162 Chapter 162 Apricot Flower Wine
Chapter 162 Apricot Blossom Wine
From the moment he woke up on an oxcart as a child and encountered the sight of fish, to the moment he helped his junior uncle descend Kunlun Mountain, the years in Kunlun accompanied the old man throughout his youth. There were moments of wonder, moments of regret, and it ultimately ended in sorrow, influencing him to this day…
In the past, Wang Sumo only knew that the old man was unwilling to talk about the past in Kunlun. But now, after listening to the old man tell the whole story, he truly understands that everyone has a past they don't want to mention.
For the old man, it was a different kind of passionate beginning, a dazzling process, and a tragic ending...
Time is like sand in an hourglass; it cannot be grasped, nor can it be turned back.
But when news of the Kunlun ring emerged, the old man still chose to approach it despite his struggle.
That Kunlun thumb ring, like the old man's sealed-away past, disappeared for more than thirty years...
Wang Sumo lowered her eyes.
Bai Cen hadn't heard the backstory, but was still shocked by the last part, and subconsciously asked, "Then what happened to Junior Uncle and Senior Brother Jiuyun?"
"Are these two still in Kunlun?" Bai Cen asked curiously.
Those who stayed by the old man's side during that time must have been the most memorable part of his life.
Wang Sumo looked at him, but didn't have time to give him a meaningful look to stop him.
Just as he asked the question, Wang Sumo's hand happened to be on his arm.
He only had time to see the "Don't ask" in Wang Sumo's eyes.
Bai Cen, with his tacit understanding, suddenly realized something.
The old man was still immersed in the memories of that time. He slowly came back to his senses and said in a low voice, "Those I thought were still alive were actually dead; those I thought were dead were actually alive in the end..."
Bai Cen was completely confused.
His gaze involuntarily turned to Wang Sumo, who understood the old man's words, and even more so, the sorrow behind them...
Wang Sumo didn't know what to say to comfort the old man, but everyone's emotions needed an outlet.
In the narrative just now, grief was hidden between the lines, and it was a deep-seated sorrow in my heart.
Wang Sumo seemed to empathize, experiencing that bittersweet clarity that followed a sudden realization...
"Grandpa!" Bai Cen exclaimed. The old man clutched his chest, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The old man shook his head to stop him, not wanting anyone else to hear or see.
Wang Sumo's eyes were misty.
But the old man's expression showed a slight sense of relief after spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Following Bai Cen's words, the old man finished what he started...
He and his senior brother Jiuyun were still unable to safely bring their junior uncle away from Kunlun.
My junior uncle died shortly before the outer gate of Kunlun.
"Junior Uncle! Junior Uncle!" He cried out in tears.
If my junior uncle hadn't taken a blow from several elders for him, he wouldn't have...
Junior Uncle could have been doing well in Kunlun.
Junior Uncle, Junior Uncle he…
The setting sun hung like a streak of blood on the horizon. He knelt on the ground, his voice hoarse and unable to speak.
"Senior Brother Jiuyun, let's return to Kunlun." He looked up at Pang Jiuyun.
“Ah Guan.” Pang Jiuyun’s eyes were bloodshot.
He swallowed hard. "Master is gone, Junior Uncle is gone too. You should return to Kunlun..."
Pang Jiuyun knew that she unfollowed him for fear of implicating him.
Pang Jiuyun remained silent.
She unfollowed him and wept uncontrollably.
"I'll accompany you to bury Junior Uncle..." Pang Jiuyun said gently.
"No." She unfollowed him and said, "Goodbye."
Pang Jiuyun choked up: "Unfollow."
He bent down and carried his lifeless junior uncle on his back.
Pang Jiuyun trembled all over.
Unfollowed without looking back: "Live well, keep living..."
He didn't want to see any of them die again.
If they hadn't gotten involved with him, Senior Brother Jiuyun and Song Jin wouldn't have died...
Unfollowing is a stumbling, indecisive process.
The spring chill lingered in the air. He kept his head down, and he couldn't tell whether the bloodstains dripping on the steps were his or his junior uncle's.
But it doesn't matter...
Behind him came Pang Jiuyun's voice: "Ah Guan, I will find the murderer!"
He didn't stop, nor did he look back.
My steps are too heavy; if I stop, I don't know if I'll be able to walk anymore.
"Ah Guan!" Pang Jiuyun called out loudly, "I'll be waiting for you to return in Kunlun!"
His vision was blurry.
Kunlun, come back...
He gritted his teeth and didn't look back.
...
There are several villages at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains.
One of the villages is called Xinghua Village, a simple name, and they sell apricot blossom wine, but there are actually no apricot trees there at all.
Every time he went down the mountain, he would bring his junior uncle fake apricot blossom wine.
Junior Uncle laughed: "Didn't you know it was fake wine? You'd buy something that's just a bait-and-switch tactic?"
He peered out the window and said matter-of-factly, "Of course I know!"
The junior uncle was both amused and exasperated: "How did you know that, yet you still bought it?"
He simply climbed onto the windowsill and sat there: "Who told us that all we have at the foot of Kunlun Mountain is fake wine and apricot blossoms? And yet, my junior uncle happens to like it."
Junior Uncle looked at him.
He patted the wine jug: "It's too boring on Kunlun Mountain. If we don't have any fake wine to drink, won't it get moldy?"
Junior Uncle couldn't help but laugh.
Every time he returned from the foot of the mountain, he would drink with his junior uncle by his small residence.
Junior Uncle asked, "Ah Guan, what brings you to Kunlun?"
Unfollow: "I just wanted to travel the world. I accidentally entered a strange sect before. Later, a good brother asked me to come to Kunlun. I happened to meet my master there, and he brought me to Kunlun."
Junior Uncle said calmly, "Let's go back now."
Unfollowed, eyes wide: "Huh?"
Junior Uncle laughed: "The world is so vast, how can you roam freely if you're always confined to Kunlun?"
He put his hands behind his head, looked up at the sky, and said, "I don't want to wander the martial world anymore. I want to stay in the Kunlun Sect."
Junior Uncle was slightly taken aback.
He unfollowed and continued leisurely, "Kunlun Sect is so great~ There's Master, Fatty, Fu Jin, Song Jin, a bunch of fellow disciples, and you, Junior Uncle!"
Junior Uncle looked at him.
He flipped over and said to his junior uncle sitting under the tree, "Junior uncle, Kunlun would be at least half as boring without you."
Junior Uncle looked up at him and said slowly, "A monkey like you shouldn't stay in Kunlun."
He laughed: "Junior Uncle, didn't you stay too?"
Unfollowing and continuing: "If I hadn't come to Kunlun, how would I have met Junior Uncle! It would be such a pity if I hadn't met Junior Uncle."
Junior Uncle looked up, finished the apricot blossom wine in the lake, and said gently, "Life is full of disappointments, eight or nine out of ten, Ah Guan..."
"Hmm?" He was waiting for the second half of the sentence.
Junior Uncle stood up, but he couldn't see his expression; he only remembered his back.
...
The night was mixed with the torrential rain.
He dug little by little with his hands into the mud mixed with rainwater, but no matter how hard he dug, he couldn't dig a deep pit.
The rain washed away the soil and buried the pit he had just dug. His hands were raw and bleeding from digging...
At dawn, the downpour finally stopped.
He finally buried his junior uncle.
At that moment, he was like a walking corpse, not knowing where to go...
When the rain stopped and the sky cleared, he saw wine flags fluttering in the distance.
Every spring, there is apricot blossom wine.
He didn't know how he got to the restaurant, nor did he notice the restaurant owner's expression when he saw his disheveled appearance. He only vaguely remembered that when the owner asked him, he said he was fine. As he spoke, he squatted down and cried for a long time while holding two jars of apricot blossom wine.
When he didn't know where to go, he thought of He Wenxue.
Yes, the world may be vast, but there's still He Wenxue!
He's going to find He Wenxue!
He Wenxue sent him to Kunlun, and He Wenxue will definitely tell him where to go.
He kowtowed before his junior uncle's grave.
He didn't know when he would return to Kunlun, nor when he would be able to pay homage to his master and him, but he would never forget that last cry of "A-Guan".
...
Thirty years have passed in the blink of an eye; times have changed, and things have become different.
Kunlun declined.
His self-created Cloud Piercing Mountain Breaking Technique became famous throughout the martial arts world.
But he never returned to Kunlun.
Kunlun is like a forgotten story, known to very few people now.
"Then, what about Senior Brother Jiuyun?" Bai Cen had probably taken it to heart, and in his emotion, he forgot that Wang Sumo had tugged at his sleeve earlier.
She unfollowed him, turned to look at him, and said calmly, "He's gone."
Bai Cen was surprised.
Didn't Pang Jiuyun return to Kunlun?
Could they be from Kunlun?! This…
After hearing the old man's last words, Bai Cen already had a bad impression of the Kunlun elders. Thinking of Pang Jiuyun, Bai Cen said in a deep voice, "They can't even tolerate Pang Jiuyun?"
After Bai Cen finished speaking, Wang Sumo shook his head at him.
Bai Cen was slightly surprised.
"I'm going to rest for a while." The old man stood up, his figure tinged with melancholy.
"Grandpa?" Wang Sumo and Bai Cen both stood up.
“I’ll go with you.” Bai Cen stepped forward.
The old man waved his hand: "No need, I want to be alone for a while."
Bai Cen looked at Wang Sumo, who nodded, and Bai Cen understood.
The dim light from the eaves lamp shone on the old man's back, and in that instant, Wang Sumo suddenly felt that the old man had aged ten years...
First came Kunlun, then came Geng Hongbo.
In the martial arts world, we only see the Cloud Piercer and Mountain Breaker, but we don't see the deep sorrow hidden behind him.
That's why the old man said to Qiu Bairen, who could make ten thousand ghosts weep with a single sacrificial blade—you have never tasted the bitterness of sorrow. Even if your blade can make ten thousand ghosts weep, you cannot make yourself feel the same way.
It turns out that this was what the old man wanted to tell the other party.
Even if he were the best martial artist in the world, so what? If it were up to him, he would definitely choose to eat fish and for Fatty to still be alive. He would still be in the Kunlun Sect, joking around with his fellow disciples, having snowball fights in winter, and carrying a pot of apricot blossom wine to visit his junior uncle in spring...
Wang Sumo leaned on the railing and gazed into the distance, her eyes following the old man's back.
Bai Cen stepped forward and asked softly, "Where did Pang Jiuyun go?"
He thought that Wang Sumo was smart and should already know, otherwise she wouldn't have stopped him.
Bai Cen's gaze also fell on the old man's back, and then he heard Wang Sumo say softly from the side, "Do you still remember the Bewitching Town?"
Bewitching Town?
Bai Cen certainly remembered it. He never wanted to experience being chased by a bunch of weirdos in the Bewitching Town again. It was an unforgettable and "exciting" experience.
Wang Sumo said quietly, "Do you still remember the bloody palm print on the wall by the stone bridge and flowing water?"
"Yes..." Bai Cen suddenly stopped, incredulous, and whispered, "That is, Pang Jiuyun?"
Bai Cen gripped the railing tightly, his breathing becoming heavier.
Wang Sumo took a deep breath: "When he left Kunlun, Pang Jiuyun told the old man that he would find the murderer. In the end, he died in the Bewitching Town."
Bai Cen opened his eyes wide.
Wang Sumo swallowed hard: "The character '回' on that stone wall was written for the old man. If one day the old man also finds the Bewitching Town, he'll let the old man leave..."
Bai Cen's eyes glistened, and he remained speechless for a long time.
The night wind was chilly. Gazing at the distant figure, Bai Cen sighed heavily, and after a long while, said, "The old man..."
Bai Cen hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
After a moment, Bai Cen asked in surprise, "The old man said that those he thought were alive were actually dead, referring to Pang Jiuyun. And those he thought were dead, but who turned out to be alive in the end..."
Wang Sumo looked up at him and calmly said, "Junior Uncle."
Bai Cen's eyes widened, speechless with surprise.
Under the eaves lamp, Wang Sumo's gaze fell on his face, and she said softly, "Bai Cen, I think you should also know the old man's junior uncle..."
[Author's Note]
I long to buy osmanthus blossoms and share wine, but it will never be like the carefree days of my youth.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com