Chapter 1 Substituting one thing for another, Tianguan returns to the city
Cangjia City is backed by Xun Mountain, with fog on the top of the mountain and black clouds. The sky is almost dusk, and the whole town is shrouded in dark light.
The uncooled heat mixed with the night dew condensed in the air, and penetrated tightly into people's pores, clinging to the fine sweat, making them indescribably stuffy and sticky.
The autumn cicadas are still complaining, but they don't care about the wind blowing through the yellow trees, blowing away pieces of withered yellow, mixed with the sad white moonlight, glowing with a strange luster, spreading out, but the city is as quiet as death.
.
Suddenly, a burst of panicked footsteps broke the silence, spreading along the end of the alley to the entrance of the alley, pattering - accompanied by the sound of rapid breathing, getting closer and closer.
It was a seventeen-year-old child, carrying a straw basket on his back, running hard, his mouth wide open and panting, his little face flushed. He was obviously tired and about to pass, but he kept walking, as if someone was chasing him behind him, and he didn't dare for a moment.
stop.
Just as the child was about to run out of the alley, he was suddenly hugged by someone hiding next to him, and he and his belongings were wrapped into the darkness.
"Oh no, let me go!"
The child struggled and kicked his legs and feet, but he felt a piece of hair on his hand. He thought it was some kind of spirit from the back mountain. His tone softened instantly, he clasped his hands together and rubbed his hands and said, "Great Immortal! Great Immortal! Please let me go!"
Unexpectedly, the immortal laughed when he heard this. He turned the child around with a movement of his hand, stretched out his hand and put his wrist on the child's face, and said with smiling eyes: "Please recognize me again."
Feeling the warmth and strong pulse from the wrist, the child gradually relaxed: "Ah? You are actually a human being, a living person?!"
Chu Shou raised his lips and smiled, saying proudly: "That's natural!"
Seeing that it was not the old demon who climbed down from the back mountain, the child became a little bolder and broke away from her restraints. He jumped down and took a few steps back. He put his hands on his hips and said sternly: "In four hours, we will send Tian Guan back to the city. You
Why don't you go home?"
He looked up and down again and became suspicious: "No, you are not a local!"
Chu Shou was pushed so hard that she lost her center of gravity and squatted completely on the ground. The empty tiger head she wore on her head was tilted on her back. She had no strength to get up and said in a low voice:
"I...I was passing by and was going north to Kyoto to find relatives. It's very weird here. Even the inn is closed when it gets dark. My hands are useless from knocking on the door..."
After hearing this, the child hesitated to speak and did not want to explain too much. He looked at the direction of his home and then at Chu Shou who was sitting on the ground. He stamped his feet, sighed, and put the backpack behind him at the feet of the man.
Bian said, "Well, I picked this from the mountain today. There are mushrooms, fruits, dates, herbs and so on..."
The child turned around and pointed to the other side of the mountain, "There is a mountain temple at the foot of the mountain. You can go there and deal with it for the night. Be pious and the mountain god will protect you. When the sun rises tomorrow, if you are still alive, I will take you with me."
Let’s try our famous saltwater duck in Cangjia City.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the child ran away, leaving Chu Shou holding the basket on his back, turning it over and over, and then sighed: "This child has gained a lot today."
When I turned my head, there was still a human figure somewhere?
"hiss--"
Chu Shou climbed up from the ground with difficulty, lowered his head and held the palm of his hand to remove the pebbles printed on it, and patted the dust on his clothes.
A row of flower-pedicle-shaped copper bells hung from her waist, which rang and sounded as she moved. The fur on the entire tiger's back was bright, and three huge ink-colored feathers hung around its neck.
He is holding a short, black-brown wooden stick, which looks like the branches of an ancient tree, with some small branches spreading on it. The hand holding the wooden stick is thin, slender but strong, and the wrist is Wearing a purple wooden bracelet with spots dotted with purple flowers.
What about her face? She doesn’t have any red, green, white and cool tribal face decorations on her face, but her fair little face is particularly out of place with this outstanding style of dress.
This outfit was too heavy, and even in early autumn, when the sky was high and the air was long, it was still very hot and muggy. Coupled with the cool humidity blown by the wind, it made me feel hot inside and cold outside, causing me to shiver.
From a distance, I could see dark clouds brushing against the mountains in the sky, I was afraid it was going to rain.
Fang straightened the empty tiger head on his head when a voice suddenly came from the end of the alley.
It was so quiet that the sound was particularly cold and long.
"Censor Shen Yi Ke of the Imperial Procuratorate has met Princess Ruchuan."
Chu Shou turned around and saw the man standing at the end of the alley with his hands behind his back. His posture was tall and tall, and his face could not be seen clearly.
After hearing his name, I understood in my heart, tilted my head and said, "Huh? Are you the Censor sent by His Majesty?"
Shen Yi Yan took off the token from his waist and held it in front of him. Chu Shou squinted his eyes and saw nothing. He was probably the imperial censor sent by His Majesty to supervise the reception of the Heavenly Official.
He raised his hand and said in return: "My lord, I came before me. I'm so ashamed. Does your lord know where the Heavenly Official is at this time?"
"Please get in the carriage, and I will take you to see the Heavenly Official."
As soon as Shen Yi Yan finished speaking, a carriage appeared in the dark light at the entrance of the alley. It seemed that it had been waiting for a long time.
Chu Shou frowned and thought to himself: According to the way the Metropolitan Procuratorate handles things, he might have known that he was coming, so he just let himself squat for a long time and caught a child talking to himself before he came out...
"Pretend to be a ghost."
Feeling resentful in his heart, he grabbed the shoulder strap of his backpack and dragged it towards the carriage.
The coachman immediately got out of the car, put away the two knives behind his back, and bowed to help Chu Shou place the basket and a large parcel bag on the carriage. Then he stretched out his hand and waited for Chu Shou to help him. Get in the car.
Chu Shou raised his hand and patted his forearm, saying: "Thank you very much, there are not so many rules."
After that, he climbed up the carriage with his hands and climbed up freely.
Shen Yiyan followed closely and climbed up the carriage. He slightly nodded to the coachman who was wearing a black hat with only one pair of eyes exposed, indicating that it was time to set off. The coachman gently pulled the reins and immediately turned the horse's head. The wind blew up the horse's glossy appearance. The mane and the blue flag on the carriage were also fluttering in the air, rolling up a burst of mist.
Shen boarded the carriage and sat down, gently knocking on the door. The carriage moved slightly, and the wheels made a creaking sound as they rolled over the wet sand on the bluestone slab, leaving shallow ruts along the way. The road, all the way down, gradually disappeared.
It has been about five years since Chu Shou left Kyoto. When she left, the imperial court had not yet set up the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Now the Metropolitan Procuratorate can be compared with the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple. As a sharp blade for His Majesty, everyone is afraid of it.
The Wu clan has been around for more than hundreds of years. Her grandfather, great-grandfather, wife and grandfather have accompanied the ups and downs of the dynasty. When they were glorious, they even held the high position of prime minister of the country. However, in the underworld, it is difficult for the Wu clan to adapt to the world. In her opinion, It's only a matter of time before it comes and goes.
It's just that it was destroyed at the hands of her generation, and I'm afraid the descendants of the Wu clan will often sigh when they enjoy the cool weather under the moon.
She tried hard not to think about these messy things, letting the mechanical rumble of the carriage fill her whole brain, and leaned against the wall of the carriage to constantly empty herself.
After turning a few corners, the carriage gradually came to a stop. Accompanied by the low neighing of the horses, the two of them got out of the carriage and walked into a mansion.
The sparse shadows of the sycamore trees are slanting across the sky, and the eyes are dark and cold. The moonlight is hazy like floating in shallow water. The gray-white slate brick walls follow the serpentine path all the way to the depths of the house.
As we walked further inside, the lights became brighter and brighter, and the surrounding area was like daylight, except for the sky being covered with nebulae like a black cover.
"Hey, wait, where is the kitchen in this courtyard?"
Chu Shou suddenly stopped and said with great solemnity.
Shen Yi, who was walking in front, stopped and looked back, "Just so you can turn left, just to greet the Heavenly Official tomorrow morning, the cook will go home after making the sacrifices, I'm afraid..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Shou dragged the basket on his back and turned left.
The small courtyard is neat and tidy. The owner of this house is weak and loves to drink medicine. There is often a layer of medicine residue on the bottom of the west wall, and tonight is no exception.
"You know, sir, when this popularity disappears, everything becomes magnified...especially at night."
Chu Shou squatted beside the medicine dregs, reached out to pick up the cooked flower bones that had lost their color, looked around in the moonlight, and said without looking back.
"It is recorded in the scriptures that all heavenly officials are weak. I think it is because the mortal body cannot hold down the blessings of heaven and earth, so they often take medicinal food and linger on the bed. The sick and disabled people cannot benefit all things in the world, so they call the witch clan to serve as The envoy personally sent the Heavenly Officials back to the Divine Realm. Over the past hundreds of years, the Wu Clan has welcomed and sent off only a few Heavenly Officials. I, Chu Shou, was lucky enough to meet them. It is truly a curtain from heaven."
After saying that, Chu Shou twirled his fingertips, discarded the dregs of the medicine in his hand, stood up and looked at Shen Yi Ke, his half-smiling eyes seemed to be like a whirlpool, trying to capture all the thoughts in his hands.
Shen Yi came back to his senses, raised his lips and smiled, bowed his hands and said: "Princess, why don't you go to bed early, I will have to rely on you tomorrow."
Chu Shou didn't answer, rubbed Shen Yi's shoulder, took a few steps and tilted his head to say: "It is also recorded in the scriptures that all heavenly officials are handsome in appearance, like the Water Moon Guanyin, transcending the world."
"My princess wants to see whether what is recorded in this book is true or false."
Shen Yi turned around, looked at Chu Shou's retreating back and sighed softly, bent down to pick up the broken backpack, moved his fingers and said: "Qingfeng, why don't you lead the way for the princess."