My Sword Has a Way

Chapter 12 A young man’s life shouldn’t be like this

The young man put down the half roasted chicken in his hand, ran out of the yard and ran straight to the dilapidated arch bridge. When Xu Zhian ran to the arch bridge, it was already completely dark.

The young man looked at the darkness on the ancient road and couldn't help feeling sad. He couldn't explain what that feeling was, but he knew that he was really lonely at that time, so lonely that he could even hear his own heartbeat clearly.

Xu Zhian returned to his yard dejectedly. Looking at the fragrant half roast chicken on the table, the boy had no appetite at all, even though he was really hungry.

Xu Zhian opened the letter with a slight tremor, and saw delicate small characters written on it, with the style of his adoptive mother's handwriting. It was written by his younger sister herself.

"Brother, Meng Yao is gone. Please forgive Meng Yao for leaving without saying goodbye. Since mother passed away, you have suffered too much to take care of me. Every time I see you being bullied, Meng Yao will be very uncomfortable. I really want to help you, but every time you protect me. Meng Yao is really useless. You always leave the delicious food for me to eat, and would rather starve than eat an extra bite. I don't want to hide behind you anymore. Meng Yao has grown up, and I want to protect my brother in the future, so that he will no longer be bullied by others, live in a big yard, eat delicious buns, and live the life he wants. So brother, you have to take good care of yourself and wait for Meng Yao to come back! You must wait for me to come back!"

The young man looked at the letter in his hand for a long time without putting it down.

Xu Zhian sat by the door, leaning against the door frame, looking at the autumn moon in the sky, his eyes gradually becoming moist.

He didn't know how long he could live, or whether he could wait until the willow trees by the river sprouted new buds. The boy had no answer in his heart.

The moon was bright, the stars were sparse, and the wind was biting. The young man looked at the yard next door which had no lights on, and then looked at his own house which seemed desolate.

Suddenly he felt like crying. The boy had been very strong since he was young and had never cried. Even if he suffered a great injustice, he would always find various reasons to comfort himself.

But now it was really too painful, the boy felt like crying as his nose felt sore, he couldn't hold back the grievances he had suppressed for many years.

This was the first time that the boy cried so sadly and so openly.

The old Taoist outside the door heard the boy crying and smiled: "It will be dawn soon."

After saying this, the old Taoist pushed open the door of the young man's yard. This was the first time that the old Taoist had stepped into the young man's yard in more than ten years in Xiaolingang. Suddenly, a wind blew in the yard, and moonlight spread all over the ground.

The thin young man was startled by the old Taoist who suddenly barged in, and hurriedly wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve. Looking at the young man's appearance, the sloppy Taoist smiled and said, "You are so old, but you are still crying. This is not like you, Xu Zhian."

The young man was a little angry at the sloppy old Taoist who suddenly broke in and said, "If you are here to make fun of me, the door is at the back. I don't welcome you."

The Taoist priest looked surprised and said, "Are you angry already? I thought you wouldn't be angry."

The sloppy Taoist suddenly saw half a roast chicken on the table that was still emitting fragrance, and his eyes immediately showed joy.

The old Taoist priest didn't hesitate and walked to the table, opened the oil paper and said, "Xu Zhian, did you get rich today, or do you have any happy events? Why are you suddenly willing to buy half a roast chicken? This is the first time for a grown woman to ride in a sedan chair."

The old Taoist didn't hesitate and started eating. Xu Zhian didn't say anything when he saw this. After all, his life was like an ant and anyone could come and step on it, so it didn't matter if he was an old Taoist.

Seeing that the young man did not stop him, the sloppy Taoist said with a smile: "Xu Zhian, you are so young, why are you so lifeless?"

The young man walked up to the old Taoist priest and said seriously, "Master, I know you are not an ordinary person. I want to ask you for a favor. This half roast chicken will be your reward, okay?"

The old Taoist said as he ate: "Then you tell me first."

Xu Zhian hesitated for a moment and said, "Can you help me calculate when I will die and how long it will take for my little sister to come back?"

The old Taoist scolded: "You are really good at taking advantage. These are obviously two different questions. You have to pay more."

When Xu Zhian heard about the extra money, he immediately changed his mind and said, "Then help me calculate when I will die so that I can dig a grave in advance. I heard from the people in the village that the dead must be buried in the ground, otherwise they will not be able to reincarnate and will become a wandering ghost."

The old Taoist was slightly stunned. How could it be like this?

The old Taoist looked at the serious look on the boy's face and suddenly felt that he shouldn't be so unreasonable: "Okay, then I'll help you calculate it."

After saying this, the old Taoist wiped his hands on himself, took out two and a half copper coins from his waist and put them in the boy's large bowl.

The old Taoist picked up the bowl and shook it vigorously. When the copper coin stopped, Xu Zhian hurriedly asked the sloppy Taoist: "How is it? How many years can I live?"

The old Taoist frowned and then replied: "According to the hexagram, Xu Zhian, you can live to be a hundred years old."

Xu Zhian quickly asked again: "Master, is it true?"

The sloppy Taoist said with certainty: "It's real, more real than Widow Liu's breasts."

Xu Zhian smiled and said nothing more.

Seeing the young man about to act like a dead fish again, the sloppy Taoist said, "I say, boy, why are you always so lifeless, as if you are about to die? A young man should act like a young man, not be happy when seeing the spring breeze, not be annoyed when seeing the summer cicadas, not be sad when seeing the autumn wind, and not sigh when seeing the winter snow. Just like Xia Shuyin next door, who also has no father or mother, but is still full of energy and vigor."

Xu Zhian smiled slightly, his face full of bitterness: "I am not Xia Shuyin, nor am I Mr. Gai, so I can't be as happy as a summer insect or a winter snow, or as proud as a spring breeze. When Meng Yao was here, I would be busy all day long just to make a living, so naturally I had no time to think about him. Now that Meng Yao is gone, I suddenly don't want to be so tired anymore."

The sloppy old Taoist continued, "Although you don't have Mr. Gai, you still have Qi Mengyao. Don't you want to see her again and hear her call you brother again? She is your only relative in this world."

The young man looked at the sloppy Taoist with a frustrated look and said, "Of course I want to, but what can I do? I can only chop wood and brew wine, and I don't have any other strengths. I don't even know how long I can live. Meng Yao is a big family in Yunhai Huancheng, with a bright future. I am just a poor guy who is worried about my food supply in the future. I don't even know where Yunhai Huancheng is."

The sloppy Taoist then pressed on, "Young man, what does it matter if you are poor? It's nothing more than chopping wood a thousand times and blowing the wind a thousand miles away. What does her Cloud Sea Fantasy City matter? It's not the best in the world. Even if it is the best in the world, why can't you be the best? You have come to the human world and suffered all the sufferings in the world. Are you willing to end it like this? Are you worthy of the life that your dead parents exchanged their lives for?"

Looking at the boy's slightly clenched fist, the sloppy Taoist patted the boy on the shoulder and said, "This world is big, and the road is wide. Your life shouldn't be like this!"