By dinner time, it was already dark.
On the Big Bamboo Peak, the back mountain is a whole piece of bamboo forest, everyone's buildings are in the front peak, the largest and most important is the main hall, Shoujing Hall, where Tian Buyi, his wife and daughter live in the back hall.
Next to the Shoujing hall is the small courtyard where the disciples live, but because there are too few people, there are more houses than people, everyone lives in a room alone, even the newcomer Zhang Xiaofan has a room. In terms of living conditions alone, Dazhufeng is rarely better than those of the same family.
The only thing left is the Tai Chi hole for practicing Kungfu, the kitchen and the dining room. At this time, all the disciples gathered in the dining hall, and Du Bishu, the sixth son who was in charge of the meals, brought the meals to the table plate by plate, most of them were vegetarian dishes, and there were few meaty ones.
All the disciples sit on the right side of the long table in the hall, Song Daren sits at the front, Zhang Xiaofan respectfully accompanies the last seat. There is a large chair and two smaller chairs on the head of the table and on the opposite side, it seems that they are prepared for Tian Buyi's family.
Zhang Xiaofan looked at the vacant seat beside him, it was the seat of the sixth son Du Bishu who was busy, after a while, Du Bishu finally finished serving the meal, washed his hands, sat back on his seat, and waited for Master with everyone.
Du Bishu looked quite young, with a thin and sharp face, big triangular eyes, and a restless look, very clever. After he sat down, he looked at Zhang Xiaofan, smiled and said, "Little Junior Brother, what's your name?"
Zhang Xiaofan said honestly: "Zhang Xiaofan."
Du Bishu nodded, pointed to himself, and said, "I am your sixth brother Du Bishu."
Zhang Xiaofan called out respectfully: "Senior Brother Six."
Du Bishu cleared his cough, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile, "Come and taste brother's handicraft later."
Seeing the aroma of the food on the table, Zhang Xiaofan couldn't help swallowing, and nodded vigorously.
Du Bishu suddenly smiled, with a sense of ambiguity, pointed at the entrance of the hall, and said: "Little brother, where will master, wife and younger sister come in later, let's make a bet, shall we?"
Zhang Xiaofan was stunned, the other people in the seat turned their heads one after another, all had smiles on their faces, the fifth Lu Daxin sitting on top of Du Bishu said with a smile: "Sixth, have you committed your gambling addiction again?"
He Dazhi, who was lean and thin beside him, said with a smile, "He hasn't won for a long time, and now he's going to lie to the kids."
"Go, go, go!" Du Bishu waved his hands again and again, ignoring everyone, smiling all over his face, and said to Zhang Xiaofan: "Little brother, who do you think will be the first to step through this door among the three members of Master's family? , you are just getting started, let you guess first, don't say that a senior is bullying you."
Wu Dayi, the second child who was sitting far away, shouted loudly: "Little brother, since it's a bet, you should first ask him what happens if he loses, and what if he wins?"
Du Bishu snorted, and said: "Are you afraid that I will repay my debt? I, Du Bishu, travel the world by relying on my reputation for gambling (everyone laughs: you have never won!), little brother, if you guess right , I will help you chop ten days of bamboo, if you lose, help me wash ten days of bowls, how about it?"
Everyone laughed again, Song Daren scolded with a smile: "No prospect."
Zhang Xiaofan saw the friendly smiles and friendly attitudes of the senior brothers, he didn't regard himself as an outsider at all, his heart felt warm, he said: "Okay."
Du Bishu slapped his thigh, and his whole body immediately became radiant and radiant, and said, "Junior Brother, then you say Master, Master Mistress, and Junior Junior Sister, who will come in first?"
Everyone's eyes fell on Zhang Xiaofan, Zhang Xiaofan thought in his mind, Qingyun Sect's head respects teachers, it must be Master Tian Buyi who came in first. Immediately said loudly: "I guess the master must have come in first."
Everyone laughed, Lu Daxin shook his head and said, "I never imagined that I was really cheated by Lao Liu once today."
Du Bishu was overjoyed, looked at the confused Zhang Xiaofan, and said cheerfully: "Little brother, let me tell you, in fact, every time in the master's family, it is the younger sister who rushes in first. Haha, you will come and help me later Let's do the dishes!"
Zhang Xiaofan patted his head, couldn't help but also laughed, nodded and said: "Yes, Sixth Senior Brother."
Zheng Dali, who was short and strong as the third child, smiled and said, "Sixth child, are you too embarrassed?"
Du Bishu rolled his eyes strangely, and said: "What do you say, third child, I didn't force it, everyone is willing to bet, isn't it, junior brother?"
Zhang Xiaofan nodded, suddenly heard Song Daren say: "Master is here."
Everyone's face changed, they all stood up, faced the door, and greeted the teacher. A moment later, Tian Buyi's short and fat body appeared at the door, and behind him was...
Nothing.
He came alone.
Everyone was stunned, and Du Bishu couldn't help but asked: "Master, where are my wife and junior sister?"
Tian Buyi glanced at him, and said calmly: "Your teacher's wife has brought my junior sister back to her mother's house."
Everyone was stunned, but after a while someone couldn't help laughing, seeing Tian Buyi walking in, Zhang Xiaofan looked embarrassed, wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, Du Bishu was dumbfounded.
Tian Buyi sat on his big chair, waved his hand and said, "Let's eat!"
All the disciples just sat down and looked at Du Bishu with half-smiles. Tian Buyi glanced at Zhang Xiaofan, and said to Song Daren: "Did you tell him the rules and regulations of the house?"
Song Daren nodded and said: "Yes, I have told the younger brother about the twelve rules and twenty precepts. As for those basic cultivation methods, I see that the younger brother is a bit tired at the beginning of the day, so I plan to teach them formally tomorrow."
Tian Buyi nodded, agreed, and said to Zhang Xiaofan, "Lao Qi."
Before Zhang Xiaofan felt sorry, Du Bishu pushed him beside him, then he realized that Master was calling him, so he quickly stood up and said, "The disciple is here."
Tian Buyi shook his head, lost a bit of confidence in this unresponsive disciple, and said: "You should follow the senior brother first, remember to study hard, the road is boundless, work hard, even if the qualifications are poor, But as long as you persevere and work hard, you may not be unable to learn, understand?"
Zhang Xiaofan said respectfully and authentically, "Yes."
Tian Buyi waved his hand: "Eat."
Zhang Xiaofan is small and short, holding a big bowl and sitting on a chair, he can't pick up dishes that are further away, but Du Bishu who is beside him is quite kind, he picked up several times for him, and said with a low laugh: " Junior brother, eat more." Seeing that he didn't care about losing the bet at all, the quality of the bet was indeed not bad.
Zhang Xiaofan was grateful in his heart, nodded repeatedly, ate for a while, then secretly asked: "Senior Brother Six."
Du Bishu turned his head and said, "What?"
Zhang Xiaofan said: "Why does my wife still have her mother's family?" In his little mind, Qingyun sect members are all first-class gods, so there is no worldly concern.
Du Bishu spat: "Of course there is, the mistress is also a human being. But when the master said that the mistress went back to her mother's house, she didn't really mean her mother's house, but said that she went back to my family's Xiaozhufeng Shuiyue uncle."
Zhang Xiaofan asked in surprise: "What?"
Du Bishu lowered his voice, and said: "Master's wife was born in Xiaozhufeng's lineage when she was young, and she and Xiaozhufeng's first Shuiyue Master are sisters, and the relationship is very good. Later, I don't know what happened, but Mistress is like a flower , actually married the master, I heard that at that time, many male masters and uncles of the Qingyun sect couldn't think about it..."
"Pfft", a chopstick hit Du Bishu's forehead hard enough to turn red. The two were startled, but they saw that Tian Buyi had an angry face, and a chopstick was missing in his hand. Du Bishu turned his head and stuck out his tongue at Zhang Xiaofan, the two dared not speak any more, they lowered their heads and ate desperately.
At this time, Song Daren said to Tian Buyi: "Master, this time the Master Master called the Qimai Gathering, how come only Uncle Shuiyue didn't come?"
Tian Buyi snorted, picked up the other pair of chopsticks, and said: "It's not that old Taoist girl pretending to be sick, and sent someone to tell the head brother that the headache and fever will not come, the head brother did the same, and he actually believed it. Hmph , if she comes today, even if I can't get a good one, it may not be... "
The fourth disciple He Dazhi coughed dryly, and whispered: "Master, Uncle Shuiyue's line never accepts male disciples."
Tian Buyi suffocated, shook his head, and said: "And your teacher's wife, as soon as you heard about Shuiyue's problem, you immediately took Ling'er to see her, it's like the sky is falling, it's true."
All the disciples glanced at each other, all of them looked happy, Song Daren hesitated for a moment, and then asked tentatively: "Master, how long will Master Mistress stay with Master Shuiyue?"
Tian Buyi glared at him, and said angrily: "How long is it, go today and come back tonight."
"Ah!" All the disciples sighed and sighed, all of them looked disappointed.
Tian Buyi looked around, snorted, and said to Song Daren: "Today, Master is instructing you to practice again?"
Before Song Daren could speak, Wu Dayi, the second child, rushed to say: "Master, don't ask him, the elder brother ran away today, so shameless."
Song Daren said angrily: "Nonsense, I was ordered by my master to help my junior brother..."
"Wow..." The crowd booed everywhere.
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Half an hour after the meal, after everyone left, Zhang Xiaofan wanted to stay and help Du Bishu wash the dishes, but Du Bishu smiled and said: "Little brother, thank you very much, but I can do the things here. You win the bet Don’t worry, I’ll cut bamboo for you tomorrow.”
Zhang Xiaofan was a little embarrassed, he was about to say something, but he heard Song Daren's voice saying: "Lao Liu, don't help him." As soon as the words fell, Song Daren came in from the door, and said to Zhang Xiaofan: " Junior brother, come, I will take you to your room."
Zhang Xiaofan nodded, but Du Bishu said from the side: "Brother, what did you say?"
Song Daren said: "Young junior brother has just started and is about to lay a solid foundation, it's not time to be lazy."
Du Bishu scratched his head, and said: "That's right, so be it! Junior brother, this time I'll just treat it as if I owe you once, and if you need me to do it for you in the future, just ask me, okay?"
Zhang Xiaofan said: "Senior Brother Six, why don't we forget it, anyway..."
Du Bishu's face turned serious, and he said righteously: "What are you talking about? I'm not the kind of person who doesn't distinguish between right and wrong, loyal and evil. If I promise you, I will naturally do it. Otherwise, I will lose the ground and be ridiculed by all senior brothers in vain."
Zhang Xiaofan nodded, but he still didn't understand what this has to do with not distinguishing between right and wrong, loyal and evil
Song Daren took Zhang Xiaofan's hand and said: "Junior Junior Brother, come, I will take you to your new room."
When the two walked out of the kitchen, it was already dark, and a bright moon slowly rose and hung in the eastern sky. They passed by the entrance of the Shoujing hall, Zhang Xiaofan looked inside, saw all the lights were off, it was pitch black, only the moonlight shone in front of the hall, it was rather gloomy.
After walking for a while, they returned to the corridor where all the disciples lived, Song Daren brought him to the last room on the right, and said: "Little brother, I live in the room where you wake up during the day, The other juniors all live one by one, all on the right side, the seven rooms on the left are unoccupied." After a pause, he looked at Zhang Xiaofan and said, "You live alone, are you afraid?"
Zhang Xiaofan shook his head.
Song Daren smiled and said: "That's it, how can we men be afraid of being alone! Come on, let's go in!" He said and walked in with Zhang Xiaofan.
Zhang Xiaofan looked at this strange place but will be with him for a long time, a small courtyard, a green pine tree on the left, five or six bamboos on the right, two or three people tall.
Small pebbles in the courtyard are paved with paths, and there are lawns on both sides. When the night wind blows, the leaves and bamboo branches sway gently, and there is a faint fragrance of green grass, which is very clean.
Song Daren opened the door, went in and lit the lamp, said: "Junior brother, come in!"
Zhang Xiaofan walked in, and saw that the furnishings in the room were as simple and unadorned as Song Daren's room, with tables, chairs, beds and nothing else.
Song Daren said: "Today I have cleaned the place, so you can stay here temporarily! Living in the mountains is poor, you are young, and you may feel lonely, but we as Taoists have to endure all kinds of trials and tribulations. Afterwards, you have to do the daily life by yourself.”
Zhang Xiaofan said: "Understood, senior brother."
Song Daren nodded, looked to the left and right again, and said, "Then I'm going back if there's nothing else to do. You've been tired all day, go to rest early!"
Zhang Xiaofan responded, and sent senior brother to the door, suddenly remembered something, said: "Senior brother, why is it that it's just dark and all senior brothers haven't come out for a walk?"
Song Daren smiled and said: "You don't know, the least of us has also studied Taoism on this Big Bamboo Peak for decades, and rarely goes out on weekdays. This Big Bamboo Peak has long been familiar with shopping, so we don't bother to move around. Like the fourth child who loves to read , the second child likes to hum music, and the more diligent ones like the third child practice in the house, and generally don't come out."
Only then did Zhang Xiaofan understand, Song Daren smiled and patted his head, gave a few more instructions, turned and left.
Zhang Xiaofan went back to the house, closed the door, suddenly felt that the whole world became silent, without any human voice.
He silently walked to the table, sat there for a while, had nothing to do, then blew out the lights, took off his coat, lay down on the bed, tossed and turned, and fell asleep in a daze after an unknown amount of time.
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"ah!"
In the darkness, Zhang Xiaofan uttered a low cry and sat up, gasping for breath. Just now he dreamed that he went back to Caomiao Village and saw his parents, children and playmates, as well as other uncles and aunts. extreme. He trembled all over and woke up like this.
He sat on the bed for a while, his breathing gradually calmed down, and his eyes gradually adapted to the darkness. He saw that the window casement was slightly tilted, and a beam of faint moonlight shone in obliquely, sprinkled on the blue brick floor, like frost and snow.
Zhang Xiaofan lost his sleepiness, got up and walked to the door, opened the door with a "cheep" and walked out.
There was silence all around, and there were faint insects chirping from unknown places, one or two, low and sharp, and the moonlight was like water, sprinkled on his body.
He looked up at the sky, only to see the stars, the moon was in the sky, bright and bright.
"I don't know how Jing Yu is doing now, can't he fall asleep?" He muttered in a low voice, sighed, and was about to turn around and enter the room when his chest loosened suddenly, and something rolled out of his undershirt ,Dropped on the floor.
Zhang Xiaofan was startled, leaned over to pick it up, but it was the deep purple dull round bead, there was a small hole in the middle of the bead, it seemed that it was strung on the emerald rosary by Pu Zhi that day. These days he has experienced great changes, he has long forgotten about this bead, only now he remembered that Pu Zhi told him to throw away this bead.
Thinking of this, I felt a sudden pain in my heart, his parents didn't leave him anything, Puzhi had a short relationship with him, but they were like relatives when they got together overnight, and this ugly bead was the only thing Puzhi left him. s things.
Zhang Xiaofan raised his hand, raised the bead to mid-air, facing the moonlight, against the clear brilliance of the moonlight, he saw that the color of the bead actually became a little lighter, turned into lavender, translucent, faintly saw a faint light inside The green energy whirled non-stop, as if it was spiritual, trying to break out of its shell. It's just that every time it approaches the surface of the bead, a small "卍" character will light up there, blocking it back.
Zhang Xiaofan looked at it for a long time, felt a little liking in his heart, and thought that this is the only thing Pu Zhi kept as a souvenir, he was really reluctant to throw it away.
After thinking for a long time, he untied a red rope from his neck, which was tied by his parents to bless him with longevity and safety. Most people would hang some gold medals and silver locks, but his family was poor, so he had to use a red rope instead.
At that moment, he tied the beads on with a red string, and hung them on the fleshy part of his chest, not feeling cold, but rather warm. He smiled to himself, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, turned around and walked back to the room, and went to sleep again.
His first day at Qing Yun Sect ended like this.