The swordsman changed back into his original gray cloth and linen clothes, led his black horse, and walked on the official road. The road under his feet led almost straight to the front. The morning fog had not yet dissipated, and there was no end in sight. However, it had always been
Although he was coming and going like the wind, it was rare for him to feel calm now, so he led the horse and walked slowly.
The Taoist and the swordsman, as well as a calico cat and two horses, one red and one black, are the scenery in this early morning.
"When Shu was buying quilt bags in the city, he asked the shopkeeper and heard that the county in front of him was called Lanmo County, and there were demons and ghosts causing trouble." The swordsman said, "The shopkeeper heard that we were going north, so he kept
Advise us to bypass Lanmo County and take another road."
"Lanmo County..."
"yes."
"Do you know what kind of demon it is?"
"I heard it's a rat demon."
As soon as he finished speaking, the calico cat next to him turned his head and stared directly at the swordsman.
Song You also noticed the calico cat's gaze, smiled and said, "Then let's go meet this rat demon."
"Let's go meet this rat demon~"
A county is not a big place. No matter how leisurely Song You and his party were, they could reach the jurisdiction of Lanmo County from Zhijiang County in one day.
In the middle of the afternoon, we already saw the boundary marker.
Slowly it came to dusk again.
The road is still very straight, the hillside is gentle, and the shadows of several figures and the dead trees beside the road are stretched by the setting sun on the left.
Finally there was someone in front.
"Bang bang bang..."
It was a stooped old man, pulling a cart that looked like it was about to fall apart, and walked slowly along the official road.
If it weren't for Song You and his group, he would be the only one walking on the road as the sun sets.
The road was bumpy and the cart shook, making a sound. There were several empty buckets on the cart. When we got closer, we could still see the wet water remaining in the buckets. It must have been used to pour the water on the ground.
return.
The melon gourd originally used for watering was also placed in the bucket, making a clanking sound as the cart shook.
Song You and the swordsman quickly led their horses to the side of the road. They both looked at the old man pulling the cart. The calico cat stretched its neck and stared at the old man without blinking.
"Lao Zhang."
Song You called him out.
"Eh?"
The old man stopped, turned his head, and looked at him with a pair of cloudy eyes.
Seeing that Song You was wearing a Taoist robe and smiling, he looked at the swordsman next to him. The swordsman turned away slightly to show his kindness. The old man withdrew his gaze, looked at Song You again, and then asked:
"What's up?"
"I wonder how far away Lanmo County is?"
"Where are you coming from? Where are you going?"
"The next line is coming from Changjing and going north to the border." Song You answered honestly.
"Want to go into town?"
"yes."
"There are still dozens of miles, we can't walk today..."
The old man's voice was thick and had a long tail.
"Dozens of miles."
"Hey! Dozens of miles!"
"Is there a convenient place to stay nearby?"
"Don't live anywhere you want!" The old man looked at them again and warned, "If you sleep on the roadside on the mountain at night, be careful of being eaten by monsters..."
"Will you be eaten by monsters if you sleep in the wilderness?" Song You asked, "Are there so many monsters here?"
"Then who can say for sure..."
"I see."
It seems that it is not guaranteed to be eaten.
"Follow this road straight ahead without turning. Twenty miles away, there is a temple. You can live in the temple."
"I wonder what kind of temple it is?"
"For Lei Gong and Liu Xian."
"Thunder Lord..."
Song You pursed his lips and then asked: "But which immortal is this Liu Xian?"
"Liu Xian is so powerful!"
"how to say?"
"You'll know when you go there. The sun has gone down, and I don't dare you to tell me. If you want to go, you should hurry up and run over on horseback."
"Then thank you very much, husband."
"..."
The old man waved his hand, pulled the cart and left again.
The setting sun also stretched his shadow.
Song You watched him walk away, then looked away, looked at the surrounding land again, and continued to move forward.
The sound of horse hooves sounded, neither fast nor slow.
"It's been too dry this year." The swordsman walked beside him, walking side by side, "Hezhou has a gentle terrain. Although the land is not fertile, it is considered good land. It used to be one of my Dayan granaries, but I heard
It said there was very little rain in Hezhou last year, and this year it will be better, but not as good as in previous years."
"It's a pain for the people."
"If it doesn't rain, who can do anything?"
"yes."
"Hezhou is pretty good. I heard that in Danzhou in the northwest, there are places where it doesn't rain even a year and not even a blade of grass grows."
"Danzhou..."
Song You sighed and shook his head secretly.
The setting sun got closer to the top of the mountain on the left, the sky quickly turned dark, the world changed from golden yellow to golden red, and a few shadows were almost pulled from the road between the two mountains to the foot of the mountain on the right.
Twenty miles away, the road is flat. If you ride on horseback, you may be able to reach it in less than a quarter of an hour. However, the group's speed is about the same as during the day. They can see the sun slowly sinking under the mountain on the left, and the light in this area also quickly moves from left to right.
It ended, and in the blink of an eye, only the glow was left, and they had only walked a few miles.
The sky and the earth darkened, and the stars above our heads came out one by one.
But the calico cat likes darkness, and also likes the endless wilderness full of mice. At some point, she turned into a human form, carrying her pony lantern, and followed the Taoist.
This lantern is the only light on the ground.
Song You vaguely heard her chirping at the bar, and seemed to be eating snacks while walking, but did not look back.
However, the swordsman was very curious and looked back at her. The generous little girl asked him to eat bacon together. The swordsman felt happy and felt that this was a sign of Empress Sanhua's acceptance of him. He was about to agree, but he thought that his husband was not there at this time.
Eat it, not to mention that the bacon is raw, so I politely declined.
"Definitely next time."
"Okay, okay..."
The little girl nodded repeatedly and returned, then asked: "Why haven't we seen the monster after walking for so long?"
"Aren't there monsters everywhere?"
"There are rats everywhere."
"yes."
"Just an ordinary meat rat."
"Empress Sanhua has a pair of wise eyes."
"Yes."
The little girl held a lantern in her right hand, lighting up the dry dirt road, and held meat in her left hand. She chirped for a while, and then asked again:
"Why hasn't the monster come yet?"
"Sanhua Empress is so powerful, how dare monsters attack her so easily?" Song You said truthfully.
"right……"
The little girl became silent and concentrated on eating the rat slices.
After eating the mouse slices, he walked forward with a lantern and raised the lantern high with a stick in both hands. He said he wanted to illuminate them, but I'm afraid it was more out of a "want to show off his toy" and "
The psychology of children who want their toys to come in handy is also quite interesting.
However, it did come in handy.
At this time, there is only the afterglow on the horizon, showing a dreamlike gradient color. Some luxurious scenes in Yizhou seem to be the norm here.
With the remaining light in the sky, the stars and moon above, and the pony lantern that illuminates a small area of warmth, and the road is almost straight, even though it is already dark, once you get used to it, it is easy to walk on the road.
Sometimes the group walked on the mountain and became part of the silhouette of the horizon. Sometimes they walked in the mountains, lighting up the only light in the dark land. Sometimes they climbed over the mountains, and they were neither fast nor slow from beginning to end.
The journey was getting further and further away, and nothing happened along the way.
At most, there would be some movement in the grass or fields by the roadside, which would attract the little girl to stop and turn her head to stare. She waited until the Taoist behind her came forward and gave her a push, then she took a step forward and jumped quickly again.
He walked forward on two legs and continued to be his own street light seriously. But after a while, he forgot to be serious again. He was once again attracted by the movement in the field, stopped and stared, until the Taoist behind him changed into a different one.
The method pushed her and she continued to move forward.
This goes back and forth, countless times along the way.
The mice in the fields should be thankful that tonight's Sanhua Empress is a mobile street lamp. Otherwise, she would probably have to use a quilt bag to carry her harvest tonight.
"There is a temple ahead!"
The little girl holding the pony lantern turned around.
The candlelight borrowed from Zhenjun Huoyang showed a warm yellow color through the pony lantern, illuminating her delicate little face with a focused expression.
"where?"
"There!"
The little girl pointed forward.
It's somewhere in the dark.
Human eyes are indeed incomparable to cats.
The group of people walked for a while and then saw the temple.
"There's someone inside!"
The little girl turned back to them and said.
"Miss Sanhua is really amazing."
"Miss Sanhua has turned into a cat."
"good."
The little girl jumped up and put her beloved pony lantern back into the quilt bag, and took out a red rope from her arms. There was a small wooden pendant on the red rope. She took it in her hand and looked at it.
There was a sound, and when it landed on the ground, it was already a calico cat. There was a red rope tied around the calico cat's neck, and a small wooden sign with her name hanging on it.
Only then did the two people and the cat approach the temple.
The temple has a door, but it is ajar.
Song You took back the lantern, raised it and looked at it.
The temple has no name, but it has a door couplet.
What is written is:
Good people come here with a clear conscience;
If you do something bad, my family will feel cold.
Song You held up the lantern and looked to the side again, and could vaguely see a thin tail quickly disappearing in the grass.
"Squeak..."
The swordsman pushed the door open and entered.
The first thing that greeted us was a burst of incense, with some smoke in it. There was a row of gods in front, and there were people sitting in the corner. They were several Jianghu people, all carrying weapons, and they seemed to be returning escorts, lighting a fire.
Seeing Song You, especially the swordsman behind him, coming in, several people were a little wary. Some opened their eyes, some straightened up slightly, and some touched their weapons.
Song You first looked at the statues on the altar.
"..."
We are still old acquaintances.
The statue sitting in the middle is tall and tall, with a righteous face and angry eyes, but it is wearing a soap coat. It is the currently famous Lei Gong of Zhou. There is also a statue of Lei Gong beside him, and with him
Almost in the middle is a slender female statue wearing colorful divine clothes. Next to it are two common protector gods in the north, as well as statues of local social gods.
What is different from Lei Qingguan is that the several statues here, even the earth statues on the far side, all have divine light and are absorbing incense.