Although I began to feel the feeling for these words more than ten years ago, in fact, they were already full of Zuo Li's spirit and meaning from the moment they were written.
It's not that I have completely forgotten all the things I came into contact with in the nearly 100 years that followed, but I have a vague conceptual memory of them.
This has created a slightly contradictory reality. Compared to the little paper crane and even Hu Yun, these characters know a lot. They don't have to learn everything slowly like some goblins and monsters who start from scratch, but their foundation is not solid enough. So, they are just like the "cloud" players that were often seen on the Internet in Ji Yuan's previous life. They think they understand, but in fact they don't understand at all. They are naive and scary, and because of the characteristics of the characters themselves, they are full of desire to express themselves.
Well, it might not be quite accurate to say that they want to talk, because these words are happy to do so even if it’s just to quarrel with each other.
Talking to these little guys on the Jianyi Post is undoubtedly a tiring task. If you want to understand the causes and consequences of some situations and the process involved, communication is also difficult and strenuous.
Fortunately, Ji Yuan, the "big master", is surprisingly majestic in the hearts of these little guys. No matter how fiercely they argue with each other, as long as Ji Yuan says a word, all the little guys will obey.
But things that can be explained clearly in one sentence can often cause a big quarrel in the whole "Jian Yi Tie" because of the "little stimulation" of a small word when speaking.
The key is that Ji Yuan really can't just catch one of the "characters" to inquire about the previous and subsequent events, because some of these small characters are self-contradictory, and they all firmly believe that they are right, otherwise there will be no quarrel. Moreover, because it is a group action, sometimes individual individuals are distracted or even resting at certain times. Anyway, there are other characters to lead them, so the memory of the individual is not complete.
Fortunately, although these little guys love to bicker with each other (in the eyes of "Xiao Zi", they are sticking to the truth), but apart from the quarrels, they are truly united. Many characters "run away" together and never leave their companions behind from beginning to end. Perhaps this is the complete "Sword Intent Post", and it is also a kind of innate strong family sentiment.
In this situation, two hours had passed by the time Ji Yuan finally understood the whole process of "running away from home".
The words in the middle talked about how to leave "Sword Intent Post", how to avoid numerous dangers, how to go west and north in fear, and how to run madly for 20,000 miles over the years to reach Moyuan County, the "paradise" on the way. The temptation was too great, so he stayed there for a while.
"So, it's hard for ordinary monsters, goblins, ghosts and gods to find you? You answer, and no one else is allowed to speak!"
Ji Yuan rubbed his temples while asking these questions. After asking the questions, he immediately pointed to one of the words to emphasize the right to speak alone.
The word "锐" that was clicked on twisted left and right, as if looking around, and then faced Ji Yuan.
"To answer your question, Master, I don't know whether it is difficult or not. Anyway, we want to hide. Apart from you, Master, no one can find us. We had a big quarrel once and a monster heard us. But once we hid, he couldn't find us. He wandered around in the same place for half a month. We hid for half a month and didn't dare to speak. It was suffocating to death!"
Many of the words on the Sword Intent Post were lifted up at this moment, and there was an obvious trend of taking the lead. It was estimated that everyone had something to say about this experience, but after being glared at by Ji Yuan, they all lay back down obediently.
Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Did the monster see you at the beginning? Or did you say that you are not allowed to speak any other words."
"I, I didn't notice... Everyone was shouting to run, so I just ran along..."
"Huh..."
Ji Yuan took a breath and could only look at the other words.
"Who among you knows?"
As soon as the words fell.
"I, I, I!" "I know!"
"Master, I know it too!" "They don't know, I know it best!"
"You're lying, I know better than you!" "You're talking nonsense, I know best!"
"I was the first to discover it!" "Ahhhhhh..."
The quarrel broke out in almost an instant.
"Stop! Speak now!"
Ji Yuan pointed to the character that he "discovered first". The other characters suddenly became quiet, and the character "心" stood up with a sense of complacency.
Ji Yuan could clearly feel from the flow of ink on the characters that this little guy was "proud".
"In reply to what the master said, I was more careful that time and saw the monster's appearance clearly. It was an old dog with a big nose. Its body was somewhat like a human and it could stand up and walk. Moreover, it didn't just guard the wasteland where we were hiding for half a month. It was very cunning and left for a while and then suddenly came back!"
"oh?"
Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes. It seemed that the dog knew very well that these words were hidden and not gone. It might even be that its perception was very sharp and it could sense that there was no danger and it was clear that it had encountered an extraordinary monster.
That’s right, the characters themselves are naturally extraordinary, but Ji Yuan has another meaning for the extraordinary. These characters as a whole are “Sword Intent Post”, but each character has its own characteristics, and this is what Ji Yuan wants to confirm at this moment.
"Yes, sir. At that time, Jue, Ling and I all thought that the monster had not really left, so we kept hiding. Sure enough, the monster was hiding nearby, and in the end, it couldn't find us, and it even bared its teeth and got angry!"
“Well, well done!”
Ji Yuan smiled and praised, making the word "heart" even more proud and floating around there.
It turns out that each of these characters has different spirits contained in them. For example, "heart" is smarter, "spirit" and "consciousness" are sharper, "sword" and "sharp" are braver and more aggressive, and so on. Each has its own magic.
Such pure monsters, especially those with words, if eaten by someone, would probably cause some miraculous changes to oneself.
"Listen to me, don't run around randomly anymore, okay?"
"Yes!" "Got it!"
"We understand!" "Master, you have to take us with you!"
"Don't go to Yan Fei's place!" "Yes!"
"You have to run again even if you go there!" "That's right!"
"What if the master told us not to run away?"
"Ah!?" "What should I do then?"
…
Ji Yuan tapped the table lightly with his fingers twice, making a "dong dong" sound that drowned out the noise and made everyone quiet down.
"Don't worry, I won't send you away. Yan Fei has read the sword intent post for quite a while, and he still has my true meaning. There is no need to observe it for too long. You just stay with me."
Just as the group of characters were about to cheer, Ji Yuan heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Before Ji Yuan could yell, all the characters suddenly fell silent.
Ji Yuan looked back at the "Sword Intent Post" and saw that the words on it were quiet, so he nodded and smiled, then rolled up the calligraphy and put it into his sleeve.
Not long after, the footsteps got closer and closer, and then there was a knock on the door.
“Boom boom boom…”
"Mr. Ji, it's already lunch time. Do you want me to bring it to you, or should we eat together in the temple kitchen?"
Ji Yuan thought about it and decided not to bother others, so he replied.
"No need, I'll go with you to the temple kitchen."
As he spoke, Ji Yuan stood up and walked to the door to open it, but before he did so, the paper crane had already flown back into his arms.
When he saw Ji Yuan, the temple keeper quickly bowed.
"Then please come with me, Mr. Ji. A wealthy family came to fulfill a vow not long ago and brought a lot of delicious food. Uh, Mr. Ji, do you mind staying in the same room with them?"
"It's up to the host. I don't mind. Let's go."
"Okay, sir, follow me!"
Seeing that Mr. Ji had no objection, the temple keeper felt at ease and led him to the temple kitchen in the outer courtyard.
This land temple is indeed not small. The main hall is surprisingly large. Apart from a statue of the land god, the rest of the place is hung with eternal lamps, which were specially lit by the wealthy families in the surrounding area at great expense.
There is a reason why this land temple is so popular. Praying to gods and Buddhas is nothing more than seeking for "efficacy", and the local land god is such a god. According to legend, the land god in the village is very protective of the village, so it has always been very popular.
. . .
The kitchen of the local local land temple is actually divided into two connected halls, the back hall is used for cooking, while the front hall is like the canteen of some temples, with some tables and chairs.
There are only three people in the land temple, including the temple priest and temple workers. These tables and chairs are naturally specially designed to deal with the situation today, where some wealthy person comes to fulfill a vow or worship the gods, and then have a so-called "meal for the gods" that can ward off disasters and pray for blessings.
Most Buddhist temples serve vegetarian food, but there is no such rule in land temples. They can eat both meat and vegetables and even drink alcohol. However, there are some rules for offering meals to the gods. First, all the prepared meals must be offered to the land god. After the meals are removed and placed in the cafeteria for eating, they can be called "meals for offering to the gods", which means eating with the gods can eliminate disasters and solve problems.
At this time, there were already more than a dozen people sitting in the temple kitchen. Two temple workers and several servants of a wealthy family were serving dishes and passing bowls.
The weather is still very hot now. Even after offering food in front of the altar for a while, all the dishes except the cold dishes are still steaming hot.
The one who came to fulfill his vow today was Mr. Liu, who was also the owner of a large ink shop. When he was dozing off in the morning, he dreamed that the God of Land told him that the strange things that happened a few days ago had been resolved. After waking up, he told his wife about it and finally decided to fulfill his vow immediately. Now he and his wife are sitting at a round table waiting for dinner.
There were two tables in total, one table for Liu Yuanwai's family, the temple priest, and two capable servants, and one table for the remaining servants and two temple workers.
"Master Zheng, Master Zhao isn't here yet?"
"Oh, Uncle Zhao went to invite a guest to stay overnight at the temple. He will be here soon. Look, he is here!"
The temple worker set the table and answered Mr. Liu when he saw the temple keeper and Ji Yuan walking to the door.
"Mr. Ji, this way please, sit at that table."
The temple keeper pointed to Mr. Liu's table. Because there were fewer people, there was plenty of space around the table, unlike the servants' table which was crowded.
Then the temple keeper hurriedly stepped forward, walked to the side of Mr. Liu and Mrs. Liu, and bowed.
"Mr. Liu, Madam Liu, Mr. Ji is a distinguished guest in my temple. Do you mind if you two dine at the same table with me?"
"No, no, I don't mind."
Mr. Liu smiled and said it was okay, and stood up and bowed to Ji Yuan.
After Ji Yuan nodded in return, he sat down at the table. The temple keeper was very attentive and set the table for Ji Yuan, as well as the wine glasses. He even noticed a small stain on the table, and when he couldn't find a tablecloth, he quickly wiped it with his sleeve.
Mr. Liu saw all this and immediately became curious about the visitor. The county magistrate had come once before, but he had never seen the temple keeper be so attentive.