Xia Houshu and his party set off in a hurry. From receiving Miaoru's letter to deciding to come to Boyun Temple, to packing their bags and setting off collectively, it took less than twelve hours in total, so they did not send someone up the mountain to inform Bo Yun in advance as usual.
Naturally, the people in Yunguan didn't know they would come so quickly.
When we reached the mountain gate, the lane became narrower and narrower, and the carriage could no longer go inside. The people in the carriage had to get out of the carriage and walk. Liao Weiwei and others helped several carriage drivers carry the gifts for the Poyun audience.
.
While everyone was busy, Xia Houshu led Yunxi a few steps forward and saw two acquaintances, one old and one small, behind the mountain gate. The older one was slim and tall, with a cold temperament, and he was holding a long sword in his hand;
The younger one looked sweet and childish, with a little baby fat on her chin. The two seemed to be quarreling, and the quarrel got serious. The older one pulled out his sword to scare the younger one. But the younger girl was not afraid at all.
He even looked up at the other party stubbornly and continued to argue with him with his hands on his hips. His momentum was not inferior to that of the former one.
As soon as he saw the gesture of drawing the sword, Xia Houshu knew that the older one was the second senior sister Miao Fei who was good at sword dancing. As for the younger one, judging from her age and demeanor, she should be the younger junior sister Miao Qing.
Xia Houshu stood firm and watched them quarreling for a while. Unknowingly, her eyes became moist. In the past years when she was young and idle, she had had such quarrels with her fellow senior sisters. The second senior sister was still the same.
, likes to use force to suppress the junior sisters below. Over the years, she thought she was escaping from a past she was unwilling to face, but she also missed a lot of warmth and beauty.
"Girl?" Yun Xi gently shook her arm and reminded, "Looking at the clothes, the two in front seem to be Master Qu Bai's disciples."
The disciples of Boyunguan wear uniform clothes. They wear an apricot-colored Taoist robe underneath, a blue-gray gauze jacket on the outside, and a black belt around the waist. The whole body has the elegance of a Taoist monk without losing its cleanliness.
Neat. Since the beginning of Master Qu Bai, Boyunguan has only accepted female disciples, so whenever they appear in front of everyone wearing this robe, they always give people the illusion that they are goddesses descending to earth, so they got the title of "Wangcang Peak"
The nickname "Twelve Immortals".
"I know." Xia Houshu wiped his eyes, "It's the second senior sister and the younger junior sister. I didn't expect that after several years of not seeing each other, everyone has changed a lot, especially the younger junior sister. I don't recognize her anymore."
After saying that, she walked forward several steps and said to the two quarreling girls: "Two fairies, don't just keep arguing. The guests have all arrived at the gate. Why don't you greet them?"
The two women who were having a heated argument turned to look at Xia Houshu, and then at the people behind her. Miaoqing said, "Who are you? Where are you from? Have you ever sent me a greeting card in advance?"
Unexpectedly, Xia Houshu was a little surprised that the seemingly sweet Miao Qing would turn into a fierce one when she grew up. She deliberately uttered an ouch, wondering why: "We came because of the fame, but we didn't hand over the greeting card in advance. I wonder if the two fairies can be accommodating."
Can you please let us go into the mountains to rest?"
"That's not possible!" Miaoqing refused without hesitation, "Our Boyunguan is a small place and we never receive uninvited guests. Go back to where you came from!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Miao Fei glared at her and blamed her for not being able to speak.
Miaoqing didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said, and turned away angrily.
Miao Fei had nothing to do with him, so she turned to Xia Houshu and said, "Girl, we have come from afar, and we should treat each other with courtesy. However, my teacher has been ill recently, and our fellow teachers and sisters are busy taking care of our teacher, and we really can't leave."
I don’t have the energy to entertain so many of you. You should just go back."
The words were said a little more tactfully, but the meaning was still the same, they were unwilling to receive him. Miao Qing couldn't help but curled her lips to express her dissatisfaction.
Xia Houshu thought for a moment and then asked, "Does the fairy lady not want to entertain us anymore?"
Miao Fei nodded slightly and said, "I'm really sorry. Please forgive me for our inability to do anything."
Xia Houshu pouted and said deliberately: "Then if I leave, don't regret it."
These words sounded very strange, and Miao Fei couldn't help but frown. He looked carefully at the young woman not far away, and a cloud of doubt arose in his heart.
Miao Qing was still angry. After hearing this, she immediately put aside her previous resentment, stood on the same front as Miao Fei, and said angrily to Xia Houshu: "You are so rude. We all said we couldn't entertain you, but you are so shameless."
Do you want to stay here? You can leave as long as you want, whoever regrets it is a puppy!"
"That's what you said!" Xia Houshu said happily.
When they were children, they picked up a little wild dog that was less than two months old and secretly hid it in the yard. They gained the little wild dog's trust because of a lot of steamed buns and water. One time, she was feeding the little wild dog with a buried head, and Miaoqing was ignorant.
, came up and slapped the dog on the butt. The little wild dog that was eating screamed, turned around and bit her hand, and then ran to the flower bed to hide. Miaoqing was frightened.
She stayed there for a long time, and when the pain came, she raised her chubby little hands and screamed. Later, senior brother Miaochen came to apply medicine and bandage on her, and then senior sister Miaoru hugged her and comforted her.
After that, Miaoqing became particularly afraid of dogs. She always felt that dogs were animals that didn't look aggressive but were actually very vicious. So she really didn't like dogs.
Miaoqing didn't know what Xia Houshu meant, and stared at her with anger.
Xia Houshu realized that Miao Qing really didn't recognize her, and felt a little disappointed. Then she looked at Miao Fei and said, "Second Senior Sister, you won't recognize me too, right?"
"You are..." Miao Fei's face was full of hesitation, but after hearing the title "Second Senior Sister", a rare smile broke out on his face, "Are you Shu'er?"
"Shu'er?" Miaoqing didn't react for a moment, "What kind of book is Qin'er's?"
Xia Houshu immediately stepped forward and took a few more steps, then turned in a circle in front of them, stopped and put his face close to them, and said: "Second Senior Sister, do you look at my face? Is it because I am getting taller?"
She's getting prettier, so you can't even recognize her?"
Miao Fei stared at her face carefully. Although she could still vaguely see the shadow of the past between her brows, there were still differences in appearance and dress between a seven or eight-year-old girl and a girl who was over 10 years old. At a glance,
She really couldn't tell that it was the same person, so it took her a while to confirm that this was her lay junior sister who didn't come back every few years.
Miao Fei was so angry that he stretched out his hand and pinched her arm, and cursed: "You have no conscience! When you came to Boyunguan, you were thin, small, and very sick. Even your mother was worried about you.
You can't live anymore, and you are crying and reluctant to let go. Master left you without saying a word. For you, she worried a lot, and Senior Sister and I stayed up all night to watch over you. In order to treat you, Senior Brother Miaochen
The great uncle left him with many medical skills. He finally raised you up, but you flew away like a bird with wings. You haven't come back to visit us for so many years. It's really a waste of your time.
!”
Everything Miao Fei said was true, and now he said it as if he could remember it vividly. Xia Houshu felt very guilty about this, so he could only hold his arms and cry out in pain, while murmuring in a low voice: "
If I don't come back, Second Senior Sister says I have no conscience. Now that I'm back, Second Senior Sister won't even let me in through the mountain gate. It seems that I can only set up camp here and wait until all the senior sisters' anger subsides before I can enter the mountain."
Miao Fei sighed and scolded with a smile: "You have not only grown taller in the past few years, but also developed a lot of ideas. It seems that the water and soil in the capital are not so pure! Huh! Stop using these words.
If you are perfunctory with us, please go and punish yourself, I will not pass the message for you!"
"Second Senior Sister has noticed this?" Xia Houshu pretended to be embarrassed after being exposed, "If that's the case, then Second Senior Sister has agreed to let us go up the mountain?"
"You..." Miao Fei then realized that her words had been taken advantage of, and he turned around angrily and told Miao Qing, "Have you seen that the people at the foot of the mountain are all such scheming people, some even worse than her?
Damn it, if you go down the mountain, you might be deceived into selling it and even help count the money!"
Miao Qing was still in a state of ignorance. After listening to Miao Fei's instructions, she nodded in understanding, and then said: "I was originally going to find Senior Sister Xiahou, but now that he is here, I won't go."
Xia Houshu was a little confused after hearing this. He looked at the two of them and asked, "My junior sister said she wanted to go down the mountain to find me. What's going on? Can any of you help explain it?"
"It's not your fault!" Miao Fei immediately glared at her and explained, "In the past few years, the gifts and various supplies in your house have never been interrupted, but you have never shown up. These days, Master
Her health was deteriorating. She looked at the few of us and kept thinking about how she had another apprentice. She didn't know how she was doing now or if she was getting married. We were helpless and didn't want to leave anything behind from our master.
It's a pity that I asked the senior sister to write a letter of trust and take it to the capital. Miaoqing was impatient. When she saw that she had sent the letter for several days without receiving a reply, she clamored to go down the mountain to find you in person. Don't talk about her, among us
Except for the eldest sister, no one has ever gone down the mountain. I have only seen what the capital looks like in books, and I don’t even know that the gate of your Duke’s Mansion faces east and west. We stopped her from going down the mountain, and she
She sneaked out while no one was paying attention, and if I hadn't been alert and followed her all the way, I wouldn't have known where she had slipped away at this moment."
After hearing this, Xia Houshu looked at Miaoqing and thought that this child is really persistent. But then he thought about it, it was all his own fault. If something happened to Miaoqing because he went down the mountain to look for her, she would really be in trouble.
The sin was serious. She lowered her head and said in shame, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I should have come earlier."
Miao Fei didn't like to see her guilty look, so she suddenly said seriously: "What's the use of telling us this? It's important to go see the master quickly!"
"Yes, yes!" Xia Houshu nodded, "I want to see Master!"
Seeing this, Miao Qing quickly took Xia Houshu's hand and said, "Let's go, I'll take you there!"
Xia Houshu didn't care about anything else and followed Miao Qing inside.
Miao Fei shook his head, then came to his senses and called Yun Xi, Liao Huwei and others to go into the mountain together.
Xia Houshu trotted all the way to the quiet room where Master Qubai lived with Miaoqing. He also met many familiar figures on the way, but he didn't even have time to say hello.
In the quiet room, Master Qubai was lying weakly on the couch, coughing from time to time. Miaoru, who was waiting at the side, would immediately go to wipe the corners of her mouth and smooth her breath, taking good care of her.
As he got closer, Xia Houshu could see clearly that Master Qubai was lying on the couch. She was as skinny as a stick, with an old face and dry and gray hair. She looked like a terminally ill old woman. She no longer had the kind expression and charitable smile she remembered.
The abbot master with superb skills and immortal spirit.
Xia Houshu knelt down in front of the couch with a plop, and kowtowed three times to the person on the couch: "Unworthy disciple Xia Houshu, please bow to your master!"