A young man leaves home, and an old man returns home. His state of mind is really not enough for outsiders to understand.
The veteran stood at the entrance of the village for a long time, his eyes filled with sadness.
If he were half his age, he could still be spontaneous, shouting the names of his old friends and relatives, and stride towards his home.
It's a pity that I am already an old man, and my hometown has long since changed. The person you are most afraid of calling has already been separated forever; the home you are running towards is already desolate and decadent.
He could only look at the village and every tree and plant shrouded in mist with eyes full of hesitation, inquiry, and hope.
It's mostly still the same as it was decades ago.
It's just that the Xi family's garden is bigger and the Dong family's jujube trees are taller.
I can still see the men passing by carrying farm tools, talking and laughing, the women gathering in the corner to talk about family feuds, and a few children emerging from the mist and playing in the alley, leaving behind a series of laughter.
His eyes wandered, and suddenly stopped on an old man at the entrance of the village.
"Ah Huang?"
The veteran's voice was filled with disbelief.
"Is it you? Ah Huang!"
But the old man seemed to be a little hard of hearing. The veteran called him many times, but there was no response.
Only when he was in front of him, face to face, did the old man's cloudy eyes regain some clarity, and finally noticed the person in front of him.
"Da Lang?"
The old man's vague voice sounded like he was talking in his sleep.
"The eldest man of the Yan family."
The veteran nodded repeatedly. For a moment, the two old men held hands and looked into each other's eyes with tears in their eyes. They probably didn't expect that the other one was still alive.
The two talked about an old relationship.
The veteran hesitated for a while, and then asked the question that made him extremely anxious.
"Are my family members... still there?"
After hearing this, the old man hesitated to speak, and silently pointed to the depths of the village.
There, where the fog is thin, the pines and cypresses are lush and green.
…………
In a lush pine forest.
The veteran stood silently in front of a row of tombstones.
for a long time.
He pointed to two of the stone tablets and said:
"This is my father and my mother."
"When I left home, they were in their prime. I always said that I was already old and the two of them must have been dead for many years. The only regret was that I could not fulfill my filial piety at the bedside and see them one last time before they were alive. But deep down in my heart, I have never thought that when I return home, will there be two people who are even more decrepit than me waiting for me? The two old people are accustomed to doing good deeds, so they may not be able to grow up. Live a hundred years.”
After saying that, he shook his head and laughed, as if he was laughing at his own "greed". He walked a few steps, pointed to the other two tombstones and said:
"This is Brother Shedi and his wife."
"When I left home to join the army, my brother-in-law was still a young boy. He always liked to chase the girls from the Yang family all day long. Unexpectedly, we actually became a couple. I always liked to tease him about this, but it seems Looking at them, I remembered my relationship with...forget it, why are you talking about this? I always thought that if I could go home, the only relative who recognized me would probably be this younger brother. I didn't expect..."
The words turned in vain into a sigh.
He moved on to the next tombstone.
"This is my nephew I have never met."
"During the Jingyuan Mutiny, I followed the army north to Jingnan. At that time, the news between me and my family had not been cut off. My younger brother asked someone to send me good news, saying that my Yan family had a successor, and my sister-in-law gave birth to a nephew. I At that time, I bought a rattle specially, thinking that after this battle, I would go home and give the drum to my nephew as a first-year gift. Who knows, this will be a life-long journey."
He stared at the tombstone, which was covered with moss and the writing was much blurred by years of wind and rain. It looked even more dilapidated than the previous ones.
"I originally thought that since I am already old and my nephew has grown up, I will not be able to give this drum away. Keeping it with me is just a thought. Unexpectedly..."
He sighed deeply, took out the rattle from his arms and placed it in front of the tomb.
"It's still useful."
Then, he moved to the last tombstone.
The cypress tree planted on this tomb is the newest, but it seems to be more than ten years old.
Due to lack of care, the tomb was covered with thatch and the stone tablet was entangled and covered with ivy.
The veteran peeled off some kudzu vines and laughed when he saw the name hidden behind it.
"So this is my tomb."
He nodded.
"That's right. There has been no contact with me for decades, and the world has been in war. Most people in my hometown think that I have died on a certain battlefield. This is good, so as to save my family from worrying about me."
He turned his head and made an expression that he couldn't tell whether he was laughing or crying.
"I lost my temper for a moment and made the Taoist priest laugh."
Li Changan shook his head.
"Human nature."
That's all, the veteran led Li Changan to the house next to him.
That was his former home, but now it's just an abandoned farmyard.
At this time, the veteran was no longer as talkative as when he arrived, appearing dazed and silent.
Push open the courtyard door.
The garden was naturally overgrown with weeds, and the wormwood that reached the waist was so densely packed together that there was almost no space for a foothold.
The two had no choice but to wade through the grass and try to go to the wing to rest.
However, the veteran just pushed the door lightly.
The entire door panel fell in with a "click", sending up smoke and dust all over the sky. It also shocked the birds that had built nests in the house. They flapped their wings and crashed all over the house. Somehow, the roof tiles were scattered, "crash". It fell and shattered all over the ground, leaving a big hole in which the silhouette of a bird shot into the sky.
The veteran had no choice but to retreat in disgrace and smiled apologetically at Li Changan:
"Unexpectedly, the house is so abandoned. I really neglect the Taoist priest."
"It doesn't matter."
The Taoist priest rolled up his sleeves.
“Where can’t people from outside the country have a place?”,
After saying that, the two started working together to clear a space in the yard.
The old soldier was a man who couldn't rest. He moved the pressure stone at the wellhead, dug out the cooking utensils from the room, went out again, borrowed some rice from his employer, asked for some vegetables from his employer, and buried the pot to make rice. stand up.
Li Changan didn't help, and just let the donkey graze in the yard. He leaned against the door and looked at the people in the village.
The fog still hasn't dissipated, lingering in every corner of the village.
To be honest, as the Taoist priest walked all the way from Yuzhou, he saw either the frightened Wubao or the dilapidated and deserted villages. It is rare to see such a "lively" village in front of you.
only.
The men carrying farm tools walked back and forth several times, but never returned home or went to the fields; the women gathered together to chat for a long time, but the words were always vague and even the tone was unclear; those The children ran out of the mist over and over again, playing and laughing, and then got into the mist again, always spinning in circles...
Li Changan was fascinated by what he saw.
"Taoist Master."
The veteran brought out soup and rice.
"It's time to eat."
He placed the meal on a large stone pier in the courtyard.
The stone pier has a flat top and is similar in size to a table, with several small stone piles scattered around it. It can be guessed that every summer evening, when the stars are shining brightly, this family will sit here to play and cool off.
The veteran was obviously also thinking about people after seeing things. He was immersed in the past time. After a long time, he licked the red corners of his eyes.
"Taoist Master, please don't despise me."
He hurriedly scooped up soup and rice.
"Please use it, please use it."
However, the Taoist priest never picked up the chopsticks. Instead, he said:
"Old man, I can't eat your food."
The veteran was stunned.
"But the food is poor?"
Li Changan didn't answer the question and sighed with emotion.
"Haven't you remembered yet?"
The veteran was confused.
At this moment.
The sun finally crossed the ridge and hung high in the sky, casting the midday sunlight down.
The lingering mist in the village is like thin ice that melts when exposed to heat. The hot sunlight peeled off a large piece of it.
Suddenly.
The peaceful and peaceful pastoral picture outside the door seemed to have had a corner torn off, revealing the bleak reality underneath.
Overgrown roads, desolate and dilapidated houses, and uncollected bones.
"This...Taoist Master...this?"
The veteran's eyes widened and his words were incoherent.
He raised his eyes and looked to the opposite side, only to see the Taoist with compassion on his face, holding the magic formula in his hands and chanting softly:
"The gods of the ten directions are as numerous as sand and dust."
When the veteran heard this, he felt a trance in his mind, vaguely remembering his childhood.
At that time, the family ran a wine shop in Xiaoshui City. They played on the streets on weekdays and got along well with their daughter Amei who lived in the restaurant next door. They were childhood sweethearts and childhood sweethearts, but later things changed in their family business. They sold the wine shop and returned to the village.
"Transform into the realms of the ten directions to help save the world."
He thought about his youth again.
At that time, he was young and energetic, and did not like reading. He was fond of flying eagles and running horses, and he was in a chivalrous spirit. One day I was shocked to hear that the thieves were causing trouble and actually occupied the county seat. On the one hand, he was worried about Amei, but on the other hand, out of passion, he ignored the dissuasion of his family and insisted on joining the army to fight against thieves, hoping to keep his wife and son in the shadow.
"Gather your merits with your energy, and save the lonely soul with one voice."
He thought again of his prime.
The dreams they once had have long been shattered, and the separatist regimes and rebellions above have never stopped. One day they are officers and soldiers, and tomorrow they become rebels. There was no news from the family, and all the friends around him died one after another, leaving him alone in a confused world.
"The flames turned into the Qing Dynasty, and the sword trees turned into Qian."
He thought again of his old age. Above the battle formation, arrows are like sand. The big flag with the word "Yan" is fluttering in the north wind, moving forward, forward, and forward again! That heroic and majestic figure ignited the long-lost blood in his chest, and he rose up with his old body and vowed to die to follow. It wasn't until he broke through the third level of the formation that he discovered a heavy arrow stuck in his waist and abdomen.
"Go up to Zhuling Mansion and go down to Aisheng Gate."
It’s still that big flag with the word “Yan”.
Under the flag, green flags fluttered, and yellow paper money filled the sky was caught in the north wind and fluttered southward.
Witches in colorful clothes danced weird dances, and their vague tones echoed in the wilderness.
"The soul is gone! The soul is gone!"
…
Sing the scripture.
The veteran slowly woke up from his trance.
"So..." he murmured, "am I already dead?"
He looked up blankly.
The fog has dissipated, and the peaceful and peaceful village disappeared like a dream, leaving behind the weeds among the ruins and bones, rustling in the wind.
Look at the soup and rice on the stone pier again.
Just two bowls of turbid yellow mud soup and a plate of rotten grass leaves.
The old soldier slapped his forehead in annoyance, stood up, and bowed sincerely to the Taoist priest.
"Excuse me, Taoist Priest, for spending so much time with me, an ignorant fool like me."
"It's just trivial things that don't matter." The Taoist priest returned, "When I get to the Netherworld, I'd like to trouble you to send Brother Yan a message of peace."
The veteran bowed and responded, but suddenly became a little nervous.
"If the Taoist priest goes to Xiaoshui..."
His old face turned slightly red.
"Can you go to the Yujiadi store in the east of the city and send me a message to...Oh, that's all, I'm so old."
As he spoke, his time in the mortal world gradually ran out, and his figure and face gradually faded.
He calmed down his expression again and solemnly said to the Taoist priest:
"The village is so desolate. There are no bones on the ground. No one has collected it. I don't know what the nearby county looks like? Daoist priest, please be careful during this trip."
Li Changan nodded.
"I know it."
"treasure."
"treasure."
That's all, the veteran's figure completely disappeared, leaving only a broken armor that fell to the ground with a "plop".
Li Changan picked it up, brushed off the dust, took it into the pine forest, and placed it in front of the veteran's grave.
He drew his sword again and cut off the vines on the tombstone.
However, it is engraved on the stele:
Tomb of Yan Song.
In the second year of Changqing's reign, my old friend Amei set up her clothes here.
