Chapter 198 [Strange Valley]

   It is a joy to see the same kind on the monotonous road.

  The weather is getting colder, and the frequency of people's activities outside the house is greatly reduced, especially in the north. In this environment, thick walls and warm flames are the things that can most soothe people's hearts.

   But on a big pine tree outside the town, Fang Chang saw someone.

  Practitioner.

  The other party built a simple shack on the tree to look like a shelter, and he should have been living in it all the time.

  When Fang Chang saw him, he was sitting at the door of the tree house, his bare feet dangling in the cold wind, just looking into the distance.

   Very maverick.

   And looking at the eyes of the few people outside, Fang Chang knew that the other party could not be understood by the world. It is estimated that in the perception of the surrounding people, the person on the tree is either a lunatic or a mental problem. Everyone is already familiar with it, and the scattered information revealed in the conversations carried by the wind also proves this point.

  However, during the days around the tree, the higher the level of aura as it gets closer to the tree, it tells the people who can see this scene exactly: the person on the tree is not an extraordinary person.

  He stepped forward a few steps, looked up at the other party, and said, "The weather is fine today."

  The man on the tree seemed to have discovered Fang Chang earlier, but he didn't move. After hearing these words, he slowly retracted his feet, pulled on two hemp shoes from the shack, and jumped down the tree lightly.

   There was no sound when it landed, like a meat pad with cat's claws.

  He walked towards Fang Chang casually, nodded: "Well, the weather is really nice, can guests come to my house?"

   "Okay." Fang Chang followed behind him, jumped lightly, and came to the big pine tree together.

  Although it is winter, the pines and cypresses and other trees are still green, but the color of the needle leaves is a little dim. The trunk is flat and easy to sit on, unlike acacia trees, which rely on the skin to crush long thorns, and there is a faint fragrance of pine branches.

  This practitioner’s hut obviously cannot accommodate the second person, and it seems that although the other person has a deep cultivation base, he must follow a path that is not confused by external objects, and will not focus on managing the residence and expanding the internal space.

  So the shack on the tree, or the tree house, is just a simple shack built with wooden planks and ropes, without any other peculiarities.

   "The one below, what's your name?" Fang Chang sat down and asked the practitioner next to him.

   "Just call me Matsuma-ke."

  The other party's personality is quite cheerful, and he smiled when he heard this.

  Looking around, Fang Chang laughed dumbfoundedly. The name is indeed very appropriate. He lives among the trunks of pine trees all the year round, and even puts his residence on the tree. Isn't he just a guest of pine trees?

  He then asked: "How long have you been here?"

   "No more, no less, exactly thirteen years." Song Jianke stretched out his hand to stroke his beard, and said softly, and then he asked, "Is the guest passing by?"

  Fang Chang nodded: "I happened to be passing by here. I was supposed to keep walking in this direction. When I met an old monkey monster, I didn't expect to meet a real cultivator halfway. The situation here is very strange, so come up and get acquainted."

"It's not true cultivation, but after more than ten years of cultivation, it's true that I'm no longer the person I used to be. As for the situation here, haha, it's quite strange, and people around look at it differently." Song Jianke didn't know if he was modest, and continued He turned to say, "However, I may have seen the monkey monster that the guest mentioned."

   Fang Chang's heart moved, and he said strangely:

   "Right here?"

  Song Jianke said flatly:

   "This is the place. Not long ago, I saw a monkey monster dressed in a coat and hurried into the town along the official road. There were other monsters following behind. It seemed that one was running away and the other was chasing."

   "It's just that the one at the back hasn't changed its form, but I don't know how to cover it up very well. Although I'm not confused by blindfolds like ordinary people, I can't see its roots."

   Stretching out his hand to calculate slightly, Fang Chang said with a smile:

   "Haha, thank you for showing me the way. It's the monkey monster I'm going to meet."

  The two chatted for a long time.

  Communication with colleagues, Fang Chang feels that he has benefited a lot. This pine guest is of high level, and he has lived in the border of a prosperous place all year round, so he is well-informed. Although the two cultivated in completely different ways, they can also understand by analogy. And Song Jianke was also impressed by Fang Chang's understanding of Tao.

  Song Jianke was originally an ordinary person in the village and town below, but the karma method embarked on the road of cultivating immortals. According to his description, it is also a branch of the method of joining the world.

  As his cultivation deepened, he gradually became more and more unique in the eyes of the townspeople.

  Finally, he simply scattered all his family wealth and neighbors, got some boards to occupy the big trees at the entrance of the village, lived on them all day long, and named himself "Song Jian Ke". Even the daily food, the neighbors who have received favors, send some up every now and then, although the portion is not much and often forgets, he is not annoyed.

  After more than ten years of this, the surrounding people have gotten used to his existence, to the strange man with a mental disorder on the big pine tree by the town, and even told the children not to play around there. The townspeople also made up some stories and told them to the children before going to bed, and even used this "weird man" to stop children from crying at night.

  Fang Chang and Song Jianke had a good chat.

   Before I knew it, it was already the third morning.

  The two sat on the branch of a tree to discuss the Tao, and there were some visions around them.

  The ice and snow melt, the vegetation turns green, and minor illnesses and pains are healed without medicine. No matter men, women, old or young, their minds are clearer, and even their daily activities are smoother.

   It’s just that these anomalies are very small, and they didn’t arouse the surprise of the people too much. When they saw it, they just sighed and continued to busy with their work. Nesting in the house in winter, doing some things such as rubbing corn ears and spinning thread, which can relieve boredom and keep warm, is what ordinary people usually do on weekdays.

  After bidding farewell to Song Jianke, Fang Chang didn't stay in the town below, but went directly through the town along the official road.

Relying on his strong eyesight, he looked back from afar. On the tall pine tree on the other side of the town, the pine guest was sitting barefoot next to the tree house just like when he saw it, staring at it motionless in the cold wind. sky. Seemingly aware of Fang Chang's gaze, the other party smiled and waved in this direction, then continued to look at the sky.

  …

   In the next three to five days, he didn't know how far he had traveled.

  Fang Chang's view of the scenery on both sides has also changed from lingering incessantly before to watching flowers on horseback.

  He just went to one place, refilled some food and drinks, and then continued on the road, no longer experiencing the people and things he encountered on the road these days, no longer visiting and feeling the customs of various places.

  In a valley, Fang Chang met Sun Yun.

  This valley is quite abnormal in people's eyes. It doesn't look like winter at all. The birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant. Half of it is an ordinary valley, and the other half is a peach forest.

  When I met Sun Yun, this monkey monster was walking back from the outside carrying tools.

  He still doesn't have a shape-changing form, but only uses clothes to cover up his differences from humans. Although his face is full of hair, he is not suspicious because of his relatively simple and honest appearance.

  (end of this chapter)