Li Longyan carried the lantern and ran towards the back mountain. When they arrived at the slope of Deshan, Wang San and Cui Wu were looking around there. Cui Wudao: "Hurry up and pick up the lantern, the snake has drilled under the dragon's head stone, and there is a hole under the stone, maybe it is its nest." Li Longyan lit the lantern and shared it with Cui Wuyi, and the three of them went to the dragon head stone to find it.

When I came closer, I saw a large clump of grass growing under the stone, and when I pushed the grass away, a hole the size of a fist appeared. Li Longyan picked up a slender branch and poked it in, stretched it halfway, and couldn't reach in. Wang San and Cui Wu asked in unison, "It's over?"

Li Longyan said: "I don't know. Perhaps the body of the cave is bent, and the branches do not bend, and they are blocked by the cave wall. ”

Wang San said: "Let's dig it out." "I took a foot-long branch from the side, put it into the hole, and pulled out the earth little by little.

Li Longyan hurriedly said: "Don't dig with a short branch! Your hand is too close to the entrance of the cave, be careful that the snake suddenly comes out and bites you." Wang San sighed, got up and threw down the branch, and took two steps back. Li Longyan poked the hole with the slender branch, but after a while, there was still no movement.

The three of them were about to discuss another way, when they suddenly heard a person behind them say, "Three little ghosts, what are you doing?"

The three of them were taken aback, and when they turned to look, they saw a person walking slowly on the hillside. The man was old, with a white beard, and a man-high cane with a large white gourd tied to the end. He walked up to him and asked with a smile, "Three children, are you catching insects?"

Li Longyan and the others saw that although they were old, their faces were ruddy, their spirits were vigorous, and their eyes were bright, which was very different from ordinary old people in the countryside. Li Longyan said: "Who are you? Are you from a foreign country?" The old man shook his head and said, "I am a passerby. Li Longyan said: "It's so late, where are you going in this barren mountain and wilderness?"

The old man's face turned blank and he said, "Little ghost, why are you asking about these things that don't matter?" What is your name?" Li Longyan said: "My surname is Li." The old man said, "Are you three from this village?" and the three of them nodded together. The old man said: "In the middle of the night, if you don't go home to sleep, what are you doing on this mountain?" Li Longyan said: "Catch the snake." ”

The old man glanced at the small hole under the dragon's head stone and said, "The snake has entered the hole?" Li Long said: "Yes, I can't get it out." The old man laughed and said, "I happen to catch snakes, let me get them out, get out of the way, and stand farther away." Li Longyan and the other three were overjoyed, and retreated together, staring at the old man catching the snake.

I saw that the old man reached into his arms, took out a small wooden box, opened it, and it was full of green powder. The old man picked a pinch with his fingernails, sprinkled it around the hole, and then used a fire breaker to light the powder.

I only heard the sound of sizzling, the green powder burned, and a thick green smoke was about to come up. The old man took a deep breath and blew the smoke towards the hole. Li Longyan and the other three people watched curiously on the side, and they all took two steps, and they also smelled the green smoke in their noses, but they felt a faint fragrance, and they smelled very comfortable.

The old man turned back and said, "Stand out of the way, and don't smoke you." Wang San said: "This smoke is very fragrant, we are not afraid!" The old man glared at him and said, "If you don't listen to the old man, you will suffer in front of you!"

Li Longyan was very smart, seeing that the old man was luring the snake with smoke, there must be something strange in the smoke, so he hurriedly pulled Wang San and Cui Wu away a few steps, but Rao was so, and the three of them still inhaled a little.

After about half a cup of tea, I heard the sound of a rope at the entrance of the cave, and a black and white snake slowly crawled out. Wang San couldn't hold his breath and shouted, "That's it, that's it!"

The old man waved his hand to silence him, picked up the short branch thrown by Wang San, and put it on the snake's head, which didn't seem to be heavy, but the snake was like an electric shock, and its body shrank suddenly, and the snake's head was already paralyzed. The old man laughed, picked up the snake with a branch, and brought it to the three of them, and said, "Dead, do you still want it?"

Li Longyan was very curious and asked, "Uncle, what kind of medicine is your green powder, which can lure that snake out on its own?"

The old man said, "Well, I can't tell you this." He shook the dead serpent to the ground in front of the three of them. Wang San Cui Wu grabbed it to pick it up, but as soon as he took a step, he only heard two sounds of "coo-dong" and "coo-dong", and the two fell down at the same time and were motionless.

Li Longyan was taken aback and shouted, "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Leaning over to check, he saw that the two of them had their eyes closed, and they didn't know who was going on, Li Longyan stretched out his hand to probe their snort, but fortunately they were still breathing. He looked up and asked the old man, "What's wrong with them?"

The old man looked at Li Longyan with a look of surprise in his eyes, and asked rhetorically: "Did you smell the smell of the smoke just now?" Li Longyan said: "I smell it." The old man's eyes were even more surprised, and he looked up at the night sky and muttered, "Strange, strange......"

Li Longyan hurriedly said: "What's strange, you quickly think of saving them!" The old man glanced at Wang San and Cui Wu, and said, "They are fine. Boy, your surname is Li, what's your name?" Li Longyan said: "My name is Li Longyan. ”

A strange light flashed in the old man's eyes, he stared at Li Longyan's face, looked at it for a while, and then asked, "Who is your master?" Li Longyan was stunned for a moment, and said, "Master, what master?" The old man showed impatience and said: "Master is the one who taught you skills, you little ghost, why don't you know anything?"

Li Longyan said: "I don't have a master...... Well, my father taught me to read and write, is it considered a master?"

The old man was stunned for a moment and said, "Reading and literacy......?" I mean, the person who taught you internal skills, passed on your anti-poison skills. ”

Li Longyan thought for a while and said, "Internal strength?...... Daddy wants me to meditate and practice qi every day, this ...... I don't know if it's your old man's internal strength?"

The old man's eyes lit up, and he said, "Meditation and Qi training? That's pretty much it! You mean, your internal skills are all taught by your father?"

Li Longyan said: "My father asked me to meditate and practice qi every day, saying that it could strengthen my body, and I did it every day, and I have never been sick over the years." Daddy said that this is the benefit of cultivating internal strength, it turns out that ...... You also call this internal strength. ”

The old man said: "Of course it is, but all the techniques of practicing qi, although there are differences in each family, can be called internal strength." ”

He looked up and down at Li Longyan with great interest, with a strange smile on his face, suddenly shook his body, approached him, raised his right palm, and pressed it on Li Longyan's shoulder. Li Longyan only felt a soft and cool force coming from his shoulder, and when he was surprised, he suddenly felt a heat in the dantian of his lower abdomen, and a stream of internal breath rose up and down, rushing towards his shoulder.

The old man sighed, withdrew his palm, his face showed surprise, and praised: "Immediately unloaded when you meet strength, amazing, amazing! With your age, it is extremely rare to be able to have such a cultivation, and your father seems to be a great master!"

"My father is not very tall! Now that I am about to catch up with him, my mother said that in another year or two, I will be taller than my father." ”

The old man laughed and scolded: "Silly boy, I mean your father is very capable, who said he is tall?"

Li Longyan smiled embarrassedly, he was thinking about Wang San and Cui Wu in his heart, and when he looked at the two of them again, he saw that although they were unconscious, they were breathing evenly, their faces were as usual, and they didn't seem to be in danger. Li Longyan said to the old man, "They are smoked by your smoke, can you cure them?"

The old man said, "You can rest assured, they are fine, they just want to sleep for a while, my Jiuxiang Powder is not a poison, what can happen?" After a pause, he said, "The medicinal power of my Jiuxiang Powder cannot be completely resolved by internal strength alone, have you eaten any special medicinal materials before, or, what kind of potion have you used to soak in a bath?"

Li Long said, "I rarely eat medicinal herbs, I rarely get sick......; Do you mean, taking a bath with medicinal water? I think there was a time when I was a child, and every time I took a bath, my father would boil the medicinal juice and add it to the water, and the medicine smelled terrible. ”

The old man nodded and said, "I see! Little ghost, your parents are not locals, are they from Jiangnan?"

Li Longyan was taken aback: "How do you know?"

The old man sighed and said: "The medicinal power of my Nine Spices Powder can only be resolved by the people of Li Jiatang in Jiangnan in the world. What's your father's name and what is he doing in this village?"

Li Longyan said: "My father has a single name and a good name, and he practiced medicine in this village and cured many patients! Speaking of his father, Li Longyan is a little proud.

When the old man heard Li Ji's name, he muttered something in his mouth, Li Longyan couldn't hear it clearly, and looking at the old man's expression, it seemed that he was surprised and a little unhappy.