Chapter 14: The Village Keepers

My hand is possessed by the spirit of the unicorn seal, and the source of the unicorn seal is the treasure of the town temple of Xinghua Temple in Mengcheng. More than 100 years ago, a fire in Xinghua Temple was burned, leaving a 10,000-Buddha pagoda, and since then the unicorn seal has disappeared.

When I was in the Republic of China, my second grandfather got the seal by chance, but I was afraid that people would remember it on my hand, so I handed it over to my grandfather for safekeeping. My grandfather was handed over to my grandfather, who was working as a worker in other places at the time, for safekeeping, and now it is in my hands.

The spirit of one of the seals entered my left hand again. And now because of the opportunity, I have come to Bozhou, the capital of medicine, and the next county in Bozhou is Mengcheng. Now that this has come, I naturally have to take a look.

So this situation makes people like this, and you have to go back to the original point when you go around and around. There are some things that must be experienced; There are some people who must also be seen. Maybe it's fate.

A few months ago, in the middle of the night of July 14, we walked from the Nawu Ancient Bridge in western Guangdong, and ended up in Jiangjia Village in Taihang Mountain, Hebei Province, where we lost two months in between. This is unreasonable for us who have half of our feet in the cultivation world and half of our feet in the rivers and lakes. But we all have big hearts, and we don't think about things we don't understand, and we live every day in the present.

We have also discussed that the two arches of the Nawugu Bridge, one flowing water and the other being a road, may only lead to a certain place on the night of July 14 when there is heavy fog. The landlord's family went from that place to another place, so the landlord's family built a bridge and disappeared from there.

For these magical things, ordinary people find it very mysterious. But I experienced the white shadow of the sintering workshop, as well as the upper body of the seal spirit, Jiang Ming was sharpened by Mr. Qiu, so it will no longer be strange.

Jiang Ming figured out the second half of Lu Ban's book, which can make the copper bar bigger and bigger copper plate, and can also make the two bird talismans become big and the bird can fly, and he can be regarded as going farther and farther on the road of cultivation.

We're really armed with weapons this time. Mr. Qiu in western Guangdong let out a rumor, saying that we brought a Luban bronze ruler and a Kunpeng talisman, both of which were popular among the people in the rivers and lakes. Some people want to get it, and if they want to get it, there will be disputes, and now Jiang Ming and I are still very weak and don't want to be victims of disputes. So choose to escape, of course, escape is temporary, and when we grow strong enough, let's defy the rivers and lakes.

This Bozhou goes to Mengcheng, from the southeast direction to walk for an hour, through the middle of the Wuyang County. We found a hotel in Monte Mongol and decided where to go first. Xinghua Temple is gone, there is only one thousand pagodas, the City God Temple is in the downtown area, and it will definitely not be possible to do anything during the day.

In the end, Jiang Ming said to take a look, step on it, there are still two hours before dark, and we will come back after a round. After seeing the venue, I went back to the hotel to rest.

Jiang Ming released the black cat, and now the black cat will find food by itself, just release it. After staying in the hotel for two days, Jiang Ming drank all the medicine to dispel stasis, and his body was much better.

Then we started to gnaw on the wild yellow essence and eat it as a meal, because we had to ask the city god about things, and we couldn't bring too many things. I was also afraid that I would be exposed and attract people from the rivers and lakes, so Jiang Ming's bronze ruler and bird talisman were all carried with him. The rest of the luggage, except for a few astrological books, is a miscellaneous talk about the Tao, Jiang Ming has already memorized it backwards, and it is not a pity to lose it.

Jiang Ming said that he would first go to the city god and ask about the matter in your hand, and if he couldn't ask, he would go to the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda to see, even if he turned over the tower, he also had to find a trick. Heroic, really arrogant, I gave a thumbs up, I didn't know that he had eaten a few catties of garlic and had such a big breath. People's cultural relics of hundreds of years and thousands of years, you say that you can turn them over?

After gnawing a few catties of wild yellow essence, there was no hunger in the stomach. We were afraid of poisoning, not to say that the medicine was poisonous, so we didn't eat more. It took three days in the hotel to divide the yellow essence into three times and finish it, and go to bed with a big burp, ready to visit the City God Temple at night.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, we got up, took everything we needed to take, and left our books and clothes at the hotel. Coming out of the back door of the hotel, follow the alley, cross a few streets, and you will reach the pedestrian street.

It is said that this city god temple was built in the Yuan Dynasty to the first year, the incense was very prosperous before liberation, and the temple was dedicated to one of the water gods of Laba, which belonged to the Taoist temple. In the middle of this hall is a clay statue of a gold-faced city god, about four meters high, very majestic. Now there is a pedestrian street near the temple, and there are shops selling clothes and flowers.

If it is Guangdong, at half past eleven in the evening, many pedestrian streets have not yet closed. But the north is different, the pedestrian street closes at seven or eight o'clock in the evening, who is not hiding at home on such a cold day? Since there are no people on the street, it is more convenient for us to do things.

We walked slowly to the main gate of the City God Temple, and saw a beggar lying on the stone steps, also like a fool. Wearing a blue tunic from the seventies and eighties and an army-green old man's hat, Jiang Ming said that this was a village guard. Then he walked towards him step by step.

It is said that there will be a fool in every village, and he will become stupid because he has saved the disaster for the village. Some people also say that he owed the village a debt in his previous life, so he guarded the village in this life to repay the favor. There are also people who are fierce people in their previous lives, wake up before they die, voluntarily remove one soul and two souls in the next life, and guard one side to repay the debts of the previous life, suffer the suffering of this life, and enjoy the blessings of all people in the next life.

Such people are honest and do not hurt others, kind-hearted, have no desires, are helpful, do not participate in happy events, go to help in vain, and most of them are lonely and old. When the merits are accumulated, they will be the dragons and phoenixes among people in the next life. He knew everything about what was happening near the village, and he was the first to know if the old man left, and he would go over to help.

Looks like we've come to the right place tonight, and they're waiting for us here. Jiang Ming took out his pocket, took out more than a hundred change, stuffed it into the fool's hand, and said Big brother, buy you something to eat. The fool babbled, Jiang Ming squatted down to listen to him, and listened for several minutes before standing up. He said, Let's go!

I was stunned, this just came and left? He said that the old man of the city god is not here today, and this village keeper is his gatekeeper, and told me that the seventh floor of the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda is north. You can understand what he's babbling like that? I followed Jiang Ming to the street and took a taxi to the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda.

Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda is also known as Flower Arrangement Tower, Xinghua Temple Tower, Cishi Temple Tower, commonly known as "Mengcheng Brick Tower". Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda is located in the southeast of Mengcheng County, and was built in the first year of Song Chongning (1102). The whole tower is an octagonal thirteen-storey pavilion type brick tower, 42.2 meters high, the circumference of the bottom of the tower is 24 meters, the diameter is 8 meters, it is named after more than 8,000 Buddha statues inlaid inside and outside the tower. There is a temple on the east side of the tower, the name is Xinghua Temple, so the earliest tower is called Xinghua Tower. But Xinghua Temple burned down more than a hundred years ago.

It is more difficult to enter the tower, and monitoring equipment has been installed around the pagoda. Jiang Ming is an electrician, and his computer skills are very good, so he plans to monitor the power outage.

"You only have ten minutes, and as soon as the power goes out, rush in, go up to the seventh floor, and look for what you want on the north side." We crouched in the bushes of the green belt and hid behind a street lamp.

"What if you can't find it? I don't know what it is. Lend me your cat. "I haven't been up to the thirteen-story tower, I don't know the structure, and I don't have much confidence.

"Blackie can take it, but it doesn't necessarily help. I'll try to hold them back here as much as I can. Jiang Ming said that the electricity used by the street lamp and the household electricity are not the same line. Only in the junction box of the street lamp to short-circuit, so that the street lamp electricity tripped, but this has a special person to manage, the problem is not big, it is easy to supply power immediately. And I don't know if there is a UPS power supply for monitoring, but it's dark, and no one necessarily notices that someone is climbing the tower.

I hugged the little black cat and stroked its fur, and it rubbed its head against my clothes. Although I haven't fed it, I've been with it for a few months, and the black cat and I know each other very well.

Jiang Ming pried open the junction box of the street lamp, wrapped the copper ruler with his clothes, and sparks appeared. The surrounding street lights flashed and then all went out. "Run!" Jiang Ming screamed softly.

I rushed out with the little black cat in my arms, and the brick tower a hundred meters away arrived in the blink of an eye, kicked open the wooden door, and found the stairs by the faint light outside. I climbed to the seventh floor in one breath and looked for the direction to the north, where there was nothing but the stairs and wooden floors, and it was empty.

I glanced around and saw that the surrounding brick walls were all carved small Buddha statues, and the black cat was placed on the ground on the north side. The little black cat looked up and walked all the way to the north gate, where guardrails were installed. I went to look, and the little black cat got out of the gap and walked on the carved flowers outside. I saw that there was a place to stay, and I also turned over and walked against the brick wall, and the black cat stopped in front of a brick Buddha statue, staring at the belly of the Buddha statue.

"Blackie, is this it?" I glanced at Xiao Hei suspiciously, reached out and touched the belly of this Maitreya Buddha, hey, this brick is a little loose. I pinched it with both hands and gently pulled it out, reaching inside, it was cold, like iron.

After taking it out, I found that it was a token, and I put it in my pocket without even looking at it. Plug back the brick and pick up Xiao Hei, stick to the brick wall and walk back, the street lights outside will be bright, and there are spotlights to illuminate the brick tower. This was earlier than expected, but after a dozen seconds, it snapped out again. It is estimated that Jiang Ming has done something again. When I turned back to the fence, I heard a noise below, and when I turned my head to see that it was Jiang Ming and others who were fighting.

I staggered down the wooden staircase, and after rushing out of the brick tower, I threw the cat and rushed towards the fight. Jiang Ming couldn't be beaten alone, he was injured and not yet healed, but by the time I rushed to the green belt, the battle was over.

"How? Didn't get hurt, right? "I looked at the two guards on the ground, and they were both lying on the dry grass and not moving." It's not going to die, is it? ”

"It's okay, knock them out, they're patrolling guards." Jiang Ming asked if he had gotten anything, and I said yes. Before he could finish speaking, sirens sounded on the street, and the sirens sounded especially loudly in the middle of the night. Jiang Ming said that it may be that the monitoring and waist zero are connected.

"Let's go!" Jiang Ming picked up the cat and walked away. We rushed into an old residential area, ran into the alley, ran out of the street for a few minutes, and saw a firefighting squadron on the opposite side, blowing the whistle and assembling. We hid in the shade of the alley and saw the firefighters handing out sticks.

"Grass, this should have caught us." Jiang Ming turned his head and went into the alley again, running towards another place, I followed and asked what was going on? He said that he knocked out the two guards, maybe people thought it was a big case and were sorting out us all over the city.

Running out of the alley from the other direction, I saw an aunt wearing a red armband, followed by a team of assistants in camouflage uniforms, all holding sticks and flashlights in their hands. The aunt was knocking on the door from house to house, shouting loudly, saying that there was a big case in the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda, and each family locked the doors and windows, and if any suspicious strangers were found, they should call the police immediately, and do not fight with the gangsters.

We were in a cold sweat, and quickly retracted, the power of this crowd is really strong. Where we can't see it, it is estimated that a net has already been laid out. I asked Jiang Ming, did you beat someone to death? Jiang Ming touched his scumbag beard and said, it shouldn't be. Should? You don't know what to do yourself?

Jiang Ming looked anxious when he saw me, so he found an open place, took out the bird talisman and said that we should be empty. I said your injuries are healed? Isn't this going to be another wreck? He said try. Try again? There is no other way, now there are patrols on the streets, and there are assistants in the alleys, and we can't escape.

Sitting on the bird charm, we flew towards the dark place, and as soon as we flew out of the old residential area, we fell down and smashed into a fence that looked like the back door of a supermarket. I put away the bird charm and ran to see Jiang Ming, who was lying on the ground panting with his eyes closed, his face pale. It is estimated that the bird charm was forcibly urged, and the old injury recurred.