During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, a scholar named Li Kelin in Yuncheng, western Guangdong, from his teens to forty-three years old, failed to pass the township examination many times, was disheartened, and occasionally turned out a tattered old book in the attic of his home, and after reading for half a month, he suddenly had the idea of cultivating immortals, said goodbye to his wife Qian, and went into the mountains to find the way.
Qian said that the eldest son was twelve years old this year, and he would be able to marry in a few years to support the door, and asked him to wait.
Li Kelin said that she couldn't wait, and the burden on her family could only be picked up by herself.
A son and a daughter of the Li family, when they heard that their father was going into the mountains to find the way, they all cried and came to hold his clothes and asked him not to leave.
Li Kelin said that the fate of the world comes and goes, like smoke and clouds, husband and wife, father and son are like this, and they will meet again in the future.
Qian knew that he had no more persuasion, so he prepared dry food for him with clothes and shoes, he only brought the broken book, a pair of shoes and a bag of dry food, and was pulled by Qian and stuffed a bag of broken silver into his arms.
Not long after he went out, he bumped into a drunken old Taoist priest. The old Taoist priest held a cup folded into a corner of banana leaves, and the wine was dangling in the cup, and while drinking, he squinted at him, saying What kind of immortal are you looking for, and the fairy is beside you.
Li Kelin's heart moved, bowed his head, called the old fairy, and begged him to accept him as an apprentice. The old Taoist priest was so frightened that he jumped to the side, saying that he was a poor Taoist drunkard, what kind of immortal was it, and he drifted away.
Li Kelin then chased after him, where could he catch up.
At first, he was active in Xiaoqingshan and Daqingshan outside the city, looking for traces of immortals, eating dry food and eating wild fruit tree roots, and sometimes picking some medicine for dry food, two months have passed in a blink of an eye, and he has never encountered any immortals and monsters.
He continued to walk out, and within a year and a half, he had walked all over the mountains in Cloud City, and had been caught by bandits, chased by wild wolves, pinched by hunters' clips, and even fallen off cliffs, and finally relieved.
When passing through Shigu Town, he saw a tea shed on the side of the road, stepped forward to drink a pot of tea, and met the owner of the tea shed quarreling with an old Taoist priest, who was holding a cup folded from banana leaves, shouting that the wine tasted wrong, it was fake wine, and the tea shed should be demolished.
The owner of the tea shed was so angry that he slapped the table: "I sell tea and not wine, where does the smell of wine come from!" ”
Li Kelin took a look, wasn't this the drunken Taoist priest he met at the door of his house before?
Seeing that the two were arguing, he stepped forward to persuade him to fight, so that he could leave a piece of broken silver, pull the old Taoist priest away, and buy wine at a wine shop next to him, so that he could get drunk and rest.
The old Taoist snoring was like thunder after being drunk, and Li Kelin was going to continue to guard, but he heard an old man who was drinking medicine next to him say that there had been an immortal gathering under the moon to drink on the small stone drum ridge, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed, looking up to the sky and sighing, the emperor lived up to his heart.
He went straight to Xiaoshiguling, always felt that he smelled a faint aroma of wine, went up and down three times, and finally found four wine glasses in a cave, the wine glasses were pink, non-gold and non-jade, slightly larger than his thumb, and there was a little residual drain in the glass, and the aroma was tangy.
Li Kelin decided that this was the wine glass used by the immortals to drink, picked up one of them, tilted his neck, and drank the rest of the wine.
Who knew that after drinking, the abdominal pain was unbearable, as if there were dozens of knives twisting the intestines at the same time. He dropped his glass and rolled on the ground, but the pain came in waves, endlessly.
He thought that the immortals were different, he had offended the immortals, so he was punished like this, and he struggled to kneel on the ground, kowtowed to the cave, kowtowed three times, and prayed that the immortals would have a large number of them, and spare him this time, the son of the family was not married, and he could not die.
Before the words fell, someone in the bushes next to him sneered: "Sister, look, what kind of immortal is not broken in the dust!" The other female voice also laughed.
When Li Kelin heard that there was really a god speaking, his strength suddenly increased greatly, and even the pain in his abdomen was a little less. He continued to kowtow and plead, begging the immortals to spare his life.
A young girl in colorful clothes came out barefoot, knocked his head with a mountain flower, the fragrance of the flower passed, the pain in his abdomen disappeared, and the exhaustion disappeared, he got up, and made a long bow to the girl, thanked her for saving her life, and asked her what was sacred.
The girl has a pink face and peach cheeks, a lovely smile, calls herself Yuncui, and has a fate with Li Kelin's son, if Li Kelin allows, she will marry into his family for three months, and he will become an immortal.
Li Kelin was very curious in his heart, why did the immortals take marrying into his own family as a condition? He looked at Yun Cui carefully and found that she was hairy between the toes, not like an immortal, but more like a monster.
Yun Cui followed his gaze and looked down, knowing that he had discovered his flaws, and simply told him that he had cultivated in the mountains for many years, and he was no different from an immortal.
The temptation to become an immortal was too great, and after nearly two years of crossing mountains and mountains, it was the first time he was so close to an immortal. He couldn't help licking the corners of his lips, hesitated, and asked, "In the vast sea of people, why did you choose me?" ”
Yun Cui couldn't help laughing, and the flowers and branches in her hands trembled: "Of course, I met by chance before, and I fell in love with Ling Lang at first sight." ”
Li Kelin asked again: "Will you hurt my son?" ”
Yun Cui shook her head and said, "Married as a husband and wife, there is no doubt about love, if I become his wife, how can I hurt him?" ”
Li Kelin still hesitated. Yun Cui's appearance was so sudden that he was skeptical.
Yun Cui plucked a flower from the flower branch and handed it to him, saying that the immortal family's spells are boundless, and after eating this flower, he will not be hungry or tired for three days, and it will have the effect of prolonging life, so he believed it.
Li Kelin took the flower, the petals were round, pink, translucent, faintly watery. He put it in his mouth, and the sweet taste permeated his tongue, and a force spread throughout his body, and the whole person became energetic.
"Okay, I'll pick you up in three days!"
"Remember, if you don't come, I'll come by myself!" Yun Cui said loudly behind him.
Li Kelin took advantage of the three days to rush back to his home in Yuncheng.
Qian opened the door and saw her husband, who was black and thin in rags, couldn't believe his eyes, and hurriedly invited him into the house and brought hot tea and pastries.
Li Kelin is really as Yuncui said, not hungry or thirsty, reluctantly took a sip of tea, asked about his son, Qian said that his son Li Li was a partner in the tea house, and was deeply appreciated by the boss of the tea house, and he just got married to the daughter of Boss Zhou last month, and this cake was sent by the Zhou family on the day of the marriage.
"Oh, no, no!" Li Kelin said loudly.
Qian's tears flowed in an instant, and he said: "You have not heard from you for two years, I am a woman with two children, how difficult my life is!" Boss Zhou takes a fancy to his son, what's wrong? Does he have a better relative? Besides, I don't even know where you are, whether you are dead or alive, how can I wait for your consent! ”
Li Kelin was silent for a long time before saying that his son was only fourteen years old, so there was no need to rush to get married, and Boss Zhou's family had a big business, and he took a fancy to his son, so he wanted to recruit his son?
Qian took out a handkerchief and wiped away his tears, saying that it was not, Boss Zhou's family had three sons and one daughter, and he had never thought of recruiting a son-in-law.
The husband and wife talked for a while, and the daughter Li Juan, who went to the street to buy vegetables, came back, suddenly saw a stranger, startled, looked at it, and barely saw that it was his father, his face changed greatly, threw down the vegetable basket, hurriedly walked back to the room, and slammed the door shut.
"This kid—" Qian reluctantly defended her daughter, saying that she hadn't seen her father for too long and was shy.
Seeing his daughter as a stranger, Li Kelin felt very uncomfortable.
When her daughter was chubby when she was a child, she often climbed on her knees while she was reading and writing, and her wife wanted to carry her away, but she hugged herself and refused to let go.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of the reluctant appearance of his children holding him when he was leaving, and his heart couldn't help but hurt, got up and walked to his daughter's room, knocked on the door gently, and called Juan'er.
"You come back, you still have the face to come back! Mother has suffered so much for us, brother almost lost his life for you! ”
The daughter's blame surprised Li Kelin, and when she asked again, Li Juan refused to speak out.
He turned around and asked his wife, Qian's tears flashed, saying that he was sick in late autumn last year, and his son thought he couldn't stand it anymore, so he ran out to find his father, and accidentally fell into the trap set by the hunter in the mountains, and was cold and hungry.
Li Kelin then understood why his son would go to the tea house to be a partner, he thought that it was very difficult for him to walk through the barren mountains and mountains to find immortals, but it turned out that he was not at home, and his wife and children were more difficult than he imagined.
He hurriedly apologized and said sorry repeatedly.
Qian Shi burst into tears.
Li Juan opened the door, ran over like a gust of wind, stopped in front of his mother, and asked him what bad things he had done.
"I'm sorry, Juan'er, dad is sorry for your mother, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for your brother......"
Li Juan was stunned, looked at his face full of guilt, leaned on the Qian family, and cried.
That night, Li Li went home and heard that his father was back, so he turned around and ran, and went to the street to buy two kinds of lo-mei, dried tofu and cold salad:
"Dad, if you don't eat meat, you can eat dried tofu and golden needle vegetables."
Li Kelin saw that his son not only did not resent him, but added extra vegetables for himself, thoughtful, he couldn't help but feel more and more guilty, and put a piece of dried bean curd in his mouth, only to feel that his mouth was full of earthy smell, and he couldn't bear to waste his son's filial piety, and tried to swallow it, but he was nauseous and vomited.
Qian and Li Li thought that there was something wrong with the dried tofu, so they put a piece in their mouths and tried it, but there was nothing abnormal.
Li Kelin tried other dishes again, vomited whatever he ate, and later even vomited a pool of purple-black blood, and there were countless small insects wriggling in the blood.
He was afraid that his wife and children would see it, so he quickly ran over the blood stains with the tip of his shoe, and he was afraid for a while. The flowers that Yuncui gave him to eat are so powerful, if he doesn't obey Yuncui's wishes, he is afraid that his life will not be guaranteed.
But such a good son, how can he sacrifice him? If the son is good, how can the wife and daughter live?
Li Kelin regretted it, if he hadn't wanted to become an immortal, he wouldn't have caused such a catastrophe.
He thought about it and thought about it, and finally decided that he would rather die himself than let that monster named Yuncui succeed.
After some tossing, he hid the truth from his family, only saying that he had been living in the valley for a long time and was not used to eating and drinking for a while.
After all, Li Li was young, so he believed it after hearing it, and said that he would chop some dried salted cucumbers and minced meat for him tomorrow, steam a broth, and open his spleen and stomach.
Li Kelin was sad for a while. Steamed minced pork with salted cucumbers, which was steamed by his children when they were sick and upset in the spleen and stomach, but after two years, his son thought of using it on himself.
After all, after many years of husband and wife, Qian saw that something was wrong, and persuaded his children to go to rest first after cleaning up, and talk to Li Kelin himself.
Li Kelin didn't want his wife to worry, so he temporarily prevaricated on the grounds that he would go to see a doctor later.
In the dead of night, Li Kelin walked on the street with one foot deep and one foot shallow. He didn't know who could relieve himself of the predicament and save his son, and the more he walked, the more he felt that he had caused this disaster.
"Oh, so you're here, come on, come on, have a drink with me!"
The old Taoist priest suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Li Kelin, dragged him to a tavern, and beckoned, and the man immediately brought a jar of open wine.
The old Taoist priest took out his banana leaf cup, poured the wine, and handed it to Li Kelin.
Li Kelin was full of sorrow, took the wine glass, and drank it all.
After drinking the wine, he found that the cup in his hand looked like a banana leaf, but it was not actually a banana leaf, it was soaked in cold and soaked, more like a jade carving, but the cup was thin and transparent, and the carving was first-class.
"How?" The old Taoist priest asked with a grin.
"Good cup!" Li Kelin raised his glass.
"You can't drink too much in a good glass!" The old Taoist priest snatched the cup with his hand, put it in his arms, pulled him up, and went out to blow the wind.
The two walked faster and faster, the houses and trees on the side of the road quickly retreated, Li Kelin only felt a burst of heat on his body, and he didn't feel tired at all, and asked the old Taoist priest where to go.
"Go catch a stupid kid!"
The old Taoist priest dragged him to run wildly, and after a while, he saw a shadow in front of him, and rushed over to see that it was Li Kelin's son Li Li.
"Li'er, in the middle of the night, where are you going?" Li Kelin asked.
Li Li said that when he was eating, he saw the black blood that his father vomited, and there were small worms in the blood, and he had vomited this kind of blood, and he fell into a hunter's trap in the barren mountain, and a beautiful woman rescued him, and wanted to recruit him as a husband to stay in the mountains.
If it weren't for Boss Zhou, I was afraid that I would die in the trap, it was Boss Zhou who passed by to rescue him, and after he vomited blood, he looked for someone to save him, and in the end it was the old Taoist who saved himself, and it was also a glass of wine.
Only then did Li Kelin know that the old Taoist priest had saved his son, and he was grateful, so he fell to the ground with a plop and thanked him for his great kindness.
The old Taoist priest said that he was exempt, pulled him up, and persuaded Li Li to go home, saying that even if he found the banshee, he would not be able to beat him, but he would fall into her arms.
Li Li came to his senses at this time, and a cold sweat broke out behind his back.
Li Kelin begged the old Taoist priest to come to his rescue.
The old Taoist priest waved his hand and said that you and I are destined, so I will help you, the little flower demon has not yet put it in his eyes.
The three days were over, and Li Kelin did not go to Xiaoshiguling. A sedan chair took advantage of the night, and under the blowing and blowing of the group, it came to the front of his house, and the matchmaker led by it shouted loudly that the groom would come out to pick up the bride.
"Okay, but our Li family has a rule, before the bride enters the door, please drink three cups first!" Li Li walked over with a wooden plate, and three glasses of wine were placed on the wooden plate.
The first glass of wine was handed over, and a snow-white hand was stretched out in the sedan chair to take it and drink it all.
The second glass of wine was handed over, and the sedan chair still stretched out the hand of Bai Xuexue, as soon as it touched the wine glass, the flame rose from the glass, and the white hand flipped over, and there were more branches in the hand, and when he shook it, the flame was extinguished, and the wine glass flew up and slowly fell into her hand.
"Stinky Daoist, that's it!" Yun Cuijiao smiled, "If you have any tricks, you might as well use them!" ”
Li Kelin bent his waist, hid behind the shadow wall not far from the door, and asked the old Taoist priest next to him if he could do it, and the old Taoist priest said yes.
I saw Li Li hand over the third glass of wine, which was the banana leaf cup commonly used by the old Taoist priest. Yuncui still stretched out the flower branch to pick up the wine glass, who knew that as soon as the flower branch touched the wine glass, it lit a burst of smoke, and then the flame jumped, burning along the flower branch to the sedan chair, and the sedan chair squeaked.
The crowd of people who gave the wedding was instantly chaotic, and they all took out weapons to stab Li Li, but the old Taoist priest raised his right hand, and several rattans flew out, rolling them all up and tying them up like pigs.
At this time, the squeaking sound in the sedan chair was gone, and the flames were gone. The old Taoist priest came out, nodded with his right hand, the banana leaf cup flew up, flew around the sedan chair, and the half-dried flower branches flew out of the sedan chair, fell into the cup, and the flowers bloomed in a blink of an eye, full of vitality.
The old Taoist priest held the banana leaf cup, said that the little demon is a little evil, you have to discipline and discipline, you will go back to the mountain first, and you will see you again in the future, and when you turn around, you drag the string of monsters away.
The Li family's father and son met and laughed for the rest of their lives.
Since then, Li Kelin has been at home with peace of mind, accepted many disciples, arranged for his son's marriage, sent his daughter to marry, watched his grandchildren be born one after another, and asked for medicine for the sick Qian's medical treatment.
Ten years later, Qian passed away, and after the funeral, he changed into a cloth shirt, said goodbye to his children, and went to find the old Taoist priest.
Li Juan cried heartbreakingly, and Li Li patted her on the shoulder, saying that he had stayed for us for ten more years, and it was time to let him go.
The brother and sister stood at the door, watching Li Kelin walk faster and faster, farther and farther, merging with the figure that looked very much like an old Taoist priest, and finally became small and disappeared in the distance.
@高凉叶故事原创, thank you for your companionship and support along the way, and continue to share the world of stories and joys and sorrows in 2024
#长文创作激励计划##记录我的2024##头条创作挑战赛#