Hundreds of riders galloped along the official road and headed southwest, entering Pingyuan County in the evening. The sky became increasingly gloomy, with rolling clouds and wind. Li Muchian raised his eyebrows and said to Qiao Sanxiu next to him: "There will be heavy rain."
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"Hey, it's cooler if you're in the rain," Qiao Sanxiu said with a smile. Chang Yu stuck his head out of the car and looked at the sky and was about to answer, when suddenly a grasshopper flew into his eyes and couldn't help but curse.
, but he saw large and small locusts jumping endlessly in the grass beside the road, and his face suddenly became solemn. He had heard about the locust plague in Shandong for a long time, but he had just seen it today. It was so dense that it made people panic.
"Usually it rains from the southeast, but rarely from the southwest." Chen Wangting looked at the billowing black clouds in the southwest sky and said with surprise.
"Where this rain comes from depends on God, but no matter where it comes from, it's good to have a good rain." Qiao Sanxiu said casually, glancing towards the southwest: "These clouds come very quickly."
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"No, those are not rain clouds, but locusts!" Suddenly Li Muxian shouted loudly, and everyone was shocked. Even Chang Yu looked horrified. He had heard of it and seen it on TV, but this was the first time he had experienced it in person.
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The locusts rolled in like black clouds covering the sky and the sun, and a buzzing sound was heard several miles away. People and horses were frightened. Chang Yu ordered the soldiers to find a nearby forest and tie up their horses to take shelter.
Almost in the blink of an eye, countless locusts rushed towards us, hitting their bodies with painful snaps. Everyone fell to the ground with their heads folded, and the horses neighed and jumped wildly. Suddenly, the only thing that could be heard in the sky and earth was the kind of maddening but indescribable noise.
Fortunately, these locusts came and passed quickly. They headed straight to the northeast and passed through the border in just a moment. However, at this moment, everyone's life almost collapsed.
After the locusts passed by, everyone was dumbfounded. There was no grass left around them! The lush green grass and lush leaves just now were all bare now.
"I have only seen such a shocking thing in my life." Chen Wangting smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It's really like an army of thieves crossing the border. It's always the people who suffer..."
"What the hell, if you fly back if you dare, I will kill you all..." Wuzhong roared at the top of his lungs like the wind. The ground was covered with locust corpses. The locusts passing by just now caused him to swing his knife wildly.
Monk Haihong sat under a bare tree, holding a Zen staff in his left hand and holding a Buddhist seal with his right hand while chanting sutras with his eyes closed. Li Muchian looked at the black clouds receding in the northwest, shook his dust and said: "Supreme Taiyi Du'e Tianzun
, Wuliang Taiyi saves the suffering Tianzun."
Chang Yu glanced around and saw that everyone was fine, then he took a long breath and sat down on the ground. It was the first time in his previous life that he had encountered such a terrifying scene, and even though he had a lot of knowledge, he was still quite frightened.
After a while, everyone came back to their senses, and Chang Yu got on his horse and ordered to hurry up. Seeing that the sky was looking like it would rain heavily tonight, he quickly found a place to take shelter from the rain to avoid getting soaked in the rain.
Of course the place to take shelter from the rain is Pingyuan County.
But this time, Chang Yu's luck was not so good. When he was still more than ten miles away from Pingyuan County, it started raining heavily. By this time, it was already dark, so he had to find a nearby village to take shelter from the rain.
The small village, with only about ten households, suddenly saw hundreds of fierce soldiers coming late at night, and was naturally panicked. The villagers knelt down and begged for mercy, but were told that only officers and soldiers were passing here to take shelter from the rain and would not disturb them.
The villagers were doubtful, but they were surprised when they saw that these soldiers were only taking shelter under the eaves in the corners and never stepped into the houses. They asked the military masters whose soldiers they were?
"Dongchang Guards, the emperor's personal soldiers."
The common people were frightened when they heard the word Dongchang, but they felt relieved when they heard that they were the emperor's personal soldiers. No wonder the discipline was so good. The emperor's personal soldiers were different. Seeing the cold and suffering of the soldiers, they warmly welcomed them into the room to take shelter from the rain and keep warm.
, but the officers and soldiers simply refused to obey the orders. No matter how enthusiastic you were, they would all refuse: "I have military orders, and I dare not disobey them."
Chang Yu's situation is slightly better. There is an abandoned house at the end of the village that has been cleaned up. More than ten people are crowded inside. Watching the lightning, thunder, and pouring rain, some frown and some can't hide their joy.
"This rain can alleviate the drought in March, which is a great good thing," Li Muchian whispered, and Chang Yu nodded. I hope that the larger the area of this rain, the better. It is best that it rains in the entire Jinan Prefecture and even Shandong!
"Hey, where is the great monk?" Wuzhong suddenly shouted, and everyone realized that Monk Haihong had gone somewhere.
"Am I falling behind?" Li Muchian muttered, but everyone could hear the meaning behind his words.
Wuzhong snorted: "The great monk is not someone who runs away from battle, and the pain of marching is nothing to a practitioner." Li Muchian curled his lips and said: "You know it again."
Wuzhong was furious and was about to argue, when a white light flashed in the sky, and he suddenly saw Monk Haihong sitting in the courtyard with his hands folded and eyes closed under a chicken coop under the broken wall. The thatched hut could not protect him from the wind and rain. The monk was already soaked to the skin, but he was completely
Indifferent or even expressionless, everyone was stunned!
"Pretentious" Li Muxian snorted. Before he could finish his words, there was a loud click, and a fireball was seen rising more than ten meters away. It turned out to be an old tree that had been struck by lightning. Everyone screamed in surprise.
It's a bit evil today! Chang Yu's face was solemn, but when people in the room were whispering, Li Muchian suddenly rushed out.
"Could this guy have lost his mind and gone crazy?" Wu Zhong cursed. It was dark outside but Li Muxian could no longer be seen. Just when everyone was speculating about what he was doing, Li Muxian, who had become a drowned rat, ran back like crazy.
He seemed to be roaring wildly: "I have found a treasure, a treasure given by God!"
Seeing that his hands were empty, Chang Yu couldn't help but ask, "Where's the treasure?"
"Does the factory owner know what the lightning struck that day?" Li Muchian suppressed his excitement and asked, Chang Yu raised his eyebrows: "It's just a tree, it won't hit your horse, right?"
Everyone burst into laughter, and Li Muxian said: "Of course it's a tree, but does the factory owner know what tree he hit?"
Chang Yu frowned: "This governor is not like Wong Tai Sin who can pinch and calculate...what difference does it make between these trees?"
"The difference is huge. The thing that was struck by lightning was a jujube tree that was nearly a hundred years old. Jujube tree! This is a divine gift from heaven... How could I, Li Muxian, be so virtuous as to receive this gift from heaven..."
Everyone listened to his ramblings and saw that his expression became more and more excited, and they were very puzzled. How could a jujube tree be a gift from heaven when lightning struck it?
"Taoism has many kinds of magical instruments, such as the common instruments on the altar, Sanqing bell, wooden fish, Yinpan, drum, flag, magic sword, canopy ruler, as well as offering instruments, spiritual flags, candlesticks, etc.
"I don't know when Monk Haihong suddenly appeared, soaked to the skin but looking calm.
Without waiting for anyone to ask, Monk Haihong continued: "These magical instruments are made of lightning-strike wood as the top grade, such as lightning-strike peach wood, lightning-strike jujube, and lightning-strike cypress. Among them, lightning-strike jujube is the supreme magical weapon. Many Taoist classics list lightning-strike wood as the top grade."
Zaomu is regarded as a sacred tree." He said and looked at Li Muchian: "That's what the poor monk said!"
"Yes, yes, I didn't expect that the great monk actually knew about my Taoism." Li Muxian was as excited as if he had met a confidant: "The lightning-struck jujube tree is the essence of the harmony of yin and yang in heaven and earth. It is the heavenly thunder among the five thunders.
The jujube wood is struck by lightning to produce spiritual energy, and some gods will adhere to it to practice, so the lightning-struck wood will be protected by the gods when used..."
"This thing is something that can only be found but cannot be sought. I never thought that I would meet here today. It is a gift from God. It is a gift from God." Li Muchian laughed loudly with excitement, and everyone kept congratulating. Chang Yu suddenly felt dull and curled his lips towards the sea.
Monk Hong looked over and found that he had gone out again at some point.
This heavy rain lasted all night. It can be imagined that the people on the ground were relieved all night, but hundreds of soldiers suffered all night. Fortunately, they were all brave soldiers and would not fall ill due to the storm.
Li Muxian was so excited that he stayed up all night, talking nonchalantly to the people around him about fantasy stories for most of the night. Early in the morning, while others were sleeping, he went to a villager's house and borrowed an ax to chop down his sacred magical weapon of lightning.
After a while, the rain stopped, the breeze cleared up, and we were on our way. The soldiers who had suffered a night of wind and rain resumed their galloping and galloping horses. Li Muxian, carrying a piece of scorched wood on his back, hurriedly chased after Monk Haihong: "Zen Master, can I give you some Buddhist beads?"
Monk Haihong glared uncharacteristically, and Li Muchian realized that he had made a mistake. Unlike Taoists, the beads were made from the Buddhist sacred tree Bodhi.
"The poor Taoist made a mistake, Zen Master, don't blame me!" Li Muchian apologized quickly. Monk Haihong said nothing and urged his horse to move quickly. Wuzhong laughed happily beside him: "Niubi, how about using your sacred wood to make us a pair of chopsticks?"
"You guys, I'll be the first to take possession of the poor Taoist magic weapon when it's ready!" Li Muchian slapped his horse and scolded him as he chased after him.
Everyone was fighting and rushing all the way towards Jinan City.