After half an hour, Xiang Shu and Chen Xing were like two people who were picked up from the water. The captain pointed and talked a lot. Chen Xing had to nod again and again, while Xiang Shu was sitting on the ground beside the captain's room, leaning on the ground. In front of the wooden wall, close your eyes and listen.
This is a sea-going ship from Goguryeo going south to Jiangnan for trade. Along the way, it first arrives at Shangyu, then goes all the way north, passes through Jiankang, crosses Jiaozhou, makes a circle and then returns to Pyongyang. When it leaves, it is full of ginseng and leather goods. Tea, silk, and porcelain were brought to Pyongyang. The captain is a Han Chinese who has lived for such a long age. It was the first time he saw a monster like Sima Wei. After asking for a long time, Chen Xing ramblingly told him a few folklore, only that he was an exorcist, and Xiang Shu belonged to him. Dharma protector, the two of them go together and collect monsters everywhere. They encountered this monster in Baitou Mountain and were chased all the way. Fortunately, in the end, he was moved by God at a critical moment and summoned a thunderbolt from the sky...
"Save your energy," Xiang Shu finally said impatiently, unable to listen anymore, "Are you tired?!"
As Chen Xing said, he took out the money he had pawned off Sima Wei's helmet and paid the captain: "That's about it, this is the price of the boat, please let us take your boat..."
"For the sake of the people, if you don't accept it, you won't accept it! You can't accept it!" The captain hurriedly backed down and said, "If you don't dislike it, you can stay on the ship for a few days."
People who go out to sea are most afraid of wind and waves and legendary monsters. There is an exorcist who can summon gods and thunder. The journey will be smooth sailing. The captain is too happy to arrange a clean room and give them a rest.
There was a lot of cargo on the ship, and it also carried a few Pyongyang scholars who went south to study. The captain gave Xiang Shu and Chen Xing the best room with windows, and there was only one bed in the room.
Chen Xing was very satisfied.
The captain also explained that this is the first southbound shipping this year, which is of great significance to the captain, even in the face of heavy rain. The wind and waves are big today, so it’s good to get out of the sea and leave the rainstorm area, and even more people prepare a stove to cook the fire for the two of them.
Chen Xing was soaked in the rain for a long time, and even his robe and underwear were soaked through, and he couldn't help sneezing when he entered the cabin.
Chen Xingchao Xiang Shu asked expectantly, "How did you know that I was arrested?"
Xiang Shu said casually, "I didn't know you were arrested."
Chen Xing: "Then how do you..."
Xiang Shu: "I thought you ran away by yourself again, so I chased after you and beat you up!"
Chen Xing: "…"
Xiang Shu put the latch on the door, locked the door, and started to take off his clothes, motioning to Chen Xing.
"Take it off," Xiang Shu looked at Chen Xing incredulously, "What are you doing standing up?"
Chen Xing suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He took off his clothes and threw it to Xiang Shu. He jumped onto the couch himself, naked and covered with a quilt. Xiang Shu also did not avoid him. He took off completely naked, wrapped a cloth towel around his waist, rolled up his clothes, put them in a basket, pushed the door out and put them at the door, put some money in it, and instructed the servants on the boat to wash them with starch. It will be delivered tomorrow after it's dried.
So the two of them lost all their clothes, so they had to face each other frankly all day long in the room.
"Xiangshu?" Chen Xing asked again.
Xiang Shu took a shower in the cubicle and motioned Chen Xing to wash. In the cubicle, Chen Xing cheered: "It's great that there is still hot water!"
When Chen Xing came out, he found that another hot food had been delivered from the room. The fish and shrimp were stewed into a bowl with a little sauce and meat, and there was also a pot of hot wine. Obviously, the captain ordered Ling Xiaozao to start the party, and Xiang Shu had a cloth towel in front of his crotch. , just sat down and started pouring and drinking.
After drinking and eating, Chen Xing finally felt a little more comfortable, and shrank to the back of the bed. For some reason, his heart was pounding. This is not the first time he has been frank with Xiang Shu, nor is it the first time he has slept with Xiang Shu in the same bed, but for some reason, this time he is always a little embarrassed.
Xiang Shu glanced at Chen Xing and seemed a little hesitant.
"Sleep?" Chen Xing gave way to the inside again and said, "Just take a break."
Going down from Goguryeo to the south of the Yangtze River and arriving at Shangyu, even if the wind is smooth, it will take half a month. He and Xiang Shu can only live in the same room along the way, no... When they stayed in Chilechuan, they ate and lived together every day. , there is no problem ah? Because of a bed
For some reason, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became charming.
Xiang Shu then took off the cloth towel and went to bed like this, sleeping with Chen Xing under the quilt.
Chen Xing accidentally touched Xiang Shu's hot skin, and the two rubbed against each other a little. Chen Xing's heart was beating wildly, and he subconsciously moved slightly apart. Xiang Shu seemed to be aware of the unnaturalness, and tried not to touch each other. Slowly. Lie down slowly.
In the wind and waves, the boat swayed a little, the bed was very small, Xiang Shu stepped on the bed rail under the quilt to secure himself, so as not to squeeze Chen Xing against the wall, Chen Xing leaned hard against the wall.
"I..." Chen Xing wanted to find something to say, distracted himself, and changed his posture to hide it, fearing that Xiang Shu would find out his body's reaction. In just a short moment, the feeling of no separation between each other's bodies suddenly made Chen Xing think about it.
Xiang Shu's voice was clearly uncomfortable: "What?"
"Are you tired?" Chen Xing turned his head and glanced at Xiang Shu.
"It's okay." Xiang Shu opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling in a trance.
The boat swayed gently in the wind and rain, the shutters were not tightly closed, and the cold wind leaked into the cabin. In the early spring, the ice floes were melting, and the weather was still very cold. Chen Xing shivered slightly under the quilt.
"When are you going back?" Chen Xing remembered. After they met again, everything seemed so natural. He even forgot to ask Xiang Shu what happened to Hala and Lin and Chi Lechuan.
Xiang Shu didn't answer, and Chen Xing thought that it was me again. He asked you to run a thousand miles here to save me. After the boat got off the south, you didn't know when you would go back.
"Did you tell the clansmen...?" Chen Xing asked.
"What?" Xiang Shu simply replied indifferently.
"Come and save me."
"No." Xiang Shu said casually.
"Where's Xiao Shan?" Chen Xing asked again.
"Send it back," Xiang Shu said. "The Huns can't handle him, I don't know."
Chen Xing: "Then, are you going back to the south with me?"
Xiang Shu turned slightly, changed his posture, and replied, "It depends on the situation."
Chen Xing was silent for a moment, and then said, "In front of the captain just now, I just talked casually, don't worry about it."
Item description: "?"
Xiang Shu glanced at Chen Xing inexplicably, and understood that Chen Xing meant that he introduced his identity to others as a "guardian" without asking his opinion, and I was afraid he would be angry again.
"Thank you." Chen Xing said with a smile, "Although I don't know what you think of me, I thought you wouldn't come to me."
"Why?" Xiang Shu asked rhetorically, "Is that what you think of me?"
Chen Xing hurriedly explained: "You are a big Shanyu, you have your responsibilities, and it is understandable to go back... Xiang Shu, I want to say, if you don't mind..."
Xiang Shu frowned slightly. Looking at Chen Xing, Chen Xing mustered his courage and finally spoke his heart out. Even if Xiang Shu had rejected him once, maybe they became more familiar this time than before. Each other, for Xiangshu, they also have a common goal, so...
"... I promise, it won't be too long," Chen Xing said nervously, "Can you stay with me like this for a while? I don't say anything like protecting the Dharma, but I know that relying on myself, maybe there is no such thing as Method… "
"Since I was a child," Xiang Shu suddenly turned his head away, stopped looking at Chen Xing, and said slowly, "I knew that one day I would become a big chanyu of Shiliu Hu."
Chen Xing: "?"
Chen Xing stared blankly at Xiang Shu. The bridge of his nose, lips, and profile of his face were quite perfect and delicate, but he didn't have the slightest sense of fat, but instead had a kind of handsome masculinity.
Xiang Shu's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he said, "After my father died, I also naturally took on the responsibility of Da Chanyu. The affairs of the clan are my affairs, and the troubles of the clan are my troubles."
Chen Xing said: "Yes, so I think, you have to go back, even if you want, I can't occupy it..."
"Then one day," Xiang Shu added, "you came to me and told me that you needed a Dharma protector, and I was that Dharma protector, so this responsibility was extended from Chilechuan to the whole world."
Chen Xing said helplessly: "I don't want to either, just..."
Xiang Shu: "But during this process, no one ever asked me what I wanted to do."
Chen Xing: "…"
"Never." Xiang Shu said earnestly, "They won't ask me, Shulukong, are you willing to be a Da Chanyu? You didn't ask me, are you willing to be your Dharma protector?"
As he spoke, Xiang Shu frowned again and looked sideways at Chen Xing, as if he wanted to read the answer from Chen Xing's expression.
His brows stretched slightly, and he gently raised them towards Chen Xing.
Chen Xing: "I understand, Xiang Shu." Speaking of this, Chen Xing suddenly laughed and said, "So that's how it is, it's my fault that you think I don't respect you. At that time... I really didn't think about it. so much."
Xiang Shu: "I'm not like you, you want to be an exorcist..."
"Of course not," this time it was Chen Xing's turn to interrupt him and replied, "If there is a choice, I don't think I would be so willing. I admit that I didn't expect to respect your wishes at first, but I want to explain clearly, so do I, there are many things I have to do."
"Then why do you want to be an exorcist?" Xiang Shu asked a little puzzled, "Don't you have yourself?"
"Yes, I also want to be myself, and I often ask, why me?" Chen Xing remembered the voice in his heart when he first tried to control the Yin Yang Jian.
"But my father used to say before his death, how can there be so many people in the world who can do whatever they want? In life, those who can live according to their own will are happy. More people just follow the destiny. However, it is not fair that the responsibility is placed on the shoulders, but if you think about it in another way, isn't this what God expects from each of us?"
"Expectation?" Xiang Shu said in disapproval, "I just accept what's wrong."
Chen Xing understood why Xiang Shu rejected the proposal to be a Dharma protector from the very beginning, and said with relief: "So, it's just resignation to the so-called 'will of God'."
The boat swayed in the waves, the rain seemed to have stopped, only the sound of the waves one after another, Chen Xing and Xiang Shu lay side by side, quietly, no one spoke for a while.
"Then what do you want to do?" Chen Xing seemed to have re-acquainted with Xiang Shu. Now, he suddenly felt that the dialogue between them was very peaceful, it was the inner peace, abandoning everything in the outside world, and being equal Look at each other carefully, to understand the most sincere side of each other.
"Sometimes," Xiang Shu said, "I want my mother to come back to life and my father to come back to life, just like before, living outside the Great Wall."
Chen Xing couldn't help but glance at Xiang Shu, but Xiang Shu closed his eyes.
"But it backfired, they all died," Xiang Shu murmured, "An Da is also dead, everyone is gone... It's like a banquet in the late autumn festival. After everyone finishes drinking, they say goodbye and go to their respective places. The place to go. And what I want, easy to say, hard to…”
"... All I want is this banquet, never to end."
Xiang Shu was taken aback for a while, remembering the day he said goodbye to the clansmen who stayed in Hala and Lin, but he did not tell Chen Xing any further details.
This conversation seems to be meaningless, but for Chen Xing, it seems to have started another period of his short-lived life. It's like a ship that has left the wind and rain, and finally galloped into the calm sea.
"...Those who know me say I am worried, and those who don't know me say what I want."
"Yuyou heaven, who is this?" Chen Xing sang gently as the boat shook.
"How about you?" Xiang Shu asked.
Chen Xing hesitated: "Maybe... I want to see the land of China. Go to those places that I have read about in books but have no chance to go." After speaking, the future in Chen Xing's imagination seemed to become clear: " After I have traveled all over the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas, I will go to the south of the Yangtze River to find a picturesque place to live and plant a yard full of wisteria flowers, when the flowers bloom..."
Chen Xing smiled sadly and said, "You can read under the flower shelf, do you like it? If you have a chance, you are welcome to come and play at my house. It doesn't matter if you live or not. If you have a chance, um, Whenever there is a chance."
Chen Xing raised his hand, with the faint light of the heart lamp in his hand, and gently pressed it in front of Xiang Shu's naked chest. Bright light shines through.
Chen Xing said, "I want to ask you again, Xiang Shu."
Xiang Shu still looked at Chen Xing like this.
"Before the future is about to come," Chen Xing said, "can you stay with me for a while? Anyway, I need you, I know now, you don't want to be dominated by responsibility. So, I just want to ask, if you give it to You re-choose yourself, can you…”
"I'll think about it." Xiang Shu replied.
Chen Xing laughed, knowing that Xiang Shu said this, meaning he agreed.
The wind and rain receded, the big ship galloped on the sea, a bright moon shone in all directions, the wind picked up, the sails were full, and the ship galloped towards the silver-white sea.
Chen Xing said softly in that silence: "Sometimes I feel that the so-called 'responsibility' means that someone needs you. Shenzhou, the earth, the universe, all things... This kind of need is often not rewarded, but we always Isn't it a good feeling to be willing to fulfill those expectations, just like one person, to another person?"
Xiang Shu didn't answer. Chen Xing curled up in the quilt. After a long time, he felt that Xiang Shu should have fallen asleep.
"Is it cold?" Xiang Shu asked.
"not cold."
The bedding on Chen Xing's side was slightly damp, which made him feel very uncomfortable and kept shaking.
Xiang Shu said, "Let's come over here."
Chen Xing leaned towards Xiang Shu's side, and it immediately warmed up. Immediately, the wind and waves hit, and the big boat tilted slightly in the waves. Xiang Shu closed his feet and hugged Chen Xing who was pushed into his arms.
Chen Xing leaned against Xiang Shu's arms, breathed suddenly, and avoided his body slightly to avoid embarrassment for the two of them.
Wave after wave, the waves kept pushing him towards Xiang Shu repeatedly. Chen Xing wanted to stabilize his body and raised his hand, but there was nowhere to put it. After a while, he simply put it on Xiang Shu's shoulder and hugged his Neck, the two stick together.
"Understood." Xiang Shu finally said.
Chen Xing didn't hear these words, he fell asleep quickly, Xiang Shu's body was quite warm, so he couldn't help but want to stick to him, but he felt that Xiang Shu was always moving restlessly, as if being tossed by him. I was so irritable that I woke up from time to time, and when I got there, I couldn't care anymore, so I let go a lot and hugged Chen Xing.
The next morning, when Chen Xing woke up, he saw his clothes folded by the pillow and a new quilt on his body.
Chen Xing: "???"
Chen Xing was sure that the quilt had been changed once. Today's bed is obviously different from yesterday's.
"Xiang Shu?" Chen Xing said, "Where's Xiang Shu? What about people?"
After breakfast in the morning, Chen Xing found Xiang Shu on the deck. Xiang Shu changed into his clothes and was sitting with the captain drinking tea. The sea breeze was blowing and the sun was shining.
"How about the quilt..."
"I don't know!" Xiang Shu said impatiently.
"Wow!" Chen Xing stood in front of the mast, facing the vast sea. Xiang Shu nodded to the captain, then went back to the cabin with Chen Xing, and threw a bag to Chen Xing for him to see for himself.
Inside are two magic weapons brought back by Xiang Shu from Hala and Lin, the Yin-Yang Jian and the Drum, and the four seal rings that King Akle once sent for medical supplies. Chen Xing was a little sad when he saw things and thought about people. After checking it, he carefully put it away. Then look at the baggage that Xiang Shu hastily sorted out. There is a Qiang flute and a long and narrow unlocked box. When you open the box, there are two parchment rolls rolled together, and the outside is tied with a wool rope. It's been a few years, and it's glowing a faint purple.
Is this the big Dan Yu Zijuan that Fu Jian never forgets? Chen Xing remembered the saying "Purple Scroll Golden Award", but after looking at it, he didn't think it was a sheepskin that had been smeared with blood. But he suppressed his curiosity and didn't flip through Xiangshu's things. He closed the box and put it back. As soon as he closed it, Xiangshu came back.
"After arriving in Shangyu?" Xiang Shu asked.
Chen Xing said, "Go to Jiankang from Shangyu to find my master's friend. Do you remember the other two pictures in Zhang Liu's handbook?"
Xiang Shu showed Chen Xing that he had already roughly restored all three pictures when he was teaching Lechuan.
There are a lot of capable people in the south. After they traveled south, they kept a lot of ancient books, and even though many families of exorcists gave up their professions, studied or started farming, they still knew a little about the past. Chen Xingxu had to go to warn Xie An earlier, and summoned the former exorcists to discuss countermeasures and find the whereabouts of Dinghaizhu.
"What are you writing?" Xiang Shu saw that Chen Xing had been writing letters in the cabin these days.
Chen Xing said: "I wrote a letter of worship, sent it to the inn, and presented it to Jiankang. At that time, my father had many students, all of whom were seniors. They should have a place in the city."
Xiang Shu said casually: "Well, I forgot, your father is a great scholar, and when you return to the south, you are naturally a descendant of a famous family."
Chen Xing heard the sarcasm, and retorted: "Where, what kind of pomp is I compared to Da Chanyu? Otherwise? All the money on me has been spent, will I eat the northwest wind after disembarking?"
Xiang Shu said: "There must be several Yuwenxins waiting in Jiankang."
"You..." Chen Xing wanted to drop the pen.
Chen Xingben also had the attitude of giving it a try, and after being described by Xiangshu, he didn't want to write at all. But in the end, he was reluctant, wrote down his itinerary, blocked the post, paid the last bit of money, and let someone send it ashore and take it to the Jiankang City Officials Department. It stands to reason that if the letter is received, there should always be a postman, but no one will come to pick it up along the way, and people's hearts and minds are changeable.
The big ship sailed all the way south, and the weather gradually warmed up. It was sunny in the spring, and people in the south of the Yangtze River became more and more lazy. Chen Xing only slept in the cabin every day, tossing and turning, and Xiang Shu sometimes went down on the deck with the captain. Chess, sometimes I bought a book when I got off the ship, and read on the ship to pass the time.
Nearly ten days later, the boat sailed smoothly into the Yangtze River and headed for Jiankang along the canal. Half a day later, in the morning, it arrived in Jiankang City ahead of schedule. Chen Xing was still sleeping, and there was a faint sound of music outside. Then came the shouts of the boatmen.
"Come here—" the boatman said.
Chen Xing turned over, didn't he arrive at night? Arrived in Jiankang so soon
Xiang Shu pushed the door and entered the room. After finishing cleaning, he looked at Chen Xing impatiently. Chen Xing sat up, frizzy, scratched his head, and looked at Xiang Shu.
"Someone picks you up at the dock," Xiang said.
Chen Xing was refreshed, so he ran out and said, "Who? Who's coming to pick me up?"
When the big boat arrived at the pier, what caught my eye was the blossoming of peaches and willows on the shore, and the city was full of new green and colorful. Thousands of eaves and tiles, Zhu rafters are like washing.
Zhongshan is in the shape of dragons and pans, and the shape of stones and tigers.
Ten miles of Huai Shui is misty and rainy, and in the distance Taichu and Zhaoming Second Palace are located by the mirror-like Xuanwu Lake, like a palace tower in the sky surrounded by clouds.
The No. 1 capital in the world, Jiankang City has experienced ups and downs and has been inhabited by millions of people. This is the place where the Han culture is most prosperous and the center of the Chinese civilization.
Nearly 50 Confucian scholars held umbrellas and lined up. At the top, a Qingyong man with broad robes and big sleeves, like riding the wind to embrace the moon, came with a song.
"I've been there in the past, Yangliu Yiyi," only the voices on the shore sang, "Now I'm here to think, Yu Xue Fei Fei—"
The man's temples were dyed with cream, and he was forty years old, but he was dressed in awe. He was dressed in a black official gauze and lined with a snow-white scribe's robe. His face was like a crown of jade, and his smile was like a spring breeze. The fox teeth, the wooden clogs, the jade flute, the belt fluttering in the wind, walked all the way.
"A friend came from afar," Xie An said in a long voice, "Can you still eat? Junior brother, please come here."
—Volume 2, Sky Cracks, End —
Volume 3 Still Like a Mountain