My years as a fortune teller

After a false alarm, I continued towards my destination.After walking for another half an hour, I finally saw a hut surrounded by bamboo fences in a valley.

There is a five or six square meter vegetable field outside the hut.On the side of the vegetable field grows a sturdy mulberry tree with a crown like a giant umbrella.

Here it is, at last.This is my destination, where Master practiced.This is a strange place, and there is very little water in this area for several miles in rainy and snowy weather.

I remember that once there was a strong wind, the rocks on the mountain rolled down, and my brother and I were so scared that we didn't know where to hide.Only Master sat in his own house and told us it was okay.As a result, many things around the area were damaged by the strong wind overnight, and our fence was also broken, but the hut was not damaged at all.

The master later said: "People who cultivate the Tao must have the protection of the patriarch and the help of the gods. There is nothing to be afraid of."There was another time when the flood came down from the mountain, and I immediately went to the hut, but the road was changed abruptly...

I came to the fence gate and gently pushed open the fence gate, ready to surprise Master.Suddenly a gray thing rushed towards me, and I instinctively turned my head to block it with my hands.

This thing actually bit my arm, "Oh my god!" I only yelled in pain.I felt like my arm was going to break, when I heard an old man's voice coming from the hut: "Dahui, Songkou, that's your third senior brother..." Then there was an old man with all white beard and hair, shaking a cattail fan, wearing a gray clothes, came out barefoot wearing straw sandals.

When I saw that it was Master, I hurried forward to salute with arms folded.It's a pity that my arm was bitten by that "big gray" and I couldn't lift it up.Master took the cattail fan and patted me on the head, so there is no need to be more polite.Then he turned his head and said to a 'dog': "Dahui is not going to apologize to your third senior brother yet."

I saw Da Hui who was hiding behind Master whispering, poking his head out quietly and looking at me shyly.I endured the pain and patted Dahui's head: "Master, when did you raise such a 'dog'?"

Master snorted softly: "Open your eyes and see if Big Hui is a 'wolf' or a 'dog'. There is no difference between a wolf and a dog..."

When I heard this, I hurriedly withdrew my hand: "What is this wolf..."

Master nodded slightly, and then told me to clean up.I went into the hut and said that the hut was actually made of wood.There is a small hall as soon as you enter the door, and there are two small bedrooms on the left and right sides, which were built by the master and the senior brothers.The place directly opposite the door is dedicated to the image of Taoist ancestor Taishang Laojun and the tablet of the patriarch.

I first came to the statue of the Taoist ancestor and the tablet of the patriarch, lit three pillars of fragrance, and respectfully bowed three times and kowtowed nine times.Then I walked into the small bedroom on the left, which was where our brothers and sisters lived together.

The furnishings inside have not changed at all, it is still a relatively large bunk.There was a mat on it, but no pillows or bedding.In addition, there is a simple bookcase with some books and materials on it, and our quilts are placed in the lower cabinet.I took out the quilt from the closet and carried it outside to dry it.I heard the master say outside: "Forget it, you came here either yesterday or today, and the quilts are all sun-dried, so you can just lay them on."

As soon as I heard it, a warm current flowed through my heart.I spread the quilt on the mat. The quilt was made of a few roe deer skins that the master got when he followed the ancestors to the outside of the customs in the early years, so it was super warm.

In summer, we usually sleep on mats, and in autumn and winter we only spread this mattress.Although it is the "autumn tiger" weather right now, the temperature difference between day and night is big, so I spread out a mattress, and if it gets hot, I can move my buttocks and sleep on a mat. This is the best way for a lazy person like me.As for the pillow, it is a small piece of log, similar to the pillows used by the ancients to sleep in the past, but it is round and even a slight movement will wake you up.

After packing these up, I took out the pot helmet and some salt from my bag and walked to another bedroom.This is where my master rests. A small bed is leaning against the wall, and the laying on it is the same as ours.There is a desk in the corner here, on which is an oil lamp besides the basic ancient books, and a futon is placed on a stool made of half a tree stump.There is also a small cabinet behind the stool, which contains some tableware, condiments and food.

I opened the cabinet and left a pot helmet, put the rest of the things in, and then cut the pot helmet into several small teeth.Then I went to my house to get a box of tea.

Master was sitting next to a big bluestone in the yard, where we ate.Seven or eight people can sit around this place. Of course, the place to sit is either a stone or a tree stump. Hey, why are there so many stones and tree stumps here?

I brought the cut Guokui and tea to Master: "I bought the Guokui when I came here. It's almost time for dinner now. Let's eat this at night. This tea is a rock tea given to me by a customer. You can try it." .”

The master looked at the sky and said, "It's still early? Go and boil some water and make this tea for me. I'll try it." I agreed and came to the outer wall near the master's bedroom.Here is another stove made of mud. We all burn firewood, so we pay attention to safety every time we cook.When I saw that there was no more water, I took a wooden bucket to a mountain spring not far away to fetch a bucket of water.

Then put a small bag of tea into the pot first, then pour water into the pot and put it on the stove.I put a few chopped logs in and lit it below, and the fire started after a while.

I watched from the side, and the water boiled in a short time.I hurriedly put out the fire, and then brought the water down.I went to the master's house and took out two small bowls, which are the utensils we usually drink water in. I got a small bowl of water for the master and myself.Then he poured some mountain spring water on Dahui.

The master took a sip of tea, stroked his beard and said, "This tea is good. Put the rest away for me. Some friends will come in two days. It's just a good time to greet them. You go and get some pickles, let's have dinner."

I went into the house to get some pickles, drank tea and ate pot knuckles and pickles with Master.This is the basic life of practitioners on the mountain.I suddenly thought of Da Hui: "How do you eat Da Hui?"

"Don't turn it off. It will eat when it's hungry. This guy eats meat every day." I secretly smiled and looked at Dahui.This guy actually hid his head under the bluestone with some shame.This is the difference between Taoism and Buddhism.Taoism talks about the natural formation of nature, which greatly relaxes the principles of practice.

After dinner, I cleaned up the dishes.Helping the master to walk towards the gate of the fenced yard.This is the master's rule, which strictly abides by the principles of Taoist health preservation.After dinner, no matter what the weather is, you must insist on taking a walk. If you can't walk outside, you will walk for a while even in the room.

"Master, why did you raise a wolf?" I looked at Dahui who was following me and said, "Aren't you afraid that it will hurt you?"

Master looked back at me: "Last time I went to gather medicine, and when I came back, I saw a wounded female wolf on the side of the road. It seemed that she was hurt by some beast, her stomach was cut open, and her intestines flowed all over the floor. Just like this, it kept crawling forward, with tears streaming from the corners of its eyes. I followed its gaze and saw something wriggling in the grass not far away. When I went over, it turned out to be a big snake , clinging tightly to a little wolf. When I got angry, I killed the snake and rescued the little wolf..."

When I heard this, I directly interrupted Master's words: "Master, that snake also needs to survive and reproduce, but..." Before I could finish my words, I got a heavy "burst" on the head: "Use a big bully!" Is it wrong to be small?" I touched my head and said, "Did you eat that snake?"

Master stopped and looked at Big Hui: "I carried the little wolf to the old wolf, and the old wolf died after howling at me. I thought Big Hui was too small, and it would be hard to stay in the mountains, so I hugged him." I came to raise it. Which snake was eaten by it, and then let it go when it grew up, but it didn't go away, so I stayed here."

Speaking of this, Master stopped and laughed for a while: "Wolves are actually more sincere than humans, but those Confucian scholars in ancient times called wolves too evil. A few days ago, I retreated and didn't eat. I don't know where to catch a rabbit. Just put it at my door, and don't enter it..." The master shed tears as he said.This may be the original mentality of people close to nature.