"Yang Laoliu, Yang Laoliu! Get up quickly! Someone is coming!"
On the simple loess wall, the old man put down his old telescope and shouted excitedly downward.
After a while, a lazy response came from below:
"Just come, it doesn't matter."
"Looks like a young man!"
The word "young" is emphasized by "old man".
"Oh? Young people! Is this day finally coming? I hope they can be smarter." The voice below finally became stronger, with a little excitement and expectation.
"We should receive them well. It's not easy for them to come all the way," the old man said.
"Yes, it's time to get the old guys in the village to take action. I'll call them."
There was a rustling sound under the wall, accompanied by the creak of the rocking chair and the muffled sound of the cane hitting the ground.
…
This is a strange village. Lin Yuan and Lin Keke agreed after observing it closely.
Because when they crossed the crumbling archway at the entrance of the village, what they saw was a group of old men and old ladies.
Very old indeed.
Everyone has gray hair and wrinkles like thousand-year-old tree bark, and the old men also have long white beards that almost reach the ground. In the past, all of them could be regarded as old birthday stars and painted on stickers.
on the wall.
At this moment, this group of old men and women were lined up neatly at the entrance of the village like primary school students doing morning exercises. Their little eyes flickered and they looked at Lin Yuan and the two with toothless smiles.
"Welcome, welcome! Welcome you two adults to Tuo..., what kind of village is Tuo coming from?" The old man who spoke patted his forehead in annoyance and got stuck for a moment.
"This is Tiezhengyun Village, Yang Laoliu, you are really old!" an old man shouted.
"It's been more than a thousand years, who still remembers it!" The old man named Yang Laoliu said angrily with his beard trembling and his cane swinging.
"I still remember it clearly." The old man said proudly.
"Fart! You just happen to remember this little thing!" Yang Laoliu said disdainfully.
"That's amazing! The inscription at the entrance to the village didn't last as long as I did." The voice became more and more proud.
"Stop making noise, stop making noise, the adults are still watching." An old woman shouted at the top of her voice.
"You bunch of old immortals, please stop talking and stop wasting the adults' time." Another old woman stood up.
"Yeah yeah."
The crowd was chattering, and everyone peeked at the things on the two of them from time to time, especially the black knife behind Lin Keke's back.
The knife looked very sharp, and it shouldn't be painful if it scratched their necks.
Lin Keke felt the burning gazes of the old people, snorted coldly, and drew out the black knife:
"You old guys, you are so weird, I have tolerated you for a long time! What on earth do you want to do!"
"Master, aren't you here to kill us?" When the old people saw Lin Keke's reaction, they immediately realized something was wrong.
"You're crazy! If there is no injustice or enmity, why should I kill you?" Lin Keke put away the black knife and looked at Lin Yuan.
The old people also looked at Lin Yuan. It seemed that the young man next to them was the one in charge.
Lin Yuan paused for a moment and then said, "You seem to have misunderstood us. We, brother and sister, are just travelers passing through. Seeing that it is getting late, I would like to come to your village and stay overnight."
As soon as the words fell, the smiles on the old people's faces disappeared, they shook their heads and waved their hands, sighing.
"Hey, I was looking forward to it in vain."
"It's boring, the fake news spread by Yang Laoliu."
"Let's go, let's continue lying down."
The old people dispersed in a hurry. Yang Laoliu glanced at Lin Yuan and the others, and then slowly left.
"Hey, why did you just leave? It's not that you won't pay! Are there no young people in your village? What about the etiquette of hospitality?" Lin Keke watched everyone walk away, unable to use any strength.
Fortunately, there was an old man staying on the scene.
"Don't blame us two guests. Over time, everyone has become like this. If you don't mind, please come and sit in the little old man's room first." The old man said apologetically.
"Then I won't disturb the old man." Lin Yuan lowered his head and thanked him.
…
The house is very simple, built with rammed earth and stone, and the roof is made of unknown huge leaves. A few pieces can cover it tightly.
The old man walked into the house, brushed off the dust on the stone pier, and said sheepishly to Lin Yuan and the two at the door:
"Alas, the chairs that are still usable at home broke down hundreds of years ago. These stones were also found in the river by chance and brought back. You two can make do with them."
"It's okay, it's good to have a stone to sit on. Old man, you are much better than those people." Lin Keke came up and sat down, and then her face showed doubts.
"However, when I came to the village, I saw a lot of woods. It took such a long time, why not make some chairs?"
"Because I'm lazy," the old man said honestly.
"Lazy?" Lin Keke opened his eyes wide, but he really didn't expect such a reason.
How lazy is this!
The old man sighed, "Yes, who would have thought that one day he would become so lazy?"
"In a thousand years, things change, and so do people. Travelers, would you like to listen to the old man tell a story?"
"Master, please speak." Lin Yuan said.
"That started a thousand years ago. That day..." The old man spoke slowly, his dark eyes staring at the void in front of him for a long time.
…
"Awen, did you see it? That bridge!"
"I saw it! It was right in my eyes. Qiaoxiang, do you think we can live forever if we go to the other side of the bridge?"
"It should be possible. The Kingdom of Daxia said it was made by the Immortal Immortal. Immortals don't lie to people."
"Haha, can't we be together forever? We also want to be a couple."
"You hate it, don't speak so loudly! Parents should hear you."
"Hey, what are you afraid of? Sooner or later we will be together."
In the room, a pair of lovers were laughing and playing, thinking about the future.
Later, most of the people in the village stepped on the bridge to the Immortal Realm, and the two of them brought all their belongings and joined the team.
The place assigned to their Tie Sheng Tuo Village is in the middle of several hills. The alien monsters here have long been driven away by the Great Xia Kingdom, and the resources are also very rich.
Settling down, marrying and having children, the first hundred years were normal. People lived according to their past habits until the second hundred years came.
"Awen, the house is a little crowded."
In the dead of night, Qiaoxiang, who had turned into an old woman, whispered to her wife beside the bed.
Awen took a puff of dry cigarette and sighed: "It must have been said by the kid from Guangzhong. They think we are too old."
"Yes, we are old." Qiaoxiang said sadly.
We deserve to die but do not die.
This sentence was buried in the hearts of both of them and neither of them said it out loud.
There is indeed immortality in the world of immortality, but immortality does not mean immortality. As the children grow up, and the children's children grow up, they become a burden in the eyes of their descendants.
Invisible cracks lie between the parents, and as time goes by, they become larger and larger, making it difficult to make up.
Awen and Qiaoxiang gradually became silent at home, while the children's tempers became more and more irritable.
Finally one day, the bodies of a pair of old people were found in the pond. The old man's children said that they accidentally fell into the water while feeding fish.
The young people said that the old people were careless and should stay at home and take good care of their health. But the old people in the village knew that they should leave.
Early the next morning, Awen and Qiaoxiang took their luggage and arrived at the entrance of the village.
All the old people in the village came here.
"Guangzhong, Guanghong, Huixin, please take care of yourself in the future. Let's go." Qiaoxiang held her children's hands and said goodbye reluctantly.
"Do you really want to leave? No one knows the dangers outside. You are so old, how can you protect yourself. We are usually a bit angry, but we will pay attention to it in the future. Dad, Mom, please stay." The children were concerned.
said.
Awen tilted his head away and said firmly: "It's time to go. This is not your fault. This day will happen to everyone."
The old people all rejected their children's attempts to stay and set off again towards the distance.
The new Tie Sheng Tuo Village was built, and all the people living in the village became old people.
We are all acquaintances, we know each other well, there is no longer any barrier between us, and everyone has smiles on their faces.
Awen thought that life could go on like this, but he still overestimated human beings themselves.
Time cannot destroy their bodies, but it can destroy their hearts.
As the night deepened, the moonlight filtered through the window and lengthened the shadows of the three people sitting around. The old man's eyes fluctuated and he suddenly stopped talking.
"What happened next?" Lin Keke asked impatiently.
She was very excited just now.
"Sigh." Lin Yuan sighed, he basically understood the situation in this village.
The old man's face became extremely sad.
"We slowly discovered a desperate thing. What we miss, hate, and love deeply can become insignificant under the erosion of time.
On Qiaoxiang's 300th birthday, I asked her what she wanted to wish for. She said she wanted to die. I was frightened and quickly asked her why.
She said that our memories have declined a lot. She said that it would be too sad if one day she couldn't even remember her lover's name. So she thought about death. It was difficult for me to refute her because I had forgotten the name of my child.
What’s the name?”
"Why don't you practice? If you just waste it like this, of course you won't be able to withstand the wear and tear of time!" Lin Keke said.
"Not everyone is suitable for cultivation. No, it should be said that most people do not have such high qualifications." The old man said.
"I saw earlier that there were more houses than people in the village. Did all those people choose to die?" Lin Yuan asked.
"Basically yes." The old man replied, "As soon as the signs of suicide appear, it cannot be stopped. If a person loses his memory, what is the difference between him and the walking dead? This is very scary, so after we all discussed it, we decided to stand at the entrance of the village.
I made a big stone and carved my important things on it.”
"It was a bit embarrassing at first. Can you imagine that after a while, someone would come over and shout to you what you had written. Later, I found that the effect was pretty good. I can remember it." The old man smiled.
"That's all you can do. Sharing secrets is not easy." Lin Yuan said in admiration.
"It can be considered one of the benefits of immortality. People in the village are as close as family, and everyone opens their hearts." The old man nodded.
"Where's Qiaoxiang, grandpa, what happened to you later?" Lin Keke asked curiously.
Lin Yuan's eyebrows jumped.
This kid is too straightforward.
as expected.
"Dead." The old man said in a low voice, "She still chose to leave me when she was 400 years old. She was a very courageous person. I wanted to follow her several times, but in the end I backed down. Death is really scary.
"
"But it's not scary to be alive. Sometimes I wonder, what's the difference between me, who is still alive, and a lonely ghost? Haha."
Lin Keke fell into silence. This was a strange world she had never been exposed to before.
All the misery in the world is here.
Lin Yuan also fell into deep thought, once again thinking about the meaning of life and death.
"This is the story for us old guys. The sun is coming out. Two travelers, do you want to come with me?" The old man stood up and walked out of the door.
The village was very quiet. Lin Yuan saw the old men and women lying casually on the open ground and on the rocks, with calm and peaceful faces.
The three of them walked slowly to the entrance of the village. The old man leaned on the big stone, raised his head, and watched the sun climb up the distant hillside little by little.
The morning light shone on his old face, and he smiled calmly: "The morning sun is the best when it first comes out. It's a new day, haha, I have one more day to live."
Lin Yuan could not hear the joy in his words.
"Isn't it good to live forever?" He whispered, as if speaking to the old man, but also to himself.
"Longevity is good, but it is too good for ordinary people to bear."
"In the past, we set up yearly monuments to record what happened over the years. Now, the yearly monuments have become memories along with the things on them, and they have sunk into the heads of us old guys."
The old man turned around and gently rubbed the stone tablet beside him with his rough hands. The wind blew the sand on it, and the densely packed words were mottled and broken, making it difficult to see clearly.