Chapter 11: You guys should leave

Who is this person on the surface? Who is the person that Master is referring to?

But the master was silent, biting on his pipe, his brows furrowed, and the wrinkles on his forehead seemed to deepen.

Seeing that I was still in a daze, he slapped me on the back and said, “What are you dazing at? Take a bath.”

In the case that the master is unwilling to say, it is useless to ask again and again. This kind of conversation is obviously a rejection of me, but I am also happy with this. I let myself indulge in this warmth. I know that there are some things in life that rarely have the opportunity to be repeated, unlike eating and sleeping, which are repeated every day.

I was very attached to this warmth, and for the rest of the time, my master and I were both silent, as if we had returned to the warm nights of our childhood.

This invisible warmth was like a tangible force surrounding me, and I was completely unaware that the water in the wooden tub had been getting cold.

The darkness of the night and the heaviness of the night can make people who are already desperate even more desperate, but it can also give people the warmest escape and the most peaceful sleep… That night, I was half-awake when my master helped me out of the tub. Unlike when I was a child, he could no longer carry me on his back like he did every time I fell asleep in the bath.

He helped me, and I was in a daze, letting him help me dry off and put on my clothes, and he carried me back to bed.

A peaceful night’s sleep, no dreams.

When I woke up, I realized it was already noon the next day. I got out of bed with my shirt off and looked at my chest wound, which had already turned into a red scar. I was so happy that such a serious wound had healed. Sometimes I feel that life is truly a miracle.

“Chengyi, are you up? Come out and eat. Everyone is already at the table, waiting for you.” I was still looking at myself when my mother entered my room without me noticing.

“Oh, Mom, I’ll be right there.” I turned around and smiled and said yes. I always feel sad when I look at my mother. How long have I been by her side? I’m afraid this can’t be calculated. Having such a son, is it sometimes not much better than having none?

But if I say this, I will definitely be scolded by my mother, right?

While I was still thinking about this, my mother had already come over, quickly grabbed a piece of clothing, and started dressing me. I was a little embarrassed, but my mother naturally straightened out my collar and casually chatted: “You don’t know that when you were just sent back, you were almost dead. Master Jiang appeared at our doorstep in the middle of the night, which really scared me to death. I was happy to see him, but before I could be happy, I was scared by his words that you were seriously injured.

I laughed and said, “Mom, what are you so scared of? You can always be cured of an injury, you’re not going to die.”

“Don’t say that. You are a piece of flesh from my body. I’m not afraid that you will have an accident.” My mother helped me fix my collar and button my shirt, then said, “You’re talking about it so easily. Do you know? On that day, Master Jiang had your uncle Chengqing set up 49 joss sticks outside, ready to force the heavens to let you live… That day, Master Jiang kept saying that he had never done anything against the heavens in his life, but for you, he would defy the heavens.

I was stunned, and let my mother help me button up my shirt. Light 49 lamps to borrow life? That really is against the will of heaven. I never thought that my master would want to force me to stay, to go against the will of heaven… Is this something a master would do? It’s unthinkable!

“Then, I got better because…” I subconsciously wanted to ask.

But my mother slapped me on the shoulder in anger and said to me, “How could that be? I don’t understand anyway. Anyway, one day, Master Jiang said that you had reached a critical juncture and that you would let Qing’er prepare 49 long-burning lamps, saying that you would fight against the heavens to bring you back… But then, I don’t know how, Master Jiang said that you had survived and that it was no longer necessary. Anyway, after that, you woke up two days later.

It was like this. I don’t know why, but I suddenly remembered the dream I had while I was unconscious. I wanted to step through the door, but I was forcibly pulled back… I suddenly had a revelation. If I had stepped through that door that day, would it have been…

At this time, my mother had already helped me to tidy up my clothes and hair, and then patted my back and said, “What are you still doing? Go wash up and eat. We’re all waiting for you.”

“Oh,” I said, mechanically running to wash up. I suddenly remembered with a cold sweat that the Taoist boy’s will had reminded me that if I crossed that door, I would have to say goodbye to the myriad of earthly desires in this life.

I didn’t cross over, so why did the Taoist boy’s will stop me? That will was actually cold, and I didn’t think that I, as this life, had anything that would make him care!

Until I went out to eat, I was still a little dazed, but today no one cared about me, and the atmosphere of the whole meal was a bit depressing.

Everyone was very quiet, including the master who was quietly drinking wine next to me, frowning and not knowing what he was thinking.

The food was actually very good, but everyone seemed to have no appetite. In less than half an hour, many people had already put down their chopsticks and bowls, as if they had already eaten enough. Only the master, who had been drinking all along, was oblivious, just drinking his wine in silence.

“Master Jiang, I want to go out and swim in the deep pool.” Hui Gen couldn’t sit still. In such a dull atmosphere, especially like this, he couldn’t help but mention it.

On ordinary days, the master would have agreed with a wave of his hand. After all, here, the master had become an invisible decision-maker. But today, the master was a little dazed and unable to respond.

This made Huigener unable to help scratching his head, and he hurriedly called out to my master.

The master reacted, put down the wine glass with a wooden face, and then said, “Don’t go today. I have something to say.”

“What is there to say?” Hui Gen’er’s character has always been a bit of a fool, but he was glared at by Master Hui, who said, “Shut up and sit down properly. What a character!”

Hearing this rebuke from Master Hui, Huigen didn’t dare to speak, and everyone present couldn’t help but become serious. In fact, if you are a discerning person, you can probably tell what Master Hui wants to say, right?

“Old Chen…” The master didn’t say anything directly, but first called my father.

My father was also drinking wine. When my master called him, he couldn’t help but shake his glass. The wine in the glass also spilled out with this shake, falling on the table in front of him and then running down to my father’s pants. When my mother saw this, she couldn’t help but frantically help my father wipe his pants.

But my father ignored my mother and finished the drink in his glass, then put the glass down on the table and said, “Master Jiang, don’t say anything else! After dinner, I’ll take the old woman and Chengyi’s two sisters down the mountain. Chengyi has been in your care since he was a child, and now that he’s grown up, I’m going to trouble you to take care of him. Let’s not say anything else.”

“Dad, are you leaving? But what about Chengyi?” My eldest sister couldn’t help but ask a few questions.

My father glared at my eldest sister and said, “It’s been more than a month. Have you stopped working? Have you stopped taking care of your family? It’s time to go down the mountain.”

My eldest sister was stunned by my father’s words, and her eyes couldn’t help but turn red. She said, “But… since my younger brother left home, I haven’t spent much time with him. This is rare…”

My second sister also looked at my father with some concern. My father was used to being the head of the family and didn’t like to explain. Seeing that he was about to lose his temper, my mother pulled my two sisters out of the room and presumably went to explain the specific reasons to them.

After a while, my two sisters came back, their eyes red, but they really didn’t object again. They just looked at me worriedly. They probably knew that they were going to die.

My master was originally a person who didn’t like to talk too much, and at this time, he put away his wine cup, served himself a bowl of rice, and then ate it in large mouthfuls, pretending to be very casual and saying, “We’re leaving tonight, and I don’t know when we’ll be able to come back to this bamboo forest cottage.”

My master said this and no one else said anything, but everyone understood what they should do.

After lunch, my family went down the mountain, and everyone else was packing their bags. From now on, they would be fugitives, with no idea where they would end up or when this would end.

In the afternoon, when everyone’s luggage was almost packed and they were preparing to leave that evening, my father suddenly shouted from the bamboo forest, “Master Jiang, Master Jiang… you guys go quickly!”