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　　羅浮山下的爆竹一聲接一聲地響起，聲聲不絕，穿過空氣一直傳到山中的孤院裡，驚醒了一條睡夢中的蛇。
　　抬起頭，黑蛇對陌生的聲源有些不解，等了好一會，待他確定這種動靜無法造成傷害後，他游到柳延肚腹上，在黑暗的棉被裡順著暖熱的身子鑽來鑽去。
　　直到柳延被他驚醒，伸手從被窩裡將他扔到枕頭邊，暴露在比起被窩不知冷了多少的空氣中，黑蛇才消停下來，中止了每日上演的玩樂。
　　躺在枕頭邊以一副“我快要凍死了”的姿勢裝無辜的黑蛇，在堅持了一盞茶的時間後，被心軟的柳延重新塞進了被窩裡。
　　柳延扯著棉被捂上頭，囫圇個把自己埋了起來，抱著黑蛇懵懵懂懂的想起，今兒是除夕。
　　
　　又是一年除夕。
　　柳延在被子裡發了一會呆，漸漸清醒過來，慢吞吞地坐起身。黑蛇纏在他的胳膊上，一副不願意他起床的模樣，攀著扯著，直到被柳延剝開，柳延說：“你不是該冬眠嗎？”
　　黑蛇見攔阻無效，便卷著尾巴勾在他腰上，試圖鑽進他松垮的衣襟裡，柳延點著它的腦袋道：“蛇就應該睡覺，今天還有許多事要做。”
　　被嬌寵壞了的黑蛇沒有絲毫自覺，依然纏著他試圖鑽進懷抱裡去。
　　柳延索性一手攥住他的腦袋，一手抓住蛇尾，雙臂張開，把盤曲著的黑蛇抻直，像極了一截面條，腦袋放在枕上，尾巴放進被窩，拿被子給他蓋好。柳延笑眯眯地做完這一切，哄著道：“乖。”
　　自己溜下了床。
　　這“橫死”的姿勢實在是違逆了蛇的天性，除非是死蛇。所以當柳延下床後，被抻直的黑蛇立刻收起身子，又蜷曲起來，鑽進被窩深處，找到了依舊溫熱的手爐，蜷在一旁睡覺。
　　
　　柳延不知道為什麼該冬眠的伊墨沒有冬眠，對此沈玨也不解，或許是屋子太暖和的緣故，畢竟今年的炭火，自入冬那天起，就沒有停下燃燒。
　　一年的尾聲，自當好好過，柳延和沈玨一起為辭舊迎新的這天忙碌著，唯獨成了“老朽”的許明世閑來無事，坐在床邊的腳踏上，對床上那條該冬眠卻不冬眠的黑蛇表現了充分的熱情——畢竟現在無事可做的只有他們。
　　這段日子都在一起，黑蛇對許明世倒不陌生，他願意湊在這，黑蛇也給予了足夠的寬容，隨他在一旁嘮叨不休，沒有異議地盤在一旁打盹，聽他絮叨那些聽不懂的話。大多都是在追憶似水年華。
　　許明世覺得自己如今唯一能做的事，就是坐在這裡，追憶自己的往事，並因為有人旁聽，而從中得到許多安慰。他的生命比眼前這人短得多，他還年輕時，這蛇已經是個千年老妖怪了，比年齡他們差距太遠，但生命雖短，許明世自覺活得也足夠精彩，他細數自己一生，做過錯事，也做了許多好事，幫了許多人和妖，也讓那些害人的人得到該有的下場，無論怎麼說，他都未虛度。
　　唯獨不同與伊墨的，就是他沒有經歷過這樣一段感情。
　　說到這裡，許明世頑心不改，湊到黑蛇跟前，低聲說了一句悄悄話。
　　可惜他以為會造成影響的話，對黑蛇並未絲毫影響。穩若泰山的黑蛇盤在手爐邊，對這個老頭的頑劣品質表示不屑一顧。
　　
　　沈玨在院子裡劈柴，斧頭落下去時，敏銳的耳力讓他捕捉到了那句不該聽見的話，斧刃頓時傾斜了一下，被剁掉一角的木頭彈了出去，擊在牆壁上，土牆暫態出現了一個坑，黃泥簌簌落滿地。
　　柳延聞聲從灶台旁趕出來，見狀問：“你要修牆？”
　　沈玨搖頭道：“劈錯了。”
　　
　　屋子裡的許明世還在黑蛇耳邊絮絮不休，沈玨垂下眼，彎身撿起那截被迫飛出去又彈回來的木頭，單手舉著斧頭劈了下去，木頭沒有來得及發出絲毫聲響，分成了八瓣。院中發生的一切，許明世絲毫不知，他所知道的，不外是沈玨在辛苦劈柴，為廚灶間忙碌的柳延提供火源。對那根化為八瓣的木頭，許明世如同不知自己的話都讓人旁聽了去一樣無知。正因為無知，所以他才敢說：“老蛇，其實我還是很羡慕你。儘管你都變成這個毬樣兒了。”
　　“你看你現今，話不會說，事不會做，整日裡吃喝玩樂的一條大長蟲，”許明世念念不休地道：“換我就把你剝皮燉湯，哪讓你過得這麼快活。”
　　許明世一邊說著，一邊戳了戳蛇頭，借此表達自己的不滿的嫉妒。黑蛇對此舉動極其涵養的忍耐了，理都沒理他，許明世看著，又忍不住傷懷起來，道：“我那些師兄弟，一些是沒修成，早就投胎去了，還有一些略有小成的，見我這幅糟老頭的模樣，都厭惡得很。不厭惡我的，倒是願意陪我說說話，卻又只曉得談修道的事，要麼就是在煉丹，或者給我看他們煉出的法器……一個個的，都沒意思得很。”
　　“你雖變成這個毬樣兒了，卻比我好，兒子在一旁伺候著，沈清軒也天天哄著你。”許明世說：“哪像我，連個投靠的人都沒有，最後還得你們一家子給我送終。”
　　許明世愈發傷感起來，抬手抹了把眼睛，湊過去低聲道：“小寶雖是不認我這個叔叔，卻把棺木都給我備了，我偷偷看過了，木頭很好，想來花了不少心思。”
　　他哪裡知道院外的沈玨已經皺起眉頭，深感到這老兒越老越賊，他一無所覺地撐著老臉，還在嘀咕：“……那年你送我的蛇蛻替我擋了不少災，現在你這模樣，也再弄不出那樣的寶物了，等我死了，就把這東西留給小寶，也算是物歸原主。我可不欠你什麼……”
　　黑蛇抬頭看了看窗外，陽光很好，光線充足，他打了個呵欠，唉，日頭漫漫。
　　
　　年飯終於擺上桌的時候，黑蛇才從蒼蠅般的絮叨中被解脫出來，他被柳延抱著，坐在酒席上，過了這個他被打回原形後，第一個除夕。
　　自然，也飲了酒。自從第一次飲酒後，他便戀上了那種渾身都暖融融的感覺，仿佛正是陽春三月，鶯飛草長的好時節，可以隨心所欲，四處漫遊。
　　許明世用一天時間傾述了滿腹苦水，心情也鬆快許多，端著酒盞頻頻舉杯，在年飯的香甜裡，微醺地看向沈玨，道：“小子，喚我一聲叔叔。”
　　有句話怎麼說的——酒壯慫人膽。柳延撕了一片豬頭肉，塞進了懷中酒鬼的口中。
　　沈玨放下碗筷望向許明世，對著滿嘴油膩，頭髮花白的糟老頭，甚是淡定地問了一句：“你說什麼，我沒聽清。”
　　許明世頃刻間反應過來，哈哈一笑，道：“沒什麼。我說這菜真好吃。”
　　還有句話怎麼說的——爛泥扶不上牆。柳延默默腹誹著，深感無力。
　　
　　除夕過後很快便是元宵，沈玨煮了一鍋桂花芝麻餡的大元宵，其間兌了許多蜜糖，在甜掉眾人大牙未果後，年的氛圍也慢慢淡去了，似乎是一眨眼，山中樹木萌發了一層淡綠，覆著淡淡絨毛的嫩葉抽出枝條，清晨時又有了鳥雀的鳴唱，地上時常能看見爬行不止的小蟲，這個春天來的很快。
　　褪去了厚重的棉衣，許明世輕鬆許多，佝僂的腰杆也挺直起來，他時常滿山閒逛，與那些花鳥魚蟲談話，神情輕快無比，沈玨疑心他還能再活上幾十年也不成問題。但這話也說不出口，所以沈玨只好一切照舊，伺候著老頭兒的衣食住行。
　　在這個鳥雀聒噪，松鼠滿山跳躍的時節，蟄伏在柳延懷中的黑蛇似乎也被感染了那份生機盎然，他終日遊走，在山中林木間穿梭，有時甚至流連忘返，直到沈玨將他尋回來。
　　又一個深夜，柳延從沈玨手中接過不斷吐出信子並發出“嘶嘶”聲，似乎極不耐煩的黑蛇時，終於感到他的異常並非因為貪玩，一時也想不出理由，只好問沈玨：“他這是怎麼了？病了麼？”
　　沈玨搖搖頭，“精神好得很，哪裡像是病了。”
　　許明世自廚房裡偷了一壇酒，路過窗下時頓住腳，猶豫再三不知該不該道出實情。他一眼就能看出來的問題，屋內兩個聰明人都還在雲霧裡，唯一的理由是因為，他們並未將那條蛇當做蛇。那是他們的至親至愛，縱是蛇形，在他們心中，依然是活生生的一個人。所以最簡單的答案，他們卻想不出來。
　　躊躇片刻，許明世沖窗內委婉地道：“他只是……他的春天到了。”說完他便抱著酒罈，匆匆離去的步伐像是做了壞事一般。
　　
　　——他的春天到了。
　　許明世的一句話，對沈玨不亞於醍醐灌頂，原來如此，所以最近伊墨如此躁動。他望向柳延，卻看到一臉灰敗。
　　手中不由自主的收緊三分，柳延垂下眼，很好地掩去了自己的神情，只對懷中吃痛而掙扎的黑蛇，淡淡道：“想都別想。”

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Firecrackers rang out one after another at the foot of Luofu Mountain. The sound continued through the air and reached an isolated courtyard in the mountain, waking up a sleeping snake.

Looking up, the black snake was a little puzzled by the strange sound source. After waiting for a long time, when he was sure that the noise could not cause any harm, he swam to Liu Yan’s belly and drilled along the warm body in the dark quilt.

It was not until Liu Yan was awakened by him and reached out to throw him from the quilt to the pillow, exposing him to the air which was much colder than the quilt, that the black snake calmed down and stopped its daily fun.

lay beside the pillow pretending to be innocent with an “I’m about to freeze to death" posture. After persisting for a cup of tea, the soft-hearted Liu Yan stuffed him back into the quilt.

Liu Yan pulled the quilt over his head and buried himself completely. He held the black snake in his arms and vaguely remembered that today was New Year’s Eve.

It’s New Year’s Eve again.

Liu Yan was in a daze in the quilt for a while, then gradually woke up and slowly sat up. The black snake was wrapped around his arm, as if it didn’t want him to get up, and it kept climbing and pulling until Liu Yan peeled it off. Liu Yan said, “Shouldn’t you hibernate?"

Seeing that it was useless to stop him, the black snake coiled its tail around his waist and tried to get into his loose clothes. Liu Yan nodded its head and said, “Snakes should sleep. We still have a lot to do today."

The spoiled black snake had no awareness at all and continued to cling to him, trying to get into his arms.

Liu Yan simply held his head with one hand and the snake’s tail with the other, stretched out his arms, and stretched the coiled black snake straight, like a section of strips, put the head on the pillow, put the tail into the quilt, and covered him with the quilt. Liu Yan did all this with a smile and coaxed him, “Be good."

He slipped out of bed.

This “horizontal death" posture is really against the nature of snakes, unless they are dead snakes. So when Liu Yan got out of bed, the stretched black snake immediately retracted its body, curled up again, crawled deep into the quilt, found the still warm hand warmer, and curled up to sleep.

Liu Yan didn’t know why Yi Mo didn’t hibernate when he should have. Shen Jue was also puzzled. Maybe it was because the house was too warm. After all, the charcoal fire this year had not stopped burning since the beginning of winter.

It’s the end of the year, so we should live it well. Liu Yan and Shen Jue are busy preparing for the new year. Only Xu Mingshi, who has become an “old man", has nothing to do. He sits on the footstool beside the bed and shows full enthusiasm for the black snake on the bed that should hibernate but doesn’t – after all, they are the only ones with nothing to do now.

Having been together for this period of time, Heishe was no stranger to Xu Mingshi. He was willing to be here, and Heishe was tolerant enough to let him chatter on and on, curling up beside him and taking a nap without objection, listening to his mumbling words that he could not understand. Most of them were reminiscing about the past years.

Xu Mingshi felt that the only thing he could do now was to sit here and recall his past, and because someone was listening, he got a lot of comfort from it. His life was much shorter than the man in front of him. When he was young, the snake was already a thousand-year-old monster. The age gap between them was too big, but although his life was short, Xu Mingshi felt that he had lived a wonderful life. He counted his life, he had done wrong things, but also did many good things, helped many people and monsters, and made those who harmed people get what they deserved. No matter what, he did not live in vain.

The only difference between him and Yi Mo is that he has never experienced such a relationship.

Having said that, Xu Mingshi remained stubborn and moved closer to the black snake, whispering something in a low voice.

Unfortunately, the words he thought would have an impact did not have the slightest effect on the black snake. The black snake coiled around the hand warmer, showing disdain for the old man’s stubborn character.

Shen Jue was chopping wood in the yard. When the axe fell, his keen hearing allowed him to catch the words he shouldn’t have heard. The axe blade suddenly tilted, and the wood with a corner chopped off bounced out and hit the wall. A hole instantly appeared in the earth wall, and yellow mud fell all over the ground.

Liu Yan rushed out from the stove upon hearing the noise and asked, “You want to repair the wall?"

Shen Jue shook his head and said, “I made the wrong move."

In the room, Xu Mingshi was still chattering in Black Snake’s ear. Shen Jue lowered his eyes, bent down to pick up the piece of wood that was forced to fly out and bounced back, raised the axe in one hand and chopped it down. The wood didn’t make any sound and broke into eight pieces. Xu Mingshi had no idea what was happening in the yard. All he knew was that Shen Jue was chopping wood to provide a fire source for Liu Yan who was busy in the kitchen. Xu Mingshi was as ignorant of the piece of wood that broke into eight pieces as if he didn’t know that his words were overheard by others. It was precisely because of his ignorance that he dared to say, “Old Snake, I still envy you very much. Even though you have become like this . “

“Look at you now. You can’t speak, you can’t do anything, you just eat, drink and have fun all day long," Xu Mingshi kept thinking, “If it were me, I would skin you and stew you in soup. How could I let you live so happily?"

As Xu Mingshi spoke, he poked the snake’s head to express his dissatisfaction and jealousy. The black snake tolerated this action very tactfully and ignored him. Xu Mingshi looked at it and couldn’t help but feel sad again. He said, “Some of my fellow disciples didn’t succeed in cultivation and have long been reincarnated. Some of them have achieved a little success and are disgusted by my appearance as an old man. Those who don’t hate me are willing to talk to me, but they only talk about cultivation, or they are refining pills, or showing me the magic tools they have refined… Each one is very boring."

“Although you have become like this, you are better off than me. Your son is waiting on you , and Shen Qingxuan is coaxing you every day." Xu Mingshi said, “Unlike me, I don’t even have anyone to turn to. In the end, I have to rely on your family to see me off to the end."

Xu Mingshi became more and more sad. He raised his hand to wipe his eyes, leaned over and whispered, “Although Xiaobao doesn’t recognize me as his uncle, he prepared a coffin for me. I secretly took a look at it. The wood is very good. I think a lot of thought went into it."

He had no idea that Shen Jue outside the courtyard had already frowned, feeling that the old man was getting more and more cunning as he aged. He held up his old face without realizing it, still muttering: “…The snake skin you gave me that year helped me ward off many disasters. Now that you are in this state, you can no longer make such a treasure. When I die, I will leave this thing to Xiaobao, and it will be regarded as returning it to its original owner. I don’t owe you anything…"

Black Snake looked out the window. The sun was shining brightly and there was plenty of light. He yawned, alas, the day was too long.

When the New Year’s Eve dinner was finally served on the table, Black Snake was freed from the chattering of flies. He was held by Liu Yan and sat at the banquet. This was the first New Year’s Eve since he was transformed back to his original form.

Naturally, he also drank. Ever since the first time he drank, he fell in love with the feeling of warmth all over his body, as if it was the perfect time of spring, when birds were singing and grass was growing, and he could roam around as he pleased.

Xu Mingshi spent a day pouring out all his grievances, and he felt much better. He raised his wine cup frequently, and in the sweetness of the New Year’s dinner, he looked at Shen Jue tipsily and said, “Boy, call me uncle."

There is a saying that goes: Alcohol makes cowards brave. Liu Yan tore off a piece of pig head meat and stuffed it into the mouth of the drunkard in his arms.

Shen Jue put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at Xu Mingshi. He calmly asked the old man with a greasy mouth and gray hair, “What did you say? I didn’t hear you clearly."

Xu Mingshi reacted instantly, laughed and said, “Nothing. I said this dish is really delicious."

There is a saying that goes – rotten mud cannot be propped up against a wall. Liu Yan silently complained in his heart , feeling powerless.

The Lantern Festival comes soon after New Year’s Eve. Shen Jue cooked a pot of large dumplings stuffed with osmanthus and sesame, and added a lot of honey. After failing to make everyone’s teeth sweet, the atmosphere of the New Year slowly faded away. It seemed like in the blink of an eye, the trees in the mountains sprouted a layer of light green, and the tender leaves covered with light fuzz sprouted from the branches. In the early morning, birds sang again, and small insects could often be seen crawling on the ground. This spring came very quickly.

After taking off his heavy cotton coat, Xu Mingshi felt much more relaxed, and his hunched back straightened up. He often wandered around the mountain, chatting with flowers, birds, fish and insects, and looked very cheerful. Shen Jue suspected that he could live for another few decades. But he couldn’t say it, so Shen Jue had to keep everything as usual and take care of the old man’s food, clothing, housing and transportation.

At this time of year when birds are chirping and squirrels are jumping all over the mountains, the black snake lurking in Liu Yan’s arms seems to have been infected by the vitality. He wanders around all day, shuttling between the trees in the mountains, sometimes even lingering there until Shen Jue finds him.

Another late night, when Liu Yan took the black snake from Shen Jue’s hand, which kept spitting out its tongue and making a “hissing" sound, as if it was extremely impatient, he finally realized that his abnormality was not due to playfulness. He couldn’t think of a reason for a while, so he had to ask Shen Jue: “What’s wrong with him? Is he sick?"

Shen Jue shook his head. “He’s in good spirits. He doesn’t look sick at all."

Xu Mingshi stole a jar of wine from the kitchen. When he passed by the window, he stopped and hesitated for a long time, not knowing whether he should tell the truth. He could see the problem at a glance, but the two smart people in the room were still confused. The only reason was that they did not regard the snake as a snake. It was their dearest and dearest. Even if it was in the form of a snake, in their hearts, it was still a living person. So they couldn’t think of the simplest answer.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Mingshi said tactfully to the window: “He just…his spring has come." After that, he hugged the jar of wine and left in a hurry as if he had done something bad.

——His spring has arrived.

Xu Mingshi’s words were like a revelation to Shen Jue. So that’s why Yi Mo was so restless recently. He looked at Liu Yan, but saw a look of dejection.

His hands tightened involuntarily by three points. Liu Yan lowered his eyes, hiding his expression well. He only said lightly to the black snake struggling in pain in his arms : “Don’t even think about it."