Heavenly Emperor

"Wow~"

A dog barking came from the courtyard, which penetrated the wind and snow in the quiet winter and spread far away.

The big black dog in the corner shook the black hair without the light, and the dust and snow fell. It stood up and barked feebly.

It is too old and has no deterrent power of the year.

Amidst the barking of the dog, the concealed courtyard door was pushed open with a creak, and a thief-headed boy walked in. His eyes rolled around and his small face was a little dirty, but he was lively and agile.

The child is holding a bowl of steamed noodles with clear water in his hands, dotted with three or two blue and white, adding a bit of loneliness in the winter.

After seeing the boy baby, the big black dog at the door lay down again, shrugged his ears, and continued to fall asleep.

"Is Grandpa Xia at home?"

"Grandpa Xia!"

"Grandpa Xia, my father asked me to send you a wrist face."

The baby walked to the dry well in the courtyard and screamed in the inner room. After a short while, there was an old response, which proved that the old man in the room still had a little breath left, and he should be able to survive this cold winter.

"Crack~"

The dilapidated wooden door was pushed open, and the harsh north wind poured in. The old man who was blowing trembled all over, fearing the cold, and couldn't help tightening the cotton-padded coat that was sealing the pudding tightly.

Stepping out the door, stepping on the thick snow that has not been taken care of, and receiving the slightly hot white bowl, a charity smile appeared on the old face of the old man, making the wrinkles piled up and the gullies deep, which seemed to be filled. Time and story.

He touched the baby's head, his voice was dull, hoarse, and a little slow, "Thank you for grandpa, go back, Huzi, don't freeze."

"Yeah." The boy nodded to the old man, turned around and ran away happily, leaving a string of long footprints on the snow, and a voice followed the north wind, "Grandpa Xia, go back to the house, tomorrow I came to play with the big dog."

Seeing that the boy came out of the courtyard door and closed it again with a bang, the old man chuckled and returned to the house tremblingly with the bowl in his hand.

...

On the edge of the kang in the room, sitting an old woman with gray hair, she seemed to be in a daze, staring at the front with no focus, not knowing what she was thinking.

Are you reminiscing about the past when you were young?

Neighbors in the neighborhood know that this old woman doesn't like to talk, and often looks like a dumb. This was the case when she first came to the city to settle down decades ago, and everyone is used to it. As she gets older, everyone likes to call her "dumb mother-in-law".

The old man put the bowl on the wooden table on the soil kang, gave the mute mother-in-law a pair of chopsticks, and whispered to her. After eating the bowl of noodles together, there were only two coughs from time to time, which would suddenly break the house. Stale atmosphere inside.

At night, the two old men went to the kang, lying on their backs next to each other, and gradually fell asleep.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the wind and snow stopped slightly.

The old man and the broken house, a dog in the yard.

...

The next day, the sky cleared, the temperature rose slightly, and the winter sun reflected on the white snow, slightly dazzling.

A group of children rushed out of a household wearing worn-out cotton jackets, running around happily, and started playing around, sweeping snow, and making snowmen.

"Big black dog, ask the big black dog to come out and play."

"The big black dog is getting old, it's sleeping."

"Black Dog, do you go skiing with us?"

"Hei Gou Hei Gou, is Grandpa Xia home? I want to hear him continue to tell the story of spiritual practitioners."

A group of children rushed into the small courtyard, chattering and noisy, which added a trace of popularity and vitality to the bleak courtyard.

The two old men walked out and sat on the threshold of the ruined house, basking in the winter sun, and accompanied each other.

When a group of children saw the old man appear, their eyes lit up, and they hurriedly gathered around. They called their grandparents first, and then dragged the old man expectantly, begging him to tell a story to listen.

The old man was very kind, and smiled repeatedly to a group of children: "Okay, tell stories, tell stories."

A group of children were very happy, and stopped bothering the black dog, and they all gathered around.

"Tie Zhu, where did the story go last time?" The old man touched a baby's head and asked kindly.

"Speaking of the heroes going to the immortal world, Grandpa Xia, where did you say that Zixiao Palace is?" The child named Tie Zhu asked curiously, full of longing. He gave the nameless protagonist in the story a nickname. , Is called "Heroes" and is recognized by all children.

"Purple Heaven Palace, it's in a very distant place..." The old man looked up at the sky, and his hoarse voice mixed with coughing gradually sounded.

...

Time flew by in the boring days. When the story was finished, it was noon, and a group of children happily dispersed, discussing the story they had just heard.

The children look forward to the life in the story, and the people in the story tell their own things.

After lunch, a group of children ran over again, greeted the two old men, and ran away with the listless big black dog, leaving dirty footprints on the snow and innocent cheers. .

The old man was also young, and he couldn't help laughing.

At some point when the heavy snow flew up again, the old man sighed, his thoughts stopped abruptly, and he looked to the east, which was the direction of his hometown.

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