Half a month later, the group went north to Tai'an Province.

At this time, everyone was facing a big mountain, and when the grandfather took a look, he saw this mountain, which can be said to be the largest mountain he had ever seen since he was a child, majestic and extraordinary, and he couldn't see the top of the mountain at a glance, as if the mountain and the sky were connected together.

The master turned his head and asked Xiao Lao Dao beside him, "Brother Xiao, what kind of mountain is this, why is it so high?" ”

Xiao Laodao said with a smile: "Brother, this is Mount Tai, the head of the five mountains, there is no mountain that can be higher than it, let's go, we haven't reached the front yet, and when we get closer, it will be higher." ”

After walking for half an hour, everyone came to the foot of the mountain, and the master looked up at the mountain again, and saw a faint layer of white mist lingering on the mountainside, illusory and ethereal, as if the whole mountain had been drilled into the clouds.

Xiao Laodao greeted everyone at this time: "Don't look at it, let's go, you will see it later." ”

When the lame Taoist heard this, he asked Xiao Laodao, "Senior brother, aren't we going to find a place to settle here?" ”

Xiao Laodao smiled, "Not bad." ”

The lame Taoist said: "Mount Tai is the place where the imperial spirit begins, the emperors of all dynasties have climbed to the top of the Zen, you and I are here to build a house, only afraid that the name is not right, can not suppress the imperial spirit here." ”

"What's wrong?" Xiao Laodao said unhappily: "The prince will Xiangning have a kind of thing, let their emperor seal Zen here, don't allow Lao Tzu to practice here, junior brother, let me tell you, in fact, your senior brother and I have long been interested in this place, but let's not go to join the fun with those temples and Taoist temples on the mountain, let's go deep along the river of the mountain pass, and go to find a good place with no one inside." Xiao Laodao paused for a moment, and then said: "The Three Stone Mountains we went to before, that is eight hundred miles of Qinchuan, although Mount Tai is not that long, it is also four hundred miles, and we will definitely find a suitable place in it." ”

At the foot of the mountain, not far from the people, there was a small river flowing out of the mountain, and the people untied the baggage from the horses, let go of the horses, put the luggage on their backs, and headed down the river towards the deep mountain.

At this time, it is already a cold winter wax moon, the cold wind is biting, there has just been a snow before, on the mountainside, at the foot of the mountain, there is snow everywhere, only this small river, still maintains its due color, the river water is clear, gurgling and flowing.

Everyone walked along the river for a day, but the three children were still young, and they couldn't walk far without the horse, especially the mountain road, and in the end they could only carry them, Xiao Chujiu carried one, Taiye carried one, and Xiao Laodao carried one.

While walking, Xiao Laodao muttered to the lame Taoist beside him, "I said leave their mother and son behind, you have to bring them, look at it, this trouble is all a burden!" ”

When the lame Taoist heard this, he glanced at Xiao Lao Dao angrily, and replied in a low voice: "Senior brother, don't think I don't know what you think, even if I don't say to leave them, you will keep them, you have already calculated it!" ”

As soon as the lame Taoist said this, Xiao Laodao suddenly laughed, and then, Xiao Laodao sighed again and said: "Your legs and feet are not good, a few of us are not at home all the year round, there is someone around to take care of you, senior brother and I can rest assured outside, besides, the wife of the three dogs is also pitiful, the family is ruined, if you really want to leave their mother and daughter, if you don't starve to death, you have to give them the disaster of the people in the village, let's give their mother and daughter a bite to eat now, she will do your laundry and cook, this deal is quite cost-effective." ”

The lame Daoist stared at Xiao Laodao and asked, "You really think so?" ”

Xiao Laodao said: "Then what do you say I can think, I want to say, ask you to marry her, even if you are willing, I am not happy, we can't do this, if we do this, it is to take advantage of people's danger, and it is no different from those robbers who block the road and rob." ”

When Xiao Lao Dao said this, the lame Daoist seemed to be relieved and nodded, "That's good, then I'll rest assured." ”

Xiao Laodao immediately smiled again and said, "However, if the wife of the third dog is happy, then I won't stop her." ”

"You ......," the lame man was speechless.

Xiao Laodao continued: "Sangouzi's wife looks quite good, otherwise Sangouzi would not have spent a lot of money to buy her home, and she is also very diligent, laundry, cooking, carrying water and cleaning, everything is good...... It's just that your life is not good, and in the future, you will take care of other mothers and daughters more. ”

The lame Taoist was silent.

In the evening, they found a shelter in a col, cleared the snow inside, and lit a bonfire, and while they were eating dry food around the campfire, there was a wolf howl one after another, which frightened the three children all around their mother.

Seeing this, Xiao Laodao instructed my grandfather, "Brother, take out the stones in your baggage, don't wait until the middle of the night, the wild wolf will take the child away." ”

The grandfather was stunned for a moment and asked, "What stone?" ”

Xiao Laodao said: "You forgot, the stone that the tiger spirit gave us before, the tiger lying stone." ”

The master remembered with an "oh", and hurriedly put down the dry food in his hand and took the stone out of the baggage.

Xiao Laodao took the stone from the master's hand, put it next to the wife of the three dogs, and said: "This is a wolf-driving stone, and no matter how fierce the wolf is, no matter how fierce it is, the wolf will not dare to approach." ”

At this time, the girl next to her looked at the stone curiously and asked, "Dao Chief, why does the wolf dare not approach this stone?" ”

Xiao Laodao glanced at the girl and explained: "Because this stone has been lying under the tiger all the year round, and it is covered with the smell of tigers, once the wolf asks about the smell of tigers, he will not dare to come." ”

When the girl heard this, she innocently asked, "What if the wolves here have never smelled a tiger?" ”

Xiao Laodao smiled and said: "These beasts have very good noses, even if they have never smelled the smell of tigers, as long as they smell wrong, they dare not come forward, just like us, when we see a person with a fierce face, we don't want to come to that person, the same reason." ”

The showgirl nodded.

The night passed peacefully, and the next day, everyone continued to walk along the river into the mountains.

Three days later, everyone completely walked into the hinterland of the mountains, at this time, in addition to the mountains and mountains, coupled with the snow in the eyes, people have the illusion of being trapped in a cage, and only by looking back at the long series of footprints behind them can they find some comfort.

After walking forward for a long time, suddenly, on the other side of the mountain in front of him, a wisp of green smoke actually rose, and everyone immediately looked at each other, this is obviously the cooking smoke coming out of the chimney, could it be that there are people living in the hinterland of this deep mountain?

Xiao Laodao saw Qingyan, subconsciously turned around, looked behind him along the river, and said, "No wonder this river walks so smoothly, there are still people living in this mountain!" ”

Xiao Laodao means that the small river is a road in and out of the deep mountains, and it may often be walked, so it is very smooth to walk, but at this time the road has already been covered with snow, and Xiao Laodao They didn't notice it.

Everyone turned over a mountain beam in the direction of the cooking smoke, and a small village suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

This small village, scattered so many five or six households, from a distance, the east and the west, high and low, seem to be very close, in fact, each family is very far away, in front of the house and behind the house of these families, there are actually fields, high and low, piece by piece, like terraces; The fields were now covered with snow, occasionally blue, and seemed to be planted with wheat. The people followed the river through their villages and fields for drinking and irrigation.

Xiao Laodao looked at it and couldn't help but sigh: "This place is really a paradise!" ”

When the lame Taoist heard this, he said to Xiao Laodao: "Senior brother, this place is good, I think, let's stop here." ”

Xiao Laodao shook his head, "No, I don't want to have anything to do with any village anymore, let's go inside." ”

The lame Taoist said, "If you go further into the mountains, what will we eat in the future?" ”

Xiao Laodao said: "We can also grow our own food to eat, and when the time comes, we can also take things to their village to exchange, this place, I am afraid that the money is not good." ”

Bypassing the village, they had not gone far further, when they saw a ridge on the left side of the front, which was not very high, and above the ridge was still a flat open field.

Xiao Laodao's eyes suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly greeted the lame Taoist, "Senior brother, look at it, it's a good place." ”

The lame Taoist looked in the direction pointed by Xiao Laodao, and the master followed him and looked over, and the master was stunned when he saw it, and saw that there was a large area on the ridge, but there was no snow, and the withered yellow weeds were extremely lush.

The lame Taoist looked at it, his eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "The extreme yin is yang, this is the pure yang place in the yin of the earth, the condensation of yang gathers qi, and the snow melts when it falls." ”

As soon as the master heard the lame Taoist words, he understood, no wonder there was no snow in that area, the yang qi was sufficient, and the snow melted when it fell on it, the master had only heard of it, and he had never seen this kind of place.

Xiao Laodao suddenly laughed, "That's it!" ”

Everyone walked up the ridge together, standing in the snowless place in the middle of the ridge, the grandfather felt very comfortable and calm, and it didn't seem to be so cold, the mountain wind blew on the face, and there was a faint trace of warmth.

Xiao Laodao and the lame Daoist were happy to close their mouths at this time, as if they had picked up a treasure for them, but it was not easy to build a house in the mountains, especially if they wanted to build a decent house.

After being happy, Xiao Laodao and the lame Taoist combined, if they want to build the Taoist temple, they must also contact the people in the village just now, and they rely on their own people to cover the Year of the Monkey and the month of the horse.

At last they turned around and returned to the village, just in time for lunch, when the smell of rice wafted from house to house, and their stomachs were gurgling.

When he came to the door of a house, Xiao Laodao went over and patted the door, and after a while, a middle-aged man about forty years old came out of the house, and when the man opened the courtyard door, he looked at each other, and they were all stunned.

Xiao Laodao came back to his senses first and asked, "Why didn't you shave your head and keep braids?" ”

The man also came back to his senses, looked at the master and the others, ignored Xiao Laodao's words, and asked rhetorically, "You ...... Who are you? "The man's accent was strange, but barely understood.

Xiao Laodao hurriedly replied: "We are...... For those who have escaped, we want to find a place in the mountains and build a house to live in. ”

When the man heard this, he looked at Xiao Laodao, "Are you a Taoist priest?" ”

Xiao Laodao nodded, and the man looked at the master and Xiao Chujiu, and said in astonishment: "Then they ...... What's that dress? ”

The master looked at the man at this time, his hair was coiled on the top of his head, and it was covered with a piece of cloth, there was no braid at the back of his head, the hair on his head was not shaved, and the clothes on his body were woven with coarse linen, and cotton was stuffed inside.

At this time, I heard Xiao Laodao ask the man, "This big brother, are you dressed like the previous dynasty?" ”