"Old man, Xie Feng's little grandson is gone. Don't worry about me seeking revenge on him. The dead man is the most important." I smiled, habitually lit a cigarette and placed it next to the bed where the old man slept.

In the smoke, I seemed to see the old man sitting on the bed smoking.

People say that the first seven deceased people will come back to life and walk in through the gate of the mourning hall, and those who watch the night will see their dead relatives and even chat with them.

But I watched the old man’s first seven nights for the whole night, and I still didn’t see that skinny and hunched figure...

Maybe it was because the old man had done so many good deeds that he was arranged to be reincarnated as soon as he died. It is estimated that he would be reincarnated as the second generation of rich people in his next life and live a life of luxury and luxury.

Maybe Xie Feng's death reminded me of the old man, or maybe I got sick and became as self-sobbing and self-pitying as Lin Daiyu.

But that's the fact. As long as I think about what happened to the old man in the past, I can't stop crying.

"Grandpa, you were reincarnated so quickly..." I rubbed my eyes, but no matter how much I rubbed my tears, I still couldn't stop them. I could only let them flow out. I know it's embarrassing, but I...

....I really can't help it....

According to the old man, I was picked up by him. When he picked me up, there were so many gongs, drums and firecrackers that the gods of joy came to congratulate him personally.

Of course, these words are purely bragging by the old man. Only the first sentence is true, I was picked up by him.

Twenty-four years ago, I was picked up by the old man in the woods outside Longshan County in western Hunan. I was wrapped in a few pieces of rotten cotton and could hardly breathe.

It was the twelfth lunar month of winter, and the temperature was around zero. As a baby, I struggled to survive in the wild for three hours before I met the old man and was rescued by him.

What does this mean? It shows that only those who love to work hard will win.

"Your parents are nothing. They throw their children away in the wilderness in the dead of winter. If it hadn't been for your grandfather and my discerning eyes, you, a little bastard, would have gone to see my ancestor a long time ago." The old man said every time.

After drinking for the first time, he recited this sentence to me. I was quite angry at first. After all, it would be strange not to be angry when meeting such parents, but as time went by, I got used to it.

Just throw it away, I don't care, because I still have the old man with me.

Ever since I can remember, there have been three main themes in life: going to school, memorizing books, and learning alchemy.

Some people wonder how a young man with a hairless mouth, only in his twenties, knows so much? How can he learn so many skills?

The answer is simple.

In Xiangxi, the environment where I grew up had no computers, no games, no KTVs and bars, no nightclubs and billiards rooms.

There are winter and summer vacations for schooling, but there is no winter and summer vacation for learning alchemy, not even weekends.

Every day, apart from memorizing books, I go to school, and apart from going to school, I also learn alchemy. After so many years of high-pressure study, if I don’t learn some skills, I’d be really stupid.

Although I dare not say that I am proficient in all the five majors in Xiangxi, I have definitely learned 10% of the first three.

When I say this, many people will think that I am bragging.

A person in his twenties has learned 10% of his skills? Are you superhuman?

I guess many people will think this way, but the reality is completely different from what you think.

The level of metaphysics is not measured by spells, but by the height of thought.

I have learned a lot, but it does not mean that I am profound, because the things I have learned are all memorized by rote, and everyone can learn them. Although I may not be able to learn a lot, at least within ten years, I can learn a lot.

You can also learn five or six tenths of the first three subjects.

Ideological realm is the only criterion used to measure the profundity of Taoism. Many branches of metaphysics have the aspect of cultivating thoughts.

For example, Taoism’s “cultivation of one’s moral character”, Buddhism’s “enlightenment and becoming a Buddha”, and Xiangxi’s “Suixi Shen”.

If we really compare, the spells that the old man learned from me are actually similar, but he is better than me in three ways.

First, the height and state of mind, second, experience in doing things, and third, proficiency in each spell.

Taishang Laojun Li Er, he was not a Taoist priest, and the so-called Taoist skills were not passed down by him, but the Taoist priests of later generations respected him as one of the Three Pure Ones. Why is this?

It's very simple, because his ideological height and realm have reached a place that ordinary people cannot reach. I'm afraid not many people can understand the word "Tao" deeper than him.

In real life, the way a warlock behaves is not like in novels: the older you are, the more powerful you are, or the higher the sect, the more powerful you are. The more powerful and powerful the spells you learn, the more powerful you are. It is not the case at all.

But one thing is certain, the warlocks in ancient times were definitely better than the warlocks today.

Let me give you an example.

The Yi family five hundred years ago was definitely more powerful than the old man. The Yi family three hundred years ago was close to the old man in strength. Two hundred or one hundred years ago, they were basically the same strength as the old man.

The reason for this is very simple, it is because most of the magic is being lost.

From ancient times to the present, there have always been more lost spells than existing spells. Perhaps this is the negative impact caused by the torrent of history.

The erosion of the torrent of history can make human beings evolve, but it may also cause people to regress, such as people in the field of metaphysics.

"Old man, would you like to smoke a cigarette with me again?" I smiled, lit a cigarette to myself, and put it in the old man's ashtray. I looked at the ceiling blankly, and the memories in my mind seemed to start again.

Tangled.

The old man and I lived a very leisurely life in Xiangxi. Although I was a bit tired from studying alchemy, at least the days were peaceful and stable.

But all this was broken that night ten years ago, when I was just fifteen years old.

That day, after I finished my dinner, I read the book at home when I had nothing to do, but the old man said he wanted to go out for a walk.

The old man's walk this time was not short. He walked from dusk to one or two o'clock in the night before coming back. Unlike when he went out, his hands were empty. When he came back, he was holding a black bamboo slip and a piece of tattered copper tightly clutched in his hand.

piece.

When I saw the dirt all over his body, I immediately became anxious. Could it be that the old man was in some kind of trouble?!

He didn't explain too much to me, but started to pack things without saying a word. He didn't even take the clothes he usually wore, but only took cash and bankbooks, as well as a stack of ancient books and family heirlooms.

The next morning, at dawn, we got on the train to Guiyang.

In the dark carriage, I sat with a blank look on my face, while the old man muttered anxiously.

I asked him why we had to go to Guiyang, and he said...

"I accidentally bumped into that thing. We must leave, otherwise we will end up dead!" The old man smiled bitterly and lit up his cigarette. He took a puff and said with fear on his face: "The things in that hole are not for us ordinary people.

I can fight..."

Holes, things, I didn't understand what these were at all, and he didn't want to explain it to me.

When he arrived in Guiyang, the old man took out his savings and opened a shop. He used the back room as a bedroom and sold wreaths and paper figurines in the shop.

From that time on we settled down in Guiyang. We were all quite down and out at that time, right?

After buying this shop, the old man had almost no savings, so he could only use the remaining money to buy some raw materials for making wreaths and paper figurines. After eating vegetarian food for a month, we were able to recover from the economic crisis.

"Grandpa, what are these bamboo slips and copper pieces?" After being drunk, I asked the old man while he was confused, hoping to hear the answer I had always wanted to know.

But the old man's mouth was unusually tight, and he just said vaguely: "I've become a sperm, I've become a sperm."

I asked the old man this kind of question no less than fifty times, but he got no answer every time. I have long been used to it.

When I was nineteen years old, my father saved a lot of money to help me go to college, and he also spent money to give me red envelopes. As a result, after four years, I realized that I was admitted to college.

What is a university?

Sleeping, skipping classes, making up exams, giving gifts to teachers to try not to fail, what else?

Two years have passed, and every time I think back to my college years, I really don’t know what expression to put on my face to recall them.

In the words of the old man: "Xiyaozi, your IQ was probably at its peak during your senior year of high school."

After graduation, Zhou Yan wanted to drag me to work as a forensic doctor with him, but I didn't go because I wanted to stay in the wreath shop and start my own business.

It's not for money, it's just to prevent the store that the old man has worked so hard to run from going bankrupt.

If the old man leaves in the future and I am a forensic doctor, who will take care of the wreath shop?

Selling or closing down the business are not what I want to see.

So under the old man's scolding, I gradually learned how to run a wreath shop, how to make paper figurines, and how to make wreaths.

My father didn't let me learn these things when I was in high school, but after graduating from college, I learned them thoroughly. It's really ironic that a dignified college graduate would engage in these fascinating things.

I thought everything would be peaceful or uneventful, but...

Five months ago, the old man gave up his position as the owner of the wreath shop to me, and he is enjoying his old age.

Four months ago, the old man often thought about when the young lady would find a wife. I also wanted to see my great-grandson.

three months ago…

The old man passed away peacefully, probably because he knew he didn't have much time. Before he left, he smoked two packs of cigarettes that I bought specially to honor him. There was no pain on his face, and he died peacefully.

When I woke up the next morning, I habitually reached out to the bed next door to wake up the old man, and asked him to go and do Tai Chi with the old lady outside on time, so that he could exercise and live a few more years, which would also allow me to honor him a few more years.

.

But the old man refused to wake me up no matter how much I screamed. In fact, I knew he was gone at that time because I could feel the coldness on his rough old hands.

I teased the old man with a smile on my face, tickling him with my hands, or tapping his forehead lightly with my fingers...but the old man didn't wake up.

To be honest, I laughed and cried at that time because I didn’t believe that he was gone. The old man said that he would stay with me forever, because I have no parents and no mother. If he leaves, I will have no relatives, but...

...

Old man!! Why don’t you keep your words!! Why?!!

In the end, I couldn't fight the reality and cried like a child. I hugged the old man and cried for several hours. When I finished crying, my eyes were swollen.
To be continued...