On June 18th, the third year of Chengyuan in the Great Xia Dynasty, the Heavenly Dog swallowed the sun, and the sky was dark for a moment. Fortunately, Xiatun County was well prepared, and the officials and the people frightened away the Heavenly Dog with the sound of gongs and drums. Even so, no one felt at ease, and there was no light for three consecutive days.
People gathered in the streets day and night.
Although the Tengu was frightened away, more strange things were reported.
A bold man who was seeking refuge from danger on the street was encouraged by a few idle men to decide to go home and sleep. However, when he walked alone to the alley in front of his house, he encountered a group of weirdos...
"Those people were about one foot tall, dressed in black, holding five-color flags and flags, and had strange faces."
"The little man yelled, dropped the lantern in his hand, lit up the flames, and those people disappeared into the wall."
"The little man was found dead the next day."
When people in the teahouse heard this, they exclaimed, and many people shouted.
"It's a ghost."
"It's a seductress."
"No." An old man with a wrinkled face shook his head and twirled his beard and said, "It's not a ghost, it's a god."
Gods and ghosts are naturally different, and the people were overjoyed: "Old man Fang, is he really a god?"
Old man Fang's face showed no joy, only sadness: "It's the God of Plague."
Immortals and immortals are also different. When they heard the word plague, the people were shocked, turned pale, and started making noises.
No one doubts what Mr. Fang said. Mr. Fang is the oldest living scholar in this county.
"It is recorded in the book that the God of Plague is like this." He said, then read out a string of awkward descriptions, and looked up at the sky outside. The sun in the sky had returned to its original state, but it still had a strange white halo.
It is very dazzling, "Whenever there is a major change or disaster, the god of plague will inevitably appear."
The people in the tea house were even more panicked: "So we are going to have a big disaster in Xiatun County!"
Before Old Man Fang could answer this question, a louder noise came from the street, as if he had returned to that day when the Tengu first appeared.
"Come and see, five people are catching monsters."
"There is a demon in Dingjiazhuang."
This was even more shocking than the rumor that the God of Plague appeared in the world. The people in the teahouse poured out in large numbers, and the bold ones joined the crowds running around on the street to tell each other about the excitement, while the timid ones fled home in panic and committed suicide.
From today onwards, I will stay behind closed doors.
In the blink of an eye, the teahouse became empty and the tables and chairs were in a mess, but old man Fang was still sitting at the table holding a tea bowl.
"Old man Fang, why don't you go and see it?" asked the waiter at the teahouse, who was hesitating whether to go and see it.
Old man Fang said, "What's there to see?"
It's a monster, but Old Man Fang must have seen it after living so long, and he doesn't think it's strange. He is still young and has never seen one before. The man put down the teapot and slipped out. When he gets old, he can talk to his descendants. This kind of thing
It's not something you encounter often.
The shopkeeper yelled several times angrily, but to no avail.
The teahouse was empty, and the hustle and bustle on the street had faded away, making it seem like an empty city.
The shopkeeper didn't follow, so the waiter could endure the scolding and run to watch the fun, but he didn't dare to leave the shop alone. Compared to the monster, the boss was more scary.
"With five people here, the monsters will definitely not be able to stir up trouble." He looked outside and said somewhat relaxedly.
Wudao people are Taoist priests from Qingfeng Temple in Yunmeng Mountain outside Xiatun County. They have magical skills to catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits. It is said that the county magistrate is able to prepare in advance to expel the heavenly dogs this time because of Wudao people's advice. With such an immortal, the god of plague should be able to be accommodating.
, as for monsters, they are nothing.
There was no response to the shopkeeper's words. The old man Fang was holding the tea bowl with an expression that was not relaxed, but even more sad: "There are monsters making trouble in the clear sky and the bright day. There are many monsters in troubled times, and the bad land is full of monsters. There is really going to be a big disaster."
After saying that, he threw the tea bowl on the ground, covered his face, cried loudly, and stumbled away.
The shopkeeper was startled and hesitated again and again but did not catch up and ask for the money for the broken tea bowl.
The long-lived scholars are a little crazy, so don’t mess with them at this time.
The old man alone on the street here laments the catastrophe of the troubled times. Outside the city, Dingjiazhuang is crowded with people but silent.
Dingjiazhuang is located at the foot of Yunmeng Mountain. In the hot summer of June, the lush crops in a flat and unobstructed field at the foot of the mountain behind the village were trampled and staggered. The field was full of people, but the farmers who loved the fields and crops did not go there.
Driving them away and scolding them, everyone's eyes were focused on a field in the middle.
There is an empty field here, and there is only one person, with white eyebrows and long beard, wearing a Taoist robe, holding a peach wood sword in his hand, surrounding a leafy tree, sometimes running with angry eyes, sometimes closing his eyes and shaking, the wide Taoist robe fluttering
, with a sudden roar of anger, the Taomu Sword slashed at the small tree. It did not get close, but a fireball shot up with a bang. The small tree was instantly engulfed in flames, and there was a scream of surprise from all around, and soon there were thunderous cheers.
"The tree demon was killed by the sky fire."
"The five Taoists have great magic skills."
Accompanied by cheers, the village elder was helped forward and thanked the standing Taoist priest repeatedly. However, many people asked how this small tree could be a monster. It looked like an ordinary small tree.
Upon hearing the question, a local smiled profoundly: "Because there were no trees at the head of this field."
Everyone looked at the field and discovered that except for the burning small tree, there were only crops and no trees in the field.
The night after the Tengu swallowed the sun, a woman woke up and noticed a noise in the yard. She saw a figure stealing chickens in front of the chicken coop. The peasant woman shouted to catch the thief, and the lights were shining all around...
"The thief was naked, skinny and gray, with limbs like branches, green hair on the floor, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, and he was devouring a live chicken."
"When the ghost was discovered, he got up and rushed towards the woman. He blew a breath and the woman fell to the ground and expired."
"The neighbors were beating gongs and drums to drive away the tengu, and hunting dogs were barking and biting the white ghost. The white ghost ran away from the village and disappeared. The villagers were too scared to search for it. When they followed the blood trail at dawn, they saw a small tree growing at the head of the field.
.”
"Everyone looks closer and sees that there are wounds from hunting dogs on the trunk of the small tree, and they are bleeding naturally."
As the story unfolded, the people who hunched their shoulders and bit their fingers looked again at the head of the field, and saw that the small trees were almost burned, the young leaves were curled black, and the trunks were scorched and withered, making them look like human beings.
It is indeed a tree demon. Fortunately, there are five people here, otherwise the whole village would have been poisoned.
"This is called Fengzi Ghost in the book."
The person who said this was standing on a mountain road not far away. He was a young monk, wearing an old blue monk's robe. There were trees on both sides of the mountain road, blocking the mottled sunlight, making his face blurred and seemed to be covered with shadow.
A layer of dust.
He stood with his staff in hand, looking down at the fields in front of him that were high and far away. In his sight, the tall people and the small trees with extinguished flames blended into one.
"Monk Mu has seen this ghost?" someone asked.
This man was sitting on a rock next to the mountain road below. He was a chubby middle-aged rich man who was neither a monk nor a Taoist. The ghosts burning at the foot of the mountain were talking about ghosts. He did not have the slightest fear, and his small eyes were smiling.
Monk Mu looked down the mountain, with the mottled sunlight dancing on him: "Ghosts are only in books."
Does it mean that there are no ghosts and monsters in the world? The rich man was very interested: "If a monk doesn't believe that there are ghosts and gods in the world, what kind of monk is he? What kind of Buddha can he worship?"
Monk Mu said calmly: "It's not that I don't believe in ghosts and gods in the world, but ghosts and gods are no different from humans. They also have their own destiny of life and death, so there is no need to worry about it."
The rich man was even more puzzled: "If you don't care about the solar eclipse, gods, ghosts and monsters, then what should you care about?"
Monk Mu raised his head and raised a finger on the wooden stick in his hand: "A monster that should not exist in this world."
The rich man followed his gaze, which looked forward, but then passed over the sea of people gathered and landed at the end of the field in the distance.
There is a path at the end of the field, and two people are walking at this time, one tall and one short, as if to avoid the glare of the sun. Both of them are wearing black robes and black shirts, one is wearing a black oil bamboo hat, and the other is holding a black oil umbrella.
.
Looking down from a high position, compared with the crowd, these two people were like two lonely ants.
As if aware of the sight here, the two people walking stopped.
The fields under the sun are noisy like waves of wheat.
The fearful, nervous and quiet crowd vented wantonly, or gathered to tell what they saw, heard and thought, or rushed to see the dead trees, or followed the clan leader in awe and gratitude, surrounded by Taoist priests, trying to get some influence.
Immortal blessing.
No one noticed the two people on the path at the end of the field.
"Miss, I'll go over and see what's going on." The man wearing a bamboo hat raised his head, revealing a young and resolute face under the bamboo hat. His eyes withdrew from the crowd and fell on the man holding a black umbrella.
The black umbrella did not lift up, but lowered it even lower. In the hot summer of June, the black umbrella covered the face and the black cloak covered the figure: "No need to go."
The voice is female.
From a distance, it looked like they both stopped at the same time, but in fact it was the woman who stopped first, and then the man who was following her stopped.
She stopped and turned to the field. She had never seen such a lively and noisy place along the way, so she must have been curious.
But she refused to visit, not wanting to know what happened here.
The man responded, and the woman holding the umbrella raised her feet and stepped forward, ignoring the noise here.
.....
.....
Two ant-like figures walked slowly along the road, and the rich man standing on the mountain road looked away.
"Are they looking at you just now?" He said excitedly, "You can actually detect it, which shows that you have some ability."
The wooden staff in Monk Mu's hand was lowered and he looked at the two people on the road.
"Of course you have some ability to dare to appear in this world." He said.
The rich man sighed with an expression: "It's not easy to hear your praise." He said solemnly, "Since you are a monster that needs to be taken care of, why not get rid of it? What's more, they just discovered you."
Since danger is discovered, the other party may want to take action first or run away.
The wooden staff made a soft sound, and the monk looked back, turned around, flicked his sleeves, and stepped up the mountain road: "There is no need for me to take action, God will take care of it."
Dryads and monsters can exist, but he wants people to take them away, but ignore the ones that cannot exist? The rich man jumped down from the rock and asked, "What does it mean that it cannot exist?"
Monk Mu turned back again. At this time, he walked out of the shade of the tree and his face appeared in the sunlight. The dust on his face faded away, revealing his clean eyebrows. He pointed to the sky: "You can't see the sky."
The rich man looked up at the sky and laughed: "The sun is right here, how can we not see it?"
He looked at the two figures walking away on the road again. Everything was under the sky, how could it never see the sky?
"What will happen if it sees the light of day?" he asked.
"Will die."
The monk's voice came.
He would die if he saw the sun, so there really was no need for anyone to take action. Destiny was irresistible. The rich man looked away and saw that the monk was already walking up the mountain. He hurriedly swung his fat body and chased after him.
"Monk, are you really staying here with a Taoist priest? Be careful that the Buddha blames you."
"Buddha is in my heart, so how can he blame me for where I go?"
"It's hard to argue, but I can't argue with you."
"You are not as good as you are in terms of making money and running a family."
"Monk, it's not good to be so mean."
Accompanying the exchange of words, the two walked on the mountain road. When they entered the forest, they heard only sounds but no one. Gradually, the sounds of people were lost in the depth of the forest, and the mountains became pure.
.....
.....
The hustle and bustle behind him faded away, and no one was seen on the path under the scorching sun, only the soft footsteps of two people.
"Miss, where is in front of you?" The man lifted his hat and looked, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes. Although he was walking step by step, he didn't seem to know where he was.
"Xiatun County." A voice came from under the umbrella.
The man looked a little surprised: "I'm in Xiatun County. I actually walked around and ended up here. It's not far from Jiangling Mansion. We can get home soon..."
Before he finished speaking, a shout came from under the umbrella: "Fang Er!"
The man who was called Fang Er immediately shut his mouth, with a look of shame on his face and a flash of fear in his eyes. He subconsciously looked up at the sky, seeing the scorching sun and clear sky, but he didn't know if it was an illusion, but there seemed to be a faint sound of thunder coming.
The black oil umbrella in the woman's hand lowered a little further: "Let's go."
Fang Er raised his hand to press down the bamboo hat and followed the woman forward.
The two of them did not speak anymore, and walked slowly and non-stop, taking paths through the wilderness, around villages and towns, from the scorching sun to the dusk of sunset. In the twilight, there was an old man walking slowly on the road holding a cow, with a cow sitting on it.
A handful of grass leaves danced in the child's hand.
Seeing the two people walking towards each other, the old man and the child both looked surprised. After all, it wasn't raining and there was no scorching sun. It was almost dusk and they were still holding umbrellas. It was weird, and judging from the direction they were going...
The two people were about to pass each other, and the old man couldn't help but said: "Folks, where are you going? There are mountains in front of you, and it's dark and you can't walk."
The woman's footsteps did not stop, the umbrella in her hand was slightly raised, and there was a faint mountain in front of her in the dusk.
"Let's take a walk." She said, lowering the umbrella again.
Just take a walk?
The old man was startled as he watched the two people walking over. It was almost dark, so why should he just walk away? She was still a woman...
"Grandpa, grandpa." The child on the cow's back shouted in panic.
The grass in the child's hand has fallen, and his face is full of horror.
"Grandpa, that person, that person's face." He stammered, pointing at the two people walking away on the road.
What happened to that man's face? The man's face under the bamboo hat was ordinary and not scary at all. The old man was puzzled.
"The umbrella man's head and face were all wrapped in black cloth." The child made gestures on his face and his eyes widened. "Only the eyes, nose, and mouth were exposed."
Just now, the woman raised her umbrella a little, and the old man could not see it from behind. The child was sitting on the back of the cow and was beside him, so he saw it.
The customs of Great Xia were enlightened, and women could walk as freely as men. Those wealthy women would cover their faces when traveling to block dust, sand and sunlight to protect their beautiful faces.
This kind of wrapping of the head and face when there is no sunlight or dust is probably to protect the face, and it is a face that cannot be seen by others.
Either because of injury or because of being born ugly.
There was some sympathy on the old man's face, and his eyes fell on the woman holding the umbrella who was walking away. He didn't know what she had gone through. She sounded very young, so she had to be wrapped in a cloth to cover her up. She could only do it in the middle of the night.
It's pitiful to just walk around in a deserted place.
The woman didn't notice his pity, and walked non-stop towards the mountain that was gradually shrouded in night.
After several sunrises and sunsets, when the sky was bright again, the two people, whose clothes were stained with mud, and the black umbrellas in their hands and the bamboo hats on their heads were covered with dust, finally stopped and looked at a city in front of them.
In the early morning sunlight, the three characters "Jianglingfu" on it are clearly visible.
"Miss, we're here..." Fang Er took off his hat and tried his best to restrain himself. His excitement was still hard to conceal. He swallowed slightly when the words reached his lips, and finally only uttered one more word, "... it's time."
This time the woman did not stop him. Although the black umbrella was lowered and not raised, it was slightly nodded.