A light rain continued.

Yao Ping and his entourage braved the rain to climb the wide mountain platform and arrived at Jianyan Town under the huge statue. The people and militia of Jianyan Town were very happy when they learned that Zhanye and Yao Ping had been ordered by the Governor's Office to come to help defend against the harassment and plundering of the Yingzhou Ronin here, and they even sent food and vacated their homes for these compatriots who had come from Shaoguang Prefecture as soon as possible.

"Old body to meet your lordship."

Without waiting for Yao Ping to completely settle down in the town's house, Yao Ping, who was packing his bags, saw an old man from Jianyan Town rushed to Zhanye's place under the guidance of several militiamen.

Zhan Ye saw that the person who came was the old man of Jianyan Town, so he stepped forward to greet the old man who was about to salute and said politely, "The old man is polite." Although we were ordered to garrison, we are a guest living in a noble place, so we should pay a visit to your old man first. ”

"Your Excellency." The villager looked at Zhanye, and after hesitating for a moment, he said with some excitement, "My lord, it is really a blessing for the people that you can bring troops here to help my fellow villagers in Jianyan Town." The old body, the old body and the people really don't know how to thank the adults for their good talents. ”

Zhan Ye smiled lightly and said, "As an imperial soldier, it is my duty to protect my family and defend the country and protect the people, and I don't need to say thank you." ”

The villager nodded slowly and then asked Zhanye, "My lord, I wonder how many soldiers and horses you brought with you this time?" ”

Zhan Ye looked at the Linjian archers and Yao Ping beside him, and then said, "More than twenty people." ”

"More than twenty people..."The villager was surprised for a moment, then looked at Zhanye and continued to ask, "My lord, when will your follow-up troops arrive?" How many more soldiers and horses? ”

"There's no one else." Zhan Ye said, "It's just us. ”

The villager was stunned for a while, and then asked a little overwhelmed, "My lord, the old man dares to ask you, do you know how many Yingzhou thieves are in our Jianyan area?" ”

"I didn't know when I first arrived." Zhan Ye asked instead, "Listen to you, Fellow Villagers, you have a good idea of the number of enemies around you?" ”

The villager nodded hesitantly.

"Please tell the villagers." Zhan Ye said.

"More than 5,000 people." The villager said after hesitating for a moment.

"What?!" At this time, Qu Shun, who was listening to the conversation between the two, couldn't help but be surprised.

The villager elder looked at Qu Shun who was surprised on the side, and then turned to Zhan Ye, who was also surprised, and continued, "In our Jianyan Town, there are about 5,000 men, women, and children living in Yingzhou, including no less than 300 soldiers with knives, and countless thieves with axes and forks. ”

Zhan Ye took a deep breath, and then said secretly, "I didn't expect there to be so many enemies. ”

"My lord, did the governor's mansion really only send more than twenty of you this time?" The villager asked again.

Zhanye nodded.

Seeing this, the villager couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"Fellow villagers, although there are few of us here this time, we are all well-trained soldiers." Zhan Ye turned to say, "You don't have to worry because of the lack of our people, since we have been sent here by the Governor's Mansion, we are vowing to eradicate the thieves here and live and die with Jianyan Town." ”

Seeing Zhanye's pride, the villager nodded lightly.

"Fellow villager, how many militiamen are there in the town who can go out to fight and kill the enemy?" Zhan Ye asked.

"The militia numbered about two hundred and sixty seventy people." The villager thought for a while and said.

"Nearly three hundred, that's good." Zhan Ye said.

"Most of them are hunters near the terrace, as well as Ding Zhuang, a farmer who fled from the disaster." The villager looked at Zhanye and said, "Relying on them, the town can support itself until now without being plundered by those wandering thieves." ”

"Hmm." Zhan Ye said, "Please inform the villagers and let them all gather in the grain field early tomorrow morning." ”

"Is the National People's Congress going to..?"

"Train them."

In the evening, at the simple welcome banquet set up by Jianyan Town for Zhanye and Yao Ping and his party, Qu Shun found the villager and asked him, "Old man, I have a question, I want to ask you about it." ”

"Master Bing, please speak."

"Don't call me Soldier." Qu Shun said, "I am a rebel. ”

"Righteous man, please speak." The villager said.

"Fellow villager, long before I entered your town, I saw a huge strange stone statue standing on the hillside behind this town from a distance, what is it?"

"Oh, that's a god." The villager said, "That is the god that the people of Jianyan Town worship the most. ”

"What, that's a idol?" Qu Shun continued to ask curiously, "I see that the stone statue is carved like a human and a bird, I have never seen a god like that, I don't know which god it is?" ”

"It's the spring god sentence." The villager said.

"Jumang?" Qu Shun asked in surprise.

"It's the Venerable Great God Sentence." The villager said slowly.

"Honorable Great God Jumang." Qu Shun muttered, "No one believes this over there in our shaking light, and I haven't heard much of it." ”

The villager coughed, and then said, "The spring god Jumang is in charge of the germination and growth of trees, and also assists the Eastern God Qingdi Taihao, who is a very noble deity. Righteous man, do you know that the sun rises from the Fuso tree every morning? And the sacred tree, Fusang, and the place where the sun rises, are all under the jurisdiction of Jumang. ”

"Jumang is so powerful?" Qu Shun said, "That's really a great god. ”

"yes." The villager said, "Every time the beginning of spring, the people near Jianyan will come here with offerings from various villages to worship the great god of Jumang, hoping to pray for the safety and health of the family for a year and the harvest and prosperity of the family." ”

"Can the great god of Jumang bless people with peace and health?" Qu Shun turned to say, "Since I have come here, I should go to the stone statue to worship the great god." Well, I'll go early tomorrow morning. ”

"Do the righteous men want to pray for their own peace?" The villager asked.

"No, I'm going to pray for the safety of my buddy." Qu Shun said.

"For friends?" The villager asked.

"That's him." Qu Shun pointed to Yao Ping, who was eating and chatting with the militia not far away, and then said, "I want to pray for him to be safe." ”

"Righteous man, why do you pray for him only for his blessing and peace?" The villager asked with some puzzlement.

"It's a bit complicated to say." Qu Shun said, "He is a person who wants to do great things, and if he can do things safely, then everyone in the world will be safe, so I want to pray for him." ”

The villager looked at Yao Ping's gaze for a while, and then turned to Qu Shun and said, "Yishi, there is still a legend about this Jumang Great God Statue here in our Jianyan, I don't know if you want to hear it." ”

"Legends?" Qu Shun said, "Then I naturally want to hear it." ”

"Legend has it that Jumang was a brave tribal leader in ancient times, and his tribe had to migrate due to the diversion of rivers and sudden changes in the climate. During the long migration journey, it was precisely because of Jumang's excellent leadership and guidance that the people of his tribe were able to find and overcome many difficulties, and finally found a place with fertile water and grass and suitable habitation. ”

"Oh." Qu complied and then said, "This legend is not so unusual. ”

The villager continued, "These are not very unusual. But righteous, do you know why the god Mangshen is carved and depicted as a human face with a bird's body and two dragons on his feet?"

"Why?"

"Because according to legend, he has two treasures. And it was those two treasures that made him like that, and it was those two treasures that allowed him to lead his people through mountains and rivers to carry out a successful long-distance migration. ”

"There is such a thing." Qu Shun asked, "What are the two treasures that Mang?" ”

One was the "Colorful Feather Coat" he wore on his body to hide from the sight of wild beasts and enemies, and the feather coat made him look like he had the body of a bird, so people described him as a human-faced bird. The villager said, "And another treasure is a dragon shoe that can climb mountains and mountains like walking on the ground, wearing a dragon shoe, which makes people think that he seems to have stepped on two dragons." ”

"Colorful wings that can avoid the enemy's sight, and dragons that climb mountains like walking on flat ground." Qu Shun sighed and said, "That's really a magical treasure." ”

"The most amazing thing is that according to legend, the two treasures of the Mang God were sealed in this Jumang Great God Statue behind our Jianyan Town." The villager said proudly.

"Right here?" Qu Shun asked in surprise, "The two treasures you said were sealed here, Fellow Elder?" ”

"According to legend, exactly." The villager nodded and said.