Causes and conditions are made by nature, but time has passed. They are lifelike, but the yin and yang are separated. At the two ends of the thread, which one is the real me? Leave everything behind and control this body and mind. From now on, I will be you, and you will be me. I can only sigh.
Smiling goodbye is always a mistake."
Snow was falling heavily, and the sky seemed like daytime, but the streets were empty. Store doors were closed tightly, not wanting to let out any light.
There was an old man and a young man on the roadside, packing their carts and about to close the stall.
The little girl couldn't keep out the severe cold with shabby clothes, but her little hands, which were red from the cold, kept playing with the puppets.
The puppet is dressed like a scholar, and controlled by a few lines, it looks like a real person, with a calm expression.
The scholar tilted his head and waved his fan. The little girl then smiled and was extremely happy.
The grandfather on the side took off his fur hat, put it on the little girl's head, and said with a smile: "We're back!"
"Um!"
Despite the heavy snow, only two footprints and a rut were left on the street, which were soon covered up by white catkins...
At the end of the year, the third prince of the Dayan Dynasty died of illness, and the whole country mourned for it. The Holy Spirit decreed that all music and opera should be stopped within the borders of the country, in order to mourn for the prince.
The old man and the young man could not go out to perform the puppet show, so they had no food to eat. Hungry, cold, and anxious, Grandpa fell ill on the bed and fell into a coma.
At a nearby drug store, a little girl had been kneeling at the door for a whole day, her face red and yellow, almost colorless. People kept walking by her, their eyes lingered for a moment, and then they immediately left, gradually drifting away.
In the lobby, the doctor checked the patient's pulse and looked calm, as if he had never seen anyone kneeling in front of the door.
The little apprentice felt pity and ran to the master: "Master, you often say that doctors are kind. This little girl has been kneeling for a day. Why do you turn a blind eye?"
The doctor closed his eyes to rest and said slowly: "I can save one person, but I can't save this disease. Not only can I not save him, but no one in this world can save him!"
The little apprentice clenched his fists, feeling unwilling to do so.
Finally, when the master returned to the inner hall, the little girl couldn't hold on and fell to the ground.
The little apprentice hurriedly helped the little girl into the house to keep warm, and gave her clothes, food, and herbs. After she woke up, he left with great gratitude.
Behind the curtain, the doctor saw it but did not stop him: "One day, you will do the same thing as me. Because back then, I did the same thing as you."
He couldn't survive without money. After all, my grandfather never made it through the New Year's Eve and died late at night, beside the little girl.
When she woke up the next day, the little girl didn't cry because her eyes would freeze.
She tried her best to drag her grandfather's body on a straw mat to the street.
She had no money, and she wanted to sell herself, just like selling her body to bury her father in the story. At her age, she still believed the story.
During the Chinese New Year, everyone was avoiding them like the plague, fearing that they would be infected with bad luck. There were even some who made rude remarks, but the little girl turned a deaf ear to them.
She held the string puppet tightly in her hand, which was given to her by her grandfather, as if her grandfather was still with her.
Waited all day until dusk.
She couldn't tell whether she was hungry or full. Maybe she had to leave with her grandfather. This was probably for the best.
The afterglow of the setting sun was not warm at all, but instead, waves of coldness penetrated into my heart, making it difficult to get rid of it.
Just as the little girl was about to go back, an old man in black appeared in front of him. The old man looked calm, but his eyes fell on the puppet in the little girl's hand.
"Can you manipulate?"
The little girl nodded, stretched out her frozen little hands, and twirled the threads. Then the puppet came to life and became alive.
The old man stretched out a pair of withered hands, held one of the little girl's hands, and pulled up the straw mat on the ground with the other hand: "Come with me, and go and bury your grandfather first."
The old man's hand was not warm, but it gave the little girl a hint of warmth, as if it could withstand the severe cold all over her body.
In the deserted suburbs outside the city, grandpa has been buried. This may not be the best ending, but it is the most appropriate arrangement.
The little girl knelt in front of the tomb for a long time, her tears never daring to fall, because she was afraid that she would never be able to open her eyes again.
The sky gradually darkened, and the wind and snow began to rise again, just like those many times before.
Behind him, the old man pulled the little girl up and asked her to hide under his black robe to cover the wind and snow: "Come with me!"
The little girl nodded, her little hand was held by the old man's big hand, and she gradually warmed up.
"May I have your name?"
"I don't have a name," the little girl lowered her head: "Grandpa just calls me granddaughter, and no one around will ask me for my name."
The old man nodded, pondered for a moment, and said: "You and I met in the wind and snow, and we met because of the burial of our relatives. I will give you a name, Burial in the Snow, how about it?"
"Bury the Wind and Snow..." The little girl recited it silently for a few times to make sure she had memorized it, then nodded in agreement, with a smile on her face again.
"Grandpa, what's your name?"
"Call me master. From now on you will be my disciple. I will teach you my skills so that you will never suffer from hunger and cold again."
"Master..."
The little girl followed the old man and left the Dayan Dynasty. They went to a valley where birds were singing, flowers were fragrant, and there was no wind or snow all year round. There, the little girl saw the young man, who looked like a puppet on strings.
Their eyes met, and the young man snorted coldly, full of hostility.
The old man said: "Fengxue, this is your senior brother Hua Yuechen. Yuechen, this is your junior sister, Bury Fengxue!"
The little girl had no friends and didn't know how to get along with others, so she blushed and said, "Hello, senior brother!"
The young man looked disgusted: "Master, it's enough for me to inherit your mantle. You don't need to find such a timid little girl, right?"
"No nonsense!"
The master took the little girl to the room where she lived, asked her to settle down, and then left.
There were only three of them in the valley, and there were many big puppets, but the master said these should be called puppets.
"This is a real person!" The young man leaned into the little girl's ear and said to her: "Just kill people and then use strings to manipulate them. How about that? Are you afraid?"
The little girl was timid and had closed her eyes, not daring to look any further.
The young man curled his lips and said contemptuously: "Look at your timid appearance. If you are afraid, get out of here!"
But the young man underestimated the little girl's courage. She was no longer afraid at all, and she became more and more skilled at killing people, even better than the young man.
Every time the little girl kills someone, she is very cold, just like the people who passed by her before, without any warmth.
The young man was unhappy and wanted to drive the little girl away.
"Senior brother, it's time to eat!"
The little girl came to him with her rice filled with joy, but he knocked her to the ground: "I won't eat the food you cooked!"
"Senior brother, I have recently mastered a puppetry technique that my master taught me. Can I show it to you?"
The young man curled his lips nonchalantly, turned around and walked away: "I won't watch a loser practice!"
"Senior brother..."
The little girl's constant enthusiasm annoyed the young man. What he was going to do would completely shock the little girl so hard that she couldn't hold her head up.
In the woods, the little girl controlled two beast and tiger puppets, running wildly under the moonlight. The two puppets were like living creatures, and there was no difference at all.
A gust of wind blew, and the master was already standing beside the little girl, saying: "It's so late and if you don't rest, I'm afraid tomorrow's practice will be delayed."
The little girl smiled and shook her head: "I'm not tired, Master. If I don't work hard, I will be despised by my senior brother again."
The master was silent for a while and then said: "Let's just stop here today and go back to rest."
"Yes, Master!"
The little girl returned to the door of the house. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the young man in the room, holding the damaged string puppet in his hand.
The little girl's eyes widened and she hurriedly ran over to snatch the puppet back, held it in her arms and cried loudly: "Grandpa, I'm sorry..."
The young man was stunned. This should have been the scene he wanted to see the most, but at this moment he was not happy at all.
That night, the little girl didn't know how long she cried, and she didn't know when she fell asleep.
In a daze, I only heard the young man and his master talking at the door:
"This is the rule inherited from our lineage. You can't even think of driving Feng Xue away. This is the fate of the two of you!"
"Master, I beg you to let her go, she...she doesn't know anything yet!"
"It's best not to know. If you know, you won't be able to be cruel!"
…
Since that time, the young man's attitude seemed to have changed. Although he still mocked and disliked the little girl, he was much more cautious than before, as if he didn't want to see her so sad anymore.
I don’t know how many years have passed, the boy has become Hua Yuechen, and the little girl has become Zhan Fengxue. Their cultivation has also reached the peak of Yingchong Realm, and they are about to enter the Immortal Realm.
That night, Master told Zan Fengxue everything, the reality she didn't want to face:
"In our inheritance, each generation must have two disciples. The two of them have been together since they were children, and have been together day and night. They have the closest relationship. Therefore, before they leave the disciples, the two will turn against each other and decide the winner. The loser will have to
Being refined into a puppet by the winner, this is the strongest point of our puppet technique."
"You can use someone close to you to make a puppet so that you can exert your strongest combat power. Three days from now, it will be the day when you and Hua Yuechen will leave the army, and it will be the time for the decisive battle between the two of you!"
Zan Fengxue couldn't believe her ears, but it seemed that this was her fate. Suddenly, she seemed to finally understand why Hua Yuechen disliked her so much. This was probably the reason!
By the stream, Hua Yuechen came out of the air and said to Zhan Fengxue: "You are too weak. Even if you become my puppet, you will not be very strong!"
Zang Fengxue smiled when he heard this: "Isn't this better? Between two people, if they die or live, you will be the one who lives!"
Hua Yuechen's expression changed slightly, and Xuanyou immediately turned around: "We'll see for ourselves in three days."
Zang Fengxue did not answer, and her face was already covered with tears, but these tears were not because of the end of life, but because of the withering of that emotion...
…
Three days later, the two finally had a decisive battle in the valley.
Among the woods, Zang Fengxue fell to the ground, completely defeated. She smiled with relief: "From now on, I will be your puppet!"
When she closed her eyes and waited, she saw no movement for a long time. When she suddenly opened her eyes, she saw Hua Yuechen half-kneeling on the ground with bleeding from the corner of his mouth.
"Brother!"
Hua Yuechen looked at Zang Fengxue, who was rushing toward him, and said, "You are so weak, so let me be your puppet!"
"Brother, you..." Zhan Fengxue burst into tears. Hua Yuechen had already taken the poison before the duel started. This was when the drug took effect: "Why, why did you do this?"
"I have always wanted to say sorry to you. I should not have broken your puppet and made you so sad. I know that the puppet is a very important thing to you. Even if it is irreplaceable, from now on, you will use me.
Let me use this fleshly puppet as compensation!" Hua Yuechen smiled slightly and said: "Let me always...always protect you!"
"Senior brother, senior brother, you can't leave me alone..."
"Fengxue, if...there is a next life...I hope...you can call my name...Yuechen..."
After saying this, Hua Yuechen died with a smile on his face. This smile was the only one in his life that he smiled from the bottom of his heart to Mian Fengxue.