Just behind the stone carvings, there is a broad platform at the end of the connecting ladder, and behind the platform there is a pavilion built of bricks and stones that has been in disrepair for a long time. The platform was very quiet and inaccessible, and the creeping tiger climbed straight up along the ten thousand zhang stone barrier under the platform. The mountains do not know the years, as if the long time has frozen here.
"This is where you practice martial arts?" Duan Ling asked.
"Yes, this is the White Tiger Hall." Wu Du replied, walking up the stairs with Duan Ling, and came to the front of the hall. There was a crumbling plaque hanging on the top, and three ancient seal characters "White Tiger Hall" were written on it.
"Stay here at night." Wu Du said, "It might be a little cold in the mountains, but I think..."
"It doesn't matter." Duan Ling replied, and stood in front of the hall, stretched out, facing the green hills and misty clouds outside, with the meaning of swaying his chest and creating stratus of clouds, which means he will return to the bird. Since he left Jiangzhou, this has been a few days when he has truly been free of all worries. Here he doesn't have to worry about anyone coming to kill him, or about getting killed by saying the wrong thing, they can sleep soundly and relax.
He looked back at Wu Du. Wu Du was sweeping the masonry road in the hall. There was a bird's nest on the chair. He picked up the bird's nest, wiped the chair clean, and put it back.
"Hey?" Duan Ling saw the figure of some small animal flashing behind the pillar, and then walked over quickly, and saw that it was a squirrel. Hearing the footsteps, the squirrel stopped, turned around, and stared at Duan Ling hesitantly.
"The animals in the mountains are not afraid of people." Wu Du explained.
"Is there anyone else here?" Duan Ling asked.
"No more." Wu Du said, "In those days, it was just me, my master, my wife and my sister."
Duan Ling thought of Xunchun who died in Shangjing and sighed. After Wu Du finished cleaning, he said, "Duanling, come, let the tiger god see you."
Duan Ling walked to the center of the hall, looked up, and saw a white tiger carved out of white marble enshrined inside. It seemed that gems were inlaid in his eyes, but they had long since disappeared. Behind the tiger sculpture is the broken and mottled mural of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", and the mural is also inlaid with seven white marble chess pieces.
"The seventeenth generation of disciples of the White Tiger Hall," said the statue of the White Tiger of Wu Du Dynasty, "the descendants of the poison system, the head of the White Tiger Hall, Wu Du, and the Crown Prince of the Central Plains are here."
Duan Ling couldn't help but shuddered in his heart, stood up straight, Wu Du stood tall, tall and straight, with his left hand holding the martial arts, put it on his right hand, performed a special etiquette, made a pilgrimage to the White Tiger, and said: "I pray for the protection of the White Tiger Xingjun... "
"What's it called?" Wu Du asked Duan Ling again.
"What?" Duan Ling asked.
Wu Du said, "Name."
Duan Ling: "..."
Wu Du: "..."
"Is there someone like you as the leader?" Duan Ling couldn't help laughing.
Wu Du complained bitterly: "I was frightened by you that day, how do you remember? Hurry up."
"Li Ruo is on a pilgrimage." Duan Ling took a step forward, knowing that Baihu is the god of slaughter, who is in charge of all the killings in the world, and bowed, "May I be invincible in battle and invincible in attack."
Wu Du laughed and said to the sculpture, "I pray that Xingjun will protect the Prince Chen 'Li Ruo' and return to the dynasty smoothly."
After the two of them finished speaking, they quietly raised their heads and looked at the white tiger sculpture that had lost its eyes. A gust of wind roared in from the back of the hall, and then rushed out from the front hall, taking their robes with them, as if a fierce tiger was passing through the mountains and leaves. Crackling sound.
"Where did its eyes go?" Duan Ling asked Wu Du.
"I don't know." Wu Du said, "I haven't seen it since I can remember. It must have been dug up. Although its eyes cannot see, its ears can hear."
Duan Ling seemed to be right, this gust of wind might be his inspiration.
In this life, Duan Ling has never had a more free time than now. In the afternoon, Wu Du went down the stone steps again and brought up the bedding and food on the boat. Duan Ling wanted to help, but Wu Du only let him rest, put the things on the platform, and then turned around and went into the boat to get the things.
The White Tiger Hall has a backyard. The courtyard is divided into the east and the west. The middle courtyard is where Wu Du’s master and his wife lived. Duan Ling saw an alchemy furnace with solidified cinnabar and dark mixed medicine. The west wing is Xunchun's room. Pushing the door and looking inside, it is full of cobwebs and dust, but nothing. The east wing is Wu Du's room, with a bed and two wooden shelves, all of which are old things, and there are also many ancient books that have been eaten by insects.
"It's a pity." Duan Ling said, "So many precious manuscripts have become like this, aren't you afraid of being lost?"
Wu Du drew water from the stream at the back of the hall, rolled up his sleeves, and cleaned the courtyard, saying, "No one is here, and if the practice is lost, no one cares."
Duan Ling asked, "What's going on here?"
"Master made the medicine back then." Wu Du said, "He has been seeking longevity, wanting to become immortal, originally good, but after eating too much, the martial arts will not work. In the few years when the capital was in a hurry, he took his wife and hurried. I hurriedly went down the mountain to go to the rescue, but I was able to get out of my body, but I didn’t know what bastard pills I took, and I couldn’t get angry for a while, and was shot to death by the Liao soldiers.”
"Where is he buried?" Duan Ling said, "Are you going to the grave?"
"The tomb of clothing is at the back." Wu Du said, "After the capital was captured by the Liao people, the senior sister brought it back. You can go when you are free. Don't be in a hurry at this time."
Duan Ling helped Wu Du to clean up the room together. Wu Du said, "I don't want anything in it, just throw it out."
Duan Ling said, "No, it's very useful."
"I remember it all in my head." Wu Du said, "Don't rummage around, there's a lot of dust, and you sneezed over it."
Duan Ling sneezed in an earth-shattering ten or so before putting Wu Du's books back together and putting them on the shelf, ready to transcribe a copy, so as to preserve Baihutang's skills. When it was almost dusk, Wu Du packed up halfway and went to make a fire to cook for Duan Ling.
Duan Ling glanced at Wu Du's busy figure, and it felt as if he was back when he was a child. He remembered the words in his memory: There will always be someone who will do everything, no matter who you are, come to treat you well. If I wasn't the Prince of Nan Chen, would Wu Du bring me here
Duan Ling thought for a while and felt that it should be possible.
When he saw an old antique box under the shelf in the room, he bent over to unlock it. After opening it, there were wooden horses and wooden figures carved with small knives, which must have been carved by Wu Du alone when he was a child. There was another red cloth bag underneath. Duan Ling was about to open it to take a look, but Wu Du caught a glimpse and said, "That... can't move!"
Duan Ling thought it was some kind of poison, so he hurriedly put it back, but Wu Du came in with a blushing face and put the cloth bag back at the bottom of the box.
"What is it?" Duan Ling asked.
"It's nothing." Wu Du looked a little embarrassed, but Duan Ling became more curious and pestered him to ask. Wu Du went to the kitchen to add water and steam fish, but Duan Ling kept following him. Wu Du was too entangled, so he had to Said: "It's a bellyband."
Duan Ling: "..."
Duan Ling burst into laughter, Wu Du said angrily, "Don't laugh!"
Duan Ling thought about it, understood, and asked, "Did you wear it when you were a child?"
"Yeah." Wu Du replied, "When the mistress picked me up, there was only such a piece of cloth on my body."
"Do you have a birth certificate? Parents' names?" Duan Ling asked.
"I don't know, some have been burned by Master." Wu said alone, "Assassins can't have parents."
Duan Ling asked again, "Doesn't that mean I don't know when my birthday is?"
"Think of it as..." Wu Du said, "The day when the mistress found me is considered my birthday."
Duan Ling suddenly realized and asked, "Which day is it?"
Wu Du didn't speak, and Duan Ling wanted to ask again. Wu Du had to say, "I'll tell you later."
Duan Ling stretched out his finger, and Wu Du hooked his finger with him and said, "Go and wait for dinner, don't run around randomly. Although no one here comes to kill you, it's not a joke to get lost in the mountains."
Wu Du limited the scope of Duanling's activities, from the stone ladder to the platform, as well as the entire Baihutang area. Duan Ling stood at the end of the platform and looked at the sea of clouds in the mountains. The clouds have risen, and the mountains are as quiet as a fairyland.
The hustle and bustle of Jiangzhou, the battles between people, were all forgotten at this moment, as if it was just a dream Duan Ling had during his nap.
If you stay here all your life, maybe no one can find them, right
If you stay here all your life, maybe you don't have to worry about anything anymore.
Duan Ling looked at the sea of clouds, and had an idea. If he succeeded in his retirement, this would be his only destination. After so many experiences, the happiest thing in the world is to be safe and stable in his life and have someone to accompany him... When I think of this , He looked back at the White Tiger Hall, and Wu Du just knocked on the iron a few times, and a ding ding sound came out, indicating that he was ready for dinner.
"Go away! Beat you!"
When Duan Ling entered, he saw Wu Du terrorizing a monkey from nowhere. The monkey wanted to come over to ask for something to eat, but he didn't dare to approach, and looked at Wu Du and Duan Ling pitifully. Duan Ling couldn't help laughing, and threw it some dry food, and the monkey hurriedly walked away with it.
"There's another one over there." Duan Ling looked around, saw the big monkey begging for food, and quickly gave it to a little monkey on the tree.
"If you want to stutter, you can make a living yourself." Wu Du joked, "When you are a master, you have to support your family." Then he slammed the door on his shoulders and closed the door of the temple.
At night, there was a lonely lamp, swaying in the mountain wind, and the two of them had a few small dishes, live fish bought on the river, and two glasses of wine.
After drinking, Wu Du said to Duan Ling, "I'll take you to a place, let's go."
This night happened to be the night of the full moon. Wu Du took Duan Ling towards the back mountain, turned a small road, and went around to the other end of the mountain.
Under the moonlit night, among the mountains, only here is full of peach trees. In April, the world is full of fragrance, and the peach blossoms in the mountain temples begin to bloom. fly.
"How?" Wu Du smiled.
Duan Ling was almost speechless, staring blankly at the scene in front of him.
"There are less than ten days a year." Wu Du said, "I can see this scenery."
"It's so beautiful." Duan Ling said.
Wu Du came over, sat on the stone with Duan Ling, took out the flute, put it close to his lips, the music played, and the tune of seeing each other happily brought Duan Ling's thoughts back to the long past.
After the song was over, Duan Ling and Wu Du quietly looked at each other.
Wu Du's lips moved slightly, and his breathing was a little short. He was wearing a single shirt and shorts, sitting on the stone, very close to Duan Ling. The moonlight shone down on the snow-white single clothes of the two of them. , beautiful male body silhouette.
"Duanling." Wu Du suddenly said, "I... have something to say to you."
Duan Ling suddenly became nervous for no reason. Said, "What, what?"
Wu Du looked down at him, silent with each other for a few breaths, but Wu Du turned his head and looked into the mountain stream, then looked up at the bright moon, uneasy.
"What?" Duan Ling reached out and covered the back of Wu Du's hand, but Wu Du turned his palm over and held Duan Ling's hand.
"You..." Wu Du thought about it, and finally seemed to make up his mind, and said, "Do you like it here?"
Duan Ling laughed, like thousands of peach blossoms blooming in the moonlight in a quiet night, shining brightly.
"I'm still thinking about it today." Duan Ling took Wu Du's hand and said, "In the future, I will live in the White Tiger Hall and never return to the mundane world."
"No no." Wu Du hurriedly said, "That can't be done. I... you... "
"Yeah." Duan Ling thought about his responsibilities, and after all, it was a little heavy, and jokingly said, "Just think about it."
"No, no." Wu Du calmed down and said, "What I'm thinking about is... In addition to this place, I would like to take you to... other places, if you like, you can... You can choose slowly, choose the one you like the most. You can go anywhere, anywhere in the world, in the end of the world, or in the corner, as long as you like it, I will accompany you."
Duan Ling: "..."
"I... What I'm thinking is..." Wu Du didn't dare to look at Duan Ling, he just looked away, a handsome face flushed to the base of his neck, and even the skin under the tattoo was red, as if he had drank alcohol. He unconsciously clenched Duan Ling's hand and stammered.
"In the future, I will also take you... to the places you want to go. I will take you to the south of Yunnan, take you to... see the sea, you... Shan'er, that day, you called me 'Master', I know it might be yours Just kidding, when I brought you here, I wanted to ask you, would you like to... this life... "
Having said this, Wu Du has already calmed down, and he has already spoken out, so he is no longer nervous.
"In front of others, you and I are still the same." Wu Du didn't know where the courage came from, looking directly into Duan Ling's eyes, and said seriously, "Even if you return to the court, I don't need any status, as long as you still treat me in your heart. Today, I will find Zhenshanhe for you to protect you for the rest of your life until the day I die."
"I know that you will be emperor in the future." Wu Du said, "but I really, really, really want to be with you... and you..."
Speaking of this, Wu Du became nervous again and said, "I think, if you want, I will treat you well, it's just you and me, there is no place for anyone else, I will... treat you... treat you as I treat you. . . . Dependents, you will... follow me as..."
Duan Ling stared blankly at Wu Du. Wu Du realized that he was still holding Duan Ling's hand, so he quickly let go, stretched his hand into his arms, and took out a string of beads.
Wu Du spread out his hands, handed the bead string to Duan Ling, and pushed him, as if a humble person was presenting the tribute he had prepared wholeheartedly, more than worshipping the gods in the world.
That tribute was a bracelet made of red beans.
Duan Ling's face flushed instantly, knowing what Wu Du had not said, he was actually courting him. Duan Ling had vaguely had this feeling before, but now he remembered that evening, when he held his hand in the maple forest and said something like that.