Chapter 17: The Longevity Monkey

The scenery of the small flower dock at the foot of the mountain is infinite, and today's landlord Zhu Dayou, the prefect of Yuyan, is the most proud person, and there is a deliberate compliment who calls him "Guozhang", and he dares to respond with a shy face. It wasn't until the king of Yuyan County arrived that he hurried to serve in person.

Zong Zhengke hid in the grove and saw the pair of masters and servants very well. Before she knew it, the fingers of both hands were sinking deep into the trunk. Blood slowly trickled from her pricked fingers, and soon large patches of bark were red, but she didn't know it. It was only then that a bitter hatred appeared on her always calm face.

The big family in the imperial city was the initiator of her unfortunate life in her previous life. And the two masters and servants, Yuyan Junwang and Zhu Dayou, poured a large bucket of ink viciously on her future in her previous life, which was already colorless, and it was completely dark.

Even now, twenty-three years have passed since that incident, and she has experienced countless tragic disasters in her previous life, and she has washed her resentment in front of the Buddha for nearly ten years in this life, and her hatred for the master and servant of Yuyan County King and Zhu Dayou has not diminished a bit!

If she could not see the two masters and servants die in the most tragic way, the anger in her heart will never be resolved, and one day it will become a nightmare on the road of her new life in this life and a demon that will never disappear.

So, make sure they die! They must have tasted the pain and torture before they died! Zong Zhengke took a deep breath slowly, struggling to suppress the ups and downs. At this time, she was alone, and no one knew how she wanted to vent her feelings, so it was doubly difficult for her to control her feelings.

The shoulder was gently poked by something sharp, and Zong Zhengke woke up as if from a dream, deeply regretting that he had lost his vigilance by blindly immersing himself in the hatred of his previous life. She turned her head to look, and saw that a branch had just left her shoulder, and the other end of the branch was in the paw of a snow-white monkey.

"Squeak?" This monkey is only half an arm length of an adult, with slender limbs, delicate facial features, and a brand-new royal blue robe, which is definitely a beautiful monkey in the monkey world. Its round golden pupils were full of curiosity and vague sympathy, and when Zong Zhengke looked at it, it squeaked again, as if asking again--What's wrong with you?

Zong Zhengke's heart was shocked, and the stiff fingers that were tightly cut into the trunk of the tree unconsciously softened, and then he realized that his hands were full of blood. But it didn't matter, she could barely believe she was here to meet it!

She recognized this monkey, and it could be said that the Pure Void Dao Gu and this monkey in the Tianyi True Sect Medicine House were both the shaves she regarded as her benefactor. If it weren't for it, I'm afraid that even if she was healed of her physical injuries by the Pure Void Dao Gu in her previous life, she would never be able to heal the pain in her heart, and she would never be able to lift her spirits and plan to live.

Twenty-three years ago, from the day when the envoy of the Heavenly Fortune Kingdom proudly left the Golden Horde, to the time she was dying, she was wantonly abused and ravaged for three days and three nights.

When the steward of the Red Horde saw that she was dying, he had her thrown into the nearest river. At that time, it was just early spring, and the river had not yet thawed, and there were still large and small ice cubes floating on the surface of the river.

She had fainted and was unconscious, and if the stewards ignored her, she would probably die like that. But the cold water of the river actually woke her up from the cold, and when she opened her godless eyes, she saw no longer the cold red tent and gray roof, but the blue sky like a clear and flawless glass.

The sky is so beautiful! There was not a cloud of light, and it was clean and clear. She smiled heartily, for she knew all too well that she was going to die soon. She was glad that she had died under such a beautiful blue sky, in such a cold but clear river, far from those filthy and shameful places.

It wasn't that she didn't want to die to get rid of it, but those things that were inferior to animals broke her hands and tendons, gouged out her tongue, and knocked out her braided jade teeth. If she goes on a hunger strike or meets to die, even more unbearable abusive tactics will be inflicted on her.

After several times, she finally despaired. Feeling insulted, the Golden Horde wants her to live rather than die, what can she do as a helpless orphan girl? She was a little grateful to the red tent steward who would beat and humiliate her if she was not satisfied. Not for anything else, just that he was finally willing to let her die.

She glared and decided that she wanted to die watching the blue sky. But when she really sank into the endless darkness and woke up again, she found herself in a strange place.

The smell of herbs fills the air in this place. Bitter, sour, sweet, astringent, mixed together, giving her an indescribable sensation.

She was lying on the ground, with an ordinary cotton mattress underneath her and a cotton quilt covering her body. Her hands and feet were still immobile, but she could feel pain and tingling. An old Taoist aunt with white hair looked at her kindly, holding a bowl of steaming decoction in her hand, and said with a smile, "Child, drink the medicine." ”

She closed her eyes and pursed her lips tightly. She wants to die, she doesn't want to live. The old Daoist aunt was very patient, combed her dry and yellow hair, helped her clean her face and body, and sang a soft and beautiful nursery rhyme to coax her to eat and take medicine. But she still kept her eyes closed.

In this way, she doesn't know how long it has been, no matter what the old Taoist aunt says or does, she doesn't take medicine or eat, she blindly sinks into her miserable world, quietly waiting for death to come.

Until, it appeared.

It was a newborn little monkey, so small, curled up smaller than her bony fist, that it didn't even have the strength to open its eyes. The old Dao Gu put it on her face, and it was low, slow, and slight, and it breathed almost nothing, and it would only happen once in a long, long time.

The old Taoist aunt told her that it had lost its mother when it was born, and that it didn't want to eat anything, and that it wanted to die. Since she and it both want to die, let's die together.

After saying these words, the old Dao Gu walked away and closed the door tightly. She was still indifferent, and if she was indifferent to her own life, how could she care about other lives? It's good to have a companion to die with!

So she and it were the only ones left in the room. She fell into a groggy sleep, still waiting for death to come. This time she was going to die, because for the first time she dreamed of her own mother, whom she had never met, her adoptive mother, Yufei, said that her mother died in childbirth because she gave birth to her.

It's strange that in the dream, her mother actually looked exactly like the old Taoist aunt. The mother held her face and kissed her gently, looking at her with loving eyes. Her tears were slowly flowing down her - in order to give birth to her, the mother went.

Something was licking her cheeks, and she opened them, and her dull eyes rolled to see the little thing on her face sticking out its tender little pink tongue, licking her tears again and again, and staring at her with a pair of beautiful golden eyes.

-- Those eyes were full of admiration, as if the child had seen his mother.

If her mother had not died, when she was still a baby, when she opened her eyes for the first time, would she also look at her mother with such eyes full of attachment and trust like this little creature?

Suddenly, her slowly flowing tears poured out like a flood, she whimpered desperately, she struggled to move her weak hands and feet, and finally she slammed her head into the ground like crazy. The little ball on her face squeaked, and although it was small, it was surprisingly loud.

Finally, the closed door opened.

She turned her head to look, and saw a ray of sunlight shining through the crack in the door, shining on her face and into her heart.

It was this monkey that evoked Zong Zhengke's desire for life in his previous life, and his prayer for a new life. In her mind, it is not a creature with human emotions, it is a real human being—her child who will cry because of her, laugh because of her, rely on her, trust her, and entrust everything in her hands! He is also her benefactor!

During the three years she was a medicine slave, she raised it carefully. Except for the absence of milk, everything she could do was like a real mother - she had lost the ability to be a mother. And this little monkey who she called "longevity" also took her as her mother, and she couldn't leave her for a while.

Ten years ago, she was strangled to death in her room in the medicine house, and her biggest regret was that the robe she made for longevity had not been finished, let alone one last look at it before she died. Ten years ago, she was reborn in Zong Zhengke's body only half a month after her death, and the most joyful thing is that one day, she can still see her little longevity - as the wandering spirit of the Tianxing Dynasty, she can only wander in the Tianxing Kingdom.

These memories flashed in Zong Zhengke's mind like a flash. But every bit of her relationship with Changshou'er is engraved in her heart, and she will never forget it. Therefore, she could recognize at a glance that the little monkey squatting on a branch not far from her at this time, looking curiously at her, was her longevity.

The thoughts that had been suppressed for ten years gushed like a tide, and all the sanity and calmness that Zong Zhengke had spent ten years refining were destroyed. Her voice trembled, her eyes were full of tears, she opened her mouth, and softly and slowly sang the nursery rhyme that the old Taoist aunt always sang to her.

"The reeds are high, the reeds are long, and they look at each other across the mountains and water. This side of the reed is the hometown, and the other side of the reed is the ocean. The reeds are high, the reeds are long, and the reed flute is melodious. The shepherd boy is in the distance, and the baby is the mother. ”

In her previous life, she was gouged out of her tongue and her teeth were broken, and the physician and pharmacist of the Tianyi True Sect could not help her regenerate her teeth and tongue no matter how many hands and eyes reached the sky. Later, the old Daogu, the Pure Void Daogu, took great pains to make a pair of false teeth for her, but she was powerless to deal with her lost tongue.

Every time Aunt Jingxu Daogu sang this "Reed Song", she listened quietly with Changshou'er. Every word and every syllable of this nursery rhyme, she firmly remembered it in her heart. Although she can't make a sound, she can follow silently.

After singing a song, she will always lie on the knee of the Pure Void Daogu, holding Changshou'er in her arms, and let the time pass quietly and silently.