This is a desolate village with a depleted population and dilapidated houses. The village road in front of the house is full of things left by people who fled here. A cool wind blew and blew open the door of one of the thatched huts.

There was a patting sound, as if a resentful spirit was silently telling. This place seemed to be a place forgotten by the world. Even the sun shone here without any extra warmth. I just watched everything happening in the village quietly.

The sun was going down, and just when the village was gradually ushering in a more mysterious night, a child slowly walked over at the entrance of the village. His steps were a little wobbly, as if he had been drunk.

It's unstable, but if you look carefully, you can find that he is not drunk, but just weak, so from a distance, he looks like he is drunk.

The child looked alert, and you could tell during the walk from the village entrance that he had actually been walking in the grass, using the withered yellow weeds to cover his figure. Fortunately, he was small and thin, wearing tattered clothes.

The color is black and yellow, and it moves through the grass like a moving piece of mud. If someone sees it, they can't see it clearly. When they want to take a closer look, the child is no longer there. What's more, no one will bother to pay attention.

Such a child who is like a little beggar.

After the child entered the village, he did not relax his vigilance and walk along the main road. Instead, he turned into an alley on the left, then went around left and right, and finally stopped in front of a thatched hut.

First, he carefully observed the situation in front of the hut and found that it was no different from before he left. From then on, the child felt relieved and showed a shallow smile.

But he did not go in immediately. Instead, he continued walking about a hundred or so steps and came to a small earth temple. The child knelt down piously and muttered, "Thank you, Lord Earth, for blessing me."

You can come back safely, and thank you, Lord Earth, for blessing me!" After saying that, he walked to the back of the Earth Temple and took out a bowl from somewhere, and the strangest thing was that there was still some water in the bowl. The child saw the water.

, the originally shallow smile deepened a bit.

He returned to the statue of Tuigong with water in hand, took out a small package from his arms, and spread it out carefully and respectfully. It turned out that there were two sour cakes inside. He put the water and sesame cakes in front of Tuigong, and then

Sitting quietly aside, staring at the already darkened sky in a daze.

The moon rose slowly, and the moonlight stretched his figure. Under the reflection of the moonlight, the bowl of water exuded a bright light. The child looked at the crescent moon on the horizon, wondering what he was thinking, if there was anyone at this time

If you see it, you will find that the middle part of this child's eyes is different from ordinary people.

His pupils were gray.

After the bright moon hung high, the child stood up, silently packed up his parcel, and returned to the hut with a bowl of water. He gently pushed open the fence and door, and walked into the inner room with subtle steps.

There was no kerosene in the house, so it was naturally impossible to light a lamp. Fortunately, there was still moonlight. Through the moonlight, I discovered that there was a person lying on the bed in the inner room. However, from the outside, he seemed to be motionless. I didn't know whether he was dead or alive.

In other words, half dead.

The child skillfully walked to the bed, carefully put the bowl of water to the mouth of the person on the bed, and said, "Grandma, grandma, wake up and drink some water."

The person on the bed turned out to be an old woman, whom the children called grandma. I don’t know whether it was because of hearing it or because of the physiological reaction of thirst. She opened her mouth and slowly drank some water. Watching grandma drink the water, the child

He looked relieved. He took out the sesame cakes again, carefully broke them into small pieces and fed them to her. He whispered, "Grandma, eat something. You will be fine after eating."

After the grandma moved her mouth a few times, the child fed her some water. After repeating this process, she unknowingly finished a sesame seed cake and drank half a bowl of water. When the child wanted to feed her more, the grandma refused.

Eat again.

With such accuracy, if someone who didn't know the details knew about it, they would definitely think that grandma had her eyes open and her mind was clear, so she would save half of the food for her grandson. But only after seeing it with one's own eyes can one know that in fact she had no idea at all.

She was relying on her instinct to save half of the food and water for her grandson. And it was unknown how many times of training or how many times similar things had happened before this instinct could be engraved in their bones.

Seeing that his grandma refused to eat any more, the child gently wiped the corners of her mouth with his sleeve. After tucking the corner of his quilt, he ate the last sesame seed cake and half a bowl of water carefully, without wasting any of it.

After he finished eating and sat quietly for a while to regain his strength, he picked up the bowl, closed the door, walked back to the front of the Earth Temple, put the bowl back behind the Earth Temple, returned to the statue of the God, and worshiped the Earth piously.

The statue expressed its gratitude, "Thank you, Father-in-law of the land, for blessing me and my grandma."

At this point, he ended his day, returned to the hut, made a bed in front of his grandma's bed, and then fell into a deep sleep, motionless.

Just when he fell asleep, the night outside the window seemed to have been thrown into a stone, creating strange ripples. A middle-aged Taoist walked out of the ripples. He looked at the two people outside the window. One was lying on the bed.

Half dead on the bed, with no idea of ​​his future life or death, one person is lying under the bed, his body is thin, and the candle of life is flickering.

The middle-aged Taoist thought thoughtfully for a while, but still couldn't decide what to do. He stood and watched for a while, then retreated into the night and disappeared. The child under the bed may have dreamed of something at this time, and his body moved towards the bed.

He turned around and curled up together, with the small quilt wrapping him like a chrysalis.

At dawn the next day, the sun shone in through the window and shone on the child's face, and he started a new day. After he got up, he crawled on the bedside with a little worry on his face, and stretched out his little hand to explore him.

Grandma's breathing, luckily, was still breathing. The child took a long breath, but his relaxation didn't last long. After staring at the old woman on the bed carefully for a while, his face became more and more serious, and then he turned around and entered the kitchen.

, reached into the stove hole and took it out, and then walked out quietly. After going out, he closed the door and the fence. Then he went to the Tu Tu Temple and kowtowed three times respectfully, "Father Tu Tu, I want to find something to eat."

I hope you will protect my grandma from being picked up by things on the mountain today. Thank you, Mr. Land."

After saying that, when he was about to get up and leave, he saw that a straw garment on the statue of the Goddess of the Earth was a little tattered, so he went to a nearby haystack to fold a few handfuls of grass and weave a new one, and then replaced the old one.

After doing all this, he turned to a small alley ahead and disappeared.

The middle-aged Taoist came out of nowhere and looked at the direction where the child disappeared for a long time without saying anything. Then he glanced at the statue of the earth god. Suddenly, a burst of green smoke curled up from in front of the statue. After the smoke cleared, he turned into an old man.

"Master Immortal Master has arrived. The little old man is not far away to greet you, but he hopes to atone for his sins." He said and bowed hastily.

"Were you protecting them last night?" the middle-aged Taoist asked expressionlessly.

The land is fair, "Xianxianshi, yes."

The middle-aged Taoist asked again, "Did you give me that water too?"

"Yes, Immortal Master. His abilities are limited and he can only draw a bowl of water from the depths of the earth a day."

Before the middle-aged Taoist could continue to ask, the Tugong seemed to have thought of something, and hurriedly added, "It's not that I only protected this family on purpose, it's really that I am incapable of doing so."

The middle-aged Taoist's expression did not change. He seemed to know that he would say this, "I don't blame you. Have you come here to take a look at the Xun Tian Jian?"

Tu Di said with a sad expression, "Not long after the drought, I reported the situation, but the reply I got was that the time had not come yet, so I was told to leave it alone."

After hearing this, the Taoist's expression changed and became gradually more solemn.

"How long has it been dry here?"

The landowner replied, "It's been half a year."

The Taoist asked again, "Did anyone come during this period?"

The Earth God thought for a moment and then said, "There were a few wandering righteous men who came, but after they entered Hongquan Mountain, they were either unable to get in or out, or were seriously injured. Gradually, the place became notoriously evil, and no one came.

.In addition, there were some incidents of mountain spirits hurting people later. All the people within a hundred miles of Hongquan Mountain who could leave were gone, and those who could not leave would have died long ago."

After hearing this, the middle-aged Taoist asked playfully, "Then why are you still manifesting in the world? Logically speaking, even if you are unable to leave the land, you can still sink deep into the earth and wait for the future."

Tu Tu Gong said with some sadness, "I dare not hide the immortal master. The little old man can't let go of this family. Since the family settled in the Tu Tu Temple, the little old man has been worshiped by them on weekdays, even if it rains or winds.

Even now, that child has not forgotten to tie up straw clothes for me and provide me with food."

As if he had thought of something, Tu Tu Gong became a little expectant, but he did not dare to say anything and was extremely hesitant. When the middle-aged Taoist saw him, he said without waiting for him to speak, "Follow me to see that old woman."

After hearing this, Tu Tugong was overjoyed and said hurriedly, "Okay, okay, I'll have you, Immortal Lao, Immortal Lao."

The two of them did not pass through the fence or the house door, but used some magical magic to get directly from the outside to the inside.

Before, the middle-aged Taoist only observed the child from a distance outside, and never came in for inspection. After coming in this time, he discovered that the home that the child regarded as a treasure had long been stripped of its walls. At a glance, except for the table and bed, there were only four walls.

Qiang. The middle-aged Taoist walked to the bed and placed his palms and sword fingers between the old woman's eyebrows, carefully observing the situation inside her body.

After a while, he said, "There is no help."

The Earth God originally thought that there was hope, but he did not expect that the result would still be like this, but he felt that it was also reasonable.

The middle-aged Taoist saw his expression clearly and said, "Do you think I cherish my cultivation and deliberately don't save her?"

"Young man, I don't dare." Although Tuguigong did not dare to directly say that he thought so, his words were not as submissive as before, and seemed to be filled with a little resentment.

Seeing this, the middle-aged Taoist also found him interesting, "This little land of yours is quite interesting."

Although the Lord of the Land didn't say anything after hearing this, he calmed down his expression and became more respectful.

"Her vitality was sucked away. If it weren't for the water roots you drew from the depths of the earth and her own obsession to support her, she would have died three days after losing her vitality."

After hearing this, the landowner still did not give up and asked, "Is there really no other way?"

The Taoist said calmly, "Tand, although you are a god, you must also understand that birth, old age, illness and death are destiny, and destiny cannot be violated. Besides, it is her blessing that she has lived till now, and she cannot ask for more."

Tutu lowered his head after hearing this and asked for a long time, "How long can I ask the immortal master, how long can she live?"

The Taoist said, "Depending on the situation, it will only last a day or two."

The landowner looked tired, as if he had thought of this day for a long time, but he did not expect that when this day came, he would still feel so powerless. But what made him even more sad was, what should he do with that lonely ghost-like child from now on?

When the Earth God was in a daze, he didn't notice that the old woman on the bed seemed to relax after hearing that she could only live for another day or two, as if she was finally going to accomplish something, but in the blink of an eye she frowned again.

, seems to be worried about another thing.

The middle-aged Taoist saw the change in her expression and thought to himself, "It seems that her end is coming soon. Her soul is about to leave the body. She has regained some clarity and can hear what we are saying clearly. But she can hear clearly.

What can I do? Even if I can find her original energy now, she will be unable to save herself."

The Taoist said, "Let's go." With a wave of his sleeves, the two of them disappeared from where they were, and in a blink of an eye they were in front of the statue of the Earth God.

The middle-aged Taoist continued, "Tell me about what happened during this time."

After hearing this, the Lord of the Land did not continue to be immersed in his sentiments, and said, "One month after the severe drought, the mountain spirits and ghosts on Hongquan Mountain here ran out for some reason, and they sucked the vitality of the people around them everywhere. I once tried

I tried to stop them, but there were too many of them, and I could only protect a part of them. But even so, there are always times when my ability is limited. If I didn't pay attention, the old woman of this family was sucked away. By the time I arrived,

By then, the mountain spirit had already run away."

The Taoist asked, "Do the people in the Huangquan Sect know about this?"

Land Justice, "I don't know if they know it, I can only report it in time when it happens."

Unknowingly, it was already noon. But when these words came out of the Tuigong's mouth and fell into the Taoist's heart, they made the surrounding air cool down for no reason.
To be continued...