Guanqingzhai

When this bird is born, its mother feeds it for sixty days, and when it grows up, it feeds back for sixty days, which can be called kindness and filial piety. ——"Compendium of Materia Medica: Birds and Compassionate Birds" "Seeing the early plum blossoms in the courtyard, who planted the flower shadows for. The green smoke falls with the blade, and the cicadas feel spring coming..."

"Wen Tingyun's poems are indeed suitable for Brother Hu."

"Haha, brother Chu, why did you see that?"

"A lifetime of talent and learning, a lifetime of madness."

Hu Yue laughed out loud after asking, and Chu Jue also smiled and filled Hu Yue's wine. The moment the wine was about to overflow, Chu Jue stopped.

Hu Yue leaned forward, instead of picking up the wine glass, he picked up the fan on the stone table beside him and looked at Chu Jue with a smile.

Chu Jue said with a smile: "However, my younger brother's appearance is better than Pan An's, but this appearance is so poor..."

Just as he was about to continue speaking, the door was pushed open again.

"Excuse me, is Mr. Hu Yue at the house?"

Hu Yue looked at the person who came, it was a boy with double buns, wearing a bright yellow blouse that looked like a paddy field, and a string of bird-shaped pendants around his neck, with many bells in the shape of plum blossoms on it. Very handsome, with beautiful and exciting eyes.The jingling of the pendant around his neck as he walked was really nice.

Standing at the door, he made a deep bow first, then raised his head and said, "Master Hu, my master said that the snow has melted. According to the agreement, the special villain came to invite you to the house."

After speaking, he took out a post from his pocket and handed it to Hu Yue respectfully.

Hu Yue took the post, and the boy pointed to a plum blossom drawn on it and said, "Plum blossoms are puzzles."

He looked at the pendant on the child's neck and said, "Oh, is this pendant given to you by your master?"

Xiaosi still smiled and said nothing, and everyone's eyes returned to the letter paper again. On the paper, a lonely plum was outlined with a pen, but it was a dead plum.It seems that it does not match the spring scenery in March.

Hu Yue smiled and handed the post to Chu Jue and said, "This time it's another mystery, your master is really patient."

Chu Jue looked at the invitation and said, "Lao Mei, what is the meaning of this?"

Hu Yue said with a smile: "This is a mystery of his master. If you guess correctly, you can drink his wine! I haven't had that wine for many years."

Chu Jue looked at the excited Hu Yue, and asked inexplicably: "Why? It takes many years to guess a mere riddle correctly with your ability? Could it be that this riddle is really so difficult to guess?"

Hu Yue opened the fan and said: "Ahem, Brother Chu doesn't know something. The owner of the remnant plum is extraordinary. He will gather a group of people to go to him every spring. But there are not poems and paintings, but various mysterious techniques. , some spells are wonderful, if you can’t guess this mystery, you won’t be interested in going there.” Chu Jue glanced at it and said, “You can’t guess? I don’t believe it.”

Hu Yue shrugged and said that if you don't believe me, I can't help it.

The two were talking back and forth, and the boy who was ignored said at this time: "My master said, you can ask others for help, but whoever guesses this question, Mr. Hu will also take him to the appointment."

Chu Jue looked at the child and asked, "Where is your master's residence?"

The boy looked at Mr. Hu Yue, blinked and said: "After solving the riddle and opening this letter, you will naturally understand."

Hu Yue smiled and nodded, Chu Jue looked at the post with a frown, and he leaned closer to smell it.He wanted to open the letterhead, but was stopped by Hu Yue: "If you open the letter without answering the question, you will be considered a loser. You must know the rules."

Hu Yue looked at Chu Juefei's deciphering with great interest. He spun the empty wine glass and said, "You can go back. Just tell your master, I will definitely make an appointment with this Mr. Chu as scheduled."

The boy smiled knowingly, bowed again and backed away.Chu Jue found a dark scar on the child's neck.He looked at Hu Yue and found that Hu Yue was also looking at the child's back.

Chu Jue put down the envelope and said, "Did you guess it?"

Hu Yue refilled the wine and said, "Mystery, I did guess it."

Hu Yue put down her wine glass, pointed at the letter with her fan and said: "This mystery is an old plum blossom, but it is not a complete plum blossom."

Chu Jue said: "There are too many petals. It has 6 petals in total, and five of them are painted and colored, but the one directly above has only one outline, and one is a fragment. It is located on the north side of the flower. But 6 is a yin number, and the north is the earth and water, which is also a yin meaning. Color and colorlessness, the yin color is black, which is the meaning.”

Hu Yue said, "Have you noticed that little guy?"

Chu Jue smiled and did not answer. Hu Yue poured a glass of wine and said, "That child wears a pendant around his neck. The bell on this pendant is also a plum blossom. The boy said that the plum blossom is a riddle, a metaphor, a metaphor. "

Chu Jue added: "His pendant is a three-legged bird."

Hu Yue opened the fan and said, "A black three-legged bird."

Chu Jue smiled and said, "The answer to the riddle is the crow."

Hu Yue laughed and said happily: "Okay, okay, you guessed it, so you can go with me."

Chu Jue picked up the wine glass and said, "You guessed it, so what's the reason why you refused to participate several times?"

Hu Yue took a sip and spit out two words: "No money."

Chu Jue almost spilled the wine, Hu Yue glanced at him and said: "Isn't it just that I have no money or money? Do you know that the owner's place is far away from here, if I want to go back and forth, I have to It’s a drop of money. And every time I visit the door, the host has to collect a gift. This gift must be something that can hint at the answer to the mystery. Several times ago, I changed my way to send poems, words, and paintings, but I can’t do it again and again. That’s all. So I’m too embarrassed to go again.”

Chu Jue looked at him in a daze, and he said, "I can't think of you not going because of this reason..."

Hu Yue was a little displeased, he said: "Then what reason do you think I have to refuse good wine?"

Chu Jue reluctantly nodded, but felt that he was still not telling the truth.

The remnant plum and the pendant are the puzzles, but the answer is the crow. This puzzle always feels a bit weird.

Although Chu Jue felt that Hu Yue hadn't told the truth at all, he still took care of all the money. He really didn't expect him to take part in this poor friend who was innocent and innocent.In addition, at the instigation of Hu Yue, Chu Jue gave him a jade ring engraved with crows.

This made Hu Yue, a poor scholar, suddenly full of confidence.Urging him to get on the road quickly, Chu Jue felt that maybe this guy pretended to be stupid and refused because he had no money.

Although spring has not yet arrived, the scenery in the outskirts has already been covered with a layer of light yellow and tender green, which can be regarded as refreshing. The two of them left the city and walked south along the moat in the outskirts, each with a horse.Because there is only one sentence in the letter: In the south of the city, there is a plum blossom forest at the foot of Qinglong Mountain.

The scenery along the way was pleasant, and Chu Jue asked, "What is the origin of that master?"

Hu Yue drank the wine in the jug and said, "I don't know, I haven't seen him before."

Chu Jue frowned and said, "Haven't you been there many times?"

Hu Yue looked around lazily and said: "I haven't seen anyone, we can use everything in the village as we like." Chu Jue wondered: "It's such a rich owner, the owner won't show up?"

Hu Yue took a big sip of wine and said, "I don't know if they have come, because if the owner doesn't come forward and introduce himself, we don't even know who the owner is."

Chu Jue said: "But there must be an organizer, such a weird gathering must have its purpose."

Hu Yue also followed his thoughts, he said: "The purpose is to decipher, all kinds of mysteries."

Chu Jue touched his nose, and Hu Yue raised his eyebrows. This action showed that Chu Jue had begun to be interested in this moment. Generally, things that Chu Jue was interested in would be figured out by him in the end.

Chu Jue said: "Since his purpose is to decipher, but he left a mystery as big as himself, don't those experts care about it? No one is going to explore it?"

Hu Yue shrugged and said, "I'm here to drink, I'm not interested in these things. They should really come to you, not a drunkard like me."

Chu Jue laughed and didn't answer, Hu Yue led the horse and continued: "But it's really weird, every party invitation is the clue to the answer, that is to say, if he can't answer, he's here, maybe They don’t even know the mystery, and the people who came here have some skills, they rely on their talents, and they are very arrogant, so they won’t reveal it to each other.”

Chu Jue led the horse and said, "The rings are intertwined."

Hu Yue handed the jug to Chu Jue, and he said: "This is of course a truth. In addition, if you don't guess the answer before the time is up, then it is considered a failure, and you will not receive an invitation next time. Hehe, that would be very disappointing." What a face."

Chu Jue took a sip of wine with a smile and said, "Then you got the answer right many times, and even though you refused many times, you were still invited by the mysterious owner of the plum blossom."

Hu Yue's expression was calm, but he was not proud of it. Instead, he said: "The strange thing is that this kind of gathering has always been very mysterious and low-key, and almost no outsiders know about it."

Chu Jue wanted to drink while listening, but found that Hu Yue only left himself the last sip.He looked up at Hu Yue and said, "There's no more wine."

Hu Yue nodded and said, "That's why I gave it to you."

……

All the way in spring, the two of them drove side by side, and they walked for a day without knowing it, and the sky was getting darker.

The two stayed in an abandoned farmhouse.Surrounded by the bonfire, the two continued to talk without saying a word, because they had no energy because of the lack of wine.

Chu Jue took out a jade flute and said, "Want to hear it?"

Hu Yue said: "It's even lucky to be so elegant, Brother Chu, please."

Chu Jue smiled slightly, and the song "Spring River Flower and Moon Night" was played in such an early spring and cold night. Hu Yue closed his eyes slightly, and when he heard this song, his eyelashes moved slightly. Keeping the beat, he sang casually: "The tide of the spring river is even with the sea level, and the bright moon on the sea is born together with the tide. The twinkling waves follow the waves for thousands of miles, where there is no moonlight on the spring river."

Suddenly Hu Yue wrinkled her nose and said, "It smells so good! It's Hua Diao!"

Chu Jue also smelled the fragrance and stopped playing, but where did the wine come from in such a wild countryside?But there is indeed a smell of wine, and there is a faint smell of blood in the smell of wine. He glanced at Hu Yue. Although Hu Yue was obsessed with the smell of wine, he also looked at him, obviously noticing this. point.

Hu Yue said with a smile: "If there is a smell of wine, there must be wine. Why don't friends outside the house come in?"

Chu Jue fiddled with the bonfire in a calm manner, the firewood crackled and sparks flew everywhere.But the fire light had already changed color, and blue flames burst out of the red fire light.

But Chu Jue was unmoved and continued to fiddle with the firewood.

Suddenly a strong wind blew up at the door, and the two sat quietly in the broken house, but they didn't move at all.

No one entered the house, but a pool of blood appeared on the ground, and this pool of blood formed a figure with a bird's face and a human body.

Hu Yue opened the paper fan, and Chu Jue was also habitually touching his nose. The two of them looked at each other, and Chu Jue said, "You also received this kind of welcome before?" Hu Yue laughed and said, "Brother Chu Are you kidding, do I look like someone who would cause trouble?"

Chu Jue sneered, picked up the firewood branch in his hand, and swept the blood on the front of the fire, and the blood was instantly swallowed by the flames without leaving any traces. He sighed and said, "Brother Hu, do you want to listen to the truth?"

Suddenly there was movement outside the door again, and someone laughed loudly. The two looked up and saw that the person who came was a wandering Taoist priest.

The Taoist looked at the two of them, smiled and said, "It seems that you have smelled "wine". It's rare to meet someone like you in such a wilderness."

After finishing speaking, the Taoist priest untied the wine jug on his waist, and took a big gulp for himself.After wiping his mouth, he threw the wine gourd to Hu Yue and said, "Drink, the best Huadiao!"

Hu Yue put away her fan and said to the visitor: "You have been invited too? Brother Xuan Ming is not easy."

The Taoist priest seemed to be in his thirties, with a very bright appearance, sword eyebrows and star eyes, but there was always a wicked smile on his mouth, and he was carrying a black sword without a scabbard.Although he was wearing a Taoist robe, he didn't look like a Taoist priest at all. He sat down like an ordinary porter, looking at Hu Yue with his feet up.Obviously he knew Hu Yue.

Hu Yue gave the wine to Chu Jue, and said, "Brother Chu, invite you first."

The Taoist priest looked disdainful, and said acrimoniously: "I only gave you a drink, and you poured it for this son, why did you finally start using your own appearance for business?"

Chu Jue didn't take the wine, he said, "Dare to ask the long name?"

The Taoist looked at Chu Jue and said, "Xuan Mingzi."

Hu Yue took the wine gourd with her mouth curled up and said: "It's just a charlatan, about the same as me, just a low-level commoner. Brother Chu, don't pay special attention to him. He's just a small person."

Xuan Mingzi curled his lips and said, "You old monster, how dare you call yourself a commoner?"

Hu Yue took a sip of the wine, handed it to Chu Jue and said, "This stinky Taoist priest is also a guest invited by Master Canmei. He knows nothing, but he knows a little bit of armor-shielding skills."

Xuan Mingzi said dissatisfiedly: "Who said I only know how to escape from armor? By the way, you haven't participated in three years. I thought you lost. Why did you bring a... little boy to participate this time?"

Chu Jue was not angry at all, he just took a sip of the wine and said, "Good wine, 10 years old wine."

Xuan Mingzi was taken aback when he heard his words.He said: "Haha! It seems that friends are also people who drink, no wonder they hang out with this old guy."

Chu Jue passed the wine and said, "He's not old, he's younger than me."

Xuan Mingzi trembled when receiving the wine, and looked up at Chu Jue, who continued to fiddle with the firewood, as if he didn't care about his gaze at all.

Hu Yue laughed loudly, Xuan Mingzi coughed awkwardly and said, "Oh...so that's the case, by the way, I felt a little..."

Hu Yue said, "Frustrated."

Xuan Mingzi said, "It's also a mystery?"

Hu Yue didn't answer, Xuan Mingzi said to himself: "This time I always feel a little strange, this time the answer to the mystery is strange, and it will be even more strange if you are here."

Chu Jue glanced at Xuan Mingzi and said, "Could it be that the decryption started halfway?"

Xuan Mingzi said: "No, only when we enter the villa can we really start to decipher. And before entering the door, a group of people will be wiped out. But those people basically haven't solved the puzzle on the envelope."

The three of them looked at each other, then laughed.

In the early morning, the three of them walked together. Xuan Mingzi didn't ride a horse, so Chu Jue gave him the horse. He was happy to share a horse with Hu Yue. They traveled all the way east and came to the foot of Qinglong Mountain. A large sea of ​​plums.I could smell the dark fragrance of plum blossoms from a distance.But this kind of fragrance makes people feel a strong sense of death, and the taste has become extremely decadent.

The three of them dismounted, and a son came to greet them at the door. He hastily saluted respectfully and said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. This is the puzzle for this time."