Tear a piece of ham into small pieces and put it in your mouth.
Don't chew it in a hurry, just leave it in your mouth and use your mouth to feel the salty aroma it releases. When it becomes a little soft, start chewing it and feel the taste of the meaty fiber.
It's dry and fragrant, and you won't get tired of it after eating it.
By the way, he slowed down and tore off another piece. He lowered his hands and bent down. The calico cat stood upright and took the meat from his hand.
The fairies and ghosts coming and going were all looking at them, but they were no longer embarrassed or watching.
Gradually we walked to the fire in the middle.
The market town is gathered around the fire.
This fire is unusual and has its own strangeness, but it is not a sacred fire that burns the sky and the earth and burns the soul. It only guides the monsters and ghosts in the mountains to come and drives away other evil things.
Song You saw several ghosts and spirits in uniforms by the fire. Even ghosts were not afraid of the fire.
As soon as Xiong Cha and Niu Cha saw Song You, they gave him away from a distance.
Song You also returned the gift.
It is quite strange that there is such a market town here. Since someone has broken into it before, it is impossible to say that there are legends about it under the mountain. Maybe the master of Fulong Temple has been here before.
Xiong Cha must have told Niu Cha.
He didn't get closer to them, otherwise they would feel uncomfortable, and he would feel uncomfortable too, so he just changed direction and continued walking.
Song You bought a lot of wild fruits from a monkey stall owner, bought good semi-dry fodder from a horse stall owner, and bought a small fish from an unknown mountain spirit. The largest
What I got was mushrooms from a fox stall, matsutakes, chickens, and fir trees, which were all available at the same price as the fodder sold by the horse stall owner. I also bought some wonderful and interesting things that are rarely seen outside, and I spent a lot of money.
It was quite a harvest.
But the most rewarding thing is obviously not the things I bought or the bargains I got, but the journey itself.
There are countless fairies and ghosts here. I am afraid that all the fairies and ghosts from the mountains hundreds of miles away have arrived. There are many kinds, including cats and rats, wolves and deer, cows, horses, rabbits, spirits made from vegetation, and many other natural creatures.
The landscape spirits raised in the earth and the ghosts who died on this road have not dispersed. They have existed in all dynasties. Thousands of spirits other than humans live in harmony here and even have their own order. It not only broadens his horizons, but also adjusts his mind.
his understanding.
If an ordinary mortal with literary talents accidentally enters here and leaves safely, maybe he will leave an article about his adventures that will be handed down from generation to generation, right?
As he walked, there were little ghosts watching him.
Song You turned around and saw a well-behaved, round-faced boy, about eight or nine years old. He was walking in the same direction as him and always turned to look at him. His eyes were very smart.
Song You nodded and smiled at him.
The little devil also grinned at him.
After walking a few more steps, the kid got a little closer to him, and then asked curiously:
"Are you a god?"
"Just a mortal."
"How brave!"
"ha……"
"I didn't hear you clearly just now, how did you get in?"
"It's destined." Song You answered casually, with a soft voice, "After dinner, I was sitting watching the stars. I saw a fire under the mountain here, so I followed it in."
"coincidence."
"It's a coincidence."
"Manager Xiong wanted to take you out just now, why didn't you go out?"
“It’s a rare encounter, I want to visit more.”
"There are so many ghosts here, are you not afraid at all?"
"What's so scary about ghosts?"
Song You also maintained courtesy towards this little ghost: "There is a poem in the world, you know that you are not the ghost of the past."
Generally speaking, after a person dies and becomes a ghost, even a child will not continue to grow up unless there are other opportunities. Therefore, although the ghost in front of you looks like a child, there is no telling how long he will be in this world.
They are older than Song You or even Song You's master, so they cannot be treated as children. However, although their experience and knowledge will continue to grow, because they have no physical body, their mental growth will also be affected, so it is not easy to treat them
As an adult or elderly person.
"I know that I am not the ghost of the past."
The kid muttered something along and found it interesting, so he smiled and asked: "Is there really reincarnation in this world?"
"It's just a poem."
"Is that available?"
"I have not seen."
"I'll just say it!"
The kid hit his left hand with his right hand, which seemed to be strong but the sound was soft.
Song You smiled and asked:
"How many times have you been here?"
"So many times, I can't even count them." The little ghost smiled, "It's just that this place is quite boring. There are only things used by mountain goblins and monsters, not many used by ghosts."
"Has anyone come in before?"
"Occasionally, it happens more often in the past two years."
"I wonder who built this place? Or was it organized spontaneously?"
"It was spontaneous, but there was also the protection of the mountain gods." The kid paused, "I heard that it happened many years ago, where mountain goblins and monsters who were close to each other exchanged some things with each other, but the scale at that time was not as big as it is now.
It is fixed in this place. It seems that hundreds of years ago, a mountain god appeared here. The mountain god asked everyone to come here, and everyone came."
"Mountain God?"
Song You thought for a while.
There is a high probability that it is not a mountain god enshrined by the imperial court or the Heavenly Palace. That kind of mountain god is usually not so friendly to monsters and ghosts. Relatively speaking, it is more likely that the mountain has cultivated elves on its own, and is honored as a mountain god by the monsters and ghosts in the mountain. Moreover, this mountain god can
It is really an incredible skill to carve out such an area in the middle of this mountain, relying on the mortal world but being far away from it. Only the elves cultivated by the mountain itself can make such an arrangement relying on this mountain.
"yes."
The kid thought for a while: "But I heard that the mountain god has a bad temper. Someone came in before, and the mountain god was very unhappy. He had a fight with that person and was beaten badly. Then he stopped coming out. Now we all come here spontaneously and spontaneously.
I recommend some fairies and ghosts with more profound morals to take charge of things to avoid causing trouble."
"That's it." Song You nodded and said, "That person is really rude."
"you do not say!"
"We are destined to be together. I would like to offer you a stick of incense."
"How is that possible?"
"I just want to talk to you for a moment."
"It is better to obey orders than to be respectful!"
Song You happened to see a shed selling incense, and the owner was a mouse. This was one of the few places in the market town that sold things related to ghosts, so there were many wild ghosts gathered there.
Walking into the shed, there were tables and stools inside, but they were very small. The height of the table was only over one foot, and the stools were less than one foot.
One person and one ghost bowed to each other and sat facing each other.
The calico cat also jumped on a stool.
"What does the guest want?"
"Three sticks of grass are fragrant."
Song You saw that everyone else ordered three sticks of grass incense.
"Want to light it up?"
"want."
"okay!"
Suddenly a living person came in, whether it was the popular wild ghosts here or the mountain goblins who came with the wild ghosts. They kept glancing towards Song You and spoke in a softer voice. The calico cat turned its head.
He stared at the stall owner without blinking, which made him a little scared.
"That's not polite."
Song You turned the cat's head back manually, and then ignored the looks of other monsters and only talked to the little ghost.
The kid is a good talker and talks while eating.
He has good Taoism and can eat the ashes of incense, while ordinary wild ghosts can only eat the smoke from burning incense.
However, this kind of incense does not have the power of wish to bless it, and its help in Taoism is extremely limited. It cannot help these wild ghosts to walk on the Shinto path. Its main function is to fill the stomach. When the market is not open, most of them who can't get incense eat it in the mountains.
Living with dew in the morning and mist in the evening, I lived a very miserable life.
I heard the little ghosts complain that there are monsters and ghosts in this town. Everyone treats ghosts the least and look down on them the most. Ghosts have the lowest status here and can buy the least things.
And the coins used here are copper coins.
Copper coins are very unfriendly to ghosts. The most unfriendly thing is that they are difficult to get.
Copper coins are very heavy, and the wider they are circulated, the heavier they become. The heaviest coins are like a thousand catties, and ghosts with insufficient moral integrity cannot pick them up.
Therefore, most of the ghosts who come to the market town either go to exchange for those copper coins that have not been touched for many years, or they have to make an appointment with other mountain goblins and monsters, come with them, and ask these friends to help get the money. There are also some
The smart guy simply made friends with some spiritual animals and asked them to help carry money.
Song You found it extremely interesting.
I also heard the kid laugh and say that many people at the foot of the mountain vilify goblins and ghosts very seriously. They always think that they are scary, ugly and irrational, or that female goblins cannot control themselves when they see poor scholars. They often regard these things as...
I come here for jokes and often laugh out loud.
Sometimes the kid would ask him about things at the foot of the mountain, which dynasty, which generation, which city or village is still there now, Song You would answer him if he knew anything, and he could only apologize if he didn't know.
Half of the small talk is half of the fragrance.
The kid sighed:
"There are few people in this world who dare to talk to ghosts like Taoist Master. I haven't talked to anyone for a long time."
After a pause, he said again:
"It's just that Manager Xiong wanted to take the Taoist priest out just now. The Taoist priest should really go out with him."
For the fourth time, Song You pulled the calico cat's head back when it looked at the stall owner, and asked again:
"how to say?"
"First of all, the Taoist priest should not stay here for a long time. If he stays for a long time, he may not be able to get out. Secondly, there are many roads out here. The Taoist priest may not be able to walk back to his original place. He may not find out until dawn
We walked deep into the mountains, and the road in front and behind us was gone. After leaving this fire, there were actually many ferocious evil things. We all had to be careful when passing by. There were many mortals who accidentally broke in.
I was eaten if I didn't come here. I didn't meet the Taoist priest on the way here, so I'm really lucky. It wouldn't be easy if I met him when I went back."
"Evil thing? What is it?"
"It's hard to say. There are many kinds. Most of them are naturally born evil creatures, or ghosts full of resentment. As for spirits with savage nature and mountain monsters that have eaten people, they are rare."
"That's it..."
Song You's curiosity aroused again: "Then I wonder how to meet them?"
"Take the main road more often. It's best to go back the way you came. Don't walk randomly. If you encounter monsters and ghosts going in the same direction, try to walk with them. A journey is a journey..." The kid said, suddenly feeling wrong, but carefully
After thinking about it, I couldn't figure out what was wrong.
"Thank you."
"Since you treated me to a treat, I will give you something as a gift in return."
The kid had finished eating the last mouthful of incense ash, stood up, patted his butt, and said to him: "There is a lantern seller over there. I will take you to buy a lantern, and then go to the fire in the middle to ask for some kindling, and the lantern will become brighter than usual.
The lantern is still on, it can burn until dawn, and it can also scare the evil things on the road. Hehe, I shouldn't say that, it's unlucky, I should say that I can't meet it. But although I can't meet it, I can't leave this market town.
, the mountain road is dark, it’s better to have a lantern to illuminate it.”
"Why is this so embarrassing?"
"Don't refuse."
"Thank you."
Song You broke off the calico cat's head for the fifth time, patted her again, then followed the little ghost outside with a smile.
Although this kid looks young, he has quite a temperament in his words. Unlike ordinary people, I had invited him to a favor before, and when he accepted, he should have already had the idea of reciprocating the gift.
So Song You only declined once.
So he really went to buy a lantern, and the kid took out money from his body to pay the bill. It was more expensive than three sticks of grass incense.