The summer lotus flowers have a faint flush of red in the moonlight and sprinkle on the tranquil waters of the lake. The lotus flowers in the middle of the pond are clustered together, and behind them are mottled banyan trees, and there is a faint shadow of a low and dilapidated wooden house, as if it is also swaying in the wind.

The waves gently swept across the edges of the large lotus leaves, and the moon shadow fell on a small boat that rowed lightly across the lake. The dark white silver threads hung down on the temples of a slender old man with a slightly hunched back. He gently pinched the oar with one hand, and skillfully twisted a lotus seed with the other and stuffed it into his mouth.

There was also a pile of lotus leaves on the stern, and a few broken petals scattered in the moonlight, and a pile of rotten lotus seeds in the stern.

"The joy of life, the old man in the lotus field, the wine between the boats, and the bright moon ......"

The old man pressed the worn oars, his swarthy hands gently fiddling. In front of you is a large lake that sparkles under the moonlight, and large fields of lotus flowers cover the lake in front of you, and the gorgeous shapes are extremely beautiful under the moonlight.

Gradually, the boat sailed to the lotus leaf. On a quiet summer night, the sound of knowing came from the big banyan tree behind the lotus bush.

"Another day...... I don't know how long this good summer will last......"

The old man pushed his oars to the bottom of the lake and stopped the boat. Picking up the towel on his back and dipping it in the water, the bare shoulders that were shining brightly in the moonlight showed the complexion of the peasant.

The old man was obviously a lotus picker. Lotus flowers bloom so luxuriantly only in summer, which is destined to be the most beloved by lotus pickers, but it is also the most bitter and tiring. I don't know when, whether the Qinshan Kingdom was in the Xu Dynasty or in the most prosperous Ming Dynasty, the old man owned a piece of land in this hundred-meter-long lotus bush. I don't know how old the old man's gray hair is, and I don't know how many wars he has survived safely, and how many springs and autumns he has seen.

The dilapidated wooden house in the banyan bush is not known by anyone, and what caused the old man to get this humble room.

It seems that everything about the old man is a mystery, but in the summer noon market, his stalls are always the most crowded, and this lake nurtures the most delicious lotus seeds he cares for. It can be seen that he must be a good farmer. Oh, by the way, he also loves fish, because when he scrubs his body, his mind is full of thoughts of going home and slowly burning it red with fire with that little shabby clay stove. The two live fish were just bought from the market, and that guy had a good relationship with us, and these two river fish were fat. Put them down in the pot, add a little salt, and enjoy this delicious treat......

The old man also likes to pull the rope of the boat, shirtless on a moonlit night, wearing only a pair of shorts, wading through the waist-length lake, passing through the dense lotus bushes, and smelling the fragrance of lotus flowers. Under the moonlight, this fragrance seemed to have a god shape, just like the illusion in the legendary sect, and the god shape of the lotus seemed to float in front of his eyes. The cold water of the lake made him forget all his boredom at once, and everything was relieved. Sometimes there would be a water serpent, a very thin one, that would climb up his leg and stomach without biting him, and with a slight flick of his leg, the water snake would swim far away in fright. Ha, that's all he likes to do.

The old man threw the towel on the boat, pulled up the thick rope at the bow of the boat, and stepped into the lake.

A cool pleasure surged over his body, "It's so hot in the city, it's still good ...... in this lake."

The old man said, stretched the rope of the boat, and waded towards the shore. His leg touched the lotus leaf, and it was soft. He then stepped into the lotus bush with his legs, and felt as if a woman was provoking his legs with her slender fingers, and he was intoxicated by a sense of pleasure. Oh, woman, the old man himself can't remember whether he has ever been a woman, has he ever played with a prostitute? Or did he go around hunting for beauty when he was young? Did the old man have a wife? No one knows.

The old man stopped, stood in the quiet lotus bushes and stretched. It was as if a piece of sludge had fallen into holy water, and he had never felt so comfortable and peaceful. He lowered his head and stretched out his other hand to stroke the lotus flower beside him.

The old man saw the shadow and delicate posture of the red lotus under the moonlight. It looks like a few peaches stacked on top of each other, and it's beautiful. Then the old man felt a more and more fragrant smell snaking out of the lotus flower, and the fragrance suddenly rose, enveloping the old man's entire mind, and the old man felt a little weird—

"Damn, why did you forget to bring the fish!

The old man cursed and wanted to go back. But he was surprised to find that the lotus flower next to him had actually changed its shape - three peaches had turned into two round wheels. Suddenly, the old man was surprised to find that he was being pushed by something behind him, and he fell to his knees in the lake, desperately exposing his head and breathing heavily. His face was facing the lotus flower, and he wanted to get up and run away immediately, but he found himself held down by a mysterious force and unable to move. The old man's heart was full of panic and uneasiness, but he didn't know what to do, his hands and feet twitched vigorously, but he couldn't leave at all. Immediately afterwards, the old man's mouth opened wide, and the frightened expression on his face seemed to freeze, but he couldn't shout a word - from this lotus flower, a puff of green smoke emerged, which was particularly obvious in the moonlight, and after a while, the green smoke turned into a powerful ghost with a scorpion head and snake body, and his expression was extremely sad, rushed to the old man's face, and dissipated again. Green smoke began to rise from each lotus flower, turning into the face of a bull and a horse, black and white impermanence, and some of them became undead and wandering spirits, clinging to the old man's head and uttering a terrible cry. All kinds of terrible animals, with different heads and different bodies, but also terrible and terrifying, surrounded the old man to death. It was as if ten thousand ghosts were wailing, a thousand spirits were crying, the old man was terrified, and his spirit was already on the verge of collapse.

"Whoosh" A golden ray pierced the sky with lightning speed, and a sharp arrow flew out of nowhere, accurately shooting into the heart of the old man kneeling in the lake. Blood splashed in the lotus bushes for a while, and under the bright moon, bright red blood splashed all over the lake. After a while, the kneeling old man fell.

On the other side of the lake, in the messy bushes, a man with a fierce face, who did not look like a good man, had a string of prayer beads hanging around his neck, a large bow in his hand hanging down, and a faint strange-shaped tattoo on his slightly exposed chest. Turning around, he walked away into the distant mountains with a glimmer of light behind him.

No one knew about the old man anyway.