Sleepwalking (2)
Tang Xixu was too sleepy to pay any attention to her.
Pharmacist Sun came out from the opposite room and said, "He was keeping watch over your Second Senior Brother last night and didn't sleep all night. Let him get some rest."
"Oh, I see."
It's strange that a villain would be interested in a poisoned wandering scholar.
This is what Xu Ning is confused about.
During the day, the three of them went to rest, while Xu Ning continued to take medicine and exercise. He had been doing this for the past few days.
The setting sun melts gold, and the evening clouds merge into one.
The evening sun obscured the lines of the fields in the medicinal valley. Tang Xixu had just gotten up, and Xu Lian continued to meditate in the room.
Pharmacist Sun was taking care of his medicinal herbs in the field. After picking them, the other disciples of Pharmacist Valley went back one after another, carrying baskets on their backs.
"There's a welcoming ceremony for the gods in the town below tonight. Let's go and take a look."
"Sister, what's this welcoming ceremony? Is it fun?"
"Little sister, are you a patient here for consultation? It's really fun, with shadow puppetry and acrobatics. It starts at the hour of Xu."
These past few days have been repeating every day, which has made Xu Ning feel very depressed and he has been wanting to go out and move around for a long time.
Xu Ning went back to pack her things and put some change in a small satchel. She combed her hair again, still as casual as ever, and tied it up with a wooden hairpin.
She wore no makeup, and if it weren't for her obvious breasts, she might have been mistaken for a young gentleman.
"Ning girl, where are you going?" Xu Ning wanted to sneak out. She checked around to make sure there was no one around, and then she made a plan.
But Old Man Sun walked silently and suddenly patted Xu Ning's shoulder, which made Xu Ning perk up.
"Old Sun, you scared me to death. Why are you walking without making any sound?" Xu Ning turned around and saw Sun Baoyi with a smile on his face.
"There's a welcoming ceremony for the gods in town, so I just wanted to join in the fun." Xu Ning realized he couldn't hide it anymore, so he told the truth directly.
"No! It's so dark, it's dangerous for a girl like you to go out!" The old man's smile turned into anger, and the white beard under his nose seemed to tighten in an instant.
"Oh, you're just overthinking it. How could there be any danger? These past few days, I've seen that the villagers who came into the valley to collect herbs were all quite simple and honest. How could there be any danger?"
"Alas, why is there a fire outside?" Xu Ning said, suddenly looking out the door and pointing.
"No way? Why don't I see anything?" The old man indeed shifted his gaze and looked at where Xu Ning pointed.
"You little kid, how dare you lie to me!" When Sun Baoyi turned around, Xu Ning was gone.
The town more than ten miles away from the valley is quite large. It is the Welcoming Gods Festival, and as the name suggests, it welcomes all kinds of gods to bestow blessings.
In recent years, natural disasters have occurred frequently and farmers have had poor harvests, so they place their hopes on the gods, praying to the Buddha and asking for blessings.
But gods are always spiritual sustenance, and disasters have occurred frequently. However, the harvest this year is still good, and at least fewer people are eating tree bark.
"Little girl, would you like one?" The person drawing the sugar man attracted Xu Ning's attention.
It was fresh, but Xu Ning didn't like this kind of candy. Xu Ning smiled and waved her hand.
"What is this?" Xu Ning drank from the small cup that the stall owner placed outside.
Xu Ning frowned, her mouth filled with the spicy and sweet taste of plums.
"Snow-soaked plum blossom wine. Would you like a glass, little girl? It's not intoxicating. It's just ordinary sweet water." The proprietress handed her a glass.
Xu Ning liked to drink this kind of sweet wine. After taking a sip, he wanted to drink more, so he bought a medium cup.
God is coming.
"Welcome the gods!" the guide shouted loudly.
The gods were dressed in costumes of various shapes. The leader was Gonggong, who had red hair, a human face and a snake body. Then there was Zhurong, who had a human face and a beast body, riding a fire dragon. The eldest son of Huaguang followed one after another.
The last one is Nuwa, who sits high on the "divine throne", wearing a gilded beauty mask and a wreath on her head.
Xu Ning watched the team go away, then staggered backwards.
"hiss"
She turned around and saw Tang Xixu, whom she hadn't seen for many days.
"Master Tangxi is also here to welcome the gods?"
"I never believed in these things. There's no such thing as a god. They're just a thought and a comfort that people seek."
Haha, really? Why do I remember in the original book that before you died, you said, "If there are gods in this world, if gods can hear... then I want to pray for an afterlife." Xu Ning secretly complained inwardly again.
"What is that?" Before Tang Xixu could react, Xu Ning disappeared.
“Selling baked buns”
"Selling flowers"
"Don't miss it if you pass by, sir. If you like it, please give me a tip."
There was a vast sea of people, all around was a noisy crowd of all kinds, and people at the party were shoulder to shoulder. Tang Xixu couldn't see anyone for a long time and became a little anxious.
Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder. He just turned his head and exclaimed, "Wow!" A man wearing a mask of Mr. Zhang, with his five fingers bent, placed his hands on his chest, scaring him.
Under the dim night light, the young man's expression did not change at all. He just stood there, his eyes unfocused, staring only at Xu Ning.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you scared? You shouldn't do that." Xu Ning waved his hand in front of him and took off the mask.
"Boring. Childish." The young man came to his senses and turned away.
"Hehe, what were you thinking about just now?"
"If you don't tell me, you're scared of me."
Tang Xixu still ignored her and walked forward.
"Tang Xixu, don't walk so fast. My legs are short and I can't keep up."
The young man's steps became shorter and his pace slowed down.
"Thank you, Ah Xu, for waiting for me!" Xu Ning jogged to catch up.
Xu Ning quickly covered her mouth.
"That's fine. Whatever you want to call me."
"Oh, you should have said it earlier. Then I will call you Ah Xu from now on. Ah Xu? Ah Xu! What a nice sound." Xu Ning was probably a little bolder because of the wine. Normally, she would never dare to tease him like this, not to mention that the man was Tang Xixu - the villain in the original book.
"It's not nice. They say 'Xixu' means 'sigh'. I'm the one who brought bad things to the family."
The young man's eyes dimmed instantly, his upper eyelids drooping slightly, his head half lowered. The orange light danced on his long, curly eyelashes. It was then that Xu Ning realized that he wasn't wearing a red headband today, but a crown adorned with red jade.
"You don't even believe in God, and you believe this? Don't listen to their nonsense. I think it's very good. Fenglangjuxu, isn't it good enough?" Xu Ning handed him the frosted fruit in his hand and motioned him to eat it.
"I don't eat these."
"Eat one. It's sour and sweet. Eating one of these will make you feel much better." Xu Ning took out a hawthorn fruit covered with thick white frost.
The young man frowned, stared at it, and still hesitated.
"Eat one, why are you still hesitating?" Xu Ning stuffed it directly into Tang Xixu's mouth.
It was a bit unexpected, and my tasteless mouth was instantly filled with the sweetness of frosting and the sourness of hawthorn.
"Not bad..."
"Yeah, then eat more."
"When people are unhappy, they should eat more sweets. I do that, and you should too."
"There are people beating drums and dancing lions over there. Let's go and take a look." Xu Ning casually took Tang Xixu's hand. Tang Xixu hadn't come back to his senses yet. His eyes were dull and he was just looking at the woman in front of him.
Xu Ning didn't think much about it, just because there were too many people and he was afraid of getting lost.
The red furry lion came forward and blinked at Xu Ning.
The person in the middle was dancing a lion, and many pedestrians stopped, held hands, formed a circle, and danced together.
Xu Ning joined in naturally. Tang Xixu looked at the girl in front of him dancing with joy, and her every frown and smile was like raindrops falling on his heart.
Xu Ning pulled him in. "I don't know how." Tang Xixu was forced to enter.
"It's okay, just follow me." Xu Ning smiled and tilted her head towards him.
Tang Xixu couldn't keep up at first, but then he gradually joined in, and the two of them danced with the crowd to welcome the gods. A long-lost smile appeared on the young man's face.
The drums beat one tune after another, and the two of them didn't know how long they had been dancing.
"Where have you been? I've been looking for you for a long time." After dancing, Xu Ning did not see Tang Xixu.
"I saw someone making candy figures in front. I'll go and learn how to make one." Tang Xixu took out a candy figure from behind him.
It can't be considered a sugar man, but the word "凝" (Ning) written with sugar.
When Xu Ning saw this, his pupils immediately contracted.
This style of painting is wrong.
This plot line isn't right either.
I remember that the plot about the sugar man in the original book clearly happened to the heroine Zhao Mingshang.
"Thank you, thank you." Xu Ning wanted to refuse, but he felt that this was something the other person had learned and done on the spot. If he refused, it would be a disservice to the person and he would not be giving him face.
Xu Ning took a bite or two and frowned. Is it so sweet?
Tang Xixu saw Xu Ning staring at the sugar figurine, "What? It's not tasty?"
"No, it's delicious. I just... can't bear to destroy this word, that's all." Xu Ning answered quickly, afraid that he would think too much.
"Let's release the water lanterns, let's release the water lanterns."
"Take it, I'll go write one." Xu Ning handed the sugar figure to Tang Xixu.
The young man stood on the far bank, watching Xu Ning on the water bank, clasping his hands together, closing his eyes and praying devoutly, and then he released two water lanterns into the river.
"Let's go."
"If you put something like this in the river, it will be fished out by the people cleaning the river soon. The gods won't accept it. It's useless to release it."
"Don't you believe this?" Xu Ning teased him with a smile.
quite a while.
"You go shopping first, I'll go over there and take a look. Don't go too far." Tang Xixu suddenly said this.
"Yeah. Okay."
The inky figure had already disappeared in the crowd.
"Boss, please help me retrieve the lantern that the girl just released." Tang Xixu gave him some change.
"Thank you."
There was a row of words written on the prayer note, the font was vigorous and elegant, completely different from Xu Ning's appearance.
May Tang Xixu have a happy life and a good end.
These words were very glaring in Tang Xixu's eyes at this moment.
happy?
His life will never be happy.
A good death was never what he wanted.
All he wants is the truth.
Tang Xixu felt that for a man whose family was broken up, his whole life was lived for this.
He will never change, not for anyone or anything.
But at this moment, his heart inexplicably skipped a beat, and regret, self-blame, and even guilt surged into his heart at this moment.
"Hahaha" Tang Xixu laughed loudly towards the sky, crumpled the note in his hand into a ball, unfolded it, crumpled it into a ball, unfolded it again... over and over again, and finally put it into the sachet he carried with him.
"This guy is crazy." People passing by were all confused.
People come and go, and all the excitement, joy and happiness turn into nothing.
A few drops of clear tears quietly slid across Tang Xixu's eyes.
"Where has this person gone? It's been half an hour. Could he have gone back?"
Xu Ning looked around at the welcoming ceremony, but didn't see anyone, so he went back.
When I got back, I saw Tang Xixu lying on an ancient tree in the valley. The moonlight reflected on the ripples in the lake and sprinkled on the young man's face.
"Tang Xixu! Why did you leave me?" Xu Ning became furious when he saw this leisurely man.
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