Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Ghost Bamboo

Human personality is born, but knowledge and skills are acquired through learning and training. The age of a person is inversely proportional to his ability to absorb knowledge, that is to say: the younger the person, the greater the ability to absorb knowledge; the older the person, the lower the ability to absorb knowledge.Therefore, if a person does not work hard in vain, what he learns and absorbs in his youth may benefit his whole life. When I was learning the style with my first master, I only felt that the process was extremely painful, but later I realized that the most important thing in martial arts is to have a good foundation. I just laid a good foundation, so I can achieve something in martial arts .

Speaking of my first martial arts master, he was extremely mysterious. Later, I met many mysterious figures, including aliens, but I still think that this master is a top mysterious figure. Last time, I briefly mentioned some strange things about him. This story is mainly about him, and it is just some sporadic records. After I have grown up, I have experienced a lot. When I think of the past, there are some clues, which are very suspicious. It is also a strange thing to uncover his mysterious face. Master lives in a small courtyard of the mansion, which is a very secluded place in the mansion.

People who are used to living in crowded cities can hardly imagine how big a big house can be.Like the big house I lived in when I was a child, there are many corners that are all the targets of children's exploration. You have to look carefully step by step, and you don't know if some strange monsters will suddenly appear. If it wasn't for that time when a cousin came back from Hunan, I wouldn't even know that there were people living in that courtyard. I said last time that Master likes bamboo. That uncle, who is probably a good friend of Master, came back from a trip and brought more than a dozen pots of bamboo, and they were very large pots, some of which were planted in water tanks. Here, it is really hard to imagine how it was transported back after traveling thousands of miles.

Dozens of porters, groaning loudly, brought in the dozens of pots of various bamboos, and my cousins ​​and I crowded over to watch the excitement. There are more than a dozen pots of bamboos of different varieties, some are square bamboos, some are pitch black, some are emerald green, some have shiny golden stripes, some bulge out one by one, and some are full of oval shapes. (I recognize this one, it is called "Xiangfei Bamboo", and the spots are the tears of a pair of passionate women). The most special one among them was actually white, that kind of white, just like a split bamboo shoot, lifeless.The shape of this kind of bamboo is also very special. It is oblate and very thick. If a section cut off from a thick bamboo trunk has two small branches extending horizontally and several bamboo leaves, it is only regarded as a flat and round bamboo tube, and it is not known that it is a living bamboo.

Such a strange bamboo, planted in a white porcelain pot, is considered the smallest piece. As soon as I saw this pot of bamboo, I felt very strange. Of course, it was just a kind of intuition, and there was no reason for it.Uncle patted me on the shoulder: "Come on, hold it up, come with me?" I don't know what he wants me to do, this pot of bamboo is also quite heavy, I hold it with both hands, it's so heavy that even my face flushes, other children see this situation, lest this hard work will fall on them , broke up in a hurry. I struggled to hold this pot of bamboo, and walked behind my uncle, only to feel that it was getting heavier and heavier. Moreover, after entering houses and courtyards, it seemed that I would never reach my destination. After finally arriving at the courtyard, Tang Shu pushed the door open, and I saw a tall and thin man standing in front of a clump of bamboos, knowing that someone was coming, but he did not turn around.

I was so tired that I was sweating profusely and panting like a cow. I put down the pot of bamboo, and I couldn't hear the first few words of greetings between my cousin and the man. When I regained my composure, my master (that person is naturally my later master) and my uncle had already arrived in front of the pot of bamboo. It was brought here by the strength of my grandmother, and I was not even a teenager at the time, so I had to be considered a big child. Of course, I felt that my great deed was no small feat, and hoped to be praised by adults. But the two adults ignored me at all, just staring at the bamboo.Only then did I see clearly that Master's face was extremely pale, but his eyes were bright with a strange brilliance.After looking at it for a while, he stretched out his toes and picked the pot of bamboo that I had brought with all my strength, as if it was made of paper. He picked it up lightly and caught it with both hands, with an extremely excited expression. , the voice was hoarse and trembling: "This is terrible, do you know what kind of bamboo this is?"

The uncle looked happy: "I'm afraid you don't know the goods! An elder in the Paijiao told me that this bamboo is rare in a hundred years, and it is called ghost bamboo!" (At that time, I didn’t know what the “elders of Paijiao” were. That was the subject of many other weird stories. If you don’t understand, don’t worry, I will introduce it when I have a chance in the future.) Master's voice was still trembling: "Yes! That's ghost bamboo!" He stretched out his hand on the surface of the bamboo that looked like a bamboo tube, and stroked it lightly, as if he was talking to himself: "I've only heard the legends, never thought that such a treasure really exists!"

The uncle complimented the master: "Your Excellency is really knowledgeable and talented. I still don't believe it when people tell me the magic of this bamboo!" He said, looking at the master, a little challenging, as if he wanted to test the master, whether he knew what the magic of this bamboo was. Master took a deep breath and spoke very slowly. I remember his words very clearly, so it was only a few years later that a classmate and I played a prank on Master. The master said: "This bamboo is born with the spiritual energy of the earth, it can pass through the ghost realm, and the spiritual energy can directly penetrate people's hearts──"

When he said this, he first pointed to his heart, hesitated for a moment, then pointed to his forehead, and continued: "If you can communicate with people, if you look at it and constantly miss a person, the appearance of this person can describe you. , it will appear on the bamboo body, lifelike." Uncle Tang smiled: "Exactly, so I did everything possible to find it, just to relieve your worries!" At that time, I didn't understand the meaning of these two sentences. Later, when I thought about it, I realized that my uncle and Master must have a deep friendship. He knew Master's thoughts and had been thinking about someone, so I did everything possible to get this wonderful "ghost plant" "Bamboo" so that the person he misses will appear on the bamboo body.

Relying on my memory, I wrote down the words of the adults. In fact, I don't know why, and I can't find an explanation. In the winter of that year, I paid homage to my master—after that, every time I saw my master, I saw him meditating in front of the bamboo, most often in front of the pot of ghost bamboo.I also noticed that the bamboo body was always dull white, not to mention that there were no portraits, not even a hair. A few years later, I had completed the elementary school courses, and I felt that I was very mature, and among my classmates, I was known for my rich knowledge and eloquence.Once, many students got together and asked me to tell a story, so I told the story of the ghost bamboo.

Who knew that all the people would laugh and laugh when they heard it.The reason they make fun of me is: "How can such a thing happen? It's so unscientific!" I was very annoyed: "I heard them say that at the time!" Many people asked me: "Did anyone appear on the bamboo?" I couldn't help being discouraged: "No." Everyone laughed again, only one classmate, showing a very naughty expression, came over and whispered in my ear: "Take me there, I will draw a portrait on the bamboo!" I was taken aback for a moment, but then I just felt that this idea was so brilliant! This classmate's surname is Wu, and what his name is is meaningless, it's just a name.He called himself "Taozi Reincarnated", and he had another seal, and the other was "Danqing's masterful hand is unique in the world" - he originally drafted the seal text as "Danqing's masterful hand is the best in the world", after the teacher read it, he suggested that he change it to "No. One" is "unique", and he accepted it. This classmate Wu is a natural painter, full of talent, at the age of five, his works are already well-known far and wide, what he paints looks like, he is especially good at portraits, whether it is fine brushwork or just a few line drawings, everything is vivid, If you see him, apart from painting, he is good at everything, such as calligraphy and seal cutting. He is indeed a rare talent. Among all his classmates, he is the most certain. master of art.Not once did the teacher quote Du Fu and say to us: "You are young now, and you will all have your own development in the future. Like classmate Wu, you must be a great artist. In the future, when you think back to your childhood life, you will sigh: How many classmates are young?" It's not cheap, Wuling fur horses look down on fat." However, how could the world be predictable? This genius, later on, suffered many adversities, and all the misfortunes in the world happened to him one after another. I don't know, life and death are unpredictable, and he is the one who has suffered the most miserable life among all the students. I really don't know how his fate is arranged! Even if one-tenth of his misadventures were written, it would be an extremely miserable story, which would not be popular, let alone mention it.Because of the "Ghost Bamboo" incident, I inevitably think of him, and I spent a little more ink, which can be regarded as my memory of him. But he said he was mysterious and asked me to "attach my ears" to give me suggestions, let him draw a portrait on the bamboo body to play tricks on the master. And some, naturally immediately applauded and raised their feet in favor. So, we discussed the details in detail, and first of all, we were sure that it must be a woman that Master has been thinking about obsessively, so we decided to draw a beautiful head on the bamboo. The time is also fixed, I go to learn martial arts at midnight every day, and most of the time I wake up the master when I arrive, so it is set after eleven o'clock in the evening.Classmate Wu clapped his heart: "Half an hour is enough. I guarantee that the beauty drawn will be as good as a fish and a wild goose. Otherwise, how can I be called a master of painting!" Everything was well planned, and when I thought of the master who was usually unsmiling, covered with frost, kept sighing and sighing, and sad people had no arms (that uncle said), suddenly saw a beautiful woman appearing on the bamboo, I didn't know where Can't help laughing wildly. On the night when he decided to act, classmate Wu came home with me after school. He took a stack of paper and randomly drew everything in the mansion. Several elders accidentally saw it and were amazed. After dinner, we chatted for a while, expressing our ambitions. I remember him expressing regret: "What all the students will do in the future is unknown. I am the only one. I am definitely a painter. There will be no change. It is really boring!" I patted him on the head: "You are a genius! You are destined to be a painter, what's wrong with that!" At that time, it was unexpected that more changes had happened to him than anyone else! Before leaving, I was a little scared after all, so I stole half a bottle of wine and drank it one by one, building up my courage, and then sneaked into the courtyard where the master lived. The moonlight was very good that night, and everywhere in the mansion, there were chirping and chirping sounds from various autumn insects, making the environment even colder.As soon as I entered the yard, I saw the pot of bamboo. Under the moonlight, the bamboo looks even paler. It is round, so the bamboo body has two planes that don't protrude too much. We were cautious, and before we came to the bamboo, student Wu reached out and stroked the surface facing us, and said in a low voice, "Soapy water!" The growing bamboo has a slippery surface and is not easy to be colored. If you wipe it with soapy water first, ink will fall off easily.The soapy water was brought earlier. I soaked the soapy water with loofah essence before going to wipe it off. Suddenly, I saw classmate Wu looking at this strange bamboo and turned to the other side.I saw his eyes bursting with anger, the eyeballs seemed to fall out, staring at the bamboo, he opened his mouth wide, and there was a sound of "crack" in his throat, his expression was like seeing a ghost! At the time, I didn't think it would be so shocking. I just saw that he wanted to scream, but he didn't scream!And if he yelled loudly, he would definitely wake up Master, and that would be a catastrophe! So, I took a lunge and rushed forward. With the fastest movement, I stretched out my hand and covered his mouth, not allowing him to make a sound.As soon as I covered it with my hand, he actually opened his mouth and bit the edge of my palm. The pain was so painful that I almost couldn't help crying out.I did open my mouth wide, but at this moment, I saw the scene in front of me, which made me unable to make any sound anymore! Under the moonlight, I can clearly see that on the other side of the bamboo, on the plane of the pale bamboo body, there is a head of a stunning beauty, almost as big as a real person, it is not only a portrait, it seems to be alive, like a movie lens.It was a young woman with a slightly sad expression, but she also had an intoxicating smile, and the beauty in the corners of her eyebrows and eyes made even young people feel fascinated by it.Eyes fluttered, vermilion lips parted slightly, as if wanting to speak.Whether she made a sound or not, we have no way of knowing, because there is a bang in my head, like the sky is falling apart! We wanted to draw a woman on the bamboo to play tricks on Master, but the bamboo is really "ghost bamboo", it really has that kind of magical effect, and it will show a portrait, and it is a living portrait! We stared at the beautiful woman on Zhushang, and I don’t know how long, just when a cloud covered the moonlight, the portrait on Zhushang also faded away, and when the moonlight reappeared, there was nothing on Zhushang! I pulled classmate Wu and ran out, and when I ran to the wall, Fang gasped for breath.Classmate Wu's face was pale, and he was very serious: "I can't draw it, I can't draw it again!" I agree with what he said, the portraits appearing on the bamboo are alive at all, and they cannot be painted no matter what! Student Wu suddenly held my arm: "That beauty must be the person your master thinks about day and night, you... Who do you think she looks like?" The painter's observation of portraits is meticulous and in-depth, which is naturally different from ordinary people. I shook my head and asked, "Who do you look like?" Student Wu replied very seriously: "Like a female student in our class, Zhu Xiangxiang, like her!" Zhu Xiangxiang and I are different from ordinary classmates. After hearing this, our hearts moved. We do have a bit of similarity, but Zhu Xiangxiang is plain, and the beauty on the bamboo is very beautiful. Student Wu suddenly became scared again: "We have to spy on the secret, don't mention it to anyone..." I clapped my hands together and made an oath to keep the secret together. I didn't even tell Master.It wasn't until later that Zhu Xiangxiang asked me to take her to see the master. When the two of them met, they behaved so strangely. Is there a touching story? Of course, I asked Zhu Xiangxiang about the situation, which made people disappointed and angry. It was another experience in my youth. One sentence she said actually hit my whole life. What's more, the master left without taking anything with him, only the pot of "ghost bamboo"—as for whether he has seen the beauty on the bamboo body, that's unknown.When I'm older, I'd rather he never met, I'm sure, after seeing him, he will be even more suffering from lovesickness! Because, that beauty in Takegami is so worthy of lovesickness.