Tomb Sweeping Day

  This suggestion is reasonable, of course, the child will not have any objections, it's just that what name to take, Qiuqiu can't think of for a while. She hasn't given Long a name yet. Long can fly in the sky and swim in the water, having such a spiritual pet is simply like having a cheat code. The name of the dragon must be taken with a strong and domineering tone, so that when it's called out in the future, people will envy and hate it.

  The first name that popped into his mouth was indeed quite domineering and also conformed to the characteristics of being able to fly.

  Shaking the heavens...

  De, Qiū Qiū silently lowered her head and said sorry to Xiao Long in her heart.

  This name... cough, of course can't be used.

  But I don't know if it's because of this head, but later on she couldn't think of anything. No matter how hard she thought, she just kept going around in circles with the three characters "Wei", "Zhen" and "Tian". Weiwei? Zhenzhen? Tiitian? What kind of names are these?

  "What were you thinking?"

  "Wait a bit longer, until it grows up some more and we can tell what kind of thing it is, then we can give it a name."

  That's right. Autumn nodded in agreement: "Exactly, I don't even know if it's male or female yet, and if the name doesn't suit, that would be a problem." For example, giving a little girl a boyish name like Liangliang, or giving a little boy a girlish name like Honghong... being teased by others is one thing, but if it gives the child psychological trauma, that's a big deal for life.

  The boy closed the book: "Have you finished packing?"

  "Hmm, there was nothing good to collect anyway." Qiuqiu pulled out two palm-sized pouches from her sleeve and placed them in front of Shi Er: "Everything inside is yours, fortunately I had already collected them before the fire started on the mountain, or else they would have been burned to ashes. Here you go."

  Shi'er shook his head: "You keep it for me, I still have a lot of things recently, it's inconvenient."

  Qiuqiu didn't bother arguing with him anymore. After all, she and Shier had always been inseparable. It was the same whether things were placed with one or the other.

  The boy continued reading his book, while Qiuqiu leaned against him in a daze.

  She was carefree in Xiuyuan Mountain—— Originally, Qinghai Shixiong had been quite good to her, but Qiūqiū had asked Huang Zhanglao about it and found out that Qinghai Shixiong had died from having his heart dug out by a demon, and his body hadn't even been able to be buried; he was directly incinerated with true fire in order to prevent the spread of demonic poison. However, Huang Zhanglao also told her that after all, Qinghai was the direct disciple of Yuexiang Zhenren, so even though he wasn't valued now, Yuexiang Zhenren had ordered someone to build a cenotaph for him. Inside were buried Qinghai's personal sword and a set of clothes.

  Jing Lu heard about what happened last time, and for Jing Hai's death, Qiu Qiu was caught without any reason. She was locked up for several days and suffered a lot. However, seeing that she didn't hold a grudge and still wanted to pay her respects to Jing Hai, he couldn't help but admire her character. He even said that when the weather gets better, he would accompany her to pay his respects together.

  Qiu Qiu touched the golden ring on her arm.

  Jing Hai Shixiong is different from others on the mountain. He only wants to take advantage of her. He takes care of her, not expecting anything in return.

  Qiu Qiu remembered that day when they said goodbye in front of the library, she was unwilling to accept gifts and felt very embarrassed, just wanting to leave quickly.

  Little did I know that it would be our final farewell.

  Just then, Shí ěr asked her if there was anything else she wanted to do, and Qiū Qiū said: I want to go pay my respects to Jìng Hǎi Shī Xiōng.

  He put down his book and said: "Tomorrow I'll go with you."

  The weather on the second day was still the same, cold and snowy. The place where people were buried in Xiuyan Mountain was on a shaded slope. There were very few people who went there, and there wasn't even a road, it was all sealed by ice and snow. So Jinglu had said earlier that they should wait for the weather to get better before going to pay their respects.

  Xier stepped on the flying sword, carrying Qiuqiu over a long stretch of road and a mountain stream.

  Autumn's feet are firmly on the ground. My heart is also at peace. When my body was suspended in mid-air, there was not even a little bit of stability.

  Of course, the child won't throw her down. But she's just a little scared.

  Shi Er put away his sword and helped Qiu Qiu tidy up her cloak.

  Qiu Qiu let out a sigh, lifted her head and looked up, and was stunned.

  She knew this was the cemetery of Xiuyuan Mountain, but she didn't expect the cemetery to be like this.

  Many are the practitioners, but few are those who ascend to immortality. Many people cultivate for many years, only to return to dust in the end. These people were almost all buried here, their graves completely covered by snow, with only a small portion of the tombstone still exposed, also covered in thick snow. Looking far away, the entire mountain is filled with shallow grayish-white marks of tombstones, from the peak down to the foot. Further away, dark clouds and mist obscure the view.

  So desolate, so bleak.

  They were also people who had cultivated immortality and sought the Tao in the past, but they all eventually returned to the yellow earth.

  Maybe someday she and her master will also be buried here.

  Autumn had seen such scenes many times before and didn't feel scared at all. Instead, she thought to herself, with so many seniors buried here, I wonder if they had any grudges against each other when they were alive? If two sworn enemies were buried next to each other, would they still be quarreling even after death? And if one day she was also buried here, she definitely wanted to be next to her master and senior sister; otherwise, this place is so big and lonely.

  "What are you thinking?"

  When Xia asked, Qiuqiu told her true thoughts. Even Xia, who was usually so calm, couldn't help but say to her: "You're just daydreaming."

  "What nonsense is this? We will have such a day too."

  Shi Er pulled her hand, saying seriously: "You should have some ambition. Although these predecessors did not succeed, the path they took was not wrong, but they just didn't reach the end. We follow their path and need to go further than them, so as not to waste our predecessors' hard work and teachings."

  He rarely spoke like this, and Qiuqiu also became serious, nodding in response: "Yes, you're right."

  Although she didn't think she could become an immortal, she cultivated immortality because her master Quiet Heart gave a large sum of silver to her family, and her father sold her to the sect.

  The master taught her, and she learned.

  Cultivating immortality has its benefits, it keeps one hundred diseases at bay, allows one to live a very long life, travel to far-off places and see and hear many things that ordinary people do not know.

  At least at first, Qiuqiu thought so.

  But later on, she finally understood that the master led her in the door, and the cultivation was up to the individual. The master told her the entrance, but how to step forward and walk on what kind of road, it all depends on herself.

  Every exploration of the mysteries of heaven and earth, every step forward and realization, is a refinement of body and mind. She faintly feels that this road has no end. Because no matter how long a person's life is, the universe is also vast and infinite, this road will never reach its end.

  Some people just walk higher and farther.

  Qiu Qiu walked forward step by step, following Jing Lu's words. The disciples of the Jing character were buried in a single place. The traces here are still fresh, and Jing Hai and several fellow apprentices who had just been killed were all buried here.

  Qiu Qiu swept away a patch of snow in front of the grave, took out the fruit and dishes, arranged them one by one, lit incense, and poured wine. Since they had all come, it wouldn't be good to only pay respects to Jinghai Shixiong alone - everyone buried here was a fellow disciple who had fallen victim to the evil creature's poisonous hand.

  Qiu Qiu went ahead and swept away the snow on several other graves as well, also sprinkling wine to pay respects.

  Shi'er helped her sweep the snow and stood by to watch her pour wine. It wasn't until Qiuqiu looked up that she realized Shi'er had unintentionally blocked the wind for her.

  This person is like this, having done many things, but never speaks of them.

  Arrived at the farthest tomb, the stele was covered with snow, obscuring the characters. Autumn brushed off the floating snow on top and stared blankly for a moment.

  She turned her head to explain to the child: "She is that disciple who was possessed on Lianhua Peak - we went down the mountain together some time ago."

  This is Jeanie's tomb.

  But Chiu Chiu saw with her own eyes that it had turned into a patch of black and murky polluted water, this grave was probably also an empty tomb.

  Although the relationship between the two is not very good, even if they didn't become close friends, they are still acquaintances. At that time when they first met, Jingfei was so lively and outgoing, but now Jingfei is just a cold name on a tombstone.

  Shi'er knows that Qiū Qiū has a soft heart, which is not good for someone who cultivates the Tao. A heart that's too soft gets entangled in too many things and is easily misled by external objects. However, Shi'er thinks she's perfect from head to toe, without a single flaw.

  She must have gotten sentimental again.

  He took two steps back and gave her a quiet, independent space.

  Qiu Qiu took out a package of dried persimmons and selected a few to pile in front of Jing Fei's grave.

  "You've always liked this dried fruit, I was going to send you a pack too... now just consider that you've eaten it."

  She patted her clothes and stood up, seeing Xiao Er standing not far away.

  The snow was deep, and Autumn, being small, had a hard time walking in it.

  She was still a few steps away when the child ran over and stretched out his hand to her.

  Qiu Qiu grasped his hand for support and took the last two steps to stand beside him.

  "What are you doing here?"

  He pointed at the tombstone in front of him: "Look."

  Qiu Qiu went over to look at the tombstone he was pointing at with some confusion.

  The monument must have been there for some years, and the characters on it had been somewhat eroded. On top of it was an unfamiliar name, with a generation name that was the same as my master's master's generation.

  But is there anything worth watching?

  She knew she was careless and her fingertips moved slightly.

  Qiu Qiu's gaze followed his fingertips and shifted slightly.

  Ah, Qiuqiu's mouth was slightly ajar as she stared at that one spot, unable to tear her gaze away.

  There was a small lonely goose engraved there.

  The appearance of this goose is quite familiar in autumn, exactly the same as the ones carved on the painting scroll and pen holder.

  "This..."

  Qiu Qiu's first impression was that the person buried in the tomb was the painter, but then she thought, no, if it were him, who could have carved words on his own tombstone after he died? This isn't a ghost story.

  It's likely that the person who engraved the tombstone and the painter are the same. The person buried in this grave should have a very close relationship with him.

  The mountains are heavy and the water is repeated, with no way out; The willows are dark and the flowers are bright, another village.

  Qiu Qiu never thought that just coming to sweep the grave would lead to such an unexpected discovery.

  PS：

  Today there are many things, can only update once... Tomorrow see if I can add another update...