Strange Stories

Chapter 568 I Don’t Cook Anyway
The streets of the busy city of Langzhou, a small coastal city, were peaceful and quiet, but suddenly colorful auspicious clouds descended.

At first, the auspicious cloud flew very high and far away. In addition, it looked very real. Sometimes people below saw it and thought it was strange. They pointed to the sky and said:
"There's a colorful cloud over there!"

Then more and more people stopped and looked up, all of them feeling surprised.

But soon I felt something was wrong——

This colorful auspicious cloud actually flew closer and closer, and lower and lower, until it flew over the downtown area of ​​the city, flew above the tile roofs of the shops along the street, and flew over their heads, casting shadows and scattering colorful light. The stories of gods and monsters that they had heard from their elders since childhood were now close to them.

"How is this going?"

"miracle!"

"God bless you..."

Countless people stared blankly up at the sky, countless people prayed sincerely, and quite a few people followed the clouds.

But the colorful clouds were still flying lower and lower.

From the tiled roofs of the buildings and shops, it spread to the same level as the windows, and finally landed close to the ground on the busy streets.

I could vaguely hear a sentence:
"Go this way!"

It seems to be the voice of a child.

The people spontaneously made way for it.

The width of this colorful auspicious cloud almost fills an entire street, and its length is even longer. The middle part appears solid white, like clouds seen in the distance on a sunny day, or like cotton. The edges always have a natural gradient of colorful glow, giving people a feeling that standing on it will be very soft, and that climbing up it will allow them to ascend to heaven and become immortals.

With a bang, the auspicious clouds dispersed into mist and glow, pouring into the shops along the street to the left and right, and flowing to the end of the street, blowing cool and refreshing air on the face, with a pleasant fragrance.

The whole street was suddenly shrouded in fog and rosy clouds.

"Where are the gods?"

When the fog dissipated, everyone looked up.

But the scene was disappointing.

There was no holy and gentle female Bodhisattva, no kind and amiable old immortal, no majestic heavenly soldiers and generals, no golden boy and jade girl. On the empty and uneven ground, there were only twenty or so men lying there, all of them in rags, skinny as sticks, and looked like beggars.

All the onlookers present, as well as the increasing number of onlookers who came after hearing the noise, were confused.

At this moment, there was a cough.

"Cough cough..."

Someone slowly opened his eyes and woke up.

The onlookers bent over to look and saw the person lying on the ground opened his eyes dazedly, and the two sides looked at each other.

The former couldn't believe that after living for so many years, this was the first time he saw a miracle in a strange story, that the colorful auspicious cloud brought twenty beggars. The latter was equally unbelievable, that he was on an island the day before and could die at any time, but after a nap, he really returned to his homeland, just like the dream he had had in the past few years.

More and more people are waking up.

"who are you?"

An onlooker couldn't help but ask.

Hearing the local accent, everyone burst into tears.

The crying woke up more people.

It was only after listening to their stories that everyone learned that there was unrest on the sea a few years ago, with frequent accidents. Many ships never returned after going out to sea. They thought that they had encountered storms, pirates at sea, or were swept to the bottom of the sea by mermaids. In short, they were no longer alive. However, they did not expect that they were captured by a huge octagonal mermaid and taken to work as craftsmen to build a palace.

There are also the Longbo giants who mistook towering trees for grass, the giant shrimps and crabs that are ten feet tall, and the sea monsters that have various appearances and can only be recognized by experienced fishermen...

This is less thrilling than sinking into the sea due to storms, dying by pirates, or being eaten by sea monsters, but it seems more strange.

During this period, some kind-hearted people hurriedly invited them to sit in a nearby restaurant and asked the restaurant to give them food priority. Even some guests who were already eating, upon hearing about their story, hurriedly brought them the food, wine and tea on their tables. Government officials also arrived and said that they wanted to invite them back to the yamen, verify their identities, and send them back to their hometown.

Everyone was even more surprised when they heard that Master Lin and the Nine-tailed Fox had killed the sea monster and said he would send them back after a good sleep.

It turns out that the gods are indeed not on this cloud.

And this cloud did indeed bring the gods.

It’s in the stories they tell.

Just like what I have heard since childhood.

……

Deserted island overseas.

Lin Jue looked at his third senior brother's face and asked, "When did you learn the art of transformation so well?"

"As expected of Master Lin, I, the Taoist priest, cannot hide my tricks from him." The third senior brother did not answer but just smiled.

Lin Jue also knew it——

No matter how free and easy a person is, as long as he has feelings, he will have concerns and scruples in his heart.

A free and easy person like the Third Senior Brother should not care about his appearance. Even though he is over a hundred years old and has white hair, he is still a naughty boy. However, because of the bond he has, he is willing to leave his appearance at the time when they are most familiar with each other.

"Since you have such a heart, why don't you spend more time on cultivation? With your talent and character, even if you are too lazy to collect materials to make the elixir, you can achieve enlightenment sooner if you work harder. After achieving enlightenment, can't you be as old as you want?"

"Junior brother, what you said is wrong..." The third senior brother held the Yuanqiu fruit in one hand and the wine gourd in the other, shook his head and said to him:
"We are all skin and flesh. After becoming a Taoist, I turned back to being in my thirties or forties, but I looked thirty-four. Before becoming a Taoist, I was in my thirties or forties, but I also looked thirty-four. Before becoming a Taoist, I was not really in my thirties or forties. After becoming a Taoist, am I really in my thirties or forties? Since Junior Brother also thinks that I will eventually become a Taoist, there is a difference between being earlier or later, but the difference is not in this."

The third brother turned around and looked at the rubble on the ground. It was the remains of the giant octopus monster. He nodded repeatedly:

"Well, that's the difference!"

After a pause, he continued:

"If I can finally achieve enlightenment, I will live for three to five hundred years. If I achieve enlightenment later, then naturally, I will live for three to five hundred years. If I work harder and spend decades practicing, then after three to five hundred years, wouldn't I have lived a few decades less?"

Lin Jue listened and nodded.

These are two different ways of thinking.

One pursues length, the other exchanges width for length.

In addition to length, time also has width and thickness.

Some people have achieved enlightenment and lived for three to five hundred years, but in fact they have been in seclusion for one or two hundred years, never leaving the house, and the only thoughts in their minds are the truth of the Tao and the rules of magic. So how many years have they lived?

There are only one or two hundred years left. If you are trapped by worries and sorrows all day long, and live an unhappy and uncomfortable life, which is not the life you imagined at all, then how many years will it count?

No one else can give the answer.

I'm afraid it's difficult for me to give an answer.

Senior Brother has lived a carefree and easy life for many years, and he has been thinking about what he wants every day and night. Not to mention, since we came down from Mount Yi together, it has been the same number of years. The nearly 100 years that Senior Brother has lived has been broader and deeper than mine.

Of course there are flaws.

For example, today -

He almost died here.

If I die here, I will have no more time to live in the future.

The two ways of thinking have their own right and wrong in different people. Lin Jue certainly won't try to persuade his third brother to change his mind, because it is right for him. Even Lin Jue himself, if there is no Fuyao and the Purple Emperor who is obsessed with exorcising demons, he is more inclined to the way of thinking of his third brother.

However, fellow apprentices and fellow disciples are as close as brothers and do not need such persuasion. They can just state their needs and ask for help openly. Being straightforward is perhaps a better choice.

Just then, the third senior brother asked, "Little junior brother, are you worried that I can't catch up with you and want to persuade me to spend more energy on cultivation?"

So Lin Jue answered truthfully:

"No, it's because Junior Brother needs Senior Brother's help in the future to avoid the disaster."

The junior sister also said:

"me too."

The expressions and tones of both of them were very sincere, especially the junior sister, who was more serious.

In fact, at that moment, both of them thought that maybe they could not tell the third brother, so that he could continue to live a carefree and happy life, practice naturally, and achieve enlightenment. However, even if the trajectory of reality deviates from the prediction of the old man, it is highly likely that the third brother will achieve enlightenment. The Purple Emperor is exterminating demons and monsters, so he will definitely think of Fuyao, Xiaohua, the goblins and ghosts on Fuqiu Peak, and the inhuman mountain gods in Yishan. He is a chivalrous man and will not stand idly by.

He was already involved with it.

The words of the Sixth Senior Brother rang in my ears:

"Rather than adding to the possibility of failure and making the third brother regret it in the future, it is better to urge him to be more diligent. Anyway, seeing him having so much fun every day makes me jealous."

"These Immortals are so powerful and have so many means, yet they actually need my help..."

This is the response from the third brother.

As he spoke, he nonchalantly finished eating the Yuanqiu fruit and threw it away.

A fruit core fell on the beach.

He glanced back and said:

"Turning into spring mud to protect flowers..."

Princess Hua seemed to have been led astray by him and threw it away as well.

Two pits fell on the beach.

Lin Jue is no longer the poor immortal who he was when he first became enlightened. Now he owns ten original elixir trees, ten Yuanqiu immortal trees full of fruits, a whole mountain and several laborers. Just like the two immortals in the depths of Mount Yi, he no longer cares about a few fruit cores.

If it is lost, it is lost.

It is not a pity that it did not take root and sprout. If it did take root and sprout, although it would not produce the real Yuanqiu fruit, it might become an opportunity and fortune for someone here thousands of years later, which is also a good thing.

So he didn't even look at it.

On the contrary, Fuyao, Shimei and Xiaohua looked back frequently, as if they were still in the era of hard times.

The third brother thought for a long time before speaking: "That depends on whether you provide food and lodging!"

what is this?
Lin Jue did not hesitate:

"Brother, don't worry! The deep land of Yishan is full of mysterious spiritual charm. Sixth Brother is also there now. Can Ji Yang and Ji Yin still live without Uncle Shifu's food? If they go to my place, I will also accept a few disciples. The cooking skills of the eldest disciple are even better than Ji Yang and Ji Yin. Just ask them to cook whatever you want, brother."

(End of this chapter)