Chapter 21 No Complaint

After entering Bashu, the plains on both sides of the road gradually decrease.

It is majestic and tall, with no end in sight. Green mountains appear before your eyes, piercing the sky like sharp swords.

The roads are winding and difficult to travel. Some of them are on cliffs and some require crossing mountains.

A Tang Dynasty poem says:

Liangshan Town is a dangerous place, with piles of rocks blocking the clouds. The deep valley below is vast and the layers of rocks above are dense and winding.

Flying beams span the steep mountains, plank roads connect dangerous peaks. I hold the reins and take a long rest alone, only then do I realize how difficult this road is.

This is a poem about the Road to Shu by the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Wencong, in addition to Li Bai's "The Road to Shu is Difficult".

It talks about the dangerous terrain of the Shu Road.

Fortunately, everyone in the Qingcheng Sect is a martial artist who has practiced martial arts and has much stronger physical strength than ordinary people.

Therefore, although the road to Shu was somewhat difficult for them, it was not too hard.

This day.

They came to the county town next to Dujiangyan.

Guan County!

Before heading to Fuzhou City, they took the horses from here and officially set off.

After returning all the horses to Ma Si, Chu Yuan and his companions came to Dujiangyan again.

"Junior brother, it's a rare trip down the mountain. Aren't you going home to see your family?"

Standing on the bank of Dujiangyan, looking at the surging river and the endless flow of water, while waiting for the boatman to row over to the ferry to take everyone across the river, Yu Canghai said to Chu Yuan.

"Go home to see my family..."

Chu Yuan had mixed emotions for a moment and fell into deep thought.

He hasn't seen his family for four years and he has even forgotten what his parents and brothers and sisters look like.

During the four years that Chu Yuan practiced Taoism and martial arts in Qingcheng Mountain, his father Chu Qiao also came to Qingcheng Mountain to look for Chu Yuan.

But Chu Yuan had no feelings for them. Besides, he was a time traveler and did not want to have too much contact with his family so as not to let them notice something and discover that his son and brother had become different people.

The two times Chu Qiao came to see Chu Yuan, Chu Yuan did not show up and was blocked by the Taoist priests of Songfeng Temple.

Chu Qiao thought that Chu Yuan was still blaming them in his heart for sending him to the mountain to be a Taoist priest, so he left quietly.

"What's wrong, Junior Brother? Are you resentful of your family because they sent you to the mountain?"

Yu Canghai looked at Chu Yuan's expression and said.

"blame!"

Chu Yuan thought about it and added:

"I don't blame you."

The reason why I say resentment.

It was because of his parents that he was sent to Mount Qingcheng to become a Taoist priest.

Although due to objective conditions at home, one of them must become a Taoist monk so that the whole family can survive, why must he be the one to go up the mountain?
Fortunately, Chu Yuan is a time traveler and has no feelings for his family in this world, so he is more open-minded.

So he said he didn't blame.

but.

On the other hand, it was because his family sent him to Mount Qingcheng that he had the opportunity to practice martial arts in Mount Qingcheng and learn the truth about this world.

Otherwise, if he was left at home.

Even if he wants to learn martial arts in the future and join a big sect like Qingcheng Sect.

However, when a major martial arts sect recruits disciples, they are very careful about the disciple's clean background, which may take a lot of effort.

"I'll just disappear this time. I'll go home to see my parents and relatives in two years."

Chu Yuan expressed his plan.

He is still young now, and if he goes home, he will inevitably be involved with his family.

After two years, when he grows up a little and goes back, he and his family will just be familiar strangers.

There is a sentence that can perfectly describe the relationship Chu Yuan hopes to have with his family in this world.

That means we should part ways, live our own lives, and not disturb each other.

"Okay, it's up to you. However, our Qingcheng Sect has a lot of industries. With your current status, you naturally cannot let your family suffer. I think we can help them appropriately so that they can live a better life."

Yu Canghai said to Chu Yuan.

"Then I'll trouble you, Senior Brother. Just help take care of it."

Chu Yuan was not shy with Yu Canghai and agreed.

He is also a disciple of Qingcheng Sect, so there is no need for him to be distant with his senior brother Yu Canghai.

Compared to his family down the mountain, with whom he had hardly ever interacted, Chu Yuan felt that the people of the Qingcheng Sect on Qingcheng Mountain, plus Taoist Master Ziyun, were more like his own relatives.

Although Yu Canghai is a bloodthirsty villain in the original plot.

But who can blame him for being so nice to his junior brother?
Chu Yuan could only try his best to prevent his senior brother Yu Canghai and the entire Qingcheng Sect from going down the wrong path because of his presence.

"It's no trouble. We are all family. No need to be so polite."

Seeing Chu Yuan agreed without hesitation, Yu Canghai looked very happy.

This shows that Chu Yuan did not consider himself an outsider.

"Dad, Uncle Master, the boat is here, let's get on board!"

Just then, Yu Renyan next to him reminded him.

Chu Yuan and Yu Canghai came to their senses and saw the three-leaf wooden boat docked at the ferry.

"Let's go back to the mountain."

Seeing the boat coming, Yu Canghai waved his hand and the disciples of Qingcheng Sect boarded the boat one after another.

……

Dayi County.

Huaishu Village.

It is less than a hundred miles away from Qingcheng Mountain, and is located on the banks of the Jinma River, which is wide and more than three meters wide.

The village is backed by mountains and faces a river. The villagers usually make a living by farming the fields on the south bank of the Jinma River.

The village has a small population, with less than two hundred households.

Because of the proximity to the Jinma River and the mild climate in Shu, the people of Huaishu Village cultivated their own fields when they were busy and fished in the river when they were free, so they could live a decent life. Summer had just passed and the climate had become cooler. Half a month ago, there had been a heavy rain, which had caused the water level of the Jinma River to rise a lot and the water surface had become a little turbid.

However, in the past two days, the river water has slowly returned to its former clarity, and the river surface has returned to its normal depth. You can even see fish swimming in the weeds by the river.

thump!
A rural boy about thirteen or fourteen years old, shirtless, dark and thin, with bright eyes.

From a protruding rock on the shore, he dived into the Jinma River near the shore, where there was a piece of rock about twelve or thirteen feet long, which was washed out by the river during high water, and was diverted from the main stream of the Jinma River and formed by mud.

After diving for a while under the water, the boy emerged from the pool holding a black carp that was longer than a chopstick.

"Another one. I can have an extra meal today. My parents will definitely be happy if I bring it back."

The young man said happily while spitting out river water from his mouth.

The boy swam to the shore, stood up, and put the fish into a big-bellied bamboo basket on the shore.

Most of the bamboo basket is placed in the river, which can prevent the fish in the basket from dying immediately.

The bamboo basket was tied with a hemp rope, which was pressed under a stone the size of a ceramic bowl to prevent the fish inside from escaping.

When he looked closer, he saw that there were already three or four fish as long as chopsticks in his bamboo basket, plus other fish of various palm sizes, filling up most of the basket.

Black carp, yellow catfish, grass carp, crucian carp...

There are all kinds of varieties.

The boy put on the clothes he had taken off on the shore, picked up the hemp rope tied to the bamboo basket, and walked towards the shore.

Walking along a narrow path and onto the ridge of the field, you can see a mulberry tree planted on the ridge every few meters to protect the soil.

There were many villagers working in the fields. When they saw the boy passing by, they greeted him enthusiastically.

"Erhei, are you fishing by the river again?"

"Hey, Li Shu, I went there. The river just flooded a few days ago, and there are a lot of fish in the pond. This time the harvest is good!"

"Hey, it seems we have to ask our boy to take some time to touch it."

"Then we have to ask him to hurry up. If he goes too late, it will be gone."

"Hey, Erhei, are you fishing in the river again?"

"The bamboo basket in your hand looks so heavy. It seems like you've made quite a lot of money this time."

"It's OK, less than a basket."

While greeting the villagers, Erhei walked around the winding ridges and returned to the village under the envious gazes of the villagers.

Hearing the familiar sounds of chickens and dogs, as well as the shrill curses of shrewish women arguing with others coming from the village, Erhei, carrying a bamboo basket, greeted the villagers he met in the village while continuing to walk towards his home.

Almost all the buildings in the village are built with yellow mud, and brick houses are basically invisible.

My own courtyard is located in the outer area northwest of Huaishu Village.

If you go further, there will be no more houses.

The reason they live here is because their Chu family arrived the latest.

More than a hundred years ago, when the Ming Dynasty was first established, people moved here from Shaanxi to escape the war.

The courtyard has a wall made of half-person-high rammed earth, and a pear tree as thick as a bowl is planted in front of the gate.

Although it is autumn, there are still a few unripe, half-grown green pears hanging on the pear trees.

Erhei pushed open the gate of his own yard, which was made of a few simple wooden boards tied together with hemp vines. It could probably only protect his own people's yard. He was about to walk in, but stopped at the door.

Because he heard the voices of his parents chatting in the yard.

"Dad, it's been a year since you last visited Sanlang on Mount Qingcheng. When will you go to the mountain again to visit him?"

"He doesn't want to see me. It's a journey of nearly a hundred miles, and it's not a good idea to keep running in vain."

"Father, do you think the child is complaining about you guys sending him to the mountains to become a Taoist priest?"

"I don't know if he blames us or not, but it's true that he has resentment in his heart. Otherwise, why didn't he see me when I went there twice?"

"You go ahead. We are the ones who have wronged Sanlang. It is only natural that he should be resentful towards us."

"Okay, then I'll find time to go to Qingcheng Mountain again until he is willing to see me."

……

Hearing the voices of his parents chatting gradually fade away, Erhei pushed open the gate and walked in.

As soon as he entered, he saw his second sister Chu Xiu and his eldest sister-in-law Mei Chunfang, spreading the freshly picked mulberry leaves from bamboo baskets on bamboo mats under the eaves.

The bamboo mat was covered with mulberry leaves that only had veins but no leaf pulp, and the leaves were crawling with plump white silkworms.

This is the autumn silkworm.

Every household in Huaishu Village engages in livestock breeding.

After the silkworms produce cocoons, they can be sold to supplement the family income.

Chu Xiaoyu, the six-year-old younger sister with two pigtails, also followed Chu Xiu and sister-in-law Mei Chunfang to help, sprinkling handfuls of mulberry leaves on the bamboo mat and having a lot of fun.

"Second brother, parents are talking about third brother!"

Realizing that her second brother Chu Erhei had returned, the second sister Chu Xiu looked up and made a gesture to keep quiet.

"I heard."

Erhei handed the fish basket to his second sister Chuxiu, who stood up and took it.

“I gained a lot!”

The third sister, Chu Xiaoyu, stretched her head out first, took a look inside the bamboo basket, and her eyes lit up.

"You are awesome, second brother."

Chu Xiaoyu said worshipfully.

"Of course."

Chu Erhei smiled and touched Chu Xiaoyu's head.

"Erhei, this time you and I will go to Qingcheng Mountain to meet your third brother."

At this time, Chu Qiao, who was in his early forties, wearing a gray linen shirt and with white hair, walked out of the house and saw the second son Chu Erheidao who had just returned from fishing.

"Okay, I'll go with Dad this time."

Chu Erhei nodded in agreement.

He also wanted to see his third brother who had been away from home for four years.

What’s life like in Qingcheng Mountain?

Thinking about that time, his parents had originally planned to choose one between him and his third brother to send to Qingcheng Mountain, but in the end they sent his third brother away, which made Chu Erhei feel a little ashamed.

(End of this chapter)