The morning bells of the sixty-four temples in Yuhang City rang for the third time, and the Qingbo Gate in the southwest of the city was delayed in opening.
The crowds of people who had been waiting for a long time poured in noisily, and Li Changan was among them. After passing through the long and narrow city gate, the early morning of Yuhang City, known as the "Southeast Formation and the Three Wu Capitals", unfolded before his eyes.
The sky is an endless square of frosted glass.
Below are countless buildings, just like the crowd around Li Changan, standing densely, with pink and white walls at random heights, and green tile roofs fading into the morning mist.
Deep in the fog, higher than one end of the city, there are some faintly scattered buildings and pavilions, like the towers of a fairy palace looming in the sea of clouds. If you look closely, you will see that the towering golden dome is a Buddhist temple, and the palaces are connected to each other.
It's a Taoist temple.
The rising sun rises eastward from the sea, smearing it with colors.
Injecting golden red into the lingering fog in the city, the light mist suddenly gained texture and became as thick as a gorgeous tide that rose and fell along the streets and alleys, immersing the entire city in a sea of lingering golden red.
It also makes Li Changan's shadow longer.
Yes.
shadow.
After getting out of the grass cage this morning, Li Changan was pleasantly surprised to find that he was "alive" again and had a physical body again. However, this physical body was a little stiffer and colder, with no pulse or heartbeat.
With a physical body, of course there is a shadow.
And the body is weird, and the shadow is also weird.
The new shadow gives Li Changan an inexplicable sense of intimacy, as if it is not a reflection of light, but grows from under his feet, connected with flesh and blood, but does not obey his orders.
Like...a cat's tail?
right.
As we all know.
Cats and tails are two living creatures.
Therefore, the Taoist priest felt uncomfortable squeezing in the crowd. He couldn't help but want to shout: "Be careful, you are stepping on my tail... my shadow!"
Now that I finally entered the city, I hurriedly escaped from the crowd and hid on the street. There was a man next to me who seemed to have the same idea. He followed me out. He stumbled intentionally or unintentionally, bumped lightly against the Taoist priest, and then glared at him for no reason and cursed in a low voice.
Finished sentence.
"Poor guy!"
With a look of displeasure on his face, he jumped into the crowd and walked away.
Li Changan wasn't angry at all, he padded the pathetically light money bag in his hand and sighed.
"Each other, each other."
…
Yuhang is a city floating on the water.
The water network is densely covered and extends in all directions.
The Taoist priest easily found a small dock next to the city gate. There was a small boat moored on the dock, and a young boatman was sitting on the boat.
The transportation fare to Yuhang was unexpectedly expensive. After haggling for a while, the owner of the money bag changed again before I could wrap my hands around it.
The young boatman carefully poured out the coppers from the bag and put them one by one into the large porcelain bowl filled with half a bowl of water in the boat, with a relieved smile on his face.
"Guests, sit still, the boat is sailing."
The morning sun is rising, and the city is still half asleep.
Being bored on the boat, Li Changan simply looked at the scenery on both sides of the waterway.
The houses in Yuhang City are different from other cities. The houses in most cities are courtyard-style, with halls, side rooms and courtyards. They are independent small worlds surrounded by high walls.
But that's not the case in Yuhang. There are few courtyards. Most of them are two-story buildings closely spaced one after another. The houses are narrow and the lanes are even narrower. It seems that every bit of space has been carefully considered.
Take a quick look along the river.
It's like two rows of thin men with their hands and feet entangled and closely arranged.
Li Changan suddenly remembered a joke.
Chang'an in the north and Yuhang in the south are the only two big cities in the world. People in the south and the north often compare them. When comparisons occur, disputes arise; when disputes occur, jokes arise.
This joke was used to set up Yu Hang.
It is said that a certain Yuhang man went north to serve as an official with his whole family. However, he contracted a serious epidemic after he took office, and he was the only one left in the family. He paid for the burial of his family members on the spot and bought more than a dozen thin wooden coffins.
But I only bought a small plot of cemetery.
People around him were curious about how he wanted to bury him and went to watch the fun. They saw that he ordered the officials to dig the grave very deep and then put the coffins in one by one.
Others secretly ridiculed him for his unkindness and unrighteousness, saying that his family members were shouting in the ground and were so crowded that they could not stand up.
But he felt aggrieved and said: "Where can I get crowded? That cemetery is more spacious than the house in my hometown!"
…
certainly.
The southerners are not to be outdone. They are more tactful and make up a legend.
It is said that a certain man failed in the examination, but was favored by a powerful man. Not only did he marry his daughter, he also recommended him to be an official, but there was one condition: he could not take off his daughter's pants during sex. A pair of crotchless pants,
How could a certain student refuse to agree?
So they got married on the same day, and the next day his father-in-law recommended him to be an official. He entered the imperial city, paid homage to the emperor, held a court meeting, met the prime minister, generals and other civil and military officials, and appointed him as Zuo Shiyi on the spot.
From then on, he had a good career in officialdom and became a royal official. He had a happy family and gave birth to seven sons and eight daughters.
In this way, until he was dying in his later years, a certain man finally couldn't suppress the doubts in his heart. His wife took off her pants with tears in her eyes, only to see a fluffy tail raised high.
The wife revealed the truth. It turned out that her father-in-law and his whole family were all transformed by apes. The wife was not very spiritual and had a tail that she could not change. And the emperor, officials and people he met were also transformed by goblins.
The emperor is a tiger, the prime minister is a fox, the general is a jackal, and the people are all cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs.
But Chang'an is still Chang'an, and the imperial palace is really the imperial palace.
There are many hidden things in this story. But the rest can be ignored. All you need to know is that Chang'an's household registration is scattered and large and useless. Less than half of the 108 squares are empty. Many poor people directly farm and collect firewood in the city.
There were even rumors of wild beasts taking to the streets to eat people.
The rest of the story ends here.
…
The sun is getting higher and the fog is gradually dispersing.
The leisurely and leisurely Yuhang City was finally willing to get up. Boats of all sizes seemed to emerge from the bottom of the water. In the blink of an eye, the river was crowded with people.
The interesting thing is.
They all fought for the water in the middle of the river, and no one wanted to go to the bank.
This is not peer-to-peer squeezing. In fact, people on both sides of the river are washing themselves and pouring sewage directly from the windows into the river. The "pattering" on the riverside seems to be raining heavily. If you approach rashly, it's okay to be soaked in the water. You can't bear it much.
What they are emptying is the toilet!
For a moment, shit and urine were pouring down like rain!
Fortunately, the boatman was not old, but he was an expert. A small boat shuttled back and forth as fast as a swimming fish, never getting close to the shore. Even when it came to a narrow place in the waterway, and there was someone opening a window above him, he would use his quick eyes and hands to stab it with a long pole.
The boat rowed by, leaving a trail of slang and curses in its wake.
He kept replying without blushing or out of breath, but the work at hand was not delayed at all, and he was able to find some time to chat with Li Changan.
He is dedicated to three things and has quick thinking, which is jaw-dropping.
…
The boat crossed a stone bridge and entered a new river channel. The view suddenly opened up, and the smoke and smoke along the way faded, replaced by a beautiful and elegant scene.
There are still many small buildings on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but the number of courtyards is gradually increasing.
The style of the small building is exquisite, mostly decorated with colorful silks and red lanterns; willows and sycamores are planted inside and outside the small courtyard, and flowers and vines creep out of the walls. The two sides of the bank are leaning against red and green, and the scenery is pleasant.
Occasionally, I would see a pretty woman dressing up by the window, and a young girl would go out together, smiling and giving advice to the Taoist priests on the boat.
Li Changan looked at it for a long time and finally realized that this should be the "Rouge River" in Yuhang City.
The boatman next to him chuckled when he saw Li Changan looking around.
"Guest, if you are interested in coming here to have fun, you might as well come to me. I am familiar with the ways here. Which family's noble husband is about to leave the court, which family's lady is particularly charming, and which family's daughter has the best tongue. I know everything about it.
Chu!"
The Taoist priest said nothing, but the boatman suddenly nodded and smiled knowingly.
"I understand, I understand, my guest, you have special tastes. That's okay! Which family's husband has fair skin and plump skin, which family's Hu girl has a flexible waist, and there are also Silla maids, Japanese girls, Kunlun slaves..."
Seeing that the more he spoke, the more senseless he became, Li Changan couldn't help but interrupt him:
"Boatman, I am a monk."
"Look what you said." The boatman didn't take it seriously. "If you weren't a monk, I wouldn't tell you. Don't worry, there are many people selling 'miraculous abortion pills' around here. I hope you can go in empty.
When the earth comes out, there will be no one left behind!"
What do the local monks look like?!
Li Changan had no choice but to happen to see a cold alley next to the water bank. The walls on both sides of the alley were filled with incense and candles, and piles of paper and ash were scattered among them. Several women in the alley had just finished worshiping, and when they caught Li Changan's probing eyes, they
He covered his face with his sleeves and left in a hurry.
The cold wind blew by, lifting up the burned paper money and scattering it all over the alley.
Li Changan took advantage of the alley to change the topic.
"I have often heard that ghost worship is extravagant in Yuhang City, but I never thought that people would burn paper to pay homage so early in the morning?"
"It never hurts to respect ghosts and gods."
As the boatman said this, he could not help but move the boat slowly. He looked at the alley and pursed his lips into a thin line.
The Taoist priest saw something: "Is there a saying in the alley?"
The boatman smiled and didn't answer. It wasn't until the boat was out of the river that he asked:
"Does my guest know why I was the only one on the dock next to Qingbo Gate this morning?"
"diligent?"
"No, it's courage!"
He laughed heartily, and the boat became brisk again.
"To get to Qingbo Gate, you have to pass through the Chunfang River just now. Who live on both sides of the river? They are all hard-working women. They rely on their bodies to make a living, and there are always times when they are accidentally attacked. Where is the belly of such women?
Those who could bear the child were mostly thrown into the river at night."
"A few years ago, an old boatman was anxious for money, so he rushed to the city gate to solicit customers before dawn. When he passed that section of the river, the morning bell did not ring and the moon was setting. The boat swayed unexpectedly and hit something.
As soon as the oars were stirred, he saw several babies floating out of the water and crying around the boat. He reluctantly went to fish them out, but as soon as they were fished out of the boat, they turned into baby corpses that had been mostly eaten by fish and shrimps at the bottom of the river!"
"He was so frightened that he quickly stopped working. When he returned home, he fell seriously ill. The house was also haunted by imps. It was not until he spent a lot of money to hire a mage to do some magic that he found peace."
The boatman sighed quietly.
"What they sacrificed is none other than the little ghosts in the river. The reason why they sacrificed it in the morning is because they were afraid that big ghosts would snatch their food at night."
…………
Next, the two of them stopped talking.
About half an hour later, when we arrived at Wenshu Fang, the Taoist got off the boat and followed the boatman's instructions to the door of Ruan's house.
The door of Ruan's house is closed.
Li Changan knocked the door knocker for a while, but there was no movement inside the door.
Hesitating.
"Mage? Mage!"
The Taoist priest turned around.
The door of the small building across the street timidly poked half of its head out, secretly waving to herself.
Li Changan walked over.
He was a well-dressed, half-century-old man. As soon as he met him, he couldn't wait to ask: "Is the mage here to exorcise ghosts?"
Li Changan nodded.
"I heard someone said that the Ruan family offered a price of one hundred taels..."
Before he finished speaking, the old man opposite suddenly burst into tears, grabbed Li Changan's sleeve, and choked with sobs.