The pale-faced old woman had a stooped figure and stared blankly at the four people outside the door.
The scholar who knocked on the door was very timid. When he saw the gloomy old woman, he didn't dare to look at himself. He hid behind his companions. He just felt that there was no way to go to heaven and no door to the earth. It was so miserable.
This scholar loved to read hundreds of classics when he was young. From the reading notes he occasionally sent, he could often read some strange ghosts and ghosts, and stories about old friends. There are generally two types, one is pretty and pretty, similar to the love of a fox.
Scholars, and the ones in front of me, are so ghostly that even if they move in at dark, the courtyard will be deep and carved, and if they are lucky enough to survive until dawn, it will turn into a deserted tomb infested by foxes and rabbits.
The wind and rain were swaying, the weather was cold, and the scholar holding a torch was more bold than his companions. He bumped the big book box behind him, rubbed his hands to keep warm, and said with a wry smile: "Auntie, can you let us stay for the night?
The rain outside is really heavy. One of our friends couldn't stand the cold and has fainted. If there is no warm place, it's hard to say whether he can survive the night. I hope my aunt can help me, just think of it as a rescue.
Life is better than building a seven-level pagoda."
The old woman had a straight face and spoke in an unintelligible local dialect, as if she was questioning something.
The scholar's face was full of bitterness, so he had to explain it in the same dialect as the old woman.
The old woman slightly turned her dead fish eyes, stared at Chen Ping'an, and suddenly used the elegant words of Aquarius Island, "A person who practices martial arts?"
Chen Pingan nodded.
The old woman looked at the young Taoist priest Chen Ping'an was carrying, revealing the hilt of the mahogany sword. After falling asleep, Taoist Zhang Shan's breathing was longer and more steady than when he was awake. This is probably the magic of Qi practitioners. He returns to his original nature everywhere.
, unexpectedly. After the old woman discovered the peach wood sword, her eyes narrowed, "Is your friend a Taoist?"
Chen Pingan continued to nod.
The old woman finally looked at the timid scholar holding an umbrella, "A scholar?"
The scholar with a mutton-fat jade pendant hanging around his waist shook his head and said, "You can't be considered a scholar if you don't have the title of imperial examination."
The old woman twitched her lips and swayed her shoulders to get out of the way, "Since we are all serious people, please come in. Remember to rest in your own room after entering. Don't wander around and disturb my master. You will bear the consequences."
There is a charcoal pot and stove in the room. You gentlemen can do whatever you want without asking. You are a guest, so my master will not worry about it."
When the old woman closed the door, she looked around and then quickly closed the door. The heavy door seemed as light as a feather in the old woman's hands and slammed shut.
This house is really not small. It should be a courtyard with four entrances. The four of them, including Chen Pingan, were placed in the second courtyard and were told not to go to the courtyard at the back. The eaves of the house are carved with auspicious animals, flowers and birds.
There are landscape and cloud patterns, exquisite window grilles, the ground in the courtyard is paved with green and red stone bricks, the primary and secondary roads are clear and orderly.
The hand-chaoshou corridor connects the main room and the side rooms, making it easier to walk freely on rainy days like this.
The figure of the old woman disappeared into the narrow corridor connecting the second and third entrances to the courtyard. It was pitch black, and suddenly there was a flash of lightning. Before the two scholars could look away, they happened to see the old woman's pale smiling face. They were so frightened that they both went to the adjacent wing and asked each other.
The two scholars, Chu and Liu, did not dare to sleep separately, so they had to temporarily gather in a room. The scholar surnamed Liu put down his oil-paper umbrella and stayed up late at night to read books by saints and sages to strengthen his courage.
The scholar surnamed Chu was a little more courageous, otherwise he would not have known that there was a house here. He put down the torch and started tinkering with the brazier. He took out a fire stick wrapped tightly in oil paper from the book box and quickly lit the charcoal fire. The house quickly warmed up.
. He looked around and reached out to touch the bed. The bedding smelled of dampness and mustiness. However, this was inevitable. Since the spring of this year, Caiyi Country has been rainy and there is almost no sunshine, which is not good here.
To criticize the master harshly for such a thing, not to mention having a place to rest is a blessing in misfortune.
The scholar surnamed Chu wears a green scarf on his head, has a slender figure, a dignified appearance, and an awe-inspiring righteousness between his eyebrows. He looked around and found that the window panes were changeable, exquisite in style and with beautiful meanings, with carvings of bats, carps, Ganoderma lucidum, etc.
Usually only people from scholarly families would have such thoughts. He suddenly approached the window and looked at it intently. He found that there seemed to be some traces of red paint on the slightly wider wooden strips between the two windows. The writing was mottled and blurred, and he could vaguely see that it was
Some talisman words.
As the room gradually became warmer, the scholar surnamed Liu became more courageous, so he put down the book in his hand. Seeing that his companion seemed to be staring at the window, he followed his line of sight and looked up, only to see that the outside of the window was red.
An old face was reflected, and he said hoarsely: "It's getting late, I hope you two young masters can rest early."
The old woman who was patrolling the night with a lantern suddenly appeared, scaring the two scholars almost to death.
The old woman just came from the wing across the courtyard. The young man with a backpack over there was also reading a book with a lamp on his back and looking at the window, but he was not so panicked. The old woman shook her head, staggered away, and laughed and said: "The courage of a scholar
, it is smaller after all.”
The wing opposite.
Chen Pingan stood sideways near the window and reminded softly: "The old lady is gone."
It turned out that the young Taoist priest had sobered up before entering the house, swallowed a Huiyang Pill, and drank Chen Pingan's liquor from the Jianghu, and he suddenly felt refreshed. Originally, he was unwilling to waste a pill, but he
Suddenly, I felt that the evil spirit was gone, and I didn't dare to be stingy with the elixir anymore. A small piece of snow money would not be worth my own life after all. Taoist Zhang Shan sat up from the bed, put on a brand new Taoist robe, bent down and sat next to the brazier, stretched out his hand
He warmed himself by the fire and lowered his voice: "Chen Ping'an, let's take turns keeping watch tonight, otherwise I'm really worried and feel like something's not right here."
Chen Pingan smiled and said: "You just need to hang the peach wood sword with the demon bell attached to it near the window. I don't know much about demons and spirits, so I still need the bell to help remind me. As for keeping vigil, I am very good at it, don't worry.
Go to sleep, if something really happens, I won’t be able to even notify you."
Taoist Zhang Shan thought for a while and found a reason, "Hang up the peach wood sword and the bell to listen to the demon. Let's warm ourselves by the fire on the path. It's not too late to sleep after our body and bones are warmed through."
When the young Taoist priest was hanging the wooden sword at an angle, Chen Pingan said: "Someone once drew a talisman on the other side of the window pane, but it has been a long time and I can't see it clearly anymore, but it should be your Taoist talisman. Do you recognize it?"
The young Taoist priest didn't pay attention at first. After Chen Pingan reminded him, he looked carefully and found clues. He couldn't help but admire Chen Pingan's boldness and carefulness. After careful inspection, his face became more and more serious, and finally he stretched out his fingers and gently
After smearing the traces of vermilion paint, he sniffed the tip of his nose and sat back in his chair in silence, "If it is as Xiaodao thought, there will be some trouble. The talisman painted on the window pane is the red book used to drive away ghosts. Look at its remnants
, should be a kind of Shen Gaozong Qing Ci talisman. The Shen Xian Qing Ci is written with special vermilion paint. It is very powerful. And since it is the handwriting of a senior Shen Gaozong expert, it even almost fills most of the windows, and the writing is rapid, but
One can imagine that the evil spirit that the senior needs to face must be of great virtue."
The young Taoist lamented and said regretfully: "If I had known this, Xiaodao should not have saved the Yang Huiyang Pill and taken it early, so that he would not have been unconscious when he approached the house. Otherwise, Xiaodao would have been in trouble with Kanyu Feng Shui.
I have learned that if you look at it from a distance, you can roughly tell what kind of school the house's feng shui is, and the fundamental method of gathering feng shui. Whether it is yang or yin, and whether it deviates from the right path, as long as you identify
From the general context, you can deduce a lot of things... Chen Ping'an, I'm sorry, it was the trail that put you in danger..."
Chen Ping'an listened to the young Taoist priest's self-reproaching words and did not say anything to comfort him. He just joked: "Master Zhang, exterminating demons and defending Taoism, isn't it your specialty?"
The young Taoist priest hurriedly waved his hand, "Bye, no, no, no, no, the little Taoist cannot bear the title of 'Heavenly Master'."
Speaking of this, Zhang Shan felt a little longing and said softly: "The real Celestial Master is the direct descendant of the Zhang family of the Celestial Master's Mansion in Longhu Mountain. They all wear yellow and purple. They are the prime ministers of the mountain who have been hereditary for thousands of years. In addition to
In addition, the Celestial Masters with other surnames who have reached the middle five realms are also eligible to receive the title of "Celestial Master", but they are also Longhu Mountain Celestial Masters, and there are many types. The first-class Celestial Masters are those who enter the Longhu Mountain Patriarch Hall.
The old immortals of the upper five realms enjoying the incense, and further down are the direct descendants of the Zhang family who were born as yellow and purple nobles. One of them will be in charge of the 'Tianshi Seal' and an immortal sword in the future, and further down, there is the dragon and tiger
There are many Celestial Masters with other surnames practicing in Shanjiemao. Longhu Mountain is a natural blessed place and is open to the outside world. As long as those Qi practitioners agree to go down the mountain to kill demons and eliminate demons after they succeed in practicing Taoism, then Longhu Mountain will give
A wooden sword made of peach wood, this is where the power of Longhu Mountain lies, making us Taoist priests from other continents extremely fascinated by it."
Chen Pingan listened carefully and felt that Longhushan and Zhang Tianshi were indeed good.
It rained heavily.
The two small stone lions at the entrance of the house made a slight cracking sound from time to time.
The old woman stood outside the main room at the third entrance to the courtyard, stepping on a small bench and hanging the lantern on the frame of the corridor pillar. The light was dim and swaying in the wind.
Poof, the lights went out. It turned out that the candles inside had burned out.
The old woman coughed and stood up on the bench again, took off the lantern, and took out a brand new candle that was as red as blood from her sleeve. If she looked closely, she found that there was no wick. The old woman turned her back to the yard and pulled out a white candle from her head.
Then, the old woman gently breathed into the candle flame, and the candle was instantly lit. After putting it into the lantern, it was hung on the corridor pillar again.
This lantern swayed slightly, and the light shone in the mansion.
If it's a clear night, it will inevitably attract moths to the flames, but I don't know what the meaning of its existence is in this rainy night in the wilderness.
The young Taoist priest was not sleepy. Chen Pingan sipped the strong wine from the vermilion wine gourd. Listening to Zhang Shan talk about his thrilling experiences of encountering demons several times before, Chen Pingan made a silent gesture. The young Taoist priest subconsciously looked at the window.
The peach wood sword and the bell are quiet, nothing unusual.
Soon there was a knock on the door. It turned out that it was the two scholars who were visiting together. Chen Pingan, carrying a wine gourd, went over to open the door. The heavy rain outside was still scary, and the wind and rain were so skewed that there was no water on the corridor floor.
In a dry place, a slender scholar surnamed Chu was holding an umbrella and a wine bottle in one hand, smiling. The scholar surnamed Liu put his hands to his mouth, breathed to keep warm, and said with a smile: "Brother Chu, I brought a few with me when I went out this time."
A jug of good wine, and there is still one jug left. I won’t be afraid of your jokes if I tell you. I didn’t dare to fall asleep tonight, so I thought I could use the strength of the wine to fall asleep when I got home. Brother Chu said it would be better to have fun alone.
Everyone, Lele, if you two would like to have a few sips, let's have a drink together? I've agreed in advance that I can drink at least half a catty of wine, so you can only drink a little, I'll forgive you."
Chen Ping'an raised the vermilion wine gourd in his hand and said with a smile: "I brought the wine myself, you can share a pot between three of you."
At that time, the scholar surnamed Liu, who was holding an umbrella for Chen Ping'an and the young Taoist priest, strode into the room and laughed heartily, "This is very good, this is very good."
The scholar surnamed Chu followed him with a smile and placed his umbrella at the foot of the wall. The four of them sat around the brazier and simmered the wine for a while. The scholar surnamed Liu patted his head and said, "I forgot the wine glass."
Then he looked at his companion with a wry smile, "Brother Chu, I don't dare to get it."
The scholar surnamed Chu stood up with a smile and said helplessly: "If there are ghosts and gods in the world, wouldn't we not have to be afraid of death? This is a good thing. Besides, scholars have great righteousness in their hearts, so ghosts and gods must also have some respect. What are you afraid of?
.”
As soon as there were more people, the scholar surnamed Liu sitting on the chair became angry and joked: "I can't even pass the exam, which shows that I don't have much righteousness in my belly. Of course I am afraid, but Brother Chu is one of the Jinshi."
Your talent is far superior to mine, so of course you don’t need to be afraid.”
The scholar surnamed Chu shook his head with a smile and strode away. His figure soon appeared in the opposite room. Then he opened the door and closed it. He walked back quickly and brought four wine glasses. On the inner wall of the wine glasses, there were two majestic figures painted on them.
Taoist Zhang Shan took a wine cup and asked tentatively: "Brother Chu, Brother Liu, is this the unique cockfighting cup of Caiyi Kingdom?"
The scholar surnamed Liu's eyes lit up, "Taoist Priest, have you heard of our Caiyi Country's Cockfighting Cup?"
The lights on the table were not bright enough, so the young Taoist held the wine glass with his fingers, tilted it, and carefully observed the two colorful roosters by the light of the brazier fire. He said with emotion: "It's famous, it's famous. Of course I've heard about it for a long time. The trail comes from
In Ju Luzhou in the north, when I was traveling around the world, I once saw two martial arts tycoons spending a lot of money on this and borrowing fighting cocks for gambling. It was very magical. I heard that as long as half of the wine glass was filled with wine and a ray of spiritual energy was injected into the wall of the glass, the two would win.
Roosters will fight on their own to the death, and even the tenth realm saints among the middle five realms of gods may not be able to predict the outcome, so as long as the cockfighting cup comes out of your Aquarius continent, the price will be a hundred times a thousand times.
It skyrockets upwards, and the ferry from Nanjian Country and the cockfighting cup from Caiyi Country are among the important cargoes to be boarded."
The scholar surnamed Liu looked quite proud, nodded and said with a smile: "I don't know what's wrong with spiritual energy. I only know that the martial arts masters of Caiyi Country like to have fun with this. After pouring wine into the cup, they only need to drink wine with both hands.
With just a pinch of your fingers, the cockfighting cup can come alive, and the fight will continue until the winner is determined. As for why it is so mysterious, I have seen some records in county records from various places, saying that the five-colored clay used to make the cockfighting cup is
It is the only interesting thing in the world, and it is said that once the soil leaves the Caiyi Kingdom, its smell will change in a short time, no longer different from ordinary soil, so the cockfighting cup has become our unique porcelain.
.”
Taoist Zhang Shan was amazed and thought that if someone could monopolize the clay for the cockfighting cup, wouldn't it be possible to earn a lot of money every day and become rich overnight?
Chen Pingan believes in this statement, because Chen Pingan has a deep contact with the properties of soil due to his porcelain making. Longquan kiln workers have been kiln workers for generations, and making porcelain requires dealing with soil, so Chen Pingan has heard about many gods and ways.
For example, old man Yao once said that when the soil leaves the ground, it will be molded into a clay Bodhisattva to eat incense; or it will be burned into porcelain and sent to the emperor's home; or it will become broken bottles and jars in ordinary people's homes.
Escape from fire, be roasted by water, and be immersed in water. They all have their own roots. Each has its own fate, just like human beings.
The scholar surnamed Liu had drunk three ounces of wine, his face was red, he was slightly drunk, and he was in the best mental state. He shook his head slightly and asked with a smile: "The Taoist priest is carrying a peach wood sword. He looks like a man among the gods at first glance. Can you let me
Is this cockfighting cup 'alive'? If possible, we might as well make a bet and have some fun. What should we bet on?"
There was a strange look on this scholar's face. It was obvious that whether he drank or not, he was a completely different person, and he was somewhat of a gambler.
The scholar surnamed Chu sighed and advised softly: "Brother Liu, after drinking half a catty of wine, you should take a rest quickly."
Taoist Zhang Shan also quickly said: "A cockfighting cup can be worth a lot of money, so why waste it."
The scholar surnamed Liu drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and with a wave of his hand, he smashed the wine glass in his hand against the wall, smashing it into pieces. He laughed and said: "Since ancient times, the sages have been lonely. Only the drinkers leave their names and their names behind."
All the famous people have died, and only this thing has existed for thousands of years. It's really ridiculous. How much is a cockfighting cup worth in Caiyi's country? It's only two taels of silver. How much is a Jinshi worth? That's expensive.
Anyway, I, Liu Zhen, can’t afford it..."
The scholar surnamed Chu looked embarrassed and explained: "Brother Liu likes to talk nonsense after he is drunk. Please forgive me, Taoist priest and young master."
Chen Pingan smiled and drank silently.
Finally, Liu Zhen, who was drunk and talking a lot, was helped back by his companions, and Zhang Shan walked to the door.
Chen Ping'an glanced at the door and never got up or moved.
————
In the midst of the heavy rain, a bearded swordsman walked through the heavy rain curtain, strode toward the house, and knocked on the door.
The old woman stood on the threshold and asked hoarsely: "What are you doing?"
The man shouted: "Take shelter from the rain!"
The old woman said sadly: "You are a man who speaks with a strong voice. You are not someone who needs shelter from the rain."
The man said angrily: "Why, your mansion doesn't even have a place to stay?!"
The old woman chuckled and said: "There is still some place to stay, but I am afraid that my master will not like you because of your strong temper. If you annoy the bad-tempered master, not to mention a place to stay, just a place to put a hundred
There will be enough space for seven or eight kilograms of meat."
The swordsman's beard was as hard as a spear and halberd. He pressed the handle of the sword with one hand and stared at the door with wide eyes. "What nonsense! Hurry up and open the door. The rain is so evil. How can I not hide from the rain?"
How can I go to a brothel in the future? Isn’t that just a joke to those annoying little goblins?"
The door slowly opened, and the old woman sighed softly: "It is better to die as a joke to others than to die for real."
The bearded swordsman was slightly awe-inspiring, but then he laughed loudly and said: "I have the body of a boy, and I have accumulated more than thirty years of yang energy. I am afraid of nothing! Not to mention monsters, but their ancestors."
If you hit me, you have to take the initiative to avoid me."
The rough man walked into the courtyard and frowned when he saw the screen wall.
The old woman slammed the door again.
There was a click of a stone lion outside the door, and it turned out that its head fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
But this little movement had already been covered up by the sound of heavy rain.
————
Among the wealthy families in some countries in the south of Aquarius Continent, most of the women lived in exclusive boudoirs and embroidered buildings. Some noble families with harsh family traditions even demolished the stairs leading up and down, and shelved the women waiting in their boudoirs like books.
", waiting for the day of marriage.
As soon as we finally entered the courtyard, there was an embroidery building. On the second floor, the beauty was leaning. It was dark, but there was a man drawing eyebrows for a woman. The eyebrow pencil in his hand fell lightly on the woman's face. The woman was bloody and rotten, with many exposed parts.
There were even white bones rolling around, but her smile was vaguely visible.