Wang Xue was startled, hurriedly jumped off the tree, ran to Hu Xiaochen's side, and exclaimed, "Xiaochen, what do you think?" Hu Xiaochen sat up with a wailing and said, "My butt hurts so much." Wang Xue said: "Who asked your buttocks, I asked you if you had a fall, you moved your hands and feet to see if there were any fractures." Hu Xiaochen got up as he said, walked a few steps slowly, turned his arm again, and said, "I didn't have a fracture." This python is so arrogant, I really want to compete with it. Wang Xue said: "If we are on the ground, of course we can fight with this big python, but this trunk is thick and strong, you can't even climb it, where can you fight with it?" Hu Xiaochen pulled out the token and said, "I cut down the tree." Wang Xue thought of the old mountain god she saw in her sleep, and thought that the old fairy came out of the tree, and it must be the tree god, so she rashly cut down the tree, but she couldn't stand the old fairy, so she stopped Hu Xiaochen and said: "This tree has spirituality, and we can't cut it until we have to." Let's think of another way. Hu Xiaochen snorted, but thought in his heart: "It's just a tree, how can there be any spirituality?"

But the two of them frowned and thought about it from morning until noon, and they also thought of many ideas during this time, but none of them were good ideas, the big python on the top of the tree was invincible to manpower, and it was not easy to take away the Night Soul Grass from it. In the afternoon, the two of them were hungry and hungry, and they couldn't bear it, Wang Xue carried the little dry food with him when he went up the mountain early yesterday morning, and he ate it all before last night, Wang Xue said: "Let's go down to the peak first to find something to eat, and it's not too late to think slowly after lunch." ”

The two climbed down from the peak, and Hu Xiaochen said: "The disciple knows that there are a few hunters not far from the west mountain, and we can go and ask for some food." Wang Xue said: "It's okay, you can lead the way." When they went up the mountain, they entered the mountain from the east, and then they came down from the west, and before they reached the bottom of the mountain, they saw several thatched huts in the valley. Hu Xiaochen took Wang Xue to approach the thatched house, and a hunchbacked old woman with gray hair in the house greeted her, the old woman was obviously old, her eyes were not good, she squinted her eyes and stared at Hu Xiaochen for a while, and then said slowly: "Do you have time to visit my wife today?" Hu Xiaochen said happily: "Old old woman, you have a lot of eyes!" When Wang Xue heard this, she couldn't help but be secretly amused, and thought: "Xiaochen, this child is too honest and honest, and when he sees the elders, he is so nervous that he even stutters." Although Wang Xue has had the experience of staying in the village many times, she is not a countryman after all, I don't know that there are many generations of countrymen, the old woman in front of her Hu Xiaochen is five generations, when Hu Xiaochen calls her, she should add five "old" words in front of the word "milk", he calls this old woman "old old old woman", and there are only four "old" words, and there is still one "old" that has not been called out, but it is not that he stutters.

The old woman didn't know whether she was hospitable, or she liked young people, she was very affectionate to Wang Xue and Hu Xiaochen, and she didn't wait for Hu Xiaochen to explain her intentions, and she didn't wait for him to introduce Wang Xue, so she pushed the door and pulled Wang Xue to the courtyard, invited Wang Xue to sit on the stone table in the courtyard, and said: "It's not easy for you to come over the mountains and mountains, sit down and rest, I'll pour you tea." Hu Xiaochen was not polite, and asked, "Do you have anything to eat, we didn't eat last night." As he spoke, he got up and entered the house, and grabbed two meat steamed buns and a plate of small pickles from the house to share with Wang Xue. Hu Xiaochen asked: "Why are my brothers and sisters not here, and they went up to the mountains to hunt again?" The old woman sat next to Wang Xue and said: "But isn't it, in the past two years, the bandits have made a lot of trouble, not only harming the people, but also mutilating livestock, and the birds and beasts in the vicinity are almost extinct, your brothers and sisters sometimes wander around the mountains all day, and they can't even hunt a hare, and it is becoming more and more difficult to hunt, so they have to go deep into the mountains, and they have to go back for several days every time they go in the past few months." If you want to see them, you'll have to stay with me for a few days. Hu Xiaochen said hatefully: "These bandits, I won't let them run rampant anymore." The old woman shook her hand and said: "You young people are this donkey temper, especially you, you have loved to dance with guns and sticks since you were a child, and you are not the one who suffers in any fight? ”

Hu Xiaochen thought to himself: "We are cowardly and dare not resist, and the bandits will only bully us more presumptuously." But he was a junior and a guest from afar, so it was inconvenient to argue with the old woman, so he changed the topic and said: "We went up the mountain this time to find the Night Soul Grass." A friend of mine was badly injured and needed this herb to keep him alive. The old woman sighed and said: "Returning to the Night Soul Grass, that is the legendary Divine Grass, I have lived all my life, and I have never heard of anyone seeing the Returning Night Soul Grass, in my opinion, this Soul Grass is mostly just a legend, I am afraid that there is no such Soul Grass in Yiwei Mountain, if you want to save your friend's life, you have to think of other ways." Wang Xue said: "Old woman, don't hide it, we have found this night soul grass, and it is on that peak." The old woman sighed and asked, "Is it a very big blooming wildflower?" Wang Xue said: "Exactly." Hu Xiaochen shouted to the old woman: "My old old woman, didn't you say that no one in the village has ever seen this Night Soul Grass, how do you know it?" The old woman said: "No one in the village has ever seen it." But when I was young, I heard that my grandfather and a person in the next village, at that time we called that person Zhang Laohan, when my grandfather and Zhang Laohan went up the mountain to hunt, that Zhang Laohan had seen it, but he couldn't pick the flowers at that time, so he gave his life first. Wang Xueqi said: "Why is this?" The old woman said: "It was good, Zhang Laohan saw that he was about to pick the soul grass, but he thought that a beast came out of nowhere and attacked Zhang Laohan, Zhang Laohan didn't have time to escape, and was bitten to death by the beast and eaten alive." When Wang Xue and Hu Xiaochen heard this, they were frightened in their hearts, and Hu Xiaochen said: "Legend has it that there are monsters guarding the night soul grass and not allowing mortals to pick it. ”

Wang Xue asked: "Old woman, you have been hunting for a living for generations, there must be a way to deal with the big python?" The old woman shook her head and said: "Orion has the rules of hunters, hunters go up the mountain to hunt, and they don't hunt any beasts they see, we don't dare to fight livestock like foxes and pythons, this kind of beasts are spiritual, and random harm is to be punished, hunters have always respected them as gods, where is there any way to deal with them?" Wang Xue stopped talking and thought: " This is very difficult, if you can't deal with the python, how can you save Hu Xiaochen?"

There was silence in the courtyard for a while, and after a while, the old woman said, "I heard a story when I was young. As she spoke, she took a few sips of tea from the tea bowl, it seemed that the story was very long, and the old woman wanted to drink her throat before telling the story. Wang Xue thought to herself: "We are in a hurry to save people, where is the time to listen to your story." After all, she and the old woman didn't know each other very well, so it was inconvenient to get up and leave, and quietly glanced at Hu Xiaochen, asking him to say goodbye to the old woman. But Hu Xiaochen wanted to hear the story, and his eyes were all fixed on the old woman's face, and he only waited for the old woman to tell the story after drinking tea, but Yu Wang Xue's eyes didn't see it.

The old woman said, "Legend has it that a long time ago in the village, there was a girl named Xiao Zhao, who was very handsome, like a fairy in the sky. Xiao Zhao's father has always wanted to marry Xiao Zhao to a young man named Li Erniu in the village. There are more than a dozen cows in Li Erniu's family, and he has the best life in the village, and it is rare that although this Li Erniu is wealthy, he is very honest, and he is good to his neighbors on weekdays, but it is a pity that he looks ugly, and Xiao Zhao doesn't look down on him. Xiao Zhao's father coerced and begged, saying that as long as Xiao Zhao married Li Erniu, the whole family would no longer have to worry about it in this life, anyway, the woman should marry, and it is not the same which man she marries, why choose a rich man to marry? But Xiao Zhao, this woman's temperament is also really powerful, and the man she can't look down on, she won't marry if she dies. A little beauty like her, Li Erniu naturally likes it very much, and privately told his neighbors that he will not go to Xiao Zhao in his life. This matter dragged on and on, until Xiao Zhao was in his thirties, and finally he didn't get married, Xiao Zhao's father was anxious or something, but he couldn't do it. That Li Erniu was also in his thirties at the time, he waited hard for Xiao Zhao, and he didn't marry a wife, but it is not difficult for a rich man in his thirties to marry a wife, where can an old woman in her thirties get married? Alas, it's a pity that Xiao Zhaosheng has such a good face. ”

When Wang Xue heard this, her face changed slightly, she herself is in her thirties, and she has never married. At that time, ordinary women were married as wives at fourteen or fifteen or sixteen, and there were many women who married babies and were child daughters-in-law at the age of eleven or twelve.

The old woman continued: "Xiao Zhao has never married, firstly, her father is a hindrance, and he has to force her to marry Li Erniu, whom she hates, and the second reason is that Xiao Zhao actually already has a sweetheart. This person's name is Tu Jie, and he is a well-known beautiful man in the village, but although this Tu Ring is handsome, it is a pity that his family is poor, and he is not good at cultivating land, so he often can't eat enough, and no one in the village looks down on him except Xiao Zhao. Wang Xue said: "This is not these women's, they are married to people, not livestock and grain, if you like a man, you will marry, why should you worry about whether he has food and livestock at home?" The old woman said: "This is not wrong, but the world at that time was not as good as today, at that time everyone in the village was poor, and the woman married someone to not worry about three meals a day, and to live a peaceful and stable life, as for whether the man who marries likes it or not, it is not so important." As the old saying goes, Cang Liao knows etiquette and knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing. Wang Xue said: "Okay, then what about later? Who did Xiao Zhao marry?" The old woman said: "Although Tu Jie's appearance is handsome, but his character and behavior are not good, he saw Xiao Zhaosheng's good looks, he has long had bad intentions, and finally one day, he took advantage of Xiao Zhao to go up the mountain to pick wild fruits, and quietly followed behind, until he followed to a wild meadow in the deep mountains outside the village...... Alas, Xiao Zhao has always been devoted to Tu Jie, but this little woman is too stubborn, if Tu Jie asks her to marry in a dignified manner, she is naturally willing, but Tu Jie is forced to persecute, but she would rather die than obey. Coincidentally, it was in the deep mountains and old forests at that time, and it was said that no one would pass by, but Li Erniu herded cattle that day, and he passed by over there. Li Erniu saw it and stepped forward to stop it. Tu Ring was greedy for Xiao Zhao's beauty, and he hated Li Erniu for a long time, and the two of them fought when they saw it. It stands to reason that Xiao Zhao should go back to the village to ask for help at this time, or help Li Erniu, but Xiao Zhao, the female doll, didn't know what to think at the time, she saw that Li Erniu had a good character and a wide range of wealth, but she had an ugly face, and she was handsome, but she had no wealth and no virtue, and she was disheartened, and she crashed into the rock next to her and died. Speaking of which, Wang Xue and Hu Xiaochen were dumbfounded, and they both felt in their hearts that Xiao Zhao's matter was pitiful, but Xiao Zhao's death was too ridiculous, even if the two men didn't like it, it was a big deal not to marry for the rest of their lives, so why do they have to commit suicide, both of them thought: "Xiao Zhao, this woman is really weird." The old woman said again: "Li Erniu and Tu Jie were shocked when they saw Xiao Zhao die. Li Erniu later lived in the mountains and vowed to guard Xiao Zhao for the rest of his life, and never interacted with the villagers again. It is said that since then, a good-looking big flower has been born in the deep forest, this flower is evergreen in all seasons, cattle and sheep do not eat, there are rumors that this flower is Xiao Zhao's soul incarnated, is there not a sentence called 'Huan Peikong returns to the night moon soul', the villagers named this flower the night soul grass, is looking forward to Xiao Zhao not to forget our village, but also to hope that her soul can come back in the middle of the night to see. Wang Xue and Hu Xiaochen glanced at each other, and thought in their hearts: "It turns out that this Returning Night Soul Grass still has such a poignant origin." The old woman said: "People who believe in Buddhism pay attention to the six reincarnations, isn't it rumored that there is a monster guarding the night soul grass, and the world is not allowed to approach, the villagers all guess that the soul of Tu Jie after death fell into the beast path and became a monster." Wang Xue had listened to Master Kongjing's lectures in Shaolin Temple in Henan Province in the past, and had also heard about the "Six Paths of Reincarnation", and thought: "The old mountain god I saw in my dream last night may be Li Erniu, he is loyal, and his soul has walked the Heavenly Dao in the Six Paths of Reincarnation." ”

Wang Xue saw that it was not early, and he could no longer go up to the peak to deal with the python, so he and Hu Xiaochen spent the night at the old woman's house.

On the way, Wang Xue said to Hu Xiaochen: "No matter whether the rumors are true or not, and it doesn't matter who Xiao Zhao, Li Erniu, and Tu Jie are, in short, this is the Night Soul Grass, we have to get it as soon as possible." The two walked to the bottom of the peak, Hu Xiaochen suddenly stopped, stretched out his hand and pointed not far from the mountain road, and shouted: "Master, look, there are pheasants!" Wang Xue saw that there were indeed two pheasants under the big tree in front of him, but there were many pheasants and hares in the deep mountains, Wang Xue didn't feel rare when he saw it, and asked: "What?" Hu Xiaochen said: "We have food and drink in the old man's house, and the big python on the tree is still hungry, I went to beat the pheasant and brought it to the top of the mountain to lure the big python to catch, we can take the opportunity to go to the tree to pick soul grass." When Wang Xue heard this, she was overjoyed, and she felt that this plan was very good, and clapped her hands and praised: "I can't see that your kid has a good mind." Hu Xiaochen said: "Master is waiting here, and my brother will go back when he goes." Bending down to pick up a small stone, quietly walked a few steps closer to the two pheasants under the tree, carried out the internal strength of the Wang family fist in his hand, threw the stone fiercely, and hit the top of the head of one of the pheasants, but the birds and beasts in the deep mountain and dense forest were far more alert than the birds and beasts near the village. Two pheasants fled into the grass one after the other.

Hu Xiaochen failed to succeed, felt that his martial arts were not good, and he lost people in front of Wang Xue, and his heart was crossed: "I can't catch you today!" shouted: "Don't run away if you have a kind!" Wang Xue shouted: "Don't chase, where can you catch up!" But when this sentence came out, Hu Xiaochen had already chased into the bushes. Wang Xue had no choice but to get up and follow the bushes, only two steps away, and saw Hu Xiaochen hurriedly fleeing from behind the tree in the distance, with a panicked look on his face, shouting: "Master, it's not good, Master!" Wang Xue said: "What's the matter, didn't Master Hu fight two wild pheasants?" Hu Xiaochen said: "No, Master, Huang Qiangfeng, I saw Huang Qiangfeng!" Wang Xue exclaimed: "Huang Qiangfeng, where is he?" Hu Xiaochen raised his hand and pointed behind him, and said, "There, he's here!" I saw Huang Qiangfeng and Eudoli slowly turning out from behind the tree, and Eudoli was carrying a girl bound by a thick rope in his hand, but it was Zhao Xiaocao. Zhao Xiaocao stuck out her tongue and pouted, "Master, I've been arrested." ”

It turned out that Zhao Xiaocao went down the mountain yesterday and happened to meet Huang Qiangfeng and Eudoli going out, where could her little girl be worthy of these two masters, and she was caught by Eudoli. When Huang and You saw He Shou Wu in Zhao Xiaocao's hand, they knew that she was going up the mountain with Wang Xue and others to collect medicine, so they tied Zhao Xiaocao and followed him up the mountain, catching Wang Xue off guard.

Wang Xue took out the four tokens from her arms, handed them to Hu Xiaochen, and said, "Father-in-law Huang, don't bully the little girl, you have the ability to fight with me." Huang Qiangfeng said with a smile: "Your martial arts are not higher than mine, but it is only because of the strange things in your hands that you can be rampant to this day, but I have Brother You to help, and it must not be difficult to clean you up and the kid surnamed Hu." Wang Xue knew that this was the truth, even if he had the help of the blade, he could only fight with Huang Qiangfeng to a draw, but Hu Xiaochen couldn't fight Eucaustile no matter what, and then help Huang Qiangfeng after Eucalyptus cooked Hu Xiaochen, and he decided to defeat or win, thinking that since he couldn't fight, it was better to not do it without doing it, so he laughed, put away the token, and said: "Huang Gonggong, what do you want?" Huang Qiangfeng said: "Then it goes without saying, naturally I want to kill several of you." Let me ask you, what are you doing up the mountain?" Wang Xue expected that he couldn't hide this matter, so he said, "Of course, it's to collect medicine." Chang Long was beaten by you and lay on the kang and couldn't get up, we have to find some herbs to save him. Huang Qiangfeng couldn't imagine that Chang Long didn't die until this moment after being hit by his hammer that night, and couldn't help but secretly admire, but thought that Chang Long would be seriously injured even if he didn't die, so he didn't have to pay attention to it, and said: "Hand over the medicinal materials you collected, otherwise I will kill this little girl." As he spoke, he stretched out the middle finger and index finger of his right hand and gently tapped them on the temples next to Zhao Xiaocao's ears. Zhao Xiaocao shouted, "You can kill me!" said and opened his mouth to bite Huang Qiangfeng's finger. Huang Qiangfeng turned his arm, hugged Zhao Xiaocao in his arms, and said proudly: "The little girl is in a hurry, and it won't be bad if she wants to die." If he truthfully told him that he had not picked anything except a few He Shou Wu until this moment, Huang Qiangfeng most of them did not believe it, and he was only afraid that he would raise his hand to kill Zhao Xiaocao in anger, and he had nothing to do at the moment, so he had to say frankly: "We found the Night Soul Grass, and we were about to take it." "Yu Duoli is not from the Central Plains, and he has not been here for a long time, he has never heard of the Returning Night Soul Grass, and he doesn't think about it, but Huang Qiangfeng was slightly surprised when he heard it, and said, "You found the Returning Night Soul Grass?" Wang Xue said: "Exactly." Huang Qiangfeng said: "Take me to get it." Zhao Xiaocao was puzzled in his heart: "The Night Soul Grass is a legendary thing, even if there is such a grass in the world, how can it be easily found, Master Wang Xue is probably deceiving Huang Qiangfeng, but I don't know what her plan is." She didn't know that Wang Xue was not cheating, in fact, she had really found the fairy grass.

(End of chapter)