"Gongsun Mo's Mo?"
"Huh? Gentlemen, it turns out that there are people in the east who know about Master Gongsun?"
Zheng Xiu nodded: "I've heard of it."
"Master Gongsun is the great benefactor here, the living god, the old master! Two hundred years ago, the mountain had no name. Ever since the couple settled here, it was called 'Moshan' at some point."
Brother Dao shook his head, his eyes were empty, and he said with a bit of a smile: "Speaking of my grandpa... Huh? Where is the person?"
Zheng Xiu and Qing Shisan disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Zheng Xiu was a little anxious. He came here. He told himself that the purpose of his coming was to find traces of Zhu.
When he heard that the mountain was no longer called "Sunset Mountain", Zheng Xiu vaguely understood something.
"'Before', because Zhu crossed mountains and rivers, walked through the desert, and arrived here, he preached to the ignorant people here and left a legend, so that mountain became Sunset Mountain."
"If it's not called Sunset Mountain anymore, it means..."
Zheng Xiu and Qing Shisan possessed miraculous skills and easily climbed the mountain.
The green trees and mosquitoes breed, and Zheng Xiu has the illusion of walking in a tropical rain forest.
Walking to the place where the "mural" remains in my memory, there is a mural there.
It's just that the content recorded on the mural is not the legend of "Candle" chasing the "Scorching Sun". Instead, it depicts a talented and beautiful couple. There is a cottage among the mountains, and there is a small bungalow above the cottage. There is a flower bush planted in front of the bungalow. In front of the flowers, under the moonlight, a man spread out a scroll and painted, while the woman lay barefoot on the big stone and looked at the man painting with a smile.
Qing Shisan was stunned for a moment, and complained: "What a beautiful picture of love and affection."
He felt the cold old dog food being slapped coldly on his face.
Especially since Qing Shisan had just lost Ji Hongou, this feeling was even more unpleasant.
Zheng Xiu didn't say anything, but looked at the woman in the mural with dull eyes.
The woman has a delicate face, heroic brows, curved mouth, and her evil smile is fixed on the mural. This gave Zheng Xiu a feeling that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
"Not her."
An inexplicable thought suddenly appeared in Zheng Xiu's mind. Zheng Xiu recognized this woman. He had experienced an encounter with her in the painting as Gongsun Mo. Her name was Xie Luohe.
Looking at that face, Zheng Xiu stared hard. Not her. Another strange word sounded in his ears, like a whisper, or like footsteps carrying words, approaching quietly from behind Zheng Xiu and whispering in his ear.
"who?"
"you guess?"
"Guess you're paralyzed."
Qing Shisan was confused: "Who are you scolding?"
Zheng Xiu said dumbly: "I scold this painting."
As he spoke, Zheng Xiu went up to the top of the mountain. There were no remains of the "crow keeper" there, and everything was different from before.
"There is indeed no trace of candles in this world."
"Zhu has never appeared."
"He didn't 'disappear' in the middle, or enter 'eternal darkness', but, from the very beginning, there was no such person as Zhu in the world."
"Or, there is him, but he is not a stranger, so his journey to chase the 'Scorching Sun' is gone."
Return to the inn.
Zheng Xiu touched here and sat there.
The most seated person is still the shopkeeper.
He sat there and watched people coming and going, the sun rising and setting.
"Drink a sip?"
On the third day of his stay, Brother Dao brought a pot of wine and sat next to Zheng Xiu.
Zheng Xiu shook his head and said no. However, Brother Dao smiled and took out two small bowls from behind and filled them with Zheng Xiu.
"We feel like you want to take a few sips."
"I can't drink enough."
Zheng Xiu did it.
Dizzy.
"This guest, let's see, you are here to see someone, right?"
Zheng Xiu was stunned when he heard this.
"You're not here to see Gongsun Mo, are you?"
Brother Dao was happy when he saw Zheng Xiu's expression and pointed to the bow on the wall: "Then you've come to the right place. Do you know where this place used to be?"
Zheng Xiu didn't answer. Brother Dao took the initiative to tell the story here:
"Two hundred years ago, this place was desolate. The people on this land had to worry about where to find water every day. What they ate was rotten meat that was dried and smelly in the sun."
"One day two hundred years ago, a couple came here."
"They are Gongsun Mo and Xie Luohe."
Brother Dao lowered his voice: "Don't think we are bragging, that Gongsun Mo is not an ordinary person."
Zheng Xiu poured himself another bowl, sipped it in small sips, and said calmly, "What should I say?"
"The paintings he painted are amazing!" Brother Dao smiled and said, "Did you see the oasis when you came in?"
Zheng Xiu nodded.
"Did you see that waterfall?"
nod.
"The red flower."
nod.
"The green trees."
nod.
"The lake."
nod.
Brother Dao's face turned red and he excitedly gestured in front of Zheng Xiu: "He drew them all!"
"This painting! It's come true!"
"Some people say that the paintings he painted were so realistic that they deceived God! He thought this place was really an oasis, so it started to rain! It rains day after day, and it rains, making this land lively. "
Zheng Xiu wondered: "Brother Dao, why do you know so well?"
"Hey!" Brother Dao stood up: "Do you know who we are?"
Zheng Xiu shook his head.
"Gongsun Dao!"
"Ah? Are you their descendant?"
"Not entirely." Gongsun Dao sat back down, with a somewhat depressed expression on his face: "In fact, our grandfather's generation were children adopted by Gongsun Mo and Xie Luohe."
"When I was a child, I heard from my grandfather that Gongsun Mo and Xie Luohe had no heirs throughout their lives."
Strangers can't have children?
Zheng Xiu thought of a possibility.
After all, the physique of strangers is different from that of ordinary people.
"Before Gongsun became a stranger, he painted many paintings. Most of them were of murderous knights from the martial arts world in the past."
"After his death, those paintings were sold to the Western Regions. Do you know why Gongsun Mo had no reputation in Daqian? Because he told my grandfather before his death that his paintings could not flow into Daqian, but could only go to Daqian. Takeout.”
"So, as soon as we heard that you were looking for Gongsun Mo, we figured out something."
The more Gongsun Dao talked, the more excited he became. As he spoke, he ran back into the house. After a while, there was a sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets. After a while, when he came out again, he was holding a tightly wrapped wooden frame in his hand.
Zheng Xiu's heart skipped a beat. He recognized it at a glance. It was a painting wrapped in the tarpaulin.
Gongsun Dao blew on the oilcloth bag and blew up the dust in the whole room.
"In the past, when my grandfather told us that Gongsun Mo was a god, we still didn't believe it. Until today, I have to believe that Gongsun Mo is really a god descended to earth."
"you mean……"
"All Gongsun Mo's paintings were sold out, which supported our family. But there was only one painting that Gongsun Mo didn't finish. He told my grandfather that someone would come to pick it up many, many years later."
Zheng Xiu looked shocked, and a sense of absurdity surged into his heart. He didn't know what to say in reply, and stared at Gongsun Dao as he carefully opened the oilcloth.
I don’t know how many years the oilcloth had been wrapped in it, but with a little force, the creases were weathered and dusted off.
"My grandfather said that Gongsun Mo said that the person who came to pick up the painting would bring an orange cat with him."
"He's looking for someone."
Gongsun Dao paused in the movement of taking apart the painting, with a puzzled look on his face, as if he remembered something, and muttered to himself: "By the way, my grandfather said that Gongsun Mo said something very strange before he died."
"What?"
"'My life has been full of twists and turns, and when I reach the end, it's you and me!'. My grandfather said that Gongsun Mo said this before he died, but he still smiled and left."
With that said, Gongsun Dao took apart the painting.
The paper inside is yellowed and the ink color has faded.
Zheng Xiu was shocked, and a feeling of dizziness came over him.
Even though most of the ink faded, Zheng Xiu could still tell from the painting that what Gongsun Mo wanted to paint was a woman.
The woman is dressed in black, with her tail tied up in a ponytail, facing out of the painting.
The strange thing is that the parts that should be the eyes, ears, mouth and nose are empty, as if they are not finished.
(End of chapter)
