Beyond the Dead Marsh, on the ancient road heading west from Dawang Village, Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan walked slowly.
Xiaohuan looked around with a pair of bright eyes, and saw that the ancient road was overgrown with weeds and desolate. After walking out of Dawang Village for a long time, I didn't even see a single person.
Looking far away, I can see that this place is located in the wilderness, there are no mountains around, the sky is tall and the grass grows, and the wind blows across the fields from time to time, and the green wild grass rolls like waves, which is beautiful and makes people feel broad-minded.
Zhou Yixian's voice came lazily from the side, and said, "What are you looking at?"
Xiaohuan said with a smile: "Grandpa, when I came here a few days ago, I was in a hurry and didn't look around carefully. The weather is fine today, and the scenery here is pretty good!"
Zhou Yixian looked at the field outside the ancient road, but he was refreshed, but then he said to himself: "Isn't it just a piece of weeds? What's so interesting, if it's made of gold, then..."
"Grandpa!" Xiaohuan called out, interrupted him, glared at him angrily, and said, "Why do you only think about money all day long, thanks to the fact that you have a fairy character in your name. Really vulgar!"
"Vulgar?" Zhou Yixian was furious, and said, "How dare you call me vulgar? My old man is an expert in the world, famous all over the world, living Buddha, benefiting the common people and saving all living beings..."
Xiaohuan stared at him, and under the bright eyes of his granddaughter, Zhou Yixian somehow became softer and weaker, and the more he spoke, the more confident he became. Finally, he simply raised his head, snorted, and said, "How do you know, little girl?" How good is grandpa?"
Xiaohuan chuckled, shook her head and looked away, Zhou Yixian was ridiculed by her granddaughter, felt depressed, and sighed: "How could I have met you back then, I would have let you cry to death on the side of the road and didn't care about you if I knew it! "
Xiaohuan stuck out her tongue, her snow-white face looked innocent and cute, and said with a smile: "Isn't that grandpa, are you kind?"
Zhou Yixian glared at Xiaohuan, and said angrily: "You are so kind, you have raised you so much, and you will be punished by me!"
Xiaohuan was not afraid, nor was she angry, as if she had heard these words a long time ago, she approached Zhou Yixian, rolled her eyes, and suddenly said: "Hey, grandpa! Why did you take me away back then?" of?"
Zhou Yixian was taken aback, in fact, he and Xiaohuan had always been used casually, so he wouldn't be really angry, but at this moment, hearing Xiaohuan's question reminded him of the past, his face became melancholy, and he sighed softly , said: "Back then in Heyang City, I saw you, a little girl who was only two or three years old, lying on the side of the road, dying of hunger, even crying hoarsely, so I hugged you when my heart softened."
Speaking of this, he glared at Xiaohuan suddenly, and said: "At that time, you were so young, and you were very smart, so you stopped crying immediately, which made the old man think that I was really destined to you. I can’t give up any more.”
Xiaohuan made a face at him, reached out and grabbed Zhou Yixian's shirt, and said with a coquettish smile: "Grandpa, aren't you kind? There must be good rewards in the future. Ah! Look, these years, I have helped you all day How much money have you made for you by being a looker?"
Zhou Yixian nodded subconsciously, and said with a beaming smile: "Well, that's true..." Suddenly woke up, turned his face and said angrily: "What is it? Nonsense!"
Xiaohuan covered her mouth and snickered, and after a while, she seemed to think of something again, and said, "Well, grandpa, what did you do when you went to Heyang City, isn't it at the foot of Qingyun Mountain? I remember that you have always been reluctant to approach There, in these years, it seems that only ten years ago, for the sake of that Qingyun disciple named Zhang Xiaofan, we followed the past curiously, but we were not close.”
Zhou Yixian's complexion was slightly gloomy, he sighed, and said: "It's not the spirit seat of your father who has never met, it is in Heyang City. I stayed in front of his grave for a long time on the day of his death. When I came out, I saw you on the street, and I felt very sad, and looked at you pitifully, so I adopted you."
After hearing this, Xiaohuan was silent for a while, and then said after a while: "Grandpa, speaking of it, we haven't seen Dad for another ten years."
Zhou Yixian made some calculations in his mind, nodded and said: "That's right, ten years have passed in a blink of an eye." Having said this, he smiled wryly and said: "Forget it, anyway, we don't have much to go for a while, why don't we just go to Heyang City, Look at your father!"
Xiaohuan immediately nodded and said, "Okay!"
Zhou Yixian waved his hand and said, "Let's go! This wilderness is depressing."
The two walked forward, and as they walked, Xiaohuan was young after all, and it was all old things, plus she was lively, so she quickly got rid of that little sadness, and walked around looking at the scenery, accidentally Zhong Yi turned his head, was startled suddenly, and said to his grandfather, "Grandpa, look behind us."
Zhou Yixian was stunned, and wondered: "What's the matter?" He said and looked behind.
Xiaohuan said: "It seems that the wild dog priest is still following us?"
Zhou Yixian took a closer look, and sure enough, he saw the wild dog Taoist, for some reason, followed far behind, walking slowly, keeping a distance from them all the time. Seeing them suddenly stop and look back at this moment, the wild dog also seemed to be startled, and actually stopped, with hesitation and a little bit of embarrassment on his face, and then stood aside and looked up at the sky.
Zhou Yixian looked suspiciously at him, stared at him twice, turned his head and pulled Xiaohuan to continue walking, and at the same time whispered: "What is that guy following?"
Xiaohuan wondered, "You ask me, who am I going to ask?"
Zhou Yixian choked for a moment, then stared at Xiaohuan suddenly and said, "Could that guy be tempted to cheat on you?"
Xiaohuan was startled, her face turned red immediately, and said angrily: "Grandpa, you can say such words!"
Zhou Yixian snorted, and said: "Why can't I say, in this world, bad guys are rampant, and you are beautiful, it's hard to say!"
Xiaohuan gave him a blank look, and said: "In my opinion! In the past, the wild dog priest was in the Devil's Cult. Although his reputation was not very good, he had never heard of him harming a woman, but it was murder, arson, and day-to-day robbery. Rumor has it that he has done a lot.”
Zhou Yixian's face turned pale, and he suddenly became nervous, saying: "That guy wouldn't want to snatch us two poor bastards, would he?"
Xiaohuan snorted, and said: "It's hard to say, besides, Grandpa, you probably have much more money than poor people!"
Zhou Yixian hurriedly lowered his voice and said: "Shh! Don't speak so loudly." He looked around, frowned, and said, "Oh no, there's no one around here, and it's the best place to rob. We'd better run quickly?"
Xiaohuan was stunned, but saw Zhou Yixian reached into his arms and took out a yellow paper talisman. It seemed that he wanted to use his "patriarch's secret" technique to escape from the ground, so he couldn't help being angry and funny, and quickly pulled it away. Zhou Yixian said, "Grandpa, wait for a while."
Zhou Yixian glanced behind him and said, "That guy is following up again, what are you waiting for?"
Xiaohuan smiled and said: "Grandpa, although your technique of escaping from the ground is a secret technique handed down by the ancestor, you can't control where we come out after escaping from the ground. Let me tell you, we are far away from the dead marsh now." It's not far away, if you actually got into it, we'll be really sad."
Zhou Yixian was taken aback for a moment, and said, "Our luck can't be that bad, right?"
Xiaohuan rolled his eyes at him and said, "Do you think your luck is good or bad?"
Zhou Yixian thought for a while, and then said firmly: "Poor!"
Xiaohuan giggled, and said: "Then it's over, so we can't take any risks." Then, she leaned closer to Zhou Yixian, gestured to her left hand with her eyes, and said in a low voice: "Grandpa, you forgot, I'm still here There is a magic weapon for protection from Sister Ping'er, and besides, the wild dog Taoist is not a master of magic, so it is not difficult for us to deal with him."
Zhou Yixian lowered his head in thought, then let out a long breath, and said, "You're right, alas! I don't know why, these days I've always been terrified and restless. It seems that I probably saw it in the dead marsh. There are too many cultivators, and they think highly of that wild dog."
Xiaohuan pursed her lips and smiled, and said: "Besides, that wild dog Taoist doesn't seem to be a bad person, didn't he lend us the umbrella back then?"
Zhou Yixian let out a "bah" and said: "What are we, I lent it to you. I was half-drenched in the rain, old man, and you are so indifferent, you girl. You are really unfilial."
Xiaohuan stuck out her tongue and said with a smile: "Grandpa, I covered it for you, but you didn't want it."
Zhou Yixian snorted again, walked forward, and said to himself: "Anyway, you are the same as your unfilial father. You make me angry all day long. You are really disobedient!"
Xiaohuan smiled and shook her head, and followed.
Behind the ancient road, Daoist Wild Dog faintly heard laughter coming from ahead, frowned, his expression changed, but finally he followed.
Between the heaven and the earth, the wind blows through the wilderness, making a "woo-woo" sound.
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It took another half an hour to walk, and Zhou Yixian felt a little tired, so he held Xiaohuan and said, "Take a rest."
Xiaohuan nodded, saw a half-sized bluestone on the side of the road, walked over to pat it, and said, "Grandpa, sit here!"
Zhou Yixian nodded, and leaned the bamboo pole with the white cloth "Immortal Guide" in his hand beside the bluestone, sat down on the stone, couldn't help panting, shook his head slightly, and said, "Why do I always feel that my body is not good recently? , How long did you walk before you started panting?"
Xiaohuan was taking out the water bottle from the bag, when he heard this, a look of worry flashed in his eyes, he walked over and handed the water bottle to Zhou Yixian, and at the same time said: "Grandpa, drink some water!"
Zhou Yixian nodded, took the kettle, raised his head and took a few sips, heaved a sigh of relief, then turned his head to look back, and sure enough, he saw a figure behind him, standing there far away.
Zhou Yixian looked at it for a while, then smiled suddenly, and stopped bothering him, and handed the water bottle to Xiaohuan, but when he turned his head, he was startled, and saw Xiaohuan sitting beside him, not knowing when it would start, with the water bottle in his hand. There was another branch of bright red candied haws, and I ate it with relish.
Zhou Yixian shook his head greatly, and said earnestly: "I said Xiaohuan! You don't even look at how old you are, why do you still act like a little girl and love eating candied haws so much?"
Xiaohuan spat lightly towards the side of the road, spit out a small candied haws seed, smiled coquettishly at Zhou Yixian, and said, "But people like to eat it!"
Zhou Yixian was dumbfounded, and sighed: "More than ten years ago, in Heyang City, there were so many pastries and snacks, why did I go to the roadside alley to buy this candied haws for you?"
After that, she shook her head and sighed, Xiaohuan smiled without saying a word, lightly tasting the delicious food in her hands, perhaps because of the influence of the bright red appearance of the candied haws, her lips seemed to have added a touch of color.
Zhou Yixian sat for a while and felt his strength gradually recovering, so he planned to ask Xiaohuan to continue on his way, but just as he turned his head, he looked in front of him out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly a pair of human feet appeared.
Zhou Yixian was taken aback, and thought: Could it be that due to this negligence, the wild dog took the opportunity to sneak over, is that okay? It seems that you can't trust the little girl's words. The old man has traveled the world for more than a hundred years. Could it be that the tortoise fell and the gutter capsized today
This side was thinking wildly, and was about to call Xiaohuan to get up, when suddenly he heard the gentle and calm voice of the person in front, saying indifferently: "Are you still showing people's physiognomy?"
Both Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan stood up and looked up, only to see a middle-aged man in front of him, with thin eyebrows and a square face, elegant eyebrows, piercing eyes, full forehead, and an air of dignity without anger . Wearing a Confucian robe, with a lavender jade pendant pinned to her waist, it is exquisite and translucent, with a hint of auspiciousness, very beautiful and absolutely extraordinary.
It's just that there are a lot of gray hairs on his forehead and sideburns that don't match his appearance, and it looks a bit more vicissitudes.
Zhou Yixian's expression suddenly became very strange. He stared at the man in front of him. Under his unnoticed sleeves, his hands were tightly clenched into fists. But on his face, after being astonished, there was a faint A bit excited, a bit gratified and a bit of the vicissitudes of life.
Xiaohuan's eyes turned from the man's face and returned to his grandfather, and then he found that Zhou Xian's face seemed not quite right, and was about to say something when Zhou Xian suddenly said: "Xiaohuan, go to the side for a while , wait for grandpa to call you to come here again."
Xiaohuan was taken aback, this was something that had never happened before, but seeing Zhou Xian's serious face, he didn't seem to be joking, and judging from the expressions of the two of them, they seemed to be old acquaintances. walk back.
As she walked, she looked back from time to time, only to see that grandpa and the middle-aged man were still standing there facing each other, as if they still didn't speak. She was a little worried in her heart, she had just met that middle-aged man for the first time, but for a short time, she was somehow afraid of him, and she felt a burst of fear for no reason.
For more than ten years, she has been by Zhou Yixian's side, never knowing that grandpa would know such a powerful person!
Just as she was thinking, her heart was in a trance, and she didn't realize that she had walked for a long time. Suddenly, she found another figure in front of her. , Hastily said: "I'm sorry, Daoist."
Unexpectedly, Daoist Wild Dog's expression was also very strange at this moment, a look of horror flashed on his face, and his eyes were staring straight ahead, full of fear and fear.
Xiaohuan was taken aback again, followed his line of sight, only to see that the wild dog Taoist was looking at that middle-aged man. I don't know who that person is, who will make Taoist Wild Dog so scared
Thinking in her heart, Xiaohuan couldn't help but asked Taoist Wild Dog in a low voice: "Master Taoist, who is that man, do you know him?"
Daoist Wild Dog shook his body, as if he had come to his senses, but the expression of fear on his face remained undiminished, he looked at Xiaohuan beside him, and said, "You don't recognize him?"
Xiaohuan nodded and said, "Yes! It's also the first time I saw this person today, but I think Grandpa seems to know him. By the way, do you recognize him? Who is he?"
The wild dog Taoist twitched his mouth, as if he was about to say something, but for some reason, he fell silent again, and stared straight at the middle-aged man in front of him.
Xiaohuan frowned, and intuitively felt that Taoist Wild Dog's reaction was a bit strange, he was afraid, but now he seemed a little more angry!
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Zhou Yixian and the middle-aged man stood side by side, standing on the edge of the ancient road, looking towards the wilderness.
The breeze is blowing, and the white hair on the sideburns seems to be telling the passage of time and the vicissitudes of life.
"Have we not seen each other for many years?" The middle-aged man suddenly said indifferently.
Zhou Yixian looked into the distance, with a complex expression on his face, and said after a while: "It's been decades!"
The man smiled lightly and said, "Are you okay?"
Zhou Yixian was silent for a long time, and said: "Wandering around the world, playing in the world, it can't be said to be good, and it can't be said to be bad."
The man seemed to be touched, turned his head to look at Zhou Yixian, and said, "Are you still blaming me?"
Zhou Yixian smiled wryly, shook his head and said, "You didn't apologize to me, what am I blaming you for?"
The man smiled and said: "Actually, it's not bad for you to be like this. Let go of your heart and enjoy the world. Now that you think about it, it's also the life of a god. It's not in vain that you have a fairy in your name."
Zhou Yixian looked at him, and suddenly said: "If you want to live like me, what's the problem, old friend?"
The man suddenly heard Zhou Xian say "old friend", and couldn't help being startled, but then he smiled, looked into the distance, and said slowly: "I'm different from you."
Zhou Yixian said lightly: "Of course you are different from me. Since you were young, you have always regarded power very seriously. Now, I don't think you can let it go."
The man frowned, and there seemed to be anger flashing in the depths of his eyes, as if no one had dared to speak to him like that before, but he turned his head to look at Zhou Xian, only to see that he was full of white hair, much older than himself , suddenly a burst of confusion, the anger also disappeared.
"Why do you look so old?"
Zhou Yixian shook his head and said: "I am already old, but you are successful in cultivating the Tao, you shouldn't..." At this point, he looked a little hesitant, but finally said: "I heard about your daughter, you …”
The man looked sad for a while, then slowly shook his head, blocked Zhou Zhouxian's words, and suddenly said: "When we were young, you once used the'Tiangang God's Fortune' to calculate my fate at the foot of Huqi Mountain. , remember?"
Zhou Xian was taken aback.
The man looked up at the sky and said slowly: "I still remember very clearly that you were young and vigorous at that time, and you told me everything bluntly, saying that my fate was too evil, and I punished my wife and children. Tao lost his wife and had no children under his knees. Now it has come true one by one." As he spoke, his voice gradually became desolate.
Zhou Yixian lowered his head, and after a while, he suddenly raised his head and said decisively: "Now we are all half-buried people, and I also have something to tell you directly."
The man seemed slightly surprised, and said, "Tell me."
Zhou Yixian stared at him, and said: "The things I said back then, I lied to you completely with nonsense. I have been annoyed by fortune-telling since I was a child, so how could I patiently learn it? This is what I said, but how do I understand? So those words at the beginning were just said on purpose because I saw your smug face and I was so angry. Don’t take it to heart! "
The man shook his body, as if he never expected that such words would come out of Zhou Yixian's mouth. After a long while, he shook his head and laughed loudly. He even bent down after laughing. Where is the majesty when we first met
In the distance, Xiaohuan and Taoist Wild Dog stared dumbfounded.
After a long while, the man slowly stopped laughing, and his expression gradually regained his calm and majestic expression, but there seemed to be a little more pain in his eyes.
Zhou Yixian looked at him silently.
They stood side by side for a long time, and then Zhou Yixian said indifferently: "Why did you come here?"
The man glanced at him and said, "Aren't you always conceited and smart? What do you think?"
Zhou Yixian snorted and said, "Are you going to the Death Marsh?"
The man said leisurely: "That's right, that's where I'm going. Why, don't you want to go and have a look? Old friend?"
Zhou Yixian twitched his lips and said, "You have a bad reputation. It's strange for me to walk with you. It's better for me to stay away from you."
The man looked at Zhou Yixian, suddenly laughed dumbfounded, and then said: "The ancient road to the end of the world, it is a rare fate to meet an old friend. You and I meet today, and I don't know when we will meet again in the future. You should take care."
Zhou Yixian snorted and said, "Old man, I am living a good life, and I don't want to die yet, but you have more enemies than the foxes on Huqi Mountain, so you should think about yourself!"
※※※
Xiaohuan stood by the road and waited for a long time, when she suddenly saw her grandfather and that man coming together, she hurriedly went up to meet her and walked to her side.
The middle-aged man glanced at Xiaohuan, and then fell on the wild dog Taoist behind him.
Taoist Wild Dog's expression changed, and he lowered his head slowly.
The man glanced at him, then suddenly said: "You are the wild dog Taoist next to Gui Li, right?"
The expression of fear on Taoist Wild Dog's face became heavier, he hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "Yes."
Xiaohuan stood beside Zhou Yixian, and couldn't help asking softly to Zhou Yixian: "Grandpa, who is he?"
Zhou Yixian hadn't answered yet, but the middle-aged man seemed to have heard the small voice, turned around, and said with a smile, "Why, doesn't the little girl know me?"
Xiaohuan was taken aback and shook her head blankly.
The man smiled slightly, and said, "Just call me ten thousand people!"
Xiaohuan was taken aback.
The man took a deep look at Zhou Xian, then suddenly waved his sleeves, turned around and strode away without looking back. There is an aura of looking down on the world between the steps, which slowly spreads out.
Everyone was behind him, and saw the figure walking along the ancient road towards the Dead Marsh, and suddenly heard the man singing loudly: "The end of the world, the road, has never been far away. The love of children has always been crazy. The sky is high and the sea is eighty thousand feet wide, and all living beings are crawling." .The stars are tens of thousands, the moon is bright, the sky is cold, cold as frost. It is ridiculous that all things are like dogs, who will turn the clouds for the rain?…”
This song is ancient and clumsy, although it is not soft and pleasant, it has a strong meaning in the desolation.
Everyone could only see that under the sky, above the ancient road, long white clouds, and the lonely wilderness, the man walked with his hands behind his back, indescribably unruly.
The singing gradually died down, that person has already gone far.