Chapter 7 Go Home

The rain dispersed and the clouds closed, the dark night finally passed, and the sky revealed the first shimmer, quietly spilling into the world.

On the big bamboo peak of Qingyun Mountain, it is still quiet. Although the disciples are diligent, they will not get up so early. Outside the quiet hall, between the eaves and tiles, and the dew left last night turned into water droplets and slid down intermittently. The bamboo forest in the distance is still as green as in the past. Looking from afar, there is also a diffuse mountain fog in the bamboo forest, like a gauze, gently floating.

The door of the quiet hall is also the same as in peacetime. The door is still open. Behind the threshold, the yellow mantle on the blue bricks is rolled up beside the pillar, dedicated to the long light in front of the Sanqing statue, burning quietly in the morning light.

The slightly chilly morning wind blew over from a distance, skimmed the buildings and pavilions, gently turned around in the Shoujing Hall, and blew farther away. In the wind, there were a few crisp and pleasant bird songs, which was the only sound in the morning.

This is a very peaceful picture. I don't know how many early mornings have been spent like this in the Taoist fairyland, without any dust and worldly atmosphere. But on such a morning, it was different from the past, and there was an abnormality of discord.

A soaked figure knelt at the door of the quiet hall, with his head buried deep between his arms and close to the ground. The land around him where he knelt had been wet by the drops of water dripping from him, and there were still beads of water oozing and slipping from his body and clothes.

And six feet away from the man, on the bluestone steps at the door of Shoujingtang, Tian Buyi's body lay quietly at the door of Shoujingtang. Although there was no life, Tian Buyi looked very peaceful, and there was no pain on his face. It seemed that death was not a very important thing for him.

Tian Buyi's hands were closed between his chest and abdomen, and his clothes were carefully tidied and neatly worn on his body. In addition, there are traces of wetness on his clothes, but the water vapor is much better than that of the person kneeling under the steps, but there are traces of mud stains everywhere on his clothes. Although it can be seen that it has been washed and sorted out, it cannot be washed in a hurry, so these traces can still be seen everywhere.

However, I don't think he will care about this.

The morning wind is still blowing, gently brushing the mountain of the big bamboo peak of Qingyun Mountain, blowing through the eaves and green tiles of Shoujingtang, and blowing in front of Shoujingtang. As if feeling the chill in the wind, Gui Li's body trembled gently. His body still looked weak, but he still knelt motionlessly and buried his head deeply at the gate of Shoujingtang.

Here is everything he is familiar with, the pavilions, the stone-step statues, even the soil on the ground where he kneels, and the faint breath emanating from the soil, are fragments that cannot be forgotten for a moment in the depths of his memory. I don't know how many times he has dreamed of returning to the past and returning to this mountain land, but now, he has come back with a dead heart.

Behind the ghost's kneeling figure, he walked through a long open space. As far as the line of sight could see was Zhang Xiaofan's paradise - the kitchen. Ten years later, the kitchen door made of two boards still does not seem to have changed, but there are a few more scars, and a few pieces of wood have been lost, which looks more vicissitudes.

The kitchen door was empty, but it was quickly pushed open by a furry hand. With a few subtle "squeaks", the monkey little gray came to the door and jumped in gently,

Even the furnishings in the kitchen do not seem to have changed. The tables and chairs for eating, the stove pots and bowls for cooking and cooking are still in the same place. Xiaohui's eyes turned, skillfully jumped on the table in the middle of the house, and then looked to the right.

Sure enough, on the right side of the kitchen table, against the wall, there is a lot of dry thatch piled together. There is a yellow figure on it, sleeping soundly, and there are a few "chills" in the mouth and nose from time to time. It is the one who has been playing with Xiaohui since childhood to rhuba

Xiaohui squatted on the table, and his tail rolled up, but he did not immediately jump forward and hugged his long-lost friend. It just grabbed its head, turned its head to look out of the kitchen door, and then looked at the sleeping rhubarb, as if a little hesitant.

At this time, Rhubarb, who had been drooping his ears and sleeping soundly, his eyes were still so closed, but his ears suddenly stood up, as if he heard something, and then his head moved and opened his eyes.

What came into sight was the familiar figure lying on the table not far away. Rhubarb was shocked, but he immediately came to his spirits. He was not sleepy at all. He jumped up happily and shouted at Xiaohui twice. He jumped over in three or two steps. His back feet landed, and his two front feet lay on the edge of the table. His It keeps shaking.

Xiaohui grinned and seemed to be infected by rhubarb's emotions. He held the rhubarb's dog's head in his arms and stroked the shiny fur of the big butter. Rhubarb can't help but put his head against Xiaohui, and then stick out his tongue to lick Xiaohui's face

Xiaohui smiled, turned over and jumped off the table. Rhubarb also turned around. After fighting for a while, Xiaohui seemed to remember something. He frowned, stretched out his hand and patted Rhubarb's head, and then pointed to the outside of the kitchen.

Rhubarb looked at Xiaohui and didn't quite understand what Xiaohui meant. Xiaohui "squeaked" a few more times and jumped on the back of the rhubarb. The rhubarb stepped away and ran out of the kitchen. He looked around and soon saw a kneeling figure in Shoujing Hall.

And that figure is clearly familiar to it.

Rhubarb couldn't help getting excited. He shouted a few times at the figure, stepped forward and ran over, shaking his tail all the way. Soon, it ran past the open space and approached Gui Li, but in China, the footsteps of rhubarb suddenly suffocated, but stopped.

It looked over the fierce figure kneeling at the gate of Shoujingtang, and saw Tian Buyi's body lying calmly on the stone steps outside Shoujingtang.

Xiaohui quietly slid down from the back of rhubarb, ran to Gui Li, touched his head, looked around, and then squatted on the ground, close to Gui Li's body.

Rhubarb slowly walked over, stepped up the stone steps, and came to Tian Buyi's side. It first stared at Tian Buyi's face for a long time, then gently sniffed Tian Buyi's body, and then sniffed the rest of Tian Buyi's body. When its tail was doing this, it had been shaking gently at Tian Buyi. Finally, Rhubarb turned his head and seemed to be a little confused. He walked to Tian Buyi's head, gently rubbed Tian Buyi's face with his head, and made a low "woo" sound in his mouth.

Tian Buyi didn't have any reaction.

Rhubarb stayed for a long time, but there was no expected barking and long howling. It rubbed Tian Buyi's face weakly for the last time, but there was still no response, as if giving up. The yellow dog silently lay down in front of Tian Buyi. Its eyes were still staring at Tian Buyi, as if hoping that Tian Buyi would suddenly wake up. It put its head on its forefoot, drooped down its Angry and cold beside me.

The early morning wind, with the cold last night, blew quietly. Under the stone steps, Gui Li's body trembled slightly, but he soon fell into a static state again and knelt motionlessly.

In this chilly morning, time is still passing quietly.

"Ah!"

With a soft cry, Su Ru woke up from her dream in a cold sweat.

The clouds were slightly messy and her face was haggard. She slowly raised herself from the table. Last night, she slept quietly on this table.

The closed window opened a little, and a light of the morning penetrated through the gap. It shone into the room. Su Ru looked at the light for a long time. When her mood slowly calmed down, she smiled bitterly. She turned around and pulled over a small round mirror on the table.

In the mirror, her beautiful face appeared. Even though she looked a little haggard because of missing and staying up late, the posture emanating from her face was still touching.

The face is not old yet. What about the heart?

She looked at her appearance in the mirror for a long time, sighed, pressed the small round mirror on the table, then got up and walked to the window, reached out and opened the window completely with a "squeak".

The light of the early morning suddenly poured into the room, driving away all the darkness, which made people feel shocked. Su Ru showed a faint smile on her face and slowly stretched out of the window.

The feeling of the morning wind blowing on my face, with some faint chills.

She opened the door and walked out.

Seeing that it's still early, those disciples must not get up. Anyway, let them sleep a little longer. Later, they have to tell them to go down the mountain to find it. I guess some of them are tired.

Su Ru thought so in her heart and walked to the front hall of the guarding hall.

The curved corridor slowly extends under the feet. Outside the corridor, the bamboo swayed in the morning wind, making a rustling sound. Somehow, Su Ru found a lot of things she usually ignored in such a morning.

The paint on the corridor railing has been mottled and peeled off for a long time, and has fallen in many places. I remember the last time I refreshed Shoujingtang, and it was not easy for me to get married. Unconsciously, this cloister also accompanied me for countless years, and I didn't notice that I promoted the farmland from here. When Tian Buyi comes back, you must let him paint it again sometime.

There is also the thickest bamboo in the bamboo forest outside the railing. You can faintly see the two small swords engraved on the bamboo, which were carved on the green bamboo under the joy of his wedding at the beginning. I hope that the two swords can be combined to cultivate immortals. I remember that at that time, Tian Buyi had a bad joke. He pretended to be angry and immediately made him half anxious and coaxed him for a long time to spare him.

The scene in those years is still vivid in her mind. Su Ru showed a smile on the corners of her mouth and was in a good mood. She took a deep breath of the slightly sweet air in the morning and continued to walk. Later, she thought that rhubarb was not a dog that was not easy to raise since he was a child. After he had been gone for so many days, he didn't know whether his apprentices had taken good care of it. If he accidentally starved and lost weight, it was not easy to come back and should complain about others.

Su Ru shook her head with a smile and decided to go to the kitchen to see the rhubarb before it's still early. She thought about it all the way, and unconsciously walked to the front hall of the Shoujing Hall.

"Dang!"

The first sound of the bell tripod in the morning came from afar. It was the signal of Qingyunmen in the morning and the sound of waking up the new day. The sound of the bell tripod is low and heavy, echoing in the mountains for a long time.

Su Ru's heart also seemed to jump with this sound.

In front of the Shoujing Hall, there are figures or kneeling or lying down, and the rhubarb, who has always loved to sleep late, somehow got up so early today, and obediently lay on the stone steps at the door of the Shoujing Hall, looking listless.

As if he heard something, the drooping ears of rhubarb moved, turned his head and looked at the guard hall. In the shadow of the morning light, I don't know when a woman stood, staring at all this in a daze.

Su Ru's heart, somehow beating faster and faster, even as if it was about to explode, making her feel breathless. The figure lying quietly on the stone steps of Shoujingtang was so familiar as a shadow engraved in the depths of her soul that could not be erased in any case.

But at this moment, she prayed thousands of times in her heart that she was wrong, she read it wrong...

Her face was as white as paper, and her feet were filled with lead. She walked slowly step by step, and her lips trembled slightly. The rhubarb lying next to Tian Buyi looked at Su Ru's slowly coming figure. His tail shook gently at her, but buried his head on the ground again, and his eyes silently stared at the hungry master lying in front of him.

I got closer, and finally I got closer to a place that I couldn't escape. Tian Buyi's familiar face came into Su Ru's eyes. He seemed to be asleep and fell asleep quietly.

Su Ru only felt a whirlwind, staggering under her feet and fell to the ground. Fortunately, she was deep and barely stabilized her body. Even so, she was black in front of her eyes and her feet were weak. She walked to Tian Buyi's body and fell down.

The trembling hand slowly stroked Tian Buyi's body and clothes. When she passed Tian Buyi's chest, Su Ru's hand paused and trembled even more. Then, two lines of tears slowly flowed from the corners of her eyes, drop by drop, fell on Tian Buyi's face.

beside her, Rhubarb let out a "woo" wailing sound, leaned his head over, and gently rubbed it against her leg.

She slowly looked up at the figure kneeling under the stone steps and the gray-haired monkey beside the figure. After a long time, she lowered her ground and choked and said, "Are you...Xiao Fan?"

Gui Li's body trembled and did not look up. On the contrary, his head was buried lower, and even clung to the rough ground. The soil sharpened his skin. At first, he seemed to be unconscious. After a while, he heard his trembling voice.

"It's...disciple..., teacher...mother."

Su Ru smiled sadly and said, "You don't have to do this. Get up and talk."

Gui Li knelt on the ground and did not look up, as if he had lost all his courage. He did not dare to look at Su Ru again and whispered, "Disciples deserve to die. No... failed to protect the master well..." His voice was intermittent, like every word he said, which was a punishment for him.

Su Ru slowly lifted Tian Buyi's upper body and hugged him in her arms. Her body trembled slightly. I don't know if it was because she felt the coldness of Tian Buyi's body, or she thought that she wanted to heat up the cold body with her own warmth.

"Get up." Her voice sounded empty and desolate. In the ghost memory, it was never possible to remember Su Ru's weak and helpless tone, and this discovery could only make him more painful. He couldn't help moving his face slowly in the sand, so that the pain on the face could be scattered and the heart that was about to explode.

"How can you tell me what happened if you don't get up?" Su Ru said lightly, but her eyes only looked at the unconscious body in her arms, as if at this moment, there was nothing else in her eyes.

Rhubarb climbed forward two steps forward, gently rubbed the body of the field with his head, and the wailing was low.

Gui Li's body paused for a while, slowly straightened up, raised his head, and looked at Su Ru. The dignified and beautiful woman, even at this moment of death, did not seem to have lost her posture. In the morning breeze, her slightly undulating hair floated on her temples, accompanied by her white cheeks on Tian Buyi's face.

"You're back, you're finally home..."

This is the last sentence that Gui Li heard what Su Ru said.

Then, his chest suddenly swelled, and the blood rolled up like a surging wave, followed by the darkness in front of his eyes, like a string that had been tense and tight in his mind, which broke in an instant.

He "pupped" and fell to the ground like a board and fainted.

At the moment when he was about to lose consciousness in a daze, the dark piece in front of his eyes felt as hot as if his whole body had been burned by fire, but inside his body was as cold as ice. And a few shouts faintly came from the group in the distance, with panic and pain, and after a moment, it turned into a sound of crying.

The chaotic footsteps sounded everywhere, but they all came in one direction.

"Master! Master..."

This silent cry was the last and only thought that flashed in the ghost's mind, and then he was no longer aware of it.