From sunrise to dusk.
The broad and gloomy sky, in the passage of time, the wind blows the clouds away, the light and shadow interlace and change, surging away without desire and ruthlessness; On the vast and vast land, countless people are like tiny ants under the majestic sky, rising and falling day by day, interpreting all kinds of joys and sorrows in the world.
Some people say that there are immortals and Buddhas in the sky, and some people say that all the stars in the sky are immortals. But no one has ever talked to young Shen Shi about what kind of Tao he practices and what kind of immortals he wants to become.
This day, I feel very long, very long.
Following the tall butcher, he left the house. First, he went deep into the ground from a hidden secret road. When he came out after a while, he had reached a completely strange corner in Xilu city. The butcher took him to an ordinary carriage that was ready to stop and wait for them. He took out two sets of old clothes from the carriage and asked Shen Shi to change into the small one.
Then, with the sound of wheels and wheels, this inconspicuous carriage, filled with Shen Shi's worries, walked out of the city in such an ordinary and ordinary way and went all the way north.
In addition to the first secret passage, the whole process of escaping from Xilu city was so ordinary that it was speechless. Even Shen Shi is still very worried about his father who is still in the city, but in the face of such a carriage that seems to have no security at all and seems to be surrounded and strangled by Xuanyin disciples who appear suddenly at any time, Shen Shi's heart has always been in his throat, At the same time, I have deep doubts about the ability of this famous fairy to do things.
However, the supposed murderous Xuanyin gate chaser did not appear after all. This ordinary and outrageous way unexpectedly carried the two men away peacefully. When the city, which has lived for 12 years from small to large, gradually fades away and becomes smaller behind. When the stars start to twinkle as the night falls, and the tall mountain is finally hidden in the darkness, Shen Shi slowly curls up in the bumpy carriage still moving forward and hides himself in the dark shadow.
He had never felt so clearly that he was completely cut off from those days in the past.
In the shadow, he clenched his teeth and resisted the anxiety and fear in his heart. He felt that the future was like the night in the world at this moment, boundless, at a loss, and cold. The only thing that can bring him a little warmth is that there is a small hourglass in the palm of his hand. The hard jade penetrates through the skin, as if it still carries the warmth of his father's palm and the breath of his mother, which is even more distant and only exists in his imagination.
The butcher, who had been sitting silently on the other side of the carriage, turned around in the dark and took a look at the young man.
※※※
The wheels rolled and walked slowly but non-stop. Even in the dead of night, this seemingly ordinary carriage did not stop.
Shen Shi, who was full of worries and worries, only began to notice that there was a third person on the carriage besides him and the butcher, the driver.
It was a thin old man with wrinkles. At first glance, it seemed that he was an old man who was overwhelmed by the pressure of life. He was lifeless. He didn't react much to anything except driving a car. It seemed that he would fall down at any time. However, such an old coachman drove this ordinary carriage, pulled the butcher and Shen Shi, and walked for three days and three nights without a moment's rest.
Three days later, the old rickshaw puller seemed to have no difference from the first day's appearance, and he was still a thin and embarrassed figure. By this time, Shen Shi naturally understood that this seemingly ordinary old rickshaw driver was obviously not a very human being. Most of him was a powerful person under the powerful and powerful fairy society. It was just that the butcher seemed to have no intention of introducing this person. Even in the past three days, the butcher had not said a word to the old man at all, so Shen Shi kept silent in this delicate atmosphere, Repressing his curiosity, he ignored the old driver.
When they got off, Shen Shi's eyes, in addition to glancing at the old coachman carelessly, also took a special look at the thin horse on the carriage... After walking for three days and three nights, the thin horse looked like its owner, standing there as if nothing had happened.
Shen Shi has a faint feeling that he seems to see a tiny corner of another strange world hidden from his past life.
After walking northward for three days, Shen Shi was far away from Xilu city. Now he was in a small town less than half the size of Xilu city. The ordinary carriage stopped in a secluded corner. The butcher jumped out of the carriage and asked Shen Shi to stay in the carriage. Then he strode away.
Shen Shi was a little worried, but he knew that he had no choice but to stay quietly in the car and gently put the hourglass in front of him.
The fine sand flows silently. When the sand slides from one end to the other through the narrow opening, an hour has passed.
Shen Shi silently stared at the flowing fine sand. With the passage of time, his heart began to accelerate slowly.
Fortunately, this worry ended when the fine sand only flowed through about a quarter. The tall figure of the butcher came back here again. He simply nodded to the old coachman and then returned to the carriage.
Gulu Gulu, the wheels began to roll again and move forward again.
In the carriage, Shen Shi looks at the butcher, who is also staring at him. After a moment, he says, "there is no news. In other words, I don't know whether the matter has been completed."
Shen Shi twitched slightly on his cheek, lowered his head slowly, and then grasped the little hourglass on the ground in his palm again.
※※※
The same and boring day is repeated again. Every day, it seems that only the eternal sound of the wheels echoes in our ears. In the bumpy carriage, there is always a quiet and stiff atmosphere.
All the way north, all the way north.
He was farther and farther away from the city full of his childhood memories and his only relatives in the world.
Three days later, they arrived at another small town in the north of Yinzhou. This time, the carriage did not enter the city at all, but stopped somewhere outside the city. The butcher got off the train and entered the city alone.
When Shen Shi stayed quietly in the carriage and watched the hourglass flow for a whole time, he heard the footsteps of the butcher returning.
The carriage started again, still heading north. In the carriage, the butcher frowned and met the eyes of some expectant Shen Shi, some of whom said stiffly: "no news."
Shen Shi sat silently without saying a word.
The wheels rolled and they walked for another two days. At this time, after an eight day journey, they were close to the northern border of Yinzhou, and it seemed that the border of the southwest state from Hongmeng border was near.
The carriage stopped outside a desolate town not far from the Yinzhou border. The butcher left for the third time and entered the town. As usual, Shen Shi waited quietly in the carriage, occasionally looking at the hourglass placed on the ground and the sand flowing in it; The old coachman would take advantage of this opportunity to jump out of the carriage and move around, and then take some water and food for the lean horse to eat.
It's just that the food contained in a worn-out leather bag looks not like the grass eaten by ordinary horses at all, but rather like meat pieces with some blood.
This time, the butcher came back faster than the last time. It was about half an hour after the hourglass flowed. He came back from that desolate town.
It's just that his face looks a little ugly, and people seem to be a little irritable. After seeing Shen Shi, he doesn't even want to say much, but just keeps his face calm and shakes his head.
The thin old coachman seemed unaware of the dull and strange atmosphere in the carriage behind him. In his old eyes, it seemed that there was only the thin horse. After lovingly patting the lean horse on the back and feeding the last piece of food suspected of meat, he also got on the bus again, and the wheels rolled and continued to move forward.
On the ninth day, they crossed the boundary of Yinzhou and entered Lanzhou, which is adjacent to Yinzhou.
On the 10th day, the carriage arrived at Tonghe City, a big city in the southernmost part of Lanzhou.
This time, the carriage did not hide outside the city again, but went straight into Tonghe city. Maybe it was because it left Yinzhou. Although Xuanyin gate was not small in power, it was still difficult to touch the territory of another state after all, so the butchers and others were more relaxed.
Obviously, the old coachman had been to this city before and looked very familiar with the roads in the city. He drove his carriage all the way through the streets and lanes. After seven turns and eight turns, he took Shen Shi and the butcher to a secluded house.
The courtyard with two entrances is square and looks small, but it is clean and tidy. The butcher took Shen Shi out of the car and walked all the way to a room in the courtyard. Behind the two of them, the old coachman gave them an expressionless look. His eyes stayed on the young man's back for a little longer, then he looked away and fell back on his old buddy's thin horse. He patted the thin horse's head, hushed his voice, and smiled in a strange low voice, saying:
"Hard work, don't worry. Maybe we can have fresh meat later..."
※※※
In the courtyard house.
After the butcher settled down with Shen Shi, he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he stayed in the room for a while and looked at Shen Shi with a strange look in his eyes.
Shen Shi quickly sensed something and looked up at him.
The butcher was silent for a while and said, "I'm going to ask for news from the fairy society in the city."
Shen Shi didn't speak.
The butcher took a look at him and seemed to have difficulty in speaking, but after a moment he finally said: "according to the agreement before going out, the 10th day is the deadline. Whether it is successful or not depends on today."
Shen Shi's staff grasped it consciously and nodded slightly.
The butcher remained silent for a moment and said: "I'm going now. If things are successful, I'll come back and take you east to Haizhou to fulfill the promise made by the immortals to your father and son and give you a chance to worship Lingxiao sect. But if things are not revealed, you won't see me..."
Shen Shi took a deep breath, held the jade hourglass tightly in his hand, and said: "if things don't work out, what will I do?"
The butcher slowly turned around, stopped looking at him, and walked outside. At the same time, his dull voice still came clearly: "if things don't work out, I won't come back. As for here, someone will come... And dispose of you."
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, and the door was locked before he left. The simple room suddenly fell into an inexplicable silence.
What does "dispose" mean?
What will he do?
A heart pounded in his chest. Suddenly, Shen Shi felt an urge to shout wildly. He began to gasp violently. He felt that the air around him began to become hot and difficult to breathe. In his eyes, the room seemed to turn into a terrible cage in an instant, and he was like a desperate beast about to be slaughtered.
In a trance, he suddenly remembered those animals that he had killed with the butcher.
Those sharp howls, the cold and decisive knife light, the blood burst, cruel and ruthless.
The young man's hands began to tremble, and the endless fear seemed like a tide coming from all sides, which was about to drown him and drive him crazy
Until, in the remaining light of his sight, he suddenly saw the small jade hourglass again.
The fine sand was white and delicate, flowing and sliding silently, one by one, one by one, one by one. Shen Shi watched the sand flow like water and sat down slowly at the table.
The hourglass stood motionless on the table. The boy put his head on the table and felt a touch of cold.
Everything seemed to be quiet again, except for the flowing sand, there was nothing else in his eyes, so he waited silently.
The fine sand flows and flows. After falling once, turn it over again. Time passes silently. There is no movement and no one comes.
Finally, when the sand in the hourglass was about to finish the third time, a sound of footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance outside the house. It came slowly from far to near, and finally stopped at the door of the house.
Shen Shi slowly stood up. He felt his throat was extremely dry, and his body shook slightly involuntarily. For himself and his father, who had broken the news in the past ten days.
All of a sudden, he clenched his teeth and strode to open the door.
The light outside the house suddenly fell down, making his eyes faint for a moment because of the strong light, and then he saw the figure standing at the door.
It was a thin and withered old man. In the past ten days, he drove the carriage and took him all the way north to here.
The old coachman looked at the young man by the door. His wrinkled and withered face suddenly opened and showed a few white teeth. He smiled with a bit of gloom.