Iron Umbrella
Shaking off the dirt, Yue Lang turned it over twice and still thought it should be an umbrella. But if this thing was an umbrella, it was too heavy. Besides, ordinary umbrellas were much smaller and lighter than this. After thinking it over, he stopped guessing and raised his hand to push it away to find out what it was.
It wasn't pushed away.
He had spent over a decade drawing talismans and studying scriptures, and thousands of days climbing mountains and crossing valleys, yet he still couldn't open an umbrella given to him by a girl.
After a brief silence and existential doubt, Yue Lang regained his spirits.
The girl wasn't looking for someone. The large bird she rode was usually only the size of a palm, so it must be a fusion of hundreds of mechanical creations. Judging from that, the umbrella in my hand was probably also a mechanical umbrella.
If it were a mechanical umbrella, its convenience would have been taken into consideration from the very beginning of its creation, and the trigger mechanism should have been designed in a conspicuous and easy-to-open position. Following this line of thought, he turned the entire umbrella over again, but nothing happened.
That's a flawed logic. Since we're not taking the easy way out, perhaps...
Maybe this is just a pile of scrap metal that the girl didn't want.
The idea was quickly dismissed by the owner; the girl couldn't possibly be the one who threw scrap metal from a high-rise building in the rain to murder him.
.
The peaks of Ping'an Valley were faintly visible in the field of vision. Although they were shrouded in white mist, it was still better than the dark clouds looming behind them. Meng Yan then slowed down and used his extra attention to think about other things.
She remembered the mechanical umbrella that had been smashed into the pit. It wasn't usually needed, but leaving it for her brother in an emergency was better than letting it rust away. However, it was one of her creations from her early years, when she was competing with her fellow apprentices to see who could make the most complex mechanism. This umbrella won first place right from the start.
He talks so much, his mind must be working very fast. If his mind works well, opening it to get shelter from the rain shouldn't be too difficult, right?
.
Although Yue Lang was reluctant to admit that it was a pile of scrap metal, he asked himself honestly, if it weren't for its owner, he would have thrown it into the river to feed the fish long ago.
After carrying the heavy load for a long time, he casually placed the umbrella on the ground, using the head down and the tail as a handrail, and rested on it while half-standing and half-lying down.
A faint but distinctive clicking sound rang out, and Yue Lang sensed something was wrong. He quickly took a step back, and the next second, a layer of sheet metal was laid out where he had been standing, and the umbrella finally opened in an unexpected way.
This umbrella was exceptionally heavy, likely due in large part to its materials. Yue Lang leaned against the upside-down handle and tapped it from the surface to the frame and then to the handle with his knuckles, the crisp metallic sound striking his eyebrows.
If there were any slovenly government meetings, he would definitely nominate one of them.
He hadn't been grinning foolishly at the umbrella for long when a raindrop fell, hitting the back of his hand that he was using to support it, splashing a few water droplets around him.
Yue Lang pulled the iron umbrella from the ground, adjusted his posture, and hoisted it onto his shoulder. The iron bones collided, and he silently moved it off his shoulder a little.
The rain came quickly; almost at the same time he took shelter under his umbrella, everything around him turned into a curtain of rain, leaving only himself and the ground beneath his feet relatively dry.
A gust of wind snapped the tree trunk, and the enormous creature fell straight to the ground, letting out its final sigh of life in the blurred vision.
The soles of my shoes and the hems of my trousers were already wet. Every step was difficult in the mud and water, as if I was being pulled down on one side and pulled on the other. Fortunately, the rest of my body was relatively intact.
No, the wind had blown down a lot of trees, yet the rain hadn't even gotten on his face. Despite his extensive experience of getting soaked, Yue stubbornly stuck his head out of the umbrella, but he immediately obediently came back inside.
It turned out that the iron thing on his head had taken all the blame. He thought that the wind and rain were just a sign that he was in a good mood and that he hadn't wanted to disturb him since they had known each other for so many years.
Despite the raging wind and rain, he walked steadily alone on the road, the iron umbrella acting as a barrier above his head, keeping all the noise outside.
These steps truly led him back to his master's sect.
.
The two children they found weren't shy at all. Outside the corridor, a light drizzle was falling, while underneath, they laughed and played with the children from the valley.
Can't you see the differences between them? Yes, you can. Some can't run, and some can only laugh. But when they get together, everyone will only notice that there are a group of innocent and carefree children here.
They had no ulterior motives towards each other, and although they had only known each other for less than an hour, their laughter and chatter were like that of childhood playmates.
“That’s how they should be,” a senior sister suddenly said.
Meng Yan withdrew his gaze and smiled, nodding at her.
As she led them through the mountain gate, she considered many possibilities, but fortunately, the outcome was the best one.
The dinner table at night seemed to be full of children. The two little guys from outside were curious, and the children in the valley didn't understand why everyone who was usually so lively was gone tonight.
One of the kids skillfully slipped into the kitchen and caught Meng Yan red-handed as he was ladling rice into a bowl.
"Senior Sister Yan, is everyone busy today? If you need any help, please call us!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several heads popped out from outside the door in agreement. The candlelight made their faces look rosy, just like the lucky babies in New Year's paintings.
Meng Yan organized his thoughts, and before officially starting, he shoveled two mouthfuls of rice into his mouth. While chewing, he gestured without any interruption, saying, "Recently, the rain has been too heavy, and many places in the valley have become damp. Everyone is busy clearing moss and doing moisture-proofing. You don't want to suddenly slip and fall while walking on the road, do you?"
This reason is quite appropriate; the valley often does this during the rainy season in previous years, but this time it is indeed a valid reason.
People guessed that the two lost dolls were able to get along with the children because they were of similar age and had common topics, so they subconsciously ignored the differences between them and the group of boring adults.
Moreover, everyone is much bigger than them, so their physical defects are more obvious. Ordinary minor injuries and scars are fine, but what if someone with a missing arm or leg goes out and scares them, affecting the friendship that has just been formed between the children?
Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone thought the same thing, which is why we couldn't see anyone tonight.
And "chosen laborers" like Meng Yan became the mainstay of everyone's dinner.
"But in the past, we all worked together to clear the moss. How could you secretly do it behind our backs this year!"
"That's right!"
The children, though still quite young, were just as spirited, shouting about family and unity, and urging everyone to help.
Meng Yan couldn't possibly argue with a bunch of mouths with just two hands, so he could only appease them and tell them to continue tomorrow and get some rest tonight.
Finally, she managed to lure all the little sparrows, who were not easily fooled, back to their nest. Meng Yan had just raised the soup spoon in her hand and hadn't even filled half a spoon with cold porridge when a child's voice called out to her from behind.
"Senior Sister Yan, why didn't the other senior brothers and sisters come to eat with us? Is it because of these two new people who came to the valley?"
It's much harder to fool a sharp-witted child, but what surprised her even more was that when she turned around, the two children she had picked up were also following behind her.
"Sister, do people dislike us outsiders? Have we caused you trouble?"
Of course, there were some children, and they even added a touch of childlike liveliness to the valley.
"Sister, we won't run around or rummage through things. We can stay in the yard and leave when the weather clears up. You can just do your things as usual."
During the day, the two of them played freely with the children, but they never expected to notice everyone's movements.
Children's thoughts are pure and simple. If they like something, they play with it; if they dislike something, they avoid it. They have no other thoughts and consciously blame themselves for tonight's situation.
"How could that be?" Meng Yan had only answered half a sentence before stopping and about to start the next sentence when the girl beside her conveyed the meaning for her. Her raised hand paused for a moment, and she turned to touch the head of the girl who had conveyed the message.
"You've met many people in the valley today, how does it feel?"
"Everyone's great!" "They'll take us out to play!"
Meng Yan thought for a moment, then changed to a more direct question, "Have you noticed the differences between them and you?"
"Yes, each of them has their own specialty, and they said they would teach us another day." The little girl said with a smile.
The chubby boy clapped twice in agreement, then added, "They're injured, and we don't know when they'll recover. We can't beat them now, and we'll probably lose even more in the future."
Upon hearing this, the girl who came to deliver the message clenched her right hand and secretly hid it behind her back.
Meng Yan remembered that she was missing a little finger. Their eyes met, and she pursed her lips and smiled slightly.
As if remembering something, Meng Yan picked up the candlestick from the table and placed it across half of the table next to the door. The candlelight flickered in the new house, and the right half of the girl's body disappeared into the darkness.
"If these wounds were enlarged and could no longer be covered by sleeves, and were exposed to the public, would you be surprised or afraid?"
They answered no, saying that wounds always heal eventually, and that wouldn't stop them.
So that night, all the adults, including Li the Cripple who had already gone to sleep on the mountaintop, received the next day's matters brought by the mechanical sparrow. The paper was messy and the handwriting was disordered, with only three large characters on it—"Clear Moss."
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Good rain knows its season; when the rooster crows and the damp night is over, a ray of morning sun peeks out from behind the clouds.
As is customary in previous years, a few people would divide up an area, each holding a small shovel and the sect's ancestral desiccant, and squat on the stone slab until mealtime or after cleaning was finished before they could rest.
Two new children refused to leave, begging to stay and help. Adhering to the educational philosophy of emphasizing participation, a sense of community, and the dangers of society that must be guarded against, a group of malicious adults arranged for them to sit on half a set of stone steps.
The children, who knew nothing, held hands and laughed as they took the tools, skipping away under the guidance of their local mentor.
"Brother, is desiccant really that effective? Where did you get it? I'll ask my dad to prepare some when I get home."
After hearing this, his senior brother tripped over his own foot and almost grabbed his hand to shout, "You can't do that!" "It's practically useless; it's mainly for psychological comfort."
"Then why should everyone bring a few cans?"
That's a great question. He asked the same question when he first entered the valley. His senior sister mysteriously left him with a message that had a special purpose: to help him and his companions put down and attain enlightenment.
He didn't consider himself a particularly gifted person, but he actually gained some insights after cleaning up.
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