The bright moon sits on the ground

As Xu Lang thought, his three disciples parted ways after leaving the mountain gate, and established their own sects.

The Qing family is good at making talismans, and they use candle dragons as their family lines. They are indeed like candle dragons, weary of the world, avoiding the world, and hiding in the dark where ordinary people cannot set foot; the Bu family is good at controlling souls, and uses waste as their home. They are wandering between birth and entry into the world. They can be invited to the palace of the imperial court and nobles, and they can also erase their whereabouts and return to a remote mountain. Willing to tell the world the art of divination,? Walking in the depths of the downtown,? No different from the most ordinary people.

Since then, I don't know how many years have passed, the mountains and rivers remain the same, but the world has undergone earth-shaking changes.

People in the world call people with unique skills such as the Qing family, Bu family, and Tian family "Tianxiang masters", and those who have learned the Tian family's divination skills are called "Taoist priests". Rumors spread that "Taoist priests follow the trend, and celestial masters reverse destiny for people".

Most of the time, Xu Lang just watched quietly, and occasionally helped, but also deliberately concealed his traces.

He saw his three disciples gradually aging, like fruits. After experiencing full maturity, no one picked them off, and then gradually shriveled, no longer growing outward, but growing inward, squeezing hard, Until returning to that little nucleus again.

Because he is always running between the mortal world and the fairy world, he doesn't feel deeply about the changes in himself, but he can quickly detect the changes in others.

The souls of gods are too heavy for mortal beings to bear, so celestial masters always die young, like fireworks, exploding in haste, showing an extremely gorgeous scene, and then falling into silence hastily——Xu Lang really realized that he was originally He is no longer young, and when his three apprentices passed away one after another, his soul went to the next scene, but his flesh.The body sinks deep into the soil and slowly rots.

The big apprentice was the first to leave.The talisman he is good at is really easy to violate the laws of this world. The talisman he draws casually can even make a sudden rain fall, and the consequences that follow are even more serious, which his body can no longer bear.

Xu Langtiao took the flowers of Langfengcen in the dead of night. The ground powder of this kind of flowers melts in water, there is no need to drink it, as long as you smell the smell, you will immediately fall asleep.The Patriarch of the Qing Family is about to pass away, so there are always guards by his side, his youngest daughter is crying, his eldest son is frowning, and the doctor is sweating profusely, preparing medicines in front of the candle lamp.

No matter what mood they were in, when Xu Lang appeared and smelled the fragrance of flowers, they fell asleep one after another.

With light movements, he walked around the elder son who was still serious in his sleep, gently placed the head of the younger daughter beside the soft pillow, rescued the medicine mortar that the doctor was about to knock over from under his hands, and walked away Arriving at the big apprentice's bedside, he called out his name.

Thus, the middle-aged man with an old look in his eyes woke up and looked at the person in front of him through the dim candlelight. Even though he was terminally ill and every organ in his body was shrinking, his expression was still so indifferent , Calm, restrained.

The man opened his mouth, and the blood gushing from his throat was chewing between his lips and teeth, and he made an indistinct sound, a bit like a drowning person, his words could only be vaguely heard from the sound of broken water, "Master... you... Are you here to see me... for the last time?"

Xu Lang sincerely felt that his three apprentices were all frighteningly smart, so he said that this big apprentice didn't think it was strange that everyone else fell asleep when he suddenly appeared in front of him, and even thought it was a matter of course.

He tucked the big disciple's quilt to the crook of his neck to make room, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Just think I'm here to catch up on the old days." Xu Lang said, "How do you feel now? Is it better than the previous days?"

"This answer...you should have it in your heart." The big apprentice closed his eyes, and every time he uttered a word, he felt as if his chest was being pulled and torn by his throat, over and over again, tirelessly, "I know ...the deadline is approaching, and no one can change it."

Xu Lang asked, "Is there anything else you want to do?"

The person on the bed opened his eyes again and looked at Xu Lang, his eyes were as deep as a piece of black iron, with a cold light, and he said: "I only regret...before this day comes...that I couldn't find out... The way to escape reincarnation...Master should understand what I'm talking about."

Xu Lang has known him for such a long time, of course he knows that his great apprentice thinks differently from ordinary people. He believes that in this world, the only thing that cannot be discarded is memory, and the separation of body and soul is second. The memory of his spells is what he doesn't want to let go of until he dies - he wants to escape from reincarnation, probably because of this reason.

"Also," the man coughed a few times, "it's a pity... my disciples only learned [-]% of what they learned."

Even if he is not a doctor, just looking at him, Xu Lang can see that he is just a weakling, his body is riddled with holes, his throat is torn from coughing, and he can choke up blood.He wanted to continue to say something, but he didn't want the senior apprentice to insist on answering him. After a long silence, he felt the corners of his eyes sore, thinking that such a quiet atmosphere always makes people full of melancholy, so he still found a topic.

"Don't talk, just listen to me." Xu Lang moved his eyes away and looked at the flickering candle, letting his thoughts drift away with the shaking shadow, "Do you remember that one day, it was In the scorching heat, your little junior brother was running down the mountain with a bucket, and your second junior brother was walking up the mountain and was about to come to me. At that time, you just finished making a few talismans to avoid the heat, so you were going to share the talismans with us."

Xu Lang was on the edge of the cliff at that time, setting up the table and pouring wine to the Goddess Peak, until finally, both glasses of wine were full.

When the apprentice came, he saw Xu Lang showing an extremely complicated expression that he had never seen before, like nostalgia, but also like grief, he had already seen it, and he didn't deliberately cover up the footsteps, for a while It was a bit of a dilemma, and Xu Lang probably felt embarrassed, and it was too late to take back the expression on his face, so he simply lowered his head in front of him, and pretended to sleep on the table.

He knew that Xu Lang knew that he had seen it, and he also vaguely guessed that Xu Lang's actions were probably to expose this matter.

So, the big apprentice thought about it, and walked over. It was hot in midsummer, and the sound of cicadas was disturbing. He relaxed his movements and put the talisman in his arms by Xu Lang's hand. The scalding temperature gradually faded away, he said After having a "good sleep", he also backed away.

After that, perhaps because of the coolness brought by the talisman, Xu Lang really fell asleep, and he didn't wake up until the second apprentice came.

"Actually, I have hidden a lot of things from you, not because I don't want to tell you, but because I can't tell you." Xu Lang pressed his brows and said, "Including Goddess Peak, including the knowledge you have acquired, I can't tell you what's behind you. I told you my secrets."

"I know." As if glancing at Xu Lang's thoughts that day, the man lingering on the bed turned his face to look at him, showing a faint smile with great difficulty, his lips were bloodless and pale Like white silk, "Needless to say."

Xu Lang gradually felt that something was cracking in his heart. One day, it would eventually collapse with a loud noise.

It would be louder than the closing of the coffin of the Patriarch of the Qing family, louder than the sobbing in the ancestral hall, waiting in silence, it was the silent violence in the dark night, he put the white flowers in the dark coffin On the road, the soul seems to have gone with it.

After the big apprentices, it is the junior apprentices who leave.He handed over the Tian family's divination skills to the people of the world, and most of the mistakes made by the people of the world were backlashed on him due to the unspeakable cause and effect, causing him to suffer all the time.

Although the little apprentice is down-to-earth, he has never been a law-abiding person. He would sneak down the mountain after each practice session.

When Xu Lang found him, he ignored the dissuasion and slipped out from under the eyes of other people, lying on a gentle hillside, beside a maple tree, the fiery red leaves hung on the branches, the hot color The autumn scenery is rendered particularly strong.

His body was on the verge of collapse, and the juniors told him to stay at Tian's house to recuperate, but he didn't listen, and turned his head to ignore this incident. Xu Lang thought, by this time, others should have found out. It is estimated that I am so anxious that I don't know what to do.

Xu Lang walked over, brushed away the gravel on the ground, brushed away the dust, and after cleaning up a little, he lifted up the hem of his clothes, first sat down next to the little apprentice, and after a while, he felt so uncomfortable again, so he lay down , resting the back of his head on his arm.

The little apprentice looked at him sideways, "Master, you didn't come to take me back, did you?"

Obviously many years have passed, and when he spoke, Xu Lang felt as if he had returned to the past.

"Look at me like this," Xu Lang narrowed his eyes, pointed to himself, and said, "Do you think I want to take you back?"

The two looked at each other and smiled, feeling quite embarrassed.

The situation of the young apprentice at this time is not much better than that of the big apprentice at that time, his eyes are black and blue, there is a sadness between his brows, his lips are white, his flesh grows close to the bone, and he is too thin to be human. , only the demeanor is still alive.

Xu Lang couldn't hold back the smile on his face, but he didn't want the little apprentice to see him so upset.What if it also makes him feel bad?Thinking of this, he bit the bullet and forced to put that smile that was uglier than crying on his face.

He asked in his usual tone: "Is there anything special here? You left home specially, what are you going to do here?"

"Actually, there's no other reason. I just don't want to die at home. It's such a disappointment to cry in front of those younger generations every day." The little apprentice raised his chin and motioned Xu Lang to look at the maple tree. How about as my burial place?"

"Yes." Xu Lang's head was dazed, and his eyes were filled with white flowers. Fortunately, he was lying down so that tears would not flow out.

The little apprentice suddenly took a deep breath, and it seemed to be a sigh, he said softly: "I am well versed in divination, I know when I should leave, I have done everything I wanted to do, and I have no regrets." , so, master, don't be sad."

Xu Lang endured the discomfort in his throat, slowed down his voice, and wanted to swallow his emotions, "Do you think your life is worth it?"

"I think it's worth it." The person next to him repeated the vow he had made at the beginning, "I will never regret it."

Different from the big apprentice, the young apprentice always seized any opportunity to chat with people. Even though his body was already torn to pieces, he still insisted on pulling Xu Lang to tell him where he had been for so many years, and why the few of them None of the disciples saw him.

The only difference is that Xu Lang found that compared with many years ago, his little apprentice talked less and listened more.

Is it because all he has experienced is unspeakable pain, or is it because he has gradually lost his strength and cannot speak?Xu Lang didn't know, maybe he couldn't know. He just racked his brains to search for the next interesting story.

It was as if, as long as he kept talking, the people around him would always listen quietly like this, and would not leave.

Xu Lang said that his mouth was dry and he had nothing to talk about. He talked for a long time, until his legs and feet were frozen by the wind, and his knees began to hurt. He didn't show his impatience, but Push yourself to keep thinking about what you can say.

Until—until the little apprentice who had been silent for a long time suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Master, look, the sunset is so beautiful."

His words were stuck in his throat, and he raised his eyes to look at the sky, only to see that floating clouds covered the sky, smudged the outline, and became blurred. Even so, it could be seen that it was not evening yet , it was afternoon, when the autumn wind was bleak.

Looking far away, you can only see the vast sky, how can there be any "sunset glow"?Xu Lang was puzzled, turned his head, and was about to ask his little apprentice where Wanxia was, but he saw a maple leaf covering his face, and he didn't know when it fell from the branch. It just happened to land on his face. The warm color, just like the sunset glow, burns the clouds red, spreading from one end to the other, endlessly.

Xu Lang thought it was funny, and reached out to pick the maple leaf that covered his eyes. When his fingertips were about to touch the leaf, he seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly stopped, and just froze in mid-air. middle.

Under normal circumstances, would someone regard maple leaves as a sunset glow?He thought, besides, the little apprentice is not the boy he used to be.

He sat up and stared at the maple leaf quietly, and the maple leaf also stared at him without moving.

Xu Lang's eyes gradually became sad, he gritted his teeth, and forced himself to confirm, as if his body didn't belong to him, pulling his soul, he saw his fingers trembling, bypassing the maple leaf, testing Stretched towards the person beside him.

The people around him were silent—he finally couldn't bear the sudden pain, and his whole body trembled almost like trembling. He didn't shed tears, he couldn't shed tears, and the broken choked sound was blocked in his throat. His chest was beaten hard, Xu Lang felt a little nauseated, his internal organs seemed to be twisted into a ball, and they were randomly placed in the wrong place.

He thought of Prince Ji's Mansion, Chu Lang, Bai Xuan, Wu Zheng, Liu Nanci, and his great apprentice.

But now, his little apprentice is gradually getting colder, but he can't do anything, can't do anything.

All the emotions were surging, and Xu Lang was almost crushed by the tide. He heard some movement behind him, which was quite familiar. It was the voice of the Tian family. It seemed that they had finally found this place. The sound came intermittently through a layer of water. in his ears.

"Old man... are you alright?" After the man finished speaking, he turned around and saw the person next to him, "Here, is this the owner of the house?"

Xu Lang didn't speak. He slowly read the three words "old man" in his heart over and over again, put his hand in front of him, and observed carefully for the first time, only to find that there was a growth on his hand. Light brown spots, loose flesh, hanging softly on the frame, trying to break away from his body, sinking down, forming several deep ravines.

He thought in a daze that he was no longer the young man he was back then.