Burning wood?

Asking for feathers?

Richard couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard this, he had heard of burning incense and asking for signatures, and it was like this in every temple. But what is this burning wood and Qiu Yu? It was the first time he had heard of it.

He couldn't help but ask the old man with a hooked nose: "May I ask the old man, what does this burning wood and asking for feathers mean?" ”

The hook-nosed old man smiled when he heard this, "It's the first time you've come to the Phoenix Temple, right?" No wonder I think a few faces. This burning wood and asking for feathers are unique to my Phoenix Temple. ”

"The phoenix perches on the sycamore branches, builds a nest with the sycamore branches, and when it is reborn from the fire, it is also the sycamore wood that ignites the fire of the phoenix. Therefore, the so-called burning of wood is to burn sycamore wood and sacrifice to sacred beasts. It's the same as burning incense in the temple outside to enter the Buddha. ”

As he spoke, the hook-nosed old man paused, glanced at Richard and the others, and continued: "If you don't have sycamore wood on you, I will sell it." It's not expensive, only one hundred taels of silver. ”

Richard immediately rolled his eyes when he heard this, a hundred taels of silver and a sycamore wood are not expensive, when we don't know anything about the fat sheep? One hundred taels of silver to buy three or four sycamore trees of the thickness of two people hugging each other, okay!

He selectively diverted the topic and asked, "Then what does this Qiu Yu mean?" It's similar to asking for a sign in the temple? ”

"Young man is smart."

The hook-nosed old man glanced at Richard appreciatively, and said with a smile: "It's a pity that the young man guessed wrong, this begging for feathers and asking for a sign are two completely different things." ”

Richard's face changed slightly, he took a breath and silently told himself in his heart that respecting the old and loving the young is the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and he can't afford to deal with an old man.

The hook-nosed old man said slowly: "After burning the wood, you can ask for feathers." The phoenix is in charge of a hundred birds, and left a hundred bird feathers in this phoenix temple. One of them is the feather on the phoenix's body, if ordinary people can find a feather to take home, it is enough to ward off evil spirits and relieve disasters, and pray for wealth and health. ”

"There are feathers on the phoenix in the Phoenix Temple?!"

Everyone was taken aback when they heard this, and Ao Wuchang hurriedly asked, "So, Phoenix has been here before?" Is there really a phoenix in this world?! ”

The hook-nosed old man's voice vibrate: "Naturally! Do you see the hillside? The hillside is called Luofeng Slope, which means the place where the phoenix lives. The builder of the Phoenix Temple, my wife, Mrs. Grandpa saw the phoenix with my own eyes..."

"It fell on the Luofeng Slope, so it was built."

A voice came from outside the Phoenix Temple, and the content was exactly what the old man with a hooked nose said. Richard turned his head to look, only to see a catcher walking into the Phoenix Temple, looking at the old man and smiling disdainfully; "Eagle Head, are you using your rhetoric to deceive people again?"

The old man trembled with anger and said angrily: "How can this be a lie! You go to Baima Guanzhong to take a look, which family does not have the feathers of my Phoenix Temple? ”

Catcher chuckled softly, "That was before. In recent decades, has anyone been able to get feathers from this phoenix temple? ”

"That's because they don't have enough luck, what does it have to do with the Phoenix Temple!"

"Come on, I don't think it's your eagle head fooling around."

Catch Kuai sneered and said: "The city lord has an order, this Luofeng Slope should be used as a place for training, and idlers with heavy soldiers are not allowed to enter." This Phoenix Temple, you are limited to three days to dismantle it and move it elsewhere! ”

The eagle's head was shocked, and said in a trembling voice: "The Phoenix Temple has existed for thousands of years under the Luofeng Slope, how can it be demolished?" If you want to practice, even if you practice, I can still be a spy with a bad old man?! ”

Catch Kuai snorted coldly and said, "This is the order of the city lord, if the Phoenix Temple is still there after three days." That's where we come to dismantle it for you! ”

With that, he turned and left the Phoenix Temple. The eagle's head collapsed to the ground, his lips trembling, and he muttered, "How can this be?" How can this be? ”

Richard stood in place and pondered the conversation between the catcher and the eagle head, and his heart moved and asked softly to the eagle head: "Uncle, I heard that the catcher said that there was a feather in the White Horse Guanzhong family a few decades ago, but no one has asked for a feather in the past few decades. What's going on? ”

The eagle head glanced at Richard, looked sad, and sighed: "The young man doesn't know, there are originally many birds in the Phoenix Temple, and on the third day of March every year, there will be a hundred birds to come and worship in the temple." ”

"But in recent decades, for some reason, the elephant of a hundred bird rank feathers has disappeared, and no bird rank feathers have come on the third day of the third month of March, so there are fewer and fewer feathers in the Phoenix Temple, how can they be given to people?"

Three days later, the demolition of the Phoenix Temple seemed inevitable. I think Shaoxia and others are not people who are short of money, can the old man ask Shaoxia for something? ”

Richard immediately said, "What's the matter?" Husband, please speak. ”

The eagle turned his head to look around the Phoenix Temple, and said with a miserable smile: "This Phoenix Temple, no one has come to burn wood and beg for feathers for a few days. The old man begged the young man to buy a sycamore wood and ask for a feather before the Phoenix Temple was demolished by those officers and soldiers. ”

Looking at the sad face of the eagle head, a sense of pity suddenly rose in Richard's heart, took out several silver tickets and handed them to the eagle head, and said, "Then please ask the old man to give each of us a sycamore wood." ”

The eagle head was overjoyed after receiving the silver ticket, nodded a few times in response, turned around and ran to the back of the Phoenix Temple, and took out exactly ten sycamore trees.

These sycamore trees are about the thickness of a baby's arm, and after everyone took the sycamore, they came to the courtyard, lit the sycamore, and bowed three times to the Phoenix Temple.

When the sycamore wood was burned out, the eagle's head said to the people, "Everyone, please come with me." ”

As he spoke, he brought Richard and the others to the phoenix statue in the ancestral hall, and said, "The steps to ask for feathers are very simple, just stand in front of this phoenix statue and silently recite the word "begging for feathers." If you are blessed, you will not go home empty-handed. ”

Richard and the others looked at each other, and finally Li Guancheng was the first to walk in front of the phoenix statue, clasped his hands together and said, "Ask for feathers." ”

The phoenix statue shook for a moment, and then nothing happened. Seeing this, the eagle head said, "It seems that this girl is not a person who is destined." ”

Li Guancheng nodded, and then stepped aside.

"Ask for feathers."

"Ask for feathers."

"Ask for feathers."

………

Next, Ao Wuchang and the others stepped forward one by one, but everyone was the same as Li Xuancheng, just let the phoenix statue shake slightly, and there was no movement.

Richard was the last to step forward and stared at the phoenix statue for a while, but the stone platform in front of the statue was blocked by the table, and he couldn't see any clues.

"Ask for feathers."

Richard said softly, before the words landed, he saw the phoenix statue shake violently, and the tiles on the roof of the Phoenix Temple kept vibrating, and the sound was like the cry of a hundred birds. Immediately, a golden feather slowly floated down from the roof and landed in Richard's hand.

The eagle head looked at the feather in Richard's hand with a look like a ghost, "Phoenix... Phoenix Feather?! ”

(End of chapter)