An Moxue thought that from now on she would live alone. When she came home, there would be no more hot and delicious meals waiting for her, and she would never hear her mother's nagging again.
I used to find it incredibly annoying, but now that I've lost it, I realize how precious it was.
Life is unpredictable and unpredictable.
Now that I'm living alone, it's necessary to make a will, just in case.
If those cousins who never associate with me, never help me when I need them, and always try to take advantage of me, I'd be furious. I decided to act on my idea, so I called a lawyer I knew, explained the situation, and arranged to meet the next day.
The next day, he met with his lawyer at An Moxue Clothing Studio to draft his will.
In the event of An Moxue's accidental death, all of her assets, including two cars, a residential house, two storefronts, a clothing studio, a clothing factory, and bank deposits, will be donated to a women's charity foundation.
An Moxue hadn't worked for the past few days. On the seventh day after her mother's death, she stood in front of her mother's tombstone and remembered the family trip they had planned last year. However, her maternal grandparents fell ill and passed away one after another, and her mother also passed away from a heart attack. In just six months, she was left all alone.
Let's go! Let's take a spontaneous trip.
After paying respects to my mother, I called the clothing factory and the studio to explain the work situation.
Set off--
First stop -- Xinjiang
When An Moxue got off the plane, it was already past 5 p.m., but the sky was still bright and there was no sign of evening. According to the local guide, Aya, the daytime can last up to 18 hours.
If you wait here until dark to go to sleep, you'll have to wait a long time.
An Moxue plans to spend about ten days in Xinjiang for this trip. Before boarding the plane, she found a local guide, Aya, online and made some travel plans.
A preliminary plan has been drafted, with some minor adjustments to be made.
After picking up An Moxue, Aya took her to the hotel she had booked and then left.
An Moxue's choice to come to Xinjiang at this time was not random; a large part of the reason was that it was the season for fruits and melons to ripen in Xinjiang.
The cantaloupes and grapes here are unmatched by those from other places.
She wanted to buy some fruits and seeds unique to Xinjiang, as well as seedlings, to enrich the space.
But we don't plan to buy too much fruit, just 500 jin of each kind. Aya has already arranged everything, and they'll all be bought in Turpan.
Over the years, whenever she travels to other places, she buys some local specialties. The quantity is small and inconspicuous, but over time the amount becomes quite considerable.
Her storage room was filled little by little like this.
During my visit, I bought a Uyghur-style carpet in Urumqi. The fabric, with its distinctive ethnic characteristics and vibrant colors, has a strong visual impact and always catches the eye.
I visited Tianchi Lake in the Tianshan Mountains. The crystal-clear blue water seemed to purify people's souls. I felt that even the slightest evil thought would be a desecration to Muslims.
The unpredictable weather in Kanash is like a legendary water monster that can turn on you in an instant.
The sea of flowers in Yili makes you feel that the world is full of beauty, so beautiful that you don't want to leave.
I've arrived at Grape Valley in Turpan!
Sweet cantaloupes and plump grapes—I want to take you all home!
Karez wells and Flaming Mountain make people never want to leave once they arrive.
The last stop was the Taklamakan Desert in Korla, and it was a fine, sunny day.
When An Moxue stood on the edge of the desert wearing long clothes, trousers, a long scarf, and sunglasses, she truly understood what it meant to have "wild clouds stretching for thousands of miles without a city wall, rain and snow falling incessantly across the vast desert."
A surge of lofty ambition welled up within her, yet she had nowhere to express it. Suddenly, a soaring tornado swept straight towards An Moxue, then vanished into the distance, its whereabouts unknown.
An Moxue felt like she had walked a very long way with no end in sight, but she clearly felt that the point of light was right in front of her.
How strange, why can't I get out of this fog? The voices are very close, but when I try to listen carefully, I can't make out what they are saying.
It seems there was an argument; were there two or three people?
She would walk a few steps in the direction of the sound, stop, and listen; then walk a few more steps in the direction of the sound, stop, and listen again.
This process was repeated several times until the fog gradually dissipated and the sound grew louder.
Suddenly, the sound stopped, and An Moxue emerged from the mist.
Before me, the flowers, some tall and some short, were red, pink, purple, yellow, green, and white... some I recognized, some I didn't. They seemed to have been carefully planted, yet also to have grown wildly.
Only a narrow path paved with milky-white pebbles of varying sizes meandered towards the house not far away. An Moxue stepped onto the path, stopping whenever she encountered a flower that interested her, touching it, smelling it, and examining it closely.
Standing in front of the house, I saw it was a log house, made of round logs, even the roof was made of logs.
It felt like a little house where elves lived in the forest, surrounded by flowers and plants, and the elves even drank flower dew.
"We're at the door, what are you standing there for! Come in." A male voice came from inside, sounding like a middle-aged man.
"Are you talking about me, senior?" An Moxue asked uncertainly.
Do you see any other people outside?
“Ah-I don’t think so,” An Moxue replied absentmindedly.
"What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and come in."
"Oh well."
Climbing the steps and pushing open the door, the room was filled with wood, and it was all raw wood: wooden furniture, a wooden couch with a wooden table on it, a wooden pot and cups on the table, and several bundles of cattails scattered around the table.
Three people sat around a table on a straw mat, all looking at her. There was one man and two women, dressed in clothes she had never seen before. The man was handsome and imposing, wearing a long, wide-sleeved blue robe; this was the one who had spoken earlier. The age of the two women was indiscernible, but they both had upturned, fox-like eyes, exactly like An Moxue's. One of them wore clothes made of animal skin, with bells around her waist and colorful stripes circling her waist. She had an ancient-looking hand drum beside her. The other woman was dressed similarly to her, except her clothes looked like they were made of tree bark.
He walked to the bedside, bowed, and said, "Greetings, three seniors."
One of the women spoke up: "No need for formalities, come, sit down."
An Moxue sat down on a futon as instructed: "Senior, where is this? I was just traveling when I was swept away by a tornado and ended up here."
“You, on the other hand, are practically dead now,” she replied.
"No, senior, I'm perfectly fine, how could I be dead!"
"In your world, even if you die and your body is swept away by a tornado, you can still recover. Humph!" That was the man's voice.
"Right now, to be precise, you're in a soul state, like a ghost in your world. You can't go back to your original world. Do you understand what I'm saying?" The woman's voice was soft, with a hint of soothing.
"Where am I? How did I get here?"
"This is another world. The three of us are your ancestors. It is because your bloodline has reverted to its ancestral form and you belong to the direct lineage. When a bloodline is about to die or is about to die, we will know. Since you are the last member of our family in the world you are in, we calculated that you still have a glimmer of hope in the other world. We couldn't bear to let you die like this, so we summoned you here. Now we ask you if you are willing."
"If we don't want to, we have no choice. Are we just going to stay here and wait to dissipate?"
“That old geezer is wicked; he’s beautiful but wicked at heart,” An Moxue said, glancing at the man and rolling her eyes.
The man glared at her. "Don't think I don't know you're talking badly about me behind my back."
An Moxue replied with a very serious expression, "Ancestor, how could that be? You look beautiful and kind-hearted. What kind of world did I go to?"
"The world you're going to is also our family's direct lineage, but because she was determined to die and her lifespan wasn't over, you're allowed to go. Once you're there, it's up to your own fate."
"Those three patriarchs, do you have anything to protect me? I'm scared if I don't have anything to protect myself."
The man handed over a jade pendant. "It's for calming the soul. When you get to that world, just sign a blood oath with it. Keep it with you at all times and don't take it off. Wear it for three years."
The woman, who hadn't spoken until now, handed her a wooden plaque with intricate patterns and a faint fragrance, saying only, "You'll see how useful it is later."
The woman, speaking softly, said, "Since you've made up your mind, come with me. In a moment, all you need to do is close your eyes, calm your mind, and clear your head. Pack your things away, or you won't be able to take them with you."
An Moxue was a little uneasy, but she still packed up her things as instructed and followed the three of them out of the wooden house to the back of the house.
A turquoise pond, with several baskets of flowers beside it. As instructed, I lay flat in the pond, closed my eyes, and floated on the surface without getting wet.
Petals fell, drums sounded, bells rang, and two women danced around the pool, playing hand drums and chanting incantations, like an ancient chant.
An Moxue's eyelids were getting heavier and heavier...
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