As the host, Mr. Lang sat in the main seat, and Xiao Chai Niang sat beside him. The Taoist priest came from afar and sat in the guest seat with the cat. Both host and guest respected each other.
Especially the husband, he was almost respectful.
The servants outside were wandering around, all with strange eyes open.
"How did Chai Niang get here?" Song You put down the tea cup and spoke in a greeting tone like an old friend.
"I do not know either……"
Xiao Chainiang's tone was a little sad. Perhaps she felt that the Taoist priest in front of her was the only person in the world who had participated in her growth and life in the first half of her life, so she saw him in this strange world, even if she had only seen him for a few days and ten years.
I haven't seen him before, but I feel very friendly.
In addition, the Taoist is gentle and calm, and even his appearance has not changed much, making him even more friendly.
"At that time, Wengweng went out to farm and didn't come back for a long time. We didn't know what happened to him and were worried, so we went out to look for him. Our field was not far from the lake. I was afraid that Wengweng was in danger by the lake, so we went to the lake.
I searched among the reeds for a long time but couldn't find it. I accidentally fell into the water and when I got up again, I was already here."
"That's it..."
Song You felt the charm of the painting, understood the mystery of the painting, and also discussed it with Master Dou——
The world in the painting is the real world, and it is this square of heaven and earth that is painted. Although Mr. Dou is a master of painting, to a certain extent, he is also a practitioner with profound and unique Taoism, which is invisible to ordinary people.
The practice of spiritual power and magic has been passed down in their family for thousands of years. It was not until his generation that such a peerless genius was born. His talent is no less than that of the top achievers in any field, including true practitioners who have embarked on the path of spiritual power cultivation.
, this inheritance finally changed qualitatively and touched the great road of heaven and earth, thus giving him the ability to practice as a great master. However, even so, the Dou family still could not create a world out of thin air, and the incomplete world in the painting still relied on the outside world to exist.
.
It is this world that relies on it.
The world in the painting is related to the real world. People in the world in the painting usually cannot get out, but by chance, some people may be able to get out.
Master Dou has told the secret of it.
The time in the painting is fixed at dusk, but time in the outside world is constantly flowing. If the outside world happened to be at dusk, at the moment when Dou and his wife completed the painting, the two worlds would have been connected. At that time, if someone happened to be outside the edge of the world in the painting,
If you go, you may be able to get out.
Xiao Chai Niang should be like this.
Fate is wonderful, but it is also frustrating.
"When did that happen?" Song You continued to ask.
"It's been seven or eight years, right?" Xiao Chainiang said, looking at her husband, "It's been seven or eight years, right?"
"Eight years."
Lang Jun was drinking tea, so he quickly put down the tea cup and said respectfully to Song You.
"Eight years..."
It seems that not even two years after I left, this little Chai Niang came out.
Song You shook his head and continued to ask: "Did Chai Niang eat the peaches sent by the Taoist Temple in the mountain?"
"I ate it. It was very sweet. Later we planted the peach stones at the door and they survived. But before the peach trees grew up and blossomed and bore fruit, I came here." Xiao Chainiang's tone was still sad, "But later Taoist priest said
The peach tree painted in the Taoist temple on the mountain bore fruit twice more. Each time the Taoist priest on the mountain couldn't finish it, he would take some and share them with us. I don't know what's going on with Father Wengweng now..."
The man next to him listened silently with a subtle expression.
I originally heard Xiao Chainiang tell the story of a Taoist who painted a peach tree on the wall of a Taoist temple and it came true. I heard it many times. At the time, I believed it but couldn’t believe it. I thought it was true, and because it was too fantasy, it felt like a fairy tale.
The distant feeling, now listening to the conversation between Xiao Chai Niang and the Taoist, the expressions of both parties are very natural, completely true, and my heart suddenly feels even more amazing.
"Why did the Taoist priest come here?"
Xiao Chai Niang suppressed her eagerness and asked.
"I am a wandering Taoist who has traveled all over the world. Now I have come to Yunzhou because I visited the same place as here ten years ago. I was amazed by the scenery here and felt nostalgic, so I really want to go here again.
Let’s go and stay for a while.” Song You paused, “I heard your legend when I was halfway there, so I wanted to come even more. I arrived yesterday, and last night I asked the innkeeper about Chai Niang’s story.
I’m here to visit you today.”
"Then how did the Taoist leader get to our place? How did he get out? Have you ever gone back in these years?"
Several questions in a row showed the urgency in my heart.
"It was fate at that time. I can't say much about the specifics. As for how I came out, I have a lot of knowledge and practice and have my own way." Song You replied patiently, "I haven't been back in ten years, so I don't know about Chai Niang's parents.
How are you doing, dear?"
"Some people speculate that our place is a world in a painting, or a fairy cave. Is this true or false?"
"But you can't tell me."
"Does the Taoist priest have a way to go back?"
Xiao Chai Niang looked at him without blinking and asked eagerly, her eyes dim with tears, full of sadness and longing for her relatives in her hometown.
"..."
Song You looked at her carefully, and then at the man next to her who was drinking tea without interrupting. He sighed in his heart and then said: "I was grateful to Chainiang's family for their hospitality back then. I really know that I will go back."
The method is just not easy and quite troublesome. If Chai Niang wants to go back, after going to the south of Yunzhou, she can also take Chai Niang on a trip and send Chai Niang back. This is to repay Chai Niang's family ten years ago.
hospitality.”
The Taoist pursed his lips and added:
"It's just that you have to walk thousands of miles, and it is not known to outsiders. Once you go back, it will be difficult to come out again."
Xiao Chai Niang stopped talking immediately.
The journey of thousands of miles was not easy, enough to make her want to go back and have a look. But if it was just like this, with a longing heart, she might still want to go back and have a look, but the words "It will be difficult to come out again" will
It was enough to make her shut up.
Because I just want to go back and have a look.
That's been eight years.
All the confusion, hesitation, panic and uneasiness she felt at the beginning remained at the beginning. The present is the present. She has become accustomed to the rotation of the four seasons here and the changes of wind and rain day and night.
She is already married.
They even have children.
Xiao Chai Niang turned her head and looked at Lang Jun. She was speechless, she just cried in a low voice and covered her face to wipe away her tears.
The Taoist was silent for a while, only stroking the hair on his back with his hand.
Mao'er also turned to stare at him, and from time to time turned to look at Xiao Chai Niang. He could feel the sadness in Xiao Chai Niang's heart at this moment, and also the complicated emotions in the hearts of these people.
"How about this--"
The Taoist spoke again.
"After all, Chai Niang has been kind to us. If Chai Niang wants to go back and see her, and she still does so after a few years, then in seven years, we will invite you to Fulong Temple in Yinyang Mountain, Lingquan County, Zhuo County, Yizhou. Then I can
Take Chai Niang back and have a look, as long as you don't talk about how to get in and out."
"Yizhou..."
Xiao Chai Niang murmured to herself.
The Yang family is a local merchant. If they want to sell cloth, most of them have to go from Yizhou. Naturally, they know that it is two to three thousand miles from here to Yidu, and the business road is not easy to travel.
I felt sad in my heart, but I also thanked the Taoist.
Song You didn't say much.
Things are unpredictable, and the most amazing thing about time is that you don’t know where it will push you.
The stories of "outsiders" in Xianning, Numa County are wonderful. What's wonderful is that they don't know where these people come from, the world they tell about, and the fact that they see familiar mountains and lakes but not familiar villages and countryside.
People can't go back even if they want to, so it has attracted the interest of many people. Many literati even came here specifically to visit them and write articles about it. However, many years later, there will be a difficult opportunity for them to go back.
When they arrived, they discovered that they could no longer go back. Isn’t it also a source of emotion?
After a long time, Xiao Chai Niang calmed down and chatted with him about the past and how delicate he was now.
There are countless villages at the foot of the lake in the world in the painting. There are also countless villages at the foot of the lake here. Many villages are similar, but the names and villagers are completely different. There is also a temple on Xianning Cang Mountain, but it is not a Taoist temple but a Buddhist temple, which later became a nunnery.
.
The similarities make people sigh, and the differences make people sad.
After chatting for a long time, Song You said goodbye and left.
"We live in the Yongchun Inn in front, next to the street. If Mr. Chai Niang has something to do, he can come and visit us. He will stay here until the cold winter."
"Taoist Master, walk slowly."
Xiao Chai Niang's tears were still wet, and she was giving him all kinds of gifts.
"Your Majesty, walk slowly."
Lang Jun also quickly stood up and saluted.
Song You naturally returned the favor.
This husband is the younger husband of the Yang family. He looks about thirty and has a bookish air. It is said that he is studying to seek fame. This age is not considered young among ordinary people these days, but he is considered to be studying to seek fame.
He doesn't seem to be a particularly old man. He must have been in his early twenties when he took Xiao Chai Niang as his concubine.
These days, the status of concubines is not high. The higher the social status of the husband's family, the more humble the concubines are. The Yang family is a merchant, but the business is quite large. It can be seen that Xiao Chainiang is not looked down upon by this husband. This shows that
He can also be regarded as a gentleman.
Song You also respected him a lot.
"I like to be clean. Please don't spread the news about your visit. If outsiders ask, just tell me about a wandering Taoist you have met before."
"Got it."
The two of them sent him out the door.
The Taoist told them not to send them far away, and then walked back slowly along the alley.
There was still the sound of cloth shaking in the courtyard wall next to me.
The cat still followed him with small steps, raised its head and stared at him, and said: "You seem to be a little unhappy too..."
"Just some feelings."
"Feelings!"
"yes……"
"What are you feeling about?"
"..."
The Taoist stopped, leaned down, picked up the cat who stopped with him, and said to her: "Because I also have a hometown that I can't go back to."