The firecrackers at the foot of Luofu Mountain went off one after another, and the sound passed through the air all the way to the lonely courtyard in the mountain, awakening a sleeping snake.
Raising his head, Black Snake was a little puzzled by the unfamiliar sound source. He waited for a while, and after he was sure that the movement could not cause any harm, he swam to Liu Yan's belly and followed the warm heat in the dark quilt. Drilling around.
It wasn't until Liu Yan was awakened by him that he stretched out his hand from under the quilt and threw him to the pillow, exposed to the air that was much colder than the quilt, that the black snake calmed down and stopped the daily fun.
Lying on the side of the pillow and pretending to be innocent in a posture of "I'm about to freeze to death", the black snake was stuffed into the bed again by the soft-hearted Liu Yan after insisting on a cup of tea.
Liu Yan pulled the quilt to cover her head, and buried herself whole, holding the black snake in her arms and remembering that today is New Year's Eve.
It's New Year's Eve again.
Liu Yan lay in a daze under the quilt for a while, then gradually came to her senses, and sat up slowly. The black snake was wrapped around his arm, as if he didn't want him to get up, and grabbed and pulled until Liu Yan peeled it off. Liu Yan said, "Shouldn't you be hibernating?"
Seeing that the obstruction was ineffective, the black snake curled its tail around his waist, trying to get into his loose clothes, Liu Yan nodded its head and said: "The snake should sleep, there are still many things to do today."
The black snake, who was spoiled by Jiao, didn't realize it at all, and still entangled him trying to get into his embrace.
Liu Yan simply grabbed his head with one hand and the tail of the snake with the other, opened his arms, straightened the twisted black snake like a section of strips, put his head on the pillow, put his tail into the quilt, and gave him the quilt Cover it. Liu Yan finished all this with a smile, and coaxed: "Good boy."
Slipped out of bed by himself.
This "horrific death" posture really violates the nature of snakes, unless it is a dead snake. So when Liu Yan got out of bed, the stretched black snake immediately put away its body, curled up again, got into the depths of the bed, found the still warm hand stove, and curled up to sleep beside it.
Liu Yan didn't know why Yi Mo, who was supposed to hibernate, didn't hibernate, and Shen Jue didn't understand it. Maybe it was because the room was too warm. After all, the charcoal fire this year hasn't stopped burning since the beginning of winter.
At the end of the year, it should be a good time. Liu Yan and Shen Jue are busy with the day of saying goodbye to the old and ushering in the new. Only Xu Mingshi who has become an "old man" has nothing to do, sitting on the footrest beside the bed, They showed full enthusiasm for the black snake on the bed that should have hibernated but didn't—after all, they were the only ones who had nothing to do now.
We have been together these days, and Black Snake is no stranger to Xu Mingshi, he is willing to be here, and Black Snake has given enough tolerance, let him chatter on the sidelines, doze off without any objection, and listen to his babble. I don't understand words. Most of them are reminiscing about the past.
Xu Mingshi felt that the only thing he could do now was to sit here, reminisce about his past, and gain a lot of comfort from having someone listen to him. His life was much shorter than the person in front of him. When he was young, this snake was already a thousand-year-old monster. The gap between them was too far, but although his life was short, Xu Mingshi felt that his life was wonderful enough. He counted himself In his life, he has done wrong things and also done many good things. He has helped many people and demons, and let those who harm others get what they deserve. No matter what he said, he did not waste it.
The only difference from Yi Mo is that he has never experienced such a relationship.
Having said that, Xu Mingshi remained stubborn, leaned in front of the black snake, and whispered a whisper.
It's a pity that what he thought would have an impact did not have the slightest impact on the black snake. The black snake, as stable as Mount Tai, was coiled by the hand stove, expressing contempt for the old man's stubborn character.
Shen Jue was chopping wood in the yard. When the ax fell, his sharp ears caught the words that he shouldn't have heard. The blade of the ax suddenly tilted, and the piece of wood that was cut off a corner bounced out and hit the wall. Suddenly a pit appeared, and yellow mud fell all over the ground.
Liu Yan rushed out from the stove when he heard the sound, and asked, "Do you want to repair the wall?"
Shen Jue shook his head and said, "It was wrong."
Xu Mingshi in the room was still chattering by the ear of the black snake, Shen Jue lowered his eyes, bent over to pick up the piece of wood that was forced to fly out and bounced back, and chopped down with one hand holding the axe, the wood did not have time to make the slightest sound , divided into eight petals. Xu Mingshi didn't know anything about what happened in the courtyard. All he knew was that Shen Jue was hard at chopping firewood to provide a source of fire for Liu Yan who was busy in the kitchen. Regarding the wood that had turned into eight petals, Xu Mingshi was as ignorant as if he didn't know that his own words were being listened to. It was precisely because of his ignorance that he dared to say: "Old Snake, in fact, I still envy you. Even though you have become like this."
"Look at you today, you can't talk, you can't do things, you are a big worm who eats, drinks and has fun all day long," Xu Mingshi said endlessly: "I would peel you and make soup, how can you live like this? happy."
As Xu Mingshi spoke, he poked the snake's head to express his dissatisfaction and jealousy. Black Snake was extremely patient with this behavior, and ignored him. Xu Mingshi looked at him, but couldn't help but feel sad again, and said: "Some of my senior brothers have not cultivated, and they have already reincarnated. There are some people who have achieved a little bit, and they hate me when they see the appearance of this old man. Those who don't hate me are willing to talk with me, but they only know about cultivation, or they are doing alchemy, or they are giving me money. I see that the magic tools they made... one by one, it's very boring."
"Although you have become like this, you are better than me. My son is waiting for you, and Shen Qingxuan is coaxing you every day." Xu Mingshi said, "It's not like me. I need your family to die for me."
Xu Mingshi became more and more sad, raised his hand and wiped his eyes, leaned over and said in a low voice: "Although Xiaobao doesn't recognize me as an uncle, he prepared all the coffins for me. , It took a lot of thought to think about it.”
How did he know that Shen Jue outside the courtyard had already frowned, deeply feeling that the old man was getting older and more thieves, he unconsciously supported his old face, and was still muttering: "...the snake slough you gave me that year blocked it for me. A lot of disasters, now that you look like this, you can't get that kind of treasure anymore. When I die, I will leave this thing to Xiaobao, and it will be regarded as returning it to the original owner. I don't owe you anything... "
Black Snake raised his head and looked out the window. The sun was very bright and the light was abundant. He yawned, alas, the sun is long.
When the New Year's dinner was finally served, Black Snake was freed from his fly-like chatter. He was hugged by Liu Yan and sat on the banquet. After this, it was the first New Year's Eve after he was beaten back to his original form.
Of course, I also drank wine. Ever since he drank alcohol for the first time, he fell in love with the feeling of warmth all over his body, as if it was the spring of March, when the warblers and grasses are growing, he can roam around as he pleases.
Xu Mingshi poured out his bitterness in a day, and his mood became much more relaxed. Holding the wine cup, he toasted frequently. Amidst the sweetness of the New Year's dinner, he looked at Shen Jue drunkenly, and said, "Boy, call me uncle."
There is a saying - wine is strong and courageous. Liu Yan tore a piece of pork head and stuffed it into the mouth of the alcoholic in his arms.
Shen Jue put down the bowl and chopsticks and looked at Xu Mingshi, facing the greasy old man with gray hair, he asked calmly, "I didn't hear what you said."
Xu Mingshi came to his senses in an instant, laughed, and said, "It's nothing. I said this dish is really delicious."
There is another saying - mud cannot support the wall. Liu Yan moaned silently, feeling powerless.
Soon after New Year's Eve, the Lantern Festival came. Shen Jue cooked a pot of big Lantern Festival filled with sweet-scented osmanthus and sesame seeds. , the trees in the mountains germinated a layer of light green, and the young leaves covered with light fluff pulled out the branches. In the early morning, there were birds singing again, and small insects crawling on the ground were often seen. This spring came very quickly.
After taking off the heavy cotton coat, Xu Mingshi felt much more relaxed, and his stooped waist straightened up. He often wandered all over the mountains, talking with those flowers, birds, fish and insects, with an extremely brisk expression. Shen Jue doubted that he could live for another few decades. Not a problem. But these words could not be uttered, so Shen Jue had no choice but to take care of the old man's basic necessities.
In this season when birds are chirping and squirrels are jumping all over the mountain, the black snake dormant in Liu Yan's arms seems to be infected with the vitality. Find it.
Another late night, when Liu Yan took over from Shen Jue the impatient Black Snake who kept spitting out letters and making a "hissing" sound, he finally felt that his anomaly was not due to playfulness, and he couldn't think of a reason for it for a while, so he had to Ask Shen Jue: "What's wrong with him? Is he sick?"
Shen Jue shook his head, "The spirit is very good, it doesn't look like sick."
Xu Mingshi stole a jug of wine from the kitchen, and when he passed by the window, he stopped, hesitating over and over again, wondering whether he should tell the truth. The problem he could see at a glance, the only reason why the two smart people in the room were still in the mist was because they didn't regard the snake as a snake. That is their dearest and dearest, even though it is in the shape of a snake, it is still a living person in their hearts. So the simplest answer, they can't think of it.
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Mingshi rushed into the window and said tactfully: "He just...his spring is here." After speaking, he hugged the wine jar, and hurried away as if he had done something bad.
—His spring has come.
Xu Mingshi's words were no less than enlightenment to Shen Jue, so that's why Yi Mo has been so restless recently. He looked at Liu Yan, but he saw a disheartened face.
Involuntarily tightening his hand three points, Liu Yan lowered his eyes, well concealed his expression, only said to the black snake struggling in pain in his arms, "Don't even think about it."