Youbao Chapter 57: Old Driver (2)
At this time, the door was opened again, and the man came out with a smile and invited us in: "Master, I am in a good mood today, and I am sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."
The old Taoist bowed to him for the third time, raised his leg and walked in. When I passed by that person, I also wanted to learn how to bow, but I felt awkward when I raised my hand, so I simply smiled and nodded at him, then shrank my neck and walked in. That person didn't seem to care about these etiquettes, and I vaguely heard him say: This young man is really interesting.
With the creaking sound of the door closing, the old Taoist priest and I walked out of the corridor. From the outside, it didn't seem like anything, but after entering, I found a different world.
This place is like the residence of an ancient noble, with an open space in the middle, which is used as a yard. A few ordinary flowers and plants stand in the wind, complementing the surrounding wooden buildings.
The sun at noon was just over the yard, shining down, making people feel warm all over.
In the middle of the courtyard, on a reclining chair, there was a man with hair and beard over a foot long, as white as frost. His face was covered with age spots and wrinkles like the folds of tree bark. His hands were placed on his abdomen, and his eyes were slightly closed as if he was resting. Next to him, on a wooden chair sat an old man with half-white hair and beard, who was about the same age as the Zhou family's law enforcement elders. The old man respectfully picked up a copper kettle from the small round wooden table in front of him, poured out a cup of green tea and handed it over.
The old man on the rocking chair took it but didn't drink it. The old man next to him looked at us and said to the old Taoist priest with a smile: This is the contemporary of the Five Elements Pulse...
My fellow apprentice is missing and remains a mystery. The old Taoist interrupted the old man.
I see. I remember when I met you, you were still young boys , but now you have achieved a lot. The old man nodded and slightly restrained his smile.
It's just a small achievement, not worth mentioning. The old Taoist shook his head and said modestly: It's the senior who still has the same style after decades.
Haha, the boy who was so dumb back then can talk now. The old man laughed twice: But, I'm afraid you didn't come here today to reminisce about the past.
Senior, you have a keen eye. The old Taoist priest bowed and saluted: I wanted to kill someone, but the three veins of the Heavenly Corpse stopped me. I came here today to ask the old senior to come out and help me.
Afterwards, the old Taoist took out the century-old ginseng and two jars of farm wine from his sleeve and placed them on the ground.
The old man on the chair looked straight ahead, only smiling at the old Taoist priest: It has indeed changed, the wood has now become a big eagle, ah, hahaha…
But... the old man stopped laughing, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip and said: "Now the master is old and no longer cares about worldly affairs. And I am not young anymore, so I should do more to be filial to the master. You should ask someone else for help on this matter."
Faced with such a direct rejection, the Taoist's expression did not change much. He took a step back, pulled my sleeve and pushed me out: He is the descendant of the Basuo lineage.
Oh? The old man looked at me with a smile on his face: Are you the descendant of Basuo's generation?
Although the old man was very kind and always smiling, for some reason I was more afraid of him than the Taoist priest. The Taoist priest tugged at my sleeve slightly, and I knew what he was thinking, so I said, "Hello, old man. I am from the Ba Suo lineage."
Haha... the old man laughed: I met your grandfather once that year. If it weren’t for him, my master and I would have been in danger.
My grandpa... I was immediately shocked. This old man and the strange man on the recliner knew my grandpa? And judging from what he said, my grandpa had saved them both.
This happened a long time ago, decades ago, when your mother was not even born. Given your grandfather's strange temper, I don't think he would tell you this, the old man said.
His words surprised me even more than before.
Because he once said: Decades ago, even your mother was not yet born.
What this means is that my grandfather's next generation is my mother, not my father! ?
I always thought that my family had only one son for three generations. My grandfather and father never explained this, and they rarely mentioned my mother's identity and affairs. Especially my grandfather, he would get furious every time he mentioned my mother. In the end, my mother's affairs had become a taboo topic in the family.
But what I didn't expect was that the old man in front of me actually said that my mother was the bloodline of Basuo. Moreover, my grandfather, who was originally an ordinary man, became a master in his mouth.
I've always felt that the Basuo lineage has a lot of secrets. My family is mysterious and we care about a lot of people in an unusual way, like we're possessed.
Now that I have heard old stories from the elderly, I feel that there are too many secrets in my family that I don’t know.
Maybe after Gamu’s matter is over, I should go back to my hometown.
Just as I was thinking about my family's affairs, an old voice came to my ears: Since the descendant of the Basuo lineage is here, let's put this matter aside for now and let me think about it. Nianxi, you can greet them.
I looked up and saw that it was the old man who had been lying in the rocking chair who spoke. Although he did not open his eyes, there was an invisible power in his words that made people feel awe.
The man he called Nianxi was the one who opened the door for us. He smiled and waved his hand to us: "You two, follow me to the guest room to rest first."
The Taoist nodded and took me with him. His movements were quick and decisive. Perhaps he understood that it was useless to say more in front of these two people. If someone agrees, then they agree. If they don't agree, then they don't agree.
The three of us walked along the corridor for a while before the man opened a door and said with a smile: This is the guest room, you can use any of it. Just let me know if you need anything.
The old Taoist stepped inside, and I held my stomach and rubbed against the man, asking: That... uh, Nian Xi...
Nianxi is my nickname, which was given by my master. He laughed and said: My name is Zongxu, Yang Zongxu. I am not much older than you, so just call me Brother Yang.
Uh, Brother Yang... where is your toilet? I asked with a wry smile. It turns out that Nianxi is a nickname. No wonder it sounds so awkward.
Yang Zongxu pointed to the end of the corridor: It's there, there's a lot of paper, but it's a squat toilet, I don't know if you're used to it.
It's okay, as long as it works. I held my stomach and smiled at him, then ran to the toilet. I don't know if it was because the snack I just had was not clean, or if I ate greasy food every day in the mountains, and my appetite was not good after eating light food suddenly, my stomach felt like it was churning.
The toilet here is not very big, it is a squat toilet made of cement, with a plastic box on the wall and a roll of toilet paper inside. I squatted in it for more than half an hour before I came out, and my legs were almost numb from squatting.
After coming out, I felt a bad smell all over my body.
At this time, I heard someone say: Hey, boy, boy...
I turned around and saw the old man sitting on the wooden chair smiling at me.
This is a strange man respected even by old Taoist priests. Although I know a little bit of the Eight Ropes Taoist method and have some initial Taoist power, compared to such a man, I am probably not even as good as a child.
So, when I saw the old man calling, I quickly ran over and said: Old man, are you calling me?
Haha, don't be so formal. In terms of seniority, I am younger than your grandfather, so just treat me as your uncle. The old man said with a friendly smile.
Uh... hello uncle... I said stutteringly.
Hehehe... The old man laughed again: Look how nervous you are. Come on, here is a chair, sit down and let's talk.
The old man was about to get a chair, but I didn't dare let him do that, so I quickly moved it over and sat down. When he saw me sitting down, he smiled and said: You look about the same age as me and Master back then, haha, isn't that right, Master?
He turned to look at the old man in the rocking chair, but his words fell on deaf ears and did not get any response. The old man laughed and turned to look at me: But you are much smarter than I was back then, and you have a higher starting point, after all, you are the descendant of the Ba Suo lineage.
In fact, I am just an ordinary person. When I came out with the old Taoist... uh, with that senior, I didn't even know that I was from the Ba Suo lineage. I'm telling you the truth.
Oh? The old man raised his eyebrows: Didn’t your grandfather tell you these things?
No.
What is this old man thinking? He is even weirder than my master. The old man said with a frown.
Hum. A deep voice came from the side, and the old man laughed: I thought you, Master, really fell asleep.
The old man on the rocking chair hummed once and then stopped. But the old man on the wooden chair slapped his thigh and laughed. I was so confused, should I laugh with him? Or not? If I laugh, it would be disrespectful to the old man. If I don't laugh, it would be against the master's will... I'd rather die.
The old man laughed for a while and then stopped: Haha, I didn’t scare you…
No, no…are you…scared…?
I was so nervous that I couldn't even finish my words. As soon as I said one sentence, I felt half of my face burning.
The old man laughed again and said: Not bad, not bad, much better than your grandfather's temper, haha, when I saw him back then, he had a stern face all day long, as if someone owed him money. But then again, no matter how weird your grandfather's temper is, he wouldn't dare to break the inheritance. The Ba Suo lineage is famous throughout the ages, and with his antique-like temperament, he definitely wouldn't dare.
I don't know about that either. When I talked about my grandfather, I became more relaxed: When my grandfather passed away, my father burned a lot of things and never told me anything about Basuo.
Oh!? They were all burned? The old man frowned immediately: Not a single one was left?
