"Does Mr. Liu know anyone from the Xianning Yang family?"
"Xian Ning Yang's family? Of course we know each other. Their Xianyun gauze is the best. Although we are far away, we often exchange letters." The middle-aged man said and looked at Song You in surprise, "
Could it be that Mr. Liu actually heard about Liu from the Xianning Yang family? Isn’t this too far away?”
"Not only that……"
Song You smiled and said to him: "We once asked the Yang family for directions in Xianning. The young man of the Yang family told us that there was a Liuji Buzhuang in Luchuan. The owner of the Buzhuang aspired to immortality and practiced magic, and he also communicated with them.
The Yang family has some friendship and told me that if I can't find the way, I should go look for Liu Gong and ask Liu Gong for directions."
"Sir, have you gone to the city to look for him?"
The middle-aged man stared at him closely, worried that he was running away in vain.
"The best thing is here." The Taoist said, "When we got here, according to what the Yang family said, we found this road, so we didn't go to the city to look for Liu Gong. We wanted to save Liu Gong some trouble, but we didn't.
I thought I met Mr. Liu on the way."
"Oh! That's such a fate!"
The middle-aged man's eyes widened. Not only him, but also the old man walking in front, and even the three young men carrying bamboo poles on their backs also turned around with some surprise in their eyes.
There are many surprising things in the world, and the wonderful fate cannot be ignored.
With this fate, even without the mediation in Xian Ning Yang's family, the relationship between the two parties has become much closer.
The middle-aged man surnamed Liu said as he walked.
"It takes three days to walk from Luchuan to Bashu. One day to reach the foot of the mountain and two days to go up the mountain. Today is the second day and we have to walk for another day tomorrow. Sir, have you brought enough dry food and water?"
"Originally I planned to go to Luchuan for supplies, but I found that the path up the mountain was closer, so I didn't go and went directly here." Song You answered honestly, "But my cat is very capable in this mountain.
, there are hares everywhere, but I won’t let you go hungry.”
"It doesn't matter if you don't bring enough. Anyway, there's only one day left tomorrow. Let's just give him some food. When we get to the village on the mountain, if your husband doesn't have enough rations, just buy some rice and noodles."
"It will definitely be enough for today and tomorrow."
"That's good..."
As the middle-aged man surnamed Liu spoke, he looked up at the sky and said to the Taoist: "It's getting late. There is an unoccupied earth hut in front of us. It used to be the residence of hermits on the mountain. We can stay in that earth hut for one night."
It is a good escape from the mountain wind and the wild beasts and spirits on the mountain.”
"I will follow Liu Gong."
The middle-aged man surnamed Liu really respected the Taoist and was very friendly and approachable to Song You as soon as they met. After knowing that the two sides actually had such a fate, he became even more courteous.
However, his body was really weak and he walked very slowly.
No wonder they had already gone up the mountain at noon, and Song You was still thirty miles away from the path up the mountain, so they were able to catch up with him in the afternoon.
That's fine, it's more leisurely.
Soon we arrived at the earthen house he was talking about.
The earthen house has no roof, only four earthen walls remain, and almost nothing remains inside except for an earthen stove. The ground is covered with traces of fires burned by passers-by.
The three young men went to chop down firewood and lit a fire, which made the earthen house much warmer.
A middle-aged man named Liu took some slender bamboo tubes, which seemed to be full of glutinous rice, and threw them into the fire.
Song You unloaded the luggage from the horse and put it into the earthen house. The horse grazed freely outside the door. The cat left for a while. When he came back, he had picked up a plump gray rabbit from nowhere.
, put it in front of the Taoist without saying a word.
Naturally, several people traveling with him were greatly surprised.
"Sir, this cat is really amazing!"
"With this cat, he will travel all over the world, no matter where he goes, as long as there are mountains, land, and hares, won't he starve to death?"
"If you are not afraid of wild beasts and monsters in the mountains, then the world is truly vast and you can go there."
"You guys don't know. In addition to this ability, my cat is also good at killing monsters, including wolves, tigers and leopards in the mountains." Song You said to them, "It's true, as several people said, there are
With her by my side, I can go anywhere."
"!"
The calico cat next to him looked solemn.
After hearing everyone's compliments, I couldn't bear it anymore, so I turned around without hesitation and rushed out again.
When she came back again, she had caught a small fish from nowhere, held it in her mouth, walked in with small steps, and still placed it in front of the Taoist.
Naturally, everyone was surprised again.
Gradually it got dark.
The fire in the earthen hut kept burning, and the light of the fire was quite conspicuous in the mountains. With the number of people and courage, we were not afraid of the wolves, tigers, leopards, goblins and ghosts in the mountains, and the sound of conversation continued.
"The villages here are all on high mountains, and Bashu is considered the tallest. There is a valley in front of it, which is bottomless. As the teacher said, billowing white clouds accumulate all year round, and they linger no matter it is sunny or rainy.
Some say it is a lake at the bottom, and some say it is a deep cave connected to the ground. Because the cliff is too steep and dangerous, no one can go down. There are often herb collectors climbing down, but there is no way to the bottom. "
"The dragon rises from there?"
"Exactly."
The middle-aged man paused for a moment: "But this white cloud abyss is also very big. There is a circle of mountains on the side. I don't know how far away it is. I just stand on the tree and look across the sea of clouds. The mountains opposite are already very small.
If you want to go around in a circle, I'm afraid it will take a day or two to walk. The real dragon does not rise from below every year, and some say it may rise every year, but it does not come out and appear from here every year. We basically do this every year
I always come to the mountains to collect silk. I come with him every year. I will stay in Ba Shu for a while. I will not go back until spring or when I see a real dragon. I am soaked in dragon energy and good luck. I have been here for about twenty years.
, I’ve only seen him three times in total.”
"three times……"
"They say I have relatively good luck!"
"That's it..."
"And among the three times, there were some close and some far away." The middle-aged man said, "In the close one, the real dragon rose from the abyss in front of the tree. The huge figure was bigger than the mountain, standing on the edge of the cliff.
A person is not as big as one of its scales, and the wind brought by it makes people almost unsteady. Both the grass and trees on the mountain are shaking violently. Wow, it is really beyond words. Sir, you have to see it with your own eyes to know what it is.
How amazing, I have seen that scene, no matter how many stories about gods, demons, demons and ghosts there are in the world, even if I saw it with my own eyes, it would still not be shocking."
Song You nodded while listening, imagining that scene.
I just couldn't think of it, but what came to my mind was the scene of the divine bird flying across the night sky in the north of Yuezhou during the winter and summer solstice.
The bamboo tube is bubbling and making a slight sizzling sound next to the fire. The moisture in the bamboo is being baked out by the high temperature. Next to it are fish and rabbits skewered on wooden branches, all of which are cut with cuts and covered with seasonings.
, emit a peculiar fragrance at high temperatures.
The five people in the group were all staring at the fish and rabbit on the tree branch, and they did not easily look away even when they were talking.
The cat looked at them back and forth.
"Once in the distance, the real dragon soared from across the sea of clouds. Although it was farther away and not as scary as the close one, you could see the whole body of the real dragon, which was a little more shocking.
No less than a real dragon right in front of you." The middle-aged man surnamed Liu said, "There are countless legends about dragons in the world. How many people have seen what a real dragon looks like? Liu often discusses what happened with like-minded friends.
There are supernatural and strange things happening around them, but even if they saw those things with their own eyes, what can be compared to this?"
"rational……"
Slowly the food is cooked.
The middle-aged man surnamed Liu took out the fragrant bamboo rice and gave it to the Taoist. The Taoist was not stingy and shared the fish and rabbit he grilled with them. They thanked each other and kept talking.
"There are also many hermits in the mountains, most of them are learned people, just like the people who fail to appreciate their talents as mentioned in ancient books. There are also some monks and Taoists, many of whom are good at magic. I heard them say that the mountains are full of spiritual energy and dragon energy.
, auras and the like, so they all like to come to the mountains to live in seclusion. If the gentleman comes alone and does not meet Liu, if he sees a single house in a beautiful place in the mountains, it is probably the residence of these hermits.
"
"Maybe there are mountain spirits and monsters living inside." The old man next to him interjected.
"Yes, yes." The middle-aged man agreed, "In today's world, even on this mountain, there are more and more mountain spirits and ghosts. I heard that even the hermits in the mountains are often attacked by these mountain spirits and ghosts.
Harassed, many of them either moved to live with others or went down the mountain."
Song You nodded repeatedly as he listened.
The world has indeed changed significantly.
The aura of this mountain is indeed abundant, and its aura is extraordinary. This kind of place is not only beneficial to people's spiritual practice, but logically speaking, it should also be easier to give birth to monsters and cultivate elves. The reason why it sounds like the monsters and ghosts in the mountain are going to
Less. Song You guessed that it might be because of the existence of a real dragon. When these goblins and monsters see such a behemoth in the mountains, they will naturally think that this is their opponent's territory. Naturally, they have to restrain themselves and dare not make trouble casually. In the eyes of outsiders,
Come on, that means there aren’t that many fairies and ghosts on the mountain anymore.
In fact, most of them are hiding.
It is normal for hermits in the mountains to be disturbed by monsters.
Generally speaking, the newly enlightened mountain spirits and monsters have two attitudes towards people, apart from being cautious and fearful. One kind likes to harm and eat people, which exposes their ferocious nature; the other one is to build a model for dominating the world.
People with a prosperous civilization have a kind of reverence, and they really want to find people to ask questions, hope to be guided by others, and learn from others.
Since the hermits in the mountains have a reputation as masters, it is not surprising that mountain spirits and monsters come to visit them.
As he was talking, a young man suddenly stopped, listened carefully, and said:
"There seems to be some movement outside."
When everyone heard this, they all stopped what they were doing and listened carefully.
Sure enough, I heard some faint movement outside.
It sounded like panting, growling, wild beasts, or monsters. It seemed to be not far outside the house, circling around and spying on them.
Everyone was frightened and subconsciously looked at the Taoist.
The Taoist didn't panic, he just touched the back of the cat next to him and said to them: "Don't panic, just leave it to my cat."
"Meow……"
The cat seemed to be able to understand human speech, so it turned around and ran out.
The Taoist was peeling the fragrant bamboo rice like peeling a banana or tearing sugar cane, eating the soft glutinous rice inside, and invited them to continue eating and chatting.
After a while, the cat came back.
There was no movement outside.
After that, it was extremely quiet the whole night.