The sun sets in the west, the mottled grass and trees between the mountains are more eye-catching, and the cold mountain breeze shows the gloom of winter.

Bingzhen Taoist and nephew Chengzong went down the mountain for five days to return to the Taoist temple, the spirited Bingzhen Taoist carried a small burden into the scripture room, Chengzong placed the oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, incense candles, cloth and other things given by the believers under the mountain, and very politely sent the two porters away, and saw the figures of the porters disappear in the middle of the mountain before returning to the view.

The rice porridge in the backyard kitchen has been cooked, and a few plates of stone fungus, bamboo shoots and bacon make simple side dishes are heated in a bamboo steamer.

Seongjong nodded in satisfaction, cleaned his hands, took out a large bowl and two Fluttershy, served some of each, and served them to Uncle Shi on a tray. Entering the door and putting down the tray, Chengzong said goodbye to his uncle, walked to the backyard house, found that it was empty, thought about it and walked out of the side door through the courtyard, and heard the familiar sound of the little junior brother knocking on the bamboo stick after walking a few steps.

In front of the stone ridge near the backyard wall, there is a sheepfold made of pine, stone slabs and thatch, and Xiao Chengyuan beats the bamboo pole with one hand and evenly sprinkles coarse salt into the trough with the other. At this time of the day, more than 20 sheep that had been wild on the mountain for a day rushed back to the sheepfold with the sound of bamboo bangs.

"Senior brother is back!" Seungwon cried out happily, threw down the short wooden stick and walked out of the bamboo fence, clapped his little hands and ran to Seungjong.

"I brought you a new padded jacket and two pairs of shoes made for you by Grandma Liu in Huanggu Town." Chengzong stroked his junior brother's little head with a smile and looked at the back mountain dyed with golden glow: "How is Wu Jushi's health these days?" ”

Cheng Yuan briefly reported a few words, and pointed to the towering ginkgo tree with a shape like a canopy more than 100 meters to the west: "The sun has been good these two days, and Brother Wu likes to stay there in the afternoon, and he said that the scenery there is good." ”

Chengzong is extremely familiar with the mountain, there is a flat land of ten zhang square under the hundred-year-old ginkgo tree in Zhilu Road, under the red stone wall of more than 30 zhang behind the flat land, there is a natural cave that is five zhang deep and one zhang wide, the gurgling spring gushes out from the hole, flows to the cliff in front of the ginkgo tree and pours down, you can often see the rainbow after the rain, when the weather is good, you can overlook the village at the foot of the mountain and the ginkgo tree under the ginkgo tree, bathe in the wind, listen to the sound of flowing water and the sound of bamboo waves, it is indeed a good place to enjoy the scenery.

Chengzong nodded secretly, slightly surprised by Wu Ming's body's recovery speed: "Can he go under the tree over there by himself?" ”

"Yes! The morning before yesterday, when I came back from herding the sheep, Brother Wu was already able to walk to the sheepfold by himself, and he asked me if I could go over there. I said yes, but be careful of snakes coming out, and he said that snakes don't come out in winter, so he was not afraid, and he passed with crutches. In the past two days, he learned to boil and change the medicine, said that he would not let me do anything, and drank the decoction after breakfast, and he went there after an explanation, and stayed until the sun was about to go down before returning. "Cheng Yuan has nothing to hide from his senior brother.

"Has he talked to you a lot these days?" Chengzong asked in a low voice, his eyes looking at Wu Ming, who was already walking back slowly on crutches in front of him.

"I don't have much work during the day, and I talk more together at night, Brother Wu is really strange, I can't even figure out the Guangxu year and the year of the Republic of China, I stupidly count the solar calendar with my fingers, ha, ha! By the way, senior brother, Brother Wu also knows about the big steamer, he said that the sea is bigger than the earth all the way to the east, and there are big ships on the sea that can hold tens of thousands of tons, so I asked how big is the ship that can hold tens of thousands of tons? He said it could fit 10,000 large cattle. I didn't believe it, so he laughed and said that I would see it later, and told me that most of the big steamers nowadays burn coal, and they are propelled by some steam engine on board. Brother, what is a steam engine? The naïve Chengyuan looked at his senior brother curiously.

"Steam engines? I don't know what to do with this, okay! It's getting late, I'm done with my work and eats, and I'll talk about the rest. Seongjong was a little embarrassed.

Cheng Yuan responded, and saw that the swollen sheep came back from the mountain one after another, and picked up the short wooden stick again and knocked on the bamboo pole, urging the sheep to enter the circle.

In the slanting sun, Wu Ming walked slowly along the curved mountain road, and Chengzong, who was quietly watching, suddenly had indescribable complex feelings in his heart, and the words of the little junior brother made Chengzong feel a little confused by Wu Ming who had learned about him in the past few days.

This time down the mountain, Chengzong heard a lot of things, Wu Ming did not lie, except for not knowing why his name was not called Wu Shan Lingzi but Wu Ming, he was indeed framed by Chen Jiyao, the mayor of Huanggu Town, and Chen Zhongkang, the second young master of the Chen family who returned from Liuyang, and was escorted to the county prison for the crime of banditry, because Wu Shan's mother sneaked into the Chen family's compound on the day of the market half a month ago, and was beaten and thrown out of the street by the Chen family.

Wu Shan's mother cried loudly in the contempt of hundreds of villagers, stumbled out of the town, did not go far and was hit by the carriage driven by the Chen family's housekeeper, and her head was broken on the spot, and the village elders who came to the market with Wu Shan's mother wrapped the body in straw mats, hired an ox cart to pull back to Wujia Village, and the next day, several villagers in the village helped to bury it hastily.

On the night of the deceased's burial, Wu Shan's son, who had been honest and obedient since he was a child, actually lifted a firewood knife and left Wujia Village alone, quietly entered the town in the middle of the night, sneaked into the Chen family compound over the wall, and was found by the night patrol in front of Chen's bedroom.

There was a lot of noise that night, several men in the neighborhood came out to help, the eldest wife of the Chen family and the second young master Chen who returned to his hometown for the festival were extremely angry, and immediately ordered the family to kill Wu Shan's son, and later it was the old man Chen Zhenchang who had a kind heart, and issued a strict order to stop everyone, and ordered the family to send Wu Shan directly to the county government to punish the crime after dawn.

As for how Wu Shan's son was later accused of being a gangster, and how he changed the name to Wu Ming, no one knows the reason, and it seems that the uncle who learned the inside story did not say anything.

There is a very strange thing, Chengzong still doesn't know, why Uncle Shi no longer went to Wujia Village to ask about Wu Shan's life experience after seeing Mayor Chen alone, but did a ritual for Mayor Chen's family in the town, and then treated the patients in the town for two days, and then took the things given by the believers and went back to the mountain directly.

During his stay in Huanggu Town, Chengzong met Mayor Chen and his two wives, as well as the eldest lady's tall and invincible younger brother Steward Wang, but he didn't see the second young master of the Chen family who had returned from Liuyang, and heard that he had rushed back to Nanchang to take up his post.

Despite this, Chengzong still learned a lot about the Chen family, and knew that the Chen family also had an eldest young master named Chen Bo'an, who went to Guangzhou to study at the Whampoa Military Academy six years ago, and died on the battlefield during the Northern Expedition to Wuchang.

Chen Zhongkang, the second young master of the Chen Mansion, came back from studying in the East last year, met nobles in Shanghai and was deeply used, and had been on business in Shanghai.

Chengzong found that there were many incomprehensible points in the whole matter, according to the private discussions of the old people in the town: Wu Shan's mother's name is Wu Juan, she was very beautiful and sensible when she was young, but for some reason, she was pregnant with Wu Shan's son when she was sixteen years old without getting married, and no one knew who the wild man who made her conceive a child was until she died.

Twenty-four years, Wu Shan's mother suffered a lot of white eyes, but still with her son stubbornly lived, the frail and sick son raised to adulthood, in order to treat her son and enter the village private school, successively sold the only five acres of paddy field in the family, but also borrowed a lot of debts from the people, for many years she got up early every day to farm pigs, half a year ago has paid off the debt, never heard of her and the Chen family has nothing to do with it, no one knows why this stubborn woman suddenly went to the Chen family, why was beaten out by the Chen family, but anyway, The housekeeper of the Chen family did drive a carriage to kill Wu Shan's mother, but he did not bear the slightest responsibility, and there is no explanation so far.

Chengzong wanted to figure out about this matter, but the villagers didn't know why, and there were many rumors circulating in the secret that were not credible, and some people said that Wu Shan's son was half a fool since he was a child, with a tall body and a brute force, but his head was not good.

At this time, Chengzong saw Wu Ming bathing in the sunset and gradually approaching, wearing an old long cotton robe, still hanging his injured left arm, tall and evenly walking.

To Chengzong's secret surprise, Wu Ming, who was getting closer and closer with a cane, looked very different from ordinary villagers, without the slightest humility of a countryman, with a calm expression on his emaciated face, a straight nose and long eyebrows, and a clear gaze, and the whole person actually looked polite, no matter how Chengzong looked at it, it was difficult to match the person in front of him with the outlaw who touched into the Chen family's compound with a machete and cut six people in a row.

"Just came back?" Wu Ming stood in front of Chengzong in two steps, beads of sweat appeared on his broad forehead, and a smile faintly hung on the corners of his closed mouth.

Chengzong pointed to Wu Ming's injured arm and head: "How are you feeling these two days?" ”

"It's much better, the wounds on my arm and head are a little itchy, I can move five fingers, and the wound on my head is fine." Wu Ming wanted to say thank you, but he felt that a fluttering Xie Xie was meaningless, so he had to bury his gratitude in his heart.

Chengzong nodded and looked at the tall ginkgo tree under the stone wall in the distance: "You like that place?" ”

Wu Ming glanced back: "The spring water there is clear and sweet, surrounded by wide trees and green bamboos, sitting under the ancient trees, thousands of mountains and ravines are in full view." I didn't care about the mountains and rivers around me before, but after looking at it carefully, I felt that I had neglected a lot of good things. ”

Chengzong looked at Wu Ming in surprise, and when he saw the sincere smile on Wu Ming's face, he couldn't help but smile too: "The layman talks elegantly and has an open mind, he must have read a lot of books, right?" ”

Wu Ming was stunned for a while, and quickly smiled at Chengzong: "I can barely read and write, but I heard Master Chengyuan say that Master Chengzong can recite the Tao Te Ching at the age of five, start learning the Baicao Jing at the age of six, and start practicing martial arts at the age of seven. ”

"Chengyuan, this kid."

Chengzong was a little embarrassed, stepped forward to help him, walked back with Wu Ming, and said with concern as he walked: "Your injuries have not healed, especially on your hands, the bones have not grown well, and you can't move around too much." ”

"It's hard work!"

Since then, the conversation between Chengzong and Wu Ming has gradually increased.

Bingzhen Daoist never went to the backyard to visit Wu Ming again, but he never objected to Chengzong, Chengyuan's brothers and Wu Ming being together, nor did they interfere with Chengzong taking all kinds of books and old newspapers that he got back from the mountain to Wu Ming to learn to read, but rarely instructed Chengzong:

I heard that after he begged the village man to learn martial arts and was beaten away, he hid in the mountains behind his house all day long, and he was stupid to persist for more than ten years, this perseverance is also rare. If you have time, you can pass on a set of self-cultivation exercises to help him recover from his injuries as soon as possible, and also let him eliminate his anger. ”

As the saying goes: 100 days to break your muscles and bones. More than three months have passed in the blink of an eye, Wu Ming's injury has healed, and he spent the next yuan festival, winter solstice, Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year festival with Chengzong and Chengyuan, and they are becoming more and more accustomed to each other's existence, Wu Ming still does not talk as much as when he first came, but there is always a faint smile on his face.

What impressed the Chengzong brothers was that Wu Ming had a strong desire for knowledge and an astonishing ability to learn, he always seemed to have endless questions, and unconsciously learned a lot of things, including calligraphy, the interpretation of the highest Taoist classic "Tao Te Ching", Taoist history, Taoist rituals, etc., and also mastered the Taoist self-cultivation exercises, and asked about the history and current situation of Shangrao and even the surrounding areas from time to time during work.

What the brothers of the Sect Master did not know was that Wu Ming, who was calm on the outside and gentle in temperament, was extremely anxious and hesitant in his heart, and every day for three months, Wu Ming was spent in thousands of emotions and anxiety, and while studying tirelessly every day, he also had to think hard about his future.

Under the careful care and careful teaching of Chengzong, Wu Ming has made rapid progress in all aspects, and has a good grasp of the exercises and essentials of breathing, a few days ago, Chengzong pushed Wu Ming several times when he pointed out, and found that Wu Ming, who insisted on standing on the pile for more than an hour every night, became more and more stable, and there were roots under his feet, and the original crooked brush words became much better.

Although Chengzong was deeply surprised by Wu Ming's amazing understanding and perseverance, Chengzong could see that the brilliant Wu Ming was indeed as he said, "I haven't read many books", and the calligraphy in one hand was unsightly.

In this regard, the Bingzhen Daoist who heard Chengzong's report every day was also deeply surprised, like Wu Ming, a person who only began to formally study and practice at the age of twenty-four, made such rapid progress, and was one of the few in the entire sect, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was a superhuman talent, so that the experienced Bingzhen Daoist had an incredible feeling in his heart, although he already knew Wu Ming's life experience, and he also deeply sympathized with this upright-looking, gentle and polite young man.

For some reason, after learning of Wu Ming's latest cultivation progress, the Bingzhen Taoist who had weighed it for a long time told Chengzong: "Except for calligraphy and general medical science, don't teach anything else. ”

Chengzong respectfully agreed, but he was very puzzled in his heart, in the past three months, the relationship between him and Wu Ming has undergone subtle changes, Wu Ming's kindness and generosity, humble and hard-working character, as well as the unique charm that naturally overflows between gestures, has been completely recognized and accepted by Chengzong, Chengzong's face has more smiles than ever before, and unconsciously like his younger brother Chengyuan, he regards Wu Ming as his senior brother.

The days passed like this, and just when Wu Ming was seriously considering his future, another important festival of Taoism, the Shangyuan Festival, was coming.

Just after the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Chengzong and Chengyuan brothers began to be busy greening, cleaning the Taoist temple and the mountain gate, wiping the ritual vessels, replacing various flags inside and outside the front hall and the middle hall, adding lamps and candlesticks and kneeling futons, so as to facilitate the believers who came on the day of the Shangyuan Festival to enter the incense and worship.