Chapter 115 Xiao He flips over "I want to go to Chaoxi"

After a journey of about half a month with frequent stops and starts, we arrived in Yuchuan.

Xue Chan returned home in the evening, but the doors of the small house were tightly shut.

Yun Sheng knocked on the door, and the servant who opened it was somewhat surprised to see her.

"The girl has gone home! Go quickly and tell the old man!"

The servant immediately nodded and was about to run inside.

"Wait!" Xue Chan stepped forward and called out to him, "No need to inform him, I'm going to find my father."

She had her luggage packed and her entourage settled before heading straight into the house where Xue Chenghuai lived.

A servant boy walked with her, and Xue Chan asked him questions as they went.

Is my father feeling any better?

The servant stammered, only saying, "Miss...you should go and see for yourself."

She understood what was going on after hearing this, and then asked, "Has anyone come to see Father about his illness?"

The servant replied, "Since falling ill, the master has declined to receive guests."

As they talked, they walked through the covered walkway and path, and saw a courtyard wall with tall, lush green trees, and then they arrived at the entrance to the secluded residence.

Xue Chan didn't smell the roasted aroma of Sichuan pepper and dogwood, and conversations could be heard from inside from time to time.

"Oh dear! I told you this meat only needs to be boiled briefly before it's ready to be scooped out. Look, it's overcooked, what a waste!"

"Okay, okay."

The servant was about to open the door for her when Xue Chan tiptoed in. Standing on the stone steps, she saw Xue Chenghuai and the old steward sitting under a covered stove, cooking and grilling food, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Xue Chenghuai even sweated while eating, and casually took off his outer shirt and sat on a small stool, fanning himself with one hand and scooping up meat with the other.

The pot used for cooking vegetables and meat was the same earthenware pot used for decocting medicine, and the stove was the same small clay stove used for brewing tea.

Hearing the door open, Xue Chenghuai was complaining, "Didn't I tell you not to open the door unless summoned?---"

He caught a glimpse of someone on the stone steps out of the corner of his eye and, thinking it was someone coming, panicked.

"Hurry up and collect them! Hurry up and collect them!"

Xue Chan was amused by the scene, and her tense heart relaxed instantly, overwhelmed with a feeling of grievance and sadness.

"father"

Xue Chenghuai, who was running around with the pot in his hand, froze, and the meat he had just picked up with his chopsticks fell into the hot soup with a "plop".

"You're back, Qiaoniang."

Xue Chan walked up to him and carefully examined him.

His complexion was rosy and he was in excellent health.

She crouched down, covered her face, and began to cry.

Xue Chenghuai also squatted down, wanting to comfort her, but he was covered in smoke and afraid of getting it on Xue Chan, so he could only gently pat her shoulder.

The two of them squatted under the eaves, letting Xue Chan cry.

After returning home, Xue Chan slept obediently for several days, sleeping until the sun was high in the sky each day. Xue Chenghuai would wait for her to eat with a smile, and after she finished eating, she would walk around for a while until it got dark and then continue sleeping.

A few days later, Xue Chenghuai's illness "recovered".

The weather is gradually getting warmer, transitioning from late spring to early summer.

The lotus leaves are newly opened, and the water ripples beneath them.

The surface of the small pool inside Shangping Mountain rippled, reflecting a face with disheveled hair and a beard.

He faced the water and began to comb his hair and beard with a coarse wooden comb.

"Can you stop messing with your beard and hair all the time?"

Yu Yu held a homemade bow and arrow in one hand and a wild animal in the other. She stood behind Jiang Ce for a long time before finally speaking.

Jiang Ce turned around and saw You Yu, who was about the same age as him, and sighed.

"Look at you, you look just like that."

"..." Youyu tossed the prey in her hand to him, and said irritably, "No one's going to see it anyway, what's the use of making yourself look good?"

As Jiang Ce processed the prey, his expression was serious: "Who said that? Although we are in these mountains, we will be able to get out sooner or later. It's not like we really want to live like savages."

Seeing that he was about to start rambling again, Youyu threw a large fruit into his mouth, silencing him.

"Start a fire, eat, find a way."

Jiang Ce didn't say much, and the two continued to search for a way to survive and escape in the continuous Changping Mountains.

This was already the umpteenth day that Jiang Ce and You Yu had been staying in Changping Mountain.

Jiang Ce was still recovering from serious injuries earlier, so for a long time he would only get a little better and then move around a little.

Find a place to stay temporarily, endure the pain and recuperate for a while, and continue your journey when you feel better.

This process repeated itself, and although countless days had passed, the gradually blooming flowers and ripening fruits clearly demonstrated the changing of the seasons.

They lived a life of hardship, eating raw meat and sleeping in the open. Their clothes were tattered and their hair and beards were long.

Jiang Ce's little bit of insistence only made things look a little cleaner.

The two passed through a forest, but it gradually narrowed and became secluded, as if they had inexplicably entered a valley.

"Should we continue?" Youyu asked Jiang Ce.

If we continue forward, we don't know if we'll be able to come back.

Jiang Ce took out a tinderbox from the basket he was carrying and used it to illuminate a small section of the stone wall.

He took a short step forward, holding the torch, and stepped on something. He looked down and saw that it seemed to be...

A broken arrow.

“This is…” Youyu leaned closer to take a look and couldn’t help but become serious.

He immediately walked forward with Jiang Ce, squeezing through a narrow gap, only to find scattered broken swords and some white bones hidden under the grass and trees.

The two dug out the broken swords and arrowheads, wiped off the dirt, and took a deep breath.

"It's the style of the main beam."

Jiang Ce strode forward, looking up at the towering, insurmountable cliff face. He couldn't help but tremble, gripping the edge of his basket tightly.

"Could this be... the bottom of Hundred-Zhang Cliff? We've actually ended up at the bottom of Hundred-Zhang Cliff...?"

His father died here in battle.

Jiang Ce threw down his basket and began to pull up weeds and trees, digging out several skeletons.

What are you looking for?

"I'm looking for my dad."

Yu didn't say much, but silently searched and identified with him.

After unearthing several skeletons, Jiang Ce sat down on the ground, remaining silent for a long time. You Yu hesitated for a moment, then asked him, "Can you still recognize them?"

Jiang Ce shook his head.

So many years have passed that he has long forgotten what his father looked like.

Jiang Ce began sorting through the remains of the deceased Liang soldiers, digging pits and burying them. He stood up, tilted his head slightly, and sunlight streamed down from the valley, making his eyes shine.

"Now that we've come all this way to Hundred-Foot Cliff, let's get out of here alive first, no matter what."

"Um"

The two continued searching for landmarks and gradually disappeared into the green branches.

--

Summer days are beautiful, casting dappled shadows all over the ground.

Some people stepped on their shadows to climb the steps and slowly made their way up.

Xue Chan reached out to support Xue Chenghuai, who had difficulty walking, and carefully continued upwards along the old mountain path.

After sleeping soundly for several days, Xue Chan recovered.

The day the two went out was during the Grain in Ear season; they went to Banzhong Mountain to sweep Cheng Zheng's grave.

Because he would come to talk to her from time to time, the tomb was always carefully maintained by Xue Chenghuai and was kept very clean.

However, Xue Chenghuai had not come for some time due to illness, and it was late spring and early summer. The warm weather and abundant rain caused many plants to grow, and a layer of green appeared on the tombstone.

Xue Chan and Xue Chenghuai wiped the weeds off the stele, offered incense and paid their respects, and then continued walking uphill.

The weather was nice at the time, and you could see other people going up the mountain to sweep tombs and enjoy themselves from time to time.

Xue Chan looked up, and the Taoist temple in the mountains was still hidden in the greenery, seemingly no different from what she remembered.

The old Taoist priest of the temple was a close friend of Xue Chenghuai, despite their age difference. Xue Chenghuai had previously painted a long scroll titled "Sunrise at Half-Bell," which was currently hanging in the temple.

The Taoist priest had an ethereal and otherworldly air about him, yet he was also a playful old man who loved to sing and drink.

His drawing was terrible, and he even showed Xue Chan his scribbles, which looked like chicken scratches and ghost scribbling.

However, at only five years old, she glanced at it and bluntly said, "So ugly."

However, the old Taoist priest was quite cheerful, always saying, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if the painting is not good. The most important thing is that I am happy while painting."

At that time, Xue Chan thought he shouldn't paint, but now Xue Chan thinks he makes a lot of sense.

It's a good thing and a blessing for people to have aspirations and find joy in them.

As if he had predicted it, the Taoist priest sent a young boy to find him.

As soon as they arrived at the temple gate, a figure resembling a crane appeared, its voice still far behind.

"You've finally arrived! I've been painting these past two days, and I'm waiting for your critique and guidance."

He pulled Xue Chenghuai inside, and then suddenly noticed Xue Chan behind him.

The Taoist priest smiled and stroked his long, white beard, saying, "Young friend, you've come too."

Xue Chan smiled gently and bowed to him: "Yes, it has been a long time since I last saw you, Daoist Master."

As they entered the temple, the old Taoist priest first presented the painting and asked Xue Chan, "Young friend, what do you think of my painting?"

The brushstrokes, still somewhat resembling animal claws and ghostly crawls, are quite striking. However, the lines are executed in one go, flowing naturally and possessing a certain elegance.

Xue Chan smiled and said, "Daoist Master seems to be in a very good mood lately."

The old Taoist priest nodded with satisfaction: "That's right. I recently acquired a jar of excellent wine. Whenever I take a couple of sips before writing, it's as if I'm divinely inspired."

Xue Chan smiled, and the old Taoist priest started chatting with Xue Chenghuai about some strange and unusual things again.

They were chatting happily when Xue Chan went outside to take a walk.

This nameless temple is of unknown age; it was there when Xue Chan was born, and even when Xue Chenghuai was born.

The Taoist temple was small, with old and mottled walls. The moss growing on the eaves tiles had long since covered them, making it impossible to distinguish their original colors. Even the ancient trees outside the walls were covered with green moss.

Xue Chan walked through the hall toward the mountain gate. She remembered that there was a small temple on the path next to the mountain gate.

After walking for a while, she indeed saw a very small temple at the foot of the stone wall, its color faded red and blue.

Xue Chan squatted down. Inside the small temple was a grayish-blue stone statue of a cat.

This temple doesn't seem to have a name; everyone just calls it the Cat Temple.

Speaking of which, when she was a child, she even took a paintbrush and repainted the temple because it was too old. However, as time has passed, the colors have faded.

Xue Chan pushed aside the vines that covered the stone wall behind the small temple. There were paintings she had drawn on the stone statues and words she had written on them.

She was very young at the time. After finishing the painting, she made a small wish and wrote it on the corner of the stone wall behind the temple.

When Xue Chan, now over twenty, went to search, she found only some faintly visible strokes.

Xue Chan reached out to touch the characters, trying to decipher the blurry writing, but instead touched different characters.

She didn't carve it.

"My only wish in this life is that the grass and trees on Changping Mountain be green, and the rice and millet be plentiful on the banks of Yongding River. Written by Chaoxi Jiangyuelang in the summer of the thirteenth year of Chengping."

A pale pink flower landed in her palm.

Xue Chan didn't make any more wishes. She placed the flower in front of the Cat God and went back.

The Taoist temple has a hall in front and a plot of land behind it, where several green fields are planted.

Xue Chenghuai and the old Taoist priest enjoyed painting, drinking, and roasting meat. When they got tired of the food, they casually picked a couple of handfuls of tender green vegetables, washed them in the mountain spring, and put them into the pot.

Xue Chan brewed a few cups of tea for them inside the house.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but there was a pot of lotus flowers under the window of the room she lived in.

The jar was a broken one with a chipped opening, but the lotus leaves were round and plump, and the lotus flowers were graceful and blooming red.

In the distance, she heard the old Taoist priest singing again. The song drifted over, landing on the treetops and on the ground.

Xue Chan only heard one sentence in the song.

"Man is like a boat sailing on water, wandering the vastness of heaven and earth."

"If you ask where is the best place, look to where the wild geese fly to."

As the weather gets warmer, gusts of warm wind blow in from outside, carrying the fragrance of lotus flowers, which is somewhat soothing.

Xue Chan rested her face on her bent left arm, half-lying on the table under the window, and painted idly.

She yawned, and tears of weariness welled up in her eyes.

She could vaguely make out someone else, half-lying on the table with her. He smiled at her, fanning himself with one hand and reaching out to hook her finger with the other.

This scene reminded her of an autumn day before her marriage, when the weather was still warm and they were at Fangchun Pavilion.

She was painting at the table, while Jiang Ce leaned back in his chair reading a book, playing with her round fan in his hand.

The weather at the beginning of autumn was quite domineering, with the heat relentlessly biting at people.

Sitting next to her, Jiang Ce lazily turned the pages of his book, fanning himself with a fan, the breeze blowing directly on her.

Xue Chan slightly raised her eyes. The sun was shining brightly outside the window, and cicadas were chirping softly.

Summer days are long, and all things grow.

She closed her eyes, and seemed to sway gently with the sunlight. As she swayed, she felt as if she had returned to a day in late autumn.

Azure sky, water tinged with gold and green, mountains dyed red and yellow.

The two walked along the water's edge, the evening breeze ruffling their clothes. He led the horse, and she listened to him speak. He then took her hand and helped her onto the boat, and the two of them set off into the water in the small vessel.

Xue Chan opened her eyes and sat up.

She was so drowsy that she completely forgot she had already gone down the mountain and home. It was evening when she returned, but Xue Chan was so sleepy that she fell asleep without even eating.

I've been sleeping until now.

The cold moon was silent, and the candle wax flowed endlessly. She reached out and touched her face.

This rain, which should have fallen in spring, traveled over mountains and rivers and didn't fall until summer.

It was nighttime, and I wondered whose flute was playing.

However, the wind and dew were heavy, and the originally crisp flute music was soaked with moisture, making it sound mournful and strained.

Xue Chan lay facing the wall, her body slightly curled up. She slept quietly, trying to ride the sound of the flute to continue that dream, to find the boat laden with lotus flowers within it.

At dusk, the water is clear and the lotus seeds are fragrant. We return home laden with lotus blossoms, traveling through the twilight on the clear water.

As the setting sun faded and the silvery moon appeared, the small boat swayed gently, breaking through the lake's shimmering surface, and gradually drifted away, disappearing into the deep blue twilight.

Xue Chenghuai got up early to offer incense to Cheng Zheng, and when he returned, he saw Xue Chan sitting under the lake rock, lost in thought.

He walked over with his cane and asked softly, "Why are you up so early?"

Xue Chan turned her face and stared at him, seemingly hesitant.

"What's wrong? Is there something you want to tell your father?"

Xue Chan let out a long sigh, her voice soft and steady.

"Father, I want to go to Chaoxi."

Xue Chenghuai seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Dad's with you"