Chapter two hundred and eighty seventh wood carving
In the modern city, the dim sunset shines.
Lin Yu was walking alone on the path. He had a delicate face and looked very gentle.
School had just ended and he was on his way home.
Under the setting sun, a black crow flew by, making a hoarse crow.
People came and went in a hurry, as if they were busy with things that would never be finished.
"Dad, where is my mother?"
As soon as he entered the house, Lin Yu looked at the living room. Apart from the big fiery red cat sleeping in the corner, there was also a prim middle-aged man sitting on the sofa.
The cat was over two feet long, which was over sixty centimeters. He didn't know how long he had had it, but it was certain that it was older than him.
At least, the cat has been with him as long as he can remember.
Speaking of his father, Lin Yu's first thought was that he was rigid, because he had always maintained an attitude, as if he never knew how to be flexible, at least in front of him.
Just like now, he is sitting on the sofa, his hips are in the right position, his legs are naturally close together, and he is sitting upright.
His father has been like this since he was a child, so much so that under his influence, Lin Yu unconsciously adopted some of his behavioral habits.
Later, he gradually understood that this was not a lack of adaptability, but a subconscious behavior and an attitude towards life.
Straightforward and never changed.
"She hasn't gotten off work yet." The middle-aged man replied, slowly polishing the small thing in his hand.
Lin Yu knew that this was what his father relied on for a living, wood carving.
When he was a child, he had always wondered how a staid, old-fashioned middle-aged man like his father could find a perfect woman like his mother.
Until now, this remains an unsolved mystery.
"The food is almost ready in the kitchen. You cook the dishes. I'll go out for a while."
"Well, okay, I'll call you when the meal is ready." Lin Yu was used to it. No one knew that the first thing he did when he came home from school was not to do homework but to cook.
The middle-aged man stood up and patted the clothes in front of him with a big, rough palm. The sawdust fell into the trash can with joy.
He turned around and picked up the exquisite wood carving he had just made from the coffee table.
It was a dragon, a red dragon that exuded the color of mahogany. The teeth in its wide-open dragon's mouth seemed to be sticky with saliva.
The spread dragon wings are like a cloak hanging behind it, covered with ferocious phoenix armor, it looks like a powerful creature at the top of the food chain.
——————
"Huh?"
"Uncle, are you out selling wood carvings again today?"
A cheerful female voice echoed in the alley, like a lark. It was a beautiful girl, youthful and beautiful, with neat clothes, and her smart eyes couldn't stop flashing towards the small wooden carvings spread on the ground.
"Hmm." The middle-aged man hummed and sat on the small bench. Without raising his head, he gently scratched the black wood with a small poke knife, making a rustling sound.
His thumb held the knife head, and his fingerprints traced the wood, and he could clearly feel the intersection between the knife and the wood.
"How much does this cost?" The girl didn't give up. She lifted up her skirt elegantly and squatted on the corner of the stall, looking longingly at the red dragon wood carving that seemed more and more real the more she looked at it.
"This, seven yuan." The middle-aged man poked at the black wood rustlingly, and the palm-sized wood gradually lost its mortal essence, revealing a vague human form.
"Seven dollars, so expensive..."
The girl rolled her eyes and didn't say anything more. She just stared at the red dragon wooden sculpture, watching it grinding its armor, looking up to the sky and roaring, fluttering its wings in the sky, showing its spirituality.
On the way, many people looked at the vivid dragon sculpture. Few people came to ask about the price. If they did, they looked confused and then left.
Gradually, the sky became dark, and dim street lights lit up in the alley where many small stalls were placed.
The light of the street lamp is just right, without appearing dark or too bright, allowing people to see things clearly.
"Dad, it's time to eat."
Lin Yu rode his bicycle and wandered over, teasing two kittens along the way. The bolder one even jumped on his back seat, curled his tail and half-squinted his eyes, making a purring sound.
"Hmm." The middle-aged man put down the black wooden sculpture that was about to be formed in his hand, and he could already vaguely see the appearance of the obsidian giant.
The girl blinked her eyes, her legs were numb after squatting for a long time. She watched helplessly as the red dragon wooden carving was put away, with a look of regret on her face.
"Uncle, I'm leaving." She waved her hand, patted her long floral skirt, glanced at Lin Yu, and disappeared into the alley with a rather pityful look in her eyes.
"Bye-Bye."
"Eh? Who is she?" Lin Yu glanced curiously, but did not recognize this person.
"A little girl is much better than you are now."
The middle-aged man gathered up the cloth spread on the ground, wrapped the two wooden carvings, put the small bench under his arm, and put the stabbing knife into its sheath.
Lin Yu, who was nimble with both hands and feet, swept up the sawdust on the ground and poured it into the trash can.
The two father and son, one behind the other, walked home along the alley.
——————
Night is a night for wild animals and bustling cities.
It is also a night of dreams and sleep.
Shortly after the family had dinner, Lin Yu finished his homework in the attic, cleaned up and fell into a deep sleep, letting himself go in a dream where illusion and reality intertwined.
Sometimes he transforms into a small insect and flies across the stream; sometimes he transforms into a flying dragon and flies over the mountains; sometimes he transforms into a roc and flutters his wings in the sky.
The wind in the mountains is him, the dream of Cordyceps is him, the echo of the valley is him, the blowing of the waves is him, everything is him.
He claimed in the dream that all this was him.
He laughed at himself in his dream, saying that it was all an illusion.
He stands on his own in the dream, he is the master here.
Then, the world is destroyed.
Every time he woke up from his dream, Lin Yu would lament the sorrow that belongs to us mortal beings. That extraordinary dream seemed to be getting further and further away.
He will be eighteen years old soon, and according to the government's standards, he can be considered an adult.
Cultivation, this idea has been noisy for many years. In the early 21st century, there was a wave of practice craze, and a master who claimed to be able to stop bullets appeared in front of him.
Up to now, it is already the middle of the 21st century, and all major countries are quiet and not noisy.
The extraordinary seems to be getting further and further away.
He once asked his father, did spiritual practice and transcendence really exist?
My father said, practice? I was once an ancient god...
See, my father doesn’t believe it either.
Lin Yu sighed, why hasn't the owl from Hogwarts come yet? He didn't find any magical secrets at home, and there were no books left out for him to pick up at the bookstall outside.
The school's Neigong club has some specious Nei Qigong methods for practice, such as breathing methods and guidance techniques, and what heat flow needs to be guided.
But the first time he tried to practice it, he had already reached the peak marked by the Inner Qi Gong method, and he didn't feel much change in his body or how strong it had become.
He had been practicing for three or four years, and it was still the same. His inner energy was rising and flowing in his body, except that the illusion seemed to be becoming more and more real.