Boulevard mountain, before entering the dirt slope of the mountain. Cheng Linyuan leaned against a big stone, looked down at the small medicine basket he was carrying in his hand, rubbed the ground with the tip of his shoe from time to time, and occasionally when he looked up, he caught a glimpse of Lu Si staring at himself without saying a word, and quickly lowered his head. After only a while, Cheng Linyuan found for the first time that the crude little medicine basket in his hand was so pleasing.

Lu Si looked at the young man in front of him with such a demeanor, snorted at the moment, and said, "The next time the stinky boy runs around, I will throw you in the mountains and leave you to fend for yourself!" Cheng Linyuan raised his head, blinked, and saw that the anger in Lu Si's tone had disappeared a lot, and he just wanted to grin, but he felt that it was inappropriate, so he had to laugh dryly and said, "Yes." Lu Si watched Cheng Linyuan grow up, and he also knew his personality very well, and immediately knew that his words were not listened to, and he didn't bother to say anything more at the moment.

The two had been here for some time, but they still hadn't seen the other five return. Seeing that the sun was sinking in the west, Lu Si finally couldn't help it, and stomped his feet and said, "You go back first, I'll go and see why they haven't come yet." Cheng Linyuan looked into the mountain and said, "Fourth uncle, can you find them if you go in now?" Lu Si's eyes glared: "Do you think I am you?" Lu Si rolled his eyes, took out a firewood knife from behind him, and handed it to Cheng Linyuan: "Your knife, it fell on that path, take it." Hurry back to the Zhuangzi, don't embarrass me here!"

Cheng Linyuan looked at the knife in his hand, but there was a hint of warmth in the cold wooden handle in his hand. "Even if he hadn't dropped this knife, Fourth Uncle would still have found me, right?" he thought to himself, and a smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth. Then he took a deep look at the silent mountain forest, and without further hesitation, turned to leave.

Walking through the woods and seeing the smoke slowly rising from the Zhuangzi, Cheng Linyuan's heart suddenly lightened. He patted his face, exhaled lightly, and without looking at the quiet woods behind him, he walked towards the village step by step.

A noisy voice came, and I saw many people gathered around the village in a group and talking. Cheng Linyuan walked forward quickly, only to see two young people standing in the middle, arguing with the people around them with red faces. After listening for a while, he knew that what had happened was roughly as follows: the two young men came out of the mountains in the afternoon, and when they passed by the village, they saw that the stone that could not be removed was glowing red and vibrating. When the panicked two people called the people in the village to come out, everything returned to its original state, and the villagers thought it was a pastime for the two of them, so they made accusations one after another. As if they had been greatly wronged, these two young people did not give in at all, and said in a hurry: "How can we two be so young, how can we be wrong! But you, half of your body is in the soil, and it is common for old eyes to be dizzy, so why do you say that we have eye problems!"

Cheng Linyuan sighed, rubbed his slightly swollen eyebrows, and said in his heart: "There are enough strange things today, how can I have the heart to listen to your nonsense here." So he stopped paying attention to the boring people.

Walking in the Zhuangzi, I was greeted by a few children holding bamboo horse branches jumping up, and surrounded Cheng Linyuan with a smile. If it was usual, he would naturally tease these children, but today he really didn't have the heart to pay attention to it. grabbed one casually, pinched the pink little face and ran away quickly, causing a group of children to scream behind him.

Walking into the courtyard, I saw a small square wooden table already erected in front of the thatched hut, with a plate of steamed buns and three side dishes, and the steamed buns were still steaming. Obviously, the people in the house already knew the time of their grandson's return. Cheng Linyuan walked into the hut, put down all the belongings on his body, and shouted to the inner room: "Grandpa, I'm back." The old man walked out slowly, squinted at his grandson and was quite happy, and said, "Go and wash your hands and eat." "Yes, okay. ”

The three plates of side dishes are all pickled from the wild vegetables in the mountains, and Cheng Linyuan has also eaten them for more than ten years, but fortunately, Lu Si will send some game every three or five times, which can be regarded as improving the food. Cheng Linyuan habitually broke open the steamed bun and stuffed the side dishes into it, while telling the old man about today's events. However, for fear of the old man's worries, he naturally hid the fact that he almost died from a wild boar, and of course he would not mention such a stupid thing as falling down the dirt slope. "Well, by the way, grandpa, when I came back just now, I heard someone say that the stone in Zhuangkou was glowing red, hehe, I don't want to think about who would say this..." Cheng Linyuan looked at the old man in surprise: "What's the matter, grandpa, is there something wrong?" The old man looked at his grandson's familiar face, his heart was sour, his lips moved but he didn't say anything, but silently put down the things in his hand, sighed and got up and entered the house.

It's already sunset, and the twilight is four. People who have been busy all day long have returned home to let go of their tiredness. Cheng Linyuan closed the door and inserted the oil candle in his hand on the lampstand. Suddenly, he heard a slight sound of footsteps behind him, and he turned around and said, "Grandpa, why don't you sleep yet?" The candlelight flickered, reflecting the shadows of the grandfather and grandson. The old man hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed and said, "Haven't you always wanted to know about your parents, you sit down, and I will tell you today." ”

Cheng Linyuan's hand holding the lampstand tightened, and he hesitated for a while, but after all, the curiosity in his heart prevailed, and he took the stool and sat down according to Yan. The old man looked at him and slowly spoke: "You were less than two years old that year, and it was inconvenient for me to go again because I was injured in the mountains, so your mother asked me to take care of you and went up the mountain myself, and it was nothing for the first few days." Finally... Finally one day something happened," the old man's voice was a little choked up here, Cheng Linyuan's heart trembled, and he was still silent, only to hear the old man continue: "Your father and mother didn't come back until sunset that day, I didn't worry about going out to ask, and I found that there were still fifteen people who didn't return to the village." We were about to go up the mountain to look for it, but someone stopped us and said that there were many wild animals in the night and we couldn't go. Where can we agree, but looking at our fellow villagers who have a good relationship, we have no choice but to give up. That night, I dreamed of your father and mother, them....I entrusted you to Lu Si before dawn the next day, and went up the mountain with several other families to find you. Then they searched for two days and found nothing, and they seemed to have given up, afraid that the default person would be gone. But I'm not reconciled, I persuaded Lu Si and your father before his death... The people who had been friends again went to look for it, and finally found a medicine basket in front of a mountain wall, and there was nothing else. ”

Cheng Linyuan smiled reluctantly, still with a little hope: "What about my father and mother..."The old man closed his eyes, and slowly opened them again: "I can't see anyone alive, and I can't see a corpse when I die." Cheng Linyuan didn't speak, just looked at his feet fixedly. The old man raised his palm lightly, brushed the corner of his eyes and said, "Then I thought, since I can't find them, I can't take them home, so I can't hurt them below." So I prepared to go out of the village to Sanshan Town to buy some things after me. Only a few miles from the village I came across an old man, who asked me about the boundaries around me, and then he said something to me, and I thought he was very strange, and I wanted to leave quickly. I was shocked, but he told me that he had no ill intentions, but that he could help solve the matter, but he only made a condition that I find a child under the age of three as a medium, and I thought of you, and I thought that if something happens to you, I will not live, and we will meet as a family. So I gritted my teeth and agreed. Cheng Linyuan raised his right arm and pointed to a small scar and said, "Is this it?" The old man nodded and said, "Later, after a few days, he finally came." I took him into the house, and there was a red stone-like thing floating in his hand, and he said that it was called 'Bloodstone', which was the essence of the spiritual veins in the mountain, and it had a miraculous effect on the things in the mountain. Then he told me to wait outside the house, and after about half an hour, the old man came out with a tired face, and told me that this bloodstone would be placed by him at the entrance of the village, and that if there was any change in this stone one day, it was best for you to hide immediately. If you can enter any monastic sect, it is the best, as long as you are okay, this mountain will not be lifted. ”

The old man got up slowly, looked at his grandson, who had been dependent on each other for more than ten years, and said: "Now everything is exactly the same as the old Taoist said, you, pack up your things in the past few days and leave Zhuangzi quickly." Cheng Linyuan shook his head resolutely: "No." I will never go alone!" the old man smiled slightly, said no more, walked straight to the corner of the wall where the miscellaneous items were piled up, groped out a dusty medicine basket from it, and placed it on the table: "This is the last thing left by your father, you should take it with you." Just leave a memory. The old man walked a few steps into the inner room, then stopped and looked back at the small medicine basket, and said astringently, "If I can see them again, it will be death, and I will be blind." The candle flame shook slightly, and the old man's back staggered slightly. He is just an old man in his last years, an old man who has lost his son in old age and has black hair.

Cheng Linyuan slowly stepped forward and picked up the medicine basket, blew away a little dust, opened it with his hand, and a breath of old decay gushed out. He slapped it a few times, and a black mass fell, and when he looked closer, it was all dried plants tangled. I think it took too long to get there. Cheng Linyuan had no intention of checking it again, and just wanted to put the grass ball back, but the moment the material touched it, the grass ball turned into pieces and fell lightly on the table. And what was hidden inside also appeared, and a stone bead the size of an eyeball lay in the debris.

Cheng Linyuan picked it up and looked at it carefully, and suddenly felt that this stone bead was a little familiar, and after a little thought, he put his hand into his arms and took out something. Then, he opened his right hand and watched as the stone bead from the tree-lined mountains slowly glowed with a blue light in his hand. "Ding" There was a crisp sound in the small room, and another stone bead slowly rose from Cheng Linyuan's hand as if echoing the former. Cheng Linyuan looked at this strange scene in amazement, but there was only one thought left in his mind: If so many people disappeared in the mountains because of the stone beads in the medicine basket, then now he has taken out another one, what will happen?