Volume 2 Cold Dew Chapter 8: Ma Tuan
During the following holidays, Jiang You first took Jiang Mo to eat and drink in Jinrong, and then took Jiang Mo to eat and drink in Qiaocheng.
We arrived at the foot of Yinyan Mountain in Panning in the evening of the 7th and found the inn we had booked, Banmi Yangguang.
The innkeeper is a middle-aged man named Zhao De.
After Jiang You entered, the tabby cat lying on the counter wagged its tail and jumped to the ground. Zhao De poked his head out from behind the counter. "Want a place to stay? Do you have a reservation?"
"Yes. I ordered it online."
"Give me your ID and phone number."
Jiang You gave his cell phone number and handed his ID card to Zhao De.
"Two rooms reserved?"
"Well, there's a friend who may or may not come. Let's open one first."
After Zhao De completed the registration, he handed the room card to Jiang You. He glanced at Jiang Mo squatting on the ground, looking at the tabby cat.
He said, "Ma Tuan, come back."
The tabby cat wagged its tail and walked out of the inn.
"This cat has quite a personality," Jiang You commented.
"It was originally a wild cat. It would occasionally pass by my place, and I would give it some food. The winter before last, it snowed heavily. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard it screaming outside. It screamed very miserably. I opened the door and saw that I didn't know what had happened to it. Its body was covered in blood, and some of its hair was bald. I saw that there was nothing I could do, so I had to clean its wounds, get it some food, and take it to the hospital during the day. Later, it called my place home."
“It’s fate.”
"Yes, he is your child?" Zhao De watched Jiang Mo stand up and walk to Jiang You.
"yes."
"It's foggy on the mountain recently. It's best not to take him up the mountain when he's so young."
"Get ready to take the cable car up, take a look and come down."
Seeing that Jiang You had made up his mind, Zhao De stopped trying to persuade him.
Jiang You took Jiang Mo to the room on the second floor. The style of the room was antique Chinese style, clean and elegant.
Jiang You opened the window and looked out.
There are several trees in the backyard, and some rattan chairs and tables.
After settling down, Jiang You took Jiang Mo to the backyard and found a rattan chair to sit down.
It was the last day of the holiday and there were not many people in the inn.
As night falls , the temperature drops.
Ma Tuan suddenly appeared in the backyard.
Jiang Mo got off the chair and squatted down.
The man and the cat began to look at each other again.
"Ma Tuan likes your son very much."
Jiang You raised his head and saw Zhao De walking over to him and sitting down with two cans of beer.
Jiang You reached out to take the beer, opened it, and took a sip.
"The temperature difference here is huge. He'll catch a cold if he wears this."
"Just play for a while and then go up."
"Here..." Zhao De pointed to his head.
"His parents died in a car accident, and he was in a coma for more than a week before he woke up," Jiang You looked at Jiang Mo, "The doctor said that he psychologically refused to communicate with the world, and that he might get better slowly as he grows up," Jiang You turned his head and saw the sympathy in Zhao De's eyes, "There is a temple behind my house, and the monks inside said that I should take him out more often to see the mountains and the sea."
Jiang Mo reached out and touched Ma Tuan's ear.
Ma Tuan shrank back a little, then walked to Zhao De and jumped onto Zhao De's thigh.
"So you brought him here?"
"yes."
"It's nice to take the cable car to see the scenery."
Ma Tuan cried out, and Zhao De touched the fur on its back.
"Is there any problem?" Jiang You asked.
"I always feel that this mountain has some divinity, but also some evil. Many hikers like to take small paths and like to 'discover' the scenery. You bring a child with you..."
Jiang You understood what Zhao De meant, "I understand."
"Then I'll go in. It's windy at night, so don't stay too long."
Ma Tuan jumped off Zhao De's legs, walked around the yard, and then slowly moved in front of Jiang Mo.
Jiang You looked up and saw the starry sky was bright.
He drank his wine slowly.
He heard the sound of a door being pushed open and the sound of slight footsteps. He turned around and saw Tang Butian.
White knee-length halter dress, holding a wooden sword.
The hair flutters in the wind.
Tang Butian sat down where Zhao De had sat before.
She saw Jiang Mo and Ma Tuan staring at each other motionlessly, "What are they doing?"
"Probably, communicating?"
"Communication? Something's wrong with that cat?"
Jiang You suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed Tang Butian's hand. Tang Butian was about to break free when she found that the scenery in front of her had changed.
She seemed to be passing through one strange whirlpool after another. Countless colors were blending together, wriggling, splitting, and converging. All kinds of abstract, extremely ugly, yet extremely gorgeous scenes unfolded before her.
I don’t know how long it took, but everything in my sight gradually stabilized.
Dark green mist.
Black dots of light floated in the mist.
She saw a huge twisted monster, one of his hands holding down another monster, rubbing it on the ground.
It's ground ginger and a cat.
She figured it out.
She turned her head and wanted to look at Jiang You, but Jiang You let go of her hand.
She saw Jiang You looking at her.
He asked, "How's the little tiger?"
"Good."
"Have you found the answer?"
“Found it.”
"What?"
Tang Butian did not answer. She asked, "I began to think about the meaning of my cultivation."
"Hey, if your faith is shaken, you will become possessed. Did you see those strange things just now? They are so ugly."
"Is it because I'm pretty?"
"Yes," Jiang You admitted frankly, "I follow my biological instincts."
"No matter how powerful your cultivation is, you are just a human-shaped nuclear bomb."
"It's different. Humanoid nuclear bombs have no radiation and are naturally pollution-free. They don't require a lot of money and energy to be managed later. They are also renewable resources and can be thrown out to take the blame when needed."
He saw a smile on Tang Butian's lips.
Jiang Mo stood up.
Ma Tuan ran into the house quickly.
"What do you want to do?" Tang Butian asked.
"Live a good life, read books, watch TV series, plant flowers and trees, and work hard to lose weight..."
"Is that all?"
"The rules that govern the world are the most powerful. Look at human history. How many people have used evil ways to stir up trouble and seemed invincible? But what happened? Those who have to rely on external forces to win are weaklings."
"Take the recent Panjin Culture Media, that Lei Yao, for example. She obviously doesn't understand girl groups. If someone who knows the business had the same resources, they would have already beaten 123. But she knows some evil tricks, so, if she doesn't have enough ability, she can use external plug-ins to make up for it. It seems that the result is about the same, if she hadn't met us. But... she won't trade fairly with humans."
"What's the meaning?"
"For example, when you buy something on Taobao, you have to look at the store rating, buyer comments, product description, material size, etc., and you can still be deceived. When you trade with us, what you trade is your life span, soul, fortune, etc., which you cannot see. If I don't cheat more, I will get more..." Jiang You looked into Tang Butian's eyes, "Isn't that right?"
Jiang You finished the last sip of wine in the jar. "Those who make the rules are the ruling class. I finally got in, so I just want to live in peace."
"What if I can't live peacefully?"
"Then please destroy them on behalf of the Moon."