Everyone looked at this Taoist, some with novelty and some with surprise. They had heard many stories about conquering demons and slaying demons, but they met very few around them.
"Let's go and take a look first before talking..."
"Niucun is not far away. Walk forward for thirty miles and there is a big slope. Just go up the slope and then downhill. Someone set up a tea stall in Niucun. After passing the tea stall, there is a ditch.
That family. That family built a pigsty outside, and there was a pond next to it. It took about half a day to walk there." The escort paused as he spoke, "As for the mountain monster that Brother Wang mentioned earlier, ask someone to carry it across.
As for the bridge, we have to go forward twenty miles and encounter a dilapidated low bridge with fast flowing water."
After speaking, he turned to look at the Taoist: "Do you want to go, Taoist?"
"I am a wandering Taoist. I was going in that direction. When I encountered such a strange thing, I naturally wanted to see it." Song You said with a salute, "I would like to thank you for showing me the way."
Everyone looked at him, each with their own thoughts in mind.
However, the Taoist only said that he was going to take a look and did not ask for any money from them. Therefore, at most, everyone only doubted whether he was determined to eliminate demons, but they did not suspect that he was a charlatan.
This one certainly doesn't look like it.
"Sir, where did this come from?" asked the idle man who had just started talking about the mountain demon.
"Back from traveling."
"Where are you going?"
"Going to Yunzhou."
"Sir, why don't you hold the reins on this horse?"
"The horse is smart and needs no reins."
"I think your husband is also a capable expert. The man-eating monster in Niu Village is so hateful that he only picks on good and honest people. I, Wang, also passed by that house and asked for a few drinks of water. If I hadn't asked myself
Since I am not a master of martial arts and have no ability, I must follow Wang Shangong's guidance and ask my brothers to go to the mountains to look for it on a good day." The idle man in the world raised his hands and frowned, "I heard that it was still on this road many years ago.
The mist ghosts were rampant in Liangshui Ao, so a passing fairy and master casually got rid of them. Later, a statue was made for him by the roadside. Since you have the ability, why not follow the example of the fairy and master in getting rid of the demons?
?It can be considered a good thing, it can leave a good story!"
"Imitate the immortal master from the past..."
Song You murmured, but smiled.
Things are really wonderful.
So he was gentle and polite and said to the Jianghu people: "You should imitate that immortal master."
Pause for a moment——
"It's just that I have something important to do. I have to turn left into a small road ten miles ahead. It's just a mountain monster, and it's not worth mentioning. I have a good friend of the Yanxian, so it's enough to ask him for help."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the swallows that heard his words flew down from the sky, passed through the dense ancient Berlin, and landed on the branches nearby.
When everyone saw this scene, their eyes widened.
"Is the Taoist really sure?"
"There are demons and ghosts nearby that are harming people, but they haven't been solved for a long time, and I have lost my reputation." The Taoist looked calm and said, "Please keep an eye on it."
I saw the Taoist giving a few instructions to the swallow, and told the swallow the appearance and general location of the two evil spirits. The swallow nodded repeatedly, as if he understood the human words, and then turned around and flew away into the distance, his body light and agile.
It was so quick that it disappeared in an instant.
At the same time, in the quilt bag on the horse's back, a dagger could be seen unsheathed in an instant. It went with him, passed through the gaps in the cypress branches and leaves, and disappeared into the sky.
When everyone saw this, they were all surprised.
"That being the case, I've had enough rest, so I'll leave now." The Taoist held Sanhua Empress's brocade bag. The sweat on his face had completely dissipated and his body had cooled down, so he stood up. "We are destined to meet here.
, I’ll say goodbye now.”
"Gods walk slowly..."
The Taoist put his bamboo stick on the pillar and walked away.
The horses followed him obediently with the jingling of bells and the sound of hoofbeats.
Sometimes the cat raised its head and looked to the sky in the distance, sometimes it turned back and looked at the people resting behind it, and then followed the Taoist away with small steps.
The sound of discussion came from behind.
"Now Niucun is saved. We will be less frightened when we walk on this road."
"This Taoist is so powerful, why not ask him to get rid of all the demons along the way?"
"Oh, I should ask him for two talismans."
"What I said before is not a lie. It is said that there really was a Taoist temple on Yinyang Mountain in Lingquan County. The Taoist priests in the Taoist temple were really powerful and were the best at subjugating and eliminating demons. If they were still there, the people on this road would
The demons are definitely not so rampant or so numerous, they just disappeared, I don’t know why..."
The sound floated into the Taoist's ears, but as the Taoist walked further, he gradually became inaudible.
"Why……"
The Taoist repeated the last sentence he heard.
My heart is full of various emotions.
He quickly put it aside and turned his head as he walked, looking at the mountains and forests on both sides.
It also needs to be cleaned up.
…
It only takes half an hour to go ten miles.
As the group turned to the side, leaving Jinyang Road and entering a branch line, Sanhua Empress never walked behind Song You again, but kept walking in front with small steps, saying nothing, but
He would often stop and look at the nearby mountains and rivers, a certain mountain village, or a certain household, or he would turn his head and look at the Taoist, waiting for him to walk faster.
Seeing this, the Taoist walked a little faster.
Back then, Sanhua Empress was so popular that villagers from all over the country came to her to get rid of rats. She did it every night. She had been to all the nearby mountain villages, and she might have walked this road countless times.
Now that I'm walking around, I'm naturally familiar with it.
Not long after, the calico cat stopped again, walked to the roadside, raised its head and stretched its neck, and looked through the weeds on the roadside at a hill in the distance.
There is a small temple on the mountainside.
Although you can see it, you still have to walk two miles to get there.
Cat just stood still, looking at the small temple. It wasn't until she heard footsteps behind her and the Taoist approached that she turned around and looked at the Taoist with her amber eyes.
"Let's go."
The Taoist said calmly.
Walking down this road, walking along the field path, and then walking up the hill, it didn't take long for two miles, and before long, we were close to the temple.
The temple is not big, only the size of a room. It is modeled on the style of a palace and is a scaled-down version.
Not seen for many years, it became more and more worn out.
There was no door before, and there still is no door now. But there was a bamboo fence blocking the door. It was a sign of respect from the locals for the highly effective Sanhua Empress. Now the fence is gone, and the red paint on the wall has almost fallen off.
There are not even a few patches of red on the entire wall.
Naturally, the scent of incense is gone.
The calico cat sat at the door, some distance away, looking up at the temple where he had lived for a long time, but he remained motionless.
It was difficult to read the expression on Mao'er's face, and no one knew what she was thinking at that moment.
Instead, it was the Taoist who stepped in first.
Naturally, there is no statue inside. I don’t know who smashed the altar. There are some wood inside and there are signs of fire. Most likely, after the Sanhua Empress left and the statue was broken, the villagers discovered that the cat god has never been efficacious again.
, the sacrifices were not eaten, so they were slowly abandoned, and became a place for passers-by and people in the world to shelter from the wind and rain, and rest for the night.
The cat followed him in, turning its head left and right with a solemn expression, still not sure what it was thinking.
With a flick of the brush, the cat climbed onto the altar.
Still walking around at will, looking here and there, sniffing here and there.
After a long time, she stood on the altar and said her first words to the Taoist priest below: "In the past, Empress Sanhua used to hide behind here and sleep. If someone worshiped me in front, they wouldn't be able to find me."
"Sanhua Empress is good at hiding."
"But sometimes there are a lot of people, and some very fierce Jianghu people come to live in the temple. The smell of their bodies scares cats, and Sanhua Empress does not dare to live with them. When they are in the temple
Sanhua Empress had no choice but to go out and hide behind the temple to sleep."
"Then winter isn't very cold?"
"Miss Sanhua's fur is very long." Cat said seriously, but after a pause, he muttered, "It will still be very cold."
"What about rain?" Song You asked while standing in the temple. "On rainy days, there should be more people coming to the temple to take shelter, right?"
"Sleep under a tree when it rains!"
"Miss Sanhua is so generous."
"Empress Sanhua was timid back then."
Mao'er feels it doesn't matter if he says it now.
But then I thought about it, and with her personality, she probably didn't think it mattered at that time - cats are like this anyway, they have to hide from people and get wet from the rain.
I just heard it in Taoist ears but didn’t feel it.
Sanhua Empress is the goddess of cats and is enshrined here by the villagers. This place was originally her temple. She worked hard every night to catch rats for the villagers in exchange for repairs from the villagers. Sometimes it is time to rest after returning, or on a cold rainy night, she should hide in the temple.
He had a good sleep in a sheltered place from the wind, but because the Jianghu people with strong blood and evil spirits came to stay for the night, he had to hide, and even left the temple to go outside to blow the cold wind and get wet in the cold rain.
"well……"
The Taoist sighed and then said: "But Empress Sanhua still likes it very much."
"This is the temple of Sanhua Empress!"
The calico cat stood on the altar, but did not sit in the middle of the altar like before. He did not even sit down. He only stood on the edge and talked to the Taoist - pointing to a place and telling him that the villagers used to put incense here.
He offered it to her on a pile of mud, and she lay down here to suck on it. Then he moved to another place and told him that the villagers would put loaches and small fish here, and she would be very happy when she came back and saw them. Sometimes there would be some
People who were extremely hungry or who had not eaten for a long time would steal it from her, roast it, eat it, or even eat it raw. She was very angry, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"Sometimes Sanhua Empress went to a nearby place to catch mice, and after catching one, she would come back and keep it to eat. At first, Sanhua Empress hid in the temple, but people who came in to stay overnight smelled the smell of mice. Some people
They would look for them and throw them away to Empress Sanhua. Later, Empress Sanhua learned the lesson and buried the mice under the tree at the door, and dug them out to eat when she was hungry.
"But Sanhua Empress is very good at catching mice, and even villagers bring tributes. Sanhua Empress is rarely hungry, and only in cold weather will she not have enough to eat. At other times, she often buries them in and forgets to dig them out. When she remembers, she runs to dig them out.
When I came out, the insects had already eaten it."