Chapter 2 Seeking Immortals

Two months later, autumn is crisp and clear.

dusk.

In the small village at the foot of the mountain, a few wisps of cooking smoke floated slowly, three young children were running and playing in the village, there were farmers cutting rice in the fields beside the road, and the big yellow dog was lying lazily outside the house, sniffing the fragrance of rice in the house behind him in the setting sun.

The sound of horseshoes approaching from far away broke the tranquility of the small village. The big yellow dog stood up in fright, arched its body and watched the smoke and dust in the distance vigilantly.

Two horses, one black and one white, came galloping. When they arrived at the entrance of the village, they slowed down their horseshoes and looked up at the mountains not far away.

The sunset glow is reflected in the mountains, and the clouds and mists in the mountains are faint, which is set off in crimson. There are jagged rocks towering in the sky, as if flying to a fairyland amidst the red clouds.

At the foot of the mountain, there is a shepherd boy riding a cow, and the reed flute is leisurely, which makes this rural picture scroll more peaceful.

"It's what they said. This place really looks like a fairyland." Bai Ma was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy with red lips and white teeth. His long black hair was tightly tied in a samurai bun with a silver belt, and the ends were draped like black satin, looking casual and unrestrained. The bright eyes stared at the mountains, and there was hope in them.

Heima is a young man in a brocade robe. He looks four or five years older than him. The faces of the two are somewhat similar, and it is easy to think that they are a pair of brothers. The difference is that this young man's facial features are more sharp-edged, and he looks a lot more serious.

Long oilcloth bags were hung on the two horses, with cold spear points protruding from the mouth of the bags, showing a slight cold glow.

Hearing what the young man said, the young man didn't respond, but just quietly looked at the shepherd boy in the distance, without saying a word for a while.

"What's wrong?" the boy turned around and asked.

"It's nothing." The young man came back to his senses and smiled, "It's just that the tune is unheard of, fresh and distant, and refreshing."

The young man nodded in agreement, if the environment is only five or six points fairy, with this leisurely reed flute, it will be seven or eight points in vain.

He didn't think too much, and said with a smile: "We don't know all the good tunes in the world. Could it be that my brother suddenly fell in love with silk and bamboo sensuality?"

The young man laughed and shook his head, and the two rode their horses into the village slowly.

On the side of the road is a rice field, and the farmer is sweating like rain to cut the rice. The young man passed by slowly, but his eyes were fixed on the rice field, and his expression became more and more serious.

The young man looked left and right for a while, some of the rice in the rice field had been cut, and some were still growing. At first glance, it looked messy and nothing to see. Seeing his elder brother's serious appearance, he couldn't help but wonder: "What are you looking at..."

"Look a little farther away."

The young man took a serious look, zoomed out, and looked at the rice field. He seemed to feel that the cut short part of the rice field formed the shape of a Tai Chi yin and yang fish. Although it was not too standard, the shape was really Tai Chi!

Is it an illusion?

The young man suppressed the surprise in his heart, reined in his horse and cupped his hands: "This old man..."

The farmer raised his head, and saw the obvious nobleness of the two of them, and his face turned into a chrysanthemum with a smile: "Are you two going to the mountains to find immortals? It's getting late, how about staying at my house for one night? It's very cheap..."

"..." The image of the expert was instantly shattered, the young man's eyes moved, and he still introduced himself politely: "I, Li Qinglin, this is my younger brother Qingjun...Dare to ask the old man, the rice is cut in such a shape... What is the way?"

"The way?" the farmer scratched his head in puzzlement, and the mud was scratched on his hair. "This is the abbreviated number six and nine that Xiao Qin taught me. What did he call it when put together? I don't understand, so I just memorized the number and cut it like this..."

Is that so? The two brothers looked at each other, and both let out a funny sigh. Although this number of six or nine is unheard of, it is much more acceptable than the Tai Chi Yin Yang fish created by rural farmers in the fields.

The farmer said again: "The accommodation in my house is the most comfortable, hot kang and hot milk, only three Wen..."

"No need." The two smiled, reined in their horses and walked away.

"Hey..." the farmer shouted behind him, "Don't go into the mountains so late, there are poisonous miasmas and strange tigers in the mountains recently, it's very dangerous!"

The young man Li Qingjun patted his gun pouch, turned his head and smiled and said, "Only when you face difficulties can you show your sincerity. Why don't we help you get rid of the tigers?"

The farmer looked at their guns, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Be careful."

As we approached the end of the village and reached the foot of the mountain, the cloud and mist became more intense, and we couldn't see the courtyards at the end of the village clearly. A woodcutter came here leisurely, as if he was traveling through the clouds and mists, and sang songs at will:

"Everyone in the world knows that gods are good, but fame can't be forgotten. Where are the ancient and modern generals? The pile of grass in the barren mound is gone.

Everyone in the world knows that gods are good, only gold and silver can't forget. In the end, I only regret that there are not many gatherings, and when the time comes, I close my eyes..."

The two brothers watched and listened in a daze, the horse's hooves slowed down more and more, and finally came to a complete stop.

When I came to this place, I felt that it was different from other places everywhere, even the song sung by a woodcutter was at the same level, no wonder people said that there are immortals in this mountain, there is indeed some truth.

"Dare to ask the old man..." Li Qinglin stopped the woodcutter, "Who wrote this song?"

The woodcutter said with a smile: "The song sung by the Qin family boy is interesting, isn't it?"

More than interesting? This is where? This is Xianji Mountain, and there has been an endless stream of immortal seekers throughout the ages. Hearing such a song in this kind of place is even more meaningful.

"May I ask where this Mr. Qin lives?"

The woodcutter casually pointed to the depths of the cloud and mist: "The last yard at the end of the village is where medicines are dried, and I recognize it from the past."

The yard is really easy to recognize, the small yard is densely covered with brackets, several layers of dustpans are placed on the shelves, and all kinds of herbs are covered. The scent of herbs is faintly lingering, very comfortable.

A young man was sitting in the middle of the yard, holding a stick and pounding medicine into the stone mortar, with a relaxed attitude, unaware that a guest was approaching.

The two looked at it for a while, but their original mood of meeting an expert disappeared. Because this boy is too young, no matter how you look at it, he is only sixteen or seventeen, not much older than Li Qingjun, and there is really no way to connect him with some tall hermit. What's more, from the point of view of the two people's martial arts, this young man is just a martial arts practitioner, and his cultivation level is not as good as his own.

But teenagers are fun too. He was dressed in rough clothes and grass shoes, and was a little thin. He looked very delicate and quiet in appearance, not like a villager in the countryside, but like a scholar. While pounding medicine, I hummed an incomprehensible tune, and the sound of "悾悾" pounding medicine floated in this quiet evening, with a relaxing rhythm, and the feeling of leisure and tranquility in the countryside spontaneously arose.

From the looks of it, his songs and numbers are probably from reading some miscellaneous books, or some homework? According to family traditions, farmers and woodcutters only say "Xiao Qin" and "Qin family boy", I am afraid that the elders are no longer there.

What's interesting is that his "medicine pestle" is a mace, which looks thicker than his thigh, and the ferocious mace glistens in the setting sun, forming an outrageous contrast with his handsome appearance.

This is his weapon for martial arts?

"Hey!" Li Qingjun looked at it for a long time, and couldn't help laughing: "Can a mace make medicine? Isn't the front end sharp?"

The boy stopped his hands, turned his head to look at them, focused on their gun pouches, and answered irrelevant questions: "It is inconvenient to enter the mountain at night, you two should be careful. There is a strange tiger on the top of the mountain, don't approach it, if you accidentally provoke it, run immediately, it won't chase."

Li Qinglin asked: "My little brother's surname is Qin?"

The boy replied casually: "Qin Yi."

Li Qinglin introduced himself again, and continued: "My brother went to the mountains to look for immortals, and listened to the woodcutter singing. It is very meaningful. It is said that Brother Qin composed it?"

"Oh, listening to wandering Taoist priests sing in the early years has nothing to do with me."

"..." Li Qingjun had long thought that this young man who was about his own age could not be a high-ranking scholar, so he said "Excuse me" and wanted to go up the mountain.

But Li Qinglin suddenly said: "Brother Qin looks like a pharmacist? Do you have all kinds of antidote? Let's buy some pills."

Li Qingjun looked at his brother strangely, they had all kinds of preparations, what kind of medicine did they buy temporarily?

"There is no variety, just one pill will solve everything." Qin Yi casually threw a cloth bag, "Two pills in it, ten taels of silver."

Li Qingjun took the cloth bag, looked at the two jujube-like pills inside, and said with a sneer, "Where is there a pill that can cure all kinds of poisons, what kind of pills are you?"

His voice was clear and crisp, and with such a snort and a smile, the awe-inspiring heroic spirit that was immediately shot down was diluted a lot, and he felt a little cute.

Qin Yi stared at him for a while, then suddenly grinned: "This is called jujube pills."