Chapter 4: Time Stops

Master!

The Master in the camera finally stood up, and the entire camera had changed from capturing the scenery to filming the Master’s every move.

I saw Master stand up straight and see him angrily yelling at the side: “Damn Hui Jue, how dare you kick me over, wait a minute, I’m going to fight you one on one.”

From there came the voice of Master Hui: “I’m not afraid of a duel.

For five years, no matter what I heard or what photos I saw, nothing could compare to the comfort of seeing my master standing in front of me, even if we were separated by a television screen.

The camera has a time stamp, and I can see at a glance that it is six months after my master left me.

We finally saw each other again, in a strange way. He was on the screen, and I was off screen.

In terms of time, I was already more than five years later, but he was still in the half year after he left.

Five years of longing had accumulated, and I thought that when I saw him again and heard him speak, I would be unable to stop crying. This has always been the case. Master has always told me since I was young that I should laugh when I want to laugh and cry when I want to cry, otherwise my heart will not be at ease and my cultivation will be hindered. But in fact, when I just heard Grandmaster Hui speak, the tears that were falling stopped miraculously, and I actually had a faint smile on my face.

No one understands this magical state of mine, only I know it myself. It’s so good to be with my familiar Master and Uncle Hui again. I’m just indulging in the time and being with them again. So I’m not laughing, do I have to cry?

“Master Jiang, you’re on camera.” I heard the sound of the recorder, but it didn’t pull me back to reality at all. But in the lens, this kind reminder made the master a little embarrassed.

I saw him start to carefully comb his unruly hair, straighten his clothes, and pat the dust off his body before speaking into the camera: “Sanwa, if you have a good girl next to you, you have to explain the previous part. It was that old bald monk Huijue who was ruining my image, got it? Otherwise, copy the “Tao Te Ching” for me, ten thousand times, and if you leave out a single word, I’ll beat you!”

It wasn’t in an official tone, but in the familiar Sichuan dialect. My master was actually speaking Sichuanese in front of the camera, and he started with “Sanwaer,” as if I were right next to him. I was also very confused, as if I were still in the bamboo forest cottage, and my wretched master had lost at chess and wanted me to help him wash his clothes. Then he “threatened” me in this tone.

I naturally replied in Sichuan dialect: “I know, there are no good girls here, but there is a man, so you don’t have to worry about your image. I definitely won’t tell anyone that you haven’t showered in a week.”

In the camera, the master coughed, as if the matter had been settled, and I smiled lightly. He walked a few steps, stopped somewhere, and the camera followed him, stopping as he did.

“Sanwa, actually, I don’t have much to say. You grew up with me, saw the scenery I saw, ate the same food, and lived a life with just the two of us. Now that I’ve come to this place, I see that it’s really beautiful, so I think of you. There’s no reason for a master to see a beautiful place and not show it to his apprentice. Especially that lake. Take a look. Isn’t it beautiful?” After saying that, the master pointed to the lake, and his expression gradually calmed down. From the initial complex excitement, restraint, and exaggerated anger towards Master Hui, he became indifferent.

Then the camera followed the direction the master was pointing, and it was indeed a very beautiful lake. The surface of the lake was sparkling and shimmering, and in the sunlight, the mist was wispy and ethereal. It was a paradise on earth, with the green lawns and bamboo groves along the lake, and the towering mountains in the distance.

Is the master trying to share this beauty with me? My brows lifted slightly, but Jiang Yi was also looking at me. My face returned to a calm smile, and I said to the screen, “I see, master. But you probably aren’t satisfied, right? There are no young girls to look at here.”

At the same time, the camera had already turned back to the master, and he said almost at the same time as me: “It’s a pity that there are no young girls to watch here. I don’t even have the interest to squat here for ten minutes.”

Then the camera shook and Master suddenly let out a wail. I could clearly see a colorful centipede crawling onto Master’s face at some point, and then a pair of white hands pinched Master’s ears.

“This person has only achieved so much in his life. Don’t let him lose face in front of the camera. Sanwa, if you are the first to see these, please tell Ruoxue and Ruyue that I am fine. If you can, please also show them these things.” When Grandma Lingqing said these words, her expression was calm, and there was a little concern in her eyes, but when she looked at the master, she became satisfied.

She should have no more regrets, right? The main enemy of the village has been eliminated, and the younger generation, who were so worried, have grown up. When they reach old age, they can finally embark on an unknown journey with their loved ones again, fulfilling their love in a different form.

So when I grow old, will Ru Xue also embark on such a journey with me?

I was thinking about something in my heart, and at that moment, I was in a trance. I finally felt a hint of sadness in my heart, which made me sober up. But I was still laughing happily at the screen, laughing at the awkwardness of Master being pinched by Grandma Lingqing, and laughing at how happy they seemed to be.

In this way, a few short sentences, a scene, a fight, and the master disappeared in front of the camera. Then, a familiar figure appeared in front of the camera, with a compassionate expression, and performed a Buddhist ritual in front of the camera, saying, “Amitabha!”

Master Hui, I sat on the floor with my knees folded, watching him laugh happily. My laughter echoed in the hotel room, and it sounded a little lonely, but I was oblivious to it. I just laughed. I knew Master Hui too well. The next moment, he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Sure enough, after the compassionate Buddhist teachings, Master Hui and my master were the same, starting to tidy up their clothes and wanting to tidy up their hair. They then found out, with some embarrassment, that they were bald, and then, as if to hide this embarrassment, they said to the camera in a menacing manner, “Hui Gen, you should be a good monk. This is a very promising profession. Don’t just think about eating eggs and cakes all day long! But Buddhism teaches that if you are not cut out to be a monk, then you… you…”

“What about it, Master Hui?” I asked the screen.

“Well, you can start a chicken farm, so you can eat eggs for free and you can also use eggs to make cakes! By the way, Sanwa, if you don’t want to be a Taoist priest, you should go with Huigen to start a chicken farm. Chicken farms have a very promising future…” Before Huiguan could finish his sentence, a figure suddenly rushed over and kicked Huiguan, causing him to stumble.

Then he shouted, “How dare you tell my disciple to run a chicken farm? You’re the one who runs a chicken farm! Your whole family runs a chicken farm!”

It was my master!

I was confused. I knew it was starting again. I was used to ignoring it. Wasn’t that always the case?

Sure enough, after Master Hui had regained his footing, he said with a puzzled expression, “You said that my whole family is a chicken farm? There are only chickens in a chicken farm, so aren’t you saying that my whole family is a chicken? I’ll fight you!”

“I’m not afraid of you. I’ve always hated you bald old ‘chicken’.” My master is definitely a person who applies what he learns to real life. Then, in the camera, the two of them started to wrestle.

But at this moment, I pressed the pause button, and the camera froze on the image of my master and Mr. Hui struggling in a very unpresentable manner. Both of them were pushing their hands against each other’s faces, and they also happened to be facing the camera in a very unpresentable manner at the same time.

Jiang Yi looked at me in surprise and asked me, “Aren’t you watching anymore?”

My finger gently brushed the screen, lingering on Master and Uncle Hui. I didn’t cry, just my eyes were a little red, and I was still smiling, saying, “I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to watch this alone. There’s always someone waiting to share it with me.”

After saying this, my expression had already become calm, and I asked, “Jiang, did you say that you would give this to me?”

“Of course, there is nothing taboo in this, and it should have been given to you in the first place.” Jiang Yi replied calmly.

I ejected the DVD, carefully put it away, and then looked at Jiang Yi and asked, “Why would my master film these things?” Even though I already had an answer in the back of my mind, I still asked.