"The mountains and rivers are beautiful, the sun is high, it's great, the wind is blowing..."
The rough sound echoed on the blue waves. Between the two mountains, a small boat cut through the calmness of the river, sliding slowly from the upstream, causing ripples in the blue sky and white clouds on the water.
The old boatman beat his legs a few times and sang loudly again.
Suddenly the singing stopped and he looked into the distance.
On the Zijun Ferry, which looked like it had been trampled down by something, stood a young Taoist priest, with a calico cat at his feet and a bay-red horse behind him.
"Suddenly..."
A swallow flew across in front of him.
"Ouch……"
The old boatman rubbed his eyes and shouted. After receiving a response, he quickly moved the boat over.
After a while, the ship left the shore again.
At this time, there was a bay-red horse and a young Taoist priest on the boat. The calico cat was leaning on the side of the boat, leaning down and sticking its head out to stare at the water seriously, wondering what they were thinking.
The Taoist said to the boatman: "The boatman has leg problems and is very old. Why is he still running boats on the river?"
"It's not just to make a living." The boatman waved his hand and said, then looked at Song You, his tone was a little tentative, "It's the immortal master. After seeing the immortal master off last time, the villain listened to the immortal master's words and stopped the boat to go home to rest.
It lasted for a few days, but unexpectedly, in those days, the earth dragon turned over, the mountains collapsed and the ground cracked, and even the river was cut off. It ran to another road and came back after a day. People in Youzi County said that there was a great water dragon.
It is making waves and breaking up the earth, but the villain is still very worried about the immortal master."
"Is the disaster serious?"
"Zijun is not too heavy. I heard that when I arrived at the county town, I basically didn't feel any shock." The boatman said, "On the other hand, people on the river or on the bank could tell that something was wrong. It didn't look like anything at all.
It was an earth dragon turning over, and it was very ghostly. Later, the river changed its course and then back again. As it went, many people on both sides of the river suffered disaster, and I don’t know how many boats capsized on the river."
"yes……"
Song You also nodded.
Although the Yinjiang River has lost the momentum it had thousands of years ago, it can still be regarded as a big river. It runs eastward into the sea. There are countless ships of all sizes on the river. It is suddenly cut off. How can it be a small matter?
This is one of the reasons why Song You could let go of the white rhinoceros, but not the rhinoceros. He just knew that the fox would not spare them, so he didn't do it himself.
The great demon inherited from ancient times is so terrifying.
Unfortunately, there are probably not many great demons handed down from ancient times, and most of them have fallen into decline. The few in Yuezhou are probably already doing well, and there are now two less.
"People who escaped from the south of Zijun said that the water from the Yinjiang River rushed to their side, and a large area of the mountain became like a sea, and it became dark during the day. There were also ghosts, howling, lightning, and thunder. It was said that there was something wrong.
Terrible monsters were making trouble there, and there were gods and monsters fighting." The boatman said while watching Song You. "Later, after the river returned, a few days passed, and there were boats on the river again, and the villain even came here to wait.
Immortal Master, I just didn’t wait, I thought that the villain and Immortal Master had no chance, the Immortal Master had already left, but I didn’t expect that the Immortal Master would not come out until a year later.”
"There's something going on over there."
Song You smiled and said to the boatman, then paused: "So we are here specially to wait for the boatman. We have been waiting for two days."
"Ah? Why bother the immortal master to wait for me?"
The boatman's eyes suddenly widened and he was frightened.
"There is no need for the boatman to be nervous. There are only a few boats on the river. We have only declined an empty boat in the past two days." Song You said, "We still remember how the boatman took me last year, and we also remember that last time we said it was okay.
When I met the boatman again, I invited him to drink a glass of water and wine. I brought him this time just to drive away the cold."
After saying that, he took out the jug and poured a glass of wine.
"oops……"
The boatman was in a panic. He wanted to refuse but was reluctant, wanted to agree but was embarrassed. He put down the oar and wiped his hands on his body again and again before taking it.
"Thank you, Master Immortal."
Then he raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
It is a wine from a small place, but it is also the most expensive wine sold in the county. Even the boatman has never tasted it.
After drinking, he just smiled and said to Song You:
"This wine is good..."
The wine these days is not easily intoxicating. Just one glass will not delay the sailing.
The boatman returned the wine glass and did not row much. The boat sailed down the blue waves, accompanied by loud singing, and in the blink of an eye it reached the border of Yaozhou, the ferry where Song You came back and disembarked.
Maybe the wine is warm in nature and can dispel the cold in the body. There is still a bit of chill in the spring wave all the way down, and the old cold legs never hurt again.
"Isn't it better for Immortal Master to stay here?"
"It's better to get off here."
"okay!"
The boatman immediately pulled over to the boat.
Song You took out the boat money, but he refused to accept it, so Song You gave it to him by force. He then thanked the boatman and got off the boat.
It is still the loess road in the mountains, which is easier to walk than the road in Zijun, Fengzhou. There are forests of straight fir trees on both sides. It is the place where Empress Sanhua once rode a tiger and led a pack of wolves. It is still spring, and the mountains are still there.
There was a layer of mist and miasma that could not be resolved, as if covered with a layer of light veil. In a daze, it was no different from last year.
"Let's go."
Song You stepped forward, and the horse immediately followed.
The sound of horse hooves and the ringing of bells echoed between the two mountains and in the woods.
The calico cat followed with small steps, raising its head high to look at the mountains, fog, forests and birds on both sides. From time to time, it lowered its head to look in front and behind, thoughtfully.
I don’t know whether I am thinking about the little monster hidden in the mountain last year, or I feel that there are fewer carriages and piano sounds on this road this year.
Soon we reached the fork in the road again.
The tea stall at the fork in the road is still not open.
Song You sat on the stone of the tea stall for a while, taking out dry food and water to eat under the shade of the dilapidated tea shed.
There were a lot of weeds growing on the roadside and along the tea stalls. The horses gnawed silently, lowering their heads, making the sound of pulling weeds and chewing. The cat also took out the dried loach from its carrier and lay on the ground to hug it.
Chewing.
“Do Taoist priests eat loaches?”
"no thank you."
"It's very clean." Mao'er looked up and stared at him, "It's cleaner than the jerky made by people in the city."
"Miss Sanhua, let's eat."
"I won't eat this, I won't eat that..."
The cat shook its head, murmured a few words, and continued to hold the loach and gnaw it.
The loach is so dry and woody that it will drop dregs when you chew it. When you bite into it, it makes a hissing sound, which is very pleasant to hear.
The sun illuminates the whole world brightly.
The weather seems to be a little hot too.
Song You ate the vegetable dumplings on his hands cleanly, twisting all the larger ones into his mouth. If they were too small, he clapped his hands and let them go with the wind, and then carried them on his back.
I leaned back and leaned against the wooden pillar of the tea stall, not only watching the cat biting the loach, but also watching the empty official road under the afternoon sun.
There is a feeling of extra freedom and leisure at this time.
The previous year, whether it was stressful, busy or boring, all disappeared immediately.
"..."
Song You couldn't help but stretch and felt a little sleepy.
Passing through wilderness, dilapidated tea stalls, the sun is bright and blinding, the quiet and deserted mountain road in the afternoon, the body and mind are tired and relaxed, and it is very pleasant to be able to have a good sleep.
"Miss Sanhua, I have to take a nap."
"OK……"
Song You half-closed his eyes and fell asleep.
From the time I sat down to rest, until I finished eating my dry food, and then I sat on the road and took a nap, there was only a group of people walking on the fork in front of me. There were people leading donkeys, jingling bells, and some driving.
The carriages or merchants pushing carts passed by, and the sound of wooden wheels rolling on the ground did not disturb people when they were tired, but instead lulled people to sleep. There were also travelers and wanderers who walked briskly. Most people saw Taoists lying on the ground when they passed by.
And Mian, not afraid of bandits or thieves, couldn't help but look at him with such a comfortable posture.
Passers-by participated in the Taoist's afternoon dream, and maybe the Taoist was also the embellishment of their journey.
When Song You woke up in a daze, the world gradually became clear from blur. He lowered his head and saw that Sanhua Empress had fallen asleep next to him. Swallow was sleeping with his neck curled up on the opposite branch. Even the person in front of him
The horse also stood quietly and made no sound.
Several beams of light hit the ground through the broken tea shed.
It was very quiet around him, except for a group of ants on the ground carrying the dregs of vegetable dumplings he dropped and the dried loach dregs left by Empress Sanhua.
Song You couldn't bear to wake them up. Such a scene really made people not want to leave, so he sat here quietly, neither comprehending the aura of heaven and earth nor thinking about the next route. He just looked down at the ants on the ground carrying food.
Walking around Sanhua Empress, some even got closer, wanting to observe this sleeping giant.
"..."
The calico cat slowly opened its eyes a little, and saw that the Taoist had woken up. He immediately opened his eyes wide, looked around, and looked down at a bunch of ants on the ground. He couldn't help but use his paws to fiddle with them.
I touched them and turned over a few ants. This was all an instinctive behavior when I just woke up and was confused, but I didn't bother them too much. I quickly raised my head and looked at the Taoist:
"Are you awake?"
Almost at the same time, the swallow also opened its eyes.
"wake up."
"Are you leaving?"
"Miss Sanhua, you can sleep a little longer."
"Miss Sanhua seems to have woken up."
"Then let's go."
Song You stood up and moved his body, feeling comfortable all over.
The calico cat also stood up and stretched. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the ants on the ground, and couldn't help but stretch out his paws to poke at them, and then a few more.
Naturally, or instinctively.
I can't control it at all.
He got up and followed the Taoist away. As he watched the Taoist put the quilt bag on the horse's back, he couldn't help but look back and look at the ants.
The group of people walked onto the official road and left along the road. However, last time they took the fork on the left, this time they took the right one. The sound of horse hooves and bells became the only sounds on the mountain road in the afternoon.
A few days later, Anmin County.
Princess Changping was indeed as she said. After being eroded by the cold ghost energy of Fengzhou, she also climbed over the miasma-laden mountains of Yaozhou. After settling in Yaozhou, she was not accustomed to the local climate. I am afraid that she would also be disappointed if she learned the truth about the fox demon.
Her pride caused a big impact, and I don't know if she was surprised. In short, in just one year, she seemed to have aged by more than ten years, almost comparable to her imperial father in the Changjing court.
But when someone comes to visit, she still drags her body, dresses up, attends in person, and personally entertains, maintaining the dignity of being the Princess of Dayan, and maintaining the etiquette towards Taoists.
At the beginning of March in the ninth year of Mingde, the Taoist left Anmin.
Soon, Princess Changping died of illness at home.
A princess who had wielded the greatest power in history passed away. I wonder how long it would be before the emperor who supported her for half her life learned the news, and how the emperor would feel.