Chapter 8 Chapter 8: Wuling Peach Blossoms Laugh and Kill

The mist is vast and the water vapor is rising. This is the time of the day when the fog is at its peak.On the Yuanjiang River, a small wupeng fishing boat is slowly going upstream. The long and narrow bow calmly cuts the river head-on. Standing at the stern of the boat is a fisherman in a light gray coir raincoat and bamboo hat, who is pushing the boat forward with a bamboo pole.It's just that his movements are a bit weird, the joints of his limbs never seem to bend, and he never tires. There are two people sitting in the boat.One has a thick waist, broad shoulders, and a very broad frame. His long gray hair is tied up in a square scarf, which looks a bit sloppy; the other has a square face with thick lips, a dark complexion, and hair on his temples as white as snow.The two looked at the receding mountains and forests on both sides of the boat, chatting intentionally or unintentionally.

"I said, Lao Zhu, don't you feel bored when you sit in meditation like this every day?" "This is not Zen meditation in Buddhism. Mencius said: I cultivate my righteous energy. This skill of nourishing energy cannot be wasted." "Okay, okay, I'm afraid of you! You can't speak without citing the words of a saint?" "In my whole life, if I still have the opportunity to comment on the sage, so that the orthodoxy will continue and be passed on to future generations, I will have no regrets." There is a touch of regret in his tone. Hearing this, the other party panicked, forced a smile and said, "Don't talk nonsense, how old are you! This old man has never been sad, let alone you?" He smiled slightly, stopped talking, and flicked his sleeves , and continued to look at the distant waters, his eyes pierced through the thin mist, not knowing where to look.

These two people are exactly Lu You and Zhu Xi.And the person who punted the boat was a pen boy transformed into a Sanzhuo pen. During the battle at Suyang Confucian Temple, Zhuge and Wei's family killed seven officials of the pen grave, and four pen spirits were destroyed. In addition, the celestial and human pens were born, which can be described as unprecedented chaos.Since the pen tomb was built, so many pen spirits have never been destroyed at one time.You must know that every pen spirit represents an amazing genius in history.Their loss is irreparable. In the end, the Tianrenbi was lucky enough to be accepted by Zhu Xi, which was finally a blessing in misfortune.In order to avoid long nights and dreams, Lu You didn't bother to inform Zhuge's family and Wei's family, but left a sum of money for the Confucian temple's temple blessing, and asked him to take care of the wounded of the two families, and then took the fish book tube with the sealed celestial pen, and traveled day and night with Zhu Xi, Go straight to the pen mound.

Along the way, what made Lu You most anxious was Zhu Xi's body.Since the Battle of the Confucian Temple, Zhu Xi's health has deteriorated day by day, his complexion is gloomy and haggard, and he is even more reticent than before.Lu You guessed that this was the sequelae caused by Zhu Xi's forcible collection of the Heavenly and Human Brush.The Celestial Brush, which has completely lost its seal, is too powerful. Although I don't know what kind of magical power Zhu Xi used to counteract it, it can be imagined that the power of that kind of magical power will definitely not be small.

Lu You asked Zhu Xi several times, but Zhu Xi just smiled and shook his head, saying that he was worrying unfoundedly.Zhu Xi is a boring gourd, if he doesn't want to talk about it, no matter who comes, don't ask anyone. Lu You has no choice but to speed up his pace, trying to bring him to the pen tomb as soon as possible, so that the owner of the pen tomb can figure out a way—this kind of Ordinary medicine stones are useless to the damage caused by the pen spirit. They traveled quickly for several days, entered the territory of Changde Mansion on Jinghu North Road, bought a fishing boat there, and traveled up the Yuan River.In order to deceive others, Lu You did not hire a boatman, but used a pen boy as a boatman.He rescued the regular attendant pen in the Confucian Temple, which happened to be able to control multiple pen boys, and it just came in handy now.

Ordinary pen officials can only use one pen spirit in a lifetime, and only a pen master with a unique physique like Lu You can use all kinds of pen spirits as tools at will. After traveling for two days, the boat gradually entered a tributary of the Yuan River.Lu You was really bored, so he got a fishing rod, sat on the side of the ship and started fishing.But the boat kept moving forward, so there was no way to catch any fish.Lu You couldn't bear his temper, so he used the regular attendant pen to make another pen boy, let him hold the stick for him, and hid himself in the boat tent.If Gao Shi was still alive and saw his pen spirit being misused in this way, he didn't know how he would feel.

The river surface of this tributary is narrow, and the peach groves on both sides are luxuriant, and the fallen flowers are colorful, some even extend to the sky above the river, and the people on the boat are within reach.Moreover, this river is located in a remote place. Since entering the river, except for their boat, they have never encountered anyone else. "Brother Lu, do you know why this place is called Changde?" Zhu Xi spoke first.Lu You was sitting in the boat in a daze, and was surprised to hear that Zhu Xi was talking with interest today. "Uh, didn't you always call him Changde?" Lu You replied rubbing his neck.

Zhu Xi shook his head, raised his wrist and drew a few words in mid-air: "The word Changde is taken from Kong Yingda's "Book of Songs Daya Chang Wu Shu", he said, "Words will condemn generals, repair soldiers and soldiers, and there will be no tyranny." , People get jobs, this matter can always be the law, and there is also Changde.”” "Oh." Lu You briefly expressed his opinion. Zhu Xi sighed and said: "If the whole world is so virtuous, it will be fine." "Just rely on the current imperial court?" Lu You said disdainfully, "Now half of the country is in the hands of the barbarians, and the gentleness is destroyed by the smell. I don't see what they are worried about." He suddenly thought of something, and said: "You know, At the time of Jingkang, the master of the pen mound resolutely retreated, just because he didn’t want to associate with the barbarians, lest the thousand-year-old Chinese culture be polluted.”

Zhu Xi sneered and said, "This method of hiding out of sight and out of mind is not necessarily noble. If you really have the heart to save the world, why not join the world?" "The master of the pen mound is a half-immortal, so why is he willing to enter the mundane world? He just wants to try his best to preserve the roots of China, and he doesn't want to teach the world's talents to go to the east." Lu You said in a low voice, "You know what? The master of the pen mound In the past few decades, he has only left the customs once. He went to the extreme north and forged a thin gold pen for His Majesty Huizong who was dying. It was so hard.”

Zhu Xi said dumbly: "Don't talk about it, if this is spread, it will be a crime of beheading." Lu You smiled, and the two of them knew each other.The topic of welcoming back the Hui and Qin sects has been considered a taboo until now.If the current Holy Majesty knew that Huizong still had the spirit of pens handed down, he might not be able to sleep at night.The boat fell silent again. Zhu Xi patted the roof of the boat, pulled out a piece of grass from the inside, stared at it thoughtfully for a while, and then took the initiative to say: "To be honest, although I admire the master of the pen mound for doing such a thing, I feel that this Unbelievably stupid."

Lu You said displeased: "Old Zhu, why do you say that? The master of the pen mound takes pity on the literati, what's wrong with that?" "These so-called talents are nothing more than poems and songs, Danqing calligraphy, plus various kinds of alchemy. They are just small ways. They will not benefit the world, nor will they promote benevolence." Zhu Xi seemed to be brewing in his heart. After waiting for a long time, this time he simply vomited, "If these small ways are just for entertainment, that's fine. What about the owner of the pen mound? But he solemnly refined these sensual dogs and horses into a pen spirit, and made a high offering To teach people in the world to feel that there is a lot to do, to devote all their energy to these things, and to enjoy them, ignoring the learning of sages. You must know that in this life, there is not much time for seeking the way of heaven and enlightening the right principles, how can you spend time Wasting it on other things? Didn’t he create a pen mound to mislead people’s children and lead them astray?” Lu You was rendered speechless by this remark, so he rubbed his hands together and said, "Your words are too biased, too biased!" Zhu Xi bowed towards the sky, and then said: "For example, His Majesty Huizong. If he didn't indulge in calligraphy and painting, and concentrate on political affairs, how could he be ashamed of Jingkang?" Lu You was stunned by this question, and he hesitated for a long time before saying, "This is different. He is the emperor, not a poet." "If the folk morality is serious, these things cannot form a style, so how can the monarch be addicted to it? So I said that small ways are harmful to people, and it is harmful to morality and useless!" Zhu Xi seemed to have fallen into the mental state of the Goose Lake meeting again. Arguments are sharp and merciless.Even the Lu brothers can't compete with his Ci, let alone Lu You.Lu You had no choice but to tilt his head, pouted his mouth, staring at the roof in a daze. "If everyone could understand the principle of preserving the way of heaven and eliminating human desires, it would have been a peaceful world long ago. Why is there a need for pen graves?" Zhu Xi came to a conclusion. Lu You turned his face away, took the fishing rod from the pen boy, and looked at the river, lest Zhu Xi see his embarrassing expression.He would rather have a few more fights with Tianrenbi than debate these things with Zhu Xi.After a while, he realized that there was no sound behind him, and felt a little strange, so he turned around and said, "Old Zhu, are you done talking?" Still no response.Lu You took a closer look, and found that Zhu Xi was lying upright in the cabin.His shock was no small matter, and he quickly threw away the fishing rod and rushed into the cabin to help him up.When I breathed out, it was almost inaudible.Lu You held Zhu Xi's hand, feeling that the temperature of his hand was dropping rapidly, and his vitality was gradually losing. Lu You immediately took out the Congrong pen, trying to repeat the same trick, waking him up by shock like at the time of Confucius Temple.But this time it didn't work, Zhu Xi kept his eyes closed after rushing Cong Rong's pen a few times, he was out of breath, and a faint layer of gray air began to cover his face. No wonder Zhu Xi took the initiative to say so many words just now. It turned out that he felt that his time had come and wanted to express himself before he died. Lu You's eyes widened in anxiety, and with a flick of his wrist, he called out six pen boys to line up the boat on both sides, and used the regular attendant pen to steer them to row together.The six poles were aligned, and the boat suddenly became fast.Lu You picked Zhu Xi up sideways, rushed to the bow of the boat, and yelled loudly at the misty water bank: "Master of the pen mound! Come out quickly! Come out quickly! If you are late, you will die!" His voice was so loud that it could be heard for miles around.Gradually, the boat got into the thick fog, and soon only Lu You's call could be heard.After a while, even his shouts were barely audible... ...Zhu Xi has never felt so wonderful. He found himself transcending the shackles of time, turning into the clouds in the sky, the wind in the mountains, the first drop of dew in the morning, and every man, woman, and child in the town.In the world, it seems that he is not in the world, he incarnates all things, and calmly overlooks the changes of time on the earth. Bai Yuncanggou, vicissitudes of life.I don't know how many years passed, and Zhu Xi gradually touched the mysterious and indescribable track of heavenly principles during the time and space, and saw how it manipulated "Qi" and the entire universe condensed by "Qi".Everything, even the smallest and most insignificant, operates with dignity and precision strictly in accordance with the order of Li-Qi. Li and Qi are the origin of this universe.This is where the Tao exists. Zhu Xi suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed, his voice resounded in every corner of the universe: "So I am Li, I am Qi, I am the first and the last." Then he finally woke up. Zhu Xi's first reaction was that he was already dead.Because there is a wonderful and peaceful gleam all around here, and there is a faint fragrance wafting from the nostrils.Confucianism never mentioned where a person would go after death, and Zhu Xi never considered it, but out of human nature, he couldn't help secretly hoping that it would be a more comfortable place. Soon he realized that he might be wrong, because there were several pen spirits floating in front of him, and each pen spirit had a silk thread connected to his body.They are both unfamiliar and familiar.Several strands of abundant and soft spiritual power are pouring in, repairing every flaw in his spirit.Zhu Xi felt warm all over his body, making him lazy and unable to lift his spirits. "Me, where is this?" Zhu Xi moved his lips with difficulty, without even turning his neck. He knew that Lu You would be nearby. "Old Zhu, you're alright! Don't worry!" Lu You's voice appeared in his ears, looking extremely excited. "Answer my question. Is this the Yincao Difu or the Lingxiao Palace?" This is the only place Zhu Xi imagined that two people might go to after death.He didn't dare to hope that he was still alive, and guessed that this might be some kind of trick on the Naihe Bridge. At this moment, a second voice sounded beside his ears—no, to be precise, it was his consciousness that was directly infiltrated by this voice.This is a very special voice, generous and gentle, without any smoke and fire, as clear and indifferent as a mountain stream. "Welcome to the pen mound, Mr. Koian."