People can put down roots wherever they go. In such barren mountains and ridges, as long as there is a place suitable for farming and hunting, you can see the figures of hardworking people.
There are mountain roads and villages in Hengyan Mountain, which is not surprising.
Dusk hung on the top of the mountain, and there were farmers busy in the fields outside the village. When I heard the sound of the wooden wheels turning, I straightened up and wiped the sweat from my forehead. An old cow with a green back shook a pair of big horns and pulled the high carriage to a stop.
by the road.
The farmer holding a hoe, over fifty years old, curiously looked at the monks and lay people who got off the car, and couldn't help but smile: "This is the first time I have seen such a high car, and the first time I have seen monks and lay people walking on it.
It’s all together.”
This statement caused the villagers in the nearby acres of land to burst into laughter.
Most of the people in the mountains spoke straight to the point, with not many twists and turns. Chen Yuan was not surprised, so he laughed and cupped his hands.
"My father-in-law, may I ask if there is a town nearby?"
"No."
The old farmer waved his hand and pointed around: "There is no one around for dozens of miles, and we are the only one in the village."
When I heard that I was inquiring about the town, the people working in the fields almost came close to me. This is how the world is. It would be okay if there were more villages in every village. But there is only such a mountain village in a radius of dozens of miles, which makes people have to be more cautious.
"Why are you looking for a town?" someone shouted from a distance, and pointed to the road: "When you get to the Bazhou border, there is a town over there, but it will probably take half a month to get there."
When Chen Yuan was in Guangwei, he saw the map of several states drawn by the government. Bazhou here is equivalent to the Shu land in later generations. The difficult road to Shu is indeed difficult for ordinary people to walk, but it is much simpler for Chen Yuan.
But he didn't want to go there. Besides, it was getting dark soon. He wanted to find a place to rest. He would first identify the location of the cave before heading into the mountain tomorrow.
Thinking about it, just as he was about to speak, the vertical seal of Zhenhai on the side bowed to all the villagers.
"My Buddha is merciful... All the donors, the poor monk and this donor Chen met by chance on the way, and they went to Bazhou together. It is getting late now, and I finally saw a village here, so I wanted to stop here and have a rest. I hope all the donors will do the same.
It’s convenient.”
"It's convenient and convenient, little master, why don't you ask me for convenience? I happen to have an empty room at home, so you two can come with me."
The old man holding a hoe put on the farm tool and walked onto the field edge. He greeted Zhenhai warmly, and Chen Yuan followed him.
"Being a monk is really convenient."
Chen Yuan smiled and whispered something. The monk over there just nodded and followed the old farmer for a while before he said, "Have you noticed anything wrong with these fields?"
Chen Yuan, who was originally unconcerned, took a closer look at the surrounding fields after what he said. He seemed to have some skills. There were acres of fields surrounding the village, and they were well-proportioned, like a magic circle.
"A village with talented people shouldn't be so poor. Why do outsiders who practice Taoism have to go to great lengths to set up formations for a village? Isn't it too much?"
Zhenhai just said a vague 'hmm'.
The old farmer's small courtyard is located on the right in front of the village. It is not too remote. The courtyard is surrounded by a fence. There is no courtyard gate, so you can walk in directly. There are three thatched huts and the loess rammed walls are covered with large and small
Bumblebee eyes, covered with several layers of straw and reeds.
"That's how it is in the village. Don't dislike the two of them... Oops, it turns out there are three of them." The old farmer put down his hoe and turned around to laugh. Only then did he see the crazy old man yawning and coming out of the car, stretching there.
Chen Yuan introduced to the other party that this was his master, and waved a wood carving in front of the old farmer, which meant the master of the wood carving show. He also said, "Unfortunately, there was an accident on the way and I hurt my head. After I recovered, I felt a little better."
Confused." to dispel the other party's doubts.
"When people are walking on the road, there is no peace of mind every day. Come, come, this room is it."
The old farmer pushed open a room on the left and invited Chen Yuan and the others to go in. The inside was square and square, with only a short cabinet, a bed, and two long benches of unknown age, and nothing else.
"You three, wait a moment while I go get the blankets."
The old farmer opened the door and walked out, with no abnormal expression on his face. Zhenhai turned around and said softly: "Fellow Daoist Chen, you and your master can spend the night on the bed, and the poor monk can just meditate on the bench."
The bed really couldn't accommodate three people, so Chen Yuan deliberately declined and let Zhenhai sleep there, but it seemed that Zhenhai wouldn't squeeze in with his master.
The crazy old man was squatting on the long bench, looking back and forth at Zhenhai, when the door over there creaked open. It was getting dark outside. The old farmer came in with the quilt under his arm and a lamp in one hand. He first put the oil lamp on the shabby bedside table.
On the low cabinet, he put the bedding on the bed and spread it out layer by layer. Chen Yuan went over to help, pressed the sheets to the corner of the bed, and asked casually: "Old man, where is your wife? Why don't you see anyone else at home?"
"
"My wife died two years ago, and my daughter got married. My husband's family lives at the west end of the village, very close. I am the only one left in this old house. You three don't have to worry, no one will disturb you."
After pressing the sheets, Chen Yuan helped shake the mattress. After all, no one had slept on it for a long time, and it had a musty smell.
"But, you three, don't go out in the middle of the night."
Zhenhai over there tilted his head slightly: "Is there a demon? The poor monk happened to help you collect it."
The old farmer was stunned for a moment by his sudden words. He looked at Chen Yuan in confusion, and then hurriedly said: "What kind of monster is there? It's just a little evil. Let me tell you, in fact, when I was a child, I remember that there were several villages here, but one
Then one person died, and when more people died, the people in the village ran away, and then it was the turn of another village.
Our village is the only one left now. A few days ago, a bad boy died inexplicably in our village. Some people were suspicious and said they saw the ghost of the bad boy wandering around the village. It made people feel uneasy and ran up the slope ten miles all day long.
We burned incense and worshiped Buddha in the temple. Yesterday, someone was lucky enough to meet a Taoist priest, who will take a look at it for us tonight. Only then did the old man dare to let the three of them stay overnight."
The old farmer was talking in a homely tone, but Chen Yuan didn't think much of it. After all, the cave here is in Hengyan Mountain. If there are things like the Sun and Moon Pupil, it will definitely make the nearby villagers angry.
It's just that this village is fine. Could it be that, as Zhenhai said, those fields were just magic circles set up by people to block the sun and the moon?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The light of the oil lamp in the house was flickering, and the old farmer had made the bed. Looking at Chen Yuan's expression, she thought she was frightened by what he said, so she waved her hands with a smile.
"Don't be afraid, the village has invited a Taoist priest to come over and do this. But in my opinion, he is just suspicious. That bastard is just idle all day long, stealing from this house or that house. Last time I heard, he even took away the people from the Shilipo Temple.
The incense burner was stolen and was blamed by the Buddha in the temple. Look, he died well. If you have the money to hire a mage, why not go to Bazhou and hire a doctor to come over and treat the villagers?"
"What happened to the people in the village?"
"It's not a disease, it's just that every night in the middle of the night, I feel so sleepy that I can't move, as if I've turned into a piece of wood..."
Halfway through the conversation, someone suddenly shouted from outside: "The Master has done this."
The old farmer shook his head and had no intention of looking. He told the three of them to rest early and went out to close the door. At this time, some people in the village came out and gathered around the hut at the east end of the village, pointing and talking in low voices.
"Where is the mage? Why didn't you see him?"
"I seem to be accompanying the village elder to look around. Hey, isn't he here?!"
Everyone looked around the corner of the house. The first thing that caught the eyes of the villagers was a bulging belly. The person came with a fat head and big ears, a mustache on his lips, his eyes were narrowed into a slit, and he was holding a bell in his hand.
Ting Hubu walked in front.
"I went to the Heavenly Master's Mansion at the age of six, became a master of arts at the age of fourteen, went down the mountain to slay demons and eliminate demons at the age of twenty, and retired to Liangya Mountain Mansion at the age of thirty. Yesterday I came down the mountain with a feeling in my heart, and sure enough, I met people from your village."
"The Taoist priest said this, then we can rest assured... The house of Er Lai is in front of us. After his death, someone saw him coming out of the house and walking slowly around the village, or walking backwards. Oops, it took people away.
Very scared."
The old man in the village, who was carrying a cane, waved away the villagers and respectfully invited the fat Taoist to go inside. Perhaps because there was no family, there was only a long room with a bed in the east corner facing the west.
, a table with missing corners was placed by the villagers against the wall in the north, and a memorial tablet of the second laity was erected on it.
A pair of white wax halves faintly illuminate the name on the spirit tablet, giving off a gloomy feeling.
"Everyone has dispersed. What's there to see? There is a Taoist priest here. Let's go back to sleep. We have to go to the fields tomorrow." The village boss probably also understood that the master mage usually didn't like others to see him, so he waved.
The cane drove back all the villagers who were watching the excitement outside.
He turned around and said to the Taoist priest inside: "Taoist Master, you can do it alone. Let's go first."
"This... this is natural, it's just a little ghost."
Is it still wrong to say that? Afraid that he would be beaten to death by the villagers, the Taoist smiled and bowed to everyone, strode to the low stool next to him and sat down.
The villagers outside dispersed in twos and threes, and it was pitch black.
The Taoist put his hands on his knees, closed his eyes and silently recited the Taoist scriptures. I don't know how long it had passed, but several dogs barked in the silence of the night.
Woof woof woof~~
There was a strange smell in the dim room.
"What haven't I seen before?! Are you really scared? Humph!"
squeak~~
The Taoist priest, who closed his eyes to rest, trembled, opened one eye slightly, and quietly glanced at the door, only to see the door leaf slowly opening with an old groan.
Gu~
The chubby Taoist priest swallowed his saliva, there really was something, and I was not afraid of it.
Thinking about it, he took out a book from his arms and patted it in the palm of his hand. He wiped saliva on his fingertips and quickly turned over the ghost-catching spells in the book.
'Where is it? I've read it before...'
The spiritual tablets standing on the table were flickering in the candlelight.
Zhizhizhi~~zhizhi~~
A sound like fingernails scratching on the door came clearly. The Taoist's fat round face suddenly turned white, and his body trembled slightly. He raised his head and glanced at the memorial tablet on the table, and the book in his hand almost turned out to be an afterimage.
Phew~
The candle suddenly went out, and it became dark instantly. The fat Taoist hurriedly raised his head, and the white moonlight suddenly appeared outside.
A figure stood in the backyard of the house, with his back to the window. He moved for a moment and slowly walked back this way, making it impossible to see what was in front of him.