Sun Li slept very comfortably. When he opened his eyes, there was bright sunshine outside the window.
He sat up and stretched.
He turned his head and looked beside him, and saw that the prairie fire sword was lying there quietly, which made Sun Li feel very at ease.
He got up, put on his clothes, walked out of the room, and walked slowly down the inn.
In the main room of the inn, there were several diners eating breakfast, and Sun Li vaguely heard them discussing something.
But it was too far away, and he couldn't hear clearly. He could only vaguely hear a few words such as Tianxuan Mountain, fighting, and blood everywhere on the street.
He felt a little strange about this, and he felt worried in his heart. He looked around the inn and saw no sign of Chu Qingxiao and others.
When I'm worried.
"Senior, are you awake?" A voice came from behind.
Sun Li looked back and saw Chu Qingxiao standing behind him, holding a food box in his hand and looking at him.
"Yesterday..." he asked subconsciously.
At this moment, Chu Qingxiao put the food box in his hand on the wooden table aside, took out the contents and said with a smile.
"Senior drank too much yesterday, but there was no mung bean porridge in the store, so I went outside and bought a bowl for senior on the street."
"Senior, drink it while it's hot. At that time, my father's favorite drink was a bowl of mung bean porridge after he was drunk."
Sun Li looked at the hot rice porridge and steamed buns on the table, and then at the smiling young man, feeling somewhat moved in his heart.
But he was more worried. He carefully looked at Chuqing and found no injuries on the other party's body.
Chu Qingxiao seemed a little strange about Sun Li's gaze. He looked at his clothes in confusion and asked, "Senior, is there something wrong with me?"
Sun Li remained silent and looked outside the inn. People were coming and going outside the inn, and the streets were spotless. It seemed a bit cleaner than yesterday.
At the entrance of the inn, Chu Zhaozhao and others were holding a carriage and chatting there. They spoke casually and smiled, and there was nothing unusual about them.
"Last night..." Sun Li was still a little confused.
"Senior, did you not sleep well last night?"
"Then when we go to the place where we are staying today, we must find a better inn for our seniors." Chu Qingxiao said with a smile.
When Sun Li saw this, he really couldn't see any difference. He finally relaxed and thought that it was probably just the disciples of Tianxuan Mountain who had a conflict with someone somewhere, and he was a little too nervous.
Thinking of this, he nodded, finally sat down, picked up the rice porridge and drank it in a big gulp.
The sweetness of rice porridge and the aroma of mung beans passed through his taste buds, and he suddenly felt refreshed.
The bright sunshine outside the window shone in and reflected on his cheeks.
Feeling the warmth, he raised his head and looked out the window.
The blue sky, white jade, and bustling crowds are so beautiful.
"How wonderful." He murmured to himself.
…
The journey over the next few days went surprisingly smoothly.
The people from Liuhuan Peak did not appear again.
After leaving Baihe Town, going east again, you will reach Quzhou.
Quzhou belongs to Dongyuan Territory.
The world of Dayu was divided according to the laws of the border states.
Below the border are prefectures, and below the prefectures are counties.
For example, Cangzhou where Tianxuan Mountain is located, Muzhou where Wuling City is located, plus Feihuan Prefecture, a total of four states, is the southern border.
The entire Eastern Territory was too vast and was divided into three territories: Dongyuan, Dongchong and Dongning, with three to five states in each territory.
The one who shepherds the world is called the Son of Heaven.
Those who pastor a state are called executive states.
Those who pastor a state are called state pastors.
According to legend, the Nangong family, whose power spans the two states, is most likely to be the next candidate to enforce the Southern Border.
This is also the reason why even Tianxuan Mountain, which is known as the leader of the sword sect in the world, is willing to bend its knees to please the Nangong family.
But these are all things for later.
After entering Quzhou, there are obviously more mountains, and the roads are far less flat than in Muzhou and Cangzhou.
Dongyuanjing Mountains are crisscrossed, and it is probably because of this rugged and changeable terrain that the winding and turbulent river scenery like the Jiuqu River can be formed.
This way.
Chu Qingxiao and others left Baihe Town and went to Xishui City.
I tried the Baixi wine in Xishui City.
There, Chu Qingxiao, Sun Li and Meng Ziliang were very drunk.
This was the first time in Chu Qingxiao's life that he drank so much wine.
Baixi wine is not delicious.
Although he was famous, Chu Qingxiao still felt spicy when he tasted it.
It seems that there is no good drink in this world.
But he drank one glass after another.
He suddenly understood why his uncle liked drinking so much.
When you have had three rounds of drinking and your head is groggy, you no longer have the energy to think about so many things.
All you can do is drink and giggle.
You just hope this drink can last forever.
In this way, those things you don't want to face seem to never come.
But, after sobering up.
What was supposed to come still arrived as scheduled.
Sun Li's physical condition began to deteriorate. When he woke up the next day, he coughed violently. Chu Qingxiao could see it. The old man secretly wiped away the blood coughed up from the corner of his mouth, and then continued to talk and laugh with everyone.
Just like everyone didn't want him to know about Tianxuan Mountain's attitude.
He seemed unwilling to ruin the lively and joyful atmosphere of this trip...
Chu Qingxiao knew this tacitly.
He understood that alcohol was harmful to Sun Li.
But equally, for a dying person, the most important thing is to live the few remaining days as he wants.
Then everyone went all the way east to Dashan Town.
This small town, which is a full three hundred miles away from Tianxuan Mountain, has Hutou Mountain.
The mountain is gentle, but the scenery at the top is excellent.
Especially in the evening, when the setting sun and sunset glow meet, the scene is incredibly beautiful.
Chu Qingxiao and others specially took Sun Li to climb Hutou Mountain.
The first half of the mountain road is fairly easy to walk, and there are horse-drawn carriages available for walking, but as we approach the top of the mountain, the road becomes rough.
Sun Li tried his best and climbed for half an hour, but he was out of breath, bent over, holding on to the rock with one hand and gasping for air.
He ages quickly.
However, in just a few days, he changed from the fairy-like spirit with a somewhat old and strong appearance when we first met him, to the aging posture now.
Chu Qingxiao saw this and felt unhappy in his heart.
He wanted to help, but was stopped by Meng Ziliang who was standing beside him.
He said: "You have to walk the path of a swordsman yourself."
Chu Qingxiao didn't quite understand, and Ziyu was even a little angry, but Sun Li walked up on his own just as Meng Ziliang said.
Although it is very slow, although it is trembling.
But in the end we reached the top of the mountain before sunset.
The afterglow and rays of the setting sun shone on the old man's face. He stared blankly, with the beautiful scenery reflected in his cloudy eyes.
His eyes suddenly turned red.
Maybe it's for the life that is about to pass away.
Maybe it's for the goodbye that I don't want to say.
Or maybe it’s just because of the beautiful scenery in front of you.
Chu Qingxiao didn't ask, just sat beside him silently.
Until the setting sun sinks into the mountain pass, until the glow disappears.
It's too late to finish all this.
It was very dark and it was not convenient to go down the mountain.
There is a Taoist temple on Suoxing Mountain.
Not big, but not too small either.
There were several elderly Taoist priests living in the temple. They had no cultivation skills, but they had good hearts and they were specially taken in to stay.
I don't know if it was because of interest.
Sun Li chatted with the eldest Taoist priest.
He asked the priest: "Why do you want to practice Taoism, but why don't you have any cultivation skills?"
The Taoist priest said that he had read a Taoist book called "Question" when he was young.
There is no substantive content in it, just weird questions.
He listed a few.
Why do people live and why do they die?
Why does the sun rise in the east and why does it set in the west?
Is the sun rising in the east today the sun setting in the west yesterday?
Does the sun that rises every day die at sunset, or does the same sun rise the next day?
Why do plants and trees die in winter, and what brings them back to life?
Is the world the only one, or are there countless worlds outside this world?
When we look down at the ants, is there someone above us who is also looking at us as if we were looking at the ants?
He said he wanted to figure out these issues.
He feels that these questions are close to the Tao. Once he understands them, his Tao will be achieved, and there is no need to practice. In other words, in his opinion, pursuing these questions itself is practice.
Sun Li found it interesting and asked him again: "Have you figured out the answers to these questions?"
The old Taoist priest shook his head and took out the Taoist rubbing called "Question", which was filled with various annotations after each question.
Those were the answers he searched for. Each one made sense, but each one was not necessarily the absolute truth.
Obviously, he didn't find the answer.
"Don't you feel regretful that you have lived like this all your life?" Sun Li asked him strangely.
The old Taoist priest said in a hoarse voice: "Seek the Tao, seek the Tao."
"Stick to one path for the rest of your life. Even if you fail, you will have no regrets."
Sun Li muttered the words of the old Taoist priest.
His eyes suddenly became bright.
The last confusion was solved by him at that time.
He bowed respectfully to the old Taoist priest and repeated the sentence: "Practice a way for the rest of your life. Even if you don't succeed, you will have no regrets."