All living beings in hell

Chapter 152 - Mr. Virtue
The sound of running water came from the four walls, as if a stream was winding through the cracks in the walls.

I looked around, and the walls began to ooze water droplets, and the surface quickly deformed as if it was stained with corrosive chemical reagents.A smell of chemical factory dye mixed with fresh wood chips began to seep from the corroded walls, gathering towards the center of the office.

"Who is coming?"

I asked a question and got no answer.

The wall continued to be eroded, and the original wood-colored surface began to show various colors under the burning of unknown chemical reagents.

Bright yellow, deep blue, dark green, light pink, zinc white...

These colors travel along the wood texture on the wall, gradually forming a flowing picture.

If you look closely, the azure blue looks like a flowing river; the light pink looks like the crown of a cherry tree; the bright yellow makes it hard to tell whether it’s sunrise or sunset; and the zinc white looks like moving figures on the screen.

The characters in the painting have no facial features or gender, they are silhouettes.

Some carts sell in the streets; some wash clothes by the river; some ride horses and patrol the city with swords in hand;

"Who is coming?"

I asked the picture scroll again, and an old man's voice sounded from behind the picture scroll.

"Thousands of layers of clouds surround the beams and ridges, and the cowboys in the market are honking their whistles every day. My lord, do you still like this painting?"

He only heard his voice, but not his person.The azure blue river on the picture scroll suddenly flooded and rushed to both sides.The white figure fled in a hurry, but was still swallowed by the river and involved.The cherry blossoms are scattered all over the ground, floating on the water, like tears, blood, and tenderness.

"Why don't you show up and talk to me about this painting?"

The air around the wooden chair vibrated, and a thin brush appeared out of thin air.

"My lord, I have no form or form, and I walk the world with a brush. I am here, and I am in the painting. You don't have to look at me, just look at the painting."

"Then what should I call you?"

"Although I have no virtue or talent, the world still calls me Mr. Virtuous and Talented. I am really ashamed."

I wrote down his name on the paper and continued to ask: "Mr. Decai, why are you looking for me today?"

"My lord, what do you think of this painting?"

At this time, the azure blue on the picture scroll receded into the river again, and the shore was deserted.Some white figures returned to the banks, picking up something on the ground, as if preparing to rebuild their homes.

"This village relies on the nourishment of the river to grow crops and thrive. However, water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it. If you are blessed by the river, you must also beware of the hidden dangers of the rainy season."

"It is also interesting to say that even if the floods flood every year, people will still return to this land to cultivate; even if the floods flood every year, people will always fall into the water and die; Standing tall, the delicate flowers fall and bloom again. What do your lords think is the reason for this?"

"Why does Mr. Decai ask me these questions?"

"Looking at the painting is also watching the mind. The mind that is watching me is also yours."

"Mr. Decai, why do you think it is?"

"Most human beings are stupid and unreasonable, but there is always a small part, which is so cute that people can't bear to leave them."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

The bristle part of the paintbrush in the air glowed golden, and the brush moved to the wall, pointing at the man who was desperately building a house.

"These people are born with water and are familiar with the habits of water, so they build their houses as simple and light as possible. Most of them don't have the habit of hoarding things, at least they don't hoard things at home. A few days before the flood, there will be a sound They packed dry food and clothes without saying a word, and moved away secretly. When the flood passed, they were the first ones to return. They seized the fertile fields moistened by the flood and planted crops.

This group of people mastered the operation of the law of heaven and lived shrewdly. "

The paintbrush points to a figure standing under a giant cherry blossom tree.

"Do you think he is from the village?"

"Yes, but the village eccentric, the unpopular kind."

The invisible man with the paintbrush laughed twice.

"Maybe it's a weirdo, maybe it's a bard who happened to pass by here, and Yishu sighs for a while, the cherry blossom season is over, spring is coming, summer is coming, the seasons are turning, and the world is happy."

"What about this?"

I pointed to a group of people on the bank of the river. This group of people seemed to be building something—like building a boat.

"They are building a ship and want to leave here and go down the river to set up camp in a new place. Maybe the new place is better or worse than the current place, but the renunciation of this group of people is gone."

"Why are you so determined to leave? Is it because of the river?"

"Even if they curse the river, it's because of people. Even if they curse people, it's still because of themselves."

On the screen, small houses have been rebuilt one by one, and there are soldiers on horseback parade and peddlers pushing carts in the city again.The flood seems to have never happened, and the recovery speed of the village is unbelievable.

"Why did you draw this picture?"

"This is the village where I lived before my death."

"Who are you in this painting?"

"you guess."

"The person under the cherry blossom tree?"

The invisible Mr. Decai let out several hearty laughter.

"No, no, no."

"Boatmaker?"

Mr. Decai laughed again.

"No, no, no."

"Could it be a market peddler? A parade soldier?"

Mr. Decai leaned forward and backward laughing this time, and the paintbrush was shaking back and forth in the air with his laughter.

"I lived my life peacefully. When the flood came, I ran away, and when the flood receded, I went back. I had nothing to do on weekdays, so I wrote poems and lyrics, and sent them to poets for singing. I also knew some carpentry crafts, helping boat builders to plan boards, inlaid with nails and riveted .”

"Then how did you end up in hell?"

"I am a painting idiot. The older I get, the more I am addicted to painting. I don't eat, I don't sleep, and I don't run when the flood comes. I just keep painting and painting."

"Why do you keep painting? When did you start?"

"One week before the flood in a certain year, I was packing my bags with my family and preparing to flee. At that time, I was in my sixtieth year. Because I followed the laws of heaven, I have never suffered any hardship in this life and have always been safe.

A week before I left the village, I started to suffer from insomnia.Tossing and turning at night and not being able to fall asleep, this has never happened in my life.I used to fall asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow, and I slept so soundly that no one could wake me up.When the sun rises, I wake up naturally.

I'm insomnia now, but how can I be good!

It turns out that the night time is so long, how can I get through it?

I started walking in the village, along the river, and went home to sleep when I felt sleepy.Every night I walked further, until the night before I left, I walked for a whole night without sleeping for a moment. "

"What does that have to do with you starting to paint?"

"It was the last night. The dark clouds had already pressed down thickly, and this year's flood seemed to be particularly fierce. I was walking by the river, listening to the faint roar of the river, like the drums of war before a big war.

I suddenly didn't want to leave. Standing by the river, my life seemed to appear before my eyes.

I was born by the river and grew up by the river.Marry a wife and have children by the river, and work by the river all his life.I have been tightly tied to this river all my life, and it is roaring now, and it seems that there is a corner in my body that is suppressing the roar.

I held back this roar for a long, long time...

I couldn't help it that night, and I yelled loudly at the river.

At this moment, a huge thunder fell from the sky and struck the cherry tree on the other side of the river.With a roar, the cherry blossom tree ignited a big fire, and the flames shot into the sky.This fire seems to be helping the cherry blossom tree to fulfill its long-cherished wish, and the spark flying into the dark clouds must be the soul of the cherry blossom tree.

This scene is so beautiful, so beautiful.

I watched for a long time on the other side of the river until the sun came up and the cherry trees burned out. "

"and after?"

"I started painting from that day, and I couldn't stop painting. The thunder seemed to have struck somewhere in my heart, completely separating my life at that moment from the previous one. I want to paint, I want to enter In my painting. Apart from the painting, everything else doesn't matter."

"How did your family react to that?"

"My family thought I was old-fashioned and crazy. They tried to persuade me more than once, but it didn't work, so they didn't care about me anymore.

From now on, I will not leave during the flood.

With enough dry food for one person, I climbed to the top of a nearby hill and continued to paint.

Floods, washed away people, land, fallen cherry blossoms... I paint whatever I see, and I just paint. "

"How did your life end?"

"I don't remember, I just remember that I was painting, and as I was painting, my body disappeared. I searched for my body everywhere, but I couldn't find anything, only this paintbrush was left. "

"Why do you think Thunderclap made you start painting?"

"It's true...don't laugh at me."

"Tell me, I won't laugh at you."

"It's as if... that thunderbolt shattered something I've been holding on to."

"What is it?"

The invisible Mr. Decai thought for a while: "I thought so, Dao."

"What do you think the Tao is like? Why was it shattered by lightning?"

"I think Tao is following the will of heaven and following the laws of nature. As long as you understand the laws of the surrounding things, life will not be bad, you can live, and you can live leisurely and well."

"Then why was it shattered by lightning?"

"Tell me, doesn't the cherry blossom tree follow the will of heaven? Don't you understand the laws of nature? The cherry blossom tree is older than me, lush and lush for hundreds of years, and its roots are tens of meters deep underground. Such a natural beauty, in front of the thunder and lightning Vulnerable.

I have lived peacefully for 60 years, a rare longevity in that era.

Me, the first 60 years were the same as that cherry blossom tree.Take root and sprout, season after season, flowers bloom and fall.Whether it is rain or wind, there is always a way to stay by the river bank.

The cherry blossom trees were burned to death and did not sprout new shoots for the following year.I went to paint its charred stump, wondering if I would be burned like this after I died?
I was very moved while I was painting.People say that I am attached to things, but I think that burnt cherry tree stump really understands my thoughts.The cherry blossom tree was struck to death by lightning, as if it could finally break free from here, it was finally free. "

While talking, Mr. Decai drew the cherry tree stump on the scroll.The stump was scorched black, but left a vigorous and powerful shape.This scene is so vivid that if you get close to the scroll, you can smell the charcoal.

"What are you going to do next?" I asked.

"I don't have anything to do, so I just continue to draw. Wherever I go, I draw."

"Then it's almost time today."

"What do you want to do after writing the words?"

"Maybe I won't want to write anymore, I want to do something else. Maybe I will continue to write, who knows?"

"If the master who writes no longer writes, will the master still write?"

"Once the work is done, it will naturally cease to be an official position. No matter how much I love writing, errands are just errands after all."

"My lord, Decai hereby wishes you success in your future work."

"You too."

The paintbrush disappeared in the air, and the picture on the wall began to fade slowly.The corroded walls gradually recovered, and I could even hear the sound of wood growing.

"My lord, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

A gust of fresh wind blew from the crack in the wall, and all the unpleasant smells were taken away by the wind.Mr. Decai's voice seems to be still echoing in my ears, and the office has returned to its original state of silence.

(End of this chapter)