At home, the parents of the cowherd waited anxiously in the rain.

Earlier, I heard from the big man who farmed the cattle that the cowherd baby came back and wore his hat to a distant place.

When the parents of the cowherd came back, the rain was already very heavy at this time. The rain slid down the eaves and dripped down my heart, and I was often worried and extremely uneasy. My father is a person who doesn't like to express love, but this time, I'm a little anxious.

In the rain, a vague figure crossed the wooden bridge, and the cowherd boy walked back cautiously with a burden.

Under the hat, the cowherd showed a happy expression, and the corners of her mouth rose.

"Father, I found it. ”

The father of the cowherd couldn't help but scold him a few times, and said: "That's what the guest who came yesterday said, besides, after so many years, I haven't seen any grass roots." I picked up this root by accident, and you take it seriously. ”

The cow baby is a lot thicker, so the mother does not blame the cow baby, and still treats him as a three- or four-year-old child, holding him in her arms and feeling a trace of warmth.

"You're going to say that about him, he's not too young now, and besides, I'm not happy to say that. ”

She took off the burden in the cowherd's arms, wiped him with a dry towel, brushed the rain off her shoulders, and let the cowherd change into clean clothes.

When he had finished eating, he opened the bag and showed his father the blue-gray roots of the grass and trees inside. The father of the cowherd said, "These roots are considered good, but at that time I found only light blue, a small handful. Here, you can sell it to Donggu and get a lot of money. ”

The cowherd boy nodded and said, "I'll go tomorrow." ”

At night, Li Shuishan was beside the small stone pier where the rain had just stopped, quietly watching the starry shadows exposed in the sky. He forgot the oil lamp that came back with him, ran to the side of the small bridge, and was quietly on the bridge, "Why didn't you come back with me, I miss you a little." ”

He remembered the oil lamp that had accompanied him through the darkness, floating above his head, spreading out the light into the distance for him.

He was a little disappointed.

After half an hour, he kept repeating the same action, which was to look up in the direction above his head.

But in his eyes, all he saw was the starry sky and nothing else.

Gradually, he gave up. He felt that the lantern did not come out with him.

The moment he turned around, a familiar light appeared in his sight, flickering dimly and flickering.

The cowherd muttered, "You've taken off your clumsy lamp, so you're not going to go it out, are you?"

He asked.

The lantern floated back above his head. Then it dimmed, then it brightened.

He nodded excitedly and went home.

.......

The next day, the cowherd's father took him to the East Valley, which was dozens of kilometers away. It's a narrow place, but once you enter the canyon, you see a wide world.

There are no of their low-slung houses, all of them are high-rise buildings. Here you can see the peaks climbing, the peaks here are all haunted by clouds, and many young people in white are sitting in the distance.

They stepped up the staircase, which was flanked by two cold chains.

A white-haired young man with a delicate face and an extra floating dust in his hand walked up to them and said softly, "Who are you looking for?"

The cowherd's father said, "We are looking for an alchemy master here, and he gave us a token to find what he needs. Now that we have found it, we will give it to the Taoist. ”

After saying that, the father of the cowherd boy put down the wooden sign in his hand.

The white-haired young man received the token, nodded and said, "You wait here, I'll report it." ”

Immediately, he rolled up the dust and flew up.

The cowherd boy looked at the white-haired boy who flew up obsessively, and said with envy in his heart: "Father, I only now realize how ordinary we are, we will never reach their height, even let us fly, I am afraid that we will not be able to complete it in this life." ”

The cowherd's father laughed and replied, "Remember, there is a big difference between us and this alchemist and the like, and besides, we don't have a heart for cultivating the Dao. This mind is different from theirs, and the cultivation path cannot have the state of mind of ordinary people like us, otherwise they will not be able to become immortals in their lifetime. ”

"What is it?" he asked.

"To become an immortal is to leave the scope of our life step by step and go to the world we don't know. In that place, they lived like ordinary people again. ”

"Oh. The cowherd didn't understand, but nodded obediently.

A cloud rose up in the sky and fell in front of them, a guest in their former home. Now that he has discarded his skin, he has changed into a blue-gray uniform, which looks very different.

The father of the cowherd boy and scholar clasped his fists and bowed: "We have found all the things that the Taoist needs." Specially delivered. ”

He opened the burden behind him, revealing the roots of the grass and trees inside, revealing the aroma of earth.

The man in the ash suit laughed, extremely satisfied.

said: "I am a waterway person from Donggu. It may be different from the cultivators you have seen, but I am personally very familiar with your ordinary people, and I am more willing to get along with you. ”

The cowherd boy looked at Yishui Daoist with wide eyes and said, "Daoist, what about our money?"

He was a little impatient.

Then a Taoist priest who flew in a green cloth, holding a crisp short sword in his hand, withdrew it into the scabbard behind his back, and said, "Yishui Daoist, there are things to discuss. ”

"Oh?" he said to the cowherd and his father, "I'll take you to fetch it." ”

The father of the cowherd boy said politely, "Then we will wait here." ”

The Taoist priest saw that the two of them did not take a step, as if they did not give Donggu face, and said softly: "Since the Yishui Daoist said, then carry it to the attic and talk about it." ”

The Taoist priest turned his face and revealed a cold face.

The boy thought about it carefully, told him to wait here, and went with them to the pavilion.

He was a little uneasy and paced in place, thinking to himself, "Why do you want us to go to the attic to get it?" and he was a little worried about his father.

Then, only half an hour, the Taoist came here again. His father did not appear with them. The cowherd boy opened his mouth and asked, "Daoist, why did my father go to the next place for a long time and still haven't come back?"

The Taoist smiled and said, "Your father is counting the silver taels in the attic, and it may take some time. Don't be too eager. ”

The wind in the East Valley was a little comfortable blowing on the cowherding boy's body, but for such a mediocre body could not withstand these strange powers, he gradually felt a little sleepy.

With a yawn, he closed his eyes slightly.

By the time he opened his eyes, he was in a room full of incense burners. There were four Daoists holding the grass and tree roots they sent in their hands, sniffing them in their noses, and said, "This is definitely the best demon root. On that day, we all inspected the area for hundreds of miles in the vicinity, but we didn't find its existence, which is really inexplicably strange. ”

The Yishui Dao man saw that the cowherd boy woke up, and said softly: "Little boy, don't panic, this is in our attic." Your father was a little tired from the journey, and when he is done, he can go home with you. ”

"As for the money exchanged for grass roots, we will give them one by one, don't worry. What he said made the newly awake cowherd a little uncomfortable. The rest of the big men all stared at the cowherd boy with wide eyes, and he had no choice but to remain silent.

They put away the roots of the grass and trees, and the Yishui man sat gently on the edge of the bed, and the cigarette burned along the incense burner fell into his nose. He spit out a cigarette roll, similar to a water dragon exploring the moon, and like a delicate phoenix flying.....

"Can you answer me a few questions?" asked the Ichimichi, an extremely gentle expression on his face.

The cowherd nodded.

"How much money do you think these roots can be exchanged for?"

The cowherd boy shook his head and said, "You know, this is all measured by the Taoist. ”

He then asked a second question, "Where did you find this root?"

Without hesitation, the cowherd boy said, "In the field near my house." ”

"Oh?" the waterway man asked. A few Taoist priests next to him were silent at this time, and in the eyes of the cowherding boy, he stretched out his finger to an incense burner, and the incense burner was extinguished instantly. When he raised his finger and tapped it again, the incense in the censer snapped.

"A stick of incense has only one hour, and you slept for almost an hour, and your father slept for almost two hours. ”

"The lifespan of incense is far less than a person's long lifespan, but an incense burner has become dust because of a person's mood, do you think it's worth it?"

The cowherd boy was nervous.