Strange Tales: The Yin-Yang Celestial Master

What is loneliness?

The bearded uncle who has lived alone in the abyss for a long time seems to be able to answer this question.

So even though the meeting was not very pleasant, the bearded uncle was not angry, but enthusiastically showed them around his hut, and put a big beetle on the fire again, ready to entertain them.When the two little ghosts saw it, they hurriedly gathered around the fire, drooling with the sheep and bleating, waiting to eat.

"I've lived here for so long, and it's the first time I've seen someone come." The uncle looked very excited, and he introduced how he survived the abyss. "There is no wood here, so I had to go through the sheep's predation ground to find suitable plant roots in the front garden to build the house. These roots are very flexible, similar to bamboo, and they are still easy to use." His green hut is made of The thick flower stems of piranhas are built.

Thinking of the beautiful but dangerous underground garden, Qi Buyang nodded and said, "We came from there." This man was able to live alone in the abyss, and it was not a bad idea to deal with those piranhas in his tone. No matter what, he looks like a formidable person.

Hearing the little bear's voice, the bearded uncle looked at him in surprise, and asked Luo Lang, "This bear can still talk?"

Luo Lang lifted his chin, disdaining to answer this kind of question, but he seemed to be complacent. He possessively pulled the little bear back into his arms and sat down, and asked, "How long have you been here?"

The uncle roasted the beetles with one hand, silently counted them with the other, then shrugged and said, "I almost forgot, it's about 1000 years."

Qi Buyang immediately thought of something, raised his head to look at Luo Lang, and discussed with him in a low voice: "Mr. Luo, is he the one who came in 1000 years ago and never went out again?"

"It's possible." Luo Lang narrowed his eyes noncommittally, and asked the uncle, "What's your name?"

But when the bearded uncle heard this question, he was obviously taken aback, looked away from the barbecue, thought for a long time, and murmured: "I don't remember my name..." He tried to remember, and shook his head, but He found nothing, and for a moment, a bit of bewilderment appeared on his face, "Actually... I don't remember why I came to the abyss, it seems that I have been here since I can remember."

Luo Lang gave a "tsk", "Of course I lost my heart, so I don't remember." He took out the small wooden box that Brahma told him from his Qiankun bag, and was about to return it to him.

"Wait a minute!" Qi Buyang rushed over and lay down on the wooden box, and said to the uncle in a panic, "I'm sorry! I want to drink water."

"I'll pour it for you." The uncle thought they were talking about some secret between the young couple, so he didn't want to ask more questions, so he stood up and went into the room.

Luo Lang held the box and the bear in front of him, "Do you like this box?...or the heart inside?" At this point, he became unhappy: "You like hearts and want them from me. What's so good about such an uncle's heart?"

"Not this!" Qi Buyang was shy and anxious, shaking his head again and again, "Do you remember what Brahma said? If the uncle is really that person, he came to the abyss to find the fruit of life for his lover, but his lover has already died. The smoke has disappeared, isn’t everything in vain? Now that he has forgotten all of that, it was a good thing, but we remind him of it again, wouldn’t it be cruel?”

Luo Lang actually didn't understand it very well, but since Qi Buyang said so, he said indifferently: "Then just throw it away." He raised his hand and was about to throw the wooden box into the river behind him.

"Hey hey!" Qi Buyang stretched out his short hands to reach it, and rescued the box at the last moment, "It's someone's heart after all, so it's not good for us to throw it away."

Luo Lang raised his eyebrows, he couldn't return it, he couldn't throw it away, he didn't understand, after thinking about it, he handed the box directly to the little celestial master, "You decide."

Little Bear hugged the wooden box, wrinkling his face in distress.

At this time, the bearded uncle came back with a glass of water and put it in front of him. "This is the water from that river. Don't worry, it's been boiled and the water is very clean." Qi Buyang nodded, put down the wooden box, picked up the water cup made of piranha leaves, sat back on the box and drank absently.

The uncle showed a satisfied smile when he saw that he drank, and continued to roast the bugs.

"Uncle, it's not good yet!" The kid's stomachs were already growling, and their eyes were staring at the meat on the fire without blinking.

"Uncle, it's not good yet!" The sheep bleating who had tasted the meat also waited eagerly, and under the drive of the food, he learned another sentence, repeating the little ghost's words vividly in a milky voice.

Hearing this, the kid thought it was funny, "Hey, you're a smart sheep."

"Baa!" The sheep bleated, agreeing with his words.

Immediately, the little ghost became energetic and began to teach it to speak in a serious manner.

"Uncle, I want to eat meat!". "Uncle, I want to eat meat!"

When he said a word, Yang Baa learned a sentence, which made him laugh out loud, and then he became complacent: "Tell me this again, Master Luo is so scary!"

Luo Lang heard it, and glanced over from the corner of his eyes.

Kid: o((⊙﹏⊙))o "Lord Luo, I was wrong! Don't kill me!"

Yang Baa baa tilted his head and repeated word by word: "Lord Luo, I was wrong! Don't kill me!"

Luo Lang grinned sinisterly, "Don't teach children badly."

"Okay, okay! It's ready to eat!" The bearded uncle held up the big roasted worms and began to distribute them.Everyone's attention was diverted immediately, and they gathered around to grab it.

Qi Buyang sat on the wooden box with heavy thoughts, holding the cup in a daze.He looked at the cheerful look of the bearded uncle, and felt that he didn't want to remind him of the past, it would be better to live happily like this... But this is an important heart after all, and he doesn't want to make decisions for others without authorization, whether happy or sad , Whether to retrieve that memory should be decided by the owner himself.

Luo Lang crushed the crowd with violence, snatched half a beetle politely without knowing it, held the little bear and fed it bite by bite. What is the taste.

"Don't you like to eat this?" The bearded uncle noticed his appearance and asked with concern.

Luo Lang rolled his eyes at him, "It's none of your business."

Uncle: "..." He seemed to have gotten used to Luo Lang's verbal attacks, he didn't care at all, and simply sat beside them and chatted with them: "This is the only thing that can be eaten in the abyss. Sheep are my friends, and I can't kill them. I have eaten flowers, they are smelly and not tasty at all. It is better to eat bugs, and I will get used to it after eating a few times."

Qi Buyang recovered and couldn't help asking him: "Uncle, do you really not remember why you came to the abyss?"

"I don't remember." The uncle said: "In the first few decades, I thought about this problem all day long, but after a long time, I don't bother to think about it anymore. Maybe I was born here!" He laughed optimistically. Laughing, "By the way, why are you here?"

"We are looking for the fruit of the tree of life." Qi Buyang told him honestly.

"The tree of life..." The uncle frowned, "That's not easy."

Hearing what he meant, Qi Buyang's eyes lit up immediately, "Do you know where it is?"

The uncle nodded, pointing his hand along the gurgling river, "Go straight along this river, its source, the tree of life grows there."

The little bear jumped up excitedly and looked at Luo Lang.Before, he thought that there was probably no hope, but now he finally has a clue, and this trip was not in vain!

"However," the uncle's expression was a little strange, as if he had remembered something terrible, "it's not easy to go there."

"Have you been there?" Luo Lang asked.Only then did Qi Buyang realize that the purpose of Uncle Beard to come to the abyss in the first place was the fruit of life. Since he already knew where the tree of life was, why didn't he get it?

The uncle neither nodded nor shook his head, "I tried to go there, but I turned back when I got halfway there. There is no life there, and there is nothing alive."

"Then how do you know the tree of life is inside?"

He seemed to be trapped in some kind of memory, and said with some hesitation: "In my impression, it seems that I have entered it once. Although it is very vague and I can't remember the rest, there is indeed a tree of life there." Speaking of this, he said He said firmly: "I'm sure! I even remember what it looked like. Later, when I wanted to go again, there was always a thought in my mind, as if if I really went, I would lose myself and never come back, so I That plan was abandoned."

Qi Buyang and Luo Lang looked at each other. He wasn't quite sure whether it was because the uncle lost his heart that he forgot his original purpose in the passing time, or that he had actually been in close contact with the tree of life, but due to some unknown Forget about everything.If the answer is the latter, why?Will they be like him, the thing they are looking for is close at hand, but there is no way to get it, and they even lose themselves.

Still, they decided to move on.Now that he finally got a clue, Luo Lang will not be entangled by those unclear things. He still has to fulfill his promise to give the little celestial master a perfect body so that he can fall in love with him.Little Tianshi is also a persistent person, he will not give up until he has worked hard.

In Qi Buyang's heart, there is still a secret wish that he dare not speak out - he wants to be with Mr. Luo.Not to be with him for a short period of time and leave him alone, but forever.Even if his long life will eventually come to an end, he also hopes to accompany Mr. Luo to the end.

But now, he dare not say it easily, he is afraid that it is just an extravagant wish, and he is afraid that God will think that he is too greedy, and even the present happiness will be taken away.

For this "forever", he needs a body with the same lifespan as Luo Lang, and needs to match Luo Lang's ability, so no matter what, he is willing to take risks for the fruit of life.

Seeing that they insisted on leaving, the bearded uncle didn't persuade them much. He just prepared some baked food and dry firewood he collected as fuel for them, and urged them repeatedly: "If you go further in, the temperature will not be as good as it is now." It’s so warm and humid, and it’s ice and snow in there, and it can even freeze time, if you’re not careful, you might be left there forever.” But he couldn’t provide more warm clothes, luckily Qi Buyang is a soul body, Luo Lang Not afraid of the cold.

The last three surviving people who followed from the lava waterfall included the two little ghosts who led the way at the beginning, and the person who kicked them down by the waterfall.After hearing Uncle Beard's description, the two little ghosts immediately decided to stay.Compared with the environment above the waterfall, it is much better here. If you go further in, you will reach the end of the river and the end of the abyss. The uncle said that there is neither life nor exit. It is better to be in this last Garden of Eden. Living in the countryside, there is meat to eat every day.

Uncle Beard welcomed their decision. He spent 1000 years alone, and now finally someone can stay and talk to him, which is the most happy thing.

And the one remaining among them decided to go in with Qi Buyang and Luo Lang to try his luck. If he didn't see it with his own eyes, he would just give up unwillingly. If he really couldn't get out, he could just come back.

"But... it's possible that you won't be able to come back after you've gone." A kid persuaded weakly.

The man thought for a while, "Didn't we think that when we jumped off the waterfall, we would never go back again? Do you still want to go back to that place now?"

The kid shook his head.

"That's right." Besides, he also wanted to see what the legendary tree of life looked like.

Before leaving, Qi Buyang looked at the sheep bleating happily after eating meat, and decided to keep it. Although he was very reluctant, this was his home, and it seemed that he had a very happy time here.

But there was still one thing to be resolved, Qi Buyang hugged the wooden box, intending to let the bearded uncle make his own decision.

"Let me tell you a story." He told him about the uncle, but did not specify who the protagonist was. "Say, do you want to give your heart back to that person?"

The uncle was silent for a while after hearing this, and seemed to understand something. He looked back at the hut where he had lived for thousands of years, and said softly: "It's better not to pay it back, it's good." Even though he said so, he couldn't help but glance The wooden box containing my heart has complicated eyes.

"What are you going to do with that heart?" he asked.

Qi Buyang was still hesitating, Luo Lang said directly: "Throw it away, no one wants it anyway."

"Can you..." The uncle scratched his head embarrassingly, "Since you are going to throw it away, can you give it to me for safekeeping?" After finishing speaking, he felt a little embarrassed that he had made a strange request, and was about to say forget it. Little Bear has already stuffed the wooden box into his hand.

"Take it." Qi Buyang smiled, "This is an important thing, so cherish it."

The uncle nodded in a daze, speechless.

The little bear was already picked up by Luo Lang, sitting in his arms and shaking his hands at him, "Goodbye, if we didn't come back, maybe we went out." It said the last sentence very without confidence, sticking out its tongue guiltily, "Please, take care of me."

The uncle solemnly agreed, and watched them go away. The person who was going to go together saw them go away by themselves and hurried to catch up.

From far away, I can still hear what they said——

"Why say goodbye? If we go out, it should be forever. Do you want to come down again?"

"I think I'll meet Uncle again."

"Everyone of this kind of uncle looks similar, and the next time I see another uncle."

"Eh? Is that so?"

……

The bearded uncle shook his head and couldn't help but smile, the smile faded away when he saw the wooden box in his hand, his expression became complicated, he didn't know what he was thinking.After standing for a while, he sighed, shook the box casually and walked towards the hut, while shouting at the two ghosts and one sheep who had eaten their stomachs, "Hey! Don't eat all of them, save some for me!"