Seventy-two Changes of the Evil Spirits

The young leave home, the old go home. Its central environment is really not enough for outsiders.

The veteran stood at the entrance of the village for a long time, his eyes full of sorrow.

If he is half of his age, he can still rashly, shouting the names of his old friends, relatives and friends, and strode towards the house.

It is a pity that this person is already in his old age, and the homeland has long been a singularity. The one who is most afraid of calling is already separated forever;

He could only look at the village and the plants and trees in the mist with eyes full of hesitation, inquiry, and hope.

It's probably what it looked like decades ago.

It's just that the Xi's garden is a bit bigger, and the Dong's jujube tree is taller.

I still saw the men carrying farm tools and laughing and passing by, the women gathered in the corner to talk about the parents' short stories, a few children came out of the fog, and went into the alley again, leaving a series of laughter.

His eyes wandered, and suddenly stopped on an old man at the entrance of the village.

"Ahuang?"

The voice of the veteran was incredible.

"Is that you? Ahuang!"

But the old man seemed to be a little hard-earned, and the veteran called out many times without responding.

Only when he walked to his eyes, face to face, the old man's muddy eyes had a certain look, and he finally noticed the person in front of him.

"Da Lang?"

The old man's vague voice was like a dream.

"Dalang Yan Jia."

The veteran nodded repeatedly. Suddenly, the two old men actually held hands and looked at tears. They probably didn't expect each other to be alive.

The two recounted an old relationship.

The veteran hesitated for a while, but still asked the question that made him very nervous.

"My family... are there still?"

The old man listened, but he was hesitant to speak, and silently pointed to the depths of the village.

There, where the fog is thin, there are many pines and cypresses dripping green.

…………

A lush pine and Berlin.

The veteran stood silently in front of a row of tombstones.

for a long time.

He pointed to two of the steles and said:

"This is my father and my mother."

"When I left home, they were in their prime of life. I always said that I am already dying, and the two elders must have passed away for many years. The only regret is that they cannot show their filial piety on the bedside and meet for the last time in life. But in the bottom of my heart, I have never thought that when I return home, will there be two older people waiting for me? Life is a hundred years old."

After finishing speaking, he shook his head and laughed, as if laughing at his own "insatiable". After walking a few steps, he pointed to the other two tombstones and said:

"This is the brother and wife."

"When I left home to join the army, the younger brother was still a child, always chasing the girl of the sheep family all day long, and he became a couple before he knew it. I always liked to tease him about this, but watch Thinking of them, I thought of me and... Forget it, what do you say about this? I used to think, if I can go home, the only relative who recognizes me is probably only this brother. I didn't think about it..."

The words turned into a sigh in vain.

He turned to the next tombstone.

"This is my nephew who has never met."

"At the time of the Jingyuan mutiny, I went north with the army to Jingnan. At that time, the communication between me and my family had not yet been severed, and my brother asked someone to send me good news, saying that there is a successor to my Yan family, and my sister-in-law gave birth to a nephew. I am. At that time, I bought a rattle specially, thinking that after the battle, I went home and gave the drum to my nephew as a birthday gift. Who knows, this is a half-life."

He stared at the tombstone, which was covered with moss, and the handwriting was blurred a lot by the wind and rain over the years. It looked more dilapidated than the previous ones.

"I thought, I'm already old, and my nephew has grown up, so I can't deliver the drum. It's just a thought to stay with me. I didn't expect..."

With a long sigh, he took the rattle from his arms and placed it in front of the tomb.

"Still used."

Then, he moved to the last tombstone.

The cypress planted on this tomb is the newest, but it seems to be more than ten years old.

Due to lack of care, the tomb was covered with thatch, and the stone tablets were also covered by green vines.

The veteran grabbed some Pueraria lobata and saw the hidden name, but he laughed.

"So this is my tomb."

He nodded.

"Yes, for decades, the news has been cut off, and the world has been in chaos. People in my hometown think that I have died on a battlefield. That's good, it saves the family from worrying about it."

He turned his head and squeezed out an expression that couldn't tell whether he was laughing or crying.

"A momentary loss made Dao Master laugh."

Li Changan shook his head.

"Human nature."

No matter, the veteran led Li Changan to the house next to him.

That was his former home, but now it's just a deserted farmyard.

The veterans at this time are not as talkative as they were when they came, seeming trance and silence.

Push open the courtyard door.

The natural weeds in the courtyard were in full bloom, and the wormwood spreading over the waist was densely packed together, and there was almost no space for footing.

The two had to make a path in the grass, trying to rest in the wing.

However, the veteran had just pushed the door slightly.

The whole door panel fell in with a "click", and the sky was full of smoke and dust. It was also shocked by the birds nesting in the house, flapping their wings all over the house, and somehow smashed the roof tiles, "crash!" It fell to the ground, leaving a big hole, and the bird was throwing at the silhouette of the blue sky.

The veteran had to retreat with a sullen face and apologized to Li Changan with a wry smile:

"Unexpectedly, the house has been abandoned so far. I really neglect it for a long time."

"It's okay."

The Taoist priest rolled up his sleeves.

"Where can people outside the party not be able to stay?",

After speaking, the two worked together to clear a place in the yard.

The veteran was an unstoppable person. He removed the rock from the well head, and took out the cooking utensils from the room. Then he went out, borrowed some rice from the owner, and asked for some vegetables from the west. stand up.

Li Changan didn't go to help, but let the donkey graze in the yard by himself, leaning against the door, looking at the people in the village.

The fog still did not disperse, lingering in every corner of the village.

To be honest, Taoist priests walked all the way from Yuzhou and saw along the way, either a frightened dock or a dilapidated and withered deserted village. Such a "lively" village in front of you is really rare.

only.

The men carrying farm tools have walked back and forth again and again, never returning home or going to the fields; the women gathered together and chatted for a long time, but the words were always vague and even indistinguishable; those My child, running out of the fog over and over again, playing around and laughing, getting into the fog again, always repeating and spinning...

Li Changan could see it.

"Daoist."

The veteran brought out the soup and rice.

"It's time to eat."

He put the food on a big stone pier in the courtyard.

The top of the stone pier is flat and the size is similar to that of a table, with a few small stone piles scattered beside it. It can be guessed that every summer night, the galaxy is shining, and this family sits here to enjoy the coolness.

The veteran was obviously also seeing things and thinking about people. He was immersed in the past for a long time before he pierced the corners of his red eyes.

"Don't dislike it with thick tea and light rice."

I panicked with the soup and rice.

"Please use, please use."

However, the Taoist priest did not pick up the chopsticks from beginning to end, instead he said:

"Lao Zhang, I can't eat your meal."

The veteran was stunned.

"But the food is crude?"

Li Changan sighed in response to the wrong question.

"Don't you remember it yet?"

The veteran was at a loss.

At this moment.

The sun finally crossed the ridge, hung high in the sky, and the noon sun was cast down.

And the mist that lingers in the village is like thin ice that melts when heated. As soon as the hot sunlight shone, the next big piece was peeled off.

Suddenly.

The quiet and peaceful pastoral scroll outside the door seemed to be torn off a corner, revealing the bleak reality underneath.

Weedy roads, desolate houses, and skeletons where no one converges.

"This...the leader...this?"

The veteran's eyes widened, speaking incoherently.

He raised his eyes to look at the opposite side, but saw the Taoist with compassion on his face.

"The ten heavenly deities, the number is like sand and dust."

The veteran heard it in his ears, and there was a trance in his mind, and he vaguely remembered his childhood.

At that time, the family ran a wine shop in Xiaoshui City, and played on the streets on weekdays, and had a good relationship with the daughter Amei in the next didian. It is also a childhood sweetheart and Liang Xiaowu guessed, but the family business changed later, and the wine shop was sold and returned to the village.

"Transform the world of ten directions, and save the world."

He thought of his youth again.

At that time, he was a young man and didn't like to read. One day, I was shocked to hear that the culprits were in trouble, and they actually occupied the county seat. On the one hand, I was worried about Amei, and on the other hand, for the sake of enthusiasm, despite the dissuasion of his family, he insisted on joining the army and begging for thieves, and wanted to seal his wife.

"We will gather merits, and save the lonely souls together."

He thought of his prime of life again.

The dream of the past has long been shattered. The separatism and rebellion above never cease for a moment. Today, I am an officer and army, and tomorrow I will become an anti-thief. There was no news at home, and friends around him died one after another, leaving him alone and muddled.

"The fire cloud turned into a Qing government, and the sword tree turned into a Qian."

He thought of old age again. On the battlefield, the arrows are like sand. The swallow-shaped banner is hunting and fluttering in the north wind, forward, forward, forward again! The heroic and majestic figure ignited the long-lost blood in his chest. He didn't find a heavy arrow stuck in his waist and abdomen until he broke the triple formation.

"Go up to Zhuling Mansion, and go down to the gate of Aisheng."

It's still the big swallow flag.

Under the banner, the blue banner swaggered, and the yellow paper money was swept into the north wind, and fluttered to the south.

The witch in colorful clothes danced a weird dance, and his vague tone reverberated in the wilderness.

"The soul is gone! The soul is gone!"

...

Sing the scriptures.

The veteran slowly woke up from the trance.

"So..." he murmured, "Am I dead?"

He raised his eyes blankly.

The mist has cleared, and the quiet and peaceful village just disappeared like a dreamy bubble, leaving the weeds in the ruins and skeletons, rustling in the wind.

Look at the soup and rice on the stone pier.

But two bowls of muddy yellow mud soup and a plate of rotten grass leaves.

The veteran patted his forehead in annoyance, stood up, and the Chong Taoist bowed sincerely.

"Thank you for a long time, and accompany this foolish worm who doesn't know it to me for a while."

"The trivial matters are not enough." Taoist returned, "When you arrive at Netherworld, I will also give Brother Yan a sound of peace."

The veteran bowed and responded, but suddenly he was a little twisted.

"If Dao Master went to Xiaoshui..."

His old face turned red.

"Will you go to the Yujiadi Store in Chengdong, and help me pass a word to... hey, it's better, you are so old."

As he said, the time he stayed in this world gradually came to an end, and his figure and face gradually faded.

He restrained his expression again, and solemnly said to the Taoist priest:

"The village is so ruined that there are no bones on the floor, and I don't know what the nearby county town looks like? The Taoist chief is going to be careful on this trip."

Li Changan nodded.

"I know it."

"treasure."

"treasure."

Forget it, the veteran's figure completely disappeared, and only a broken armour was "pushed" and fell to the ground.

Li Changan picked it up, brushed away the dust, took it into the pine forest, and placed it in front of the veteran's grave.

He drew his sword again and cut off the vine from the tombstone.

But see the engraved on the stele:

Tomb of Yan Song.

A Mei, the deceased in the second year of Changqing, wears a dress here.