Qi Wuhuo had only sensed that moist air and a faint fishy smell from the young man in fancy clothes who had come to gamble with the fortune teller yesterday.
Now that I sense it, I subconsciously think it is still him.
The young Taoist turned around and followed the scent, and saw people coming and going outside. The scent came from a two-story teahouse more than thirty steps away. He looked up, but what he saw was not the young man he had seen yesterday, but an old man who was leaning on the railing on the second floor of the teahouse, drinking tea alone, holding a child in his arms, but the child was crying loudly.
The old man comforted the child.
It seemed that he noticed Qi Wuhuo's gaze.
The old man turned and looked.
Looking at Qi Wuhuo, the young Taoist knew that he was being rude. He stood in the crowd and bowed slightly with a hint of apology.
The old man started to laugh and said, "I didn't expect to see a successful Xuanmen orthodox practitioner here."
"I feel lonely drinking tea here alone."
"Little Taoist priest, if you don't mind, please come up and have a cup of tea?"
The old man invited her in a very casual manner.
Qi Wuhuo thought about it and thanked him.
Holding the osmanthus cake in her hand, she walked up to the teahouse step by step and came to a window seat on the second floor.
Seeing that the child had stopped crying, a woman came up in a hurry, took the child away, and thanked and bowed. After hearing these words of thanks, Qi Wuhuo understood that it seemed that because there were too many people in the market today, the woman and the child got lost. It was the old man who took the child away for fun and sent people to look for the woman.
The woman left with many thanks.
But there seemed to be some fear in his eyes.
The child was happy instead. He turned around and waved goodbye to the old man over there.
The old man smiled gently and raised his teacup.
Then he invited Qi Wuhuo to take a seat. The young Taoist sat opposite the old man and saw the old man’s true face.
Only then did I understand why there was a hint of fear in the woman's eyes just now.
He was an old man with a dignified face and flying eyebrows, but his right eyebrow was only half, and there was a patch of skin on his forehead with marks of burns.
Combined with this majestic face, it inevitably looks a bit ferocious.
The old man could sense that Qi Wuhuo's gaze did not contain any malicious intent, which was enough to prove that his mind was highly cultivated and as clear as a mirror. When people are young, they do not experience much, so their primordial spirit is more lively than the conscious spirit that is born from acquired learning and experience, and can sense people's hidden malice and kindness.
That's why I have a favorable impression of this old man with a dignified and somewhat ferocious face.
Qi Wuhuo thanked the old man for the invitation.
The old man looked at Qi Wuhuo and praised him, "You look unfamiliar, young Taoist priest, but your cultivation is very good. Many practitioners nowadays are always eager to accumulate vitality and magic power, and often lag behind in the cultivation of their own spiritual nature. In this case, they can make rapid progress in the early stage, but will encounter obstacles and find it difficult to break through as time goes by, and may be trapped for life."
"And it's not the kind that only looks at the appearance."
He reached out and touched the side of his forehead, smiling freely.
"Is the young Taoist priest here to travel?"
Qi Wuhuo replied: "Yes, there are other things as well."
The old man laughed and said, "In this case, we can stay here for a longer time. During the Lantern Festival every year, the bustle of Zhongzhou City is more beautiful than the imperial capitals in the human world. It's because the royal relatives are afraid of death, so there are many restrictions during the celebrations, so it's not as beautiful as here."
"See more, travel around, and witness the mundane world, only then can you have a state of mind that is out of this world and not stagnant on things."
The old man poured Qi Wuhuo a cup of tea and did not ask for his name.
He never introduced himself.
Just meet up to drink tea and see the scenery outside together.
Qi Wuhuo took a sip of tea and felt it was refreshing. Then streams of fresh air spread out and penetrated into his limbs and bones.
The primordial essence and primordial energy cannot help but become calm.
Become more rounded.
"This is……"
Qi Wuhuo was a little surprised.
Calm down and meditate quietly. It will take a full cup of tea for the clear air to dissipate.
At this moment, the bitter and sweet taste of the tea in my mouth slowly appeared. The old man in front of me smiled and said, "There are many practitioners in the world, and it is rare to encounter the slowest and most difficult path among the orthodox Xuanmen. Although I don't know your master, but since you have reached the [Three Talents], your life expectancy should be 120 years old."
"【Innate Qi】will definitely not be able to defeat you."
“You should take the path that takes you the longest.”
"But remember, you can't try to practice magical powers and condense the innate Qi right now."
The old man smiled gently and said, "After achieving [Qi Lingli Long Body Lightness], you still need to maintain it for a hundred days before you can try to condense it."
"If you practice as you grow, it will be like pulling out your muscles and bones, and it will be a waste of effort and difficult to achieve success."
"First, build up a good foundation, then practice to circulate the Qi, and then follow the path of Xiantian Yiqi. This is the stable path."
Qi Wuhuo pondered it carefully, verified it with the mental method taught by his teacher, and thanked him sincerely.
The old man laughed and said, "Just because you don't mind me being nosy and meddling in other people's business, that's all."
Qi Wuhuo shook his head and said, "The old gentleman is kind-hearted to give me advice, and the legal principles he described are also correct."
"Although the three elements of vitality, essence and spirit are complete, they have not yet taken root. If we take the next step now, the foundation will inevitably be unstable. It is like building a high-rise building without a solid foundation. The building will be built quickly, but it will not be high."
"I should thank you."
The old man sighed and said, "If my son could have your understanding and character, there would be no need for this trouble."
"Your son?"
The old man stroked his beard and sighed, with a hint of helplessness and a hint of relief on his face:
"Yeah...haha, he was naughty and hot-tempered when he was young, so he got into some trouble."
"Later, I finally raised him up and taught him magical powers and cultivation. Only now have I taken off my own [responsibilities] and handed them over to him to manage. That's why I can come here, look at the scenery, and have a cup of tea in my spare time when I should be the busiest."
The old man looked at the scenery outside, the people coming and going, and the fireworks of the world, his eyes focused, and he smiled and said:
"My elder brother wants me to live in the Eastern [ancestral vein]."
"But no matter how familiar my hometown is, it is only the place where I lived when I was young. I have lived here almost all my life. I am used to seeing such scenery on weekdays. Suddenly I have to leave, but I feel reluctant. I have been urged many times, but I always refuse to go. This makes me confused. Little Taoist priest, you said that people always say that they are attached to their hometown, but what exactly is hometown?"
The young Taoist looked at the old man, thought for a moment, and replied:
“Maybe it’s the memories that we are nostalgic for.”
The old man was slightly startled, looking at the crowd in this world, and suddenly smiled: "What a good memory."
"The young Taoist priest is right."
“What I miss is not the ordinary places and scenery, but perhaps everything I have seen and experienced here.”
“I was young here, I’ve grown old here, where else is my hometown except here?”
He raised his cup of tea and sat in the tea room on the second floor, looking outside.
At this time, his originally majestic facial features softened.
Qi Wuhuo looked at the old man's forehead, thought for a moment, and said, "I know some medical skills. Do you want me to help you take a look?"
The old man did not refuse, but just smiled and said casually: "Then I'll have to trouble you, little Taoist priest."
Qi Wuhuo stood up and walked to the old man, saying sorry, and stretched out his hand to press on the old man's forehead, but he only felt a burning air. For some reason, it made him feel a little familiar, but it was indeed beyond the scope of his medical skills. So he raised his hand, and the old man just smiled and said:
"Thank you for your kindness, young Taoist priest, but I don't think you can solve this problem."
"Seven or eight years ago, there was a disaster in Jinzhou that caused drought in the entire state. I relied on my magical powers at that time."
"I carried two buckets of water and went to that place to sprinkle some rain. This is what happened at that time..."
The old man raised his hand and touched his forehead, coughed a few times, and said self-deprecatingly:
"Otherwise, there would be no need to resign so early and hand over the responsibility to my child."
"rain?"
Qi Wuhuo was suddenly startled.
Thinking of the time when he was young, he gave the cake to a younger child, but was rushed over, snatched away the food, and beaten. He lay on the ground dying, waiting to die. It was the rain that woke him up from his coma, and he barely survived. The old man just looked ahead and smiled and said, "Yes, rain."
"Rain falls from the clouds and flows into the rivers, lakes and seas. Then the sun and the moon rise, turn into clouds and return to the sky."
"Isn't it just like a cultivator breathing in and out, letting the Qi flow through all the meridians?"
Qi Wuhuo seemed to be thinking about something, and said to himself, "The sun is like nature, the moon is life, and the clouds and water are like energy veins, moving back and forth without stopping."
"Is that so..."
He seemed to understand something.
However, the old man did not hear the young man's whisper clearly, and he never thought that his sigh would make the young Taoist realize something.
He just leaned out, looked at the clouds, and smiled:
“The first rain and snow of each year will suppress the evil spirits and slowly dissipate the dry air accumulated over the year. This is the meaning of [starting anew with all things]. If there is rain and snow in winter, the epidemic will disappear. When the spring comes next year, the crops and trees will flourish. People also like the snow and the rain. So I like this rain very much every year…”
The young Taoist finished his tea.
The old man was still looking at the scenery.
The two never exchanged names, they just drank a cup of tea, watched a scene, and listened to the wind singing in the world.
You can enter this place at will, and leave at will.
That’s all.
When Qi Wuhuo left, he saw a chess game on the old man's table. It was a very famous chess game now.
Someone has figured out the mystery of those decades in the dream.
The young Taoist raised his hand and picked up a chess piece, placed it at the breaking point, and then left, walking forward step by step.
The greetings from the vendors on both sides were so enthusiastic, and the freshly-baked buns were so tempting, the young Taoist walked past the stall, but still pursed his lips, stepped back, and bought himself a steaming hot meat bun. Only then was he satisfied, and walked back while eating.
It was only after buying this osmanthus cake that I realized one thing. Even with the [Circular Light Manifestation Method], it is impossible to send this osmanthus cake from the mortal world to the stars. While he was thinking about it, the mirror suddenly changed again. Qi Wuhuo was stunned. He made an illusion, raised his hand to take out the mirror, and looked at it curiously.
But I saw countless streams of light on the mirror converge and turn into one word -
【Disaster】!
Qi Wuhuo was stunned: "Difficult? What does this mean?"
First you say [good], and then you say [difficult]?
[Good][Difficult].
So difficult?
The young Taoist understood the meaning of the girl's message. She was trying so hard to convey the message, was she saying that the spell was too difficult?
This seemed to be beyond his expectations. The young Taoist who had always controlled his emotions since he had witnessed many evils in people's hearts since he was young could not help but laugh softly as he held the sweet osmanthus cake in his hand, standing in the red dust of the world.
The young Taoist bit his bun, thought for a moment, and then started writing.
"My cultivation has made a breakthrough."
"When I return, I may be able to use the [Circular Light Manifestation Method] normally this time."
"I'll teach you. It's not difficult."