Chapter 3: Things Have Changed, People Have Changed, Still Like a Dream

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“Oh, look at how pitiful this little kid is. He’s so young and his father has passed away. Looking at him, he must have been kneeling in front of this grave for three or four days.” A voice full of sympathy and pity came from the official road about dozens of meters away from the palace.

“Yes, it seems that this child hasn’t eaten for several days. What a filial and pitiful child,” another voice responded with a slight sigh.

…

At this time, Bu Gong was still kneeling in front of his father’s grave, his eyes were dull, his lips were chapped, and thick blood scabs had formed on his calves, soaking his linen pants, making him look a little scary.

The whole person was motionless, and his messy hair blew naturally, blocking his sight; after a long time, the scorching sun in the sky shone through the gaps in the leaves and shone on Bu Gong’s body.

“Cough…” A light cough came from Bu Gong’s mouth, but the voice seemed weak and powerless; at this time, Bu Gong’s numb eyes slightly regained a hint of expression.

He moved his cracked lips and was about to try to stand up, but he fell to the ground with a “thump…”; then Bu Gong felt a sharp pain coming from his calf.

“Hiss… It hurts!” A hoarse voice came out from his mouth, and his originally handsome face now looked a little distorted and pale; then he put his hands on the ground, his legs still kneeling, and used his hands and feet to move one meter away from the right side of his body.

In front of him was a wooden stick about one meter long. Bu Gong held the stick tightly with both hands, gritted his teeth, and tried hard to stand up. Because he had been kneeling for three or four days, his knees were numb and he had no feeling. He fell twice before he struggled to stand up.

At this time, Bu Gong’s face was very pale, and his cracked lips were faintly bitten with blood; it was obvious that it was caused by the severe pain in his calf.

Therefore, Bu Gong held the wooden stick in both hands, and slowly moved his body forward, but his feet moved slightly, and he did not dare to move too much; but his eyes were extremely determined, he gritted his teeth, and slowly moved forward.

…

It is said that there were only Bu Gong and his father in his family. When he was just born, due to the poor financial situation of his family, they could not hire a good midwife, and his mother died due to excessive bleeding during childbirth. Therefore, it was his father who raised him up.

Since childhood, Bu Gong had two dreams; one of them was to study hard and pass the imperial examination when he grew up; then he would marry Ru Meng in a decorated sedan chair.

Another wish is to take good care of her father and let him live a better life in his later years. He raised her from childhood and put in a lot of effort, so much so that she could never repay him in her entire life.

Bu Gong’s family lives in a small town called Shitou Town, which is backed by a mountain range called Tiancang Mountain; it is a remote town at the foot of the mountain.

The villagers here are generally simple and honest. Most of the young people go up the mountain to chop wood and hunt. Then they take what they get to the trading market in the small town to exchange for a few copper coins to support their families.

In this way, this small town was passed down from generation to generation; usually the old men and women in the town liked to sit together and chat; and when they were chatting together, Bu Gong would also join in the fun.

After all, when he was a child, Bu Gong still had a childish heart; he always liked to listen to the strange stories told by old men and old women.

For example, last month the youngest daughter of the Zhang family married a pork vendor in a small town. This was a big deal; their daughter married a wealthy businessman and was destined to live a good life from now on…

Bu Gong had heard a lot of things like this, but he remained interested; it was obvious that Bu Gong was a very curious child, and also a person who had a great interest in unfamiliar and new things.

But what interested him most were the stories often told by the old man named Blind Zhang in Stone Town. This Blind Zhang is an elder in Shitou Town, but he is very famous in the town. This is because he opened a medicine shop in Shitou Town, where he simply sells some hemostatic and anti-cold herbs.

But these things are good things for the people in this small town. Normally, when some young men in the town suffer minor injuries while hunting or for other reasons, such as minor fractures, they will go to Blind Zhang’s Pharmacy to get medicine.

When some families are really poor and have no money to buy medicine but are in urgent need of herbs, Blind Zhang will give them the herbs for free; therefore, Blind Zhang is well-spoken and kind in the small town.

But he also had a habit, which was to tell stories to some children in the small town when he had nothing to do. Every time he told a story, many children would gather around him, sit quietly in a circle, and listen carefully.

He talked about a lot of things, including teaching people to be kind, to be generous, to be loyal and filial, strange stories, etc. But what interested the children the most were stories about strange stories.

Then, Blind Zhang began to spout legends about immortals; legends about immortals who could fly in the sky, injure people from a distance, and kill people in the blink of an eye…

Whenever Blind Zhang tells a story, Bu Gong is always there, and he can be said to be his most loyal listener; Blind Zhang also likes Bu Gong very much.

Every time when a story was finished, Bu Gong would call Blind Zhang “Grandpa Zhang” to make him smile, and then ask him to tell another story about immortals.

A series of rumors about immortals came out of the old blind man’s mouth; ever since these children heard some things about immortals, they planted the seeds of fear and awe of the so-called “immortals” in their hearts.

“Immortal!” Whenever Bu Gong finished listening to the story, an inexplicable look would flash in his eyes; he had a vague expectation of this so-called immortal, but also had a fear and dread of him.

…

At this time, Bu Gong was holding a wooden stick in both hands, with a faint trace of blood on his lips, walking slowly; he walked towards his home, and after about half an hour, he finally came to a yard that looked to be dozens of feet in size and stopped.

Bu Gong raised his head slightly and looked towards the courtyard gate; five days ago, he was still full of joy at home. At that time, his father’s old face, which usually rarely smiled, showed a hint of a smile.

He was happy because he could finally marry Ruomeng; although there was still some time before he passed the imperial examination, so this could be considered as not fulfilling his wish. After all, his dream was to marry Ruomeng in a grand ceremony after he passed the imperial examination.

But even if this is belated happiness; but before that, he will not let Ruomeng suffer any grievance and will love her wholeheartedly; because he has secretly vowed in his heart that he will devote his whole life to loving that girl, the girl who also loves him.

Bu Gong’s father also smiled at that moment, because his son was finally going to get married. “Mother of my child, if you are in heaven, you should be able to see it, right?” Bu Gong’s father thought secretly in his heart.

However, all these changes happened too fast and too suddenly. In just these few days, the girl he loved as a child, his childhood sweetheart, abandoned him and followed someone else. The father who raised him was beaten to death in front of him.

“Hehe…” Bu Gong thought and thought… and then he stood in front of the gate of his yard and laughed miserably.

Tears rarely flowed from his eyes; although Bu Gong had a simple and honest personality, he never cried easily.

Even when he was a child, he would fight with other kids and make his father angry. When he asked him the reason, he would not tell him, so he would spank him hard. But at that time, no matter how much it hurt, Bu Gong would grit his teeth and not say a word.

But now, Bu Gong was standing in front of the gate of his own yard, laughing hoarsely and shedding tears; because all this was beyond Bu Gong’s endurance, it is true that men do not shed tears easily, only because they have not reached the point of being heartbroken!Then Bu Gong walked forward slowly and gently pushed open the tightly closed gate of his own courtyard. Everything in front of him was so familiar; a big tree at the edge of the courtyard, a stone table, everything was so clear; the smile on his father’s face that night seemed to appear before his eyes.

Although the scene in Bu Gong’s eyes was so familiar, his heart was constantly being torn apart; he just stood in the yard, watching all this silently, and he didn’t know when he threw away the wooden stick in his hands.

But at this moment, he stood there strangely, not falling down; only because of the persistence and hatred in his heart that supported him.

At this moment, he was still wearing the bright red wedding gown he was going to wear for his wedding. His hands were tightly clenched in his sleeves, his nails dug into his palms, and traces of blood were oozing out, but he didn’t notice it at all.

Even so, he seemed helpless. “Immortal, I finally saw an immortal for the first time. Immortals are indeed different from others,” Bu Gong whispered to himself; but in his eyes, the strange black lines had been gathering more and more without his knowledge.

Bu Gong walked skillfully into his small room, seemingly unaware of the pain in his legs.

…

The next day, “Gong Xiaozi, are you at home?” An old voice sounded from outside Bu Gong’s small courtyard; at this time, Bu Gong was still lying on the big earthen kang in his small room. Obviously, he was not sleeping soundly, but seemed to be unconscious.

“Gong boy? Gong boy?” The voice was heard calling twice more; “Hey, this kid won’t be depressed after what happened a few days ago, right?” The voice murmured in a low voice with a little surprise and worry.

Then with a “creak”, the door of the small courtyard was pushed open; an old man wearing a slightly worn linen jacket and a pair of half-worn straw sandals on his feet was seen standing in front of the door of the palace courtyard.

His hair was gray, his eyes were gray and lifeless, and he held a stick in his right hand, tapping the ground from time to time. This was the blind man Zhang who often told stories to Bu Gong and others in the town.

Obviously, this blind man knew about what happened a few days ago.

Because after Bu Gong’s father died, Blind Zhang also went to persuade him during the three or four days when Bu Gong knelt in front of his grave; but in the end it was fruitless, but he learned the whole story from Bu Gong.

At this time, next to Blind Zhang, there was a little boy about seven or eight years old, holding his left hand; the little boy raised his head and said in a childish voice: “Grandpa, shall we go into Brother Bu Gong’s room?”; the little boy was chubby and very cute.

The blind old man hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, “Xiao Hu, take me into his house to have a look.” “Oh grandpa, please follow me closely.” Then the little boy took the blind man Zhang’s hand and walked towards Bu Gong’s house as familiarly as if he were at home.

…

“Brother Bu Gong, you haven’t woken up yet, Brother Bu Gong?” As the door of the house was opened, the little boy saw Bu Gong still lying there with his eyes closed, thinking that he was asleep. He quickly ran to Bu Gong’s side, shaking his body and shouting.

“Huh? Little Tiger? Is Bu Gong still sleeping?” Blind Zhang asked a little puzzled. “Yeah, brother Bu Gong is so lazy that he can’t be woken up even if I call him!” said the little boy innocently.

“That’s impossible. I remember Bu Gong gets up very early every day. Why is he still sleeping today?” Blind Zhang thought secretly.

“Xiao Hu, take me to Bu Gong’s side, I’ll help take a look at him,” said Blind Zhang. Then the little boy took his hand and slowly walked to Bu Gong’s big kang.

Blind Zhang slowly found Bu Gong’s left hand, then gently pressed Bu Gong’s pulse with two fingers; after a moment, Blind Zhang sighed softly, and his slightly tense body relaxed a little with this breath.