In front of the woodshed on one side of the village.

Qi Wuhuo sensed something was wrong and slashed instinctively, but when he turned around, he saw nothing.

Only the few children who were running around and playing with branches looked at the Taoist boy with curiosity and envy, or rather the straight branch in his hand, with their eyes shining. Finally, a braver child asked, "Big brother, are you here to look for someone? Are you a guest in the village?!"

The young Taoist nodded.

The chubby kid said, "Well, then..."

"Do you know swordsmanship?"

Qi Wuhuo originally wanted to say yes.

But then I thought of my senior sister's calmness at the beginning when she looked down on all the sword masters in the world.

The voice paused slightly, and then replied: "Just a little bit."

Then, looking at the children's envious eyes, he smiled knowingly, bent down slightly, lowered his sleeves, stretched out his hand, handed over the branch, and said with a smile: "This is for you, take it and play with it..."

“Okay!”

"Thank you, big brother!"

The children were very happy and went away playing.

The young Taoist stood up and watched them go away. From a distance, he heard the old man's voice: "Ha, young Taoist, you got up early. Are you okay? I was going to wait for you outside yesterday, but the rain was too heavy. I couldn't bear it anymore, so I had to go back early."

"I was afraid you would catch a cold, so I brought some clothes. If you don't mind, you can put them on..."

The old gentleman from yesterday came closer, but was surprised.

He saw that the young man's robe was clean and not wet by the rain as he had guessed.

Qi Wuhuo said:

"Thank you, Mr. Zhou. The woodshed is actually a place that is sheltered from the rain, so my clothes didn't get wet."

"But I didn't expect it to rain today."

Qi Wuhuo suddenly remembered the young man who was wet and smelled fishy when he left the fortune teller yesterday. Qi Wuhuo left early and only heard the young man yesterday say that he wanted the fortune teller to calculate whether it would rain today, and if so, how much rain would fall in the eastern part of the city.

Qi Wuhuo didn't hear the rest of the story.

The old man sighed, "Yeah, who could have thought of that?"

"But the temper of God is like that of a five or six-year-old child. He changes his mind from moment to moment. No one can stop him from making it rain or marrying someone. But this rain is really a bit strange."

Qi Wuhuo asked: "Strange?"

"yes."

The old man stroked his beard and replied, "I have lived here for decades, and I know the climate here very well. Yesterday, the clouds were so heavy and humid, and the cold winter rain was so strong that it almost penetrated into the bones. But the rain was a little too little, and it felt a bit like a bluff with a lot of thunder and little rain."

The middle-aged man next to him laughed and said, "Dad, you're here again."

"Judging the weather by looking at the clouds is a method used by gods."

"Even if you watch it for your whole life, you can't say you can see it for sure..."

The old man blew his beard and glared, slapped his thigh and said:

"I've had cold legs for more than 10 or 20 years, so I know roughly when it will rain and how much it will rain!"

"I was in so much pain yesterday that I couldn't even walk!"

"It only rained so little!"

"This is definitely not right. How could it be that after just a few days, your father's health has suddenly deteriorated so much?"

When people get older, they always have some childish stubbornness. His son had to coax his father:

"Yes, yes, Dad, you are right. You are right."

"It's because God didn't rain enough."

"Not enough rain!"

After coaxing for a while, the old man stopped mentioning the matter and asked his sons to move the things they brought in. It was with their help that the girl's mother Lian Shulan was able to survive these days. Qi Wuhuo helped move the things in and clean them up, and then had breakfast together at the old man's strong invitation.

A flattened stone slab on top of a round pillar is the farmer's table.

The surface was not smooth and had some small potholes. When the palms were brushed over, the hands were full of water, but the few people did not care. They carried a steamer, which contained rough bowls and chopsticks, and fist-sized steamed buns, as well as dishes fried over a high fire in a farmer's house, spicy stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried bacon, and simply stir-fried peppers.

Several people put their bowls on the table, and the old man asked his daughter-in-law to bring in a bowl of food so that Lian Shulan could have some as well.

The rest of the people sat around. Since there was no place to sit, they took a white pottery bowl, put some of the various dishes in it, then took a steamed bun that had been made from too much alkaline noodles and turned a little yellow in one hand, and held the bowl with a scallion in the other hand, and squatted beside it to eat. While eating, they talked about things in the village, about spring plowing, and how it had rained a few times this year, so there should be a good harvest.

He said that the children were disobedient and did not study seriously, and that his wife would make a fuss if he beat them.

Qi Wuhuo ate a full meal. Uncle Yun's rice was indeed delicious, but the food gave him an indescribable sense of security. After finishing his meal, the old man asked, "How do we cure Xiao Lian's illness?"

Qi Wuhuo said: "Maybe I should focus on resting."

"With acupuncture and medicinal stones, it will slowly get better."

The old man stroked his beard and said, "That's good."

"People encounter all kinds of things in their lives. Is there anything that cannot be overcome?"

"We still have to survive."

"Survive, and one day you will be able to move on from the past..."

"Then you can stay here during this period, little Taoist priest. There are still a few habitable houses in the village." The old man looked at the yard and sighed, "Don't refuse. We have seen how hard she has been feeling. But the people in the village have to endure whatever happens. There is no other way."

"We are all grateful to you for meeting a kind person like you who can treat her."

The old man brought Qi Wuhuo to a relatively small courtyard. There was no lock on the door. When he pushed the door open, there was a table, a bed, and a cabinet in the room. It seemed that no one had been here for some time, and there was some dust inside. The old man apologized:

"This was originally prepared for the guests in the village, or the people who occasionally come here to do business. The merchants come here to settle down, they get convenience, and the people in our village can also buy what they need, which is also convenient. However, the New Year is coming soon, so the merchants have all returned to their hometowns."

"If you don't mind, you can stay here first."

"I'll ask someone to clean it up for you."

The old man was very enthusiastic, and then smiled and said, "I haven't asked yet, what is your name, young Taoist priest?"

The young Taoist replied, "Qi Wuhuo."

"It means that I hope to have no regrets or doubts in this life..."

The old man smiled and said, “This name has a great meaning.”

"How old are you now?"

The boy answered subconsciously: "After the New Year's Day, it will be the 15th..."

His voice paused.

He replied, "After the New Year's Day, I will be sixteen years old."

Qi Wuhuo was not idle, he also helped to clean up the house. After about an hour, the house that had been idle for about a month or two became clean and tidy again. The old man also gave him a few books and said that if he had free time, he could read them to increase his knowledge and learning. Qi Wuhuo nodded in agreement.

The old man smiled, stroked his beard and left.

I feel happy that I have encouraged another young person to read more.

If he were not a monk.

"He's a good candidate. If he studies more, he might be able to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar."

"It's a pity to cultivate the Dao."

He said this to his son next to him.

He was not in a hurry to go home, as he had thought that the rain would make his old rheumatoid arthritis legs so painful that he could not move, so he postponed many things in advance. But now he did not seem to be feeling so uncomfortable. Instead, he had some free time and walked all the way to the Lian family. After the acupuncture, he saw that Lian Shulan, who had eaten a lot of food, was obviously in much better spirits.

I feel both relieved and emotional.

I just thought that she felt better now because she had some hope in her heart.

I was also worried that she would be even more devastated after learning the truth.

After sighing for a long time, he just shook his head and left. When he passed by the woodshed, he smiled and said:

"I never thought that this woodshed could be used as a shelter from the rain."

Just look at it casually.

But he found that it was raining everywhere in the woodshed.

The old man leaned over and touched the firewood. Even the dry wood had been thoroughly soaked. When he reached out his hand to grab it, wood chips fell out.

It can be guessed that it rained heavily last night.

He suddenly thought of the young Taoist's answer and his dry Taoist robe.

"...The woodshed is actually a place that is sheltered from the rain, so my clothes didn't get wet..."

The old man was stunned.

…

Qi Wuhuo decided to go to the city again today and ask the fortune teller.

This time is no longer yesterday.

But what happened last year...

When I pushed open the door, I suddenly felt something spiritual. I lowered my head and saw the bronze mirror in the wooden box at my waist light up slightly. It naturally had a magical light and spiritual charm, flowing and changing.

A day and a half passed.

Yunqin finally replied to him.