Along the way, the wooden stack corridor alternates with cave passages, passing through many caves, some of which are shrines dedicated to Buddha statues, others are the dwellings of monks.

The shrine temples vary according to the idols enshrined, ranging from large to small. The monks' quarters are often cramped, with only one or a few wooden beds and a few scriptures and miscellaneous items, and no doors, so that passers-by can read them all by turning their heads, and the monks who live in them do not seem to mind, neither worrying about theft nor privacy.

Many monks were chanting and studying, and even Venerable Xuanhua, who was the abbot, walked by the door with guests.

"Zhizhou is now a guest in the Hanging Wall Temple, and the poor monk has been out for three days, and I don't know if he has gone back." Master Xuanhua bent down through the low and narrow cave, and said as he went, "If you don't go, it will be easier for the Taoist to consult after inviting the rain god." ”

"Is Zhizhou also for the drought?"

"Exactly."

Before I knew it, it had risen to the middle of the mountain, and the three-flowered cat occasionally stopped, and when it turned its head to look out, it found that it was already very high from the ground.

It's so high that even cats feel dangerous.

Suddenly, a large cavern appeared in front of him.

The cave is almost wide and deep with the main hall of the ordinary temple, and it is really the main hall of this hanging wall temple, there are many gods enshrined in it, the middle is the lord of ten thousand Buddhas, there are several Buddhas beside him, and then there are several Bodhisattvas who are more famous in Buddhism at present, there are Arhats at the very edge, and there are two protector gods standing under the altar.

Don't look at the temple built on the mountain and feel simple, in fact, the carved railings and painted buildings, from the outside look is also golden red and blue, and the Buddha statue inside is even more golden.

There were a few men standing here.

It seems that he knew that Master Xuanhua was back, so he specially greeted him here.

"The Master is back!"

A middle-aged man in front of him hurriedly caught up, looked anxiously at Master Xuanhua, and then at several martial artists behind him: "Have you found that dry deer and caught it?" ”

"Back in Zhizhou, we have found the dry deer, but we have not been able to catch it." Master Xuanhua saluted, and then turned his head to look at Song You behind him, "But this trip is not all for nothing, we met a master at the same time as we found the dry deer, Song Daochang, which can be regarded as an unexpected gain of this trip." ”

After speaking, he said to Song You: "This is what the poor monk said before, Wei Wuzhi, the governor of Longzhou who was a guest in this temple. ”

"Under the surname Song Mingyou, Wei Zhizhou, polite."

"It turned out to be Daochang Song, and Benzhou is polite." Wei Zhizhou was obviously flustered and absent-minded, and only politely returned the salute to Song You, and then looked at Master Xuanhua anxiously, "Why?" Why did they find the deer but couldn't bring it back? Isn't the master a profound Dharma, and promises that as long as he finds it, he will definitely be able to bring it back? ”

“……”

Master Xuanhua clasped his hands together and was silent for a moment.

This is the time for Song You to speak.

So Song You stood up and said those words again, so as to remove the responsibility from Master Xuanhua.

After hearing this, Wei Zhizhou frowned, just looked at Song You and Master Xuanhua, did not make a judgment at will, but asked Song You very politely: "What Mr. said is very reasonable, but how can Mr. make us believe that it is not a dry deer but a wanderer, and the drought has nothing to do with it, so what can be done to solve the drought?" ”

"I heard that there was originally a rain god in Shazhou, Longzhou, named Humu Daxian, and I invited him to come in the next wish. Humu Daxian is the god of rain, just ask, Zhizhou naturally knows why the drought is, and naturally knows whether the so-called dry deer has anything to do with the drought. Song You paused, "If you can, you are willing to persuade the rain god and exert your divine power." It is absolutely impossible to completely solve the drought, but the impact of the drought can be eliminated as much as possible by the cooperation of divine power and people. ”

"It's not that Hu Mu Daxian hasn't been invited in this state, but the immortals are arrogant and rarely have manifestations."

"Since there are few manifestations, even if there are manifestations, then you can rest assured." Song You was afraid that Longzhou Shazhou had not offered incense to Hu Mu Daxian for a long time, and starved him to death, "You can try it later." ”

"And when is the gentleman going to ask God?"

"The matter of the drought makes Zhizhou anxious, and the people of Longzhou are even more anxious. Without further ado, the sooner the better. Song You said, "I need an incense case god platform below, and under expediency, everything can be simple, but you need the statue or god card of Hu Mu Daxian, which can not be less." ”

"Do you want anything more, sir?"

"Nothing else."

"After the ...... is done"

"Not for those."

“……”

Wei Zhizhou looked at his expression, savored his words, and felt that he was indeed confident, and he really wanted to do good for the people of Longzhou, so he didn't talk nonsense, but only decisively turned his head and said to the people behind him: "The matter of the incense case and the statue of the god will be entrusted to Li Sima to arrange it as soon as possible......

"Xiaguan is going now!"

Sima, whose name was surnamed Li, hurriedly saluted, called a guard, and walked out directly.

"There are not many statues of Humu Daxian in Longzhou, but there are more of them this year, but there are dozens of miles away recently, even if Sima asks someone to hurry up, he won't be able to come back in a short time." Master Xuanhua said to everyone, "It's getting late, let's have a meal at this temple first." ”

"Thank you."

Song You thanked him very calmly.

Wei Zhizhou had no intention of eating, but frowned while looking at Song You, always feeling a little puzzled, and tried to speak several times, but he couldn't help it.

The meal was quickly served.

There is a great drought in Longzhou, and the rice in the Hanging Wall Temple in the west of Longzhou is also very simple, just a bowl of batter, plus a large piece of watermelon for one person, one to satisfy hunger, and one to quench thirst.

There are also watermelons sold in Changjing, but Song You doesn't eat much.

This year's watermelon is yellow, not pretty, and not sweet, but it has plenty of water, and it is a good water store and supplement. Because of this, whether it is merchants traveling between the East and the West, the armies of certain countries, and ships traveling by sea, they like to carry watermelons as an alternative to drinking water.

Eat all the way and spit out seeds all the way.

This is how watermelons were passed all the way.

The monks were speechless when they ate, and Song You didn't speak, including Sanhua Niangniang, who also lowered her head and licked the paste to eat, and while eating, she was thinking about catching a few rats at night and opening meat in the temple.

Eating mush, but also nibbling on watermelon.

"Boom ......"

As the poem says, a thousand red cherries, a lump of citrine.

The shape is as light as water.

Only slightly sweet.

It is very different from the watermelon in Song You's memory.

And this watermelon seems to have been left for a long time, and the taste has become significantly softer, and there are more miscellaneous flavors.

If you only talk about replenishing water, compared with the clear and sweet spring that has just been scooped up, the taste is not as good, but you can walk in the northwest, and the water will have a taste after a long time, but it is not necessarily more palatable than melon. In addition, it has a slight hunger filling effect, which is somewhat nutritious, and it is indeed a good choice for long-distance travel.

Song You also broke a piece and fed it to the cat.

The cat chewed with one tooth, chewing loudly.

Night has fallen.

Sima surnamed Li quickly whipped his horse, and it was estimated that he did not stop along the way, and he brought back the statue of "Humu Daxian" within an hour, and the temple also set up an incense case on the platform halfway up the mountain.

The platform is not large, and the red lacquer pillars and red lacquer floors protrude from the mountainside, and the bright moon and stars can be seen.

The incense case is also very simple -

It's just a red lacquered high table, on which are placed a plate of rice, a plate of noodles, a plate of watermelon, on both sides of the clay square, there is a small stove in the middle, incense and candles are placed on the table, and the statue of Hu Mu Daxian is placed in front.

The Taoist does not bathe, nor does he change clothes, but still wears the clothes of the dusty and dusty, and invites Taoist immortals in the temple, which is somewhat strange.

It's just that many people behind him are watching, and no one feels different.

"Please ask Sanhua Niangniang to light incense candles for me."

"Canopy ......"

There was a slight thud.

In front of everyone's eyes, the three-flowered cat, which had been following the Taoist, suddenly turned into a human form, a girl dressed in three-color clothes, born like a fairychild.

Several officials couldn't help but exclaim.

Even the monks of the Hanging Wall Temple who were watching had their eyes wide open, and their reactions were different.

The girl ignored them, didn't look at them, only picked up the incense candle with a serious face, played the role of a Taoist child, and completed the task assigned by her Taoist priest.

"Hoo ......"

With a single breath, a bean-sized flame rises from the tops of the two candles.

Although the flame is small, it is also the only light on the ground, opposite to the stars in the sky, in the words of the three flower girls, it is to burn out two holes in the night.

The candle was handed to the Taoist priest, and he took the incense stick.

Still blowing a breath, the incense stick also burned.

The Taoist put the candle on and took the incense.

There was no need for other ritual words, just closed his eyes slightly, and then said with incense: "Fulongguan Song You, please see the spirit of Hu Mu Daxian ......"

The night was silent, only the candlelight shone brightly.

The galaxy is horizontal, and the slightly completely extinguished glow reflects the horizon, which is a unique beauty in the northwest.

Wei Zhizhou stood behind and watched, still puzzled.

Since the drought this year, he has done a lot of things to invite the rain god, he has personally invited, and he has also found a lot of famous Taoists, folk gentlemen to invite, although the ceremony is far more complicated than the Taoist to do, but on the whole it is very different, he knows such a word to please God, generally have to be read three times.

If you read less, you lack sincerity, and if you read more, you are afraid of arguing with the gods.

Hu Mu Daxian rarely asks for a manifestation.

But that's not what he's wondering about.

But since the beginning of the fight, he always felt a little confused, as if he felt that the name of this person was still a little familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

This feeling of thinking of something but not being able to remember it is very uncomfortable, and it makes people feel panicked.

The more you hold it, the more uncomfortable it becomes, and the more uncomfortable it is, the more you can't think about it.

It wasn't until the night breeze blew at this time, the candlelight flickered, the Taoist stood in front of the incense case with incense, and the Taoist boy made of the three-flower cat stood beside him decently, and the picture was quite fairy, he was suddenly stunned, and some legends from other places that he had heard before constructed a picture in his mind, and the picture overlapped with the scene he saw at this time, and it was perfectly integrated.

“……”

Wei Zhizhou's eyes widened suddenly.

I had no doubts about "whether it was a dry deer or a wanderer", "whether it was it or not", and I was full of expectations.

"Fulongguan Song ......"

Before the second recitation was finished, the wind rose in the heavens and the earth.

"Hoo ......"

The night wind stirred everyone's robes, although it was high in the air, but it also blew down the wind and sand on the mountain, making everyone lose their eyes.

But the wind did not blow the incense and candles on the incense table, nor did it blow the man and the girl.

Whether it was an official or a monk, except for Master Xuanhua, who was calm and composed, the rest all covered their faces with their sleeves and looked forward with their eyes open.

I saw that between the candles, there were three more bright scarlet points of light, and the incense sticks in the incense burner burned out in an instant, turning into rich green smoke. The green smoke did not disperse in the wind, and all drifted towards the idol on the incense table.

Every time more green smoke enters the statue, there is more brilliance on the statue, and it becomes dazzling in the blink of an eye.

The angular color of the idol gradually softened, the facial features of the body became vivid, and under the divine light, it seemed to come to life.

And just in the next second, it really came to life.

The statue of the god who had been sitting not only stood up, but also walked in the candlelight, and jumped down from the altar.

The two-foot-tall clay statue is life-size when it lands.

It is an old god dressed in colorful divine clothes, medium stature, clothes are draped very casually, bare-chested and breast-exposed, bald but with a gray beard, holding a wooden staff and hanging a gourd, which is a classic image of the old fairy widely recognized by the current Dayan folk.

The immortal fell on the high platform, and he didn't look at the others, but he first saluted the Taoist, and his attitude was very respectful:

"What is the matter with calling the old gods?"

Wei Zhizhou was surrounded by several officials and guards, looking at this scene, he was both surprised in his heart, as if he should be.

It's just that the expression is inevitably complicated after all.

The rest of the people are not as calm as he is—

Hu Mu Daxian, who couldn't be invited by the officials and people of Longzhou, didn't have time to call the second time, so he came in a panic, not only showed up directly, but even spoke on the ground.

For a moment, everyone felt a little incredulous.

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Song You also returned the salute very politely, and then asked, "Daxian is the local rain god?" ”

"Thanks to the people's respect, respect the old god as Hu Mu Immortal, I hope that the old god will bless the local wind and rain, many years ago the heavenly palace was divided, and the old god was also ordered to be in charge of the wind and rain in Shazhou, Longzhou."

"That's it." Song You was still very polite, "In the lower reaches of the world, I traveled to the northwest, and I saw a great drought here, and the people were not happy, so I invited Daxian to ask what was going on." ”

"Returning to the car, this is the general trend of heaven and earth, and the normal weather is reincarnated." Hu Mu Daxian saluted again and said, his expression and voice were a little worried, "Heaven and earth are like this, the vicissitudes of life, constant changes, sometimes the hot and humid place will become dry and cold, sometimes the dry and cold land will become wet and cold, even if the immortal has great ability, he can't compete with the general trend of heaven and earth, not to mention that the old god has been old, and in recent years, he has received very little incense in Shazhou, Longzhou, and his mana is low, which is really embarrassing." ”

Song You turned around and glanced at Wei Zhizhou.

So that he can understand that this drought is indeed a natural change in heaven and earth, and it has nothing to do with any drought deer or wandering.

No one behind him dared to speak.

(End of chapter)