the enlightener says

And when he pushed the wheelchair out from behind the screen, the old eunuch had disappeared. Qin Ke stared blankly at the man in front of him holding a candlestick. He has a noble aura like bamboo, and his eyes are as calm and deep as an ancient well. On his casually coiled hair, there is a jade hairpin of pure white mutton fat.

Zhuge Wanling looked at Qin Ke with gentle eyes, and said, "Does the clothes still fit?"

Qin Ke nodded. In fact, this set of clothes still looked a bit too big, and the wide sleeves made him feel inconvenient. But at this time, he had nothing to criticize, not to mention that when Zhuge Wanling's eyes were staring at him, The flickering light reminded him always of his master.

Have you ever looked at Master like this before?

Oh... By the way, Master is different from Zhuge Wanling. Although the eyes of both of them seem to be as calm as water, with few ripples, Master often has a childish side. When they were young, they played "big When he was lying on the hill watching the stars, he always liked to tell some strange jokes to himself.

Thinking of this, Qin Ke's voice softened a lot: "It's okay."

Zhuge Wanling nodded and coughed slightly, Qin Ke realized that his face was a little pale, and with his coughing several times, the veins on his forehead popped up, obviously this seemingly normal light cough made him feel very strenuous.

The old eunuch suddenly appeared from behind him, and put a cloak with fox fur on his shoulders.

"You...not feeling well?" Qin Ke asked softly, he was worried that if he spoke too loudly, he would startle this weak-looking scholar.

"It's an old problem. I've suffered from the cold these days, so it's inevitable that I'll come out to make trouble again. It's okay." Zhuge Wanling said it easily, and even Qin Ke couldn't find a trace of deceit in his eyes. It seems that he is really used to it. Own hidden disease, "Zhu Ran... he has gone too far, but he is still doing his duty. Don't blame him."

Qin Ke looked in the direction of the gate, and Zhu Ran's unmoving silhouette was reflected on the door curtain. He held the handle of the knife with one hand, and his eyes were half closed, like a door god on a New Year painting, except that the door god is responsible for exorcising ghosts. Then be responsible for killing.

"I don't blame him..." Qin Ke replied.

Maybe he blamed himself more in his heart. If he was stronger, he might be able to save Chen Chu from Zhu Ran's knife, right?

Although Chen Chu approached him with ulterior motives, but it was enough to catch him and imprison him, why kill him?Such a child should have had a lot of time, but he died in this dark palace, as light as a feather...

"It's even easier to train a poor child to do things than to train a doorman..." Zhu Ran's words echoed in his mind. He recalled those times when he was hungry. He only felt that something was choked in his throat and he couldn't swallow Go down, let alone spit out.

Zhuge Wanling nodded lightly. It was natural to see that Qin Ke still had a bit of resentment in his heart, but he also knew that some things cannot be explained simply by words.

Fortunately, what Qin Ke has most is time, he can grow and even transform.

"Come with me." He sighed slightly, and led Qin Ke slowly to the table where he often sat.

The ink in the inkstone was still wet, and the shadow of the writing brush was reflected by the candlelight on the table full of files.

Zhuge Wanling's eyes fell on the teapot at hand. It contained medicinal tea, which had a bitter taste that ordinary people could not accept. Of course, Qin Ke's body did not need to drink this medicinal tea at all, so he raised his head and whispered to the old eunuch. Said: "Wang Can, go get some tea." Then, he added, "You can take it slow, don't worry."

In Qin Ke's feeling, this is Zhuge Wanling's words of caring for the old eunuch. After all, the old eunuch whose name he first learned looks to be at least 70 years old, and the wrinkles on his face are like the folds of a steamed bun. Another level, but the old eunuch immediately understood the deep meaning of Zhuge Wanling's words. He nodded with a light smile, knowing that Zhuge Wanling and Qin Ke needed some alone time at this moment, turned around and backed away slowly. out.

Qin Ke looked at Zhuge Wanling and opened his mouth, but he didn't know how to speak, so he could only stand there in a daze.

Zhuge Wanling raised his eyes to look at his face, then looked at his splinted injured leg, and asked calmly, "How is the leg injury?"

"No, it's nothing...it should be fine soon."

Zhuge Wanling nodded: "Nevertheless, you have to be careful at ordinary times. Fighting Zhu Ran like this tonight will be harmful to your injury."

Qin Ke was a little uncomfortable with Zhuge Wanling's sudden concern, his eyes wandered, and finally he carefully followed Zhuge Wanling's cheeks to look into his eyes, those eyes were still a mass of deep black, like a deep The vortex, as long as you look at it, you can be deeply trapped in it.

He hurriedly looked away, even if he was staring face to face, he couldn't see through the man in front of him at all. He was like a huge mystery wrapped in countless mysteries. Now that Jingwu is established, he has become Jingwu's superficial prime minister and actual "lord", all his deeds sound like a story that a third-rate storyteller improvised while picking his earwax in order to attract customers.

But it's real.

The common people think that Zhuge Wanling is a person who cares about the world and wants to protect the safety of one side; some scholars say that Zhuge Wanling did this to leave a name in history and shine forever; in the eyes of the gentry, Zhuge Wanling is purely a conspiracy A master, every move has a purpose, with cunning, what he wants to pursue in the end is the authority above ten thousand people.

It's just that Qin Ke feels that the person in front of him doesn't care much about these things at all. Whether it's the honor of being famous in history or the authority of Jing Wu, they are all like loess on the side of the road in front of him, and he doesn't even have the heart to step on them. Try softness with one foot, what he pursues...

It seems to be on the other side of the cloud, in a higher and farther place.

But what is it that can be higher and farther than the glory and authority that is actually held in the hands?More worthy of pursuit?

Qin Ke couldn't imagine it.

In his opinion, being able to eat a full meal every day and have a meal of meat buns from time to time is already the happiest life for him.

So he pretended to have no feelings on the surface, but in fact he enjoyed everything in Tai Xuetang.

There are endless books to read, meals that may not be delicious but definitely satisfying, and a spacious martial arts arena that is convenient for practicing and fighting. In addition to these, he also has some pocket money every month, and he can go there with his good friends from time to time. Theater listening to books...

The only thing that made him a little uncomfortable was the monthly exam administered by Huang Hansheng.

Chapter 183 Master's Whereabouts

"Do you know why I asked you to come?"

Zhuge Wanling's plain words brought Qin Ke back to his senses. Of course he knew why he came here at night, and he came to Jingwu for this matter. Although there were various unexpected interludes in the middle, but now After all, he appeared in front of Zhuge Wanling for the second time.

"My master..." Qin Ke gritted his teeth, his heart began to beat uncontrollably, "His whereabouts..."

Zhuge Wanling nodded, but didn't speak directly, but turned sideways, flipping through the bamboo slips that were piled up on the table bit by bit.

Soon, he dug out a brocade box no bigger than a palm from the pile of bamboo slips.

"Open it and have a look." Zhuge Wanling pushed the brocade box in front of Qin Ke.

"What is it?" Qin Ke didn't understand Zhuge Wanling's meaning, bent slightly, grabbed the brocade box in his hand, looked at the buttons made of unknown animal teeth, calmed down a little, and then opened it .

Inside is a piece of jade, but compared to the exquisite brocade box, this piece of jade looks dull and dull. There are mottled impurities in the dark green, and the rough pattern is like the imprint randomly carved by an urchin. , curved.

Jingwu is a rich and prosperous country. In the court, it is unknown how many fine jades are hidden in the attic, such as jadeite, nephrite, turquoise, lapis lazuli, serpentine jade, hibiscus stone, blood amber, agate...

If this jade ring is a human being, it is probably a short and ugly dwarf among the tall ones. If you take it to a pawnshop, the owner of the pawnshop will think it is too poor and push it out with his hands.

But Qin Ke trembled all over when he looked at this piece of jade.

"Do you remember it?" Zhuge Wanling said softly.

"Yes..." Of course Qin Ke remembered it. The master didn't leave much for him. His precious bamboo slips were stored in the dilapidated house in Daoxiang Village. Put it together with "Bodhisattva".

The jade pendant is a valuable jade pendant, and the dagger is also a dagger that cuts iron like mud. Master undoubtedly left all his best things to himself.

But Qin Ke also remembered that what Master most often wore was not the crystal-clear and beautiful jade pendant, but this rough and ugly jade pendant.

Except for some inconvenient occasions like doing farm work, the jade ring never left his side.

Until he "died", the jade ring disappeared without a trace...

"This is Master's stuff." Qin Ke said tremblingly, "He will never let it leave his side."

Qin Ke raised his head suddenly, looked at Zhuge Wanling with red eyes and said, "My master...he...is he still dead?"

Zhuge Wanling shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"I don't know?" Qin Ke looked at Zhuge Wanling in a daze, and suddenly shouted, "How could you not know?"

Zhuge Wanling looked at Qin Ke's look of losing control, his eyes were gentle, like a loving father: "I really don't know. Three years ago, I received this jade ring, which was my younger brother's token. What Jue put together is a letter."

"What about the letter?" Qin Ke hurriedly asked.

"You open the mezzanine of the box."

Qin Ke followed the direction of Zhuge Wanling's finger, observed carefully for a while, then stretched out his hand and tore off the soft cushion on which the jade ring was placed on the brocade box. A silk book was quietly folded in it. Because of years of smudging, the smudging has become a little diffuse and dim, but he didn't even need to compare the strokes, he was immediately convinced that this was his master, Zhuge Wolong's handwritten letter.

"Big brother, although my younger brother is far away from home, I still miss my brother all the time. I only hope that one day I can reunite with my old family under the peach tree, drink wine and play chess, and enjoy the family happiness forever. However, I am entangled in affairs, and I will never have such a blessing..."

Obviously this is a letter to Zhuge Wanling, but Qin Ke looked at the silk script, word by word, as if he wanted to engrave every word of this letter deeply into his heart, "I have an apprentice, my younger brother, whose name is Qin Ke, clever and clever, lives in the mountains of Puxian County of the Mo family. If the elder brother has time, he can ask someone to take care of him... There is a wine shop in the state of Tang, named Jiayuju. If there is no news from his brother for a year, the shopkeeper will know The whereabouts of my younger brother."

"Tang country wine shop?" Qin Ke looked up at Zhuge Wanling, and understood a little, "Then, did you go to Tang country to find the shopkeeper named Lao Yu?"

Zhuge Wanling sighed, and said: "Old Yu is dead, and Jiayuju has already changed owners."

"Dead?" Qin Ke looked at Zhuge Wanling in surprise, "How could this be?"

"There is a force in the Tang Dynasty. With my current energy, I still can't find out who they are and what their purpose is. But they have been tracking my brother's whereabouts, and finally found Jiayuju. But the shopkeeper is kind. I would rather die than reveal my brother's whereabouts, and he knew that his life was in danger long before he was arrested, so he let one of his relatives and friends escape with a letter and went to Jingwu. Know something about Wolong."

"I have already burned the letter from Jiayuju, the things inside are too important, and you should know my situation..." Zhuge Wanling looked outside the door, Zhu Ran's figure was still there, and Qin Ke also looked at it At a glance, thinking of that seemingly innocent little eunuch Chen Chu, both of them remained silent.

Indeed, Zhuge Wanling lived in such a place full of intrigues. Anyone around him might be a spy sent by those gentry. Who knows if anyone will see that letter?

"However, I can tell you more about Wolong..." Zhuge Wanling looked down at the book case, stroked the wolf hair brush in his hand, and frowned slightly: "Wolong...he wanted to travel around the world since he was a child." , it’s just that he was still young at that time, and he could only study under the guidance of the old man every day, but there was no moment in his mind that was filled with strange thoughts. For example, how high is the sky, and is there a sinister underground? Hell, why the fish don't drown in the water, where is the end of the vaulted sea... He couldn't find the answer, so he asked Mr., although Mr. was a famous Confucian scholar in Wu, he didn't care about these things I understand, but I can only fool around. I never thought that Wolong really thought that the husband knew everything, and the questions became more and more strange every day. In the end, as long as the gentleman saw him, he would run faster than anyone else. "

Zhuge Wanling pursed his lips and chuckled, as if recalling his childhood: "Of course my father knew about this, but Wolong's talents are outstanding among all the students of Mr. If he yells at random, my father is afraid of hurting Wolong." He had no choice but to go to his husband’s house every month with bags of cakes and tobacco leaves to apologize. The two visits made the relationship between the two families very good. When Wolong was ten years old, his father made a marriage contract with his husband’s family. The woman is the granddaughter of the husband, two years younger than him."

"Wolong has no objection to this baby marriage. He is still young and doesn't even know what marriage means. He just thinks it's good to have multiple younger sisters following behind his butt all day, so he gets along well with Mr.'s granddaughter. very nice……"

"The two families are happy to see the success. With Wolong's talent and learning, it will not be difficult to be known to the princes in the future. Even if you can't do something earth-shattering, it will not be a problem to become the parent official of a county or a county. But it happened when Wolong was 17 years old. Years, he disappeared."

"Missing?" Qin Ke looked at Zhuge Wanling strangely. Originally he was eager to know the whereabouts of his master, but now he was getting fascinated when Zhuge Wanling talked about his master's childhood, and couldn't help asking along with his words.

Zhuge Wanling had a strange expression: "Of course, it is said that he is missing... But there is a letter at home, there are three in total, the first one is for the old man, saying that he still has a lot of doubts since he studied, and he wants to go out for a trip. The second letter is for the father, and it probably says that the child is not filial, that he cannot obey his father's arrangement to take part in the provincial examination, let alone step into the marriage hall early..."

"And this third letter...is for the woman who has been engaged to him for many years."

Chapter 184

"He... he doesn't want to divorce, does he?" Qin Ke asked hesitantly.

Although he was enthralled by the story, hearing the "glorious history" of his master's chaos and abandonment really made him a little speechless.

Bah, bah, bah... This can't be counted as abandonment, isn't it a baby kiss? There are too many things to do when I was a child.

But it's really hard to say something like this.

Zhuge Wanling sighed, and said: "Do you think it's the stories of talented men and beautiful women in Mr. Storyteller's storybook? But Wolong read books like "Astronomical Research" and "Lie Xing" since he was a child, and he didn't even sleep at that time. Dreaming about 'Ziweixing', 'Tianshuxing', 'Xuantian Bagua' and so on, my father often lost his temper because of this. In my father's view, people who play with instruments all day long and watch stars and divination are only If you can be a villain who flatters the king in the future, you won't be able to make a big fortune. It's just that Wolong has never stopped his studies, and he is not easy to stop."

Qin Ke nodded. In the master's collection, there are several books about these stars, but the master hasn't looked through them very much, but he often sits in the yard or takes him to a high hill, looking at the stars in the sky. Fan Xing was in a daze.

Sometimes, Master would also tell me some stories about the stars, which were very interesting things.

For example, the stars are actually big balls. When he was talking about this, the watermelons outside the fence in the yard were growing vigorously, so he said with a smile, the stars all over the sky are like this watermelon field.

So Qin Ke looked at the stars all over the sky, and crystal saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Then the master said that the stars are very big, bigger than Daoxiang Village, bigger than Daoxiang Village, a mountain that stretches for hundreds of miles, and even bigger than the entire Mohism. As a result, Qin Ke's saliva drools even more.

Of course, Qin Ke also knows that the master is just a metaphor, but he can't help but think about the watermelon that is bigger than the Mohist territory because of his hunger and fear. Don't worry about getting hungry.

The master patted his head and said with a smile: "Can you finish eating? Such a big watermelon is really rotten, so it will make you faint?"

Qin Ke, who was sitting in a wheelchair, laughed inexplicably. It was really interesting to be with Master once.

Zhuge Wanling looked at him, his eyes became softer, perhaps because of the flickering of the candle, his dark and deep eyes also lit up.

Clearing his throat, Zhuge Wanling continued: "What he wrote in the letter to that girl is: When he comes back from studying in the future, he must choose an auspicious day to come and get married."

Qin Ke looked at Zhuge Wanling and asked, "Then... what happened afterwards? Has Master returned?"

"Going back is going back." Zhuge Wanling sighed softly: "But that was five years later. In five years, there was a girl in her youth, even if she really liked Wolong back then, how could she stay empty-handed?" The boudoir, waiting for him for five years? Naturally, in the third year after Wolong disappeared, she made an engagement with another family under the arrangement of her family, and within a few days, she married with drums and drums."

Qin Ke didn't speak, thinking that this was really a dismal ending, but in the five years since Master left home, did he ever think about this woman who was waiting for him in his boudoir?

"In the beginning, the old man and his father were quite patient, thinking that Wolong was just a child's heart. After he suffered a lot outside and learned the truth of 'every day is good at home, but it is difficult to go out every day', he will naturally come back. But after waiting and waiting, I couldn’t even see his shadow. Mr. lost his temper, thinking that his father wanted to regret the marriage, and deliberately sent Wolong away. It's not what it used to be."

"Later, the old man's new son-in-law was valued by others, and he got a job as an official in Beijing, so the whole family moved out. Before leaving, he deliberately passed by in front of my house playing the suona. My father got drunk that night and yelled at Wolong as an idiot. The unfilial son said that even if he came back now, he would never let him enter the door of Zhuge's house. But I know, how can he be so cruel? Every night he can't sleep well, as long as there is a slight knock at the gate If there is a sound of the door, he has to get up from the couch quickly to see if Wolong is back..."

Qin Ke nodded. His father is also like this. When he is playing outside, his father will keep a straight face and say that he loves to play so much, so he might as well die outside. But every time, his father will still be calm. Face silently let him in.

After all, these fathers are just worried about their children.

On the way to escape famine back then, as long as there was a bite to eat, his father would stuff it into his mouth. If he refused to eat, his father said with a smile, good boy, eat it to grow up. Dad is an adult now, so he is not hungry.

Perhaps only he himself knows how uncomfortable it is when that shriveled stomach throbs.

"What happened later? What happened after Master came back?"

Zhuge Wanling stared at the candlelight, as if looking at the past time.

Those things that happened in the past seemed to be looming in front of his eyes: "Five years later, he did return home. But the whole family hardly recognized him. When he knocked on the door, the servants thought it was a visit." A beggar... that's right, he was dressed in dirty and rags, his hair was like a bird's nest, black and thin, and he still had half of his previous high-spirited appearance? But he didn't care at all, With a laugh, he rushed into the house, found the kitchen with ease, and grabbed the steamed buns from the steamer to eat. That is, when the servants took the broom and tried to drive him out, his father came out, and Wolong grinned when he saw his father yelled, 'Dad.'"

"When my father saw his appearance of being neither human nor ghost, he burst into tears on the spot... He also forgot what he said before when he was drunk and said that he was not allowed to enter the house, and immediately picked up his skinny body, Just say 'come back, come back'."

Zhuge Wanling's eyes were blurred, and he couldn't help making movements with his hands, as if he had traveled through time and space, playing the role of the old father who longed for his young son to return home, but his eyes dimmed again, and sighed: "But Wolong People come back, but they seem to have lost their minds, talking nonsense all day long that others can't understand."

"He said that he had already been proved, that all of us were deceived, that the place we lived in was like a cage, and that there was a wider world outside the cage, stretching endlessly, even if we were in a carriage and ran 1 You can't see the end of ten thousand years, there is a group of people outside, they will not grow old, they will not die, they cough, the mountain will shake, and they whisper, even the sea will set off a monstrous storm..."

Hearing this, Qin Ke became confused and couldn't help interrupting Zhuge Wanling: "What... what? The outside world? That group of people? Coughing can shake mountains... How can there be such a person in this world?"

Zhuge Wanling shook his head: "I didn't really understand it at the time, and it was only after these years that I vaguely felt that what Wolong said back then might not be a lie."

Qin Ke stared wide-eyed, looking at Zhuge Wanling, what does it mean to vaguely feel that it may not be a lie?Is it possible that you really believe in these nonsense?

"You..." Qin Ke didn't know how to ask the question.

Zhuge Wanling smiled, waved his hands and continued: "Wolong looks like this, of course no one will believe him. My father thought he had suffered outside and finally returned home. He was a little unconscious, and then arranged for him to take a bath and have a meal. , let him sleep well. Later, the most famous doctor in the county was invited by his father to take care of Wolong, but the doctor looked left and right, and didn't feel anything unusual about Wolong's body, but he was wandering outside for many years, and his body was a little weak , prescribed a recuperation prescription, and left."

"But Wolong didn't change back to the way it was before... At that time, he was very excited. After waking up, he occupied the study room by himself. At first, his father thought he was enlightened and wanted to study in peace. He was so happy that he asked the servants not to disturb him. , but from day to night, Wolong did not come out of the study. He was a little worried, so he went in with the food himself, and what he saw... was a table full of ghostly symbols, and some of them were a blurred human face. , some are small balls, some are weapons or armor, and some are a vast ocean...and Wolong is still sitting cross-legged at the desk, drawing and drawing tirelessly."

"Father was so frightened that he threw away the food on the spot and ran away. The next day, he invited a "real person" from the Taoist temple to exorcise him. The real person set up an altar, lit candles, and chanted mantras all night. Then Wolong stretched out Lazy, did not continue to draw. But since then, such things have happened several times, and the real person was a little scared at the end. He returned the money his father gave him several times, saying that Wolong must have been killed. The ghost has possessed the body, and it is possible to rescue those truly reclusive experts."

Speaking of this, Zhuge Wanling looked at Qin Ke and said with a slight smile, "But you should know the reason better than me..."