Chapter 4: The king, the king, the ministers, the father, the son, the son
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, why did you leave so early?"
"... Your Majesty, your old man said: The king is the guide for his ministers, and the king is not upright. , Chen Tou In another country, if the country is not upright, the people will attack it. If the father is not kind, the son will run away to another country. If the son is not upright, the husband will destroy his wife. If the husband is not upright, the wife can remarry. ”
"My lord, you said that you would lead us to build water conservancy projects so that the water from the Miasma River could be used to irrigate farmland. You said that in the future, we would have food for our families, books for our children, so that the elderly would be supported, and the young would have something to do. Teach... Wuwuwuwu, prince, our brothers risked their lives to follow you, but why did you leave so early, prince?"
Lucheng was sleeping on the beam of the ruined temple. I was awakened by bursts of crying. When he first came to this world, he was extremely insecure.
Therefore, even in an empty ruined temple, he still created a suspicious array and placed a set of quilts in a hidden corner of the ruined temple, while he jumped up to the rafters and cleared a place to sleep.
Although it is a little smaller, it is at least somewhat defensive.
When he woke up and turned around, he immediately clenched the hilt of the sword beside his hand, but after a while, Lu Cheng, whose whole body was tense, gradually relaxed.
He turned his head and saw outside that it was approaching early morning and when the sky was still dark, an old man in ragged clothes was kneeling in front of the temple statue and crying.
"My lord, did someone kill you? If you have a soul in heaven, tell me a dream. Even if I turn into a ghost, I will not let go of the person who killed you."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
The man did not shed tears easily, but before he reached the sad point, the old man in ragged clothes knelt there and cried for a long time, until there was a middle-aged man outside the temple, some Walking in fearfully and timidly, calling softly He shouted:
"Dad?"
"...I'll be out right away."
"No rush, dad, no rush." The middle-aged man seemed Extremely afraid of his father, he immediately withdrew again.
"My lord, these are the white-flour steamed buns that you were reluctant to eat during your lifetime. Today, you and my brother will share half of it. It's a pity, it's a pity that I, Li Meng, can no longer clean the temple for you. Don't be angry with me."
As he spoke, the old man took out a white-faced steamed bun from his arms and broke it into two pieces. He placed one piece on the long table in front of the statue, then turned around and left.
“Li Meng?”
Because of the following scene, Lu Cheng became somewhat interested in this old man.
He looked at the gray sky outside, and after some calculation, he felt that it would be too early to get up even if he went to farm at this hour.
Li Meng walked out of the ruined temple, looked at his eldest son with his head lowered, and then looked at the big rattan basket next to his eldest son's feet, smiled, and then reluctantly curled up and sat in it.
He was tall but very thin, and the middle-aged man was also tall and strong, so it was not difficult to carry him on his back. The two of them walked away from the village.
But neither of them noticed that at some point behind them, a young Taoist with a pale face and coughing lightly from time to time followed.
Lu Cheng, who followed the two men, originally just wanted to satisfy his curiosity, but as time passed, the middle-aged man carried Li Meng into the back mountain, and Lu Cheng, who followed behind, His face gradually changed.
"...the southern barbarians gathered there, who did not practice good ways, did not support their parents, and did not love their children. It is said that they raised yin and worms to do anything." In my mind, I recalled what the old man Hu said before, and the face of the young Taoist. It’s getting harder and harder to watch.
He came from an era of great material affluence. Even though he knew some ancient things through various channels, it was still difficult to accept them when he experienced them personally.
Following us from dawn to noon, the two people in front of us had already entered the mountains.
Lu Cheng could hear the conversations between the two from time to time, so he did not believe that the middle-aged man would throw his biological father off the mountain, so he never took action.
Although, on both sides of this deep mountain, white bones have appeared from time to time in the bushes and grass.
"Li Jian, take this half piece of white flour bun back and give it to my little grandson. Don't secretly give it to your mother-in-law."
"Dad, that's for you to eat."
"Put me down, my bones will fall apart. I have never enjoyed anything in this life." What a blessing it is for you, I will let you go back and bear the pain of this journey."
"...Dad."
That Li Jian was already very tired at this time. Putting down the rattan basket behind him, Li Meng climbed out and moved his hands and feet.
"My grandson is a great person. As for that woman of yours, she may not be able to stay with you forever. Humph, it's useless to tell this to a loser like you. I also know you won't listen."
"Actually. , when the prince died, I deserved it. Back then, I personally threw my father out of here because he left the only grandma who was good to me here and waited for his turn to die. Cry and howl, I make him I was tied up with a cane, thrown down, and kicked. It was the prince who taught me how to think like a human being and live for decades."
"Prince, this is a humble position. I'm here to serve you. Hahahahahaha"
After saying that, Li Meng jumped up and jumped down from the cliff with a loud smile. He didn't hesitate, and the figure disappeared in an instant, leaving only that The laughter still echoes in the mountains.
“Dad!”
Li Jian ran two steps after him, then covered his face with his hands, curled up and knelt on the ground crying.
Lu Cheng stood for a long time in the morning mist behind him. He never made a move, firstly because of what Li Meng said, and secondly because Li Meng jumped off the cliff too decisively without even the slightest hesitation.
In the afternoon, after returning to the ruined temple, Lu Cheng sat on the ground and stared at the stone statue in the temple for a long time. Then he suddenly stood up and walked out of the temple.
He wanted to know more about the person who once ruled here. Understand what happened here.
The moment he walked out of the temple today, Lu Cheng just noticed that there were five characters written on the plaque in front of this simple temple: Wang Lingguan Temple.
(End of this chapter)