Mountain God (3)
That was Xiaohan twenty years ago.
"Woo-wah~ woo-wah~"
In the middle of the night, bursts of children's crying were heard nearby.
Ziyin was woken up and was very annoyed. He went out to take a look and saw a baby less than one year old wrapped in a thin plush blanket under the dim moonlight.
The child was abandoned in the snow, his death near, and he, as the mountain god, could not intervene. He sighed with helplessness and pity.
"I don't know which parents are so cruel." Ziyin felt heartbroken, but he could only turn his head away. If he interfered with the cause and effect of this child, the child would encounter more troubles in the future.
Ziyin originally thought that the child would not survive the night, but he was extremely tenacious and was able to cry even after lying in the snow all night.
He still felt sympathy: "It's just a broken child. I don't believe I can't protect him."
The reason why Zi Yin felt so distressed when he saw it was because he had seen his own shadow. He no longer knew how many years ago it was, but people mostly wore dark cotton and linen clothes like gray or brown, with a slim-fitting short top and a loose-fitting hakama underneath.
Ziyin was already quite old at that time, but he encountered an accident and was picked up and raised by the previous mountain god.
"Little fox, follow me closely from now on." Lu Jing picked up Zi Yin and stuffed him into his clothes, smiling softly.
Ziyin remembered that smile for a very long time, so long that it is still extremely clear in his mind today, as if the moon reflected in the water could be scooped up with just a stretch of the hand.
Lu Jing treated Ziyin as a human being from the beginning, so when he was naming him, he thought carefully for a few days and said, "I'll just call you Ziyin."
Yin means good fortune and wealth, and it means meeting by chance. Lu Jing naturally hopes that the abandoned little fox will have a happy future.
The little fox cried a few times.
"No, you drew the talisman wrongly. There should be a small curved hook." Lu Jing rubbed Ziyin's furry hair and gave instructions with a smile.
The little fox, who was too lazy to move in the summer and snuggled into his arms in the winter because of the cold, grew up and was able to transform into a lively and talkative little guy.
Some of Ziyin's abilities were innate, while others were taught by Lu Jing, who always taught Ziyin patiently and attentively.
"It was you who didn't draw the little hook when you taught me!" Zi Yin said stubbornly.
Lu Jing saw through his thoughts, but since this was the little fox he picked up, he had to be patient and pamper it.
He smiled, his voice calm, powerful, yet very gentle: "Then I'll draw it again, you have to look carefully."
However, Ziyin's learning was not sophisticated enough, his transformation was not proficient enough, and he was dragging his tail.
"it's beautiful"
As civilization progressed, people gradually began to stop relying on gods to bless them with good harvests and peace throughout the year.
Without faith and incense, there will always be problems, big and small, in the mountains, either wandering ghosts will show up and do evil, or mountain spirits will commit crimes and chaos.
The spiritual energy of the mountain gradually became sparse. In order to fill the gap, Lu Jing finally made a choice: "Don't run around while I sleep. When I wake up, I will take you to the human world below the mountain to play."
Day after day, year after year, countless sunsets and stars passed, but Zi Yin still didn't see Lu Jing open his eyes. He knew in his heart that Lu Jing might never wake up.
"Tsk, I have my own hands and feet, I can go down and see it myself. I'm no longer a little fox who needs you to kick me in your arms."
"It's not much good to go to the human world below the mountain too much. It's the same people coming and going, but there are more and more people."
"Hahaha, there's no need to go down the mountain now. Many people go up the mountain just to take a look at the pond in front of our house. I really don't understand."
"Your mountain temple was demolished a long time ago. A new one has been built, but the statues are much uglier than your old one."
"I'm telling you, I found a little kid who was frozen in the snow all night and still lived!"
Every time Zi Yin entered the mountain temple, he would transform into a little fox. He couldn't remember how many words he spoke to the statues in the mountain temple. He had never seen Lu Jing, but he could still feel that Lu Jing had never left.
As long as there are still believers or followers, the mountain god will not die completely.
Ziyin is both Lu Jing's most devout believer and his only remaining follower.
He imitated Lu Jing and became a mountain god, protecting the mountains and forests and all living things, but he was not Lu Jing after all, and could not be as warm and kind to all things as Lu Jing.
"I imitated you to do what you once insisted on, but I found that I was always just your believer." Zi Yin looked at the statue of the mountain god sadly. He wished that Lu Jing was still alive, so that he would not have to be a mountain god, and he could still be the little fox who snuggled in Lu Jing's arms and acted coquettishly.
Ziyin taught Jiang Yu the same way Lu Jing taught him, and he also learned to name Jiang Yu from Lu Jing.
Because he was a celestial fox, he was born with the ability to see through the fog and see a glimpse of the secrets of heaven, so he was named "Jiang Yu" to bring him some protection.
However, Ziyin could not learn Lu Jing's innate gentleness and tolerance.
"You little brat, if you don't learn this little magic trick for me today, you'll have to clean up the master's temple."
Ziyin was almost pissed off at Jiang Yu. He was a very smart kid, but he just couldn't control his thoughts. He always wanted to climb trees to take bird eggs, dig holes to catch rabbits, and go to Tianchi to play in the water.
Almost all the creatures in the mountains have suffered from the little devil's vicious hands. If it weren't for Zi Yin's face, Jiang Yu would have suffered revenge long ago.
"I was stung by a bug and a bump appeared. It's so itchy." Jiang Yu stretched out his calf and saw the red bump on his ankle was as big as an adult's thumb.
Zi Yin pulled Jiang Yu's calf and used his fingernail to pinch a rice-shaped pattern on it: "That's enough, the pain won't itch anymore."
Jiang Yu shouted at the top of his lungs, "How can there be a master like you!"
"I'll count to three. If you don't practice, I'll hang you on a tree and howl for you."
Jiang Yu began to suspect that his master disliked him and disliked him after he had a long sleep. He recalled everything from being abandoned by his biological parents to playing in the Tianchi Lake a few days ago.
Jiang Yu finally woke up, but his master locked himself in the room and refused to see him. He only told him what to do every day, how much to learn, and asked him to clean the master's mountain temple every other day.
During those days when they couldn't see each other, the immature Jiang Yu finally couldn't help but ask, "If you hate me, why do you still keep me around?!"
Zi Yin was stunned by the question: "Are you having a fever? You are delirious and talking nonsense."
"Aren't you just blaming me for being disobedient and always running out to play? You don't want to see me because you don't like me." Jiang Yu kicked the door with such force that the wall trembled slightly.
"I'm not feeling well and I'm recuperating. What are you doing?"
Ziyin opened the door. His cheeks were no longer as rosy as before, his lips were pale, and he looked very haggard.
Jiang Yu was also confused. In his impression, his master was radiant and handsome, but at this moment, his master looked like a seriously ill person on his deathbed.
"You, Master, what happened to you?" Jiang Yu panicked.
Zi Yin snorted, "Ugh, I ate something wrong. Go and learn and practice now. Once I've recovered, I'll check how you're doing. If you don't satisfy me, you'll be punished by standing in the yard."
Since then, Jiang Yu has become much more obedient.
It was the tenth Minor Cold when I picked up Jiang Yu. The snow was much heavier than in previous years. The white mountain roads looked like they were covered with a white quilt. The accumulated snow bent the branches and waists of the trees. Only the long mountains in the distance were dotted with a few strands of dark green in the white.
Jiang Yu caught a small white snake and ran into the house: "Master, is it dying?"
Zi Yin glanced at the little white snake that was almost dying of cold, took a blanket and wrapped it up: "Go and light a heater."
In previous winters, Zi Yin was afraid that Jiang Yu’s quilt was not warm enough and that he would kick it off, so he would let him sleep in his room and use his big furry tail to keep his little apprentice warm.
But this year Ziyin didn't do that. Instead, he installed several heaters.
Jiang Yu comforted himself that he was already a little man at the age of ten, so his master let him sleep alone.
Zi Yin looked at it for a few seconds and realized that the white snake was not of the Changbai Mountain variety. However, since Jiang Yu had encountered it and saved it, it was its destiny and also Jiang Yu's accumulated blessing.
"What are you looking at? What's so good about a broken incense burner?" Zi Yin saw Jiang Yu staring at the incense burner in a daze and tapped his forehead.
"Why is there no big tail this year?" Jiang Yu took the opportunity to express his feelings.
Zi Yin was stunned. He had never thought that Jiang Yu was thinking about his tail. But when he thought about it, it was not surprising. Jiang Yu had always slept with him in the winter. This year, he suddenly changed. The child was inevitably disappointed and confused.
"Because you were disobedient. You used the Bai Ze horn to dig the ground and almost lost the Eternal Life Knot that your master left for me." Zi Yin pretended to be angry.
Jiang Yu was indignant: "I've been standing in the yard all day and even cleaned the mountain temple. Why are you holding such a grudge?"
"You little brat, you're still talking back! It's a good thing I didn't hit you. Those are all treasures left to me by your master." Zi Yin pinched Jiang Yu's face, grabbed it hard twice, and when he let go, a red handprint was left behind.
"Yes, I am stingy. This is not the first day you have been my apprentice." Zi Yin had an expression that said, "What can you do to me if I, your master, am stingy?"
Ziyin himself didn't notice that he seemed not to have grown up. After being a mountain god for many years and becoming a master, he was still so childish and stubborn.
But Jiang Yu suddenly realized that it was because his master Lu Jing took such good care of Ziyin that he was able to remain childish and kind for so many years.
"Why is there only one big tail this year?" Jiang Yu said.
Zi Yin rolled his eyes, "You're asking for too much. I don't want to just go back to my room and sleep."
That winter, Jiang Yu finally got what he wanted. He listened to his master's bedtime stories and slept under the fluffy and soft big tail.
"Jiang Yu is gifted and intelligent. Aside from some things he couldn't learn even with effort, he mastered everything that would take others 20 to 30 years in just eight years."
When Ziyin talked about Lu Jing, his charming eyes were filled with regret and sadness, but when he talked about Jiang Yu as a child, his eyes were filled with the tenderness of an elder.
"When he was sixteen, I let him enter the world and interact with more people." Zi Yin gently and carefully fed Yu Shu a glass of warm water.
Yu Shu was in a complicated mood: "Are you okay? Thank you for your hard work."
Zi Yin was stunned for a moment, slowly pondering the two simple words, and his heart was filled with waves of emotion.
"I told you, that brat is lucky." Zi Yin laughed dryly.
Jiang Yu did not sleep for a long time, but had an accident while playing in the water at Tianchi.
That very long dream was a revolving lantern of the dying. The celestial fox could see through the secrets of heaven, and naturally it had the ability to change fate.
So Ziyin locked himself in the room and refused to see Jiang Yu, not because he was uncomfortable, but because he cut off his own tail and was saved by Jiang Yu.
Yu Shu didn't know how many tails Ziyin had broken in order to save Jiang Yu, but he could see that Ziyin really treated Jiang Yu as his own son and loved and cared for him wholeheartedly.
"Jiang Yu will feel uncomfortable after the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's not because he learned the magic you taught him, but because he died once. After the 15th of August, the yin and yang are out of balance, so he feels uncomfortable." Yu Shu also laughed.
Ziyin nodded: "He was particularly clingy in the few days after Mid-Autumn Festival. I don't know how he got by in those years before he met you."
He seemed to realize that he had revealed his true thoughts and immediately changed his tone: "I spent a lot of effort to raise that brat. If anything happens to him, I will be at a loss, don't you think?"
The warm light and Yu Shu's gentle smile complemented each other: "Master is right." Some things are better seen through than exposed. It is enough to know that Ziyin cares about and loves Jiang Yu in his heart. Some people are just used to beating around the bush.
"Actually, the white snake that saved me came to repay me." Yu Shu turned his head slightly and lowered his eyelids.
"Well, otherwise who would be willing to hand over the reverse scale to someone else."
Ziyin had a big snow-white tail growing behind him, with a dark black spot at the tip. The soft and warm tail was almost as long as the bed.
Yu Shu looked at it curiously, and Zi Yin nodded: "It's okay, you can touch it. That brat even plucked my tail hair and used it as a brush."
"But I've pulled it out myself. I was worried that the brat wouldn't have thick clothes to wear when he entered the world, so I made him some thick clothes."
Yu Shu remembered the room on the third floor where Jiang Yu stored precious items. There were several boxes in it containing thick clothes of smaller sizes.
At that time he thought it was an antique, but now he knows that it was actually clothes made for him by Ziyin.
"Are you feeling better?" Jiang Yu knocked on the door. Seeing Ziyin's tail, he couldn't help but touch it.
Then he was slapped by Zi Yin's tail: "Did I let you touch it?"
Jiang Yu walked around Zi Yin's tail and showed his face, which had just been beaten, with a wronged look on his face: "You didn't say anything bad about me, did you?"
Zi Yin had no motivation at all. Although his movements looked fast, they were just a quick sweep of the fur. But Yu Shu still cooperated and raised his hand to touch it.
"If you had a little self-awareness, it would take three days and three nights to finish. I don't have that much free time." Zi Yin snorted and rolled his eyes: "And you, don't spoil him. Why do boys have to be so spoiled every day?"
Jiang Yu pretended that Ziyin had not arrived yet and kissed Yu Shu's palm.
Yu Shu quickly withdrew his hand: "I really like hearing about your childhood."
Jiang Yu's expression changed immediately: "Master, please talk to him slowly. Anything is fine."
Zi Yin narrowed his eyes, raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, "Well, I have to say, when he was ten years old, the winter was extremely cold. He peed in the yard, and it froze as soon as he peed. He cried and called for me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
