The morning sun shines on the brick-paved streets, as if they have been splashed with water.

Yu Lie rode on the donkey of the bathhouse and stumbled into the southern boundary of the city.

At this time, there are still few pedestrians traveling, even if they are busy with their livelihoods, it seems that because of the approaching New Year, they are like bears about to enter the winter and become lazy.

The shops on the street are still open, but there are no one in many of them, except for those who have been in the early days. There weren't even idlers on the streets.

It was only after many days that Yu Lie, who had finally returned to the southern boundary of the city, and only looked east and west early in the morning.

What surprised and relieved him was that three years had passed, and the scene in the south of the city had not changed at all.

The tofu brains are still sold by husband and wife, the tofu Shih Tzu still looks white, tender and plump, and the tofu is also trembling, the quality is good, which makes people who get up early angry and buy it.

The old man in the storytelling tea hall is half a year old, and he is still sitting at the door early in the morning to bask in the sun, and there is an old dog next to him, lazily biting the fleas on the dog's stomach.

People are not old, and dogs are not too old.

In this boundary in the south of the city, Yu Lie just felt like he had undergone a very big change, and he was unfamiliar.

He thought about it and found that it was right.

It has only been three years since he left Qianjun, although in these three years, many things have happened to him, big and small, with ups and downs.

He thought that these three years were the three years that would determine his life. If you don't become a Taoist for three years, you will not be able to hope for the true path for the rest of your life.

But for others, it's not about them, that's all.

And so it was.

Perhaps in addition to Yu Lie himself, the only people who care about this are those who are close to him.

In such a reverie, Yu Lie rode on a donkey and walked to a stone bridge.

A few thin jujube trees are planted on both sides of the bridge, curvy and old.

When the donkey arrived, he didn't leave, and the rest of the column tumbled off the donkey's back, and the soles of the new shoe's shoes rustled on the stone bridge.

He took a few talismans from his sleeve, threw them on the blanket that hung on the donkey's belly, and thanked him:

"Thank you."

Huh!

The donkey snorted, shook the blanket with the name of the bathhouse on its belly, heard the sound inside, and then left with his head held high, and with a crisp step.

Although the donkey in the bathhouse is not led, and the guests do not have to pay for it, they have to pay some money after the ride.

Otherwise, the next time you enter the bathhouse, the shopkeepers of the bathhouse have no opinion, but the donkey may be bad, deliberately come to you, carry you home, and then use the donkey's temper halfway to make you bad.

These guys hold grudges, and they are brutes, and the guests are often not easy to attack.

After Yu Lie let go of the donkey, he stood on the slate bridge, looked at the opposite side of the slate bridge, and hesitated for a while.

Across the bridge is the boundary where the Yu family is located.

In the diving county, not only is each city separated by waterways, but every house with a slight name is not separated by a wall, but by a waterway.

The more generous and large the family, the thicker and longer the river outside the house and family, and some are even like a moat, like a city within a city, and the river will even feed the vicious spirit fish and snake.

In front of the slate bridge, Yu Lie stared at the word "more than enough" on the bridge, glanced at it a few times, and finally took a step and walked towards the slate bridge.

At first, he rolled up his sleeves and took small steps, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, so he took a big step, put his hands behind his back, threw his sleeve robe, and strode forward.

He can now be regarded as returning to his hometown, not in distress, he has to show some Taoist demeanor and demeanor, so as not to be seen by the people in the clan, seeing that he is strange, thinking that a thief has mixed in, and beat him out with a stick.

However, after passing the stone bridge and entering the inside of the Yu family, he took more than a dozen steps, and the scene of the clansmen in Yu Lie's imagination never appeared.

His pace slowed down, and he was surprised in his heart:

"Huh...... I remember that near this stone bridge, there used to be a few breakfast stalls for the people who got up early to go out to buy breakfast. The price is cheap, you don't have to go to the city to buy food, and the quality is guaranteed. These few jobs can also take care of some of the old and weak members of the clan...... Why is it gone, is it a change of place? ”

Naturally, there is not only one bridge in the courtyard of the Yu family, but the one that Yu Lie walked on was the one that he came and went when he was young, and crossed an unknown number of times in the wind and rain.

Especially his family's second mother, who used to set up an early stall here and supported a large family.

Surprised in his heart, Yu Lie continued to walk inside, and found some clues and changes.

Although the road inside the stone bridge is clean, after turning a corner, it completely enters the realm of the clan, and the people outside can't see it, and the road surface becomes dilapidated.

It is different from the smooth scene in the memory of the rest of the columns, the current road is potholed, and the blue bricks are broken one by one, and they are not in a proper manner.

When he followed the road in his memory, he walked to the courtyard inside, and found that although it was the end of the year, there was no feeling that the year was approaching on the portals of several courtyards he passed by, and it was deserted.

Although it was still morning, it was so quiet that there were no dogs, and it was really a bit lonely.

Yu Lie took these signs into his eyes, and his eyes showed a sigh:

"Sure enough, it's the old lady who is going to be New Year, and every year is not as good as a year, and the clan is getting more and more sluggish."

After a little thought, Yu Lie knew that this was a bad situation in the clan, and maybe something big had happened, resulting in only maintaining the appearance of dignity now, but the life of the people in the inner clan became difficult to maintain.

However, these only made Yu Lie's mind float a few times.

In the past, when the situation in the clan was still good, his life was not very good, it was quite pitiful, and no matter how depressed he was, he couldn't go anywhere, better than he was back then.

Yu Lie's footsteps slowed down, and he hurried towards a certain courtyard.

Involuntarily, he also used the wind control spell, and the soles of his feet were windy, and he stepped over dozens of feet like smoke.

Finally, Yu Lie came to a courtyard where he lived alone in a bamboo forest.

The periphery of the courtyard is a bamboo fence, and this is the only one that sits on a huge bamboo forest.

It's just that although it is backed by the bamboo forest, it is not so appropriate, located in the shade, less sunlight, feng shui is not good, and it also gives people a stiff feeling of inserting into the bamboo forest.

The door of the bamboo courtyard is closed, and compared with the nearby people, whether it is the fence outside or the courtyard inside, it looks neat and tidy, and there is no messy feeling, and there are two piles of withered yellow bamboo leaves on both sides of the door.

Seeing this neat appearance, Yu Lie was faintly relieved in his heart.

He stepped forward and immediately wanted to call the door, but when the words came to his lips, he relented.

Yu Lie leaned in front of the bamboo door, directly removed the rope ring on the door, and pushed the door in by himself.

There was a squeak.

He walked into the courtyard, and before he could take the initiative to look for the residents in the courtyard, a voice that was familiar to him, but looked old, sounded:

"Big brother is back? What did the elders of the clan say, but they were going to get the money and food back? ”

The main entrance of the courtyard hall was opened, and a person who looked like an ordinary peasant woman groped out of the house, and her mouth was still babbling:

"It's been a long time, the big guy has been working for his Huang family for more than half a year, even if it doesn't look at the in-laws, for the sake of trading, his Huang family can't owe us money and food. If the old patriarch is still ......"

The sound of muttering words made Yu Lie hear it, and he immediately felt that the entire courtyard seemed to be alive.

He opened his mouth and blurted out the word "Erniang", but Yu Lie's eyelids jumped slightly, and his gaze fell on the other party's groping out.

At this time, the peasant woman opened the door and saw Yu Lie blocking the front of the hall, squinting her eyes and looking at Yu Lie, as if she recognized that Yu Lie was not the "big brother" in her mouth, but she couldn't see it clearly and didn't recognize it.

The peasant woman asked, "Eh! Who are you? ”

She wiped her eyes and hurriedly said, "Mother-in-law, I have an eye disease, and I am about to become blind, and my vision is becoming more and more blurry, and I can't see your appearance clearly." ”

She only seemed to be unable to see clearly, but she could still see the light, bent over, and hurriedly invited Yu Lie to sit in the hall.

Immediately afterwards, the peasant woman suddenly seemed to think of something, and said with surprise on her face:

"You're here to put in the money, aren't you?"

She slapped her hands and said happily: "I heard from the eldest brother in the morning that today's discussion is likely to be settled, and some of the Taoist adults in the clan are willing to come forward, and someone will come to call everyone over before lunch." I didn't expect it to be so fast. ”

Yu Lie was at the door, frowning, and listened to the other party's words in his ears.

He squinted his eyes slightly, and immediately guessed most of what the other party didn't say.

The so-called "Huang family" is a family adjacent to the Yu family in Diving County.

This family started later than the Yu family, and had received some help from the Yu family back then, so the two families have intermarried for several generations, and many people in the clan are related to each other.

When it came to Yu Lie's generation, the Yu family was down, and the Huang family was okay.

And because the mortals in the diving county are not allowed to leave the Fang City at will, there is a curfew, etc., and sometimes it is even troublesome to leave the station, so the people of the Yu family will often go to the nearby family to find some work.

For example, cutting wheat, picking tea, etc., mortals can do things for it.

According to the meaning of the peasant woman's mouth, it seems that there is a pull between the Huang family and the Yu family, and there is an entanglement in the money and food to be paid, and now it is approaching the end of the year, and most of them have been pulling for several days.

Yu Lie was silent, muttered for a moment, and suddenly made a mockery to the peasant woman, and said calmly:

"You're Yu Tian Clan, Yu Tian Erniang, right? Poor Dao is here to pick you up and go to the main hall of the Yu family and hand you over. ”

He didn't deliberately lower his voice or change his voice, but compared to when he left the Yu family three years ago, Yu Lie's voice had already changed greatly.

The peasant woman in front of her didn't even hear that it was Yu Lie.

And with a vague gaze, the other party saw that it was a person who looked like a Taoist, and he was slender and extraordinary, and he was saluting himself, and he would not think that the person in front of him would be an orphan in the clan who had been fostered in her family.

Hearing Yu Lie's answer, the joy on the peasant woman's face became even stronger, and she hurriedly stepped out, wanting to rush to the main hall of the Yu family with Yu Lie, but she hesitated:

"Dao Master, come in and have some tea?"

Yu Lie was slightly stunned when he heard this, and looked at the polite and somewhat flattering peasant woman in front of him, with a complicated expression on his face.

With a deep groan, Yu Lie shook his sleeves: "No need. ”

Seeing Yu Lie's refusal, Yu Tian Erniang's face remained respectful, she answered, and then groped and hung it at the main door of the hall, humbly walked up to Yu Lie, and said embarrassedly:

"The old woman is blind and can't see anything too far, so please go ahead and lead the way."

Yu Lie turned sideways and arched his hand and said, "Erniang, please." ”

Seeing that Yu Lie was so polite, although the peasant woman remained restrained with Yu Lie, she was not very afraid, thinking about Fa'er's words, and chatted casually:

"Listening to the voice of the Taoist, it must be a young Taoist. I wonder where you are practicing in the city? It's a good thing to be able to practice in the city. To tell the truth, the old woman's family actually had a Taoist child, but unfortunately the old woman had no ability and couldn't afford to support her, so tired that the child went outside the city. ”

When Yu Lie heard this, he showed a look of "surprise" in his mouth: "I don't know how old the Taoist friend of the Erniang family is now, and when did he leave the city?" ”

"It's eighteen years now, and after the New Year, the third brother's virtual age will be eighteen. As soon as he got the Taoist exam, his brother went out of the city. ”

The peasant woman said with a stunned face: "If the third brother is still in front of the old woman, it is estimated that his body will be as tall and dignified as the Taoist chief." ”

Yu Lie asked casually:

"Poor Dao heard that it is not easy to make a living outside the city, if you stay in the city to work, although the money is small, it is better than living in peace, and you can also help your family. Fellow Daoist of the Erniang family, why do you have to go out of the city, and you have allowed it? ”

The peasant woman replied, "Who says it is not?" Our diving county is also a county town, so why bother going to the countryside.

Working in the city, we don't want to get ahead, he has a Taoist book, whether it is outside or in the clan, he is also the number one person, compared to us ordinary people, that is called a good one. ”

The peasant woman chattered and complained, but in the end, her voice was filled with sadness:

"Alas! Examining Taoist children, learning Taoist apprentices, refusing to stop with rotten intestines. What kind of fairy is this, the old woman doesn't understand, and she understands this nursery rhyme. As for going out of the city, I can only complain that there is no bottom at home, and if the child wants to go out and break through, can I really stop it? ”

Yu Lie listened to the words of the peasant woman, walked with the other party, and became more and more silent.

(End of chapter)