"Today a good believer happened to invite Pindao to come to the city to see the weird things happening in his house. The believer was anxious, and Pindao couldn't delay, so he went into the city in the rain." Wen Pingzi said, "I thought it was not far from the Taoist friend's residence, so last time
I haven't seen you for a while, so I came over to visit my fellow Taoist, but I didn't inform you in advance."
"A Taoist should be so natural and casual, so why should fellow Taoists be so polite?" Song You picked up the tea cup and said, "It's cold outside, please have a cup of hot tea, fellow Taoist, to drive away the cold."
"Thank you."
Wen Pingzi took the tea with both hands and took a sip.
The tea soup is bright red and clear, with a rich woody aroma.
“Good tea! Really good tea!”
"The imperial tribute dragon group was given to us by an old friend when we were in Changjing. It is said that it becomes more fragrant with age and is best stored for three to five years. I rarely drink it, and now I have this.
I guess the flavor of the half-cup has reached its peak." Song You also picked up the tea cup, put it under his nose, smelled it first, and then tasted it carefully.
The tea he brews does not add so many messy things. Although it is good to add some prunes to this dragon dumpling, he also adds very little to preserve the tea aroma to the greatest extent.
The first time I pried open the dragon ball to cook it, I knew it was good tea, but the aroma was still a little turbid. After a closer taste, there was still some warehouse smell that was difficult for ordinary people to taste, which was caused by mold and dust. Nowadays, all the miscellaneous smells are basically gone.
As time passed, it disappeared into the wind on the road, and the fragrance became clearer. It was a complex and pure woody fragrance, and it was indeed improved to a higher level.
"My fellow Taoist cooks well."
Wen Pingzi took a few sips, held the cup in his hand, and felt the temperature coming from the wall of the cup, which warmed him who had just walked out of the rain, but he said with some worry:
"Since the beginning of this year, the dead creatures in the world have become spirits and appeared in the world. Demons and evil spirits have appeared frequently. I know about it and have gone to get rid of several of them. This is not a good sign."
"yes."
Song You also put down his tea cup.
Knowing that Wen Pingzi came in the rain, he guessed that Wen Pingzi must have come to tell him these things.
"Fellow Taoist thinks..."
Wen Pingzi looked at Song You.
"Throughout the past and present, there are constant ups and downs, and endless ups and downs. Every time there is peace, the evil spirits will definitely converge. If troubled times are coming, the evil spirits will appear frequently. Every few hundred years, it is a reincarnation, and it has never changed. They seem to be more powerful than us.
You can smell the changes in the world." Song You nodded and said, "This is indeed not a good sign."
"As expected..."
Wen Pingzi obviously had some guesses, but when he got the evidence from Song You, he couldn't help but be shocked and murmured to himself: "Now is an unprecedented prosperous time..."
"yes."
"Nowadays, there are more and more ghosts. If troubled times come, and corpses are everywhere, wouldn't the ground be full of ghosts?" Wen Pingzi said worriedly.
"I will set off in a few days to leave Yangdu and try to resolve this matter as soon as possible." Song You looked calm and paused, "But before that, if there are evil spirits causing trouble and evil spirits harming people, we will still have to worry about it.
Practitioners like me work hard to help the troubled times and eliminate evil spirits."
"This is the duty of a poor man!"
"It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish. My Taoist friends are very capable, but running around here and there will eventually lead to a loss of health. It is easier to learn the method of God. If it can be spread and passed down, it will be better."
"If troubled times come, how can a poor man be able to protect himself?"
"I admire your conduct, fellow Taoist!"
"Fellow Daoist Song has great supernatural powers and boundless magic power. Can he possibly prevent this troubled world from coming?" Wen Pingzi asked.
"..."
Song You was silent for a moment, and then replied: "We can only delay, and we can only try to make the people live a better life. However, this is the general trend of the world, but it is extremely difficult to stop it."
"Fellow Taoist can't you too?"
"no."
Wen Pingzi fell silent and looked thoughtful.
After drinking a few more sips of tea, I subconsciously looked around, but I only saw the little girl squatting next to add firewood to the Sencha stove, and the swallows still huddled under the eaves, and then I said:
"Have you heard, fellow Taoist? The Holy One has already appointed a crown prince."
"oh?"
Song You turned to look at him.
Finally established a savings...
It seems that the old emperor is also dying soon.
"It happened at the beginning of this month, about ten days ago. Two days ago, a devotee from Changjing came to Tianxing Temple to offer incense. I just heard about it. I guess the news will come over in a few days."
"But Li's legitimate son?"
"How do fellow Taoists know?"
"Guess."
"It's the little prince, Lin Shi." Wen Pingzi narrowed his eyes and said, "When we were in Changjing before, Pindao had dealt with the little prince. He was the legitimate son, with a legitimate name, elegant and gentle, and a member of a large civil and military family in the country.
We all hope that Your Majesty will make him the prince, how can we cause chaos in the world?"
"I haven't been in Changjing for a long time, so I don't know."
Song You also twirled his teacup, his eyes in a trance.
Although he did not have the skills of Master Tianshu, he seemed to have seen what would happen in the future in a daze.
Either the prince died young, or the old emperor delayed it too late.
"Well, then I'll be in trouble, fellow Taoist."
"I would also like to thank you fellow Taoist."
The two Taoists only bowed to each other.
The girl squatted in a ball and concentrated on making fire and boiling water.
…
The heavy rain continued for three days before stopping.
Exactly three days.
It was raining heavily outside the temple, and no one came at all. Moreover, I heard that the roads outside were blocked, and the Yangjiang River swelled so much that it turned into a flood. In the past three days, except for Huo Erniu, who was thirsty and went to drink some rainwater under the eaves, he had nothing to do.
There was nothing to eat and no one to talk to, so I had to listen to the sound of rain every day.
The sound of rain is noisy, but it is all the sound of rain.
There was no other sound in the middle.
Ever since I was born, the world has never seemed quiet for such a long time.
No one spoke, and I couldn't make a sound. I couldn't even talk to myself. At first, I could make some noise to relieve the boredom. Later, I lost my strength due to hunger, so I had to huddle in a corner and enter the world of life.
The most silent period of time.
But during these silent days, Huo Erniu often thought about things that he had never thought of before.
What I think about most is a different version of myself——
Huo Erniu, who is paid to help others eliminate disasters;
Huo Erniu who went to the cemetery to stay overnight for a hundred cents;
Huo Erniu, who was teased and called stupid;
Huo Erniu, who is huddled at home and hungry like today;
Huo Erniu, who almost froze to death in winter;
That day, under the influence of alcohol, thinking about legends and stories, and dreaming of becoming a demon-slayer hero, Huo Erniu stole the magic weapon from the gods and ran out of the city. Huo Erniu was very excited.
Huo Erniu, who was treated respectfully by the county magistrate;
Huo Erniu, who was warmly received by the villagers and coaxed and drank;
And Huo Erniu, who was silent and hungry at this time;
…
The weaker the body, the more active the brain.
Feeling groggy, I took a good nap.
I was thinking about many things in my dream.
Huo Erniu seemed to gradually understand the reason why he was still uneasy despite having obtained the treasure, fame and wealth, but he couldn't explain it.
Because I am stupid, because this truth does not come from books or from other people's mouths. It is just a revelation that I got naturally at a certain time. Understanding the truth is my own harvest. And only those who are good at speaking and summarizing
, can you speak it out and pass it on to others.
Huo Erniu doesn't have this ability.
I don't have the time to think about it.
Anyway, he is mute now and will be mute for a month. Even if he wants to say something, he cannot speak or write. Moreover, he is unbearably hungry. When he wakes up, three days have passed. The most important thing is to fill his stomach.
The steamed buns Huo Erniu brought were already sour, but he still swallowed them. As expected, the sour steamed buns didn't bother his stomach at all. After a while, he regained some strength, and then walked out of the room.
Look around at the ruined temple that almost collapsed in the wind and rain.
The sky and earth are extremely clean after the rain. I don't know if it is clouds or fog that have stopped in the mountains and on the Yangtze River below, adding a touch of freshness to the world.
The ground was soft with water, but there were no footprints.
Huo Erniu stepped forward, sinking into the mud every step of the way.
The mountain road ahead is indeed broken.
Collapsed mountains washed away the road, and broken trees were washed down, blocking the road.
Huo Erniu went to the foot of the mountain with great difficulty, wanting to tell the villagers that the evil ghost in the mountain had been killed by him, but he was speechless.
Fortunately, some villagers took the initiative to ask him.
"Has the evil spirit been eliminated?"
Huo Erniu nodded repeatedly.
The human voice that reached his ears actually moved him a little.
"That's great!"
"Finally eliminated!"
"You can have a happy life!"
"But Mr. Huo has been in the mountain for several days. The evil ghost must be difficult to deal with. It's really a good job..."
"Why doesn't Master Huo speak?"
"Huh?"
Huo Erniu couldn't respond to them, and even because he couldn't speak, he didn't laugh with them.
With less energy on his mouth, he moved his energy to other places, allowing him to notice more clearly the joy and gratitude of the villagers.
This made him feel a little happy after being hungry for three days.
Then, as expected, he was warmly entertained by the villagers, with hot drinks, hot food, good vegetables and meat, and hot water was boiled for him to take a bath. The money promised earlier was also handed over to him.
But I don’t know how many people asked him why he suddenly stopped talking. Everyone had their own guesses. He couldn’t answer and didn’t know how to answer. Some people also found that his precious bamboo stick was missing and asked him out of curiosity.
Where, full of suspicion, he still couldn't answer and had no face to answer.
Until he walked out of the countryside, his hands were empty. Without the bamboo stick, he had no ability to eliminate monsters and fight ghosts. Naturally, he felt lost.
Looking up at the mountain, I was silent for a long time.
Suddenly he remembered, so he turned back to the village, gestured and borrowed a hoe and an ax from the villagers, and then went up the mountain.
Roads need to be built.
Just practice, how tired can it be?
Grandpa has made a lot of money these days. No matter whether it is money, wine, food or fame, you can't earn it by building ten roads. If you build another one, you can treat it as working for him and do a good deed.
Will Huo Erniu use up all his strength to build the road?
Can building roads be harder than fighting ghosts?
Grandpa is here...
After eating and drinking, the rough man went up the mountain. He kept talking to himself in his mind, making fun for himself. He didn't talk to anyone, and he just cleared the roadblocks, shoveled rocks, and repaired the roads.
The villagers at the foot of the mountain were all surprised and speculated constantly.