According to the fairy book "Mountains and Seas", Tongyezhou is full of gods, demons and spirits, and this is indeed the case.
Even if Chen Pingan has deliberately avoided those spiritual landscapes and beautiful places, or the intimidating dirty and dangerous places most of the time, sometimes he still gets confused. For example, Chen Pingan saw a lantern in the middle of the night.
Chen Ping'an didn't have a map in the splendid small town. Thinking that he needed to replenish food, he walked along the lights, because the Kanyu map has always been a forbidden object in the dynasty and was more strictly controlled than weapons.
There was no night ban in that small town, but there were city gate soldiers who checked the customs clearance documents. When Chen Pingan successfully entered the city and found an inn that was not yet closed, the shopkeeper shook his head and waved his hands, saying that the money Chen Pingan gave was wrong and they didn't have it here.
Okay, every country has its own standard copper coins, which is normal, but it’s a bit weird that they don’t even accept real gold and silver. Fortunately, the shopkeeper pointed me in the direction and said there was a place where I could convert the gold and silver into their money.
After that, just come back and stay at the inn.
So Chen Pingan found a shop with a very high counter, almost as tall as a person and a half. Chen Pingan followed the Romans and stepped on a small bench. He said he wanted to change money and gave him a few silver ingots. In exchange, he got a pile of Tongbao copper coins and a
A stack of banknotes. The copper coins were heavy and of high quality. On top of the banknotes, Chen Ping'an saw the official seals of the imperial court and the bank. He didn't think much about it. He returned to the inn, handed over the money, and looked at it again.
After receiving the customs clearance document, the shopkeeper meticulously recorded it in order to prepare for inquiries by the local government officials.
The next day when Chen Pingan was about to go out, the shopkeeper was still there with his abacus. He smiled and reminded Chen Pingan that there is a folk custom here. When chatting with others, you should not say the word "paper" on a piece of paper.
It's hard to say otherwise, otherwise he would be sent out of the city. No wonder he didn't warn him.
Chen Pingan kept this in mind, and after thanking him, he went to buy firewood, rice, oil, salt and two sets of clothes. When he came back to eat at the inn, he felt that the food was bland and tasteless. After leaving the town, after walking for dozens of miles, the outline of the city was vaguely visible.
, encountering a sudden heavy rain, Chen Ping'an stood in a dilapidated pavilion on a mountain to take shelter from the rain. He had nothing to do, while walking slowly and practicing boxing, he saw an astonishing scene. The city in the distance at the foot of the mountain looked like a pool of water.
Like mud, it melted in the heavy rain.
Chen Ping'an quickly took out the things he bought in the small town, as well as the copper coins and banknotes, and his scalp suddenly became numb.
It's actually all cut out of white paper, just like the living people burning paper in the world to give to the dead in the underworld.
As if they were amused by Chen Ping'an's embarrassment, someone chuckled inside the pavilion wall, and their voices echoed through the wall inside the pavilion.
Chen Pingan was just surprised by the weirdness of the small town before, but he was not really afraid of these gods and monsters. So when someone pretended to be a ghost in the small pavilion in the mountain, Chen Pingan quickly calmed down and just sat on an old tree in the mountains.
On the bench at the foot of the wall, looking at the pale wall opposite, I drank in silence.
Unless you are extremely unlucky and encounter a Shanze Demon or a giant demon who is good at disguise, you are probably a shallow person. It is not difficult to scare ordinary people with that thing, and it is not difficult for Chen Pingan to slap it to death.
.
The one who didn't know that he had hit the iron plate pretended to be mysterious, and his voice pretended to be darker, "Aren't you afraid of me?"
Chen Pingan put the sword gourd on his waist, stood up, walked slowly towards the wall, slapped it, and directly pasted a pagoda demon-suppressing talisman on it. Immediately, a cry for mercy sounded from inside, which seemed a little childish.
, Chen Pingan did not take off the yellow talisman and asked with a smile: "Do you think I am afraid?"
The guy shouted, "I'm so scared, I'm almost scared to death!"
"Come out. If you keep hiding, I'm going to be rude to you. Tell me what's going on in that town."
Chen Ping'an took off the Demon Suppression Talisman, put it in his sleeve, and sat back to his original position.
A frightened young boy walked out of the wall. He had an official patch embroidered on his front and back, but it was not as colorful as the secular court, only black and white. He stood at the foot of the wall timidly, looking at the person sitting opposite.
The immortal master not only bowed, but also sang a strange song and announced his identity. It turned out that he was a land lord conferred by the previous dynasty. After changing the emperor and the country's surname, he was automatically classified as an old minister and lost his official position.
The body and the Tao, which are already meager, become even more humble.
During his lifetime, he was the beloved young son of a feudal official. Not even seven years after his death, a wandering immortal passed by and entered the mourning hall to help his father with his affairs. He then became a land lord of low rank.
The incense was very popular, so that he could protect the feng shui of the family's ancestral graves. Later, the mountains and rivers changed color, and everything became a passing thing.
Looking back, it was not a big deal, but rather interesting. Chen Ping'an asked this land lord who had lost the legitimacy of the imperial court and asked more about the origin of the paper town. It turned out that there were more than ten thousand residents in the town, overnight,
He died in a huge man-made disaster that seemed like a natural disaster. In order to prevent people from panic, the imperial court ordered the surrounding states and counties to block the news, and also invited Buddhist monks to come and perform a ritual ceremony, so that it did not turn into a dangerous and sinister place.
Chen Pingan asked what the town would do after the heavy rain. The boy smiled and said it didn't matter. As long as the weather was sunny for a few days, it would return to its original state.
Chen Pingan squatted on the ground, facing the town, and burned the paper money and clothes in the pavilion.
The boy squatted aside and sighed: "I never thought that this immortal master would be a great good man."
Chen Pingan laughed it off.
By the way, I asked the boy about the situation of the mountains and rivers within a thousand-mile radius, and whether there were any immortal families or ferries. The boy answered them one by one without hiding anything.
It said that about eight hundred miles to the north, there are indeed demons causing trouble and occupying the mountains as kings. They do not often do things like raping the woodcutter and mountain people. The mountains and downstairs are relatively safe, and there are few rumors of people being harmed.
Nowadays, many mountain qi practitioners have to take a detour, but then something unexpected happened and they became quiet. I heard that there were only three or two puppies and kittens, which was no longer the norm. It is hard to say what the truth is. There are various rumors outside.
Some say that the Immortal Master of the Fuji Sect found it an eyesore, while others say that Buddhist practitioners settled there, and there were demons who did not have eyesight, which provoked the angry eyes of the Buddhist master Vajra, which led to this calamity.
Chen Pingan was a little surprised. The mountain road where the ghost of the wedding girl appeared in Dali still makes Chen Pingan still unable to let go.
There were some dead branches in the pavilion. With the help of the boy, they gathered them together, lit the bonfire, and squatted beside the bonfire.
Although the boy looked young, he had actually lived for five hundred years, so he explained to Chen Pingan the reason, "The reason why the demon on the mountain knows rabbits but does not eat grass beside its nest. In addition to the relatively mild temper of the mountain king,
There are also many violent people under his command, and of course they don’t have the heart of a Buddha. However, if one party is divided, they are most afraid of getting a bad reputation, which will make people talk about it. They will spread the word from generation to generation, in case they provoke the immortals who are full and have nothing to do.
What should we do if our children covet the worldly reputation of slaying demons?"
Chen Pingan nodded.
The boy put his palms close to the fire and said with a smile: "To kill or not to kill? Kill the younger one, then the older one, then kill the older one, then the older one. Even if you have the ability, two will kill a pair, or three will kill all.
Kill them all, kill them all, if the commotion becomes too big, the local officials will report it to the imperial court, and the emperor will feel embarrassed, so why don’t he go and beg the immortal master to come out?”
The boy said helplessly: "It's the most annoying."
Chen Ping'an smiled and said: "If this were not the case, it would have been a mess. How could the people at the foot of the mountain still live? Just say that more than 10,000 people died in that small town. What would their relatives and friends in other places think? Overnight,
If everyone is just gone, the living people will be scared."
The boy was stunned for a moment, as if he had never thought about this problem.
Later, the boy told some interesting things about the area, most of which he had heard from hearsay. After all, after hundreds of years, he had to find some fun to pass the time.
After the heavy rain stopped, Chen Pingan said goodbye to this little land man and continued on his way.
The boy was left standing outside the pavilion mumbling to himself.
During Chen Ping'an's visit, he also passed by a deserted tomb. A group of poor scholars who had come to Beijing to take the exam stood in front of a large tomb, looking ashamed and amazed.
Then I saw two snow-white foxes emerging from between the tombs, and they bowed like others.
There were also a few younger foxes lying on the tomb, snickering, their brows and eyes full of longing and shyness, not looking like ferocious monsters at all, but like greedy children.
The scholars returned the favor one after another.
Chen Pingan was amused for a while, knowing that it must be the fox demon who was causing trouble and deceiving people. However, Chen Pingan was not too worried. Fox demons in the world, no matter which continent they are from, tend not to do cruel things. They have been naturally close to humans since ancient times.
, it’s more about breaking the love barrier and improving one’s realm and cultivation level.
Therefore, Chen Pingan did not expose it on the spot and let the scholars discover that the so-called high-end mansion in front of them was actually just a tomb.
Chen Pingan just quietly stood by the grave.
Sure enough, the scholars left the wealthy mansion safely the next day. Everyone was overjoyed and felt that it was a wonderful encounter and that their lives were not wasted.
Chen Pingan left with a smile.
Three hundred miles later, Chen Ping'an arrived in a small country called Northern Jin. When passing by a city, he happened to encounter a market. Chen Ping'an actually bought two bunches of candied haws. I had heard that the Ruchi Temple in Northern Jin was very famous.
Big, there is a big stone, which is said to be one of the places where a Bodhisattva attained enlightenment. It is called the Stone Lotus Platform. The huge stone is five feet wide and can accommodate hundreds of people. And one person can make it shake. No one can explain the principle. North
The Emperor of Jin Dynasty visited the west and tried it himself. Long Yan was very happy, which made Ruchi Temple famous.
But when Chen Pingan asked several people, everyone said they didn't know anything about going to the temple. Chen Pingan then remembered that when the boy mentioned this, it should have happened two hundred years ago. Two hundred years in the world is enough to change.
Many customs.
Chen Pingan hesitated for a moment, but persisted. He didn't give up until he asked someone about the ruins of Ruchi Temple. He went there and found it was overgrown with grass, neither popular nor evil. It was gloomy. In the sunset, Chen Pingan found it.
A huge boulder, nothing strange about it.
Chen Pingan finished the last candied haws, threw the bamboo stick, and turned around to leave.
After Chen Ping'an walked out of the dilapidated gate of Ruchi Temple, on the top of the huge stone, a little man poked his head out and emerged from the stone.
It sat on the stone, silent.
It turns out that the reason why this lotus platform shakes is because it gave birth to a "little lotus man" who is charming from earth and stone. He likes to hide and giggle. Every time someone tries to shake the boulder, he immediately gets excited and shakes to the left.
Swing it to the right, and the boulder will sway with it, causing people to misunderstand it.
But one day, it felt a little boring, and the rocking of the stone lotus platform began to "not work at times", and finally became "motionless as a mountain". It turned out that it had left the stone lotus platform and wanted to find its companions in the distance. Year after year it continued to move.
To be continued...