It happened too suddenly.
With a bang, the small porcelain bowl painted with blue and white fell to the ground, rolled twice, and broke into several small pieces. At the same time, the shiny brass bell polished by time also fell from the sky, You jingled twice as if in panic, and finally fell to the side of the fragment.
"Master... Master, Master... Come here! Master was bitten by a snake!..."
The shrill voice pierced through this rare sunny afternoon in the early spring. Immediately afterwards, there were hurried footsteps in the originally quiet and peaceful small courtyard in the mountain, kicking, tapping, and even the sound of these footsteps knocking things over in a panic.
Shen Qingxuan stared forward with wide eyes, trying hard to see the appearance of the beast that bit him, but his eyes were blurred, as if his eyes were covered with a thin layer of white gauze, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see clearly. He couldn't help but be horrified by the snake's venom, but secretly thought, man is not as good as God, he thought about countless ways to die, how could he expect that he would end up on the snake's fangs.
Thinking of this, he was not startled at all, but closed his eyes, vaguely aware that the servants who came over moved him from the chair, called the doctor in a panic, and shouted to get some antidote pills.
After that, I don't know at all.
The young master of the Shen family was bitten by a snake in the villa.
The news seemed to be brought out by the wings of the birds in the mountain forest. In about a cup of tea, there were several horseshoes on the originally peaceful and quiet mountain road.
Horses and chariots and sedan chairs came in a hurry, and finally stopped at the gate of the villa. The rider and the nobleman in the sedan chair hurried off the ground, entered the door, and broke into Shen Qingxuan's room without waiting for anyone to greet him.
The eyes of the man lying in the green gauze tent were tightly closed, and an ominous black-purple glowed in the seal, and the thick black-purple even gradually spread to his entire face. The originally light-colored lips turned red strangely on the black-purple face. The original Qingjuan appearance was gone, but at first glance, he looked three parts human and seven parts ghostly.
"Xiaoxuan!" Seeing this, the elder with slightly weathered temples cried out in a mournful voice, extremely sad, "My son!" He still had something to say, but only choked up.
"Master." The butler who stood by with his arms folded hurriedly interrupted the master's sadness, and reminded: "Master, don't be sentimental at this time, and the first thing to do is to find a way to save the young master's life."
"Yes, yes." Under the impact of pity, Master Shen, who only came to his senses after being reminded, quickly got up, covered his eyes with one hand, and asked the servants beside him with a choked voice: "Have you detoxified him?"
"There are often snakes, insects, rats and ants on the mountain, so there are always medicines on hand. I just gave the young master a pill that is specially designed to detoxify snakes, but... the effect is not very obvious."
"What kind of snake is that, can you see it clearly?" the housekeeper asked anxiously.
"It was too messy at the time, and the villain couldn't see it clearly. It was coiled on the pergola in the courtyard and was blocked by branches. I only glanced at it briefly. The thick part of the bowl..." The man gestured while talking, and just said After that, he was slapped hard on the forehead, and the butler said angrily: "You bastard, you are full of nonsense!" He ignored his crying, and only explained to Master Shen: "Master, Lu lived in the mountains when he was young, I have never heard of a snake that can grow so thick. Unless it is a python, although a python is thick, it will not bite people easily, and it is impossible for it to be so poisonous. This boy must be talking nonsense. He described it as scary. Thinking about getting less punishment."
Master Shen was distraught, and couldn't care about these things at the moment, he just angrily told the servant to get out.
"Where did you bite?" The housekeeper asked the trembling maid standing at the gate, that was Shen Qingxuan's personal maid.
"On the wrist," the maid hurriedly said with a pale face, "the sun is good today, and the young master wants to bask in the sun, so I pushed him into the courtyard. As usual, the young master wants to drink a pot of scented tea at this time. Cha Cha was about to bring some refreshments, and just turned around and walked a few steps, when he heard the sound of the tea bowl falling to the ground, and when he turned around, the young master was already bitten by a snake..." At this point, the maid rolled her eyes and looked like weep.
"Did you see that snake?"
"I saw it. The man didn't lie. The snake was really big, and it was sitting on the railing. When I saw it, it just retracted. I saw it was black and black, but the belly was a little golden. I have been serving on the mountain for many years. Young master, I have seen some snakes that were killed, but I have never seen such a big snake..."
"It's really that big?" The butler was still dubious.
Her knees softened, and the girl knelt down on the ground, crying and swearing: "How dare I lie about such a big matter, if there is even a little lie, I will make my servant die!"
The housekeeper here is facing the testimony, and the master Shen, who is watching his son's injury with heartache, pulls out the eldest son's wrist. Seeing that the wound bitten by the snake's teeth has been drawn into a cross shape by the blade of the knife, he feels a little relieved, knowing that it is A clever servant cut his mouth in time and sucked the poisonous blood. It's just that the snake's venom is so fierce that it can make an adult lose his mind in just a short time. I'm afraid that the poison has entered the lungs, it's hard to get rid of it!
Master Shen clutched that thin and pale wrist, feeling sad in his heart. It is said that the eldest son is the pillar of the family, but he only had a son in his thirties, yet Shen Qingxuan fell into an ice cave when he was eight years old, and after being rescued, he suffered from a high fever. Can only paralyze on the couch. He thought that he would be raised well and not asked him to earn some fame and fortune. With his Shen family's huge sum of money, it would be enough to support the eldest son Ping An for a lifetime, but unexpectedly at the age of twenty-seven, he was bitten by a snake again.
"Naughty beast!" With a low cry, Master Shen wanted to catch the snake and eat its flesh raw.
"Master, don't worry." The old housekeeper who has worked for the Shen family all his life once again comforted him: "Young master has always been weak and has been raised in the villa all year round, so all the rare medicinal materials are still available, maybe there is still a way."
"Is there any way?"
"Master, still remember the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, when someone from the Southern Barbarian land that had business dealings with the Shen family offered two pills that claimed to be able to cure the world's strange poisons?"
"Remember, I took the medicine.... Does it really work?"
"I don't know, I just heard that there are a lot of poisonous insects and beasts in the wetlands of the Southern Barbarians. Maybe this pill has a miraculous effect?"
"Why don't you get it?" Master Shen hurriedly stood up.
"Yes."
The medicine was quickly fetched, and it was dissolved in warm water and fed. When the medicine was given, Shen Qingxuan's jaw was clenched tightly, his cheek muscles were stiff, and he seemed to be out of breath.
The whole room was panicked, and the air was heavy.
As night fell, the servants lit the oil lamps. The light and shadow flickered.
The door of Shen Qingxuan's room was sometimes opened and sometimes closed, and people came and went in and out of it.
But no one noticed that there was a person standing quietly in the shadow of the swaying oil lamp.
Black hair hangs loosely around his waist, and he is also wearing a black robe, standing with his hands behind his back, with simple patterns embroidered with gold thread on the front of his clothes, with a cold expression, and he does not know how long he stands there with his lips pursed.
No one noticed, even passed him by and never glanced at him. If anyone had seen him, they would definitely not turn a blind eye to this man who seemed to be alive like a demon.
But indeed, no one knew of his existence.
It was late at night, and Master Shen was exhausted physically and mentally. He wanted to be with his son in his heart, but age cruelly shackled his affection. It was the end of February, although it was the beginning of spring, but it was still cold at night and cold at night, coughing a few times, Master Shen felt a dull pain in his head. Under the persuasion of the housekeeper, even though he was reluctant to part with it, he went to lie on the soft couch in the warm side room lit by charcoal fire.
In Shen Qingxuan's room, only the housekeeper and three servants were still guarding.
After another two hours, Shen Mingxuan, who had been breathing weakly, gradually began to breathe steadily and powerfully. The man standing motionless in the shadow raised his eyes slightly, with surprise in his eyes, he did not believe that there was any panacea in this world that could cure his poison.
Sure enough, he stared intently at the thin and frail man on the bed for a while, and realized that this was the so-called flashback.
Those antidotes can only delay for a few minutes at most. Detoxification? Pure delusion.
Shen Qingxuan tried his best to move his eyelids, the heavy eyelids seemed to weigh a thousand catties, and he couldn't open them no matter what.
The maid who was standing by the side noticed it, and shouted in surprise: "Master, master!"
The sound was full of reckless joy, waking up the small courtyard and forest that had just fallen asleep.
Soon Master Shen was wearing a cloak, shoes and socks, and before he could put on his shoes and socks, he staggered over, shouting all the way: "Xuan'er, Xuan'er...Xuan'er, are you awake? Dad is so anxious..."
Perhaps it was the call of relatives that gave Shen Qingxuan strength, and the trembling eyelids struggled to open, and they opened. The eyes were slack, and it took a long time to gradually gather together, and there was some light in the eyes.
Shen Qingxuan opened his mouth slightly, but couldn't make any sound.
But everyone knew that what he said was: Dad.
"Hey, dad is here..." Tears rolled down his face, Master Shen tremblingly grabbed his son's hand and murmured, "Qingxuan, is it better? Don't worry when you feel better. it's..."
Shen Qingxuan tried his best to force a smile out of his stiff face just now. But he knew inexplicably in his heart that he couldn't hide this time. The whole body was trapped in a feeling of paralysis, unable to move. When breathing, there was a sweet smell in the mouth and nose, and there was a burst of darkness and gaps of clarity in front of my eyes.
The feeling of dying is probably like this.
In fact, there is nothing to be afraid of. For a useless person like him, death is not as scary as life.
The only thing I can't let go of is my parents and my younger brother.
Relatives are the only pillars that support him to search for happiness in life these years. Every time I think of Gaotang's tragic state after his death, I can't bear it.
He imagined his own death, but it wasn't because he gave up on himself. After so many years of being unable to take care of himself in a wheelchair, he had gotten used to it, and it was not such a difficult thing to bury his childhood ideal of riding a whip.
It's my own body, which is not as good as every year.
It used to be possible to bask in the sun from time to time, ask people to push it, and go for a walk in the mountains and forests.
In the past two years, it has become more and more unbearable. After a little blowing, I would get sick, and each time it was more serious than the previous one. Later, it developed to the point where I couldn't get out of bed once in a month or two.
He hadn't gone out this winter, and he rarely even opened the windows.
It was rare to recover from illness, and wanted to bask in the sun, but it disturbed a snake that had just finished hibernation and also came out to bask in the sun.
Thinking of this, Shen Qingxuan couldn't help smiling, thinking that the sun was shining, it seemed that neither he nor the snake felt comfortable.
He knew clearly in his heart that the snake was originally perched on the railing to bask in the sun, and he sat on the chair, one person and one snake did not interfere with the water of the well.
It would have been safe and sound, and each went back to the house after basking in the sun.
However, somehow a piece of broken leaf dipped in soil fell into the clear tea. He is naturally clean, so he poured out the hot tea in the bowl without thinking.
The snake was not seen at that time. When he realized something was wrong, the tea had already been spilled out, steaming hot and drenching the black shiny armor all over.
Before he could retract his hand in time, the startled snake turned around and took a bite.
In fact, it was his own fault that was bigger. Such hot water, not to mention a snake, even a rabbit, would be frightened and fight back.
That is a very mighty snake. He only had time to take a look, and the severe pain drew his attention away. But Shen Qingxuan still remembered that the snake's whole body was black and shiny, when it entangled itself and raised its head upright, its neck and belly were golden yellow, which was particularly dazzling in the afternoon sun. I wanted to look at it later, but couldn't see clearly. I don't know if the snake was scalded or not.
It is said that this legless animal is covered with tiny scales, so it is not easy to be injured by a cup of hot tea.
There was another burst of dizzying blackness in front of his eyes, and even his father's voice gradually faded away from his ears. Shen Qingxuan still wanted to try hard to hear what his father was saying, but he could only feel the roar of his cochlea. All the messy and broken sentences came from the roar, but they still couldn't reach the mind. Shen Qingxuan only knew that his father would speak again, but no matter how exhausted he was, he couldn't hear what he was saying clearly.
Shen Qingxuan knew in his heart that the deadline had come, and he couldn't tell whether he should be more sad or relieved. He always knew that he was about to die, but he was still caught off guard when this scene came.
The concern in his heart made him want to take a last look at the world that has been with him for more than 20 years. Even though he didn't even have the strength to breathe, Shen Qingxuan tried his best to open his eyes wide, and he stubbornly gathered the lost look in his eyes, looking at his relatives. Stare for a long time.
The well-maintained but aging father at the moment, the old housekeeper who has been busy for the Shen family all his life, the maid who has been weeping into a ball, and those familiar people who have devoted themselves to taking care of him over the years... Slowly moving his eyes Flicking past everyone's faces in a rigid manner, Shen Qingxuan slowly rolled up the corners of his lips, revealing a faint smile. It's like saying goodbye.
His smile was so shallow that it was even ferocious on his current face, which was three parts human and seven parts ghost.
But it depicts the deep nostalgia and reluctance for life.
So desperate nostalgia, but with the relief of death.
Perhaps this smile was too shocking. In the shadows, the condensed man who watched the scene from beginning to end raised his eyelids, his eyes as black as the water of the abyss had ripples of splashes.