After some time of rest, everyone has recovered more or less. Even Tao Bo and Xiao Chengqian, who were unconscious before, also woke up. However, in order to avoid any accidents, we are destined to spend the night on the rocks tonight. Patel was too cunning, and he was afraid that if he still had power, he would cause something else to happen in the night.
The bright moon slowly rose from the horizon to the sky. When it completely stopped at a certain high point in the sky and the cold moonlight shone lightly, the sound of breathing and slight snoring could be heard on the rocks. In the blink of an eye, the night was already deep. .
I didn't sleep, but cut bamboos one by one in front of the dancing firelight. These were some materials that Uncle Johnny brought from the Penglai. The purpose was to make a paper man as a mountain vein. Heir, it is my duty to complete this work.
The knife kept waving, and the bamboo in my hand quickly turned into strips. In this quiet night, the "swishing" sound caused by the collision between the knife and the bamboo did not destroy the tranquility. , but it seemed that the night was getting more and more quiet and distant.
The silence is so long that it has traveled through many years... It suddenly makes me feel as if the person peeling bamboo in front of me is not me, as if the place I am is not a lonely rock on this deep pool, but in that year, my hometown. In the warm little courtyard, under the moonlight, there was Master beside the oil lamp, and at a young age, I was squatting aside curiously, watching with interest the bamboo pieces of paper flying in Master's hands.
Such past events make me feel a little dazed. They seem to have happened for a long, long time, so long ago that when I recall them, they are stained with a layer of haze of memory, just like old photos. They also seem to have just happened yesterday, so close that I can’t even remember them. I remember every expression of Master Shi so clearly.
'Hiss', in such a daze, the knife I was cutting bamboo in my hand cut my finger. The pain from my fingertips made me take a breath, and then I recovered from the memory of the past. God comes.
"Is it okay?" Uncle Johnny beside me couldn't help but ask, and quickly took the wine. He originally wanted to take a sip, and then spray it on my fingers to disinfect me, but he hesitated for a moment. , or handed me the wine.
I smiled. This old man can be quite cute when he is stubborn sometimes. Then I took a sip of wine and sprayed it on my bleeding finger. I took another sip by the way to let the heat brought by the wine dissipate a little of the late night feeling. cold.
"If you don't rest like this, can you hold on tomorrow?" Uncle Johnny couldn't help but ask me.
"No problem." At this time, I need almost enough strips. I am packing them one by one. The most difficult task is to draw runes on them. As long as there is a slight mistake, the tied paper figures will be gone. Won't work!
I didn’t ask why a paper man had to be stuck, because Uncle Johnny refused to explain the reason from beginning to end, just like he never explained why he didn’t use the last resort he said when today was the most dangerous moment. The strongest blow.
He just woke me up suddenly when everyone was asleep, pointed at a pile of materials, and asked me to make a paper man. He said it was for preparation work for tomorrow, and gave me another drawing with some requirements for the paper man. The image of the paper man, as well as the runes that need to be drawn on the 'bones' of the paper man.
These runes are usually drawn according to the fate, otherwise they will have no effect. Although I am not a divination expert, I can generally know the fate of the drawn paper person when I see this kind of runes. But these The runes are so complicated and do not conform to the common sense of arranging runes according to destiny. I can't see the destiny contained in them at all. I just feel that at a glance, these runes are not the ones we Taoists learn, but seem to be more different. It's more advanced, just like the formation laid out by the master.
But I don't have any doubts, because underneath the drawing there is still the word "Li" written in flying colors!
Everything is going on silently, and there can be no interruptions during the process of drawing the runes. Even if I am just following the drawings, because of the unfamiliarity of the runes, I must concentrate on it.
It took more than an hour to complete all the work. During this more than an hour, Uncle Johnny and I did not have any dialogue.
After completing the runes, I took a long breath, picked up the wine next to me and took a big sip, lit up a cigarette, and took two strong puffs. Only then did my fatigue ease slightly. Uncle Johnny was originally asking I rested for a while before continuing to tie the paper figurine, but the most critical work was already done, so I thought I might as well finish it in one go.
The image on the drawing is not much different from the paper figures we usually wear. It’s just that the proportions of the body and the facial features are much more perfect than most people in the world. This is not to say that they are handsome. It is a harmonious and perfect feeling, which makes people feel that people should look like that, that is the most upright person. It is just an image on paper. Just one look at it makes people feel comfortable. Some The feeling of not being able to take my eyes away.
"It feels amazing, Li said. What the world thinks is a superior place is just this image." Uncle Johnny said next to me, then paused and added in a low voice: "Look It looks very nice, I suspect that the people living on Kunlun look like this."
I didn't say anything, but I just had some guesses about what Master had arranged. Thinking of this, I looked at Uncle Johnny and said, "Why didn't you take this out until now?"
The firelight illuminated Uncle Johnny's face. He was silent for a while before saying: "If we are wiped out during the day, there is no point in bringing this out, right? Some things... are taken for granted, just For example, I should take out this drawing, but of course, there is also some bitterness and reluctance, although this does not mean that the bitterness and reluctance will make me shrink back."
"What do you mean?" I had already started to tie up the paper figurine. Although I was not listening to Uncle Johnny's words with all my attention, I thought for a while and was sure that I still didn't understand.
Facing my question, Uncle Johnny smiled slightly, looking very at ease, and then said: "Chengyi, you don't have to understand everything, just ask why."
Then, there was another moment of silence. Paper making was a skill that I and my master had learned since childhood, so it was not too slow to make. Soon the rough prototype of the paper figure came out... Uncle Johnny was extremely immersed in watching it. , at this moment I couldn't help but sigh: "Tao people always look very magical, and they feel they know some art. Paper figures, paper horses and so on. When your master opened the altar, he used paper figures, paper horses to borrow Yin soldiers and Yin horses. I think it’s amazing! Mainly because I can’t believe that a Taoist can make such lifelike things.”
Understand art? My face became weird, and I thought of the formation jade that Master left behind, with all the incomprehensible messy things carved on it, and even hot pots. As if I was afraid that others wouldn't know, I engraved crookedly on the side. "This is hot pot..." I feel that art has nothing to do with us at all. Just like a master can outline the charm of a paper man in three or two strokes, I can probably do it too, but it separates us from making paper. If a person paints something by himself, it will definitely...
However, Master also has a 'masterpiece', which is the portrait of Master. It took almost all of his paper drawing skills and his unforgettable memory of Master to create that painting. As for me... too. Just draw paper people.
In order to divert this embarrassing question, I simply asked Uncle Johnny: "You said tomorrow is the most dangerous moment, does it mean when the coffin is opened?" This is nonsense, any zombie is most dangerous when the coffin is opened? It's dangerous, even if the coffin is opened in the sun, the zombies will instantly rise up as soon as they are infected with the anger, but I can't think of any other problems.
"It is said to be dangerous, but in fact it should only be for a moment. As long as that moment passes, there will be no danger, as long as you subdue Patel. You said that the most dangerous time is when opening the coffin, that is wrong! You know, Not all zombies are afraid of the sun, at least Patel is not afraid! The danger is the moment the seal is broken and the remnant soul of your ancestor is collected." Uncle Johnny said in a low voice, this was the third time he repeated this It’s a sentence, but every time I say it, it feels heavy.
He couldn't tell me what to do, because the master didn't explain to him what to do when the seal was broken. He just said that the person who will completely solve this matter in the future will basically be his descendant. He has the same fate as him. If he is his descendant, he doesn't know how to deal with zombies and corpses, so he will be his descendant.
However, Uncle Johnny still handed me a bag of things. When I opened it, it was a bag of blood-colored glutinous rice. I was very surprised why the glutinous rice was blood-colored. When I smelled it, there was indeed a strong smell of blood. Uncle Johnny only had a faint smell. He explained to me: "This glutinous rice is carefully preserved by me. They... how should I put it... are soaked in my own blood by me once a month, do you understand?"
"Why your blood?" This is what I don't understand.
"Or, my blood is better! Don't you believe me?" Uncle Johnny didn't want to explain too much, he just looked at me seriously.
I stopped my hand, put away the glutinous rice, and said, "Then I won't ask."
Uncle Johnny smiled and patted me on the shoulder, but didn't say anything.
Quietness returned to the rock, with only the firelight dancing continuously, and the two busy and silent figures beside the firelight, as if they were relying on each other at this moment, and there was a faint warmth between the elders and the younger ones. .