I collect cultural relics in the human world

Chapter 194 Tombstone ()

Fan Yu did not expect this answer and fell silent for a moment. The three of them stood for a long time in the silence that was deafening even with their snorting, and then heard He Si say: "That's why Xiao Shitou has never been able to see his grandfather. It's because of him." ...Even in a dream, you still can’t pass your level?”

"He erected that monument in his heart, and that monument was like a nail, nailing his time. From that day on, he never grew up."

The little stone took another step forward, and seemed to stand alone in front of the tombstone. No light reached there, only an endless stretch of space, so dark that it seemed to reach the depths of the earth.

His figure disappeared, but the voice still came from the darkness: "I saw with my own eyes that grandpa's body lost color, the decorations peeled off piece by piece, and his face became pitted, and eventually turned into powder along with the corners of the eaves, but I Unscathed, growing up day by day.”

Xiao Shitou suddenly stopped, but the three of them knew that he still had something to say, and no one spoke. Even Xiao Jiu stopped flapping her wings and quietly stood back on He Si's shoulder to wait.

After a long time, Xiao Shitou finally spoke again: "It's because of me, because of my existence that grandpa died completely. I grew up because I took away his vitality. The death was caused by me.”

"No." Qin Jian's voice was cold and hard, mixed with tenderness, "Everything in the world has its time limit. You have no ability to take away the fate of anything."

"Then why did my grandfather and I have completely different endings?"

"Because your abilities are different, or in other words, your obsessions are different," Qin Jian said clearly word for word, "The obsession of Qifeng Immortal is to protect. I have not asked, and he has never said that, although it is not I don't know why, but he wants to keep the corner hidden in the abandoned kiln. And when your spiritual consciousness is gradually opening and the chaos is still there, the thing you fear most is loneliness. , one dragon, two phoenixes, three lions, seahorses, celestial horses, six fishes, nine bulls, one dragon, one phoenix, and nine bullfights. In the end, you look like a monkey. Those of your companions are all you."

Seeing that Xiao Shitou was silent, Qin Jian said again: "Don't forget that I am just a mirror. If you can really steal the spiritual energy of other things, how can I keep you by my side."

"Because you are stronger than me."

Qin Jian smiled. He seemed to want to step forward and touch the child's head: "If we really want to talk about it, you are the spirit of cultural relics."

He Si felt that the string that was originally stretched between them was gradually relaxing.

"Brother Jing, did the first ray of spiritual energy that reshaped my body come from my grandfather?"

Qin Jian nodded without concealment, then remembered that Xiao Shitou might not be able to see it, and said: "Yes, but he did not die because he lost that ray of spiritual energy. On the contrary, it was because he died that the strand of spiritual energy I collected them in plastic barn jars and passed them to you. This was also his last wish. Even without you, he would not survive. The body he is attached to will eventually weather. He does not have the ability to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so he can only live. Watching as the spiritual energy that inspired him will return to heaven and earth."

"So, grandpa is also in my body, right?"

"Correct."

"Then why can't I see him? Why do I only see this tombstone every time I think of him? Is it... that he doesn't want to see me?"

"Because you trapped yourself."

"Where am I stuck?"

"Mustard Seed Sumeru, the universe of all things, you are trapped in a thought, we are also trapped in this thought, and the whole world is trapped in your body."

"How am I going to get out?"

"It's better to turn back while sitting upside down than Guanyin." He Si said this answer almost instinctively. At the same time, she heard Qin Jian say in a louder voice: "Go forward, don't hesitate, don't look back."

"Go forward?" Xiao Shitou and He Si's voices sounded at the same time.

"Yes, go forward, go to the place where there is light," Qin Jian said firmly, as if answering the little stone, as if answering He Si, more as if answering himself, "Let the stagnant time Flow, bring the past to the future, let the past have the future.”

"I...seem to understand."

The black tombstone was buried in the soil again. Xiao Jiu galloped forward for a distance, but the figure of the little stone disappeared without a trace.

"Uncle Qin, what's going on?" Fan Yu also followed Xiaojiu and took a few steps forward. The long tunnel was empty.

"It's time for him to understand. Let's move on." As soon as he finished speaking, a layer of fine silver light appeared on the dark soil not far away, as if it had absorbed the moonlight, and the previous barrenness evolved into lushness. Looking closer, it turns out that the moonlight is shining in from the entrance of the cave, and there is a person standing at the exit of the cave, just like the small stone before, appearing quietly.

The long tunnel finally came to an end, and the figure suddenly disappeared, still the same small stone as before.

"That's Brother Shitou's grandfather?" After Fan Yu finished speaking, he chased Qin Jian out without waiting for a reply. He Si followed him out of the tunnel and stood in the spacious and bright yard. For a moment, he felt as if he was in another world.

The night has faded, and the sky is no longer pure black. A bright sapphire blue is rising from a distant place, as if the sea has surged into the night. The moon was setting in the west, and the stars were sparsely dotted in the gradually whitening sky, shining with a weak but firm light.

He Si discovered that they were back to the starting point, back to the courtyard where they found Xingshi.

The old locust tree is still there, and the antique roof ridge and flying eaves are still there. On the roof ridge, counting from one to ten, there are ten ridge beasts sitting on the roof. It seems that they just played hide and seek.

But everything has changed again. The abandoned kiln has been turned into a large courtyard. The surrounding layout strictly follows the "kiln with five light and dark rooms and four and six chambers". It is the most classic and elegant style of cave dwellings in northern Shaanxi. It is tall and elegant, exquisite and gorgeous, and has a unique charm. .

When I woke up, time had gone back thousands of years, but the moon was still the same.

"Children, get up!"

A shout rang out, and an old man walked out of the main kiln and straightened up under the exquisitely carved hanging flower door. Then there was a sound of laughter, the roof became bare, and a group of running dolls appeared in the yard that was empty just now.

"Riding the Phoenix Immortal? But this figure... why is it different from the one he saw just now?" Fan Yu took a few steps forward in confusion, but found that none of those people seemed to be able to see him. He stretched out his hand to touch the figure. An old man, but he watched helplessly as his hand passed through the old man's shoulder, "What's going on?"

"The hide-and-seek is over, this is just the time in my memory." The youthful voice sounded from behind the three of them. Except for Qin Jian, the other two turned around in surprise.

"Shi Shishi...Brother Shi Shi?"

"It's me, Fan Chu." The young man has become much thinner, his facial features are gentle and upright, and when he smiles, there is still a hint of a stone-like tiger's head between his eyebrows.

"It's really you, Little Shitou! The person who just appeared at the entrance of the cave is also you, right?" He Si's surprise turned into surprise. After she finished speaking, she heard Qin Jian say: "You have finally grown up."

"Yes, I have finally grown up." He looked at the children running and playing in front of him, and then moved his eyes to the Phoenix Rider. I wonder if it was He Si's illusion. She always felt that the old man was also gentle and kind at this moment. His eyes moved over.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

"I already told you."

"Then let's say it again, one last time, and say it solemnly."

"Okay," the young man said with tears in his eyes, heading in the direction of the old man, "Goodbye."

The old man nodded, his lips opening and closing silently: "Goodbye."

The world refuses to look back, but time always moves forward. All the cave dwellings on this land suddenly lit up with lights at this moment, like countless stars twinkling around them. Then, those stars began to shine from the soil, stones, and wood. Break free and surge in one direction.

"Follow me." Qin Jian said and took the lead in running. They followed the starlight and passed by cave dwellings dormant in the folds of loess. Each of them contained time belonging to small stones, and those times also turned into starlight at this moment.

More and more stars gathered, and they heard the roar of the Yellow River, and every crack on the earth rose and fell with their breathing.

The morning fog is gathering, the sun is about to rise, and the stars are about to set.

The little stone stood quietly by the running water. The stars were bright in front of his eyes, but behind him, only pure darkness remained.

"It's time to wake up." The young man said to himself, and then, the stars that shined in his past life fell into the never-ending Yellow River one by one, and rushed to the sea, solemn and magnificent.

Such is the death.