After a busy day on the road, Xu Zhuchen was so tired that he fell asleep.
She didn't dream often on weekdays, but after going north, she dreamed abnormally all night long. Last night she dreamed that she returned to Meichuan and practiced Qinggong on the Meichuan River. She ran and ran until a bamboo forest appeared in front of her. There are three children running in the green bamboo forest.
Xu Zhuchen stepped forward, but the three children quickly disappeared. She chased the laughter and ran tirelessly, but she couldn't catch up. Later, she got tired and stopped to rest on a bamboo. Suddenly her feet felt light. When she looked again, there were no bamboo forest, children, and laughter in front of her eyes. Instead, there was an endless, thick and stagnant darkness.
There was no sound, no light, all her senses were lost, and she stood there unable to move.
Xu Zhuchen remembered that the river was not Meichuan, but Lichuan.
The legendary phoenix, the king of birds, will not perch unless it is on a parasol tree, it will not eat unless it is made of solid wood, and it will not drink from a spring of sweet wine.
When later generations opened up Zhennan, they happened to find a bird that was very similar to the legendary "Phoenix" drinking water in Lichuan. Looking at the vast Lichuan River, the team leader suddenly thought, "I am the only one among the great rivers in the world." So he changed his name to "Yiwei" and named the river in front of him "Lichuan".
She remembered, and her dream changed.
When Xu Zhuchen was in her early tenth year, she lost her sight due to practicing concealed weapons. From then on, her family never taught her concealed weapons. Her mother was so angry that she took her away from Zhennan and lived with her cousin for a while.
Xu Zhuchen's distant second aunt was proficient in medicine, but in her mother's words, she was a person who was proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. The second aunt was particularly good at meticulous painting. When Xu Zhuchen was in Zhennan, he looked forward to recovering his eyesight day and night so that he could take a look at the portrait that the second aunt painted for her.
But the eyes were not in good condition. The second aunt had checked them many times and said that according to medical theory, the sight should have been restored long ago. However, Xu Zhuchen tried hard to open his eyes wide, but could not see anything.
More than a month passed like this. Xu Zhuchen was lying in bed one day, and a terrible thought suddenly came to his mind:
Am I invisible forever?
Many times people have no understanding of their own lives. Only when they experience a crisis will they begin to think about the meaning of life. Xu Zhuchen still didn't know what it meant to be permanently blind, but this terrible suspicion gripped her heart tightly, causing her to jump out of bed and stumble to the backyard.
The backyard was a place for martial arts training. Xu Zhuchen found a sword from the weapons rack and danced the sword as he remembered it.
Each move is clearly in compliance with the rules, but it cannot exert the power in memory.
Xu Zhuchen's mind was shaken, and the sword in his hand could not be held firmly. It flew out and was nailed to a tree.
She felt remorseful, but as soon as she took a step, she froze.
On a tree?
Can she see it?
Xu Zhuchen raised her head - she saw a thick tree with lush branches and many tender pink flowers densely blooming on the crown. Shocked by her sword, flying flowers fell from the tree like a misty pink rain curtain.
But after looking at it for a while, Xu Zhuchen realized something was wrong.
Those pink petals are not flying. Not a single petal fell to the ground, not even a single petal moved.
One by one, those petals stood still at the moment they fell. Someone used internal force to immobilize them.
Xu Zhuchen could do such a thing herself, but she never thought that she could do so. At this time, she got over the joy of regaining her sight and began to realize that she had disturbed the people in the tree.
She quickly took a few steps forward and apologized.
"This is Xu Zhuchen of Meichuan. I have offended you a lot just now. Please forgive me."
The man in the tree moved, but showed no intention of showing up. Xu Zhuchen was afraid that the other party would not forgive him, so he took a few steps forward, without saying any honorifics, and said hurriedly:
"I'm extremely sorry, but I didn't mean it just now! I couldn't see and didn't know there was anyone in the tree just now, and I didn't mean to hurt you."
After Xu Zhuchen finished speaking, he felt a little frustrated. If he behaves so impatiently and rudely, the other party will definitely not come down.
But unexpectedly, a clear female voice came from the tree:
"I know you can't see it, you're just too lazy to come down..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Zhuchen saw a figure in red jumping down from the tree. At that moment, the flying flowers in the sky moved and fell one after another, like a blizzard that had accumulated for ten years. The pink petals were blown by the wind, as if they were alive, falling chaotically on the girl's head, in front of and behind her.
"Look," the girl in red raised her head, letting the petals fall on her palms and face, "if I come down, these flowers won't be able to stop."
That look was burned into Xu Zhuchen's eyes and heart for a long time. I want her to remember you, I want her to be fascinated.
Xu Zhuchen took a deep breath and wanted to reach out and hug the girl. But she couldn't move, like a petal fixed by the girl in red.
She heard her own voice, confused and longing, and asked the girl: "You haven't asked me your name yet?"
The girl looked down at Xu Zhuchen and couldn't help laughing: "Why do you always talk like this? You look like you are scared of me." Xu Zhuchen shook his head quickly.
The girl then walked up to Xu Zhuchen and picked off a petal from Xu Zhuchen's white hair.
"I am the owner here." She pointed to the tree in the backyard and smiled, "You can call me Xiao Mei."
Xiao neem.
...Xiao Mei?
Xiao Mei! Don't go, Xiao Mei!
Xu Zhuchen woke up from his dream. The things in his dream had been lost, and he felt a little disappointed. She looked out the window. The sun was dazzling and it was already noon.
Unconsciously in the dream, I was already ravenous when I woke up. Xu Zhuchen took her sword and went downstairs to eat. She was a little lucky that she didn't meet the man and woman this time.
She is not someone who dwells on the past, but Xiao Mei is too important to her, and the man from yesterday is too much like her.
Almost like her children.
Xu Zhuchen was stunned for a moment, and took a big sip of herbal tea to wake himself up.
Tonight she was going to Yanshan Inn to stop Han Ling, so she must not continue to think wildly.
After lunch, Xu Zhuchen packed up his luggage, put on light clothes, tied up his long hair, and rushed towards Zhishui.
Zhishui in the north and Lichuan in the south. These are the two rivers with the largest flow in Yu State. Xu Zhuchen once crossed Lichuan in order to recover someone; tonight, she was crossing Zhishui in order to recover someone.
Xu Zhuchen sighed.
Everyone knows that Yanshan Inn is at the junction of Zhishui and Yanshan. But Zhishui River stretches for thousands of miles, and the one that flows through Yanshan Mountain alone is nearly a hundred miles long. If you search blindly, you may find nothing at night. Therefore, Xu Zhuchen went to the teahouse yesterday.
She had discovered a long time ago that there was a "Jianghu Baixiaosheng" in the teahouse.
Xu Zhuchen entered the teahouse and walked straight to the counter. The waiters along the way pretended that she didn't exist and were busy greeting other guests. The guests were also minding their own food and drinks, staring at the table. Xu Zhuchen knew that his guess was correct.
She walked to the accountant, took out a cart of broken silver from her pocket, and put it on the counter.
The accountant was still calculating the accounts calmly. He circled the money in front of him with one hand and asked, "What do you want, girl?"
Xu Zhuchen held his sword and clasped his fists, and whispered: "I want to know where the floating bridge of Yanshan Inn will appear tonight."
The accountant finally raised his head, glanced at Xu Zhuchen, nodded, and stretched out two fingers.
Two taels of silver is really a big deal for a lion. Xu Zhuchen held back his displeasure and took out another tael of silver.
The accountant shook his head and waved his two fingers.
Twenty taels of silver.
Xu Zhuchen slapped the sword on the counter, his eyes wide open with anger. She had white hair and red eyes, and she looked particularly scary at this time.
The accountant was frightened by her and hesitantly bent a finger. Xu Zhuchen pretended to take the silver and was about to leave. The accountant quickly gathered the two taels of silver in front of him, while laughing sarcastically and carefully avoiding Xu Zhuchen's sword.
He took out another piece of rice paper, wrote a few words quickly, and handed it to Xu Zhuchen.
Xu Zhuchen took a look and saw that the time was clearly written on it. Even the number of miles in which direction was written down clearly. It didn't look like a lie. Xu Zhuchen nodded, took out another tael of silver and put it on the counter.
It's not too late, and with Xu Zhuchen's pace, it's more than enough to get there now.
But she changed her mind.
She wanted to see who Han Ling wanted to see even if he was guilty of murder. She wanted to know why that person could make Han Ling abandon her and Shi Song. She wanted to see that person with her own eyes.
Xu Zhuchen ordered a pot of Houkui, drank the whole pot slowly, and then left after going to the toilet.
The time has passed, and Han Ling must have set off. She carried the sword on her back, hummed a song, and hurried over slowly.
Han Ling had indeed left. Not only that, he was much closer to Yanshan Inn than Xu Zhuchen.
Halfway through Youshi, Han Ling had arrived at the Zhishui River. He put on the mask carefully, and while reading the words written to him on the page, he was thinking about how long it would be until nightfall before the pontoon would appear.
What he didn't expect was that as soon as he closed the page of the book, a shining thread appeared in the river in front of him.
Those threads gathered more and more, entangled with each other, and shimmered in the sparkling river water. The sky became gloomy, and a dark cloud slowly moved to the roof of Yanshan Inn. The chickens and dogs in the wild seemed to be panicked, barking at the top of their lungs. Han Ling's heartbeat was beating like a drum. He opened the page and saw a line of beautiful small words on it——
"The wind and rain are like darkness, and the cockcrow is endless."
Now that I see a gentleman, Yunhu is not happy?
It was already Xu Zhuchen's time when he arrived at Yanshan Inn. The sky has completely darkened, and the floating bridge looks even more crystal clear at night, seeming to glow under the gloomy night.
She had heard many legends about the floating bridge, but she still felt a little apprehensive. She used Qinggong to step on it, only to find that the pontoon was much stronger than she thought.
Xu Zhuchen stepped on the pontoon and walked step by step towards the Yanshan Inn on the other side.
As she reached the last level, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck in the already gloomy sky, and a thunder sounded in the clouds. When Xu Zhuchen came ashore and the pontoon was folded, rain began to fall involuntarily in the dark sky.
Xu Zhuchen braved the pouring rain, and then he saw clearly the plaque of the two-story wooden house in front of him: Yanshan Inn.
At this moment, in the entire inn, only one room on the second floor was still lit. The lamp was a bean, swaying in the violent wind and rain.
Xu Zhuchen knew that he was waiting for her.
She wiped the rain off her face, jumped up to the window sill on the second floor, and opened the window.
There was a woman in blue sitting with her back to her in the room. Her black hair was like ink, tied neatly with a tie-dyed blue cloth. When she heard Xu Zhuchen enter the room, she poured another cup of tea.
"Master Xu, please."
Xu Zhuchen's hair was dripping with water, and he was soaked. She didn't pay attention to it, straightened her clothes and took the cup of tea.
It's a cup of brown sugar ginger tea. Brown sugar replenishes blood and ginger warms the body. It was specially prepared for her.
The woman then turned her head and moved closer to Xu Zhuchen.
Her face is delicate and gentle, and her black hair falls down on her cheeks, making her look more elegant and graceful. Xu Zhuchen made many guesses about "that person", but he did not expect that the woman was such a gentle person.
Xu Zhuchen heard a "clucking" sound. She lowered her head and saw the woman sitting in a wheelchair.
"Master Xu——" Xu Zhuchen interrupted the woman and said, "Just call me Xu Zhuchen."
The woman smiled and nodded, and said: "Xu Daxia is so heroic, I dare not be rude. I have admired him for a long time."
As she got closer, Xu Zhuchen discovered that there was a blanket covering her legs, covering her legs. Xu Zhuchen knew that it was not polite to look at her like this, so he raised his head and looked into the woman's eyes.
At this glance, she realized that the woman had such radiant eyes. The eyes were dark blue, and the pupils were a layer of misty gray surrounded by thin black. Under the light of the lights, they were mottled with fine golden warm oranges, like a colorful kaleidoscope.
She looked at it for too long and heard the woman cough slightly and say, "Miss Xu, are you looking into my eyes?" She realized that Xu Zhuchen didn't like others calling her a hero, so she smiled and said, "This is a lie. If the girl wants to see it, I can take it off and give it to you."
Xu Zhuchen quickly stopped, picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and said seriously: "I haven't asked the girl for her name yet."
The woman was silent for a moment and said softly: "My surname is Zheng, and my last name is only the word 'Yu'."
She had heard the name Xu Zhuchen somewhere, but she couldn't remember it. She shook her head, nodded again, and asked, "Miss Zheng Yu, I just asked directly, where is Han Ling?"
There was no emotion in Zheng Yu's eyes, and his tone was soft and gentle: "Mr. Han is indeed in my inn, but he doesn't want to see Miss Xu. Miss, please go back."
Xu Zhuchen almost got angry again, but Zheng Yu's eyes were so gentle that most of her anger disappeared. Xu Zhuchen moved his stool and asked, "Why? Doesn't he dare to see me?"
Zheng Yu laughed and said, "If Miss Xu is willing, you can think so."
Xu Zhuchen stared at Zheng Yu's face for a long time and sighed.
"He told you, right? Why didn't you want to see me?"
Zheng Yu pondered for a moment and nodded.
Xu Zhuchen took the sword off his back and placed it on the table.
"Miss Zheng Yu, tell me what he told you, and I will leave."
Zheng Yu said softly: "Do you have to listen, girl?"
Xu Zhuchen nodded, then realized Zheng Yu couldn't see it, so he said, "Yes."
"Han Langjun said," Zheng Yu said, "Han Langjun and Miss Xu are already on different paths. He doesn't want to burden Miss Xu, and he is no longer Miss Xu's best friend. He will let Miss Xu down." Sincerely, Mr. Han feels very guilty. I hope Miss Xu will take it seriously."
Xu Zhuchen sat on the wooden bench and was stunned.
"...He said he was no longer my best friend."
Zheng Yu also fell silent. After a while, she spoke abruptly: "Mr. Han doesn't want to break off the relationship with the girl. He just has his own way to go and doesn't want the girl to be involved." After saying this long sentence, her lips moved. But it didn't move.
Xu Zhuchen laughed miserably and said, "Can't I go with him?"
Zheng Yu sat in a wheelchair and shook his head.
Xu Zhuchen laughed twice, turned his back and stood in front of the window, his figure like a line of bamboo, tall and tall but lonely. She said: "Yes, Han Ling has his own way to go, and I...also have mine.
"I still don't know Han Ling well enough. To him, I am a friend; but I regard him as my possessions."
She turned her head, and lightning lit up her cheeks:
"Miss Zheng Yu, I have been thinking about a problem since yesterday, and today, I figured it out.
"It turns out that letting the person closest to you go his own way is not a step back, but recognition."
She picked up her sword and said with a smile: "Miss Zheng Yu, I also have something to tell Han Ling, please tell me."
She walked to Zheng Yu's wheelchair and twisted a strand of her hair:
"Tell Han Ling that he has never been a good material for singing double reeds."
Then, she took a few steps back, hugged Zheng Yu and said, "Take care." She turned over and jumped out of the window.
"Zheng Yu" was sitting in a wheelchair, speechless for a moment. After a long time, she murmured: "Tell me, when did she find out?"
Separated by a wall, a "gurgling" sound came from the dark room. A wheelchair moved from the next door to the lighted room. The owner of the wheelchair smiled and said:
"Han Ling, why does a blind man need to light a lamp all night?"
The person in that wheelchair was a person who looked exactly like "Zheng Yu".
