328, Brocade Mountain's Trickster (2/2)
It takes half a month to walk from Yangping Town to Zhijin Mountain.
For half a month,
The Yinximai Zao team stopped several times on the way to imprison Li Gui there, so they accumulated more and more soul-collecting rice.
But even so,
Their trip was not delayed much.
Because horses and mules are increasingly able to share the weight of the kitchen team,
The traveling speed of the entire team will naturally increase.
and,
The Zao Banzi once imprisoned a Sneaky in the mansion of a wealthy family. The rich man was also very generous and gave the Stove Banner a donkey and mule. The Zao Banzi had four animals and kept walking like this. More than ten days,
There was no delay at all,
It’s almost half a month,
The master's face became serious. He looked at the scene outside the carriage and reminded the disciples of the Zao Class: "The border of Brocade Mountain is coming soon."
On this day,
When the convoy reaches dusk,
Went into a village.
On the stone archway in front of the village, a plaque with the name "Xiushuihe Village" hangs, and bright red silk is hung on it.
However, the pillars of the archway have been blackened by wildfire.
In Xiushuihe Village,
Wildfires rage,
Occasionally, you can even see burnt corpses on the road.
Many houses were burned down,
In front of some relatively intact shabby houses, an elderly man sat at the door with a cane, looking lifelessly at the motorcade entering the village.
The Zao team's motorcade stopped in front of an old man who looked a little 'younger'.
Su Wu, who was driving the carriage, helped Li Yueshan out of the carriage.
"Uncle,
I'm from the Yinxi Maizao team. What happened to our Xiushui River?
How did it become like this? "Li Yueshan bowed to the old man with cloudy eyes and asked.
The old man looked at Li Yueshan blankly,
Putting your palms behind your ears: "What did you say?"
——He is older,
I couldn't quite hear what Li Yueshan said clearly.
"I said - I am a disciple of the Yinximai Zao team. Do you have any impression of this Zao team?" Li Yueshan raised his voice,
The old man finally heard what Li Yueshan said clearly.
He stood up tremblingly and took Li Yueshan's hand: "Why did you come back?
The temple collapsed,
People must die,
Run, run,
We are the only ones left who can’t run away..."
When the old man heard about Li Yueshan's identity, he immediately expressed his utmost trust in Li Yueshan.
Li Yueshan held his hand,
The depression that had been pent up in my heart for a long time suddenly felt much better.
As long as the local people don't think that their Yinximai Zao team is an unorthodox stove team, then the things they have done in the past will finally be worth it.
"Uncle,
I went out to save money and food.
I want to set up a kitchen village when I come back.
It was also on the way that I heard that something happened in Zhijin Mountain - was it a group of rebels who destroyed those temples? "Li Yueshan asked again.
The old man nodded repeatedly: "After more than a thousand rebel soldiers poured in,
A lot of food was stolen.
The eldest girls in the village were ruined a lot by them.
my granddaughter,
Ah, my granddaughter..."
As the old man spoke, he suddenly burst into tears.
He sat back on the stone pillar in front of the door again, feeling unbearably sad.
behind him,
In the dark hallway of the gatehouse,
A shriveled female corpse was hanging on a rope from the crossbar in the aisle, dangling slightly.
Waves of corpse odor wafted out from the corpse.
The weather is still cold at this time,
But the body was already putrid,
This female corpse must have been hanging in the corridor for at least half a month!
Everyone in the Zao team was silent for a while when they saw the corpse.
They helped the old man put down the body.
A grave pit was dug behind the dilapidated house, the body was wrapped in a straw mat, buried in it, and a tombstone was erected.
In the current village,
Young people die and run,
There are only a few frail old people left,
The abandonment of the village is a foregone conclusion.
In this way, there is no difference between the city and the countryside.
Buried behind the old man's house, he can still have something to think about and can always visit his beloved granddaughter.
After doing these things,
The old man's mood has calmed down a lot.
Welcoming everyone into the house,
The rice supply in his family has run out, so he eats some leaves every day to satisfy his hunger. The only thing he can feed everyone in the kitchen team is a bowl of cold water.
Seeing this, Li Yueshan greeted Su Wu: "Ah Wu, you and Gou Sheng go and invite all the old people in the village to come over and gather them here.
I saw there was a big pot in the stove room.
Young crops, Xiu Xiu,
You two go and cook some porridge and rice.
Pearl, go to the yard and light the life-saving fire.
Hang the life-protecting lanterns at the four corners of the courtyard. "
The disciples took the order and went,
The old man held Li Yueshan's hand and babbled: "That group of rebel soldiers collapsed the temple and released Li Gui. They also died in the mountain. Don't go inside either.
That Li Jui is so fierce,
More than a thousand rebel soldiers died on the spot.
There are seven or eight villages around,
It was gone on the spot,
Everyone turned into corpses...
The two cooking teams who came here before were all trapped inside. I don’t want anything to happen to you Yinximai. You should leave as soon as possible tomorrow - that Li Que will be here in a few days.
We are old and have had enough,
To die is to die,
You are still young,
I don’t want anything to happen to your Yinximai…”
The old man warned Li Yueshan nonchalantly,
He seemed to be tired from talking, so he leaned on the chair and closed his eyes slightly to rest.
When Li Yueshan called him,
Only then did he realize that he had no breath.
The old man had endured too much. He relaxed for a moment, could no longer hold on, and passed away.
In just half an hour,
The Zao team once again dug the grave pit,
Bury the old man inside.
Su Wu and Gou Sheng went to invite the old people who were still alive in the village to have dinner.
However, only six or seven people gathered.
More old people are already crazy and crazy.
The two could only forcefully pull them over.
But they refused to eat,
When the kitchen team wasn't paying attention, he ran out again.
After repeating this several times, Zaoban could only free up a room, lock up these crazy old men, and forcefully 'feed' them.
even so,
During the process, a crazy old man suddenly shouted a few times,
Then there was silence.
Normal old people ate their porridge and rice in silence, refused Li Yueshan's invitation to stay here, and still returned to their respective homes, looking blankly towards the entrance of the village.
Such a miserable and gloomy situation,
But it is more depressing than the invasion of severe evil spirits.
All the disciples in the Zao team, except Su Wu, have cried more than once because of this.
The emotions of the Yinxi pulse Zao class,
So it was extremely low.
Li Yueshan sighed when he saw his disciples hiding and wiping their tears.
Gathered everyone in a room,
He asked the old Taoist: "Taoist Master, why not do a salvation ceremony for this village tomorrow? How much money is needed, I will pay for it myself."
The ultra-scientific instrument is actually the most useless.
Neither can the soul of the deceased be truly transcended—because whether the deceased truly has a soul or not is a question.
Nor can it suppress the growth of evil spirits.
But such scientific rituals,
But it can soothe the living soul.
This gives people peace of mind.
The Kitchen God Sect did not have such means. Li Yueshan felt really empty in his heart, and he was afraid that his disciples would have temperament problems if they saw this kind of situation too much, so he asked the old Taoist for help.
This was the first time that he called an old Taoist 'Taoist Master'.
Rather than a title like Niubi.
From the time when the Zao team returned to Zhijin Mountain, they rarely spoke and rarely participated in the gatherings of Zao team disciples.
At this time, he glanced at Li Yueshan and said,
He said aloud: "This is how the old Taoist practices salvation.
Can you really believe that they will be saved?
You are unsettled,
What’s the use of my salvation? "
Li Yueshan was so arrogant and said that he wanted to pay the old Taoist to perform a ritual ceremony. He didn't expect that the other party would be so disrespectful, which immediately made him angry and itchy: "Hey, you thief!"
"If you have something to do, please praise the Taoist priest.
Is it just a bullshit? "The old Taoist glanced sideways at Li Yueshan, and before the other party exploded, he suddenly took out a stack of yellow paper from his bag.
Scriptures were written with cinnabar on yellow paper.
The old Taoist said: "This is the Supreme Sutra of Saving Suffering and Eradicating Sin, which I personally copied.
Just ask your disciples to burn them.
God has feelings,
Naturally, he is willing to save the innocent souls. "
"Why didn't you take it out earlier?
You have to be scolded for a few words. Now, I wanted to pay you money, but now I won’t give you any money! "Li Yueshan snatched the yellow paper handed over by the old Taoist with his hand and muttered a few words,
My originally depressed mood improved a little.
He distributed the yellow paper to all the disciples,
Let them burn it outside the house,
Then he solemnly saluted the old man: "Thank you very much."
"Burning this paper money will actually have no effect on business.
But it can make them feel at ease,
That can be regarded as supplementing the business. "The old Taoist pointed to the disciples of the kitchen class who were burning paper outside the window, then turned to Li Yueshan and said, "You know more about Zhijin Mountain Li Gui than any of them.
Have you thought about how to tell them this now?
This is the most important thing right now.
They know a little more about that Li Gui,
There is more certainty in taking Li Gui into custody. "
Li Yueshan's face turned slightly gloomy.
After a long silence, he nodded and said, "Let's wait for a while. When they come back from burning the paper, I will tell them in detail about Zhijinshan Ligui."
This matter involves Li Yueshan’s past that he doesn’t want to mention.
But now it must be revealed,
It will give the Zao team more experience in dealing with the harsh conditions in Zhijin Mountain.
Not long after,
The Zao Class disciples returned to the house.
They looked a little more relaxed.
"Tomorrow I will stay one more day in Xiushuihe Village to collect and bury all the corpses on the street." Li Yueshan said to his disciples, "Today, Master will tell you about the Ligui incident in Zhijin Mountain -"
Su Wu raised his head slightly,
He stared at the master.
The master looked calm and spoke slowly: "As far as master's past experiences are concerned, the most dangerous and difficult to resolve experience is none other than this time in Zhijin Mountain.
Zhijin Mountain is so strange,
Old man, I lost my master and my wife,
Lost junior brother and junior sister.
That strange fate is erratic. The soul-collecting rice can control it for a short period of time, but it cannot trap it forever.
——My master, my wife, my junior brothers and sisters,
They trapped Li Gui with themselves,
I fried them,
Only then did the Li Gui in their bodies be completely imprisoned! "
Master said at the end,
Already full of tears!