Entering the Rivers and Lakes Chapter 28: Shadow in the Desert
Early the next morning, everyone went their separate ways.
The poisonous man wanted to return to Pingzhou to bury his senior brother. He planned to return to Shuangta Town and then head northeast.
Mu Shilan and Murong Yunxiu left Kyushu for Yeliu Kingdom, so they headed south.
Su Wangting, on the other hand, stayed alone in this oasis where Miao Lang had lived for many years.
Within a few days, Lu Qihong ordered his men to deliver a large amount of rice, flour, wine and meat. The pots and pans in Miao Langzhong's wooden house were all available. In addition, there was no shortage of water in the oasis. Logically speaking, Su Wangting was hiding.
The little life in this paradise can be described as nourishing.
But he is willing to step out of the oasis every day, find a higher sand dune, and look at the desert.
This gaze lasted half a day, almost every day.
…
The sky was incredibly blue, without a single cloud.
Under the sky, there is endless light yellow without a trace of color.
Looking around, the world is filled with pure blue and yellow, like a secret realm that should not exist in reality.
Although it is hot, it is peaceful.
It seems that even his own existence is a disturbance to this tranquility.
In an absolutely pure environment, people's hearts will become empty unconsciously.
Recalling the past, Su Wangting burst out laughing unconsciously.
It turns out that everything in this mortal world is fleeting...
He even began to examine the world, what exactly is it?
What exactly is a person?
What is the origin of all things?
Su Wangting gradually recalled what Pukong had said to him.
He once said that the end of everything in the universe is emptiness.
The origin of all things in the universe is also emptiness.
It's empty when you come, and it's empty when you go.
Even so, what is there to be happy about? What is there to be worried about?
But the human heart is contrary to nature and is often not empty.
So all the troubles in the world arise from this.
After meditating in the desert for more than a month, Su Wangting understood Pukong's words more and more clearly.
I am becoming more and more recognized.
After returning to the oasis after meditating every day, Su Wangting often read the various prescription records left by Miao Lang, as well as his experiences when preparing the medicines.
Just to pass the time.
One day when I was flipping through the pages, I saw a shriveled object suddenly falling out of the book.
Su Wangting picked it up and looked at it, and was confused.
Golden patterned gecko tail!?
Miao Langzhong, why are you putting this thing in the book?
Mu Shilan and Murong Yunxiu have traveled thousands of miles to Yeliu Country for this thing!!!
However, Su Wangting soon smiled indifferently and shrugged: "That's fine, maybe the two of them will really become a couple after running back and forth."
Because the gecko tail was stuck in the booklet for a long time, there were dark stains on the paper.
But under this stain, a few lines of words recorded in Miao Lang's book caught Su Wangting's attention.
"On the second day of April, I was digging for sandworms in the sand dunes near the oasis to use as medicine. Suddenly there was a strong wind, and a white light flashed on the sand dunes about one mile to the northwest. It was difficult to move in the strong wind, so I had to wait until the wind stopped tomorrow.
Let’s go explore later.”
Su Wangting turned a page, and sure enough, there was another follow-up record.
"On the third day of April, the strong wind gradually subsided after a night of raging, so I went to explore the white sand dunes yesterday. When I climbed to the top of the hill, I saw a white marble spire-shaped stone tablet exposed. It was unknown how deep the stone tablet was under the yellow sand. Ancient inscriptions and unknown carvings were engraved on the stone tablet.
, upon closer inspection, it seems to be related to the Nine Chapters of Tianji."
"Nine chapters of Tianji?" Su Wangting raised his eyebrows, "Humph, this trouble is everywhere? There are rumors about it even in such a remote and desolate desert."
Su Wangting secretly said that he looked at the desert every day, but he had never seen white sand dunes in the direction Miao Langzhong mentioned.
But if you think about it more carefully, it's right.
On that day recorded in Miao Lang, the strong wind must have blown away a lot of the yellow sand on the dunes, revealing what was buried underneath. Presumably, that thing must have been buried again by the wind and sand now.
No wonder I haven't seen any white light.
Su Wangting only thought that there were some ancient relics buried under the yellow sand, but he didn't pay much attention to them.
Besides, I have never been interested in Nine Chapters of Tianji. Even if that thing is related to Nine Chapters of Tianji, so what?
What's the matter with Mr. Guan?
Put down the book, it's already dark.
After randomly eating some dried meat noodles and drinking some wine, Su Wangting fell into a deep sleep.
…
"here it is……"
Opening his eyes, Su Wangting suddenly realized that the scene in front of him was extremely familiar.
Silla, the top of the cliff behind Shuanghua Palace.
This is the place where I, who once fanatically pursued cultivation, practiced hard alone year after year.
Every plant and tree on the top of the cliff, even the few squirrels living in the old pine tree...
And the young man who once cried, laughed, despaired, and hesitated under the tree...
Su Wangting still remembers it fresh.
"You're back……"
Su Wangting was startled and turned around to take a look.
I saw a strand of long black hair brushing across my face, and a flowing white gauze lingering around my body...
A beautiful face that broke his heart was looking at him with a smile.
With a burst of pain in his eyes, Su Wangting shouted and rushed towards the figure that haunted him.
But no matter how big his mouth was, he couldn't make a sound.
No matter how many times he pounced, his arms were always empty.
"Fool, you didn't care about anything in order to practice cultivation. Now, have you achieved your wish?"
The woman still looked at him with a smile.
Su Wangting shook his head repeatedly and moved his mouth up and down, but he couldn't call out that familiar name.
"I sacrificed my life to awaken the innate veins all over your body because I don't want to see you in pain due to your cultivation. Fool, if you are still unhappy all day long, wouldn't my life be in vain?"
Tears poured out of Su Wangting's eyes like a flood that broke a bank, and his face was filled with regret and pain.
Although she is close at hand, she cannot be touched.
Although her name is burned into my heart, I can't call it out.
"Wangting, do you still remember my last appearance..."
The woman slowly retreated towards the edge of the cliff.
Su Wangting saw this and rushed forward, but found that he couldn't even move his feet at this time.
Su Wangting cried silently, clasping his hands together and waving them, humbly begging her to stop.
"Okay, don't forget me..."
The white veil lifted up and the woman jumped off the cliff.
"No!!!"
Su Wangting suddenly sat up from the bed, breathing heavily.
He had not had this dream for a long time.
I touched my face, which was already wet with tears.
He sighed and looked out the window.
It was still pitch black.
The trees were rustling, and a sudden strong wind raged in the desert outside the oasis.
Su Wangting, who was full of melancholy, was still sleepy at this time.
Sitting on the bed until dawn.
When the sun shone on the oasis again, the strong wind in the desert outside gradually stopped.
After washing his face by the pool, Su Wangting walked out of the oasis as usual, climbed to the top of the sand dune again, and began to meditate facing the endless desert.
At this time, a white light flashed among the sand dunes in the distance.
"Did the thing recorded in Miao Lang's novel be blown out by the wind last night?"
Su Wangting frowned and looked around.
You can vaguely see a white shadow.
But the white shadow seemed to be fluttering in the wind, like a gauze shirt on a woman's body.
At this time, Su Wangting's brows furrowed more and more tightly.
"people?"
Narrowing his eyes, Su Wangting slowly stood up and concentrated on watching carefully.
Not long after, Su Wangting's pupils shrank violently!
That white shadow moved!
A head of long black hair appeared, and together with the white gauze, it was also swinging in the wind!!
That was clearly a woman!!
And the woman's movement of raising her hands to smooth her hair was so familiar!!
"Ruowei!!!"
Su Wangting roared and ran away.
That heart-wrenching roar seemed to be venting all the repressed words that could not be spoken in last night's dream!
"Ruowei!!! Ruowei!!!"
That white light is only a mile away. If you use Qinggong, you can reach it in the blink of an eye.
But at this time, Su Wangting seemed to have forgotten his own cultivation, and was just running wildly on the sand with his legs like an ordinary man.
Tears flew out of the corners of his eyes.
Only then did he suddenly wake up.
What is there to do without desires!!
Nothing comes and goes!!
After all, I am just a mortal with seven emotions and six desires!!
As long as she is still in this world, even if the path to immortality is in front of me, I am willing to persist in this mortal world without regrets!!
"Ruowei!!!"
Su Wangting cried like a child and ran to the bottom of the sand dune, using his hands and feet to climb up.
But when he climbed to the top of the hill, his boiling emotions immediately subsided.
As recorded in Miao Langzhong, I saw a spire-shaped white stone tablet protruding from the yellow sand, reflecting dazzling white light under the scorching sun.
Su Wangting fell down and sat down.
"Is it an illusion?"
Su Wangting wiped the sweat and tears on his face, lowered his head and murmured: "What's wrong with me? Ruowei...she is obviously no longer alive, how could she..."
After sitting blankly for a long time, Su Wangting raised his head and looked at the stone tablet.
Totally pure white.
Although the texture is not certain, it does look like high-quality white marble.
I saw nine sunken square holes on the stele arranged in a circle, with a row of seal characters engraved on both sides of the square holes.
Su Wangting came closer and discerned these ancient texts with a frown.
"Pry into the secrets of heaven to achieve great success, hold on to the nine chapters to reach the mysterious realm."
Looking at the nine square holes, the size and shape are just right for putting the white jade pieces from the Nine Chapters of Tianji.
No wonder Miao Langzhong felt that this monument was related to the Nine Chapters of Tianji.
"Humph, you are trying to be mysterious."
Su Wangting was not interested at all, turned around, jumped off the sand dune, and walked slowly towards the oasis.
At this time, a flowing white shirt appeared next to the stone monument again.
A pair of flashing beautiful eyes stared at the lost figure from behind.
There was a slight smile on her beautiful face.
"Wangting..."
Su Wangting, who was walking in the sand, was suddenly startled, stopped, and turned around sharply.
I saw the square white stone tablet still shining under the scorching sun.
Other than that, there was nothing else on the dune.
Su Wangting gave a bitter smile and continued to move forward, muttering to himself: "Is it the reason why I didn't sleep well last night? I had hallucinations again and again."
Returning to the oasis, I saw a vulture perched on the wooden house.
Seeing Su Wangting coming back, the vulture jumped off the ground as if it recognized him, and flapped its wings toward Su Wangting.
"Huh? Lu Qihong's letter bird?" Su Wangting teased the vulture with his fingers and said, "Big eagle, your brother has something to do with me?"
The vulture cooed twice and raised its talons.
Su Wangting smiled, took out a roll of paper from the mailbox tied to his talons, and then threw a piece of dried meat to reward the vulture.
Slowly unfolding the rolled paper, Su Wangting frowned and read Lu Qihong's poor calligraphy.
It is comparable to identifying the ancient characters on the stone tablet.
But as he read it, the content of the letter made Su Wangting stand up unconsciously, with a look of shock on his face.