In the third year of Xinhe, the ninth day of the ninth month of September, it is the traditional festival of the Northern Yan Kingdom - the Double Ninth Festival. According to the custom, people from all over the country of Beiyan will gather together on this day, share flower cakes, drink Chongyang wine, and have a night market at night to celebrate the whole country.

The county seat of Huashan County, Mingjiang Prefecture is still as lively as in previous years, and there is no quiet moment from morning to night. The night is getting thicker, most of the time has passed, usually at this time everyone has already closed their homes and everyone sleeps, but tonight the streets and alleys of the county are still brightly lit, crowded with people, and the sound of selling and buying comes and goes, which is both loud and cheerful.

An old Taoist priest walked in the crowd, only to see him wearing a lotus crown on his head, even at night it was shining gold, wearing a collar of Taoist robes, neat and white, as if there was no dust in the mortal world. Look at his appearance again, he is not fat or thin, he has a childish face, he has a charitable smile on his face, he is holding the dust with one hand, and he is slowly brushing his long beard with the other hand. Pedestrians took the initiative to give way, for fear of colliding with him.

The old Taoist priest enjoyed this preferential treatment, strutting forward, and the more he walked, the more momentum he felt. Just as he was being triumphant, a young man's impatient complaint suddenly came from behind him.

"Don't pretend, old man! Master, I don't think there will be any more business today, it's a big holiday, let's find something to pad it first, my chest is attached to my back, I can't walk! A young man in Taoist costume rubbed his stomach sadly, his face full of impatience.

I saw that this young man was fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a golden cicada delicate bun crown, and the cicada at the top was also a little similar, but the overall luster was far inferior to the lotus crown of the old Taoist priest, and the corners could faintly see speckled patina and black rust, and I didn't know what his crown was made of, but it was certain that this crown was only gilded with a layer of gold on the surface, and it was still a very thin layer.

The first crown has always been very particular, even if it is a poor family, the elders of the family do not hesitate to spend many years or even a lifetime of savings to create a decent crown for their children and grandchildren.

Looking at the age of this young man, the crown on his head should be his first, and compared with his peers around him, it looks much shabby. Looking at his appearance again, he is of medium stature, his complexion is not much white, nor is he much dark, his appearance is not very outstanding, he is wearing a cyan robe, and there are a few pieces of white faintly on his knees and elbows, and it seems that he is not far from breaking into a big hole.

When he spoke, one hand kept rubbing his stomach, and the latter cooperated, and kept "cooing" and screaming. Next to him, an old yellow skinny dog barked weakly twice: "Wang, Wang." It seems to echo the words of the youth. Look at this old yellow dog again, the hair on his body is bald a lot, dry, and he really can't bear to look at it directly.

The old Taoist priest turned his head angrily, the range of movement was a little large, and he almost stabbed the bamboo pole from behind the top of the door, thanks to his "old and strong", his mind was "flexible", and "Ah ......" screamed on one side, and narrowly avoided the bamboo pole.

This bamboo pole is not something else, but the two of them blow the "demon and demon flag" when they meet people, claiming that as long as you shake it in the wind, you can subdue the demon and eliminate the demon, the power is boundless, in fact, it is a broken bamboo pole with a white cloth hung. At this moment, the banner had already been rolled into a wisp of chaos, and only the word "ghost" could be faintly seen, which was held obliquely by the young man in his hand.

The young man was slightly startled, came back to his senses, but did not panic at all, while slowly retracting the bamboo pole, he stretched out his other hand, gave a thumbs up, and said, "Old man, good skills!" Your 'Tiger Nod' is really ingenious! ”

"Little bastard!" The old Taoist priest scolded angrily, raised his hand to support his head, and wanted to straighten his head, but as soon as he touched his chin, he couldn't help but scream, "Oops......"

It's twisted to the neck!

This old and young man is a pair of fake masters and apprentices, the old self-named "Ghost Hunter", Zhao Tianshi, and the small self-named "Heart is Long", named Zhao Xinyi. is engaged in divination and ghost hunting, claiming to be omnipotent, but it is unknown how many catties and taels there are.

"What's wrong with you, old man?" Zhao Xinyi looked gloating, "It shouldn't be that you twisted your neck, right?" ”

"Wangwang......" The barking of the old yellow dog was also a little more cheerful.

"You two bastards!" The old Taoist was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, "You ......", and raised his hand to pull Zhao Xinyi's ears.

Zhao Xinyi had a hippie smile, and easily dodged it in place, opening his mouth to make a few more jokes. But he suddenly pointed behind the old Taoist priest, looking panicked.

"I don't know now that I'm afraid, it's too late!" The old Taoist priest's tone was filled with undisguised hatred.

"Run! They chased after ......" Zhao Xin didn't finish his words, turned around and ran. The old yellow dog followed.

The old Taoist priest scoffed: "Muddy bastard! I want to lie to the old man again, see that I don't ......"

"Catch that old one first!" A loud shout interrupted the old priest's cursing.

At the same time, the old Taoist priest suddenly felt that his right arm was tight, and he knew that something was wrong, so he shook his hand suddenly, and ran away without saying a word. The volley jumped in the air, the speed was extremely fast, not like an old man at all, and he was about to "fly" away, but a cold snort suddenly sounded on his side, and the old man immediately made another "oops" and smashed heavily in place.

The large, pincer-like hand was always firmly gripping his right arm, unable to break free.

The old Taoist priest peeked at it, and saw that the person holding his right arm was a fierce man with thick eyebrows, and two other big men with unkind faces surrounded him, one left and one right. The three of them are all dressed as family members of the same color, and they all embroider a regular "fan" character on their chests.

The old Taoist priest suddenly felt cold, he had just cheated a hundred taels of ghost-catching silver from the landlord of Shuangshan Village a few days ago, and he never thought that they would chase him here. tried his best, but he still couldn't break free, so he had to look at a group of passers-by pitifully, hoping that there would be a simple-minded, indiscriminate hero who would draw a knife to help him get out of trouble. However, a group of passers-by instantly retreated to the side, pointing and pointing, and watched the excitement with relish. Where are the half-made people!

"Old thing, you're a fast runner!" Pulling the old Taoist's thick eyebrows, he said sadly.

"Old fellow, where are you going this time?" The other two pressed their knuckles with their hands, making a crisp sound of "popping", and the old Taoist priest was frightened when he heard it, seeing that there was no way to escape, his eyes rolled, and he screamed weakly, his eyes were closed, and his body softened directly.

"Dead Man......"

"Someone died......"

A group of spectators don't think it's a big deal to watch the excitement, and speculate wantonly.

The thick eyebrows were caught off guard, and he almost got out of his hand, his heart trembled, and he exclaimed: "This old thing can't really be scared to death, right?" As he spoke, he stretched out a finger and probed in front of the old Taoist priest's nose, but he really lost his breath, and hastily withdrew his hand, as if he had been stung by a poisonous scorpion.

The other two looked at each other and took a step back. If this is a fatal incident, the government will definitely ask about it, and it will definitely not be good, so naturally the farther away the better.

The surrounding crowd was talking a lot, saying everything, and a few young people in the front row hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd and headed all the way to the east, which was the direction of the county government. Obviously, the surrounding residents were afraid of being implicated, so they reported to the official early.

As for people, they always like to think about the worst when they encounter problems, and the old Taoist priest was easily given a "death" by everyone.

Thick eyebrows secretly gritted his teeth, angry and hateful, angry that the two guys in front of him had no righteousness at all, and hated that he was too stupid and had to rush to the front. It's good now, if you don't make a meritorious service, you will get into trouble!

"Old ...... East...... West ......"

A young white fat man ran out of breath, saying that he was running, and he was not much faster than ordinary people. wiped a handful of sweat from his face, and his whole face was oily, like a mirror. This person is the young master of the Fan family, known as the "stupid son of the landlord", Fan Pauli. The atmosphere was weird, and he suddenly found that something was wrong, and when he looked closely, he saw that the old Taoist priest had his eyes closed, his breath was dying, he looked like a dead man, and he frowned: "What's wrong with this old thing?" ”

The thick eyebrows opened his mouth, a mouthful of bitterness, and before he could speak, the scar family on the right had already preemptively said, "It's dead." There was even a hint of schadenfreude in his tone.

"Dead?" Fan Pauli looked closely.

"Dead!" Another triangular-eyed Ding Dao.

"So, it's going to kill someone." Van Pauli is lukewarm.

The thick eyebrows immediately sank to the bottom - this fat man made it clear that he wanted to clear up the relationship and let himself bear all the blame. Both annoyed and afraid, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly, and he held the old Taoist's hand and unconsciously increased his strength.

Fan Baoli was about to turn around and leave, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the corner of the old Taoist's mouth twitching a few times, turned around abruptly, and sneered: "Okay! Since he is dead, he will not be allowed to return the money he cheated from me! Carefully looking at the old Taoist's every move, he didn't notice anything abnormal, the smile on his face was even stronger, and the words changed, "It's just that the old man is not so easy to deceive, even if he is dead, he will be scraped with a knife, one or two silver and one knife, and one hundred taels of silver is a hundred knives!" As he spoke, he took out a dagger from his bosom and threw it to Scar.

Scar was stunned for a moment, only to feel that the dagger was so hot, he tossed it in his hand a few times, but he didn't catch it, and fell to the ground, so he didn't pick it up, but looked at Fan Pauli pitifully.

"Do it!" Van Pauli shouted angrily.

"This ......" Scar's hands trembled, and he couldn't bend down for a long time.

"Fuck, you bitch!" Fan Pauli took two steps forward and kicked Scar's buttocks, who took advantage of the slope to get off the donkey, simply fell to the ground and rolled a few times, and lay on the ground screaming and couldn't get up.

"There you go!" Van Pauli turned his head to look at the triangular eyes.

"I ......" triangular eyes stammered, and he couldn't take a step.

"Don't go yet!"

Triangle glanced at Scar, cursed a few words, and stepped away with his right foot in fear, but he tripped over his left foot very "coincidentally", and then fell two feet away exaggeratedly, "nearly" hitting passers-by.

Fan Baoli gritted his teeth in anger, turned his head to look at the thick eyebrows and said, "You come!" ”

The thick eyebrows widened, and they were even more frightened.

Fan Baoli said impatiently: "I'm afraid of a fart, if something happens, Lao Tzu will atone for you!" ”

The Northern Yan Law stipulates that many punishments can be atonement by paying for money. Although Thick Eyebrows does not refine the law, he also knows that this kind of murder is not within the scope of redemption. It's just that everything is not so absolute, like this old Taoist, a homeless person, and his relatives are the apprentice who has already fled, and the little Taoist priest doesn't dare to come to the door to mess around. The death of the old Taoist priest is gone, and even the bitter master is gone, and maybe this sin can be atoned for.

Moreover, he has no way to retreat now, so he has to pick up the dagger for a glimmer of life. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the scabbard to the ground, and the cold light of the blade flowed like water. With a wave of his arm, the dagger slashed straight at the old Taoist's arm.

Just as he was about to drop the knife, the old Taoist priest suddenly opened his eyes, struggled to struggle, his thick eyebrows were caught off guard, and he was stunned by the old Taoist priest to break free. Then, the old Taoist priest was short, dodged the dagger, and ran away with his head in his hands.

"Ghost ......" thick eyebrows were startled and froze in place. The crowd of spectators were dumbfounded—how could this dead man suddenly come alive and run faster than a rabbit?

It was Fan Baoli who reacted first: "Catch him!" ”

The three of them met each other's eyes and chased after each other. As soon as they reached the edge of the crowd, the five catchers rushed into the crowd with shouts.

The two young men pointed their fingers and raised their eyebrows, and said loudly: "It's just a few of them!" ”

With a crisp sound, the leader quickly pulled out the big knife and shouted in a deep voice: "Don't kill if you are low!" At the same time, the other four catchers also drew their big knives, with a murderous awe.

The three of them with thick eyebrows tightened their hearts, and they didn't really plan to catch up with the old Taoist, so they all squatted down obediently.

Fan Baoli smiled all over his face and greeted the head catcher: "Master Zhang, misunderstanding, misunderstanding......"

"It turned out to be Young Master Fan!" Zhang Zhu quickly put away the knife, signaled the others to also collect the sharp blade, looked around, and did not find the dead body of the old Taoist.

Fan Pauli hurriedly explained.

……

On the other side, the old Taoist priest tilted his head and stumbled into a dark and narrow alley, and saw a flickering light in the distance, it was a small bonfire, the beating flames illuminated the vague outline of the surroundings, surrounded by a circle of almost empty earthen walls, in the center was a half-collapsed house, and in the center of the broken house was a broken stone statue, which turned out to be the backyard of a temple, but I don't know how many years this temple has been abandoned, and now it has fallen into this state.

Near the bonfire was a man and a dog, none other than Zhao Xinyi and the old yellow dog who had escaped before. At this moment, Zhao Xinyi hummed a few vague words, while holding a wooden stick in his hand, a fat chicken was roasted on the fire, the hot fragrance scattered and fled, the old yellow dog stared intently at the gradually golden roast chicken, and the harazi flowed to the ground.

Zhao Xin glanced at the old yellow dog and said: "Lao Huang, it's not the master, I said you, it's like this every time, when you steal chickens, you always can't do anything, but when you eat, you are not ambiguous at all!" ”

The old yellow dog was still staring at the roast chicken tightly, his eyes were green, and he was dripping with a big mouthful.

When the old Taoist priest saw this scene, he couldn't help but be angry, his feet were windy, and he couldn't wait to immediately rush to this apprentice who only cared about his own safety and kicked him a few times.

"Lao Huang, you said that the old man should not be caught and not come back, right?" Zhao Xinyi's tone was full of worry, "Will you be beaten?" What if someone breaks it this time? ”

The old yellow dog glanced at the alley with a human expression.

The old Taoist snorted coldly and scolded secretly: "Even if you little rabbit cub have a little conscience!" The anger subsided a little.

"If he really breaks people, who do you think my hard-earned wife is going to go to over the years?" Zhao Xin frowned, looking extremely serious.

Lao Daotu stepped on the air with one foot, almost fell, and was so angry that one Buddha was born and the second Buddha ascended to heaven. When he opened his mouth, he was about to scold, but when the words came to his mouth, his eyelids suddenly jumped a few times, his body suddenly straightened, his head was straightened in an instant, his face was pale, and an indescribable aura leaked out of his body, like a peerless blade hidden in a sheath.

The old yellow dog tilted his head, bared his teeth secretly, and his eyes were full of undisguised resentment.

The old Taoist priest turned to look into the depths of darkness, his eyes were deep, and he seemed to be able to see through the void and see the end of the world. The next moment, he raised his right arm, stood in the palm of his hand, and a golden light jumped out of his palm, which suddenly turned into a golden talisman and fixed in front of him, more than one person tall and three feet wide. Turning around, the old yellow dog quickly turned his head, avoiding his gaze. Zhao Xinyi was wrapping roast chicken in a piece of white linen cloth and tearing it in half, and this white linen cloth was the signboard on their bamboo flags. The old Taoist priest shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes.

"This half is ours, and the other half is reserved for the old man!" Zhao Xinyi picked out half of the size and wrapped it in linen.

The old Taoist priest smiled kindly, stepped into the golden talisman, and disappeared along with the golden talisman, leaving no trace, as if it had never existed.

Zhao Xinyi turned his head to look at the dark alley, raised his eyebrows and said, "How do you feel that the old man is back?" ”

The old yellow dog munched on the roast chicken and didn't make a splash.