Chapter 280: Flowers wither in dreams, flowers bloom in the courtyard

A gray donkey, with a saddlebag on its back, and a Daoist priest sitting on it. The saddlebag was old and faded, and the Daoist priest's robe was also old and faded. The saddlebag swayed, and the Daoist priest also swayed, slowly going down the mountain.

The fox was already familiar with the road and walked in front.

All the way down the mountain, before they even got on the main road, they saw many people walking on the small path.

There were those who were traveling with him, coming from another fork in the road behind, and there were those coming from the opposite direction, obviously also going to Mount Feng, and obviously not going to the Fengshan Hongye Guan. There were merchants and commoners, as well as women and young ladies with quite wealthy clothing, mostly women.

There were also constables.

The small path was too narrow for carriages and large sedan chairs to enter, so most of the people on the road were walking, or sitting in bamboo sedan chairs carried by two people, and some were riding donkeys.

The fox was very polite and stopped on the side of the road to let them pass.

A fat middle-aged man riding a large black donkey passed by it. It was only early spring in March, and the weather could only be called warm, but the middle-aged man was sweating profusely even though he wasn't walking, and he kept raising his hand while walking, using a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, obviously very weak.

The fox first looked at him curiously, and then at the donkey he was riding.

What a big person!

What a big donkey!

He looked back at Lin Jue, then at the black donkey, and compared them. Sure enough, it was bigger than his own donkey.

But his own donkey was not small either.

It couldn't compare to some big donkeys, but it was bigger than some thin and small donkeys.

Could it be considered a medium donkey?

Yes, his own was a medium donkey.

The fox thought so.

Lin Jue behind him was already very confused and couldn't help asking: "This benefactor, may I ask, why are there so many people on this road today?"

"Ah?"

The middle-aged man stopped and wiped his sweat and looked at him: "Isn't there so many people on this road every day?"

"Is it?"

"No, isn't it?"

Lin Jue heard this and knew that he didn't know either.

"Although we haven't walked this road many times, when we walked it before, there were very few people on the road. Only the people from the village over there." Lin Jue said, "Why are there so many people today?"

"Then I don't know, I'm here for the first time too." The middle-aged man stopped the donkey and gasped for breath to talk to him, "But there is an immortal living on the mountain over here, saying that he has some special skills, which can help people get rid of a body of, sigh, bubble meat. Many women, young ladies, and singing girls and dancers from large families in the capital have come, and they all say it is very effective. This bubble meat of mine has been with me for some years, and I can't get rid of it no matter what. Now, let alone walking, I can't even finish a long sentence. Sigh, that's why I came to try."

He paused, took a long breath, and stretched his neck to look at the people on the road:

"I guess, it should be late spring and early summer. The wives and concubines of large families in the capital and the women in brothels want to show their figures, and they are a bit anxious, so they come to ask the immortal for a way."

Lin Jue heard this and looked at the people on the road again.

There were many people just now, but now there were not many to be seen, but if he thought back carefully, most of the people he met were indeed women with extraordinary clothing, and there were some women with white lead on their faces. There were not many men like this official.

"Which side?"

"This side."

The middle-aged man raised his fat hand to point.

Lin Jue looked along the direction.

This whole area was Mount Feng, and he was coming from that direction. Niu Village was in the middle. If he went to the Fengshan Hongye Guan, he should go to the right, and what the middle-aged man pointed to was the left.

It didn't look like the same direction, but it didn't seem far away.

Lin Jue suddenly remembered the treasures of heaven and earth that they had buried behind the Daoist temple in the mountain, which were dug up and buried back by others. At that time, he guessed that there might be a neighbor on the mountain, but until now, no yaoguai had come to visit them. He didn't know if they had never come, or if they happened to be in the capital when they came.

"Help people lose weight?"

"Almost."

"Do you know the name of this immortal?"

"No, I don't know the name."

"Don't know the name?"

"Yes..."

"Don't know the name, and you dare to go and worship?" Lin Jue was so surprised that he couldn't help laughing. He had seen people worshipping evil gods indiscriminately, but he had never seen it to this extent.

"Alas, when you are sick, you go to the doctor indiscriminately. It's not that there is no other way."

"Thank you, benefactor, be careful."

"Yes, yes! Thank you too, Daoist priest!"

A large black donkey and a gray donkey passed each other.

The fox still walked in front. Seeing no one around, it jumped lightly and leaped very far with the wind, but it still couldn't help looking back at them, comparing the two donkeys.

Swaying, they arrived at the capital.

Although Lin Jue's face was still far from the point where he could rely on his face to eat like Master Fan Tian, the guards at the city gate recognized him first, and without waiting for him to show his travel permit and name tag, they invited him in.

Passing by the Juxian Mansion, several more people came to the door.

Lin Jue looked at them curiously twice.

Although the gray donkey didn't know the way, it knew to follow the fox. Before he could look more, it had already walked with lazy steps, carrying him across the long street and into the residence.

There were a few miscellaneous poems on the wall. Lin Jue knew at a glance that Lord Pan should not have returned recently. Walking into the residence, sure enough, he didn't see Lord Pan, but only a figure in a Daoist robe standing under the willow tree by the lake. He saw him with his hands behind his back and his head held high, leaving a weak back, as if he was worried about the affairs of the world, and as if he was about to recite poetry. As for what it was, it was unfathomable.

However, hearing a "Donkey is back," he turned around suddenly, and the unfathomable look on his face disappeared without a trace.

If it were seen by others in the capital, I'm afraid they wouldn't believe that this Master Fan Tian, who was highly respected by many people in the capital and even the north of Qin Zhou, and was also very powerful outside, would be so respectful and polite to this young Daoist priest in this courtyard.

"Daoist friend is back? Just in time! I have already received a reply to the letter I entrusted to that yaoguai to take to Huizhou!"

"Where is it? When did it happen?"

This point was not beyond Lin Jue's expectation.

He had heard before that this yaoguai was good at running and traveling. In this way, traveling a thousand miles a day should not be difficult. But it sent the letter before the year, even if it counted the time to find the way, it should have returned to the capital within the first month, but it didn't return for a long time. At that time, Lin Jue knew that it should be waiting for the reply from his senior brothers.

"It came back at the beginning of last month.

"I'll go get it."

Master Fan Tian flicked his large sleeves and left immediately.

How could Lin Jue let him get it for himself, so he followed him and waited at the door of his small courtyard.

He saw that Master Fan Tian's courtyard was similar to his, a little larger, and there was also a tree in the middle, but it was a loquat tree, which was already lush and green at this time. And he entered a room and soon came out with a small box.

"It's all here."

"Good."

Lin Jue opened the box and saw that it was full of envelopes.

He said thank you and then left.

The fox returned to the courtyard before him. At this time, it was standing under the crabapple tree in the courtyard, staring at the branches, its head tilted slightly, not knowing what it was thinking.

Lin Jue also glanced at it. He didn't feel strange at first, just feeling that it was the same as when he first came to the courtyard, but he found something wrong at the second glance.

After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly realized.

It was late spring now, and the peach, plum, apricot, and pear blossoms on the mountain had bloomed one after another, and all had withered. The loquat tree in Master Fan Tian's courtyard just now was also lush and green, but this crabapple tree was still bare until now, just like in the cold winter last year.

This was obviously abnormal.

Just as he was thinking, Lord Luo also walked out of the room.

"Lord Luo, this tree..."

"I don't know what's going on either. Anyway, it hasn't bloomed or grown leaves this year, but it hasn't died either."

"Is that so..."

I don't know why, and I can't figure it out.

Lin Jue had no time to think about it for the time being, so he just sat down at the stone table, put down the box, and took out the letters one by one.

There were a total of seven senior brothers in front, and except for the third senior brother, the six senior brothers all replied, and they replied for him and his junior sister respectively, a total of twelve letters.

Lin Jue naturally only looked at his own.

After thinking about it, he started reading from the sixth senior brother.

Sure enough, the sixth senior brother wrote it last.

Why did these letters wait until the beginning of the second month to be sent back? Naturally, because Lin Jue and his junior sister asked the sixth senior brother to help take the letter to Mount Yishan, the sixth senior brother had to find someone, and then after the first senior brother received the letter, he had to wait for the first senior brother to finish writing the letter and entrust someone to take it to the sixth senior brother. After the sixth senior brother received the letter, he began to send it back.

The sixth senior brother wrote this clearly in the letter.

Lin Jue read them one by one with patience.

Nowadays, the world is getting more and more chaotic, but all high-ranking officials are very concerned about the trend of the situation, which concerns their interests and even their lives. The sixth senior brother is good at fortune-telling, so he is doing well in Qiu County.

The fourth senior brother is close to him, and he went to find him for the New Year this year.

Mount Shimen in Biluo County is indeed a place suitable for the fourth senior brother and his good friends to practice. The fourth senior brother said in the letter that he spends all day with his good friends, playing the flute, cooking tea, and practicing, and also makes friends with the mountain gods in the mountain and the yaoguai in the deeper parts of the mountain forest, living very freely. The leisure revealed in those words is like an immortal life, and even Lin Jue feels envious when reading it.

The fifth senior brother is in Cuiwei County, often practicing medicine everywhere.

He didn't talk about his gains and losses, but the seventh senior brother said in the letter that even in Mingxia County, he had heard of the fifth senior brother's reputation.

And the seventh senior brother's social ability is really strong. His Daoist temple is on the roadside, and he really did as he said, setting up several guest halls to accommodate travelers for free. Merchants often pass by and stay in his Daoist temple, and even later, some people came here by name. Therefore, he has already established friendships with several merchants. Relying on these merchants, he can send letters from Fuqiu Peak of Mount Yishan to Langfeng County. When he and his junior sister did not reply, thanks to the seventh senior brother, several senior brothers had already exchanged several letters.

Just waiting for the address of him and his junior sister.

The second senior brother's letter was very short, only saying that he went to the territory of the original Kuze County, found many treasures of heaven and earth, refined many medicinal pills, and said that if they needed them, they could go back and get them.

After reading it carefully, it was already dusk without knowing it.

It seems that several senior brothers have found their own lives, or have made great progress in their practice.

Several senior brothers have several common points.

One is that they are not worried about the third senior brother at all, and even the second senior brother blames the third senior brother for being too unreliable, while the seventh senior brother is very interested in their experience that night, and is also very curious about what Princess Hua, who is chasing the third senior brother, looks like.

The second is that they have almost learned the spells he gave them when they parted, and some will mention a few sentences in the letter to discuss with him.

The third is to ask him to be careful in the capital and take good care of his junior sister.

"..."

Lin Jue shook his head, his heart was very complicated.

It seemed that there was a bit of a smile on his face, which was actually unconscious when reading the letter, but his heart was full of emotion and sighing. After reading the letter, it was inevitable to feel a little disappointed.

He wanted to read it again, but it was already late.

He had to put away these letters and return to the room.

In any case, these letters came just in time, as if meeting several senior brothers again in this season of falling flowers.

He couldn't help thinking back all night, and unconsciously dreamed of returning to Fuqiu.

It seemed to return to that year, which was also spring. The nine senior brothers and sisters and the master sat together in the peach blossom forest on Fuqiu Peak. Often white foxes ran in the wind in the forest, and cats jumped up to catch insects. The people of the sect sat casually under the peach trees to eat, drink, and chat, not talking about the past, not thinking about the future, without any worries, only trivial matters and joy.

The seventh senior brother picked up the petals and turned them into butterflies, and a breeze blew in pieces of azalea flowers.

The things in the dream were too real, as if he had really returned to the past, so that when Lin Jue woke up from the dream, he seemed to have really smelled a faint fragrance.

But this fragrance was not peach blossoms, not azaleas.

He got up, pushed the door out, and seemed to see two figures, graceful and fluttering, flashing and disappearing in the courtyard.

And the faint fragrance he smelled was not an illusion, nor was it left in the dream, but the crabapple tree in the small courtyard—this crabapple tree was still bare yesterday, but it was full of flowers overnight, as if it was specially waiting for him to come back and see it.

Half Xifu and half weeping.

The petals were like jade, full of branches, with the courtyard wall and eaves behind, and a faint white moon that had not yet left in the morning, beautiful and quiet, but also startling.

"Please enjoy the flowers..."

He vaguely heard a sentence, so faint that it seemed like an illusion.

Lin Jue was stunned for a moment, and then smiled.

Perhaps this was the reciprocity of the yaoguai in the courtyard facing his respect for them. ===== CHAPTER 281 =====