Chapter 1: Born a Stone Man
In the third year of the Sui Dynasty, the sky changed.
Thousands of huge meteorites, burning with horrifying blood-red flames, accompanied by earthquakes, flash floods, tsunamis and other disasters, landed in every state and county of the Sui Dynasty.
For a time, the territory of the Sui Dynasty was filled with grief.
From the Son of Heaven down to the grassroots, no one will forget this year.
Emperor Wulong, who had just changed the year's name, had to issue three consecutive sinful edicts to change the year again to "Tianshun".
The disaster lasted for three whole months, and there were all kinds of urgent reports with blood-red handprints on them, which were sent to the capital by horseback. The people of the capital, as long as they saw a tired and foaming at the mouth of the warhorse, in the same tired riders under the desperate beating galloped through the streets, a burst of gloom, know that there is another place affected by the disaster. Behind each of those urgent reports meant thousands, if not tens of thousands, of innocent lives!
Luckily, after three months, the Emperor's sinful edict seemed to really work, and this weird and unprecedented disaster gradually came to an end, and no urgent report of disaster had been received for more than ten days.
......
Today is a good day, the great Sui Yuzhou Luo Mei mountain neighborhood, perennial rainy and cloudy, like today such a sunny, cloudless day is really not much.
The children of Lotus Terrace Village finished their lessons and bustled away.
Sun Li, who was already thirteen years old, mingled amongst the crowd and headed out. Husbandman stood at the door, and every student who went out bowed to him in farewell.
Husbandman was a scribe in his forties, with a slightly thin figure, and was said to have a scholar's title. Since ancient times, the culture around Luo Mei Mountain had flourished, and small villages like Lotus Terrace had pooled their money to hire this scholar to teach the village children.
The only thing was that those as old as Sun Li were already good laborers in their families, listening to the teacher's sermons in the morning and then going to work on the farm in the afternoon.
When he met a successful student with excellent grades, the teacher naturally smiled, and might even touch his head and encourage him a few times.
Encountered those recalcitrant, do not seek progress, the husband is naturally a face throw a few stern urging.
Sun Li walked by, put up his hands and bowed, respectfully saying, "Farewell Husband Tzu."
Husbandman nodded and let him pass with a wave of his hand.
There was no encouragement nor urging. No different from treating ordinary people.
Sun Li had long been accustomed to it.
He was unremarkable in this Lotus Terrace Village, and many things, many gazes, would inadvertently overlook him.
However, Sun Li himself understood that he was by no means as ordinary as others thought. Looking at the group of children, he was different from them.
After leaving the five-room schoolhouse, he walked towards home.
Beside him was a group of classmates hooking shoulders, "San Zi, what are you doing this afternoon?"
"Boring ah, husband let read the "Yi" scripture, that thing how can not understand, what is the meaning?"
"Hey, why don't we go fishing this afternoon?"
"No, I just went there yesterday."
"Then let's go find Widow Li's daughter to play?"
"Hehehe, this one I like ......"
"Hahaha!"
This group of people were all rich families in the village, who did not have to go down to the ground to work, and the leader was Tian Yingdong, the son of the village head of Tian.
As soon as Tian Yingdong turned his head, he saw Sun Li on the side, an odd smile immediately appeared on his face, calling him, "Lili, are you going to receive a guest this afternoon?"
The surrounding children burst into laughter.
Sun Li naturally understood that they were making fun of his name.
Sun Li was the eldest son of his family, his father gave him this name, naturally hoping that as the eldest son he would be able to support the Sun family in the future.
But I do not know which day, the village rumors, the county Ni Hong Lou a slightly fat kiln sister, the name is called "Li Li", Tian Yingdong these people will be bad taste, often used to tease Sun Li.
Sun Li did not pay attention to them. Tian Yingdong's group thought they had won, laughed and stopped paying attention to him, and walked away quickly.
Sun Li shook his head, a bitter smile appeared on his face, thinking of a phrase he read in a book: muddling through, mediocre people enjoying themselves.
The behavior that these people thought was funny was not really insulting to Sun Li: a monkey showing its teeth at someone, showing off a peach beard at someone, would one feel frustrated?
He had been studying since he was a child, and thirteen was the time when his thoughts were being formed.
The group of people in front of him were still heckling, when suddenly a huge crimson flame flew down from the sky and exploded in the middle of those people with a "bang".
"Ah ......"
With a few screams, three or four of those people fell down, some were injured by the blast, while others had their clothes burned.
Tian Yingdong was a bit farther away and managed to escape, but he was also white with fear. Dumbfounded, he looked at his injured companions not knowing what to do.
The two who were burned by the fire, instinctively rolled on the ground for a while to extinguish the flames.
The one that was injured by the explosion was on the face and the other on the hand, the wounds were extremely deep and they were grunting in pain.
Sun Li looked at the distant sky with eyes full of horror, and suddenly reacted as if, yelling at them, "Run ah ......"
"Hoo, hoo, hoo ......"
A path of crimson flames quickly smashed down through the sky. The small ones were only the size of a fist, and the big ones were as big as a human head.
Those guys under the soul of the soul, even screamed to the book to the head of a block scattered to escape.
In the clear sky, there are three huge golden red fireballs slowly falling, look at that direction is clearly toward the Lotus Terrace Village!
And the many fireballs, accompanied by the three largest golden-red fireballs around, grabbed a step ahead to bombard the earth.
"Meteorites! Run!"
The entire village was in chaos all of a sudden, and in the face of such a natural disaster, no one in this small mountain village was able to calm down at all. Chickens flew, dogs jumped, children cried, women screamed, men roared, and it was a chaotic mess.
Sun Li looked at the three huge flame meteors in shock, the meteors dragged a long fire tail, there is a dazzling flame light shield in front of them, the volume is immense and incomparable, even more than the entire Sui Dynasty rumors of this natural disaster, the most huge meteors are several times larger.
Those fireballs that accompanied the meteors, each one that landed would explode the ground with a tremor, and some of the houses in the village began to shake.
All the people panicked, they knew that under the impact of such huge meteors, a series of disasters would be triggered, so close to the small mountain village, they simply could not escape.
After the panic, they were waiting for death. All the people watched those three huge flaming meteors smashing down, and closed their eyes in despair.
However, after a while, the expected great earthquake did not come, and the loud whistling sound of the meteors crossing the sky disappeared. People slowly opened their eyes, only to see the village in the middle of the mountains behind the village, thick smoke rolled ......
Three huge and incomparable flaming meteors, but they descended silently, and even the ground didn't shake a bit. The villagers, in a panic, looked at each other, somewhat unable to believe that they had escaped so easily, and as if they did not understand why Yama did not accept them.
The fire inside the mountain was burning, not to mention putting out the fire, the villagers didn't dare to get close at all. They had become birds of prey. Suddenly someone pointed at the smoke and said horrifiedly, "There seems to be something in there!"
Everyone rushed to look, the smoke rolled and rose, it was not clear to see, but it seemed that there really was something hidden inside, and it should be very huge and hideous!
What was that? The villagers were silenced.
......
It was only on the seventh day that the fire was extinguished in the midst of a sudden downpour.
From the start of the rain, all the villagers gathered together and looked fearfully in the direction of the falling meteor, as if waiting for a judgment on their lives. The smoke slowly dispersed, and the contents were revealed.
Three immense and incomparable stone statues stood steadily in the middle of the mountain.
Although this was only the outskirts of Luo Mei Mountain, the average mountain peaks were hundreds of feet tall. But these peaks only reached the ankles of those three huge stone statues.
The stone statues had hideous faces, morose and terrifying, towering over them as if they were able to disdain the entire world in their eyes!
The statue on the left had a hundred eyes, and the one on the right had a hundred arms. It seemed that the central stone statue was the most honorable, but the central stone statue did not have any special features, it looked ordinary, only taller.
"Ah!"
With such a huge and vicious stone statue, the villagers felt bad and their faces were incredibly ugly. Mayor Tian had the intention to report the damage, but Lotus Terrace Village didn't have much damage, and between hesitations, he could only shake his head and look at it.
Strange to say, so huge three stone statues, but only in the Lotus Terrace village can see, once you leave the village, you can only see a cloud from afar.
This phenomenon more let many villagers secretly began to discuss, this is the sky to send disaster to the Lotus Village!
So in a few days, the villagers spontaneously in the mountains outside the incense, candles and paper, will be the three God of Death offerings. Some people even bowed daily.
......
"Ah Li, come here, you also pay your respects, and ask the Stone God to forgive our family's sins and bless our family's livestock to prosper."
Sun Li was dragged by his mother and kneeled down a bit reluctantly in front of the incense case. But to these three stone statues, Sun Li's heart always had some indescribable feelings.
Incense case has accumulated a very thick layer of wax oil, framed paper incense burning smoke curls, through that mist, Sun Li suddenly felt distant mountain in the middle of the three stone statues of that one, seems to look at himself!
Sun Li heart laughs, he spent his eyes.
"Quickly worship ah, you see your brother has kowtowed." Mother urged.
Sun Li's second brother, Sun Chun, was obedient, kneeling reverently, his little head kowtowing on the lapis lazuli. Sun Li was filial: "Mother, I'll worship now."
He held up three sticks of incense and respectfully paid his respects three times, getting up and inserting the incense into the incense burner.
A distant voice suddenly rang in his ears, "Come ......"
A thousand mountains responded in a flash!
Sun Li's cold hairs are up, "Eh?"
He looked around, his mother was still making a wish with her eyes closed, and his younger brother, Sun Chun, had already run off to the side, teasing a bug in the grass, which demonstrated to him, with its bristly hairs rising up at first glance, colorful.
Sun Li wondered: did I hear wrong?
"Come on, come on ......"
Sunli was startled: "Who!?"
"You child, you're startled, what's wrong? Quickly kneel down and kowtow to the Stone God to thank him, if the Stone God blames him, none of our family will have peace." The mother hurriedly pulled him back.
Sun Li was helpless and did as his mother said. The mother, on the other hand, recited words that were nothing more than asking the Immortal to forgive him or something like that.
Finally the ceremony was all over, the mother got up, tugged on Sun Chun, and greeted her eldest son, "Ah Li, go back, if mother doesn't go back to cook, your father will be able to starve himself to death."
Sun Li smiled and followed. Walking out a dozen steps, he couldn't help but look back, and amidst the smoke, he clearly saw the lips of the huge stone statue in the center move.
"Come ......"
That voice once again came from far away, and Sun Li was surprised, "Mother, Lao Er, did you hear someone speak?"
"Where did anyone speak?" Sun Chun bristled.
Mother also shook her head, "What nonsense, this is just the three of us, where is someone else talking?"
"But I really hear someone talking ah ......"
The mother reached out and tried his forehead, "This child, it can't be sick."
"Mother!" Sun Li opened his mother's hand, "I saw that stone statue's mouth move, he's talking to me ......"
"Pah!" Sun Li received a blow on his mother's head, "The stone god is of stone, how can his lips move and still talk to you? Don't say this nonsense, if the people in the village know about it, they will surely think that you have been possessed."
Lost in evil!
The last person who was possessed by an evil spirit was burned to death, and his relatives were forced to leave Lotus Terrace Village to live in exile. The villagers had an innate great fear of such ghost and god related calamities.
Sun Li shivered a bit and immediately closed his mouth not daring to say more.
Walked out a few miles, he still could not help but look back, the three stone statues head of white clouds, still, no longer anything different. Sun Li's heart, however, is full of doubts.
......
Every morning before Husbandman's lecture, the children had to worship the statue of the saint. The statue of the saint had been hanging on the wall of the schoolhouse for many years, and was yellowing. Sun Li had also looked at it for years, and was too familiar with it.
Bowing and rising, in Sun Li's eyes, that saint statue but turned into the appearance of a stone statue, his lips moved, and his voice was deep and distant: "Come ......"
Sun Li froze on the spot.
......
He didn't know if he was really possessed, but ever since he heard the stone statue speak that day, no matter where he was or what he was doing, there was a voice calling him from afar.
That almost ubiquitous calling was driving him crazy!
"If I'm really possessed, let me suffer alone, don't involve my family."
Sun Li sat on the edge of the bed and made up his mind.
He quietly opened the door and slipped out. Running furiously all the way into the back of the mountain. That stone statue looked even more hideous and frightening in the night, but Sun Li somehow had no fear in his heart, running wildly on the mountain road with one foot deep and one foot shallow, heading straight for that stone statue!
Since the stone statue landed here, no one dared to approach that piece of mountain forest.
Zhang San, the village's shrewd, always come from blowing bold, that day with people gambling three old wine, said he dared to go to touch the stone statue, the result of halfway to the road to run back to the scared howling, sick for half a month, on that day of the sights and sounds is absolutely not dare to mention.
Sun Li grew up in the mountains, exercise good legs and feet, but running at full speed, but also until the middle of the night to the stone statue near the mountains.
He was already sweating profusely, his clothes were soaked, his hair was plastered on his forehead, but he was holding his strength in his heart, and climbed up a mountain peak on his hands and knees, not even looking towards the three huge stone statues and roared furiously, "I'm coming!"
The voice echoed, as if countless mandrills and severe ghosts responded to him together, "I'm coming ......."
The resident birds flew in fright and fluttered with strange sounds.
Under the darkness, Sun Li clearly saw those three huge stone statues, looking down at themselves!
The hundred eyed stone statue on the left, actually had its head bobbing, and each eye swept itself.
Being glanced at by those eyes, Sun Li's brain buzzed, his body swayed, and he fell down limply!
......
Sun Li felt that this sleep was very bad, when he woke up he was still groggy, and in his dream someone kept saying something to him ......
"The two yards of heaven and earth, yin and yang are transformed ...... Palm presses heaven and earth, eye takes in yin and yang!"
"Nine extreme laws, full of fairies and devils, extinguishing sex and thoughtlessness, covering the sea and upending mountains. Even if the Avenue is infinite, I have a thought with the heart, a long journey, the ancients do not see, only expect the coming ......"
"Mediocre people disturb themselves, mortals condense, Taoists regulate, sages merge with the truth, real people guard their gods, supreme people gather their gods, saints tiptoe through the air, and immortals are unhindered ......"
"Heaven and earth are unkind, with everything as ruminants; ruminants against the sky, against cultivation to take life is immortal!"
"Avenue three thousand weight, the world all say for the door to ascend to immortality, I only break out of the door, another way, life is not in the five elements, the soul is not within the six paths!"
"......"
There was a lot of chaos, basically all of which he hadn't heard of before.
The most irritating thing was that there was more than one voice, there were at least two voices arguing, and the bias gave off a feeling that there was a third presence. It was just that that third person had refused to speak, for some reason.
Occasionally there is an image flashed, in the void, there is a hundred eye giants eyes released countless light, sweeping under a star fell!
Another hundred arm giants, head and feet in the infinite void, each palm above, holding a river of stars!
The third person seems to be imaginary, meditative spirit, fixed the universe Qiankun ......
Chaos shall not be cleared!
He sat up, shook his head, awake for a moment, in looking out the window, it was already half a morning.
Sun Li suddenly had a jolt: didn't he go to the mountains, and he saw those three stone statues, and then fainted, but how did he wake up in his own bed?
He stood up with a jerk, something shook in the corner of his eye, he turned his head and froze: on the worn out table next to his bed, there were three tiny stone figures.
Stone people are only the size of a fist, look a little rough, but clearly is the back of the village in the mountains, three stone statues!
Hundred arms on the left, hundred eyes on the right, and the center looked plain.
It is just smaller by an unknown number of times.
Just at this moment, there was a cry of alarm from outside: "The stone statue, the stone statue is gone! The stone statue is gone ......"
The voices of the people gradually became noisy, and people were all discussing how that fierce and vicious huge stone statue could disappear without a trace overnight. All sorts of speculations and rumors arose for no reason.
Sun Li looked at the three small stone figures, somewhat in disbelief: were they really them?
Whether it was or not, Sun Li didn't dare to let anyone know about the existence of these three small stone figures, much less talk about what happened last night. Besides, how he came back was baffling to himself.
He hurriedly put away the three little stone people close to him, opened the door and walked out.
"Father, Mother."
Now is the farming season, parents did not go out, see him out, the two old a smile, mother is hearing the noise outside, some curiosity, glanced at Sun Li his father, the old Sun did not say anything, she will whoosh a moment of the work in hand to pack up: "Stone statue is gone? What's going on, when the family, I went out to inquire about ......."
Sun Li's father, of course, knows his wife's temperament, smiled and said nothing. Sun Li's mother had already run out quickly.
Sun Li hesitated for a moment, or decided not to tell his parents and younger brother small stone people things - the last family "evil" that person's tragic experience, let Sun Li heart palpitations, he made up that idea: to really evil, on their own, never involve the family! The following is a list of some of the most important things you can do for your family.
......
In the second year of Tianshun, Sun Li was already fifteen years old, but he had not yet married.
According to Sun Li's family in the village of Lotus Terrace is considered to be solid, he looks decent, no vices, but the marriage has always failed, and the other side always have a variety of reasons, so that Sun Li's parents also have nothing to say.
Parents gradually anxious, but Sun Li is not satisfied with this. He was very agreeable to the matchmaker's perfunctory words: fate has not yet arrived.
Sun Li felt that there seemed to be something waiting for him. This was because those three existences in his mind would jump out to argue from time to time.
The two who spoke were still two people, but Sun Li was always able to feel the existence of that third person, and that existence, as calm as a flood god mountain, untouchable.
The voice of the two people who spoke was extremely loud and thunderous.
At first half a year was only when he was sleeping, and then it was regardless of time and occasion. Sometimes he was drinking water, suddenly a voice, he choked a mouthful of water into his nose ......
However, under such continuous indoctrination, he also gradually understood, this argument, actually is a kind of vain and remote "cultivation" method.
According to them, there is a group of people in this world called "cultivators", they divided the people in this world into a level.
The average person is not even considered a "mortal", and spends his or her life in mediocrity, coming into the world with one eye open, and leaving the world with one eye open, not understanding the truth of anything. Such people can only be called "mediocre".
Above the mediocre is the "mortal".
Those who have practiced martial arts and have strong roots and bones, and have reached their peak state, even if they are honored as "the best in the world", can only barely be called "mortals".
Those cultivators only need to pass the simplest cultivation, can reach the realm of "mortals".
Above the mortals, there are the six realms of Taoist, Sage, True Man, Supreme Man, Sage, and Immortal, and all cultivators are striving towards the goal of becoming an Immortal.
But not all of them were qualified to cultivate, there seemed to be some harsh requirements. But what exactly were the requirements, Sun Li didn't understand.
Sun Li had been tormented by the quarrels for two years, and he hadn't figured out exactly how he should cultivate.
The only good thing about it was that when he saw something, if the thing was more treasured, a voice would suddenly appear to remind him.
In these two years, Sun Li from time to time to the depths of Luo Mei Mountain, and occasionally see some precious herbs, under the reminder of those voices, he picked back to his father to get to the market to sell, but it is really not a small harvest. With this, the Sun family built a new house.
Sun Li's father is particularly proud, often bragging about his son outside.
In addition to herbs, there are some strange stones in the mountains, animal horns, animal bones and other things, sometimes see the voice will also tell him the name, efficacy, etc., but Sun Li did not understand at all, but he was put away. There is no place to sell this thing, he got a pocket to put up, as his own plaything.
Regardless of how Sun Li's father proudly bragged about his son outside, Sun Li was still the same teenager that was easily overlooked by everyone two years ago.
Because during these two years, another child in Lotus Terrace Village had risen like a comet and shone brightly!
He was Tian Yingdong, the son of Tian Village Chief.
Tian Yingdong also fifteen this year, also is not married, but that is the result of the Tian family rejected at least twenty relatives.
Originally unruly Tian Yingdong, after two years ago, three huge stone statues landed in the back of the mountain, and then mysteriously disappeared, as if overnight enlightenment, first of all, can not forget, only a month, memorized the four books and five classics, even some out-of-the-way canon, can remember most of it. Husband was greatly surprised, to be able to teach such a disciple, so that Husband felt that it was not in vain!
Afterward, Tian Yingdong even had many amazing works, and gradually rose to prominence in the Luo Mei Mountain area where the literary style flourished. When the scholars talked about young talents, they would all rank Tian Yingdong in the first place. Even many great scholars in Yuzhou felt that with two or three more years of training, Tian Yingdong would be strong enough to win the laurels in the Imperial Examination!
What is not known to outsiders is that Tian Yingdong is not only a brilliant writer, but also has extraordinary bravery. One hand can lift three hundred pounds of stone locks. Last winter snow, Tian Yingdong accompanied the admirer to come to the county magistrate lady in the mountains in the snow, unexpectedly encountered a hungry tiger, Tian Yingdong actually bare hands and bare fists killed the tiger! This also makes the county magistrate lady's heart secretly in love.
Mr. Tian is very happy, his son is a good scholar and a good fighter, so it is inevitable that he will shine in the family. He naturally wants his son to be at ease with his studies, the matter of marriage, at least until after his son's high school before considering, maybe his son can be a scholar in both arts and martial arts, the son of heaven to give marriage!
There is such a radiant Tian Yingdong, Sun Li looks dull.
No matter how hard his father bragged, Sun Li in the eyes of others is still just an ordinary student.
