The Tao is far away

He found that he was no longer himself!

Wang Chi looked at the unfamiliar face reflected in the water and was filled with panic.

He tried to wake himself up by slapping his cheeks, thinking he was dreaming again.

However, his thoughts suddenly touched upon a certain overlooked detail.

A flash of inspiration passed through Wang Chi's mind. He had just seen a figure that was extremely similar to him.

Wang Chi couldn't believe it and slowly raised his head.

He opened his mouth wide, but no sound came out despite his efforts to speak.

His eyes were fixed on the dead body lying in the stream - it was himself!

At this moment, Wang Chi hugged his head in pain, feeling as if there were countless ants gnawing at his mind. He wanted to shout, but reality and illusion kept flashing alternately.

He returned to the starry world again, and those stars seemed to have merged into one with him.

The frequent switching between reality and illusion tortured Wang Chi.

At this moment, a series of images and sounds emerged in my mind:

"Your father is dead."

"Go to the mountain to chop wood."

"Boil some water for me."

"Close the door."

……

Wang Chi screamed wildly, trying to drive these memories that did not belong to him out of his mind.

He pounded his head violently until his eyes rolled back and his whole body convulsed.

Finally, Wang Chi lost consciousness.

"Ergou, wake up, what's wrong with you?" a big man shouted at him.

The people around Wang Chi began to talk.

"What was that purple thing just now?"

"Who knows? I was so scared. Look, Ergou was scared silly."

"Did you encounter an immortal?"

"Whether we are immortal or not, no one will care whether we live or die."

"What about the man lying on the water?"

"Look at how strangely he's dressed, and what he's saying."

"How about digging a hole and burying it?"

"Yeah."

A few people discussed that they had heard ghost stories told by the old carpenter in the village, so they decided to bury the body properly, which would be considered a good deed.

The four adults asked the older child to stay and look after the unconscious Wang Chi, while they walked towards the body lying on the ground together.

"Village Chief Li, I'm a little scared."

"What are you afraid of? Go and see if he's dead."

One of them timidly sniffed the body's breath, then said to the others, "It's dead."

"Carry him to the other side."

The man had no choice but to obey. The other three also stepped forward to help.

"What are these?" One of them picked up a pistol and said curiously, "Look, these things are really strange."

The leader, Brother Li, said, "Don't worry about it. Just bury them all. They are not good things."

So everyone hastily dug a pit, buried the body along with the camouflage uniforms and other items, and marked the area with a circle of small stones.

After finishing, the four of them returned down the mountain along the same route.

"Erhu, is Ergou awake?" Brother Li asked the child who was looking after Wang Chi.

"Not yet, Uncle Li." Erhu replied.

"Let's take him down the mountain to see Carpenter Wang. This child has a miserable life." The thin adult looked at Wang Chi with sympathy and said.

"If he died like this, how would we explain this to Widow Liu?"

"Tell Widow Liu to give the child more food. He is too thin."

"Hehe, that Widow Liu is quite nourishing."

……

The group chatted as they walked down the mountain and came to a village with about forty households.

The houses in Huangni Village are all built with stones and loess, and look quite dilapidated.

The group walked to the entrance of the village, where Carpenter Wang's house was. Although the house was slightly more refined than other houses, it was not much better.

"Carpenter Wang, come out and take a look at this child."

A middle-aged man walked out of the house. He was of medium build, with traces of time on his face, but his hair was completely white, which seemed a bit inconsistent.

"Put it down." Carpenter Wang said vaguely.

"Erhu, you stay and look after Ergou." Brother Li ordered.

"No need, let's go." Carpenter Wang muttered again.

Everyone looked at each other, nodded, and left.

Carpenter Wang placed Wang Chi on an unfinished bench, fed him a bowl of green liquid and took his pulse, his face looking solemn.

Then, a few strands of crystal liquid appeared on Carpenter Wang's hands and slowly flowed into Wang Chi's body.

After the light entered Wang Chi's body, Wang Chi slowly opened his eyes, but his eyes were empty and lifeless.

Seeing this, Carpenter Wang stood up and continued to work on his carpentry.

Only then did Wang Chi slowly regain his consciousness.

He realized that he had become Ergou. It was not that he had become Ergou, but that his mind had entered Ergou's body.

Wang Chi felt sympathy for Ergou.

It turned out that during his coma, those specks of starlight penetrated into his consciousness, allowing him to see Ergou's life experience.

Ergou lost his father at the age of three, and his mother ran away from home when he was four. He was raised by his father's sister, Widow Liu.

Widow Liu lived a hard life and often abused Ergou.

The children in the village also don't like him, except Erhu, who is the same age but mentally deficient and is willing to keep him company.

This kind of life lasted for many years. Ergou tried to escape many times, but was always caught and beaten.

When he was twelve years old, Widow Liu forced him to go to the mountains to chop firewood with several adults.

When they arrived at the place where they were chopping wood, they were resting under the shade of a tree when they suddenly saw a figure appear in the stream.

When the purple ball of light dissipated, the people in the stream began to move.

Although a few people were scared, they still went forward to check out curiously.

After the man stood up, he shouted to them. Although they couldn't understand what he was saying, it was obvious that he needed help.

Just as Ergou was about to step forward, a purple ball of light suddenly appeared in the sky and fell rapidly. Ergou screamed in fear, and the person on the opposite side ran towards him, saying something.

Then he saw a purple flash before his eyes, and then he lost consciousness.

Wang Chi recalled Ergou's past and couldn't help but sigh.

At this time, Carpenter Wang put down the wood planer in his hand, turned to Wang Chi and asked, "Would you like to be my disciple?"

Wang Chi didn't understand what he meant. Was he learning carpentry skills? Or something else?

From Ergou's memory, he knew that Carpenter Wang was not an ordinary person. He had seen with his own eyes Carpenter Wang descending from the sky on a flying sword.

"I do!" Wang Chi answered solemnly.

First of all, he has to survive here, and other things can only be considered later.

“But…” Wang Chi looked embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to Widow Liu." Carpenter Wang saw Wang Chi's worry.

"Thank you, Master!" Wang Chi knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times.

……