It was the limit of Nanfeng's patience to hold back and not look back. He noticed that the thing was licking his wounds. Nanfeng could still hold his balance. He screamed and jumped up. After taking two steps, he turned back in fear. He had guessed before. Yes, there is a wolf behind him.
This was an old gray-haired wolf, quite big. It was arching its back and baring its teeth, trying to pounce.
At the critical moment, Nanfeng's anger defeated his fear, waving the stick in his hand and rushing towards the gray wolf, "I'll kill you!"
The gray wolf didn't seem to expect Nanfeng to rush up and hit it. It was stunned and then turned to the right and avoided Nanfeng's stick.
Nanfeng missed a hit and chased after him with shouts and curses, "How dare you scare me, how dare you scare me!"
Seeing him going crazy with anger, the gray wolf decided to retreat, left the river bank, and ran deep into the woods.
Nanfeng couldn't help but shouted and chased after him. The gray wolf ran very fast and he couldn't catch up, so he picked up stones and threw them at it. Nanfeng didn't stop until the gray wolf disappeared, turned around and ran away. Returning to the river, I took some dry food and headed west quickly.
While walking, Nanfeng looked back frequently. The gray wolf must have smelled the blood before running over to attack him. He couldn't stay in the woods and had to get back to the road quickly.
After walking not far, Nanfeng discovered that the gray wolf was back again, hanging far behind.
At this time, he still had to climb a mountain to get to the main road. Before returning to the main road, the gray wolf might rush over and bite him at any time. Nanfeng did not speed up and ran, but bravely turned around and rushed towards the gray wolf. Waving the stick and shouting curses, he drove the gray wolf away again.
This time the gray wolf did not come back. The south wind came over the top of the mountain and ran wildly towards the road down the mountain.
By the time they returned to the road, Nanfeng's clothes were soaked with cold sweat. After sitting on the roadside for a long time, he came to his senses, stood up with his knees up, and walked southward with a dog-beating stick.
There were many pedestrians on the road, mostly talking about what happened in the north, but most of them were woodcutters and farmers, and they didn't know the details. They were just surprised and confused.
Nanfeng was originally a beggar. For him, this was not a disguise, but a return to his old profession. No one would doubt that he was not a beggar without any deliberate disguise.
Without the carriages and horses, the walking was slow. In the late afternoon, a town appeared ahead. I was worried that I would not be able to reach the next village before dark, so the south wind stayed in the town.
This kind of town is no better than Chang'an. The beggars here don't have gangs. Before sunset, Nanfeng walked around the town and couldn't find a shabby house to live in. After the watch, he could only sit down under the gate of a wealthy family.
The winter night was extremely cold, and the south wind made it difficult to sleep. He began to miss Chang'an, the ruined temple where he settled, and the brothers and sisters who once lived in the ruined temple with him.
At dawn, the temperature rose, and Nanfeng finally fell asleep. However, he was kicked awake by the owner who opened the door and kicked him away not long after.
Nanfeng got on the road in a daze. Everything around him was strange to him. He didn't know the people or the roads. He only knew that his destination was Wanling Taiqing Mountain. To go to Wanling, he had to first To go to the South Country, if you want to go to the South Country, you have to keep going south.
There were carriages and horses and pedestrians on the road, but the carriages and horses would not take him, and the pedestrians would not pay attention to him. For the second time in his life, he felt intense loneliness. The first time was when the old man who visited the temple died and he lived alone in the ruined temple. .
Others ignored him, and Nanfeng ignored them. He just lowered his head and hurried on, while at the same time he silently recited the nine sutras over and over again in his heart.
Whenever he encountered a broken house on the road, he would go in and take a look. It was too cold and he couldn't sleep every night. He needed a bed.
Who would throw away any bedding that could be used easily? After searching for several days, Nanfeng only found a worn-out straw curtain and a yellow quilt. The yellow quilt was used by wealthy families to bury their dead. No one knew who dug the grave. The quilt was abandoned in the wild.
There was a putrid smell on the quilt that persisted no matter how much it was exposed to the sun, but the south wind couldn't care less, so I could at least fall asleep under it at night.
It's half a moon in the blink of an eye. During this half month, Nanfeng rarely speaks. The most common thing he says is, "How far is the town in the south from here?"
The weather is getting colder and colder, with heavy snowfall for days and days, and the south wind brings wind chill. At first, I had a cough, but then my condition worsened and I developed a high fever.
The high fever made him weak and his joints ached all over. He could not walk, so he could only huddle in a broken house in a strange town.
The broken house has no windows, the cold wind brings snow, and the south wind cannot bear the cold. I want to make a fire, but there is nowhere to find firewood. Firewood is easier to find in the wild than in the town.
He had been frugal these days, but the package of dry food was almost gone, and now there was only one frozen pancake left. The persistent high fever made his teeth hurt and he couldn't chew it.
Nanfeng couldn't stand it anymore, so he got up with all his strength and went to the inn in the town. When the waiter saw him coming, he thought he was dirty and shouted to drive him away.
"I have money, cough cough cough cough... I want to stay in a hotel." Nanfeng stretched out his hand, and there was a golden bean in his palm.
The waiter took the golden beans and looked at Nanfeng doubtfully.
At this time, someone called the waiter in the store. The waiter turned around and went to work. Nanfeng walked in with arms folded.
"Get out, get out, what are you doing in here? Leave quickly!" The shopkeeper came out from the counter and pushed him away.
Nan Feng was pushed by the shop owner and staggered, "I paid you, I want to cough cough cough..."
The shop owner didn't wait for Nan Feng to finish, and pushed him out of the shop door, "Go quickly, go quickly."
"I gave, cough cough cough... I gave the second hall a golden bean." Nan Feng shouted at the top of his lungs.
The shopkeeper tilted his head and looked at the clerk, who curled his lips and said, "You even gave me a piece of horseshoe gold."
Seeing that the man wanted to steal his gold, Nanfeng was anxious and angry, "Give me the gold quickly!"
The shop owner turned around and pushed Nanfeng out, who had just crossed the threshold. He grabbed the door stick and raised it high to threaten, "If you dare to come in again, I'll break your legs."
"I really gave the waiter two gold pieces," Nanfeng pointed to the guests on the window seat, "They all saw it."
The guests turned their heads aside when they heard the sound and did not answer.
As the saying goes, a Taoist is humble when he leaves his hometown. Seeing that no one can make decisions for himself, Nanfeng has no choice but to settle for the next best thing, "I don't want the gold anymore, cough cough... Give me a pot of wine. I'm sick. It's so cold. I'll freeze to death."
When the shop owner saw that he was still struggling, he pushed him out with a door stick. Nan Feng lost his balance and fell to the snow.
Seeing how fierce the other party was, Nan Feng did not dare to pester him any more. He reluctantly got up and returned to the broken house.
After he entered the shabby house, he saw several people walking quickly toward the shabby house from the back window. Those people were not others, but the diners who had been sitting in front of the window.
These people had seen the boy take his golden beans before, but they did not testify for him. They would not be so kind when they came here, and they were most likely here for his gold.
Thinking of this, Nanfeng hurriedly took out the two golden beans from his arms and stuffed them into the cracks in the wall.
As soon as he sat down, those people rushed in. Without any explanation, they slapped him first, and then forced him to take out the gold. Nanfeng lied that he only picked up one gold, but the other party didn't believe it and started to search him.
Xiu said that the other party wanted to search him or kill him, but Nanfeng was unable to resist and watched helplessly as the tortoise shell in his arms was searched.
But the other party didn't recognize the object. After opening it, he found two pieces of tortoise shell. He threw it aside and came back to search again.
After searching up and down, there was no trace of gold. In anger, he kicked Nanfeng down and left, cursing.
When the other party walked away, Nanfeng picked up the tortoise shell and the deer skin wrapping the tortoise shell, dug out the two golden beans from the cracks in the wall, and left the shabby house with the bedding.
The reason why he chose a town to stay before was because he was worried about encountering monsters and beasts when he spent the night in the wild. But now he is no longer afraid. The most terrifying thing is not monsters, monsters, jackals, tigers, and leopards, but humans...