The night breeze is blowing, and everything is silent.

Zhu Daolin, who was in pain and his mind was gradually cleared, felt that he was in the vast and deep hell, he opened his eyes with difficulty, looked at the twinkling stars in the distance, faintly heard the cry of the nightingale in the distance, the night breeze around him was slightly cold, the grass and trees were swaying, everything was like a bizarre dream, which made him frightened and frightened.

After a moment of respite, Zhu Daolin suddenly stood up and jumped up, wading through a few bushes of dense withered grass in front of him, jumping onto the broken stone platform and looking around, and soon found that everything was not a dream, and he was really in a wilderness shrouded in stars and moon.

Zhu Daolin, who was extremely shocked, was stunned for a moment, suddenly turned his head to look up at the swaying grass and trees behind him, and quickly turned around in panic, facing the wide river that was faintly surging east under the light of the stars and moon, his face was full of extreme shock and disbelief.

"Who?"

"Ahh

Zhu Daolin, who was so frightened that he almost fell off the stone platform, turned around suddenly, and saw an old man holding a paper lantern standing under the bamboo bushes, dimly looking down on his face, Zhu Daolin hurriedly explained in a panic: "I, I have no malice, I'm not a bad person, I'm ...... Alas! I don't know how I got to this place, can you tell me what kind of place this is? ”

The old man under the bamboo bushes was silent, looked up and down at Zhu Daolin, who was in rags on the stone platform, and finally turned around and left without saying a word.

Zhu Daolin stared blankly at the figure of the old man disappearing into the bamboo bushes in front of him, jumped off the stone platform with a little hesitation, and chased after him quickly with courage, chasing dozens of meters along the uneven path covered in the bamboo bushes and weeds, and soon saw the hut located in the ruins and broken walls, the figure of the old man had disappeared, and a papier-mâché lantern was hung on the left side of the open door of the hut, and it was about to be extinguished.

Zhu Daolin hesitated for a long time, gritted his teeth and stepped through the broken ruins, walked through the stone path among the messy bricks and stones, and came to the door of the hut with yellow lights and calmed down: "Excuse me, uncle, can you tell me what kind of place this is?" ”

Zhu Daolin waited patiently for a long time, but there was no movement in the room, and after thinking about it, he was just about to ask again, when a low and clear voice came from the house: "If you don't dislike it, come in and have a cup of tea." ”

"Thank you!"

Zhu Daolin took a long breath, took a deep breath and strode up the steps into the house, and saw the old man sitting cross-legged on a wide bamboo mat at a glance, in front of the old man was a rectangular bamboo coffee table, a set of porcelain pots and cups were placed at one end of the coffee table, and at the other end stood a tall oil lamp of unknown texture, the green smoke curled above the oil lamp, and the light was swaying like beans.

The old man poured two cups of tea unhurriedly, put down the teapot and quietly looked at Zhu Daolin, who came to the edge of the bamboo mat in front of him: "Housheng, are you suffering from a fire?" Or did you encounter a wild wolf? ”

Zhu Daolin, who had messy long hair and a scorched face, was stunned for a while, and when he looked down, he was shocked to find that the white shirt and black trousers on his body had been ragged and broken into strips, the black socks under his feet were stained with mud and grass blades, and only the crocodile belt around his waist and the black tight underwear that could not be covered were still intact: "This ...... Hell ......."

A smile appeared on the old man's clear face: "Interesting! Come and sit down, have a cup of tea and talk slowly. ”

Zhu Daolin, who was full of suspicion, thanked him casually, bent down to take off his dirty socks, slightly tidied up his tattered trouser legs, stepped on the bamboo mat and came to the old man under the table, held the porcelain cup in front of him with both hands, and poured most of the cup of cold tea into his mouth in one gulp.

"Thank you, uncle!"

Zhu Daolin exhaled comfortably, put down the teacup and thanked him sincerely, seeing Lao Dao silently picking up the teapot and pouring tea for himself, Zhu Daolin was quite apologetic, and was about to say another word of thanks, when he suddenly found that the uncle in front of him was dressed in a standard Taoist dress, it seemed that he was not yet fifty years old, with a high nose and deep eyes, five willows and long beards, calm manners, and a gentle expression.

"Uncle, you ...... Are you always a Taoist? Zhu Daolin asked restrainedly.

The Taoist priest also looked at Zhu Daolin with a smile: "That's right, this broken Taoist temple was originally the place where I went to the Qing sect to cultivate, backed by the Shogunate Mountain, facing Jinling City, connected to Beigu on the left, and Dajiang on the right, which is under the jurisdiction of Shangyuan County of Yingtianfu. ”

Zhu Daolin seemed to think of something, and didn't notice that the Taoist priest on the other side, who seemed to have an indifferent expression, kept staring at his left wrist: "Uncle, how far is this place from Jinling City?" ”

"It's not far, it's only six miles away!"

The Taoist priest smiled slightly, and withdrew his gaze from Zhu Daolin's left wrist: "Housheng, tell me honestly, what kind of disciple are you?" Who is the master of the Tao? ”

Zhu Daolin was stunned, and couldn't figure out why Lao Dao asked: "I'm sorry I didn't understand, uncle, what do you mean by this?" ”

Lao Dao was not angry, pointed to Zhu Daolin's left wrist, and asked kindly: "If Lao Dao and I haven't been dizzy, I'm afraid that the diamond ring on your wrist has a great origin, right?" And the strap around your waist is made of dragon skin, right? If it weren't for the people of my Dao Sect, how could I have such a precious artifact? ”

Zhu Daolin hurriedly raised his left hand, staring blankly at the black bracelet that appeared on his wrist at some point, with a shocked face: "This ...... this"

Seeing this, Lao Dao's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he shook his head rather unhappily: "Housheng, if you don't want to say it, then don't say it, you don't have to make this appearance." ”

"No, no! I really don't know how this thing got to my wrist, you like to give it to you. ”

Zhu Daolin, who was at a loss, hurriedly raised his right hand, held the black bracelet of unknown texture on his left wrist and pulled it hard, but no matter how hard he tried and how he rotated, he couldn't take off the black bracelet with a diameter slightly larger than his wrist, but the skin of his left wrist was red due to excessive friction, and even the bones and wrist joints were in severe pain.

Lao Dao saw that Zhu Daolin, who was so anxious that his head was full of sweat, was not hypocritical at all, he thought about it, leaned over, and reached out to hold Zhu Daolin's left palm across the coffee table:

"Stop! The diamond ring just covers your wrist, leaving not much gap, it must have been put on by your master since you were a child, and you can't take it off unless you cut off your hand...... Come on, let Poor Dao see your precious ......"

Zhu Daolin immediately stretched out his left hand, and suddenly found that this bracelet was extremely similar to the circle he pried off the zither, and if you took a closer look, whether it was the shape, the cold touch and the color of the black bluish, as well as the strange characteristics of non-gold and non-wood, the only difference was that the circle he pried off the zither was half smaller, but Zhu Daolin clearly remembered that the white jade in the circle was broken by his own hand, and the circle that jumped up emitted a dazzling purple light and quickly hit his eyebrows. Perhaps this is the reason for the unbelievable situation we are experiencing today.

Thinking of this, Zhu Daolin, who was in a state of confusion, went crazy, only to feel that his ears were roaring and his head was as big as a fight, and he fell into a state of distraction, letting Lao Dao grab his left hand and keep playing with it.

"Sure enough, it's my Dao Sect, not only the years are old, but also full of aura, boy, you are blessed!" Lao Dao sighed enviously, then reluctantly put down Zhu Daolin's hand, looked at Zhu Daolin, who was full of dementia, and smiled slightly: "Boy, can you tell me about your teacher's origin now?" ”

Zhu Daolin suddenly came back to his senses: "Where does the teacher come from? Belch...... Which aspect? ”

Lao Dao laughed angrily: "Haha! Well, how many masters do you have? ”

Zhu Daolin, who gradually returned to his soul, knew that Lao Dao had misunderstood, but if he didn't answer, it seemed that it would cause a bigger misunderstanding, so he decided to answer truthfully after a little weighing, but before answering, Zhu Daolin needed to figure out the confusion in front of him: "Boy, I really can't tell you all this for a while, uncle, can you tell me first, what year is today?" ”

Lao Dao looked at Zhu Daolin's clear eyes in confusion: "Chongzhen four years, Xinwei year September Chongyang, you don't remember this?" Oh, it's past the tenth day of September. ”

Zhu Daolin was stunned for a while, he clearly remembered that today is October 16, 2010 in the Western calendar, which happens to be the Chongyang Festival in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, and his birthday is also the Chongyang Festival in September according to the lunar calendar.

But these two Chongyang seem to be hundreds of years apart...... How can such a bizarre thing be explained? It can't be a dream, right?

Lao Dao coughed unhappily: "Boy, why are you stunned?" If you don't want to talk about it, don't talk about it. ”

"Huh? No, no...... I'm trying to figure out how to say it to be clearer. ”

Zhu Daolin picked up the teacup and drank it all, wiped his mouth and told me truthfully: "Speaking of which, I should be regarded as a Jinling person, I have had many masters since I was a child, the first is my mother, most of the other people's families are strict fathers and mothers, but my family is the opposite, my old man has a generous temperament, like a smiling Buddha, he has never slapped me since I was a child, even if I was seventeen years old when I was fighting outside and crippling people, he just scolded me a few words and went out to help me wipe my buttocks, holding a large bag of money to send to the victim, He apologized to the whole family in a low voice, but later feared the revenge of the powerful victim's family, and because I was naturally greedy and poor at schoolwork, he went around inviting guests and giving gifts, and it took a lot of effort to send me to the army to avoid trouble. ”

Speaking of this, Zhu Daolin's eyes were slightly red, and he paused for a long time and took a deep breath: "My mother has beaten me since I was a child, since I was four years old, she forced me to read and write, and when I was six years old, she forced me to learn music theory and practice guzheng, and later forced me to write calligraphy every day, until I injured people and was sent to the army to avoid trouble, a total of eleven years......

"Oh yes, my mother, like my grandmother, is also a believer in the Shangqing School, and they are all registered disciples of the Maoshan Ancestral Court, for more than ten years, every Taoist celebration, my mother will follow the orders of the master, leading a group of highly skilled musicians to do their best for the Tao, alas...... Now that I think about it, I really miss the days when I was beaten when I was a child! ”

Lao Dao stroked his long beard, and his expression gradually became much kinder.

Zhu Daolin unconsciously raised his left hand, quietly looked at the diamond ring that appeared inexplicably on his wrist and said slowly: "I have a lot of masters, but in addition to my parents, the only one I really respect is the old platoon commander from Henan who I met in the army...... I joined the army at the age of seventeen, and after the recruit training, it was the old platoon commander who brought me into the directly subordinate guard regiment that everyone envied, and for two years, he constantly encouraged me to help me, not only let me get rid of a lot of bad habits, but also taught me all kinds of skills, and finally he quietly took out his savings to go through the back door for me, so that I could get the qualification to apply for the military academy. ”

"It's a pity that people are not as good as the sky, two days before the exam, I was suddenly knocked out of the hard-won quota, in a fit of anger I beat the battalion commander who secretly did his hands, the matter is quite big, if it weren't for the old platoon commander up and down to intercede, I'm afraid I'm still squatting in prison today, so, I respect him, and I have always treated him as a father and brother in my heart, but, alas-"

"Where is the army you are talking about?" Lao Dao was obviously a little confused, probably because he couldn't figure out what was going on with the platoon commander, battalion commander and military academy.

Zhu Daolin was slightly stunned, lowered his head and untied the crocodile belt around his waist that was still intact and sent it with both hands: "If you like it, take it, I vaguely know what the uncle said about the dragon skin, the name 'dragon' is a bit strange, but I happen to know that this word is pronounced as 'camel', the dragon seems to be the ancient name of the Yangtze crocodile, and it is good to peel the skin to make a belt, but unfortunately I can't take off the diamond ring on my wrist, otherwise I am really willing to give it to you together." ”

Lao Dao was stunned, subconsciously took the crocodile belt and played with it, and after a while, he gently put it on the coffee table: "Since this is the case, Poor Dao is disrespectful, haha!" Boy, where are your parents? ”

Zhu Daolin's expression was gloomy: "They are all alive, but I'm afraid I won't see them in this life." ”

Lao Dao thought about it for a while, and said unhurriedly: "Listen, boy, Poor Dao doesn't know where you came from, and where your teacher is sacred, but I believe that you are a person from my Daomen, if Ling Tang is really a registered disciple of my Shangqing Sect, maybe the relationship between you and me is not shallow, and your temperament is quite temperamental to me, so let's ask, Poor Dao wants to ask, what are your plans for the next step?" Go? ”

"Where do we go from here? I don't even know if I'm dreaming and not waking up? ”

Zhu Daolin smiled bitterly and muttered, seeing Lao Dao staring at his eyes motionlessly, after thinking about it, he simply told his thoughts truthfully: "Let's talk about it at dawn, after dawn, I want to look around, where am I?" ”

The old Tao couldn't help but say: "Okay! In two hours, the sky will be bright, rest, after the double sun, the grass and trees are bleak, there are no mosquitoes, just sleep! ”

Zhu Daolin looked at his beggar-like appearance: "Uncle, where is the well?" I want to take a shower. ”

"There is no hot water, go out to the right and bypass the stone wall, and then walk forward fifty steps, it is three zhang wide and four feet deep Qingtan, the stars and moon are bright tonight, you can see the road clearly without lanterns, you are not afraid of the cold, you can go." Lao Daotou didn't raise his head and replied casually, greedily playing with the crocodile belt given to him by Zhu Daolin, repeatedly stroking the delicate leather belt pressed by stainless steel, and sighing at the lifelike flying eagle pattern on it.

Half an hour later, Zhu Daolin, who had washed off his dirt, climbed up to the stone slab by the pool, shook off his wet long hair in the bleak night breeze, picked up the tight underwear that had been washed clean under his feet, wrung out the water and shook it twice, and sighed helplessly and put it on directly.

"Take it!"

Zhu Daolin was startled by this sudden voice, and raised his head and stared at the old Dao who sent a Taoist robe to him in annoyance: "Are you a human or a ghost?" Do you know that it will scare people to death? ”

Lao Dao threw the robe into the arms of the annoyed Zhu Daolin, turned around and left calmly with his hands behind his back: "Hehe! The capital is big enough, and Huigen is good......"

Zhu Daolin never expected that the old Dao, who looked like a bit of a fairy wind and bones, would be so unbearable, he was so angry that he wanted to scold his mother, but he soon became worried: "It won't be that you have encountered a demon Dao, right?" ”