Chapter 034: Me and My Unfair Father and Brother (End)
At the foot of the mountain where the Sword Sealing Tower stood, the village and its inhabitants had changed several times, and familiar faces were no longer to be found. The only thing to be thankful for was that the influence of the Demonic Abyss had not yet reached this area, having been dealt with by Chen Wenjian. Therefore, the place still retained the tranquility and peace it had when Chen Yunli first met.
It was already late at night, and all was silent. The moon lay quietly in the clouds, as if it too had fallen asleep from exhaustion. The moonlight faded and softened, until it was almost time for the moon to set and the sun to rise.
Chen Wenjian brought Chen Yunli back to the foot of the mountain. Ahead was a winding mountain road, where the story began.
"I remember," Chen Wenjian paused, then took him down the winding path. "We've walked this road together many times in my dreams, and each time it felt different. This is an experience I've never had in reality."
"So you dragged me along to walk the mountain trail with you in the middle of the night?" Chen Yunli looked up at the top of the mountain, then turned back to look at him, his eyes full of kindness. "Did the power of the Demonic Abyss mess with your brain?"
"No, I mainly want to find a quiet place to be alone with you." Chen Wenjian said seriously, "Besides here, other places are too noisy and annoying."
Chen Yunli smiled and suddenly felt that this person had become much more lively. He was no longer the stiff and rigid image of the devil in the system information and human legends. Compared with the physical touch not long ago, there was more of a sense of reality in his soul.
The omnipotent devil also has subtle and childish thoughts. After all, he is still a human being. He cannot escape love, hate, and emotions, nor can he escape greed, anger, and ignorance.
Chen Yunli looked back and saw that the way he came was lost in the silent night. All he could see were sparse lights, which contrasted with the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops in the deep forest. It was indeed so quiet that it seemed as if they were the only two people left in the world.
Just as Chen Yunli was thinking this, he heard Chen Wenjian say, "If it were just you and me left in this world, that wouldn't be bad either."
“…”
The sigh in his heart was blown away by a gust of cold wind. Chen Yunli glanced at him, and his face was full of "What you said is really unpleasant."
Chen Wenjian chuckled.
The two chatted idly, regardless of the topic, and were not afraid of letting their words slip. It seemed that in just a few words, this seemingly long road was completed, and the towering tower and the quaint wooden house were right in front of them.
Chen Wenjian frowned slightly, and Chen Yunli immediately sensed his displeasure and hooked his little finger: "I guess I'll be busy for a while, so I'll stay with you in the mountains for two days, um, to get some peace and quiet."
Chen Wenjian squinted at him for a moment, pinched his face with two fingers, and said in a flat tone, "Are you making fun of me?"
Chen Yunli pinched back with a smile.
The stars and the moon faded, the sky turned pale, and the first ray of morning light shone through the thick clouds onto the top of the tower.
Then the glow stretched and expanded, covering the entire tower, gilding it with a fluffy golden edge. Like a golden stream, the sunlight flowed over every inch of the mountaintop, slanting under the eaves and shrouding the two figures leaning against each other on the steps.
They fell into a deep sleep in the bright sunlight.
For the next two days, Chen Yunli and Chen Wenjian stayed at home, occupying Chen Qiaoyun's house with confidence, and started living a leisurely life in seclusion in advance.
They weren't considered living beings, and didn't need to eat, but Chen Yunli had a strong appetite, so he loved taking Chen Wenjian into the mountains to forage for food. Sometimes it was a handful of mushrooms, a few wood ear mushrooms, or mushrooms; sometimes it was a pheasant with a long tail, holding its head high and fearless; sometimes it was young bamboo shoots, river fish, or unknown wild fruits.
They grow naturally and each has its own unique flavor.
Chen Yunli loves to eat, but is not good at cooking. However, he used two or three meals to hone Chen Wenjian's cooking skills. His knife skills, heat control, and seasoning have improved amazingly. He can make fish and chicken taste good when stewed in one pot.
But Chen Yunli’s favorite is the roast chicken he makes.
The main ingredient is pheasant, grilled over a rare fragrant mountain wood. Once the meat is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the skin is sliced open and some pheasant juice is squeezed onto the meat. The sweet and sour juice perfectly enhances the tender aroma of the pheasant while also cutting through the greasiness, adding a refreshing touch to the savory, oily flavor.
Every time Chen Wenjian makes this dish, half of the mountain is filled with the enticing aroma, which lingers for a long time even after eating the chicken.
Chen Yunli felt like he was on the set of A Bite of China. Every time he took a bite of a chicken leg, he would mutter, "The highest-end ingredients are often cooked using the simplest methods." Chen Wenjian was confused and thought he was praising himself, so he decided to cook more carefully and diligently next time.
Since Chen Yunli fell in love with roasted chicken, the pheasants in the mountains have suffered a lot. When Chen Qiaoyun was there, they often called their friends to circle around the mountain roads, and occasionally they would perform courtship scenes, pecking each other, and even chase other small animals to peck at them, being as arrogant as the bully of the mountain.
Now, they all lie down in their nests like frightened quails, and dare not come out to show off, for fear that they will be the next ones to be grilled.
Fortunately, Chen Yunli also knew that he couldn't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Apart from eating three chickens for lunch on the first day, he saved the rest of the meal for other delicacies.
Life in the mountains is leisurely. If you live alone, you will inevitably feel lonely, but if you have someone to accompany you, especially someone who knows how to live, it will be different.
Chen Yunli is not good at cooking, but she is very good at making life interesting. Even when she loses her mobile phone, Internet, games and other entertainment options, she can still arrange every minute to be full.
This was the first time since Chen Wenjian came into the world that he was woken up before dawn to work.
Chen Yunli dragged him to cut bamboo, carried it back, dried it in the shade with magic, and then cut it into bamboo strips. He then directed him to build a fence and a bamboo wall on the top of the mountain, and also made a new bamboo window for Chen Qiaoyun's house.
While Chen Wenjian was busy, Chen Yunli was digging up wild flower seeds and transplanting new bamboo and vines nearby.
Bamboos were planted under Chen Qiaoyun's window, wild flowers were planted beside the fence, morning glory vines were wrapped around the fence frame, and wisteria hung down from the top of the bamboo wall, still using magic to make them grow, and in a quarter of an hour they could complete the journey of several years.
Thus, outside the quiet Sealing Sword Tower, there are more colorful flowers, the simple secluded place becomes bright and gorgeous, the cold mountain breeze is filled with the fragrance of flowers, almost trapping the entire spring here.
Chen Yunli liked the flower wall the most. In the gorgeous colors like thin smoke, he saw the wisteria waterfall that he had longed for in his childhood.
That night, the wind was clear and the moon was bright, and the sky and the earth were covered with frost.
Chen Yunli placed two rocking chairs in front of the flower wall - the chairs were made by Chen Wenjian in the afternoon - and brewed two large cups of pine leaf tea in bamboo cups. He held one cup and lay down on them, rocking back and forth, and shaking his toes leisurely.
"Come, sit here. This is prepared for you." He pointed to the chair next to him and waved to Chen Wenjian with a smile.
Chen Wenjian's expression was subtle: "Yun Li, you now look very much like the type of person I once envied."
"Hmm?" Chen Yunli looked up warily.
Chen Wenjian sat down on the edge of the rocking chair, and the bottom bracket made a crisp "creaking" sound. "Like an old man basking in the sun in a narrow alley holding a teacup."
As expected, a dog can't spit out ivory.
Chen Yunli glanced at him, but he wasn't angry at all. He lay down leisurely, resting his cup-holding hand on his chest, crossing his legs, and said leisurely, "Life is short. Living to old age is not easy, and being able to bask in the sunshine is even more fortunate. So... I'll take it as a compliment. Come, lie down with me and experience what it's like to be an old man."
Chen Wenjian was willing to accompany him to chop bamboo, wade through mud to catch pheasants, and go out in the wind and rain without fear, but at this moment, for the first time, he showed an embarrassed and slightly disgusted look at his request.
He rubbed the almost non-existent fine lines at the corners of his eyes and said seriously, "The body of a demon can withstand the erosion of time. Even if the world changes, I will not grow old."
"Is that so..." Chen Yunli took a sip of hot tea leisurely. "Actually, I'm quite curious about what it's like to grow old together with someone important. Since you don't want to, I'll try looking for him when brother comes back."
A real man doesn't fall for provocation, so Chen Wenjian lay down on the spot.
"Have some tea."
"Hmm, the sugar is cooked well, with a light tea flavor."
Chen Yunli kicked his rocking chair in amusement.
A gentle breeze blew, and spring had already arrived. Peach blossoms by the well were in full bloom, the moonlight streaming down like water, staining the pale pink blossoms into a lazy, gorgeous crimson.
The rocking chair rocked slowly, creaking along with the wind.
Chen Yunli was looking at the moon in the wind, and suddenly he felt his mind open up and inspired to write poetry. However, he had no literary accumulation, and a lot of sighs came to his lips, but he could only squeeze out a sentence "The moonlight is so beautiful."
However, although he did not have that kind of culture, he understood why so many poets in ancient times loved to look at the moon and recite poems, and why so many poems that have been passed down through the ages are related to the moon.
I have a better understanding of the meaning of "I miss the people but have not slept yet".
Thinking of a well-known hot meme, Chen Yunli couldn't help laughing out loud.
"What are you laughing at?" A hand came close and poked his cheek.
"Nothing, I just remembered something happy." Chen Yunli pursed his lips.
"You are happy every day, every moment. Even if a butterfly lands on your hand, you will be happy for a long time." Chen Wenjian emphasized, "So, what are you thinking about right now?"
"If you want to know what I'm thinking, just tell me. No need to test me." Chen Yunli grabbed his hand and held it. "I'm wondering, are you willing to live this kind of life with me forever? Busy with nothing to do every day, relying on sudden impulses for everything except for three meals a day? Sometimes the day is busy, sometimes it's a mess. When you're interested, you enjoy the flowers and the moon, and when you're not interested, you go to bed early and get up late - what do you think?"
Chen Wenjian deliberately said, "It's nothing. You have no ambition and are wasting your life."
"so?"
"So, as long as you are happy, then live like this."
As Chen Wenjian spoke, he stood up lazily and waved his hand. A low table appeared in front of him, on which were pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as various colors of paint.
"What are you going to do?" Chen Yunli looked up curiously.
"I'll draw this scene, add the topic you just mentioned, and then have you 'sign and seal' it as evidence."
Chen Wenjian picked up the brush, dipped it in several colors of paint and painted on the paper. He wrote with ease and confidence, and the flutter of his sleeves made a whistling sound.
"The auditor has thirty seconds to leave this world. The countdown begins now—thirty, twenty-nine…"
The system's voice suddenly sounded. Chen Yunli remained calm and leaned his head over with a smile.
"You draw pretty quickly... Hey, how come you just sketched the characters in two strokes? It's fine for you, but since you want to keep evidence, shouldn't you draw me in more detail?"
"Twenty, nineteen..."
Chen Wenjian dipped a little red and dotted it between his eyebrows, smiling gently in the moonlight.
"Time, place, and people are all important. You'll always be by my side anyway, so why not focus on the first two?"
"Twelve, eleven..."
Chen Yunli held Chen Wenjian's face and turned it towards him. The long wind blew away the moonlight in his eyes. In the cold and frosty white, Chen Yunli could clearly see his own figure.
"Yes, I will always be by your side, in your eyes..."
Until the moment you are frozen in time.
“Two, one…”
"Time is up, the auditor is being transported out of this world."
"Transmission complete."
As the cold mechanical sound of the system fell, all the scenes in front of Chen Yunli's eyes were frozen under the gray-white data torrent, and Chen Wenjian's expression was also frozen on a gentle and light smile, like a mottled and whitened old photo.
Then the scene shattered like cracked ice.
Chen Yunli closed his eyes subconsciously. The second before his eyelids closed, it was as if fragments of something had pierced his eyes. The dense and sharp pain spread along the eye nerves throughout his body.
He shuddered suddenly, as if waking up from a dream. When he opened his eyes again, he was back to reality. He was sitting alone in front of the computer. The only sound he could hear in the empty office room was the soft sound of the air conditioner.
The sunlight slanted in from the glass door, so bright that he couldn't help but squint.
The autumn wind blows down the last leaves on the treetops. The fallen leaves turn yellow and sway in an arc in the air before landing lightly on the ground, like the last stroke of an oil painting.
Chen Yunli was bathed in the sunshine, but seemed still trapped in Chen Wenjian's eyes, trapped in the moonlight.
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