Chen Yuan walked through the path when the doll carried water, and at the end of the road was a ridge, and when he stood up, he could see two fields, one was not so much a field as a fish pond - the ground was cut deeper, and the ridge was raised, and a pond was enclosed. Inside, palm-sized fish chase small fish such as loaches and yellow eels, stirring the water into a cloudy mess. On the other hand, there are some crops, which are a little sparse and far less abundant than the weeds. Just like Chenyuan's heart at this moment, he has never thought about his own uniqueness for many years of practicing martial arts, nor has he ever thought about the ability of this body, whether in the eyes of some people, is also like that farmer and Han woodcutter. Chen Yuan breathed a long sigh of relief, sat cross-legged on the mound, and looked at the small insects that were gnawing on the branches and leaves on the crops not far away, as well as the voles that were walking through the weeds, would they also think? In their eyes, is the universe just this crop, this field?

"Have you figured out how you became an immortal?" The old man was already standing behind Chen Yuan, and Chen Yuan didn't know it.

Chen Yuan looked back, there was no surprise, today up the mountain, this old man has given him too much surprise, he is a little accustomed to it, I didn't hear his footsteps, what is it?

"It's a light effort." Chen Yuan smiled and praised faintly.

"It's not as good as when I was younger." The old man also smiled.

"The old man is old this year?" Chen Yuan asked.

"Six out of eighty." Old man said.

"When you say young, are you when you visit the Enlightenment Monument?" Chen Yuan asked.

"At that time, I was too young, I was only in my early twenties." Old man said.

"That's my age." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Then I can't catch up with you, you're much fiercer than I was." The old man said with a smile.

Chen Yuan shook his head with a smile and said, "No matter how fierce it is?" It's just a little worm, it knows I'm watching it, it knows that I can take it to a place where it can't climb in its life with a pinch, and it knows that I can easily crush it. ”

"But how could you be so bored as to go out and kill a little worm, even if it was so powerful that it bit all the little worms that were competing with it for this crop, how could you know if you didn't sit here and watch its whole life? If you hadn't come to Lao Han's place today, and you happened to not want to eat and go out for a walk, you wouldn't even know that there was this little worm here in your life. The old man said.

"When I heard that I was going to the river, I was no different from an immortal. Ordinary people have practiced martial arts all their lives, but who can cultivate such a rumored thing as Lei Fa? "Chen Yuandao.

"His thunder method is not a one-size-fits-all method, sometimes it can really be recruited, and sometimes it is in vain." Old man said.

"That's not what man can do, it is rumored that he can call the wind and rain, and the sky and the earth will change color." Tatsu Yuandao.

"I've seen it too, so I believe in a little bit of the fairy gods, and I often think about it in my spare time." Old man said.

"As you said, when we look at the river and call for wind and rain, it is not the same as the farmer watching us fly up the mountain with light skills." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Yes, he is invincible in one era because he is essentially two kinds of people from us." Old man said.

"Oh?" Chen Yuan was puzzled.

"We are warriors, he is cultivators." Old man said.

"And it may be one of the last two cultivators of the ages." The old man said again.

"The last two? There are so many Taoist temples in the world, and the cultivators don't say that there are countless of them, and the number is not too few, right? "Chen Yuandao.

"His path is a little different from those people." The old man also sat down side by side with Chen Yuan and said.

"What's the difference?" Tatsu Yuandao.

The old man didn't speak, pulled out the cigarette bottle from his waist, and while filling the tobacco leaves, he shouted: "Egg baby! Grab some fish food! ”

"Come—" A voice in the courtyard behind him replied with a long delay, and the man had trotted to the front, holding a broken bowl in his hand.

The doll jumped off the ridge, walked to the pond, grabbed a handful of fish food and threw it into the pond. As soon as the fish food fell with a clatter, the pond suddenly tumbled like thunder. The egg baby spilled the fish food in the empty space, and there was also a wave of fish. After sprinkling three or two more times, the egg baby completed the task and trotted back to the house, without even saying hello to the old man.

"See? That's what he cultivated. The old man said.

Chen Yuan didn't know why, frowned, looked at the old man and said, "This time, I really don't know, what does the old man mean." ”

The old man took a deep look at Chen Yuan, who was frowning, knocked the cigarette in his hand that he hadn't eaten twice, and said slowly: "Let me ask you, why do the fish in this pond have food to eat at this moment?" ”

"It's because of the egg baby's feeding." Chen Yuan said truthfully.

"Then, why did the egg baby feed it?" The old man asked again.

"Because you made him feed it." Chen Yuan didn't understand what the old man was going to say, so he just replied truthfully.

"Yes, this is the way he cultivates." The old man said, without waiting for the confused Chen Yuan to ask, the old man asked again: "You say, do the fish know that it is because I asked the egg baby to feed the fish that they have something to eat?" ”

"I don't know." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Then these fish, can you understand, I shouted that sentence, and the egg baby came to feed the fish?" The old man asked again.

"I don't know." Chen Yuan said again.

"Why?" The old man asked.

"They don't understand, they don't have intelligence." Tatsu Yuandao.

"You say they don't understand, but they can walk in groups; You say they don't have intelligence, but they know how to hunt, and some fish even know how to avoid anglers' hooks. The old man said.

"They just don't understand our language, they don't have our wisdom." The old man said again.

Chen Yuan nodded.

"Then, if there is a fish that listens to my cries for a long time, and suddenly learns my voice one day, won't it have to eat and eat?" Old man said.

"Haha, that's interesting." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Interesting, right?" The old man said.

"Lying down to the river, it's the fish that spits out people." The old man looked at the sky and said in a deep voice.

Chen Yuan looked at the old man, his eyes widened, and he didn't know what to do.

The old man still looked at the sky, and said slowly: "Our heaven and earth, just like this pond, you and I are all fish in this pond. The fish are in the big river, they don't know our existence, the big river is their universe, and they can't swim it all in their lifetime, and they can't see it all. One day, a large net brought them here, and only the first generation of fish that were netted knew that this was not where they came from. And after generations of seeds, the big fish either die or are eaten by us, and now the fish in this pond have long believed that this mud pond is their entire universe. Even if you swim to the end and touch the ridge, you will never think that if you jump, you may be out of the universe that you think you will never be able to get out. ”

Chen Yuan's eyes lit up, and he said anxiously: "So, Fu Xianghe is a bold jump, so he disappeared?" ”

"Perhaps." The old man continued, "I just don't know if this fish pond happened to be dug by the river, and he jumped out and returned to a bigger world, or like this mud pond, jumping out was struggling in the soil until he died of drought." ”

Chen Yuan looked at the mud pond, silent with sadness.

I heard the old man say again like a dream: "And if you want to jump out, you have to be like the fish in the pool." Either you are lucky and happen to jump on the low place of the ridge, and you hit it crookedly. Or turn yourself into the most powerful fat fish, and the ridges here are low everywhere for it, and you can jump out from anywhere. ”

"So, the predecessor of the river has become the fattest one in our mud pond." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Yes, because this fish has learned to speak, to summon food, to see the shadow of people, to know where the next handful of food will fall, so it always eats the most." Old man said.

"Then it will be able to jump out of this pond in no time." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Yes, so he himself knows that even if he doesn't jump out, there is a final fate waiting for him." Old Han Dao looked a little sad.

"What kind of fate, he has a glimpse of the heavens, can't he see the fate?" Chen Yuan hugged his knees and said.

"Say, what do you think when you see the biggest fish in the mud pond in front of you?" The old man took the cigarette bottle and pointed to the fish pond road.

"Ate it." Chen Yuan is very concise and authentic.

The old man nodded and said, "Even if you don't eat it at the moment, the next time you want to eat fish, you must fill the pond to find the fat fish you saw last time." ”

Chen Yuan also nodded.

"Even if the fish had a good life, the first time it hid in the mud and was not discovered, the second time it slipped on the human hand and let it slip, but what about the third and fourth times? If you can't catch it every time, will people bring a net next time? I hadn't seen the fat fish for a long time, and I had to find it after draining the pond. The old man said again.

"Even if it's a fish that learns to speak, you can understand people who want to eat fish and hide in the mud, you can swim all the way to the farthest place from people, but you end up being just a fish that will be eaten sooner or later."

"This is ......" Chen Yuan prolonged, as if asking a little uncertainly.

"Heavenly Tribulation, so you can understand it." The old man nodded.

"If a martial artist is too powerful, it will lead to a catastrophe, how long has this been a legend, is it true?" Chen Yuan smiled.

"If we die in the pond with that fat fish forked, isn't it the same as the thunder and lightning that fell from heaven to kill us." Old man said.

"Haven't you seen the thunder that lurks down to the river? Could it be that he attracted the thunder of heaven to split himself? "Chen Yuandao.

"It's similar to splitting yourself, half of the masters in Jiazilu besieged the ambush river, and there was no slag left in a thunderbolt that was attracted by the ambush to the river. The thunder and lightning fell on the place where he cast the spell at the last moment, and he immediately escaped from the encirclement of those masters after casting the spell, which was equivalent to the group of masters who had just formed an encirclement and were completely split by themselves, for fear of missing a single one. If he hadn't escaped early, he would have suffered a disaster, the old man smiled when he said this. ”

"Isn't he the strongest fish? Can't defend yourself against the forks you invited? Chen Yuan said curiously.

"Defending against a fart, he himself was injured, after all, he was surrounded by people, and he didn't run very well, and he didn't completely escape the attack range." Old man said.

"Then it is rumored that after resisting the Heavenly Tribulation, the monk will be much stronger?" Tatsu Yuandao.

"Resist a bird's egg, what to resist? A fish is a fish after all, and it is still a fish when it jumps out of a mud pond. Even if you return to the river, you can't become a person. In the river, it became a small fish again. It's just that all the catastrophes that can exist in the fish pond will cease to exist in the rivers if you are lucky. But being chased and eaten by the big fish in the rivers is another calamity. The old man said disdainfully.

"Then this fish is too miserable, what if you learn to speak? What about the field of the pond? It's better to be a muddled little fish. "Chen Yuandao.

"You have to admit that if you want to express your feelings, at least you have to become that fish to have such an experience." Old man said.

"Otherwise, you will live to death in the fish pond, and you won't even know that you are a fish, and you think that life should be like this, and heaven and earth are like this, and it is a matter of course." Old man said.

"But even if I live simply, I can eat a lot, even if it is not as good as the fattest fish, if I make the second fattest, wouldn't it be able to lead to a catastrophe?" Tatsu Yuandao.

"Baby, I'm just comparing heaven and earth to this pond for you to understand. Isn't it so that you can find a correspondence with everything around you that happens to this pond fish, if that is really the case, wouldn't all the mysteries of this heaven and earth be solved by you? The old man laughed.

"Besides, even if you eat the second biggest, you will be forked to death as you wish, you don't even know that there is a person who can decide your life and death, how do you know that it is your fat that caused the catastrophe?" The old man laughed again.

"If you had said that, I wouldn't have been in my head like that." Chen Yuan also smiled.

"In other words, Fu Xianghe comprehended the language of heaven and earth, just as the fish learned to speak human language." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Yes." The old man nodded.

"Fish learn to speak, and they can ask for the benefits of fish food. It's like Fu Xianghe can get any benefits that we don't know if he learns the language of heaven and earth. Chen Yuan said again.

"Yes." The old man nodded and said again.

"When a man speaks, a fish cannot understand it. Therefore, people cannot understand the language of heaven and earth. You can only learn to speak out, learn it right, learn the image, and there will be corresponding benefits. It's not just a simple request for food. "Chen Yuandao.

"Hmmm! And so it is! Therefore, some sects cast some secret methods, and they will always say some spells that others can't understand, and most of them can't escape this case. The old man's eyes widened and he nodded in praise.

"In the eyes of fish, people can make sounds, and there are different tones of voice. The same is true for us, it doesn't have to be a sound, it can be something else. There can be many kinds, and each of them can have many classes. It can be something that people have, or it can be a certain ability that people don't have, so there can be many different ways to comprehend it. Chen Yuan continued.

"It's getting better and better, and I don't have to bother to explain anymore." Old man said.

"So, which one is Fu Xianghe comprehending?" Chen Yuan asked.

The old man stared at Chen Yuan with a smile, and said slowly: "You have this kind of body." ”

Chen Yuan's eyes widened and he was shocked: "What! ”

"Shen Ling, I don't dare to say that it is a way to communicate with heaven and earth, but it is a way to see this heaven and earth, and a way to intercept the heavenly machine. It's like a fish that learns to listen to people, spit out people's words, can know what people want to do, and can also seize the opportunity to deceive people to benefit and avoid disasters. The old man said.

"Do you think Shen Ling can just make you see farther, hear more clearly, and feel more keen? It's like picking up a gold brick, and you happen to find a hole exactly the same size as the leaky hole in your yard wall, and you use it. For the first time, the old man looked at Chenyuan with disgust.

"The avenue floats between heaven and earth, just as sometimes this fishpond is full of fish food. We are throwing bait for the heavenly way of fish, and the insects and ants on the surrounding trees blown down by the wind and rain fall into the pool, and it is the heavenly way above the heavenly way. Shen Ling is to us what people say to fish in a pond. The old man looked up at the sky and muttered.

"So the Shen Ling exercise is the method of peeking into the Heavenly Dao?" Chen Yuan asked.

"You can understand it that way." The old man nodded.

"How do you snoop?" Chen Yuan asked again.

The old man didn't say anything, just sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. Then he opened his eyes again and looked at Chen Yuan with a smile.

"That's it? Meditate? Chen Yuan asked.

"Or else? Why should Buddhism and Taoism be like this? The old man laughed.

"What are you doing there?" Chen Yuan asked.

"Nothing, I thought at first." Old man said.

"I want the wind blowing in your face, I want the breath that wafts into your mouth and nose, I want you to sit here, I want to think about the beginning and shape of this world, I want you to feel everything, I want to think about all your imagination." The old man said dreamily again.

"I can't." Chen Yuan said, "I doze off when I think about that, and sometimes I deliberately think about those when I have insomnia, and I sleep fast." ”

"Haha, I'll try it next time you're in the spirit." Old man said.

"When you can concentrate on one thing, you can do it without thinking about it." The old man said.

"If you don't want to do this, what did you want to do in the first place?" Chen Yuan was not angry.

"No one can do it without thinking about anything at a moment that they deliberately control." The old man said, "I don't believe you try." ”

"Well, it's like I'm trying to stop thinking about it, and I'm thinking about 'don't let myself think about it.'" Tatsu Yuandao.

"Yes, so it's hard to concentrate on one thing. If you can do it, you can do it, and you don't want to. The old man said.

"Because the thing of 'not wanting to' itself needs to be focused." The old man said again.

"Even if you can, what's the use?" Tatsu Yuandao.

"The Tao that floats between heaven and earth is a pool of water. Only when you 'don't want to' are you an empty bottle and water can come in. If you have the slightest thought, your bottle will be full, and there is no room for anything else. The old man said.

"I don't know much, but it sounds like you're very powerful, so what's floating in this pool?" Chen Yuan asked the old man with a smile.

"Glittering gold, colorful, ancient and present, people, animals, birds and insects, sun, moon and stars, past, present, future. Everything you know and don't know is in front of you. The old man suddenly became fascinated.

"And what do you see?" Chen Yuan was also a little curious.

"I didn't see anything, I was too greedy." The old man was suddenly depressed.

"Oh?" Chen Yuan was puzzled.

"I can catch one of those floating balls, but I want to catch two at the same time, or I am hesitating to catch which one to catch first. This hesitation led to distracting thoughts, and they were 'thinking' again. The old man sighed.

"So I forced out the water that had just been put into the bottle again." Tatsu Yuandao.

"Yes! Ay! The old man wanted to say something, but sighed again and said nothing.

"Then just catch one next time." Tatsu Yuandao.

"After that, more than ten years later, the water never went in again." The old man shook his head.

"Oh? Succeeded once in so many years? Chen Yuan was extremely surprised.

"yes, I don't know what distractions I have, I can't do anything anymore." The old man said.

"Xu has been thinking that he can successfully enter again, right?" Tatsu Yuandao.

"Perhaps." The old man nodded.

"After so many years, I haven't done it, have you ever thought about it......" Chen Yuan wanted to speak and stopped.

The old man rolled his eyelids and looked at him, lit the tobacco leaves, and took two sips, and the sound of the dry tobacco leaves exploding was extremely clear at this moment.

"What have you thought about?" The old man didn't raise his head.

"Ever wondered...... Did you have hysteria? A little stunned, is it a fantasy? Chen Yuan whispered tentatively.

The old man looked up at Chen Yuan, and he was not as angry as Chen Yuan imagined, so he took two puffs of cigarette and asked: "Then have you ever thought that now is your illusion, you have never come to this mountain, nor have you been to the cave under the mountain, the real you are just asleep and dreaming on the bed in the palace guest room at the moment?" ”

Chen Yuan was in a trance for a moment, and then said, "I'm afraid you're enchanted, old man." ”

"I don't know if I'm obsessed, but you're already enchanted." The old man whispered with a smile, revealing his mouth full of yellow teeth.

"What?" Tatsu Yuan was puzzled.

"It's indeed your illusion now, but the real you don't sleep in the palace, but still drink cans of tea with me on the kang in the house." Old man said.

Chen Yuan was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "You old man really went crazy." ”

"Don't believe it, look back, you and I have come over." The old man smiled and pointed behind Chen Yuan with a cigarette bottle, Chen Yuan slowly turned his head away, his eyes widening in disbelief. After walking the rivers and lakes for so many years, he has experienced many unbelievable things, but he was far from shocking and even terrifying: he watched himself and the old man in front of him walk from the side of the road to the ridge, he could even hear himself talking, and the two people also looked at the ridge, but they didn't seem to see themselves.