Located in a small village in the southeast corner, the folk customs have been simple since ancient times, and there is no dispute with the world.

The villagers love each other, respect the old and love the young, and the neighbors are harmonious. Whether it is feudal superstition or customs, the people here worship Buddhism and Taoism, and worship the Sanqing Patriarch who eats fast and Guanyin Bodhisattva who eats meat (in fact, Guanyin is Buddhist, but the countryside often does not distinguish it so clearly). The best and most beautiful building in the village is the Guanyin Temple, which sits on the riverside, which shows its status and glory.

Guanyin Temple is located in the flat area of the center of the administrative village, at the intersection of four natural villages, the incense in the temple is very strong, especially on the fifteenth day of the new year, the pilgrims who come here are endless. The total population of the entire administrative village is about 6,000-8,000 people, and you may wonder how such a small number of people include the elderly and children, how can it be called an endless stream? Yes, there is an ancient tradition here, that is, regardless of men, women, old and children, every family must bring their families to come and worship Guanyin.

Although the Guanyin Temple is splendid, it is located in a mountainous area, so it does not cover a large area, and the courtyard and cement deck are only 800-900 square meters, so it naturally looks a little crowded and bustling when there are many people. However, there is a river (stream) in front of the Guanyin Temple, called the Luoshui River, there is an ancient stone bridge on the river surface, called the Luoshui Bridge, it can be said that it is close to the mountains and rivers, the scenery is beautiful, those villagers who can not enter the temple for a while like to smoke and chat on the stone bridge, contact feelings, and are also happy.

Therefore, the administrative village is naturally called Luoshui Village, and the four natural villages are called Tai Village, Yuan Village, Yan Village and Li Village, Tai Village and Yuan Village are slightly larger, with a population of about 2,000-3,000 people, while Yan Village and Li Village are relatively smaller, with less than 1,000 people. The people of Taicun are duty, the people of Yuancun are strong, the people of Iwamura are shrewd, and the people of Li Village are diligent and practical, which is basically the case.

Guanyin Temple's temple surname is Li, named Qiwen, was originally a villager of Li Village, this year is more than 60 years old, his wife died early, only one adopted son is away all the year round, since he became a temple Zhu, he rarely goes back to Li Village to live; he brought an apprentice named Luo Ming, less than 30 years old is also a single, nicknamed the little monk, it stands to reason that he should be an intern Taoist, but everyone looks at him at his young age but bald and early thanks, and he casually ridicules him, but also because this guy is good at wine on weekdays, and burly, unkempt often has a half-stubble beard, quite like the flower monk Lu Zhishen on TV, so this nickname is used to it。

Li Miaozhu has been guarding this fat difference for twenty or thirty years, and he is about to spend his old age in peace, so Luo Ming has become the only candidate for Miaozhu in the future. Even if the "business" is not particularly proficient, but the status is slowly rising, most of the blessing and wishing things, are naturally handed over to the young and strong Luo Ming to carry out, it is complicated to say, in fact, it is to recite the scriptures, beat the gong, beat the drum, at most a little effort to blow the tin horn, purely hard work, the technical content is not high.

Li Miaozhu is naturally happy and relaxed, his main job now is to transcribe scriptures, draw spells, preside over major sacrificial activities, physical work and heavy work are done by the little monk, he only adds sesame oil on weekdays, changes new candles, is very leisurely.

Time is like an arrow, time is like a shuttle, and Luoshui Village at this time is approaching the Spring Festival.

When he got up early this morning, Li Miaozhu was a little restless, and he didn't know what he was doing, anyway, he was up and down in his heart. The little monk who was not very rude went out to drink last night and did not return all night, Li Miaozhu was not sure what was wrong, so according to the custom, first gave the incense ash on the offering table, took off the incense candles that had been burned, and burned them in the gourd-shaped pagoda at the door, and then stood on the edge of the cement lawn to dust off the dust, intending to rest and practice calligraphy.

For decades, the craft of writing has become a unique skill in Sanxiang Wuli, and it has also become Li Miaozhu's ability to press the bottom of the box, and the handwriting is first-class, so naturally no one dares to easily covet his position in this temple.

Oh, he suddenly remembered that something was wrong—

The flower arrangement on the Guanyin Buddha statue seems to be a little messy, which is not good, and it is disrespectful to the Bodhisattva.

So Li Miaozhu Cheng moved a small stool from the side hall in fear, leaning on the huge offering table, he was short, and he was still a little out of reach when he stepped on the low stool, so he had to stand on tiptoe and use one hand to smooth the red, and sure enough, he soon had some appearance.

The golden crown also seemed to be a little crooked, he was a little unwilling to do half of the work and did it hastily, so he curled up one leg and knelt on the edge of the offering table, so that he could get closer, and finally was able to straighten the golden crown on the Guanyin Buddha statue with both hands.

Although Guanyin Bodhisattva did not move in the slightest, he had a trace of contempt for this elderly man at this time.

That's right, it's contempt!

Li Miaozhu was slightly stunned, although he had served the owner of this temple for decades, and he had become more and more superstitious about fake plays, but he naturally knew in his heart that this was just a dead thing, how could he have such a strange expression today?

He rubbed his old eyes, looked at them intently, and couldn't help but gasp, and then his legs went limp, and he almost rolled over and fell off the offering table.

He shuddered and double-checked, and then climbed down the table himself.

Oh my God, the original antique Guanyin golden body is gone, and now the pretending to squat in the curtain tent is completely an inferior mud tire, and the face is very distorted, as if laughing at the old temple Zhu's hindsight.

Lao Miaozhu suddenly felt dizzy, as if the sky was about to fall.

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The pilgrims came to the Guanyin Temple one after another, Li Miaozhu no longer took the initiative to greet enthusiastically as before, pleasing and saying auspicious words, he sneakily hid in the side hall and pretended to write, in fact, he didn't do anything, he was waiting for someone-

Waiting for the hangover prodigal who has not returned, although this person often makes him secretly annoyed, but at this moment, there is really only such a reliable person, the golden body is gone, but it is a big deal, once the people in the village know, they will definitely not let him go, the temple keeper, maybe they suspect him of self-theft, and they have to let him pay for one, so where can he pay for this lonely old man?

Thinking of this, he muttered and cursed in a low voice, this thing that doesn't grow up, you know how to drink all day long, you can't find Guanyin's golden body this time, see if you can drink the yellow soup.

Just when he was panicked and didn't know how to deal with the aftermath, the villagers who came to the front hall to make incense gathered more and more, and it became more noisy.

Today is obviously the fifteenth day of the lunar month, and he feels as nervous as the Halloween Festival on the fifteenth day of July.

Among the pilgrims, there were two dusty men who stood out a little, because they looked like newcomers to the city. One of them was tall, with a cold face and a gaze like a torch, and the other was of medium stature with bronzed skin, his expression was indifferent, but he naturally radiated an invisible aura, but this person's legs and feet seemed to be a little inconvenient, which could be seen from the time he knelt down to Guanyin Bodhisattva. The two respectfully made incense, bowed four times and made a gesture, ready to burn some knife paper according to the traditional custom, and the tall one skillfully pulled the paper with his hand, so that it became a kind of cascading fan, so that it was easy to ignite.

At this moment, the tall man was putting the knife paper in his hand to the flickering candle, and an old man with a rickety figure and poor mental state came out of the corner, the old man seemed to be aimless, and seemed to be looking for something, and when he passed by the tall man, he paused for a while.

The tall man's gaze turned to where the old man was standing, and his eyes lit up.

"Hey, third uncle......" The tall man took the lead in opening his mouth, looking a little inexplicably excited, "I didn't expect your old man to still guard the temple here." ”

The sudden greeting made the depressed Li Miaozhu a little puzzled, he didn't seem to know the person in front of him, but he did look at it a little familiar, he trembled and picked up his reading glasses and put them on, and looked at the stranger carefully.

In fact, he was holding some luck, and he couldn't wait for the little monk to come back in the side hall, so he estimated that maybe the hall was dim just now, and he deliberately brought out his reading glasses to re-verify the situation.

"Are you ?......" Li Miaozhu finally reluctantly recognized the man in front of him, "Yo, Xiaoting, why are you back...... I almost didn't recognize you. ”

The tall man is Li Yiting, who has returned to his hometown and province, and the other is naturally Chen Tianyu.

Li Yiting's heart swelled with warmth, and his nose was sour for no reason. The first thing he did when he returned to his hometown was to go to this Guanyin Temple, which had not changed for decades, to report his safety; after a farewell of more than ten years, he suddenly had relatives calling him by his nickname, not to mention how cordial it was.

He put down the knife paper in his hand, stretched out his hand to hold the rickety old temple Zhu, he was actually a little strange in his heart, it is said that the third uncle is not too old, how can he feel old all of a sudden.

"It's me, it's me. Third uncle, don't come here all these years?...... I see that the incense in the temple is so strong, it's really hard for the third uncle. "This can be regarded as a polite remark, Li Yiting will come as soon as he opens his mouth.

Li Miaozhu's lips trembled a little, he was still thinking about the Guanyin statue, so he glanced at the direction behind the curtain with his eyes, and did not immediately answer Li Yiting's words.

Li Yiting is a person, he can see that the old temple is absent-minded.

However, he didn't rush to speak, because Li Miaozhu had already turned around, as if he remembered something, and grabbed Li Yiting's arm vigorously: "Xiaoting, I remember that you have been working in the city for many years, what are you doing?" ”

Li Yiting laughed happily, he said: "Third uncle, you are really a noble person, I have been working in the government department, don't you remember?" He understood that he would definitely be confused about what kind of police and detectives he talked to this old man in the countryside, besides, returning to his hometown was not a show, he preferred to be regarded by the villagers as an ordinary peasant child.

"Ah?...... Government!" Li Miaozhu trembled reflexively, suddenly let go of his hand, and he muttered, "This job is good, this work is good." After saying that, he didn't even pay attention to him, and ran straight into the side hall.

Chen Tianyu, who had been watching coldly, obviously noticed that there was something strange about this old man, and when he saw this, he came over and asked: "This old man is panicking, it seems that something seems to have happened in this temple......

Li Yiting didn't make a sound, he raised his hand and touched his chin, and said for a long time: "I think so too." ”

"Are you going to ask?" Chen Tianyu smiled slightly.

Li Yiting thought for a moment: "How big can it be in the poor countryside, don't worry, let's see if it's talking." ”

This is true, the two glanced at each other, and they already knew each other.

Li Yiting was unconscious, and continued to go to the gourd pagoda outside the courtyard to burn his knife paper, and returned to his hometown to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, while Chen Tianyu walked slowly towards the side hall.

Curiosity always drives him to be able to sniff out every time something unusual.