Chapter 38 What I Saw Along the Way

Snowflakes fell in large flakes on the road, on trees, in the river, and in the fields. When the wind blew them away, a dense layer of coldness hit people's faces, making it so hazy that pedestrians could not see what was happening more than ten meters away.

Fortunately, the New Year is coming soon. Most people who have been busy for a year are staying in their warm homes and happily preparing various things needed for the New Year, so few people are still on the road during this period. As we walked, there was a thick layer of snow on the road. If it were November, when there were many people traveling from north to south, the snow would have been trampled down, leaving only a muddy road.

An exquisite carriage stopped in the middle of the road. One of the wheels was crooked because it was stuck in the snow. The driver in decent cotton clothes was whipping the horses there, but he still couldn't pull the carriage. He cursed in a low voice: "So It’s snowing heavily and I have to go out. I don’t know what I’m thinking. I think this person is probably a charlatan.”

I tried to push the car again, but found that I couldn't push it by myself. I wanted to ask the guest on the car to get off, but I was afraid of offending him. If I said such a thing in front of the master, my butt would be ruined. Wait, a passerby walked out of the wind and snow behind. He was of medium and slightly tall build, with white snow on his body and hair.

The coachman immediately came up to him and said, "This kindhearted person passing by, please do me a favor." He imitated the gentleman's gentle language, but it was a bit nondescript.

The passerby stopped when he heard the words, and the coachman discovered that he was a young junior student wearing a Taoist robe, holding a long black flag. Although his appearance could only be regarded as ordinary, he had the kind of look that the master often said, what the hell, right? , graceful!

Shi Xuan has been walking north from Tongxuan Mountain for several days. The first two days were fine. He passed through the city without encountering any obstacles. Unexpectedly, just after crossing Caihe River, it started to snow for several consecutive days and the road changed. It was very difficult to walk, but fortunately Shi Xuan didn't have to rush for time, and he also liked snow very much, so walking in the heavy snow every day was quite interesting.

Shi Xuan only glanced at what the coachman said and said with a smile: "You can call the people in the car to get off and you can push it by yourself. You don't need help from a poor Taoist."

The coachman smiled politely and lowered his voice: "How dare I? The carriage is a distinguished guest of our master's. The little Taoist master will help me. When I get to Kaiyang City in the future, Li San and Li Ji still have some reputations. If you have anything, just ask for it." Me.”

"Haha, okay, if I come to Fengcheng, I will look for you." Shi Xuan was a little funny when he saw the coachman's appearance, but it was just a matter of convenience, so he would help.

"Oh, little Daoist, don't believe it." Li Ji looked at the carriage behind him and whispered: "My master transferred Fengzhou from Liangzhou to serve as governor. The Yamen is in Kaiyang City. I, Li Er, I can still say something in front of the master."

Shi Xuan didn't pay attention to these, smiled and said nothing, and walked to the carriage with the driver. The distinguished guest in the car didn't know what he was doing, but there was no movement anyway.

He stretched out his hand and tried it, and then with a strong exertion, the horse's wheel rose up from the depression, and then the whole carriage moved sideways a few feet, and then stopped steadily.

After doing this, Shi Xuan was very satisfied with his current strength. The effect of physical training and internal energy was indeed good. He signaled to the coachman and continued on.

The coachman's mouth was slightly open and he couldn't close it. It wasn't until Shi Xuan's back disappeared in the wind and snow that he felt his mouth was full of coldness. He turned around and kept peeing to the side, and then rubbed his eyes: "Mom Yes, this little Taoist priest doesn't seem to have much flesh, but his strength is boundless. He can't be a monster, bah bah! Don't scare yourself!"

He hurried back to the carriage, raised his whip, and continued his journey in the wind and snow.

Shi Xuan waited until dusk before he saw a small town. On the street directly opposite the town entrance were children playing outside, running around in twos and threes.

The children saw Shi Xuan shaking off the white snow on his body at the street corner. It was probably because of the heavy snow that blocked the road. He hadn't seen any strangers for several days. They immediately gathered around him, looking around with laughter, and some pointed at Shi Xuan. If Shi Xuan looked back at the black banners, he would immediately hide on both sides. As soon as he closed his eyes, he would immediately surround him again.

Seeing these happy children, Shi Xuan's mood was also infected, and he wanted to go up and tease the little devils. The sound of firecrackers rang out at the other end of the street. The children became excited when they heard it: "Let's go watch the firecrackers!"

"Don't grab firecrackers from me!"

"Brother...brother, wait a minute, Xiaoya."

Then they ran over in a swarm. Shi Xuan smiled and shook his head, and asked for directions to several aunties chatting on the roadside: "Auntie, where is the inn in the town?"

Several aunts had noticed Shi Xuan for a long time. After all, he was the first foreigner to enter the town today. One of the aunts with a round face and big eyes and a very kind look pointed to the end of the street: "No, you can see it when you walk to the end of the street." arrive."

Shi Xuan expressed his gratitude, and just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by the round-faced aunt, who was a little mysterious: "Young man, I see you are still rushing outside in such heavy snow. There must be something urgent. I told you to go to the street." If you worship at the Chixia Shenjun Temple in the west, your dreams will surely come true.”

Shi Xuan thought to himself where this was going, and said to the aunt: "Auntie, look at my body and banners. I am an authentic Taoist priest. This Chixia Shenjun Temple is not from our Taoist sect, right?"

The aunts looked a little ugly, and another aunt who looked very smart spoke first: "Oh, little Taoist priest, you Taoist priests are useless. I have been worshipping in the Taoist temple for several years, but my wife has not given birth to a child. This Chixia God Temple was only repaired a few months ago. I have only worshipped for a few days, and my wife is pregnant. Little Taoist priest, don't be a Taoist priest anymore. It would be better to believe in Chixia God."

"That's right, that's right."

"You Taoist priests who believe in crooked ways will go to hell after death! Only by believing in Chixia God can you enjoy heaven after death!"

The aunts talked at once, but Shi Xuan was not interested in these beliefs and walked to the end of the street without listening.

"This damned little Taoist priest will definitely go to hell after his death and be fried by the Red Cloud God!"

"I think he must have done too many bad things!"

…………

Shi Xuan suddenly remembered that he had heard of this Red Cloud God in Xia'an City before, from the gossip of the neighbors. He didn't expect that this God has so many believers now? There are temples in such a small town. This person is said to be very effective in praying for children. Could he be the Guanyin of this world?

At the end of the street, the children gathered in front of a big family and watched the servants of that family setting off firecrackers. When they heard the sound of firecrackers, a group of children rushed up and wanted to pick up the set off firecrackers to play with, but they were stopped by the fierce servants. A man wearing a strange red robe and skirt, like a Taoist and a Buddhist, walked out of the door and shouted: "Please ask for the position of the god~!"

Then a team of ten men standing at the door, dressed like him but in light red, followed the red-clothed man holding a wooden sign in the lead and walked into the gate.

Shi Xuan didn't understand what was going on, so he walked around the crowd and headed for the inn at the other corner. When passing by the crowd, he heard the children complaining, "Really? They can't even pick up a firecracker."

"These people in red clothes are so fierce. They came to my house to get money. My father said that we won't eat meat tomorrow during the New Year, and we must donate the money to the temple of the God!" As he spoke, the child actually cried, "I want to eat meat."

"My family also donated a lot of things!"

"My family, my family too!"

"Hey, little ghosts, don't talk nonsense." A middle-aged man who was watching heard these words and taught them a lesson, "This is to show your sincerity to the God. Only then will the God bless your family with a good harvest next year, and you will go to heaven after you die! If you dare to talk nonsense, you will go to hell in the future! The hands and feet will be eaten by evil ghosts..."

The children were a little scared when they heard it, and they all made faces and went home in all directions.

"These mischievous little brats, don't you see that Zhang, the rich man, didn't believe in the God before? Now he's fine. Several people in his family have been sick one after another. Hehe, I don't know how much money he spent to invite the God's tablet in." The middle-aged man showed off to the people around him.

"That's right, that's right." Everyone nodded in unison.

Shi Xuan was curious after hearing this, and he looked at Zhang's house with his luck and qi-gazing technique. He saw a white gas column mixed with a little black, and then a red gas column rose in the house. The surface was solemn and sacred, but there were some black spots inside. At the same time, the whole gas column gave Shi Xuan the feeling of extreme and stubborn, but not strong in essence, at least not as strong as Shi Xuan himself. After being hit by the red gas column, the black in the white gas column disappeared completely.

Judging from the results of the qi-gazing technique, this Chixia God is really a bit of a cultivator, but I don't know what the black spots inside are. After all, a "god" is in such a situation, Shi Xuan has no experience and knowledge, and can't judge it.

Seeing that it was not an evil god, Shi Xuan turned and walked into the inn.

During the New Year holidays, in addition to the owner's family, even the waiter went home to celebrate the New Year. But it was good this way, quiet and peaceful, which was convenient for Shi Xuan to practice.

There was no conversation all night, and Shi Xuan got up early in the morning. The snow that had been falling for several days finally stopped, and the warm sunshine shone on his body, with waves of warmth.

Shi Xuan did not plan to stay in this small town for long. After breakfast, he was ready to check out and leave. At this time, he heard bursts of crying outside the inn. Following the sound, he saw a middle-aged man in a washed-white cotton coat, holding a large package in his hands, struggling hard to move forward. His left leg was held by a woman in her thirties who was dressed equally simply, and he was dragged forward by him.

"Dad, you can't give all of it to the God. We still have to live, wuwuwu." The woman hugged tightly and cried loudly. A little girl stood next to the woman, and she also cried loudly.

"Damn you, this is the time to show our sincerity! It can't be done by praying at home every day!" The middle-aged man pulled his legs hard.

"We've donated everything, and our whole family is going to starve to death!" "Daddy, Erniu is hungry, woo woo."

"It's better to starve to death like this! How sincere! The God will definitely let us go to heaven! It will be fine then!" The middle-aged man's face was full of fanaticism.