Chapter 37 Chapter 6 Asking about love under the lamp, I don’t know the origin of love

"what!" Just as he woke up and said that the four of them had just set foot on their way home, they heard Qiong Xun's sudden exclamation. Hearing her scream, she woke up and thought something happened, so she hurriedly asked, but saw the little girl crying with a mournful face, and said with a crying voice: "The shirt on my back is torn!" Hearing this, Xingyan hurriedly turned around behind her, and saw the little girl was wearing a cloth jacket with two big holes on the left and right, revealing a lot of cotton threads, and the smooth and tender skin was still visible.It turned out that now that Qiongxu had regained his composure, he suddenly felt a chill on his back. When he reached out to touch it, he found these two holes.The little girl was sobbing and said sadly: "Woo~ This is my favorite jacket!"

At this time, Xingyan naturally didn't know that the two holes on Qiongxu's back were the result of the strange pair of wings she had just fought to the core.He thought it was Qiongxu who was accidentally scratched by a branch while fighting in the forest.Seeing her sad now, Xingyan quickly comforted her: "It's okay, go back and let your sister Xueyi help make up..." Saying such homely words, the three people from Sihaitang, who had been killing monsters and monsters just now, set off on their way home again.And the water spirit rescued by them, after all, has a body of water spirit, and he gradually regained consciousness along the way, gradually understanding what happened just now.

On the way home, when Xingyan passed by the previous pines and cypresses again, he saw that the entire mountain was scorched black, broken branches and leaves were thrown everywhere, and the forest fire was still lingering on the hillside, and flames were spitting out everywhere. Puffs of black smoke rose from the room.In the flying black ashes, the "crackling" sound of burning branches can be heard endlessly, and Xingyan can be heard clearly in mid-air. The entire gloomy mountain field is now exposed in the "sacred fire" in the mouth of the python monster She Tai, exposing the rugged mountain body that has been buried for many years.

Seeing such a situation, the young man who had been chasing monsters and fighting evil with all his heart could not help being shocked.Looking at the mountain field engulfed by the raging fire, Xingyan couldn't help but look back, but saw the little girl who fueled the ferocious fire, looking at her with a smile on her face, her eyes bent into a pair of bright eyes new crescent. "I really don't know where she came from." A little hesitant in his heart, he woke up and returned to Huoli Village after a while. When he was approaching the village, Xingyan could see the flames rising into the sky under the dark cloud sky from a distance, and at first glance, he didn't know what happened.When we got closer, we found that it was in the open space beside the clear water pool in the center of Cuili Village. There were many people standing there, young and old, many of them were holding torches, and even more were holding knives, sticks and sickles, with a look of wariness on their faces.

Looking from Xingyan's side, these silent villagers stood in a crowd, and the atmosphere was extremely solemn.And the tall young man with nervous expression standing at the front of the crowd was Su Afu, the grandson of the patriarch Su Lilao. "Brother Su, folks—" Stepping onto the ground from mid-air, Wake-up saw these heavily armed villagers staring at him in unison, so he hurriedly put on a smiling face and greeted him, hoping to explain clearly to them. Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened his mouth, before he could continue, he suddenly saw these hundreds of villagers, as if they had received some order at the same time, no matter men, women, old or young, they all threw away their swords and knelt down unevenly, facing Touching the ground with his head on his own side, a strange syllable came out of his mouth, buzzing together.

Facing these kneeling Huoli people, although Xingyan couldn't understand what they said, it could be seen from their actions and tone that these villagers seemed to know that they had done something wrong, and they were begging forgiveness from these "gods" . However, when the villagers of He Village repented and prayed piously, the grandson of the head of the patriarch was stunned, standing there like a tree and stone, completely forgetting that he should kneel down with the villagers and elders. "Brother Afu!" At this time, Xingyan suddenly heard a joyful call, and when Xingyan looked sideways, it was the water spirit beside him.This Shui Jing Shui Ruo, who has not fully recovered, now sees her long-lost husband, immediately picks up from Xue Yi's shoulders, seems to be full of vitality, and rushes towards the opposite man with unsteady steps.At this time, the seductive water spirit was covered with the green tree spirit robe that Xingyan had captured.

Seeing Shui Jing going straight to his lover, he wakes up and says that he is only happy for them and doesn't stop him.It's just that when Shui Jing's clothes were running with the wind, the simple and honest young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes couldn't help but took two steps forward, but suddenly remembered something, and immediately covered his face and walked away; when Su Shui Ruo chased him At that time, the two of them were several feet behind the crowd crawling all over the ground. At this moment, under the reflection of the torches in the hands of the kneeling villagers, Xingyan could clearly see that the Li nationality boy who was being chased by his wife was so ashamed that he didn't even dare to look at his wife.But after the water spirit lady said a few words firmly, the shame on Su Afu's face gradually turned to surprise.After a while, he hugged his wife in his arms, and stroked Shui Jing's hair that had been blown by the wind and rain in the mountains for a long time, and the two of them wept uncontrollably.

Seeing this situation, Xingyan knew that the husband and wife were fine, so he relaxed and began to appease the fearful villagers in front of him. After some sincere explanations, Xingyan let these terrified villagers know that their previous behaviors of helping the tyrants were just deceived by the demon in disguise, so he would not impose any "punishment" on them. Hearing the little god's forgiveness, all the panicked villagers breathed a sigh of relief.Under Xingyan's request, these half-ashamed villagers left in twos and threes. When Hall Master Four Seas appeases these villagers, Su Shuiruo's side has already passed the rain and cleared up.They leaned on each other and walked forward. The straightforward husband was full of gratitude, but he didn't know how to express it. He just kept rubbing his hands anxiously, not knowing how to thank this great favor.On the contrary, his wife was understanding, she pursed her lips and took a look at her husband, then came to Xingyan, and after Yingying bowed, she said with a smile: "Your benefactor is a master outside the world, and there is a saying called 'Great kindness without words' , the little girl will stop chattering here."

Having said this, Su Shuiruo changed his voice and said: "If Shui Ruo admits his mistake, En Gong should be Zhang Xingyan, Zhang Xingyan, the newly promoted Hall of Four Seas in Shangqing Palace on Luofu Mountain, right?" "what?!" Hearing that Shui Jing, who had been languid all this time, suddenly called out his name and explained the origin so clearly, Xingyan couldn't help being stunned.Seeing his expression, the newlywed water spirit with sparkling eyes flashed a mischievous smile on her pretty face, and said slyly: "Actually, Hall Master Zhang doesn't know that if the water sneaks down the mountain this time, it will still be the same." Blame Pavilion Master Zhang!"

"Huh? Blame me?" Hearing these words, Xingyan felt more like falling into the clouds and mists of the nine heavens. "That's right! It's all the fault of Hall Master Zhang." At this time, the sly smile on Shui Ruo's face disappeared, and he changed into a serious expression, and said gracefully: "In the past, Shui Ruo was bored at Feiyunding, and one day I suddenly saw you with a little girl, coming from you in a panic. I walked by and said that I was going to meet the old man in charge, I thought it was fun. When I have nothing to do in the future, I will hide in the clouds and go to Baoxia Peak to watch you play beside Qianniao Cliff!"

"Uh……" Hearing Shui Jing's words, Xing Yan couldn't help thinking: "Hey! Why did I always feel that the clouds and mountains rushing in front of Qiandiao Cliff sometimes have such a majestic aura!" But I heard Shui Jing continue to say: "At that time, Shui Ruo saw that Engong played with his little sister every day. The content of the game was always simple and repetitive, but it seemed that it was different every day. It was always so interesting and vivid. At that time, I thought, since happy days are so simple , Why did I live so boring and boring thousands of years ago? Is it just because I only have one person? " When he said this, Shui Ruo's face seemed to show the confusion of the past again.I just heard her say: "I've been thinking this way for a long time, until last year's Mid-Autumn Festival—" "Last year's Mid-Autumn Festival?" Hearing this, Qiongxu finally remembered something, couldn't help clapping her hands and interjected: "Last year's Mid-Autumn Festival, there were a lot of fireflies!" "Yeah, there are a lot of fireflies! I saw you playing with them!" "Then why don't you come and play with us?" "I……" When asked by the innocent little girl, Su Shuiruo's face was glowing, and she said embarrassingly: "No one has talked to me for thousands of years, I am shy." After answering Qiongxu, Shui Ruo continued to talk to Xingyan: "At that Mid-Autumn Festival, I was very envious to see you happy and harmonious for thousands of years, like a family. That time, I heard your little girlfriends talking about your interesting things in the past, and I realized that the vast world beyond the mountains , there can be so many interesting people and things. From that moment on, I wanted to go down the mountain." "Oh!" Hearing this, Xingyan recalled what the head of Lingxu told him when he went down the mountain, saying that "the water spirit lost half a year ago"; thinking about the time when he went down the mountain at the end of February, Xingyan said: "Then, it should be there Not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Senior Shui Jing..." As soon as the word "senior" was about to be blurted out, the well-behaved young man felt that something was wrong, and quickly changed his address and said, "Then Mrs. Su went down the mountain by herself not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival last year?" "yes!" After answering one sentence, Su Shuiruo smiled, pulled her beloved husband, and said, "Shuiruo went down the mountain to play for a long time, and then met him..." Speaking of this, Su Shuiruo, who was originally graceful and generous, suddenly blushed pretty, and couldn't speak anymore.But even if she didn't say it, seeing that she was as shy as a little girl now, she knew that there should be something interesting about the two of them when they met.It's just that at this time, although curious, it's inconvenient to ask. Besides, Su Shuiruo, when the rosy red on the dimple faded slightly, he returned to his normal tone, and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, I know what you are here for, but I have come to pick you up according to the order of that little Lingxu from Feiyunding." I'll go back. Since you saved me this time, I won't make things difficult for you—" "Ah? Lady!" Hearing this, the simple and simple man who had been silent all this time became very anxious.Seeing the bewildered look on her husband's face, Shui Ruo didn't dare to joke anymore, so she could only purse her lips and say with a smile: "Please don't worry, my husband. Anyway, this time, I, Su, will not make things difficult for my benefactor, nor will I make him sad. I will definitely I will give Sectional Master Zhang a satisfactory explanation. But now, I will go home with Ah Fu first, go to pay homage to my father-in-law, and I will talk to Sectional Master Zhang tomorrow." "Well." Hearing this, Xing Yan said to the couple in front of him: "Today you and your husband are reunited, so we don't want to disturb you any more. I also ask Mrs. Su to burn an extra stick of incense in front of Father Su's spirit for the three of us in Si Hai Tang." "OK." After the conversation, Xingyan bid farewell to Su and his wife, and took Xueyi Qiongxun to Yixuetang.During this short journey home, Xiao Qiongxun kept asking questions all the way, begging her brother not to take Sister Shuijing back, because she was "so pitiful".Seeing that the younger sister was worried about that sister Shuijing, Xingyan naturally said no. In fact, after hearing Shui Ruo's words just now, she knew that she must have a way to get the best of both worlds, maybe her husband and wife would go back to live in Luofu Mountain with him, or something else.Anyway, Xingyan had already thought about it, even if the Shui Jing he had been looking for for a year didn't want to go back with him, he would never force it.What about the teacher's mission?Let Shui Jing go, at worst, go back to the mountain and be punished, all his Taoist duties will be dismissed, and he will even be expelled from the sect. At that time, he and Xue Yiqiongxun will go back to Raozhou to do small business and farm, anyway, they can make a living.Anyway, no matter what, it is absolutely impossible for him to break up this immortal marriage! Thinking like this, he walked half a circle along the clear water pool, woke up and returned to Yixue Hall on the west side of the pool. When he was walking along the river pond just now, Xingyan saw a group of people gathered in front of Yixuetang from a distance.Walking closer, I can clearly see that there are several elderly people who are drinking and drinking, directing a dozen young and strong young people to pick and transport all kinds of fruit and clothing into the house.Xingyan could see that among those young men who were sweating profusely, there were quite a few of them who were still young men who used knives and sticks to block themselves when they entered the village. Seeing this, Xingyan hurried forward and asked what he was doing. Seeing the master's return, the village elders were all terrified. While calling the youngsters not to stop, they bowed and explained to Xingyan, saying that this was a little care from the elders of Cuili Village and the village, thank him The three of them solved the distress in the village, got rid of the evil spirits, and rescued the water lady who brought welfare to the village.Therefore, the people of Cuili Village, besides providing the longevity tablets of the three of them, burned incense every day, and now before the benefactor left, they hurriedly collected some meager local products from each family and offered them together to benefactor. "This……" Hearing the explanation from the elders in the village, he woke up and realized that what happened in front of him was almost similar to what happened to Mrs. She yesterday. It's just that, just now, I had a short conversation with Su Shuiruo, and the thatched cottage was full of piles. Seeing that those young men were still shirtless and chanting, there was an endless stream, and a large amount of supplies were brought in. There are ducks, so what should he do? Looking at the road in the distance, there are still a few piglets being driven towards this direction, and Xingyan immediately declined to the village elders very firmly, saying that it was a good intention, he and the others accepted it, but they always Traveling all over the world, he drew his sword to help when the road was bumpy, and never looked for favors, and asked the village elders to transport them back. These words were spoken, but those village elders were very sincere and simple, and could listen to other words, but they were unwilling to take back this gift of thanks. After arguing for a long time, he finally let Xiao Qiongxi, who had just torn his clothes, pick out a small dress from the Li family, and returned everything else—seeing that all the villagers around seemed unwilling, so he followed They said that for the food delivered, everyone will light a bonfire by the clear water pool tonight and eat together to celebrate. After the suggestion was made, the careful young man added an explanation to them, saying that it was the old patriarch who had passed away for a month or two, and it would be the most comforting if the spirit in heaven saw them so happy. After hearing such a happy explanation, all Cuili villagers were encouraged to leave, and moved all the food they had just brought to the open space to the east of the clear water pool.Afterwards, the entire emerald green village erupted. The elders of the village mobilized from house to house, telling them that they must go to the east of the clear water pool to celebrate with a bonfire tonight.And all the chefs and cooks in the village who are good at cooking came out to bury pots and stoves in the open space to cook food in advance. About an hour later, night fell beside the Bishui Pool at the foot of Bilian Mountain. At this moment, the sky is still full of clouds and haze, and there is no starlight to be seen; but beside the clear water pool, piles of bonfires have been lit, and the fires are bright, illuminating the lakeside of this mountain village as if it were daytime. Perhaps, the people of Cuili Village, who have been suffering for hundreds of years, have never been so happy as they are today.All the Huoli people, even the old grandfather and grandmother who couldn't walk, were tremblingly walked over to celebrate together.By the side of the clear water pond that was illuminated red by the fire, the men ate meat and drank heavily, while the girls sang and danced to celebrate the eradication of demons.The heartfelt laughter was so loud that it sometimes startled the night birds perched on the hillside in the distance. All the guests attending the bonfire dinner tonight came in costumes.The Su couple, dressed in Li costumes, sat quietly by the campfire watching everyone singing and dancing.Waking up in the firelight and looking at it, the faces of the couple who were reddened by the bonfire both showed heartfelt laughter, and it was obvious that they had untied their knots. Just watching, a crisp question suddenly sounded from the side: "Brother, do I look good now?" Xingyan turned his face away, and saw the little girl wearing the clothes she had just received, leaning beside her sister Xue Yi, looking at him expectantly.Xingyan then looked at her carefully, and saw that Qiongxu was wearing this red, yellow and white Li family dress, with harmonious patterns and colors, and many mica tassels on the turban and tube skirt, which flowed in brilliance under the reflection of the campfire, It is shining brightly, and there is a crisp sound of "ding lingling" when it moves.Xingyan could see clearly that against the backdrop of the gorgeous and gorgeous Li family dress, the little girl who was already pink and jade-like, looked even more delicate, lovely, and extraordinarily bright. Xingyan watched it for a while, and was a little lost in thought when he suddenly realized that the beautiful little girl was still waiting for his answer.Because I have been watching it for a long time, the little girl who was not very confident now has a timid expression on her face, and she is afraid that the brother she likes will say bad comments. Just when Qiongxun was in a nervous mood, he heard his brother's comment: "Sister Qiongxun, it's not that you look good now—" "what?" When the little girl heard this, tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing this, Xing Yan didn't dare to tease her any more, and hurriedly finished the sentence: "That's right, Qiong Xi is not that you are good-looking now, but you have always been good-looking, and you look even better now!" "Yeah~" Hearing these words, the little girl burst into laughter immediately, wiping her tears while smiling. Gossip aside, after about two hours, such a festive bonfire banquet came to an end. What surprised Xingyan was that, because of this kind of bonfire dinner, the Huo Li people have left a festival since today. Every year on this day, such an open-air bonfire party will be held to celebrate this day. Come and help them drive away the demons.This day is called "Torch Festival".If anyone wants to ask in the future why the Torch Festival of the Li family is different from that of other people, the old people of the Huo Li family will tell them a long story, the protagonists are two girls and a boy.Of course, as the years go by, the details of this legend will change to some extent after many years. Besides, Xingyan, now he and Xue Yiqiongxun have returned to Yixue Hall in Shuixi.In the small thatched cottage, two candles had already been lit; Xingyan and Qiongxu gathered around the table, watching the quiet woman threading needles and threads in front of the candles, mending the torn clothes. "Xueyi's concentration is really rare!" Looking at the girl in the candlelight at this moment, with a leisurely and composed attitude, Xing Yan couldn't help admiring her.From the end of the bonfire dinner to now, the loud cheers seemed to be still ringing in his ears, and he couldn't calm down for a while. On a winter night, it was quiet and peaceful; a few children who were walking in the smoke and dust finally got some free time to watch the blurred candle shadow in front of them in the thatched cottage in a remote mountain village. Following his elder brother's example, he helped sister Xueyi pick out lanterns a few times to make the candlelight brighter. Qiongxi asked, "Sister Xueyi, can you sew as beautifully as before?" "can." Xueyi answered in the affirmative, held the silver needle in her hand, rubbed it between the black hair on her head a few times, and continued to mend quietly.Under the flickering candlelight, the pure and pure woman threaded the needle, occasionally picking up the end of the thread and biting it off with her white teeth, her whole posture seemed extremely natural and skilled. Seeing her such a peaceful appearance, for some reason, the young man who was quietly accompanying her suddenly felt moved, thinking of the snake demon he met today.Thinking of this, some memories of the past can't help but come to mind.Looking at the leisurely woman in the candle shadow shaking red, Xingyan couldn't help but think: "It's strange, I think that in the past I beat her snake brother to death unfortunately, but after she slapped me later, she never blamed me again." Thinking of this, and thinking of Xueyi's appearance like a fairy of ice and snow along the way, Xingyan felt even more hesitant: "Actually, Xueyi is also a fairy born from the heaven and earth in the blessed land of the cave, but now she is willing to be a servant all the way. It really makes me uneasy.” It's fine if I don't think about it, but now when I think about it, it's even more shaking in the center.After a pause, Xingyan couldn't help but said softly: "Xueyi, I want to ask you something..." "Well, hall master just ask, maidservant listen." Hearing Xingyan speak, Xueyi put down the clothes she was sewing, looked at Xingyan quietly, and waited for him to ask questions. However, Xingyan felt even more uneasy when he heard the "servant" at this moment.After hesitating for a while, he asked Xueyi why she didn't bear the grudge against him for killing her brother snake. Hearing such a question, Xueyi just smiled quietly, saying that she had already thought about this matter, and she couldn't blame the Hall Master for a single bit.Now that Brother Snake is gone, she can only live a good life, and pray and bless him when she meets festival priests, so that he can be reincarnated into a good family. Hearing this, Xingyan suddenly remembered that when she worshiped the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival in the past, Xueyi's expression was always extraordinarily solemn, and the prayer time was longer than others.Now that he heard such an answer, Xingyan didn't ask any more questions, so as not to arouse her sadness.So he talked about another thing: "Actually, Xueyi, you don't need to call yourself a servant. That was just a temporary remark. I, Zhang Xingyan, have always been used to poverty, so I don't need any servants. Xueyi, you have a magical background, and you Why do you have to suffer so much?" Hearing this, the ice-clear and snow-cold woman raised her head and told the hall master: "Actually, Xue Yi is not self-sufficient. Xue Yi deceived the hall master at the beginning, but the hall master did not see suspicion because of Xueyi's difference. Not only did he treat each other well, That time, some villains bullied me and helped me cover it up. If I don’t serve the hall master wholeheartedly like this, then Xue Yi will have wasted so many years of cultivation..." Speaking of this, the woman who had been speaking calmly thought about what the hall master said just now, and suddenly became flustered, and said in a trembling voice: "Hall master... what you said just now, could not be because of Xueyi's recent unethical behavior. , will you be kicked out of the hall?" "Uh!" Seeing Xueyi's face full of panic, Xingyan hurriedly said: "How could it be! I was just talking casually just now!" Seeing that his kind words just now made Mei Xueling so uneasy, he woke up feeling very regretful, and hurriedly comforted him with kind words, trying his best to explain that just now was just to understand Xue Yi's thoughts, at most it was improper wording, some gaffes. Seeing him explain in such a hurry, the Qingling woman felt at ease immediately, and quietly concentrated on mending the clothes.At this time, the little girl next to her who had been watching their conversation eagerly, also hurriedly comforted her elder sister: "Sister Xueyi, Brother Hall Master will not drive you away!" "why?" Xue Yi looked at her in confusion. "Because Xingyan brother is unhappy, it must be because we are not good. And I..." Speaking of this, the little girl was a little shy, and she was shy for a while before she said: "Actually, although I am very good, I am a little worse than Sister Xueyi. Therefore, if my brother wants to drive someone away, he will drive me away first!" "This……" Hearing Qiongxi's words, he woke up dumbfounded, and was about to object, but he heard the little girl still say: "But I'm not afraid! Even if my brother drives me away, I will still secretly follow behind, and I can't get rid of it!" "..." After these conversations, the winter night in the thatched cottage regained a moment of tranquility, the woman continued to mend her clothes, and the siblings next to her continued to be in a daze.In the quiet night of the thatched cottage, only occasionally one or two crisp pops of lanterns were heard. After a while, when he was a little bored, he woke up and suddenly saw the woman who was concentrating on mending clothes, stopped for a while, raised her head and smiled at him, and said a thrilling sentence: "By the way, so that the hall master can know, if One day, Xue Yi will die like Brother Snake, so I beg the hall master to refine me. Xue Yi is a demon spirit, so death is not a pity. If I can help the hall master in the future, I will be satisfied... " ——In the flickering candlelight, when the girl said this, her face was calm and peaceful, and her tone was leisurely, as if she was only talking about something that had nothing to do with her. The person who listened to her had a very surprised face at the beginning, and wanted to interrupt several times during the short speech, but just looked at the determined expression on the girl's face, and finally remained silent. In the thatched cottage in the quiet night with flickering candle shadows, there was silence for a while, and then the young man suddenly spoke; listening to the content of the speech, it seemed that he was also talking about an unrelated thing: "Qiong, Xue Yi, seeing the end of the year In the near future, when things are over here, I will take you all back to my home for the New Year, to meet my parents..."