【Yanlu】Ghost

=yang=

The day I met my master was July [-]th.

On the Hungry Ghost Festival, the river is crowded with men and women coming and going, vying to push the lanterns carrying candles into the water.

Holding a bunch of bundled river lanterns, I shuttled through the crowded crowd, and when I saw someone with an empty hand, I forced one over and forced them to buy it.At this time, most of the people who come to the riverside are good men and believers, who don't want to seek a blessing for their family members, and most of them are generous and generous.

I was proud, thinking that I would finally be able to eat enough next month, even if the proprietress still withheld wages for a long time, I would still be able to survive. It bumped and didn't care at all.

Perhaps God wanted to punish me for my only self-satisfaction in this sad day, and after walking a few more steps, I realized something was wrong.

I touched it up and down in a hurry, and my heart couldn't help but feel cold. Sure enough, the purse pinned to my waist was nowhere to be found, and the thieves who touched my purse and ran away had long since disappeared.

I stood in a daze among the bustling crowd, and in front of my eyes was the water surface covered with mist. The mist was illuminated by the river lamps, blurring the pious faces.People passed me in a hurry, and no one knew the pain behind them, and no one knew the despair in my heart.

I threw the useless river lantern in my arms on the ground fiercely and vented my anger. The weak flame struggled for a while, and was quickly blown out by the night wind.The look on the faces of good men and believers became a great irony in my eyes at this moment. At that time, I couldn't figure out why, how the invisible and intangible souls of the dead could be more useful than real copper coins.

If the underworld can really hear the blessings of the world, why have my parents who have never met never blessed me with peace.

I wanted to cry, but felt so sad that I couldn't even shed tears.

Just as he was about to stomp hard on the extinguished river lantern again, he heard an indifferent voice from behind,

"It's just a dead thing, what can you do with it?"

I took a sharp sniff and turned my head, and replied angrily, "It's none of your business", but swallowed all my dissatisfaction when I saw the person coming.

The strange man standing in front of me was dressed in white clothes that were as snowy as snow, his temples were full of frost, and his sleeves were windless and automatic.

If it wasn't for his handsome face that belongs to a young man, I would have thought that I had bumped into some kind of old man who had attained Taoism and immortality.

I was in a daze when I heard the fairy in front of me speak again, his voice was a bit colder than before.

"Keep it."

He cherishes words like gold, as if skipping one more word would be fatal, he pushed the things in his hand into my arms, then turned and left.I raised my hand to take it and took a closer look, but it was the purse that was just stolen by those beasts!It was so full that it seemed to be a little heavier than before.

"Shangxian!!"

I hurried to catch up.

He walked very fast, with the wind under his feet, he floated into the crowd, and he couldn't see clearly in the blink of an eye.

I had no choice but to run faster and faster, my eyes fixed on the dusty white shadow, fearing that if I slowed down a step, I would be looking for it countless times.In a hurry, he made a mistake, and accidentally tripped over hard.

It’s over.

I close my eyes.

It seems that the proprietress is right, people have to accept their fate, and inferior people should do their part well, and don't do dreamy things all day long.

Even if you have lofty aspirations, you need God's will to fulfill you.

It's better to go back, no matter how clever your mind is, there are still a few loads of firewood waiting to be chopped in the backyard...

I open my eyes.

The slightly fluttering hem of a person's clothes was reflected in the blurred vision, as white as a handful of snow on the Tianshan Mountains.I was stunned for a moment, and I forgot the pain, and I didn't care how embarrassed I was. I crawled forward a few steps and desperately grabbed the white cloud that came out of the fairyland, and shouted resolutely, "Shangxian!!! Please take the little one as a disciple! !!"

The expression on the face of the Banished Immortal did not change at all, he looked at me quietly for a while, and finally said,

"Get up, the ground is cold."

That was the first time I met my teacher.

***

My master is a weirdo.

The master's surname is Yan, and the single name has the word Yu.Appropriately, he wrote the awe-inspiring spirit between his brows.

Later, I realized that my master was not a fairy.

He originally studied under a certain worldly master whose name I have never heard of, and devoted himself to cultivating the Tao. Later, for some reason, he expelled himself from the teacher's school and has been wandering around the world to this day.I don't know when he was born, but he seems to be able to attain the Tao but not enter, because his temples are already frost-white, his eyebrows and eyes are still clear.

It also took a long time before I knew the reason why Master appeared by the river that day.

Among the brilliant lights that filled the river, there was actually one lit by him.

It turns out that even if you have practiced so far, there will still be people who care about it.

I still remember that on July [-]th of the second year I worshiped him as a teacher, it was the Ghost Festival, and I went with him to set off river lanterns.

Before worshiping Yan Yu as my teacher, I didn't believe this.At that time, I saw that Master's actions were also very casual, and he didn't seem to be serious.It's just a few pennies to buy a lantern, push it into the river, and then quietly watch it go away until it merges into a sea of ​​light and flows down the river, and it can no longer be distinguished.

At that time, I was still young, only 13 years old, and I hadn't cultivated a calm temperament, so I couldn't rest for a moment.Seeing Master standing by the river and watching the river lantern go away, he was much more silent than before. Seeing it, I felt extremely uncomfortable for some reason, and couldn't help breaking the tranquility.

"Master, Master, I heard that if this river lantern sinks, it means that the entrusted person has been reincarnated. If it floats, it must still be suffering in the underworld."

I couldn't help biting my tongue in the middle of the sentence, and thought to myself that I didn't wink. Didn't the river lantern he put on just now float until it was out of sight?

As if the master had never heard of it, he kept quietly staring at the light that was getting farther and farther away, with a gentle expression that I had never seen before, as if he was looking into someone's smiling eyes.

Seeing that he didn't care, I hurriedly tried to make up for the slip of the tongue just now, and said, "But just now, a sister told me that this place where it enters the sea is connected to the Yellow Spring. As long as you are sincere, the river lantern will surely float into the underworld. To the loved ones!"

Seeing that he was still unresponsive, I slapped myself on the head and exclaimed, "Oh! That's terrible!"

"Ok?"

My master, who has always been indifferent and indifferent, turned his head and looked at me indifferently.

I have been with him for a year, and I understood that this look meant to urge me to speak quickly, and hurriedly said, "The sister also said that you need to write the name of the person who made the wish on the paper and put it in the lantern. It is only when you receive it that you will know who it is! Master, you forgot to attach your name just now! What should I do!!"

When I relayed these gossips, I originally just wanted to attract Master's attention and dispel the inexplicably sad atmosphere, but as soon as the words came out, I couldn't help but believe them a little, and I really became anxious.

However, Master turned his head indifferently, and his eyes fell on the light that was gradually sinking into the darkness. After a long time, the corners of his lips curled into a shallow arc, and he said softly,

"No. He knows."

The last ray of light also disappeared, and the surface of the water returned to darkness.

Even my master's face was shrouded in boundless darkness.

His lips that are always tightly closed, and that short-lived smile that quietly blooms, which I have never seen before, seem to be just a hallucination when I was a teenager.

***

I traveled around with my master.Passing through towns, if there are demons, Master will help people cast spells to drive away evil spirits; passing through mountains, he will stop for a while and teach me to appreciate the beauty of mountains and rivers.I didn't understand it at the time, and I was very anxious. I didn't know what benefits such a leisurely tour of the mountains and rivers would do for my diligence.

In the hearts of young children, there must be a destination waiting at the end of the road, and no one will start aimlessly.So for a long time at the beginning, I often pestered Master to ask him, the sky is high and the road is far away, what are we going to do and where are we going.

Master just remained silent as always.

I thought he was angry at my stupidity, and as the days passed, I gradually realized that there was really no answer to this question.He turned over mountains and ridges unhurriedly like this, as if he was looking for someone's footprints, but also as if he hadn't pursued anything and could stop at any time.

The only thing that remains the same is that every July and a half, no matter where we are, Master will go to the riverside to light a lamp for the person by the river Styx, just like when we first met.

I don't know how many times he watched the river lanterns drown in the sea of ​​light before we met.

I also secretly speculated whether the person I had never met was my wife.

However, every time I asked about it, the master was reluctant to say much, but simply said that he was an old friend.

My master's eccentricities are far more than these.

It is said that he is an ordinary person, and his words and deeds are clearly different from ordinary people like you and me.But if he is a Taoist, he has never done less things that are taboo in Taoism.

Just talking about eating and eating, before worshiping Master as a teacher, I thought that Taoist priests should practice purely and not pay attention to such mundane things as eating and drinking. It was only when I walked with Master that I realized that I was completely wrong.I have been traveling with him for these years, and every time I go to a town, he always finds the most prestigious restaurants and restaurants to taste the local delicacies one by one.

If that's the case, then he is just an ordinary glutton.

The reason why the master is weird is that he has always eaten lightly. Although the greasy and meaty food must make him frown, he still persists in savoring it carefully.

Even better, before he put down the chopsticks, he would always order me to pour two glasses of wine, drink one for myself, and lift the other to the empty seat opposite, and then spill it on the ground.

I don't know who he respects, but seeing Master's softer eyebrows and eyes than before when he did these things, I can't help guessing that what he was thinking about when he drank the contents of the cup may be the same one buried in the river lantern. name.

All kinds of speculations about Master's deceased person are like a lingering mystery, which still haunts me even after he has been gone for many years.And to piece together that person's appearance from the clues that Master inadvertently exposed has become a secret that has run through my entire youth.

Once I went with him to visit Jianjian Villa.

That was the only time he received a response among his many visits to old times.The rest are all dead long ago, and most of them haven't even left a grave.

I wondered how Master could recognize the man of the bloody storm in the rivers and lakes more than a hundred years ago. Could it be that he has lived for a hundred years?But at that time, I also wasted a few years and understood a little bit, so I would no longer blindly follow behind him and ask questions, but thought in my heart that maybe it was related to that old man in the underworld.

Forging Sword Villa is still prosperous, and the owner of the villa is naturally no longer the one that Master mentioned.

The young Shaozhuang owner was gentle and courteous, and when he asked about his intentions, the master handed him the sword at his waist.

This was another of his oddities.Master always wears that sword with him, but I have never seen him use it.

The owner of the Shaozhuang obviously recognized the pattern on the scabbard, and with a solemn expression, he led us to the inner hall.

The aged owner Ren's temples had already turned gray. He took the sword presented by his master and looked at it carefully. His rough hands stroked the lines on the scabbard inch by inch, as well as the dried and blackened blood in the lines, as if he could read it like this. The story of the wind and frost it has experienced over the years.

"When my late father was still alive, he mentioned that there was an old friend who was an idiot about swords. He collected and loved swords all his life and didn't care about other things. At that time, my late father's best friend, Lu Shaolin, the young head of the Golden Wind Bodyguard Bureau, wanted to get along with this I am a friend of a sword idiot, and I came here specially to ask my late father to make a sword handle and give it to him in the name of the villa."

I noticed that Master's usually steady hand trembled inadvertently when he heard that name.

"My father didn't forge many swords in his life, and he donated only three swords. One was given to the leader at the beginning, but it was broken during the decisive battle. The other is now enshrined in front of my father's grave. The one in the hands of the priest... This is the last one."

"Is the Taoist priest the descendant of that sword idiot? You and I met for the first time today, but Yu Baojian reunited after a long time. In any case, I should let the Taoist priest meet. My late father has a spirit in heaven, and I think he will reunite for an old friend." Rejoice."

There are two steles standing side by side in the sword tomb of Zhujian Villa, and two swords are enshrined in front of the tomb, which belong to the two people who turned the tide during the martial arts dispute.

The current Director Zhuang, Zijin, is also their adopted son. He doesn't know my master's origin, and slowly talks about the past that he heard from his parents.

Master listened very carefully.

It seems that what he has been looking for is this faded story.

But I was absent-minded, just looking at the rare expression on Master's face, secretly happy in my heart.The secret that has been lingering in my heart, like the mystery of the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival, was finally cracked by outsiders.

"By the way, my father forged this sword because he was entrusted by someone, so he didn't give it a name. According to him, that old friend disappeared later, and my father has always missed it. Dare I ask you, this sword is now name……?"

The old owner of the village was very happy to see his father's deceased, and he sent us all the way outside the mountain gate, and he was still reluctant to leave.

The master got on his horse and turned around with a faint smile when he heard the words.

"Shaolin."

I couldn't help but startled.

Finally, grasped the answer.

***

Year after year, the river lanterns given to Lu Shaolin never stopped.

Until I was 26 years old, I separated from Master.

Before I met Shuang'er, I thought that I would just follow Master and his secrets and roam the rivers and lakes for the rest of my life.But there will always be a person who will let the wanderers who are used to wandering find a home.

Over the years, the orphan who was once trapped in the mud but was proud and arrogant failed to become an expert in Taoism like his master.But I know that even though I am a penniless beggar, Shuang'er is still willing to stay by my side.

That's enough for me.

That day I knelt in front of Master to say goodbye to him, just like when I was kneeling on the ground begging him to take me away.

And my master still has long hair that wins the snow, clear eyebrows and eyes, and the expression on his face has not changed at all.

He only looked at me quietly for a while, and finally said,

"Get up, the ground is cold."

Everything is the same as before.

Master allowed me to leave so easily, which made me feel extremely guilty and disturbed.Thinking that after this, the mountains will be long and the water will be wide, and he will be alone again, and he can't help but feel sad.

On the contrary, the always taciturn master spoke to comfort me. He said that from the day he accepted me as a disciple, he knew that today would come. go.

I lowered my head and refused to lift it up, for fear that Master would see my face wet with tears and thousands of words would be stuck in my throat and I would not be able to speak.In the end, I had to ask with difficulty, choked with sobs, what about Master, what is your doom, and who can help you.

Then I saw Master's smile again.

Strange to say, he is obviously such a cold and alienated person, but when he mentions the old man, there is always a smile on his lips.

"It's doomed," he said.

After that, Master left me and set off alone.

I had thought he would be lonely, but knowing him over the years told me he wasn't.

No matter where he is, that non-existent shadow always accompanies him in his heart, seeing thousands of mountains and rivers, and the prosperity of the world.I don't know what Master promised that person back then, but I can guess that he was fulfilling a promise with his whole life.

There is no end to such a wandering, because the end is in his heart.

***

In the second year, the child of Shuang'er and I was born, named Wei Zhi.

Master didn't know how to figure this out, so he sent someone to bring a pair of longevity locks.

Several years later, I heard that Master finally settled down and lived in seclusion outside Hangzhou.

When Weizhi was nine years old, I took her to visit the hermitage of Master.

The mountain is rugged and steep, and the bamboo forest on the mountain is green, and the master's hut is hidden in a misty green.When the bamboo leaves rustled down, there was a distant sound of the piano.The sword that I have never seen unsheathed hangs on the wall in the center, and it can be seen as soon as the door is opened.

Master's facial features are still young as before, now it seems that I am older.He still had that cold face, but his demeanor was much gentler than before.Weizhi was not afraid of him, and was quite interested in his clear hair, and she couldn't let go of him when she saw him.

The master was not angry, he seemed to like Wei Zhi very much, and when he was parting, he seemed to inadvertently ask Wei Zhi to come back next time, like an ordinary elder who loves his children.

After that, every festive season, if I have time, I would take Wei Zhi to visit Master.

He was also invited to come to the house for reunion. He sometimes came, but most of the time he didn't.

I think he's been walking for too long and maybe finally tired.

If you want to count the world's most immortal and powerful people, my master should be among them.

But he is not a fairy after all.

Fortunately, it is not a fairy.

In the year Weizhi got married, her master passed away.

It is spring, the grass grows and the warblers fly, and the bamboo leaves in the mountains are green.

When he passed away, he was free from illness and pain, and his face was peaceful.

In July and a half of this year, it was my turn to set off river lanterns with Shuang'er.

One for Yan Yu, and one for Lu Shaolin who had never met before.

The two lotus flowers drifted away slowly with the water waves, and after a while, they swirled together and sank into the brightly illuminated river of light.

The moment the candle was extinguished, I thought of the Hungry Ghost Festival when I was young, and the distant legend that I heard.

Maybe this time, the person who has been wandering by the river Styx really took his hand and walked away together.

=yin=

Every day in the underworld is very busy, not much more leisurely than the world.

When I lived, I thought death was nothing more than a black eye.Walking on the Naihe Bridge, Meng Po soup was exhausted, and no one remembered anyone.

It was not easy for him to die so smoothly when he really died.

I went to find Lu Shaotemporary with the verdict given by the judge. He was chatting with the little girl serving tea in the underworld.I don't know what he said, but the girl was so happy that he coaxed her, and she laughed so much that her flower branches were shaking and falling back and forth, her head rolled down her neck, and she spun around on the ground, her small cherry mouth was still giggling. Can't stop laughing.

The man next to her was not surprised at all, knelt down and picked up the girl's head, carefully placed it on the snow-white neck, and helped her smooth the skin on the neck.

"Be careful, it won't look good if you fall from such a height and hurt your face."

Hearing what he said, the girl was concerned, two patches of blush suddenly appeared on her bloodless face, she raised her eyes and was about to retort, when she saw me standing impatiently outside the door, she lowered her head shyly, held up her skirt and walked quickly Ran.I rolled my eyes unabashedly, you and I are both ghosts, pretend to be a fart.

The man standing in the hall was not angry at all when he saw me like this, his eyes were full of peach blossoms, and he just looked at me with a smile.

I felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, and threatened in a rough voice, "Why are you staring at me?"

He didn't talk, just walked up to me and raised his hand to my hair.

I instinctively stepped back to avoid it, but I didn't dodge it. I thought to myself that this person must have practiced martial arts when he was alive.He didn't seem to notice my thoughts at all, he spread his hand with a smile, and held it in front of my eyes.

In his palm, several peach blossom petals faded by blisters stuck together.

Yes, on the day I threw myself into the river, the peach blossoms on the riverside were in full bloom...

With a sore nose, I raised my head and glared at him fiercely, "What the hell are you trying to do!"

He didn't smell it at all, and he still looked so leisurely, helping me smooth out my long hair that was tangled and astringent by the river water.I wanted to push it away, but felt that my arm weighed a thousand catties, and I couldn't lift my hand no matter what. I was suddenly worried that he would smell the fishy smell of corpses mixed with fish.

I saw him tilting his head and looking at me, his thin lips casually evoked a smile.

"It looks good when it's tidied up."

"Why are you walking in such a hurry, your hair is messed up."

As soon as I finished speaking, I saw me staring at him blankly, and finally cried for the first time after my death.

***

Both Lu Shaolin and I are on errands in the underworld.

According to the judge, most of the people who can stay on as errands are those who have committed mistakes in their previous lives and suffered great injustice.The crime is not enough to go to hell, but it can't be reincarnated cleanly, and the grievances on the body should be compensated to some extent. The two cancel each other out, and just stay in the underworld to work for a few years to pay off the debt.

I snorted coldly, what a wishful thinking, it saved a lot of expenses.

The judge asked me with a half-smile on his pale face, "If the dead don't let the dead do it, should the living do it?"

Speaking of Lu Shaolin, even if he is thrown into this pile of weird messes, he can be regarded as a very weird person.

I heard that the verdict given by the judge was only written for 30 years. According to the number of days, he should have been reincarnated before I died.

The rest of the ghost messengers are not carrying the tragic and desolate past events, Meng Po soup is also an unattainable gift for us, all of them look forward to the early days of liberation, and can rely on that bowl of water to wash away everything in front of us pain.

But Lu Shaolin seems to be addicted to being a errand, and he doesn't know what is wrong with him. Once 30 years arrive, he just clings to it and won't leave.

The King of Hades and the Judge are happy to see the success. In all fairness, who would not be happy to have such a suave, capable and free hand?So he turned a blind eye and closed one eye, and just let him stay.

It is often said in the world that the temple of Hades is impartial and selfless, and all good and evil merits and demerits have their own judgement.Unexpectedly, ghosts are changed by people, but it's just that the world of the world has changed the world.

I don't know that when the judge assigned me to be Lu Shaolin's helper, it was the first few years he had stayed in the underworld, and I don't know whether he will continue to stay like this forever.We just tacitly do our own things, no one knows who's past, no one knows what kind of story lives in his heart.

The world is crowded with people, and the underworld is also full of ghosts.

Every day there are newly dead ghosts lined up in a long line by the Naihe Bridge, which is more lively than when I was alive when people crowded around the Changle Building to watch the oiran.

Meng Po is a woman with half of her face burned ferociously, but the other half without the black veil is so beautiful that it makes everyone pale.

Every new ghost lined up in front of her will be amazed and amazed by the difference between her and the legend.

It's a pity that she has a worse temper than me, and she usually doesn't even smile for others, but just stuffs a bowl full of soup into someone's arms, and says in a nasty voice, get out of here after drinking, don't stand stupidly in the way of my mother's business.

When those ghosts got angry again, they forgot all about it when they poured a bowl of water into it, and were lured by ghost messengers to reincarnate in a daze.

But there will always be people who don't want to drink.

No matter how much suffering and grievances Yangshi has suffered, there are still some things that seem to be buried in their bones and blood, which teach them not to forget.

At this time, Lu Shaolin's shadow is often indispensable.

At first I thought that Hades sent him to be a lobbyist because of his eloquence.Unexpectedly, Lu Shaolin, who has always been slick and slick, is always extraordinarily taciturn at this time.

If you were someone else, you would often be unable to help asking, who are you, and why are you lingering here unwilling to be reincarnated.When it was Lu Shao's turn, he just silently sent the crying or furious ghosts to the other side of the Naihe Bridge, taught them to look at the long queue, and said, "If you want to wait, you can wait here." Just wait," and then ignore it.

It is strange to say that many souls who seem to wish to stay here for millions of years will often come back to this side of the bridge after a short period of time.

Those with a bit of perseverance, standing there for a few years, will inevitably wear out their patience.After staying for a while longer, most of them even forgot the reason why they refused to get off the bridge in the first place.

I was secretly surprised and asked Lu Shaolin why.

He didn't smile that time.

Those peach blossom eyes that are always curved are full of indelible ink.

He said it was because he had waited.

Just because hate can't last long after all.

I don't understand, I have experienced the pain that is rooted in my bones and blood, the hatred that is so thick that it cannot be dissolved in the chest cavity, and when I stabbed the knife into my uncle's body, I couldn't understand this hatred very clearly.I knew what price I had to pay, but his distorted and painful face at that time made me feel extremely happy, and I never regretted what I did for a moment.

To this day, the temperature when the blood gushes out still lingers on my fingertips.

If such hatred will subside one day, what can last for a long time?

I asked Lu Shaolin in a low voice, "What about you? Who are you waiting for? Why are you wandering here?"

Seeing that I was puzzled, Lu Shaolin was startled, and then raised his eyebrows.Smiling calmly as usual, stroking my heart and saying,

"You're too young to understand."

Looking at the somewhat unfathomable eyes, this time, I pushed his hand away impatiently.

***

Once a person gets busy, even the days of the underworld pass quickly.

In a blink of an eye, it was July and a half of the second year.

On the Ghost Festival, the day when the gates of ghosts are wide open, all ghosts, big and small, from the underworld have been pardoned, and they flock into the mortal world.

I am a disgrace to my family, how can I have the face to go back, I am bored alone, wandering around by the rare and quiet River Styx.Unexpectedly, someone arrived earlier than me. As the night fell, they stood by the water, as if they were waiting for something.

The man was tall and straight, with long hair over the shoulders casually pulled up in a small braid and thrown behind his head, showing half of his handsome profile from a distance, I took a closer look, who is it if it's not Lu Shaolin?

It was as if I discovered some secret by accident, and a heart that had long been dead couldn't help beating wildly.

In a short while, the already dark and pale sky in the underworld was completely dark.

In the distance, dots of warm orange light illuminate the peaceful night at the end of the sky.

The blossoming warm lights slowly gathered together, more and more, getting closer, and then I saw clearly that there were many lanterns floating in the river from nowhere.

The entire gloomy Styx River was illuminated brilliantly, and river lanterns, carrying small candles, swayed slowly, drifting down slowly with the water waves.

I couldn't hold back the confusion in my heart, I caught up with him, and was about to ask what happened to Lu Shaolin, when I saw a river lantern in the shape of a lotus flower, which seemed to have human nature, twirling as it passed by his feet, barely stopping live.

Lu Shaolin acted as if he had never heard my footsteps, he just stared at the little lotus flower without blinking, squatted down, picked it up carefully, and put it in his arms.

The water wet his sleeves.

His side face was covered with a hazy outline by the candlelight. I couldn't see it clearly, but I just remembered the expression on his face at that time, which was actually gentler than all the smiles I had seen before.

Lu Shaolin stood up with the lantern in his arms, only then did he realize that I had been following behind him.

Seeing my hesitant to speak expression, he raised a finger with a smile and made a gesture of silence on his lips.Seeing that I was puzzled, he raised his jaw again, and nodded in the direction of my feet.I followed his guidance and found that a small lantern was parked beside the river at my feet.

The rabbit has playful ears, just like the one my elder sister taught me to pierce when I was young.

I couldn't care about Lu Shaolin's secret anymore, I hurriedly squatted down, stretched my arms and fished it towards me.

Under the quietly flickering candlelight, there was a note, which I recognized as elder sister's handwriting.

She said she only found out what happened to me when she went home to visit her relatives.

She said she regretted not recognizing my pain sooner.

She said that she never blamed me, and only wished that I would not suffer any more.

Holding the thin note, I squatted by the river and wept bitterly.

It turns out that someone has always missed me...

When stepping into the river step by step, why did I forget it...

I was crying sadly, when my eyes dimmed, Lu Shaolin took out a handkerchief from nowhere and threw it on my head.

"Don't cry, your eyes will be swollen into peaches tomorrow, scare the newcomer to death again."

I chuckled, and while wiping my tears with the handkerchief, I mocked him sullenly,

"Which ghost maid did you cheat this handkerchief from? You are so promiscuous down here, and you are not afraid that your wife will get angry if you know it."

"Miss?" Lu Shaolin raised his voice and looked at me strangely.

"Could it be that you two haven't married yet?"

I glanced at the lantern hugged tightly in his arms, and the skirt of his clothes was already wet by the water on the lantern, but he still didn't realize it.

Such a cherished appearance, it is said that it is not a gift from the sweetheart.

Oh yo, looking at his usual virtue, don't be a bad story written in a storybook about a vagabond falling in love with a brothel prostitute, right? !

Lu Shaolin, who has always had a clear mind, somehow reversed what I was referring to, and instead of being angry or annoyed, he laughed heartily.

The smiling eyes rolled, Lu Shaolin dragged out his tone,

"That's right, lady. My lady is a fairy-like figure, and she is many times more beautiful than you little girl!"

"I haven't bloomed! If I die a few years later, who may be more beautiful than the other!"

I finally stopped crying, threw away the veil, and found the strength to talk back.

Year after year, every July [-]th, Lu Shaolin would go to the river early, waiting for the lotus lantern to stop at his feet across the mountains and rivers of the world.

For more than ten years, the river lantern has never been interrupted for a year.

***

I have been in the underworld for No. 15 years, and the debt has finally been paid off.

This time, it was Lu Shaolin who saw me off.

The two of us squeezed into the long line in front of Granny Meng, and he didn't stop for a moment, even pulling me to chat.What are you saying to vote for a good family this time, stop being so irritable, don't be too impulsive in doing things in the future, many things will turn around after a while, and so on.

We know each other well, and when we get to the other end of the Naihe bridge, I will forget all the instructions I have given.

But I couldn't bear to refute him, I just responded one by one.

At the end, I asked back, "What about you?"

"Why hasn't the person you were waiting for come?"

Lu Shaolin smiled faintly, "It's my greatest wish that he live a long life, all I want is to see him more when the time comes, why bother to rush this moment."

I exclaimed a little, it turned out that all these years, he was only waiting for the last side.

While we were chatting, I saw that the ghost messenger came with a new ghost.

The spirit of the new ghost was extraordinary, he was out of the ordinary world, with a fairy-like demeanor. Wherever he walked, the yin energy of the entire underworld seemed to have weakened a bit.

He followed the ghost messenger with no expression on his face. As he gradually approached, I saw clearly that there was a young and handsome face under the white hair.

"Young Master Lu! Young Master Lu! Look at the man behind you, his temples are full of silver hair, and his face is still young!"

When the man passed by us, I grabbed Lu Shaolin's sleeve and whispered.

"Hey, it's a pity that you have also been a ghost messenger for more than ten years, why are you so ignorant. This is called..."

Lu Shaolin showed his usual unscrupulous smile again, turned around following my line of sight, met that person's gaze, and suddenly lost his voice.

The man in white also stopped in his tracks.

The two of them just looked at each other quietly.

The air seemed to freeze at this moment.

Lu Shaolin spoke several times, but he seemed unable to make any sound.

At that moment, I didn't know whether he was happy or sad.

On his face, there are many expressions that I have never seen before, flashing like a revolving lantern.

In the end, all those expressions disappeared, and they were frozen into a familiar smile.

It was every July [-]th in the past, he looked at the river lantern with a smile.

"Brother Yan came late, let Lu wait."

The man in white smiled and closed his eyes gently.

=end=