Time, like the stream in this Lingxi Valley, flows silently forward. This secluded valley, I don't know how many times it has been repeated, the flowers bloom, the snow falls, and the flowers bloom again. On the hillside, under the jujube tree, in the stream, on the swing, under the old persimmon tree, Yi Dan and Youming were left in every place, reading, writing, practicing swords, playing, and fighting.

As the saying goes, "the flowers are similar every year, but the people are different every year", in the blink of an eye, Yi Dan has grown into an eighteen-year-old, slim, and generous beautiful girl, and Youming has also grown into a handsome scholar, fifteen-year-old young man. The two of them still practice swords every day and read every day.

And the years have unconsciously left a faint trace on the faces of Lixian and Miao Qiuyu. But seeing the two children look like this, they have indescribable joy and satisfaction in their hearts. Although it has been more than a dozen winters and summers, it has indeed taken a lot of painstaking work to teach the two children to read and practice in the valley. But it was also in these dozen or so ordinary days when spring and autumn came and went without contention with the world that they experienced the most rare, warm and simple family happiness in the world. Seeing the two children so smart, studious, hardworking and friendly, they felt that their lives had not been in vain. At the beginning, the guilt of the two of them for deviating from the Shangxiu sect gradually faded a lot. At the beginning, Miao Qiuyu set the rule that only "the heart has a soul" and is not allowed to cross the line for half a step, but it has already been thrown out of the clouds, and the two old and young have long been a family that loves each other and cannot be separated. Although the two children call Lixian and Miao Qiuyu "Master" and "Master", in the hearts of the two, one is a son and the other is a daughter, and there is no difference.

As for Yi Dan, she has no memory of what happened before the age of five, she is not only beautiful and cute, but also as eccentric, lively and naughty as ever, he often likes to play tricks on his junior brother who is three years younger than her. When I was a child, I loved to snatch the sugar man from my junior brother's hands, and I had to make my junior brother cry before I was willing to return it to him. It is true that she should not be blamed for being naughty, because there are no other children in this valley, if she doesn't often tease her little junior brother to play, wouldn't the naughty Yi Dan be even more bored?

One day in early spring, the earth had not yet warmed up. On the treetop of the old persimmon tree at the foot of the hillside, a large red persimmon cake that had become more fragrant and sweeter after being soaked in frost and snow throughout the winter fell to the feet of the two sisters and brothers who were reading, practicing swords, and basking in the sun under the tree. After Yi Dan looked at the ripe and dried persimmon, he said to Youming: "Senior brother, should you pick this persimmon this year?"

Youming, who was sitting on a stone bench under the tree reading a book, turned his head and squinted his eyes, looked up at the old persimmon tree that was nearly three zhang high and could only be hugged by two people, scratched his head, and said to Yi Dan with an embarrassed face: "Senior sister, I am not as good as you, or you come, as before, I will help you pick it up below, how about it?"

Yi Dan rolled his eyes and said, "What are you afraid of, junior brother, you are now an adult, can you only be under the tree all your life, and help your senior sister pick up persimmons? Besides, haven't you also learned some light skills? You have to find an opportunity to practice, don't you?"

"However, my light skills are not good, I'm afraid..."You Ming said embarrassedly.

"It's okay, I'm down there, if you fall. Won't I just do it?" Yi Dan patted his chest and said confidently.

Youming put down the "Historical Records" he was reading in his hand and said, "Okay, then I'll try it, you have to help me."

"Don't worry, with your senior sister here, there must be no problem, you can do it" Yi Dan puffed for Youming.

You Ming believed Yi Dan's words, shook his arm, looked up at the height of the tree, squatted down a little, exercised his strength, and after squatting slightly, he pressed his hands and flew up. You Ming usually doesn't like to practice martial arts, and his skills naturally don't dare to compliment, he tried his best, and he didn't fly to the expected height, only his left hand grabbed the first branch, and he didn't grasp it steadily, and he staggered and saw that he was about to slide down, so he shouted: "Senior sister, help me, I'm going to fall."

At this time, Yi Dan threw out the sheepskin whip in his hand, wrapped the whip around the taller tree, and then said to Youming: "Senior brother, hurry up, grab the whip"

Youming grabbed the whip like a life-saving straw, breathed a sigh of relief, and then slowly climbed up the whip, and finally succeeded in standing on the tree.

Youming grabbed the branch in one hand, staggered on the tree, and picked the big and red persimmons in the other, one, two, five, ten....while picking and throwing down, each of which was firmly caught by Dandan with his head, hands, feet, shoulders, etc.

After a while, a large pile of persimmons piled up on the ground. Dandan saw that it was almost over, so he shouted to Youming: "Senior brother, it's enough, don't pick it again, I can't fit it anymore, let's pick it up next time."

Youming stopped picking, and staggered back from the branch of the tree along the same way as the whip that his senior sister had wrapped just now. At this time, Yi Dan smiled secretly, ran over and whipped the whip, and said to Youming: "Senior brother, you fly down with light skills."

"No, senior sister, it's too high, I don't dare to fly, my light skills are not as good as yours, don't make trouble, quickly wrap the whip up" Youming shouted from the tree.

Yi Dan jumped and said: "I won't entangle, I won't entangle, I want you to fly down, you have learned light skills for so long, you have never practiced, it is really in vain" You Ming saw that the senior sister was playing tricks on herself like this, so he said lightly: "Then I will climb down by myself"

With that, Youming hugged the trunk and carefully slid down from the trunk. After a while, finally came down clumsily from the big persimmon tree. He patted the dust on his body, grabbed the "Historical Records" on the stone table and continued to read it intently.

The eccentric Yi Dan picked up the persimmon cake and thought: This little junior brother is now grown up, and he is not as easy to play tricks as before, so there will be no one to mess around with her now. So Yi Dan said to himself: "Hey, it's really boring, I'm going to practice"

On this day, Yi Dan was at the mouth of Lingxi Valley, and met the "Sheep Master" of Shaolin Temple again, he carried a bag of things to prepare, and carried it back to the direction of Shaolin Temple.

Yi Dan stepped forward very happily and shouted, "Master Yang, I haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing lately?"

It turned out that the monk had been in the Shaolin Temple for a long time, and he was gradually influenced by Buddhism, and he was no longer willing to kill. But it didn't last long, at first, every two or three months, then every three or five months, and then even longer. Slowly, he came less often, and the last time Yi Dan saw him was more than a year ago.

The monk hurriedly said, "Girl, the poor monk hasn't eaten meat for a long time. But to put it that way, hey... The old problem is repeated."

"Master Yang, didn't you say that 'wine and meat pass through the intestines and leave in the Buddha's heart', if you can't quit, don't embarrass yourself," Yi Dan said mischievously.

The monk heard Yi Dan's words, touched his stomach, and said: "If you wear the intestines, you will wear the intestines, go, I will eat another big meal today, can I take it for another three years?"

As he spoke, the monk took out a short knife from his baggage and rushed up to the grazing sheep on the hillside, and he grabbed a sheep and raised the knife to slaughter. The sheep looked at him motionlessly, bleating as if pleading with him.

The monk felt pity and was reluctant to slaughter him. He let go of the sheep and asked Yi Dan, "Girl, is there goat's milk here?"

"Of course, several ewes have recently given birth to lambs, you see," Yi Dan said, pointing to the few ewes in the flock with lambs.

The monk took out a bowl from his baggage and said, "I'll drink goat's milk today."

"Master Yang, are you really different from before, can you actually bear it?" Yi Dan said deliberately teasingly.

"Hey, don't say it, if I say it again, I can't help it for a while. Girl, by the way, do you have any potato medicine? Roast two for me," said the monk.

"Of course there is, I dug a lot on the hillside last winter, I'll go get it for you" With that, Yi Dan quickly ran in the direction of Qing Xiuju.

Potato medicine, formerly known as "potato (yu four sounds)", was changed to potato medicine because of the avoidance of the Tang Dynasty Zong Li pre-denial. During the Northern Song Dynasty, it avoided Zhao Shu of Yingzong of the Song Dynasty and changed its name to "yam". At this time, of course, there was no later middle and late Ming Dynasty, when the geographical discovery was made, such as: sweet potatoes, potatoes, taro, corn, peppers, etc., these crops, so potato medicine (yam) at this time, it is an excellent food that is convenient to store and can fill the stomach.

After a while, Yi Dan rushed to the ground, took several potato herbs, and then jumped up to the treetops, broke a few dead branches, and made a fire to roast the potato herbs.

The monk drank goat's milk, ate baked potato medicine, and watched Yi Dan practice Shaolin nine-section whip. It is said that this nine-section whip was made by the monk for Yi Dan with the leftover sheepskin from eating mutton. This whip is not only flexible and strong, but also flexible and lightweight.

The monk saw that Yi Dan's current nine-section whip method was already very smooth, unlike before, when he always accidentally pestered and beat himself. So he kept nodding his head in satisfaction. Yi Dan asked while practicing, "Master Yang, how do you see my nine-section whip playing?

The monk took a sip of goat's milk, nodded and said: "It's a good job, girl, I can only play your part at most, you are so smart, this Shaolin nine-section whip can be practiced like this in three years."

"Thank you Master Yang for the compliment, I feel that the more I practice, the more comfortable it becomes. Yi Dan said proudly.

"What about your little junior brother who is often bullied by you, why don't you see him with you?" the monk asked teasingly.

Yi Dan stopped the whip he was waving, shrugged his shoulders and said, "He's just a nerd, and he's not too interested in martial arts. I sometimes wonder if he and I are reversed, it should be that he loves martial arts and I love reading."

"You quirky little girl, like a boy, your weak and white little junior brother, it's strange not to be bullied by you," the monk said.

"How can I bully him? I'm all playing around with him."

The monk got up, looked at everything in the valley with slightly sad eyes, and then said to Yi Dan in a slightly heavy tone: "Hey... Girl, I won't come in the future, you have to take care of yourself."

"Why? Master Yang, oh, I'm sorry, I almost broke your vow again, but it's okay, you can come and see me if you don't drink or eat meat in the future?" Yi Dan said.

The monk sighed and said, "Hey... Girl, let it be, everything depends on it, don't force it, I'm leaving. ”

"Okay, Master Yang, thank you for teaching me so many things, I will definitely go to Shaolin Temple to see you if I have the opportunity in the future," Yi Dan said

The monk's eyes showed compassion, picked up the bowl on the ground and put it in the bag, and then said, "Girl, I'm leaving, you have to take care."

With that, the monk turned around and walked in the direction of Shaolin Temple. Yi Dan waved his hand vigorously and shouted, "Master Yang, you have to take care too, goodbye!"

Yi Dan bid farewell to Master Yang and returned to the Qing Xiuju. Seeing that Miao Qiuyu, the teacher, was not in the hall, she went to the inner room to find her. As soon as she arrived at the door of the master, she heard the voice of the master and the teacher's wife. Curious, and ghostly Yi Dan, he quietly got closer and listened to what the master and the master were talking about.

At this time, I heard Miao Qiuyu in the house say: "No, I see that Ming'er is still young, let's talk about it in a few years."

When Yi Dan heard this, she became even more curious, so she almost stuck to the door to hear it.

At this time, Li Xian answered: "But Dan'er is eighteen years old, and it should be married, if I marry her to someone else, I will definitely not worry, you said that if you can really match her and Ming'er together, wouldn't it be a beautiful thing?"

Yi Dan finally heard the content of the chat between the master and the master, and it turned out that the master wanted to match himself and the little junior brother together to worship and marry. But in her heart, she just treated Youming as a younger brother, how could she have other ideas? So she leaned on the door and continued to listen.

"But Ming'er is three years younger than Dan'er, I'm afraid he won't be able to take care of Dan'er, but Dan'er has to take care of him," said Miao Qiuyu, the teacher.

"This woman is bigger than a man everywhere, doesn't it say 'female junior hugs gold bricks', it's better to be bigger, so I can control him," Li Xian said.

"I'm not worried about this, our Ming'er is well-behaved and sensible, more quiet than Dan'er, their personalities are complementary," Miao Qiuyu said.

"That's natural, this point, I still have to pass it on, you see how much Ming'er looks like me, the tiger father has no dog," Lixian said.

Yi Dan, who was eavesdropping at the door, realized that the junior brother was the master's son. She held her breath and listened to what they had to say.

At this time, Miao Qiuyu, the teacher, continued: "Have you told him that Ming'er is our biological son?"

Yi Dan was taken aback again, it turned out that the junior brother turned out to be the biological son of the master and the master, which was incredible.

"Of course I didn't tell him, didn't you tell me at the beginning, just let him be our apprentice, don't let him know that we are his biological parents, how dare I not listen to you" Lixian's voice came from inside.

"At the beginning, I didn't let you tell him the truth, because I was afraid that he would grow up arrogant, but now it seems that the decision I made at the beginning was right, Ming'er is now sensible, studious, smart and well-behaved," Miao Qiuyu said.

"Yes, do you still regret leaving the Dangshan Sect with me?" asked Lixian jokingly.

"I'm talking Ming'er, where are you going again?" Miao Qiuyu said with a happy face.

"Hey, I know, you're just afraid that Ming'er will know that we broke the rules of the division and quietly got together, but Ming'er, this kid is so sensible, even if he knows, he won't laugh at us, don't think too much" Lixian said.

"Our Ming'er is only fifteen years old, and in another year and a half, I'll mention this matter to them again, what do you think?" Miao Qiuyu asked.

"Yes, anyway, we people in the rivers and lakes, don't talk about those rules, let's live in two years, anyway, the two children will always be with us," Lixian said.

"Yes, I think so too, since that's the case, we don't have to worry, let's discuss here today, let's take their time, don't worry" Miao Qiuyu said.

When Yi Dan heard this, he felt that it was almost over, otherwise he would be embarrassed if he was discovered by the master and his wife, so he quietly turned around outside the door and left quickly.

When it was time for lunch, the senior lady Miao Qiuyu had already prepared a spraying meal and put it on the table, and the master and junior brother also came from Shangxuju. The four of them sat around a table of eight immortals, and one person began to eat.

During the meal, Yi Dan looked at his sister and brother from time to time, thinking that it was no wonder that his brother and sister looked so similar, it turned out that his mother was his own mother. Yi Dan kept staring at Youming, and Youming realized that something was not quite right with Senior Sister today, so he asked, "Senior Sister, why are you always staring at me?

"No, I'm wondering if you've made any progress in your light skills," Yi Dan poked the chopsticks in the bowl and replied elfly.

"Oh, thank you sister for your concern, I've been reading a lot lately, and I haven't practiced much," Youming replied.

After a while, the ghostly Yi Dan asked Miao Qiuyu again: "Master, why don't you live with Master?"

"I'm not going to take the two of you, it's inconvenient to live together," Miao Qiuyu said after looking at Li Xian.

"Oh, I see, Master, where do you think I came from?" I seem to have forgotten again," Yi Dan asked.

"Didn't I tell you earlier? Your parents have passed away, and they entrusted you to us," Miao Qiuyu replied.

"Oh, what about the junior brother, where did the junior brother come from?" Yi Dan asked ghostly.

Miao Qiuyu was stunned, slightly embarrassed, and didn't know how to continue to make up lies. Without waiting for her to answer, Lixian answered: "Senior brother also entrusted us with the absence of his parents, don't you know all this? I have told you many times, don't ask again in the future."

"Are my brother's parents gone?" are you sure?" Yi Dan asked ghostly.

Qiu Yu looked embarrassed and didn't know how to answer.

"You girl, why don't you even believe the words of the master and the master?" said Lixian.

Then, Yi Dan buried his head in the bowl and stole the joy of the ghostly spirit.