The sky gradually darkened.
Dusk spread over the mountains, swallowing up the skylight little by little, turning the blossoming bamboo forest into a gray shadow.
The wind got even colder and got into everyone's collars, making people want to shrink their necks.
Shen Hui walked forward, raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Tuk-tuk-tuk!
The wooden door made several muffled sounds, and after a while, footsteps came from inside the door.
The door latch was pulled open little by little, and with a squeak, the wooden door opened a crack inward.
Green Bamboo leaned out half of his body.
She looked a lot thinner.
The cheekbones are slightly raised and the skin looks paler.
The Taoist robe on my body hangs empty on my shoulders, as if hanging on a bamboo shelf.
Her hair was roughly pulled into a bun, with a few strands of hair hanging down on her cheeks, stained with some grass clippings.
When she saw the person standing outside the door clearly, her dim eyes suddenly widened:
"You... why are you here?"
His voice was hoarse and dry, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.
Shen Hui looked at her and asked softly:
"Green Bamboo, where is your master?"
Green Bamboo The smile on his face froze.
She turned her head slightly and glanced into the room.
After a moment, she retracted her gaze, lowered her eyes, and replied in a low voice:
"Master is asleep."
Shen Hui frowned upon hearing this and walked slowly into the room.
It was very cold inside, not much warmer than outside.
There was a thin layer of dust on the table. The dishes and chopsticks were neatly arranged, but there was only one pair.
Daoist Yun Su was sitting cross-legged on the bed, with his hands in front of his knees, forming a Tai Chi sign.
She was wearing a gray Taoist robe and an old quilt.
The eyes are closed, the lips are slightly open, and the face is haggard.
The gray hair is neatly tied back and not messy at all.
She is already dead.
The body was not decayed.
It's probably because the winter in the mountains is so cold that everything freezes.
Time stood still in this room, and together with its owner, it was frozen on a certain winter day.
Several people came behind him and came into the house. Seeing this scene, their steps involuntarily slowed down.
Shen Hui sighed and turned to look at the girl:
"Green Bamboo, your master is dead."
The girl stood two steps behind him, lowering her hands and saying nothing.
After a while, she slowly lowered her head, looked at her toes, and whispered:
"Hmm."
This word is like a key, opening a door the moment you exit.
Tears fell one after another.
It hit the ground and scattered small dark dots.
One, two, three, getting denser and denser.
The girl's shoulders began to tremble, and she pursed her lips hard, pressing the corners of her mouth downwards, as if she wanted to hold back tears.
But tears always flowed uncontrollably across my cheeks and dripped from my chin.
She didn't cry out.
The whole room was eerily silent, except for the sound of tears falling on the ground, which was almost inaudible but deafening.
"A few days ago, the weather turned cold, and there were more firewood burning in the temple..."
She suddenly spoke, her voice a little aggrieved:
"One day, I prepared a meal and brought it to Master, but Master didn't eat it. She looked at me, then at the meal, and told me... It's too cold this winter, and she might not be able to survive the winter."
Green Bamboo raised his hand and wiped his face carelessly with his sleeve, but tears soon started flowing down again.
"When I heard this, I felt very panicked. I just thought about picking up more firewood and burning the fire louder so that Master would not be cold anymore. So I went to pick up firewood... I picked up a lot of firewood..."
When she said this, her voice suddenly stopped.
After a while, he spoke again.
"When I came back, Master still hadn't eaten. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed and didn't respond to calls..."
The girl couldn't speak anymore.
She lowered her head, and after a while, she whispered again:
"There is no water in the tank. The well is also frozen. I wanted to go to the stream to fetch water, but the road is too far, so I don't worry about leaving her alone. Fortunately, it snowed..."
As she talked, her voice became smaller and smaller, and finally turned into talking to herself.
She said that she felt scared at first and couldn't believe that Master was really dead, so she didn't dare to look at her carefully.
But she couldn't help but miss him, so she had to go and see him a few times every day.
Go see it in the morning, go see it at noon, and go see it in the evening.
She always felt that Master would wake up and say "Green Bamboo, Master is hungry, go cook".
She talked a lot, but she didn't say a word about how scared she was or how difficult her life was.
She just talked about trivial things.
She said that the firewood in the kitchen was damp and could not be lit. She said that a tit flew into the house a few days ago and could not drive it away. She said that she originally planted a few cabbage plants in front of the temple, but the weather was too cold and they all froze to death...
At the end of the sentence, she suddenly raised her head, looked at Shen Hui, and asked:
"Are you here to take me away?"
Shen Hui looked at her and didn't answer immediately.
Green Bamboo lowered his head again when he saw this, his voice was muffled, as if there was a ball of cotton stuck in his throat:
"Master said that after she dies, he will let me go down the mountain to a crowded place."
"She said it was lively down the mountain, with markets, theater troupes, Tanghulu, and many, many things I had never seen before. But..."
She shook her head.
"But I don't want to go. I just want to be here with her."
Shen Hui shook his head slightly and said calmly:
"Your master is no longer here."
Green Bamboo raised his head, his eyes filled with tears, so blurry that he couldn't see Shen Hui's face clearly.
Lu Huan stood aside, looked at Shen Hui, then at Green Bamboo, then gently walked forward and held the girl's hand.
No words, just holding.
Shen Hui looked at Green Bamboo and continued:
"Even if she is really here, she still wants you to leave."
After hearing this, the girl finally burst into tears.
His face was covered with snot, and his shoulders kept twitching.
Shen Hui reached out and patted the other party's head gently.
"Come with us."
Daoist Yun Su's funeral is not complicated.
Green Bamboo said, there is no need for the beginning and end of life, and it only needs to be laid to rest.
She said that Master had told her before his death that he did not like those red tapes, saying that people are dead when they are dead, and it is not interesting to torture living people only for living people to see.
So the girl found a place in front of the temple, with her back against the green hills and her face towards the bamboo forest.
Shen Hui helped dig the hole.
Hu Cheng and Jinghui also came to help. The three of them took turns digging the soil. The digging was not deep, just enough for the next person to sit cross-legged.
Green Bamboo took Daoist Yun Su's body out, gently put the thin body into the pit, and carefully tucked the corners of the quilt into place, smoothing out Taoist robe's wrinkles.
Then she started filling in the soil.
The girl didn't cry anymore. She just watched the soil covering the quilt one by one, and watched the grave mound rising little by little.
There is no monument erected in front of the grave.
Green Bamboo said, Master said that when a monument is erected, it has a name, when there is a name, someone will worship it, and when someone worships it, there will be concern.
She doesn't want people to worry about her.
After doing this, the girl patted the mud on her hands and returned to the temple to pack her luggage.
She doesn't have much.
A booklet recording a rough Qi Refining Dharma, two travel notes written by Yun Su when he was young, with bookmarks made of a few dead leaves sandwiched between them.
A purple bamboo cane, a ball of twine, a sewing needle, a copper thimble, two replacements Taoist robe.
This is all her luggage.
After cleaning up, she stood in the middle of the yard and looked around.
Stove, water tank, table, futon...
She looked at it for a long time.
Finally, she picked up the copper lock that had always been just a decoration, walked outside the door, and gently closed the door.
"Click" sound.
There's a lock on the door.
She turned around, came to the grave, and knelt down.
The winter sunshine leaked through the gaps in the clouds, thin and pale, and fell on the small mound.
The bamboo forest rustled behind her, and the fallen flower spikes were picked up by the wind, fluttering over and falling on her shoulders, landing on the new soil.
Green Bamboo looked at the tomb, remained silent for a long time, and then spoke softly:
"Master, you said before that you traveled all over the world when you were young and got used to the world of mortals. Green Bamboo I'm going to see it today too."
She paused and then said:
"You said that crowded places are lively, so Green Bamboo went to lively places. You said that you should practice on the road, and Green Bamboo is ready to go out."
"Don't worry Green Bamboo. I will eat well and practice well. When I am tired of walking and seeing enough, I will come back to accompany you. At that time, I will also tell you what happened after I came down the mountain, the people I met, the roads I walked, and the things I ate..."
After she finished speaking, she leaned down, touched her forehead to the ground, and kowtowed three times seriously.
Then he straightened up and patted the soil on his knees.
Shen Hui stood behind her, watching her kowtow seriously, and waited for her to stand up before speaking softly:
"Let's go."
The girl nodded.
She took one last look at the Daoist temple, the solitary grave, and the blooming bamboo forest, and said softly:
"Green Bamboo is gone."
Shen Hui paused when he heard this.
He looked back at the bamboo forest, thought for a moment, and then waved his sleeves.
A burst of Clear Wind rose out of thin air and blew through the bamboo forest, blowing the bamboo flowers into the air.
The flower spikes all over the mountain rustled in the wind, and the fine petals fell like snow, falling on the tomb, on the roof, and on the mountain road, spreading a thin layer.
Then, the bamboo forest seemed to come to life again.
Something is moving among the withered bamboo leaves.
Bits and pieces of emerald green emerged from the branches. At first they were just dots, then more and more, and became denser and denser...
In the blink of an eye, the entire bamboo forest changed color.
The white flowers are gone and the green color returns.
It turns out that winter has passed.
Spring is here.
Green Bamboo stood on the mountain road, looking at the reborn bamboo forest, and was lost in thought.
Her eyes were wet again, but the corners of her mouth were slightly curved.
Jinghui walked beside her and touched her hand gently.
"Let's go."
Green Bamboo nodded, raised his hand to wipe the corners of his eyes, and followed the others.
Behind him, the bamboo forest swayed gently in the wind.
The new leaves rustle, as if saying goodbye, but also as if saying--
Go, go.