Regarding the mountain gods, the folk perception is generally that the gods who protect the water and soil on one side. For the people, the gods exist in the heavens and cannot speak with mortals. And their minds are very simple, offering prayers and blessings, hoping only to exchange for good weather.

But Su Yi heard Bihe mention that the real mountain god is the same as a human, a flesh-and-blood existence. He can invoke the spiritual power of the mountains and forests, and at the same time, he also has to shoulder the responsibility of guarding the mountains. It's just that Su Yi was still young at the time, so he just listened to it as a story.

Now that Cao Lingcheng mentioned this, it reminded him of it. The rise and fall of the mountain temple must have been attended by mountain gods.

On this day, Su Yi took leave from Li Bochong, brought all the items needed for incense and prayer, and came to the Xinyue Mountain Temple alone.

He lit the incense, threw paper ingots into the brazier, and then closed his eyes and calmed down. Bihe once used the same method to communicate with the mountain god, asking him to help him intercept the pursuers, and he was able to successfully escape. Now Su Yi is following her example, and she has only learned six or seven times, but she doesn't know if she can succeed.

"The mountain god... Come out... Mountain God... Where are you..."Su Yi muttered in his heart. He didn't know what Bihe said in his heart at that time, so he could only say it nonsense by himself.

Until Su Yi knelt and his legs were numb, the mountain god he was looking forward to still did not appear, and there was not even a little movement. Just as he was grumbling, the stone statue in front of him made a faint sound. Su Yi put his ear to the stone statue, and after a long time, he heard a weak and old voice from it, saying, "Little friend... Help me..."

Su Yi took a step back and said, "Senior, I'll break the stone statue and let you out." ”

The voice said anxiously, "Don't..."

Su Yi stepped forward again and shouted, "Senior!"

After a long time, the weak voice said intermittently: "You put your hand on the stone statue... Close your eyes..."

Su Yi did so, and the moment he closed his eyes, he seemed to fall into a fantasy, and he transformed into the stone statue, and his eyes slowly moved towards the outside of the temple. The speed gradually increased, and Su Yi felt that he was speeding through the forest, crossing mountains and mountains, and finally survived at the mouth of a dark cave.

Further back, Su Yi's perception returned to the Mountain Temple.

"Do you see clearly?" said the stone statue.

Su Yi tried hard to recall Fang Cai's picture, and after confirming that he remembered it, Fang replied, "See it clearly." ”

"Good... Ahem—" The voice was a little weaker.

Su Yi asked again, "Is the senior in that cave?" ”

"Watch out for bats...", the voice stopped abruptly, as if there was still something to say next.

"Senior?" Su Yi shouted twice, but seeing that there was no response, he had to give up and set off towards the stone cave.

Su Yi searched for his way through his memory, and when he found the stone cave, the sky was completely dark.

It was pitch black in the stone cave, and Su Yi lit the fire fold, only to find that although the cave entrance was small, there was a different cave inside. With only the faint light of the fire, he couldn't see the top at a glance, and it took him a lot of time to reach the end of his cautious progress.

I saw an old man leaning against the deepest wall, and Su Yi once thought that it was a corpse that was about to decompose. When he got closer, he found that it was an old man who was skinny and skinny, and looked like a skeleton.

The old man sensed Su Yi's arrival and slowly raised his head. The hollow and deep-set eye sockets looked at Su Yi, making his scalp tingle for a while. The old man's desolate appearance also made him feel uncomfortable.

"Senior?" Su Yi said tentatively.

The old man beckoned to him, his wrinkled mouth slightly open, as if he had something to say but could not make a sound.

Su Yi approached before he heard the old man's hoarse voice coming out of his throat and said, "Water..."

Su Yi hurriedly brought the water bag he was carrying to his mouth. The old man took the water bag with great difficulty and drank it in large gulps, and as soon as his lips touched the water, the chapped skin began to moisturize and heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. After a while, it spread to the whole body, and the whole person finally looked a little more angry, no longer so terrifying.

The old man drank all the water, then slowly sat up straight and said, "Thank you, little friend..."

Su Yi didn't say anything polite to him, and asked directly: "Dare to ask the senior, but the mountain god of Crescent Moon Mountain?"

The old man was a little surprised and said with a smile: "Xiaoyou knows a lot. ”

Su Yi also smiled: "How dare you break into this cave if you don't know anything." ”

The old man moved his muscles and bones and said, "Old man Yan Qibai is the god of the fallen mountain here..."

Su Yi was about to ask something more, when suddenly there was a noise in the cave, and a group of bats rushed in with fluttering wings, threw a flower deer to the ground and flew towards the top.

Yan Qibai hurriedly lowered his voice and said, "Xiaoyou, quickly put out the fire and come to my side to talk." ”

Su Yi blew out the fire, sat down beside him and said, "Senior Yan, what is that?"

"The minions of the villain Han Fei. The way I am now is all thanks to him. Yan Qibai said. Although he said it plainly, Su Yi could hear the resentment in his words.

"What should we do now?" asked Su Yi.

"I'm weak now, and I'm no match for him, and I'll have to trouble Xiaoyou to find me some more water and food, and I'll deal with him when I'm back. ”

"Leave it to me, senior. Su Yi said that he was about to leave, but Yan Qibai took his hand again and said, "Wait, that villain only goes out at night, and stays in this cave during the day." You must remember to come back after the sun goes down, otherwise you will run into that villain and your life will not be saved. ”

Su Yi agreed, and seeing that Yan Qibai had nothing to command, he slipped out of the cave.