21 Mortals (Part 2)
◎I am a woodcutter◎
Carrying firewood on his back, Bai Yu walked on the street delivering firewood to every household. The three or four families living on this street were all Bai Yu's regular customers, and they would come to deliver firewood once every first day of the month.
After working for a while, we finally arrived at the door of the last store. This store always orders the largest quantity of firewood.
At this time, the White King was standing at the door, carrying a large bundle of firewood on his back. He looked hesitant and did not knock on the door.
It's not that the owner of this house has a bad temper or something, but rather that he has a very good temper. Every time Bai Yu comes, he is very warm to him. He invites him to dinner many times and introduces his daughter to him.
After experiencing this kind of thing a few times, Bai Yu had to think that the old man wanted to recruit him as a son-in-law!
He is not bragging, his appearance and looks are top-notch in this world.
Just when Bai Yu was lost in thought, the door in front of him opened with a creaky sound. The person who opened the door was the owner of this family, Mr. Qian.
"Mr. Qian, how have you been lately?" Bai Yu stepped forward and greeted.
At this time in the past, the other party would have enthusiastically grabbed his hand and wanted to pull him in to chat and eat.
However, today the other party was a little abnormal. He had a stern face and looked at him indifferently.
Boss Qian, who used to be very enthusiastic towards him, suddenly became cold. Bai Yu felt uncomfortable: "That...that...?"
Not knowing how to start, seeing the atmosphere getting colder, Bai Yu tentatively said, "How about Mr. Qian, you check the firewood first!" As he said that, he took off a large bundle of dry firewood on his back, squatted down, and carefully untied the hemp rope that tied the dry firewood.
He did not stop talking. At first, he was a little worried, perhaps because of Mr. Qian's unclear attitude, but later he became more and more fluent and put everything behind him. He only heard him say:
"My firewood is all good. It starts fire quickly and has strong flame-sustaining ability. Because you are my old customer, Mr. Qian, I specially picked the best for you."
However, Mr. Qian, who was standing behind him at this time, had a ferocious look on his face, and finally his warm and peaceful look completely disappeared, leaving only viciousness in his eyes.
The hand in the sleeve slowly rose, and slowly turned into a monster-like claw, like a wolf's claw or an eagle's claw. The black fingertips seemed to be poisoned, and finally the claw aimed at the back of Bai Yu's neck.
As he was talking, Bai Yu seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "Master Qian, where is Xiao Quanzi? Why didn't I see him this time? He was always the first to greet me in the past. This time I even brought him his favorite meat buns."
"He...he went to sleep. Do you want to go and accompany him?" Bai Yu heard Mr. Qian's answer from behind him.
Weird? Why is Mr. Qian's voice a little hoarse? Bai Yu was a little confused.
But he did not think much about it, because the knot in his hand had been untied. He quickly untied the rope and replied, "No need! I have to leave soon. My apprentice is waiting for me at the market."
After hearing this, Mr. Qian hesitated for a few seconds and finally retracted his claws into his sleeves.
Bai Yu was completely unaware of what was happening behind him, and continued to say happily, "We went to the market today to sell wooden products, the same ones that we gave to you, Mr. Qian." At this point, Bai Yu smiled and said, "You were the one who suggested that we sell this?"
The firewood was scattered, and Bai Yu stretched out his hand and moved a few pieces, trying to expose every piece of firewood to Master Qian's eyes. Otherwise, what was the point of inspecting the firewood?
Bai Yu stood up and turned around. Seeing that the person behind him was still indifferent, he suddenly couldn't say the words he had prepared. He could only smile awkwardly and said, "Uh... Mr. Qian, do you think... do you think this is okay..."
Mr. Qian remained calm and said, "Okay, you can go."
"Ah?" Bai Yu felt a little surprised. He turned around and looked at the firewood on the ground behind him. Was it just left there?
As if he understood what Bai Yu was thinking, Master Qian said, "Someone will take care of it."
The host's intention to drive the guests away was so obvious, and Bai Yu was not an unreasonable person, so how could he not understand what he meant?
He nodded slightly, said goodbye to Mr. Qian, and left in a hurry.
Standing at the door, looking at Bai Yun's receding figure until it disappeared, Mr. Qian had an unclear expression and his eyes were dim.
Suddenly, he frowned, raised his hand and gently rubbed his temples, and whispered: "Master, this person must not move rashly. Someone is waiting for him outside. If this person disappears, it will definitely cause trouble. Our plan will start tonight and we cannot afford to make any mistakes."
So can you please just quiet down in my head and stop yelling, damn it! He silently complained in his mind.
A voice sounded in my mind again, but unlike the previous voice shouting "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!", I only heard the voice saying: "Demon-Nightmare, you are right, the plan is about to begin, and we must follow the plan as a prerequisite!"
The demon nightshade bowed his head and said obediently: "My Lord is wise."
A voice came from my mind, and that voice was still speaking: "When I come out tonight, I will kill all the creatures here without leaving a single one alive, so that I can quench my thirst! Demon Nightmare, when the time comes, I will accept you as my chief marshal."
"Thank you for your kindness, my Lord." The demon replied happily. This voice's answer was obviously satisfied the voice greatly, and instantly, it became even more proud.
Stupid, you still want to come out, just be my sacrifice! After tonight, you will become my power and help me ascend to the position of Demon Lord. Demon Nightmare said with disdain in his heart.
Mo Yan pushed open the door, and the moment he turned around and closed it, the scene inside the door changed drastically. The originally orderly and lush courtyard suddenly became dilapidated, with dead grass growing everywhere, blood soaking the land, and corpses everywhere.
Mo Yan walked past corpse after corpse with a calm expression.
When passing by a gorgeously dressed woman, the demon's feet were suddenly grabbed and he couldn't lift them up.
"Oh? There are still fish caught in the net." Moyan squatted down with interest.
The lying woman raised her head with difficulty, blood flowing from the corner of her mouth, and said intermittently: "Why... why are you coughing... why are you coughing... Daddy!" The woman was none other than Mr. Qian's daughter, Miss Qian.
Why do you do this? Miss Qian looked at him desperately, tears welling up in her eyes.
When she went to the garden to see the flowers, she suddenly felt a pain in her abdomen. When she fell down, the face behind her was her father, holding a knife in his hand.
After her mother passed away, her father raised her single-handedly. Since then, her father has become a little strange and difficult to approach.
Since a year ago, he has become even more elusive. Looking at her father's face, Miss Qian regretted and wondered if she had paid too little attention to her father and always ignored him, which led her father astray and led to the current situation.
When she was lying in the yard full of corpses, bleeding, she had no fear or helplessness in her mind. She had only one thought: she wanted to wait for her father and ask him in person why all this happened.
Mo Yan smiled and said, "Miss, look carefully at who I am!" He removed the magic on his face, and Mr. Qian's face instantly changed into that of a monster.
The demon's true appearance shocked Miss Qian, and her pupils constricted.
Suddenly, her original fear was replaced by hope in her heart, so... Daddy didn't do all this, so is Daddy still alive?
"I... cough cough cough daddy... where's daddy cough cough cough..." Miss Qian couldn't help but get a little excited, and blood spurted out along with the sound of coughing.
"My dear daughter, what are you talking about?" Moyan's face changed back to that of Mr. Qian.
He lowered his head and gently stroked Miss Qian's hair: "Maybe you are too tired? Be good, just take a good sleep." His hands changed shape and he exerted force in an instant. The black fingertips were about to pierce Miss Qian's forehead.
However, he gave up again, stood up and left without looking back.
Miss Qian would not think that she was being kind by being let off, and she would definitely have some tricks up her sleeve.
"Master, why don't you take action?" Mo Yan asked the existence in his mind while walking towards the garden.
"What I like most is to see the expressions of those creatures before they die. It is the despair of seeing their own lives slowly approaching death, yet they remain indifferent." At this point, the voice became obviously excited. "It is really a top-notch delicacy! How can a rude person like you understand? Leave that little bug to me."
"Yes, my lord." Mo Yan said respectfully. Since you are going to die soon, I won't bother with you!
A butterfly flew slowly over, but was caught in a large web. The spider excitedly crawled over there. The butterfly's wings trembled, and it almost flapped its wings and flew away again, but it failed...
Demon Nightmare happened to catch a glimpse of this scene and smiled in his heart, wondering how the expression of my dear master when he died would compare to this butterfly? Would it be considered a top-notch delicacy?
Thinking of this, his steps became lighter, and the chattering voice in his mind became more pleasant.
After the demon left, the well-fed spider behind him began to relax leisurely, and for a moment he failed to notice the danger behind him. A little bird flew over and quickly swallowed the spider into its stomach...
On the other side, Miss Qian was lying on the ground, her back was wet, and she knew why - it was the land soaked with her own blood.
Perhaps because all the blood had been shed, Miss Qian felt that her wounds were no longer painful.
"Rustle-rustle-rustle-rustle--" A faint sound came from the distant bushes, which was particularly noticeable in the silence.
Miss Qian turned her head with difficulty and couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "Xiao Quanzi!"
An ear poked out from the bushes, and then a dog emerged.
The dog limped to Miss Qian. It had only one ear left, one of its hind legs was chopped off, and there were three deep scars on its back where the bones were visible, as well as many other wounds of varying sizes.
Seeing Xiao Quanzi like this, Miss Qian couldn't help but shed tears. Since she was lying here, unable to move, she only vaguely knew that there were several corpses around her, but she had no idea what was going on. Now that even Xiao Quanzi had met with an accident, I'm afraid that all the people in the mansion, young and old, would...
Xiao Quanzi rubbed Miss Qian's face with the tip of his nose several times, as if to comfort her.
Miss Qian raised her hand and wanted to touch its head, but when she was halfway up, she found that she could not raise it any higher. Suddenly, she felt like there was something extra under her hand, something furry.
It turned out that Xiao Quanzi offered his head to her on his own initiative. Miss Qian laughed and said, "You..."
Xiao Quanzi called out in a low voice, "Woof...Woof..."
The warmth only lasted for a while, and Miss Qian suddenly reacted. She hurriedly pushed Xiao Quanzi's body and said, "No, you can't stay here. Go! Go quickly."
“Woof—Woof—”
"No, we have to go faster! Go! We can't stay here, go faster! The farther the better." Miss Qian pushed Xiao Quanzi's body.
Xiao Quanzi's eyes were filled with reluctance as he walked away staggeringly, looking back every few steps.
Looking at Xiao Quanzi's receding figure, Miss Qian relaxed and decided not to let him come back.
After walking around the market for a few times, Bai Yu did not find his disciples' stall, so he just randomly found a store to eat. When passing through an alley, he saw an object moving slowly from a distance, which looked very familiar.
Bai Yu stepped forward tentatively and exclaimed, "Xiao Quanzi!" He knelt on the ground, staring at the injured dog, not knowing what to do with his hands.
He thought of something and took out a bottle of golden medicine from the small bag on his body. This was developed by his fourth disciple. He didn't know whether it would work or not. The injury could not wait, so he poured the medicine on the puppy's injured hind leg and tore pieces of cloth from the hem of his clothes to bandage the wound.
After dealing with it, Bai Yu looked at the puppy wrapped in bandages, puzzled. Who could be so cruel? Suddenly, he thought of Mr. Qian's strange attitude when he came to visit him today, and a story suddenly came to his mind.
So did Mr. Qian suddenly want to eat dog meat? And since he couldn't buy any, he killed Xiao Quanzi and ate him.
As a result, Xiao Quanzi escaped, so Mr. Qian was in a very bad mood. Just at this time, I, who used to have a good relationship with Xiao Quanzi, came to his house and took my anger out on myself.
"Well, that makes sense." Bai Yu touched his chin and agreed with himself.
"Master, what is reasonable?" Bai Yu was startled by the sudden voice from behind.
"Jiuyi? Why are you here?" Bai Yu turned around and saw his eldest disciple standing behind him, with an unfamiliar boy beside him, "Who is..."
"It's mine..." Yan Jiuyi started to speak hesitantly, not knowing how to introduce it. He had recovered his memory a long time ago and knew that he was the young master of the Sword Sect, but he had never told his master.
Just now when I was setting up my stall at the market, I saw my junior fellow apprentice from the Sword Sect coming to find me and saying he wanted to take me back home.
What should I do?
I remember that many years ago, I came down from the Sword Sect and traveled around the world. Later... when my memory came back to me, I had become Su Baiyu's disciple.
At first, I wanted to bid farewell to Master and leave this place.
I came down the mountain to improve my practice, not to be a woodcutter and do meaningless labor, wasting my practice time.
However, when he carefully recalled what his master had said in the past, he was surprised:
“There is a science to felling trees.”
"There is firewood in the hands, firewood in the eyes, and firewood in the heart."
"As a tree grows with the man, as the man grows the tree dies."
"The world of a woodcutter is a lonely one."
“Always on the path of chopping wood.”
"As long as you practice the skill of chopping wood well, a blade of grass can also chop down a tree."
…
…
The words his master said in the past were still vivid in his mind. Based on them, Yan Jiuyi came to a horrifying conclusion that his master was not a simple person and was probably a reclusive master who practiced Buddhism.
Otherwise, why are these words so helpful to his sword practice? Moreover, after recovering his memory, Yan Jiuyi has realized a lot of the true meaning of sword from these words.
Lowering his head and touching the axe in his hand, Yan Jiu showed some regret. He was still too far away from his master. Even if he followed his master to the forest to chop wood every morning, he could not do it like his master.
Every time he brought down the axe, it would land precisely on the cut mark on the tree, without any error; every time he grasped the axe handle, it would land in the same place, without any movement at all.
The strength is similar, chopping wood is like breathing and drinking water, it is integrated into the body's instinct. Between lifting and lowering, it seems to contain the true meaning of Tao.
More importantly, the master is a mortal man, but he is performing these divine methods.
Yes, a mortal body. Yan Jiuyi had tried many times, openly and secretly, and helplessly discovered that his master was just a mortal. This did not disappoint Yan Jiuyi, but instead added a lot of mystery.
Later, the arrival of the second apprentice sister answered Yan Jiuyi's doubts.
According to her, people who have reached a certain level of cultivation can disguise themselves and suppress themselves so that others cannot see their true nature. However, Master's situation does not seem like an obvious suppression of cultivation, but rather a true return to nature.
"Return to basics? Junior sister, are you serious?" Hearing his junior sister say this, Yan Jiuyi asked in surprise.
"Of course, senior brother, don't you believe me? I, Le Yingying, am the young master of Yaowu Sect, the next generation sect master. I do have some vision." Le Yingying was a little unhappy when she heard this. From childhood to adulthood, few people dared to question her.
If he had not been really interested in Master Su Baiyu, he would have sprinkled the five-spice itching powder in his hand on the head of this stupid senior brother.
But my master is really strange. He is clearly at the end of his life, but he is still alive. His body and soul seem to be separated but also closely integrated. There are faint laws of space in his body. However, after careful investigation, I found that he is just a mortal.
Interesting, really interesting!
Therefore, Le Yaoyao pretended to be naive and followed Bai Yu up the mountain and became his second disciple.
His favorite thing to do every day is to cast a detection spell on Bai Yu. Yan Jiuyi was quite dissatisfied with this, thinking that Le Yanyan was disrespectful to his master, but he finally gave up because of Bai Yu's feelings.
Bai Yu knew nothing about this and continued to chop wood every day as per his shift, leading an ordinary life.
Thinking that he had obtained Bai Yu's tacit approval, and even regarding this as a challenge from his master, Le Yingying used the detection technique even more frequently.
Then one day, Le Yaoyao cast a detection spell as usual, but still got no results. She was ready to leave and find a place to spend half a day.
Unexpectedly, Su Baiyu behind her suddenly called out to her: "Xiaoxiao, have you had enough fun in these few days? Can you learn from the master now?"
She has been fed for free for so many days, and now it is time to work. There is one more person on the mountain, and three people need to eat. Where can I get so much money? I have to chop wood to earn money to support the family! Bai Yu thought with great sorrow.
However, in Le Yingying's eyes, it seemed that Su Baiyu was disappointed with her because of her inability to make progress. When he looked at her, his eyes were full of regret.
Le Yaoyao's originally game-like mentality suddenly came to her senses. Yes, she almost forgot that the reason she left the sect this time was because her cultivation had reached a bottleneck. She wanted to increase her reading experience and cultivate herself by going down the mountain for training, not to explore other people's secrets.
Even though he has already found a rather mysterious master, why doesn't he seize the opportunity to repair it as soon as possible, instead of wasting time here?
Le Yingying showed a look of regret.
Bai Yu was somewhat relieved, stepped forward and patted Le Xiaoxiao on the shoulder, saying, "I'm glad you understand."
Hearing this, Le Xiaoxiao felt warm at heart. Master already knew everything, but he was still waiting patiently and letting me play.
This was in the hope that I could wake up on my own, but I ended up disappointing my master and was still lost. In the end, I still had to rely on my master's enlightenment to wake me up. Le Yaoyao said in frustration.
Suddenly, she felt something heavy in her hand, and when she looked down, she saw that it was an axe.
After picking it up and examining it in the sunlight, Le Yingying turned to look at her master: "Master, what does this mean?"
"Go chop wood!"
Hmm? Should cultivation start with chopping wood? Le Yaoyao was somewhat puzzled.
When she arrived in the forest, her senior brother Yan Jiuyi had already started chopping wood.
Bai Yu looked at Yan Jiuyi with great satisfaction, turned to look at Le Yingying, and said, "Learn from him." If you can do as well as your senior brother, the three of us will never have to worry about food and clothing, Bai Yu hinted.
Learn? What to learn? Le Yaoyao was a little confused.
At this time, Bai Yu in front of him had already started chopping trees. The various virtual arrows in his eyes were still distributed in various places as usual, and he began his boring life of chopping wood step by step.
Le Yingying had much more experience than Yan Jiuyi. If Yan Jiuyi could see it, how could Le Yingying not understand it?
Her eyes were wide open like walnuts, her mouth slightly opened, and she muttered to herself, "Master... this... I may not be able to learn it!"
Back to the present, the young man who was waiting for Yan Jiuyi to introduce himself to the side, saw Yan Jiuyi start to talk, and then he became dazed, so he took the initiative to step forward and said to Bai Yu: "I am his fellow villager, my name is Xiaoge."
"Hello." Bai Yu nodded.
"I've heard of your name for a long time. I've mentioned you many times in the old letter, always saying that you were especially nice to him." Xiaoge said.
"Nowhere, no where." Bai Yu denied with a smile, and his tone couldn't help but be a little complacent.
Of course you are happy. Xiaoge complained in her heart, and her hands in her sleeves almost clenched and unclenched.
Yan'er only mentioned your good points in the letter, and didn't even ask about me, her biological father. She also kept saying that she didn't want to return to Jianzong and wanted to stay in Quanyue Mountain forever.
This time I disguised myself as a disciple and went down the mountain just to see what kind of magic potion you, Su Baiyu, gave to my son Yan Jiuyi, the Young Master of the Sword Sect?
"Xiao Ge, let's go back to the mountain." Yan Jiu said to the Sword Sect's leader who was still in a daze behind him.
Bai Yu, who was in front, had already walked some distance carrying the injured dog Xiao Quanzi. He was going to take the dog to the mountain to ask his second disciple Le Yingying to treat it. It was unknown where his second disciple had trained his skills, but he was extremely skilled, much better than the fourth disciple who was just showing off and making medicine blindly all day long.
"Oh, okay." Xiaoge said to Yan Jiuyi with a smile.
"Yeah." Yan Jiuyi responded lightly, but he was a little confused.
Strange? Why does Xiaoge always have a loving look in her eyes when she looks at him?
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