Chapter 71 Poor people don’t support leisure gods (4)
Chapter 71 Poor people don’t support idle gods (+4)
In the evening in the mountains, the sky is dim.
Dark and yellow.
There is a pond at the door of the owner's house with fish in it. Today he went to catch the fish, got sausages and bacon, and borrowed some vegetables from the neighbor's house. The women were busy in the stove.
The male host entertains guests in the main room.
Including the old gentleman invited from the neighboring village, relatives and neighbors who spontaneously came to help, and the young gentleman who brought the baby's soul back with him.
Mainly two gentlemen.
"My baby has suffered this disaster, and I don't know if it will have any impact on the future."
The host looked at Song You and the old gentleman.
Everyone else listened attentively.
Interestingly, some neighbor children also came, leaning silently against the door and quietly staring inside. This kind of mysterious and mysterious things seemed to be inherently attractive to them.
The old gentleman looked at Song You and didn't dare to speak first.
Song You also looked at the old gentleman.
No one in the room spoke for a moment, and there was silence for a moment.
"I'll tell you the truth." Song You spoke first, with a very low profile, "I have been practicing in the mountains for a long time, and I only went down to the mountains for a trip last year. Besides, I am not very young, so I don't see many such things. I am also lucky to meet you today.
It's just a coincidence. The old gentleman is the experienced one, the master just asks the old gentleman."
The host then looked at the old gentleman.
The old gentleman thought about it for a moment before speaking:
"This kind of thing is definitely not good for the baby's health. He needs to take good care of him for a while and remember not to be frightened again. As for what will happen in the future, I can't say, it depends on how well he is raised."
What he said was obviously the truth and not nonsense, but in front of this young gentleman who was obviously a man of truth, he couldn't help but feel guilty for no reason. After he finished speaking, he still looked at him secretly.
In the dimness, I could only see him nodding slightly, thoughtfully, as if he only knew it today.
"The most important thing," the old gentleman continued, "is that you have to figure out how the little kid lost his soul, so that we can avoid this kind of thing in the future."
"How do we know..."
"Think carefully about whether he was frightened. Either there was a crowing of cocks or a barking of dogs, or there was a sudden shouting, or he had entered some temple, or he accidentally encountered a ghost at night."
"How do you know..."
The host was also at a loss: "I only know that he came back from outside the day before yesterday, lay down on the bed all of a sudden, and couldn't wake up."
Only then did the people around him start talking in a few words.
The sound suddenly became chaotic.
Some people say that the tree at the entrance of the village has been growing for hundreds of years. I don’t know how many people worship it as a guarantee. It is probably spiritual. I saw his child urinating against the tree before, so he may have offended it.
Some people say that children are naughty and often run into the mountains, fearing that they may accidentally encounter something that becomes a spirit.
Someone said that an old man died at the entrance of the village and was buried on the opposite slope. The day before yesterday happened to be the seventh day of the lunar month. Maybe a child was running around in the morning and evening and accidentally saw it.
Some people say that children play crazy and like to hide in dark places and jump out from behind to scare each other.
Song You turned his head and looked outside the door——
A few fields and a weir pond were separated, and in the dim skylight, one could vaguely see a new tomb on the opposite mountain. The soul-calling flag was actually still inserted, and according to local customs, a bell was attached.
The wind blew and there was a tinkling sound when I passed by before.
The bell conveys the thoughts and comfort of the living to the dead, so the ghosts who have not dispersed are attracted by it. At dusk, a faint shadow can be seen, sitting on the hillside in trance, maybe just listening to the wind
The sound of the bell may be recalling this life and not wanting to leave for a while.
"What are you looking at, little sir?"
The host's voice of inquiry came from beside me.
"nothing."
Song You looked away and replied with a smile: "It's getting darker day by day now."
"Why not!"
The host just thought that he was hungry, and was trying to remind himself in disguise that it was already dark and why the meal was not served yet, so he quickly got up again: "I'll go to the stove to urge him, and the meal will be served soon."
Song You pursed his lips and glanced outside the door again.
Although the child did almost lose his soul because of this incident, it was actually just an accidental encounter. Such coincidences are rare in the world, so no one can blame him.
That was just an ordinary dead person, staying here for the time being and disappearing naturally in two days.
There is no other benefit in saying it.
After a while, dinner was served.
The host cooked a pot of tofu fish, fried bacon, cut sausages, and cooked white rice. Of course, it was not as good as in the city, but it was still a good meal prepared by the farmers in the village with great effort, and it was better than Song You's journey along the way.
The cold steamed buns I eat are countless times better.
Thick bowl, big white rice.
The rice is fragrant.
To his surprise, this pot of tofu fish didn't look very good, like it was cooked casually, but it contained a mystery——
It actually tastes sour.
If you take a closer look, you will find that the sourness does not come from vinegar or kimchi, but from preserved fruits such as prunes. It tastes very special, with a strong sourness, and it is easy to coax the rice into your stomach.
Song You was calm in his heart. He just picked up vegetables and ate rice at will. If it was not enough, he would add more. You are not polite at all.
For the hospitable host, this is really a happy thing. Even the woman who is cooking feels happy when she is watching.
“This fish is really delicious!”
"Local method, local method, everyone here does it." The woman smiled, "It's sour, just soup can make you eat a bowl of rice, it's a method for poor people."
“Good craftsmanship.”
"I don't dare..."
The owner's house doesn't have many houses, so he only has one room left.
Song You wants to sleep in a room with the old gentleman.
Fortunately, we can lay a floor.
This is unavoidable when you go out.
Don't be too squeamish and pretentious.
But this kind of thing is strange to say——
Although I accepted it in my heart at first and had no objection, I still felt it was a bit unsightly. After all, it was not as good as a single room. But once I entered the room and lay down, I quickly felt that there was no difference. Even though the old man snored loudly at night.
The sound in the sky was just a trivial thing, not even a trivial matter. Looking back carefully, I felt completely different from how I felt before I entered the house.
There are not many such things——
You have to be in front of it before you can see it clearly and know how you really feel about it.
But how can this kind of thing be understood? How can it be learned from elsewhere? But it must be experienced by oneself in order to gain some insights and gradually understand it.
There are benefits to thinking about it carefully.
…
Early the next morning.
Song You woke up late, just in time for breakfast.
Even though it was breakfast, the host tried his best to prepare it sumptuously. He also cooked fish and cut bacon, which was sizzling.
The people in the mountains don't care whether it's oily or not. It's all good food that they rarely eat. There's no such thing as greasy. They just take out everything they can, hoping to give the guests a good meal.
Song You thanked him and started eating.
The old gentleman from last night is still there.
The old gentleman took the initiative to talk to him: "Young gentleman, are you going to find immortals on Yunding Mountain in Pingzhou?"
"Have you heard of it, sir?"
"I heard it said." Although the old man was at the dinner table, he would stop his chopsticks to empty his mouth when he spoke. "I heard someone said there are gods up there. Every year, many people go to the mountain to look for them. Some of them are great officials in the court.
All the officials will also go."
"Did you find any?"
"You have to be destined to do it."
"I also went to see it because of its reputation." Song You paused, "I heard that the scenery in Yunding Mountain is also pretty good."
"Very high!"
"Can you climb it in one day?"
"I haven't climbed before."
The old man answered honestly, and then added: "I don't know if Yunding Mountain is easy to climb, but I heard that it is not easy to go to Pingzhou from here."
"How to say?"
"From here, you must go through Xiangle County, right?" The old man stared at Song You with beady eyes.
"Um."
Song You actually didn't know what county was in front of him.
The host couldn't say anything, so he just listened and gained some insights.
Just listen to the old gentleman say:
"The road from Xiangle County to Pingzhou is very difficult to walk. In ancient times, people didn't want to take this road during wars. Moreover, there are mountains for hundreds of miles, and there are few people living there." The old man paused, and then
He lowered his voice and said to Song Youyou mysteriously, "I know you are a true Taoist and much better than me, but on that stretch of road, I heard people say that there are a lot of fairies and ghosts! You
Look, usually no one walks on a road for a long time, and within half a year it will be overgrown with weeds, but the road over there is never long, who do you think is walking on it?"
"Thank you, old sir..."
The old gentleman undoubtedly has good intentions.
There are indeed some people these days who have the true Taoism, but it is one thing to have the Taoism. It does not necessarily mean that they can be unruly in this world. No matter how high the Taoism is, it only means that they have the capital to walk at night, but it does not mean that they have the ability to walk at night.
They are willing to walk at night. A road that is not easy to walk, even if it is just muddy and dirty, is annoying.
Song You doesn't want to walk often, but he is still willing to give it a try once in a while.
At this time, I heard the old gentleman say again:
"I haven't asked you yet, Mr. Where do you practice?"
"It's my fault, junior." Song You put down his chopsticks and cupped his hands, "In Yin Yang Mountain, Lingquan County."
"I'm afraid it's the Immortal Cave."
"It's out of the question, I don't dare to take it seriously."
“Sir, there have been cases where children lost their souls?”
"I've heard of it too."
"Do they also rely on calling souls over there?"
"..."
Song You stopped and thought for a moment——
In fact, Yizhou is also called soul, but the name is different and the details are different. It is essentially the same principle.
It's just that the old man asked specifically, after telling him the way to Pingzhou, he obviously didn't want to know if there was a folk method of summoning souls there.
In fact, these kind of folk gentlemen do not practice spiritual magic and do not know magic. To solve such things, they rely on the experience and knowledge passed down from generation to generation. This is the skill they rely on to survive. But don't dislike it. This kind of skill is naturally incomparable.
Orthodox magic is powerful, easy to learn, easy to use, and simple to use. I don’t know how many things it has helped people solve. It can be said that it has immeasurable merit.
A cat that can catch mice is a good cat.
So Song You thought about it seriously.
"I don't know much about it, but apart from summoning souls, I have indeed heard of some folk gentlemen in my hometown using other methods."
"Can you please tell me?"
"I wonder if there is a small temple here? It doesn't count the temple for the idle gods in the mountains. It needs to be sealed by the imperial court."
“They don’t have it in their village, and neither do we have it in our village.”
"Is there one in the county?"
"There is a Taoist and Buddhist temple in the county, and many gods are worshipped."
"That won't work."
"What do you mean?"
"Great gods are hard to find and cannot be found. Wild gods are unreliable and risky and cannot be found. Small gods are mostly empty images and useless. It is best to find local gods who are famous only in one county and have been awarded awards by the court." Song Dynasty
You said to the old gentleman, "We have a gentleman in Lingquan County who does this. He builds a small temple for this god in the village. It doesn't need to be too big, just three feet high. Every New Year and festival, the villagers are asked to go and worship.
But the husband himself goes to burn incense every now and then, and every time he talks a few more words and becomes familiar with me, he can ask me for help next time, which will be much more convenient than ordinary villagers."
"This method..."
"This method takes some effort, but it has its benefits. After you have taken care of it, every time you lose your soul, have a ghost, or have evil things and monsters come to your home, you don't need to do anything else. You only need to go to the temple.
Put some incense inside, and when the other party appears, it will be cured."
Song You paused for a moment: "And if it doesn't work..."
“What should I do if it doesn’t work?”
"It's not easy for villagers to farm, how can incense nourish the leisure god?" Song You said with a smile, "I should explain this kind of thing to the Lord Shen. I think the Lord Shen will understand."
"Still not working?"
"Smash it for him."
A casual remark that speaks loudly.
The host who was listening was suddenly shocked.
The old gentleman also took a breath, his eyes widened, and then he tugged on his beard, but fell into thinking again.
Thank you to the leader of "Syr, the Supreme Being", bow and show your chest!