At dawn, the night remains, the east has not yet turned white, the lake is covered with a mist like green smoke, and the distant mountains can only faintly distinguish the gray mountain shadow.

In the fishing house, the old man woke up as usual and looked out the window. The season is approaching the cold winter, and the day is getting later and later, although it is early in the morning, it is still gray outside the window.

The old man coughed twice and began to get up to fish, and the simple wooden bed woke up with the old man's awakening, making an overwhelmed squeak.

Picking up the household goods for fishing, he pushed open the door, it was drizzling outside, the old man put on his coat, looked at the chopsticks on the table, muttered something in his mouth, and went out.

The night was hazy outside, and the drizzle of the early morning hit the old man's straw hat, and the chill was biting. The old man wrapped his coat tightly and pushed the fishing boat into the water.

Fishing boats drift silently on the misty lake.

The mountain shadows and trees in the mist are gray, and the light rain is dripping, which makes people's bodies crispy, and they don't want to move, they just want to melt into this picture, but the fisherman's song is still far away.

Before fishing, you must sing a fishing song, otherwise no matter whether the lake god is angry or not, even if the lake god is great, the fish you sell will also be angry, and their souls will come to seduce your soul and invite you to be a guest over there.

It's an old fisherman, and a bellows-like voice comes from his chest.

"White guys, black guys. ”

The old man shouted to the stern of the boat, and from the bilge of the ship rang a bell, and two small black shadows came out of the bilge and ran towards the old man.

The black shadow at the head looked very excited, but the other shadow behind him was a little scattered, with a lazy light in his jewel-colored eyes. It looked inexplicably at its companion in front of it, unable to understand where the excitement it got every morning.

These are two small beasts, the one with yellow and black fur on the head, a hard tail and red eyes, and a name is a cave fox. The one on the back has a light purple coat, two tails, a soft tail with blue pupils, and white marks on the eyebrows.

These two small beasts were raised by the elderly to help find loach holes and catch schools of fish when they were fishing, and this kind of domestic fishing assistant is called the flood beast. The old man is getting older and older, and he is relying more and more on this raccoon dog and two flood beasts.

The beaver ran to the old man with joy, licking his straw sandals, and the old man patted his head and pulled it away.

The sable walked up to the old man unhurriedly, and the old man smiled and stroked its fur dotingly, and then took out the goose leg to feed it. The sable revealed its humanized greed, snatched the goose's leg and devoured it, losing the elegance just now.

"Little bandit, you white man, you have eaten the black man too......"

The old man was about to fight, and the sable leaned down, whimpering, and looked at the old man like a human child.

The old man's heart softened, and he sighed and patted his head on the other side.

The burneon on the side watched stupidly as its companion monopolized the common food, tilting its head and grinning, saliva left on one side. Its mouth was cut by the bone during fishing, and it could only make this one expression.

On both sides of the lake are peach forests that stretch to the foot of the ancient mountains over there.

This is not the season when peach trees should bloom, but the peach blossoms here are overly blooming, and the petals fluttering on the lake are not beautiful, but they feel weird, but they also add a bit of aura.

The old man didn't feel anything unusual, he was used to it. He lived here for seventy-nine years and fished for seventy-one years. The peach blossoms here are in full bloom all the time, all year round. The scene of peach blossoms and heavy snow flying together has been seen by him since he was a child.

The mist dissipated, the red glow rose in the east, the old man felt that the coolness of the early morning was slowly receding, the drizzle gradually stopped, and the sun was about to come out.

Today's harvest is not bad, and there are all kinds of red and brown fish in the cage. The white and black men are also angry, playing in circles in the water, and always touching the loach hole always touching a large family.

He is dying of old age, but his luck is getting better day by day. God also took pity on this bad old man who had never stepped out of here, and ordered the god of the lake to take more care of him, and the fish rushed to drill into the nets.

With such good luck, the cage was quickly filled. The sun had almost come out, and fine sweat broke out on the old man's forehead, and the old business that he had done all his life was now starting to struggle a little.

The old man summoned the two little beasts over and began to discuss the rewards for meritorious deeds.

"It's not a single thing, Bai Yanzi found four loach holes, and the prize was eight balls. But scared away the least common snow carp group, deduct three. ”

The old man sat on the board of the boat and lectured the sable.

Raising exotic beasts in other places, there are no ordinary livestock here, most of them have opened their minds, he has lived with this sable for more than forty years, and Bai Yanzi can understand what he says.

When Bai Yanzi heard the old man's words, he lay on the ground and made a pitiful appearance, looking at the old man with a pair of big human eyes. It knows that it always works.

"You. ”

Sure enough, seeing it like this, the old man finally relented, didn't care about the three that were deducted, took out eight meatballs, and threw them to the sable.

These meatballs are made from the meat of ordinary poultry mixed with herbs from the peach forest. Maybe it's because of the preference for spirit animals, they don't eat fish, but they love this one.

After giving the sable eight meatballs, the old man only had five left in his hand. The old man gave the beaver next to him a little guiltily, but in fact, according to the merit, the black man should have been divided into ten.

The black lady did not show dissatisfaction, and accepted the reward happily with a grin.

The old man looked at its red eyes and turned away.

The old man lived seventy-nine years, and the tanuki followed him seventy-nine years, and counted upwards, and followed his father for more than forty years.

The father who sent the old man away, will also send him away.

Different from other cave foxes, the black man's eyes are strangely red, some people are surprised to see it, and some people feel creepy when they see it.

The loaches in the fish basket tried to escape, but they were caught by the black girl and brought back with their mouths.

The old man must admit that he is eccentric. The burneon that has followed him all his life is not as good as the sable he got halfway.

The grinning, as if laughing, as if mocking the old man himself. The black girl's eyes and the only expression made the old man feel very uncomfortable.

Or maybe it's because this black guy has been with the old man for too long, it is too much like the old man, and its lowly life seems to be the epitome of the old man's life.

People will be unwilling, and when people are about to die, they will be unwilling to drill through the soil in their hearts and magnify infinitely. What kind of courage gives you the courage to accept the most terrible thing in the world - a life that you don't want to live.

The old man came back to his senses, and the sable on the side finished eating his meatballs and began to grab the burnecco. The beaver still just grinned and smirked, and did not resist.

Seeing the beaver's submissive appearance, the old man suddenly became angry.

"Useless stuff, wretched. ”

The old man scolded angrily, as if he was scolding himself.

The old man has never left this water area in his life, he is already old, but the water, the mountains, and any peach tree here are still so young.

The old man who was paddling hard suddenly laughed: "Yes, that's it, look at that tree, I remember it looked like that when I was eight years old, I can still smell the I pulled when I was a child......"

The old man sighed, and his voice suddenly trembled: "You guys have changed......"

The scenery here is as unchanged as if it really is a well-painted painting.

It was as if the curtain had been lowered again, and the old man realized that the sun had just risen was gone. The sky was already overcast, and the temperature had dropped again before I knew it.

"What the hell is the weather. ”

The old man cursed, and the sudden chill made his body stiffen.

At the same time, the old man suddenly realized that the ship was almost at Gushan. It is even about to enter the waters under the ancient mountain.

The old man broke out in a cold sweat, because the sky had been overcast, he didn't feel the passage of time, and he didn't realize that the fishing boat had drifted so far.

The waters near the ancient mountain were forbidden by the old man's father's order, and for nearly eighty years, the old man had always remembered his father's dogma and had never entered the waters in front of him.

The beaver stood up and tugged at the old man's trouser leg as he signaled that it was time for the old man to go back. Every time the fishing is full here, the black man will pull the old man's trouser leg and remind the old man to go home, and the old man will also pack up the fishing net and row home.

Such a tacit behavior has been repeated on this lake for a lifetime, the old man obeyed his words, and the old man's curiosity about the ancient mountain was also worn away little by little.

He looked at the ancient mountain in front of him, it was the first time he had seen it so closely, under the cover of the black clouds in the sky, the ancient mountain was hazy, and there was a faint halo around it, like the corona of the sun.

At this time, the ancient mountain was very beautiful, and the old man never realized that the water area that his father regarded as a snake and scorpion was so beautiful, but it also had a strange allure.

The curiosity in the old man's heart was suddenly infinitely magnified, and the childishness and curiosity of his childhood returned to him through the years.

What is hidden in the waters under the ancient mountain that he has guarded all his life, but has never set foot in?

The stinging pain on his leg made the old man sober, and when the black man saw that the old man was not moving, he actually bit the old man's calf with his teeth.

The old man was a little angry, but he didn't say anything after all, sighed and prepared to return to the fishing house.

The old man stood up and paddled, making eye contact with the red pupils of the black man, and the old man saw his rickety self in the red eyes.

The shriveled body is wrapped in a coat, like an old tree that has lost its moisture.

Seeing himself like this, the old man stopped the oar in his hand for the first time on the return voyage and was stunned on the boat.

I always think that life is still very long, and everything can be in time. But now I may die in that fishing house at some point, without relatives and friends, and no one will come to collect my body when the body stinks.

Finding that the accelerated passage of life made the old man panic inexplicably, and his heart palpitated. Suddenly he was so busy trying to do a lot of things, so many that he didn't know what to do first.

He had never done anything wrong in his life, because he didn't dare to do anything at all, and God didn't even give him the opportunity to make mistakes. I kept in mind my father's iron law all my life, and when I didn't go to the water area under the ancient mountain, I didn't leave this place, and I didn't put down the fishing net in my hand.

There were so many things he hadn't done, so much that he didn't dare to look at his old self in the pupils of the cave beaver.

The old man closed his eyes, but the whimper of the beaver was heard in his ears, and the black man tugged at his trouser leg again, reminding him once again that it was time to go back.

This voice made the old man's heart weak and made the old man feel uncomfortable.

"Got it, got it, went back, this is it...... What's going on today. The old man closed his eyes and waved his hand.

The whimpering sound of the black girl in his ears kept coming, so familiar, with the smell of command, like his father back then. The old man heard the mockery again.

The beaver's low whimper turned into a voice that exploded in the old man's heart.

You, why don't you dare to look me in the eye?

"You!"

The old man opened his eyes suddenly, and a thunderous voice pressed out of his chest:

"Why don't I dare to look at you, what am I afraid to look at!"

His eyes widened, and he stared at the black man. The black man was frightened and lay on the ground looking at the old man. Unlike its previous stupid appearance, its expression was so human-like for the first time.

It glared at the old man, just like the old man's father's expression when he was a child when he lectured and blamed the old man, and the two gradually overlapped in the old man's eyes.

The wind was blowing on the lake, and the sky was gloomy and terrible. There was a muffled sound in the black clouds, and the weather suddenly deteriorated to the extreme. The wind swept the peach blossoms flying all over the sky, and the scene was indescribably weird.

The whimpering of the beaver was blurred by the howling wind, and the old man heard his father's voice again.

Why are you disobedient?

The voice burrowed into the old man's head, echoing in his brain over and over again.

The old man was about to go crazy, and his rickety body suddenly burst out with strength, and the black man was kicked far away by the old man with a whimper.

"I listen to you, how do you want me to listen to you!"

The old man was like an angry eye.

Listen to you all your life, do nothing, dare not do anything.

Anger suddenly turned into resentment in the bottom of his heart, the old man looked up at the hazy ancient mountain in front of him, and then looked at the water under the ancient mountain, and his cloudy eyes suddenly emitted a strange light.

"I'm obedient, okay, I'm obedient. The old man laughed angrily and said to himself through gritted teeth.

A sense of rebellious pleasure made the old man no longer restrained and reasonable, and he wanted to see what shocking secrets were hidden in the calm waters under the ancient mountain. This secret also indirectly harmed him for the rest of his life, and if he didn't find out today, he wouldn't be reincarnated after death.

The old man grabbed the oars and rowed them towards the waters he had never set foot in his life.

Dark clouds pressed overhead, as if they could be touched at the touch of an outstretched hand. A thunderclap exploded in the air, and the old man's ears were temporarily deaf.

The beaver continued to push his head against the old man's leg, wanting the old man to return.

Hearing the black man's incessant wailing below, a glimmer of pleasure passed through the old man's heart, not knowing whether it was revenge or the success of resisting the rules. The more the black man behind him screamed, the faster and more powerful he rowed.

The wind was blowing, there was a roar in the black clouds, and the raindrops the size of beans poured down, and the old man, like an old general, rode his equally old war horse and rushed to freedom in the heavy rain.

This old general has always lived in his heart when he was young, but now that he is dying, he has a sturdy young man in his heart, and the young man is going to pick peach blossoms in the Dragon Palace today to give them to his beloved girl.

The fishing boat sailed in, but it was like crashing into an invisible layer of glue.

The field of vision in front of him was occupied by the white, and the old man subconsciously wanted to scream, but he couldn't make any sound in his mouth, and the thought of death flashed in his mind.

It was as if a viscous glue had been poured into his lungs, and the old man felt suffocated.

After about a dozen seconds, he felt himself pass through a barrier, and then the suffocation receded like a tide, followed by clean, intoxicating air.

Like an invisible wall blocking the communication between the two worlds, it was as if he had pushed open the door and entered the other world.

The old man and the two little beasts gasped for breath, and the sound of the rainstorm in their ears suddenly stopped abruptly. After the discomfort gradually subsided, the old man opened his eyes, and the sight before him made him stunned.

The rainstorm is like being cut off by a knife, cut off in another world.

Entering this water, there is not the slightest drop of rain, the sky is clear, and the sun is warm on the fishing boats. The fragrance of peach blossoms is intoxicating, and birds with red beaks chirp on the branches. And the water area that the old man just saw outside was also covered with dark clouds and heavy rain, which was not the scene at all.

Looking back at the lake just before entering, it was still covered with black clouds, and the rain was pouring down, and the peach groves there were forced to shake with the wind, and the branches were as hideous as dry arms.

It is as if there is a hand that draws two worlds, isolating the gloom from the pain, and preventing it from invading the pure land hidden here.

The black and white men let out a low growl of uneasiness and looked ahead.

The old man rowed the boat forward, and this mysterious place made his curiosity reach the extreme.

The lake is blue against the sky, and it is lined with several peaks from near and far, like a sapphire left by the heavens in the midst of green silk. There is a mist between the distant mountains, which brings the old man the fantasy of childhood. To the old man's surprise, this peach forest actually grew in the lake, and every peach tree was in the sky.

The scenery is breathtaking, not beautiful, but incredibly appropriate. Everything is just the right imagery, an imperfect perfection, a deadly balance.

Rowing on this vast lake, the old man reveled in the unadorned beauty of simplicity and holiness, and suddenly wanted to sing the song he had sung to the girl when he was eighteen, but he was afraid of spoiling the harmonious atmosphere. So he simply propped up his oars, lay down in the boat, and let the lake breeze blow his cheeks.

The sun was about to set, and only the surface of the lake was dappled. The peach trees in the lake reflect the water of the lake illuminated by the setting sun. The peach forest and the golden glow of the sunset are intertwined, like a dream. It was getting dark.

"The sun has set......" the old man muttered pleasantly.

"Huh?"

The old man opened his eyes and suddenly realized that something was wrong.

As he grows older, he has a keen sense of the flow of time in the day, and the old man is convinced that he has only been five quarters of an hour since he left the fishing house.

Now, shouldn't it be morning?

He casually glanced at the sable at his feet, stunned, and then a great fear exploded in his heart.

The white man's hair was no longer shiny, but dry as dry grass, its eyes were cloudy, and its face was full of wrinkles. Its movements are no longer graceful, and saliva runs down the corners of its mouth.

In an instant, the years passed faster, and the white man became an old mink.

Looking at the black girl on the side, the same situation has appeared, becoming older, but compared to the white girl, the situation of the black girl is much better.

Obviously, the two spirit beasts also saw themselves in each other's eyes.

Whew—

The white man couldn't take it anymore, and with a long roar, he jumped into the lake and swam towards the exit where he had just entered.

Fear sent chills down the old man's spine, and the old man couldn't imagine what he had become now, and he felt that he might just turn into a pile of bones.

The black man at his feet has been pulling the old man's leg with his teeth, it is reminding the owner to leave quickly, it does not want to abandon the old man, but the strange power here has almost made it so old that its teeth are loose, and it can no longer bite the old man's trouser legs.

The old man could not see the road ahead, and he felt that the boat seemed to have crashed into the rock, but it was a cave, and the strange rocks on both sides almost tore him apart.

"Black girl, I can't find my way back. The old man finally began to be afraid, and his voice began to tremble.

The black man was thrown off the boat at some point, and its head was stuck in a crevice in a rock with a faint white light.

The black man let out a piercing wail desperately. It seemed to be bitten or sucked by something.

Suddenly there was a light ahead, as if it was almost at the mouth of the cave, and the old man's ears faintly heard the voice of a woman reprimanding the child, as well as the sound of the child's crying and arguing.

Listen to it again, there are the sound of dogs barking, the hearty laughter of men, the sneezing of children, and the sound of women doing laundry.

The light ahead was like a door, and the old fishing boat drifted slowly towards the exit.

The old man also saw a man standing in the light of the exit.

This man is already coming here, and he is getting closer.

"Hey ......"

Suddenly, a voice came from behind, and a somewhat piercing hand rested on the old man's shoulder.

The old man looked back, and his body suddenly stiffened and did not move, and the scene in front of him was forever engraved in his eyes.

The black man stood behind him, a black piece of iron stuck in his forehead, its red pupils shining strangely in the dim cavern, and countless images swelled up and disappeared in its pupils.

It had an incomparably human expression on its face, an excitement and laughter that could not be concealed. It put its mouth close to the old man's ear, as if he were telling an old friend a joke that had just happened:

"Hey, guess what I saw in there......"