The bright red sun rises slowly from the eastern horizon, rising little by little, over the treetops, and slowly rises to the zenith.
Wu Jie sat on the roof of Zhifeizhai, staring at the rising sun. The gradually dazzling sunlight did not make him uncomfortable, but instead made him feel warm in his heart.
When he thought of what he had to do today, he felt warm from the bottom of his heart.
Today is his 100th birthday. Because of the suggestions of his friends, he decided to hold a small gathering at Zhifeizhai to entertain his friends and celebrate himself.
And...after the birthday party, there is still one very important thing to do.
Wu Jie took a deep breath and smiled towards the sun.
"Master, why are you smiling at the sun so early in the morning?" Lin Xiao, wearing a chef's white coat, passed by the yard and asked in confusion, "I've seen you like this several times when I passed by. It's been almost half an hour.
Already...
Wu Jie lowered his head and saw that he was dressed simply, without the slightest hint of aggression or ferocity. Instead, he naturally exuded an easy-going air and was approachable. Just looking at his appearance, he could no longer tell that he was the "bloody man" who was so frightening in the past.
Sword" Lin Xiao, but just a handsome young chef.
So he couldn't help but laugh again.
"You look very good now, much better than before"
Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment, looked at himself, and suddenly realized.
"Yes, I have changed a lot in the past six years." He showed a nostalgic look, "From the depression and hardship at the beginning, to later becoming more familiar with it, I gradually got used to the life of an ordinary person, and I truly understood
What is a 'person'?"
"In the past, I always thought that as long as I insisted that I was a human being, then I would be. But now I understand that 'human being' is not only a name, but also a set of behavioral habits and a set of thoughts from the heart. In the past
Even though I never want to show my true colors in front of others, I am actually just a monster."
"Oh? It seems that you have really understood it." Wu Jie smiled and nodded, "These six years have been well spent. You have truly embarked on the right path and can be called a right person."
"Alas" Lin Xiao sighed, "I often recall the past... At that time, I was young and ignorant. I always liked to have the upper hand. I felt it was natural to hurt others with my words. I would get angry when I was hurt by others... If it weren't for the usual big brother.
Take care, I rarely go out, I’m afraid I’ve caused countless troubles long ago..."
"It seems you really know where you went wrong."
"Yes, although it took a lot of time." Lin Xiao looked very remorseful: "When I first opened the store, I thought that my mistake was that I could not distinguish the situation and lacked experience in fighting with people. Later, after getting along with the common people for a long time,
Only then did I realize... I was fundamentally wrong as a cultivator. Apart from issues of big principles of right and wrong, I shouldn't have any free time with others."
"The road to immortality is so long. How can it be smooth sailing along the way? A person who only knows how to constantly fight and does not know how to give in and compromise cannot go too far."
"If it's strong, it's easy to break. Even if it's made of steel, it needs to be hammered repeatedly before it can become a good knife."
"Yes, a person who doesn't bow his head and doesn't know how to give in has no future at all." Lin Xiao bowed deeply to Wu Jie, "I finally understand the painstaking efforts of the master."
Wu Jie nodded with satisfaction, but couldn't help but think of Lin Lushan and his wife, and sighed: "It would be great if Lushan and the others could see you like you are now..."
Mentioning his parents, Lin Xiao suddenly felt sad: "I think if they saw me like I was before, they would be very disappointed and sad... When I think of the mistakes I have made, I feel ashamed to face them...
…”
Wu Jie was stunned: "How could you have such an idea? There is no parent in the world who would not forgive a child who has gone astray and returned."
"But I can't forgive myself." Lin Xiao lowered his head, with a look of pain on his face, "Many of the mistakes I made cannot be forgiven. If even such mistakes can be forgiven, where else in the world can I forgive them?"
Fair enough”
Wu Jie's face gradually became serious. He realized that he had not thought carefully before and there were still some problems with Lin Xiao's teachings.
"Ah Xiao, I thought you had fully understood the principles of being a human being, but now it seems... you have only understood half of it," he said in a deep voice, "You have jumped from one extreme to another, whether it is extreme left or extreme left.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the extreme right, it’s wrong.”
Lin Xiao raised his head in confusion, not understanding what he meant.
"Well, don't open a hotel, and go to the Western Qin Kingdom to work as a bodyguard for a period of time." Wu Jie said, "The unruly spirit in your heart that shouldn't be has been worn away, but the sharpness that should be in your heart has been worn away.
My mind has also been worn away... This won't work. You should hang out with those Jianghu people for a while and get a good feel for their lives. This will definitely help you."
Lin Xiao nodded, but suddenly thought of his hotel, and asked hurriedly: "What about my store? It would be a shame to close it. It took a lot of effort to gain popularity..."
"You should have saved some money in the past few years. Expand the store, hire a waiter, a chef, and a bookkeeper. You can concentrate on being the boss... isn't that enough?"
Lin Xiao suddenly frowned: "The people in Nanping County are simple, there is not much business, and people don't often come to the hotel to eat. Even if they come to eat, they will probably only have a pot of rice wine and two plates of side dishes... You can't make much money."
"...Why are you crying about poverty again?"
"I really didn't cry poor," Lin Xiao said with a wry smile. "When I first started to open a shop, my skills were not very good. Not only did the food taste bad, but it even looked terrible... During that time, if I hadn't just relied on drying
You can survive with the sun and water, but I'm afraid you'll have to beg on the street..."
Wu Jie suddenly remembered the dishes Lin Xiao cooked when he brought Qin Jing back, and the corner of his mouth twitched twice.
"To be honest, I think the food you cooked at that time was really scary... I have never seen fried vegetables that glow green in my life, nor have I seen barbecued meat that is constantly squirming on a plate... What a shame.
Those diners dare to eat”
"Yes, when I look back now, I always feel that it was really not easy to avoid killing anyone." Lin Xiao couldn't help but blush, "At that time, I was too poor to buy materials, and I couldn't hunt by myself because I had no cultivation.
, so the ingredients I use are all cut from myself...Anyway, as long as I take root in the earth, I can turn into a big tree in a while, pick some leaves, cut some buds, it doesn't matter..."
Only then did Wu Jie understand why the things he ate tasted so weird - Lin Xiao's mother was a peony, and he himself was a monster of flowers and trees, so those dishes - to put it bluntly, they were petals, leaves, stems and buds.
, and it was picked from a monster.
No wonder many people in this town are overly healthy...it turns out to be the result of eating the heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
No... As the saying goes, "what is weak cannot be replenished." It's a miracle that not many mortals have died after eating this kind of food.
Wu Jie couldn't help but shook his head and sighed, and asked worriedly: "How is your cooking skills now? Don't make such terrible dishes again. Today is my birthday, master. If you serve dark dishes... Then I'm too pitiful.
Already..."
Lin Xiao suddenly smiled. He touched the tip of his nose with his thumb, his face full of confidence: "Master, don't worry, I have honed my skills. Today you just wait and see what I am capable of."
At this point, he suddenly remembered something and asked: "By the way, I found that many of the raw materials today are very special, some are particularly old, some are particularly hot... Master, have you been collecting them all these years?"
Ingredients, right? Otherwise, where would so many good things come from..."
Wu Jie smiled mysteriously and did not answer.
As the chef of today's birthday banquet, Lin Xiao was very busy. After only a short delay, someone called him from the kitchen. He had no choice but to complain and ran over in a hurry.
Seeing his appearance, Wu Jie nodded, feeling quite satisfied.
Although this apprentice has been overcorrected, he has finally embarked on the right path. Even if he ascends in the future and can no longer take care of him, I believe he can take care of himself.
Lin Xiao is a tree demon with a long life. But correspondingly, his growth rate will be relatively slow. The reason why he is a young genius is just because his parents left him with a rich foundation. Now he is already in the middle stage of refining the power, and his parents left him
The legacy given to him has almost been used up. Next, he will probably have to spend a long time to accumulate strength like Lao Rongweng and Song Baisheng, and finally challenge the last step of the cultivators.
Wu Jie is a human being. No matter how long his life span is, he cannot compare with the tree demon. Moreover, his cultivation has reached the peak of Yuan Condensation. Recently, he often feels his mind vibrating slightly while practicing. He must be about to realize his true mind.
I have entered the realm of golden elixir.
Once the golden elixir is achieved, it will surely take a few years to ascend. When that time comes... the inheritance and development of Zhifeizhai's lineage can only rely on Qin Jing and Lin Xiao.
After all, Qin Jing still lacks some key inspirations in Taoism. There is no problem in understanding Taoism and practicing Taoism, but he cannot understand the profound and mysterious aspects of many dexterous tricks - he is like Guo Jing in Jin Yong's novels. Although he is a hard-working and good apprentice,
But he cannot be a good teacher. If he is allowed to take charge of the Zhifeizhai lineage, I am afraid that he will mislead the disciples.
As for the fourth disciple Xiang Xuehai... Wu Jie couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this guy.
Although this guy has a high level of cultivation, his way of thinking about problems is very poor. Wu Jie is thankful that he can avoid causing trouble to his fellow disciples. He expects him to carry forward the tradition passed down by him? It would be better to hope that other sects can't find good disciples.
Maybe it's more practical
Therefore, after Wu Jie ascends to the throne, the Taoist lineage of Zhi Feizhai will probably only be passed on by Lin Xiao. Wu Jie's training now has the intention of cultivating a successor.
Qiao Feng saw this very clearly. He met with Wu Jie in private yesterday and suggested that the master take advantage of his 100th birthday to formally list his disciples in Zhifeizhai and determine Lin Xiao's identity in a clear way.
"I have withdrawn from the Taoism. After all, the second junior brother is lacking in qualifications. Master, the Taoism passed down by you can only be carried forward by the third junior brother."
Looking at the growing number of gray hairs on his eldest disciple's head, Wu Jie couldn't help but sigh deeply.
He accepted this apprentice, only taught him how to practice, and gave him some magic weapons and pills. Other than that, he did nothing else for him. On the contrary, he had been protecting the family and doing things for himself for so many years.
A lot of things happened... But in the end, I couldn't even give him a chance to live forever...
Looking at the guilty look in his master's eyes, Qiao Feng still didn't understand Wu Jie's thoughts, and immediately said with a smile: "I can experience so many things, go through the rise and fall of a country, and in the end I can still be a hero and chase young people.
The dream of the times... These are all given by you, Master. You have given me too much, and it will be difficult for my disciples to repay me even if they are broken into pieces. I am very satisfied with my current life, please don't be sad anymore."
Wu Jie raised his head and looked at the red sun slowly approaching the zenith, and couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
Time passes bit by bit, time passes, and it never stops. Although my appearance has never aged, the people around me are constantly coming and going... The life of my apprentice Qiao Feng is a mirror, reflecting
The prosperity and vicissitudes of my own life over the past hundred years.
The same mirror, and this Nanping County. When I first came out of the world, I became famous as a young man because of the incident of transporting grain to Nanping County for disaster relief. In the following decades, countless things happened, and even the Great Chu Kingdom
It has been destroyed, but Nanping County is still Nanping County.
He jumped up, flew into the sky, and looked down at the vast land between the mountains from the clouds.
The magical power that he used to move mountains and seas was already a mythical miracle in the eyes of the monks, but for Nanping County, it was actually just a dozen more towns, and there was not much change.
If we want to talk about changes, perhaps the biggest change is the Elephant Mountain?
Turning around, I saw that the temple at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain was filled with incense and there was an endless stream of people visiting. There were also some devout believers who slowly climbed up the winding mountain staircase to reach Jietianguan at the top of the mountain to worship at the top of Xiangshan Mountain.
Worship - oh, I should say, go to the place closest to the sky to worship the elephant god.
Wu Jie has not inquired about the origin of this tradition, but he does not reject this kind of thing.
In his eyes, the power of faith is constantly seeping into the Elephant Mountain. Although the number is not very large, if it is accumulated day by day and year by year, it may have turned into the towering Cangshan Yishan Elephant, and there will be some who are sealed because of their faith.
God, when will the day come again?
Although... maybe he can't see that far...
Wu Jie stood in the clouds and sighed for a long time. Seeing that it was almost noon, he lowered his head and returned to Zhifeizhai.
Zhifeizhai is still located in the Wuhou Mansion in Anfeng County. Today, the Wuhou Mansion is particularly lively. Although there are no deliberately decorated lights, many guests are here and they are full of joy.
They were celebrating Wu Jie's birthday, or in other words, celebrating the "Wuhou Festival".
According to the tradition of Anfeng County, today is the official day of the Wuhou Festival. People with status and fame in the county will be invited to the Wuhou Mansion for dinner, and running water mats have been set up in the square in front of the government office. Anyone passing by
Everyone can have a meal - admittedly there won't be any delicacies from the mountains and seas, but the dishes are a combination of meat and vegetables, hot and fragrant, and in conjunction with the lunch time, everyone who passes by will inevitably have their fingers moved.
Most people in Anfeng County will come to eat this meal, and even many people will come from far away. It’s not because they are greedy or greedy, but just to be happy. After finishing this meal, people will come here in this county
Under the leadership of the elders, a long procession was formed and went to Wuhou Cemetery to conduct large-scale worship.
After the worship, a blessing ceremony will be held. It is said that some people actually received blessings during the blessing ceremony.
Of course Wu Jie would not specifically cast a spell in response to the blessing ceremony, but the collective belief of people was a powerful force. It was natural that one or two lucky people would benefit from it.
He covered his image with a blindfold, walked all the way through the lively streets, walked into the Wuhou Mansion, passed through several layers of formations shrouded in the mansion, and arrived at Zhifeizhai in the backyard.
There is a cave formation around Zhifeizhai, and many houses are scattered in a small space. When Wu Jie arranged it like this, he just wanted to pass this cave house to his disciples in the future, so that it could be a decoration. Now look at it
Come, it is indeed a wise move
Many guests have already arrived. Some of them have a quiet personality and live in the house; some like to join in the fun and run around to help. As for the general in charge of the overall situation, it is naturally the third sister Du Ruodu.
genus
"Do you have any objections to me presiding over the 100th birthday of the fourth child?" When discussing the birthday in Qingyang Mountain, Du Ruo suddenly became energetic and said that it would be most appropriate for him to preside over the entire birthday celebration. At that time, Du Ruo became more energetic.
Naturally, some people raised objections - although the custom of favoring boys over girls is not very serious in Kyushu, it is rare for women to host such major celebrations.
It should be noted that a 100th birthday is a very important celebration. If it is a mortal's 100th birthday, the emperor of the country will send an imperial envoy to celebrate the birthday, and often give a handwritten plaque and a dragon head that can only be used by the royal family.
crutches to show respect for the elders.
Although monks have a very long lifespan, no matter how long it is, it is limited. Even the real Huandan Master generally only has a lifespan of a thousand years. For them, a hundred years is almost equivalent to one-tenth of the lifespan of a mortal.
I would like to celebrate my birthday in the tenth year, and this is definitely not a big deal.
Not to mention, for monks who have entered Taoism, who make up the majority of monks in the world, their 100th birthday means that most of their lives have passed. How can they not celebrate it properly?
"So we should be more serious..." An Ziqing muttered.
Du Ruoliu's eyebrows stood up, and the pressure of the golden elixir realm was completely released, and he immediately blocked the rest of his words.
So the matter was settled.
Thinking of this, Wu Jie couldn't help but smile.
Not far ahead, Du Ruo was with his hands on his hips, directing a group of gods, monsters and mortals to do this and that, he was so majestic.
