Hearing Yu Fei'er say that he was bragging, the old man was so anxious that he couldn't say a word, and at this moment, his old wife sitting next to him spoke for him: "It's all because the old man of my family didn't make it clear, in fact, this Xishan Island has only begun to become mysterious in the last five years." Before this, there were still many boats in and out of Xishan Island, in addition to those fishermen who fish in this area all year round, those Taoist priests who practiced on the island would often sail out of the island to Suzhou City to buy daily necessities. Sometimes, those Taoist priests who went out of the island and into the city bought too many things, and they would hire some laborers on the dock to help them transport the goods, and my old man went to Naxishan Island when he was helping them transport the goods, and even went to the places where the Taoist priests used to cultivate. ”

"There are not many people who have been to Xishan Island, and even fewer can enter the cultivation places of those Taoist monks on the island, and I am one of them. When he heard his wife talk about the places where he had been to the places where the Taoist priests used to practice on Xishan Island, the old man couldn't help but rush to say, "As long as it's not the busy farming season, the old man and I will go to the wharf outside Suzhou to work as a coolie to earn a little bit of family." Those Taoist priests who came to Suzhou City from Xishan Island to buy things saw that I was honest and honest, so they often asked me to help them transport goods together, so that they had the opportunity to enter the place they used to cultivate. ”

"In this way, the old gentleman has not only been to Naxishan Island, but also visited the places where the Taoist priests on the island used to cultivate, I wonder what the old gentleman saw after entering the cultivation places of those Taoist priests?" Yu Fei'er immediately asked while the iron was hot.

"If you want to say that there is the most amazing place on this Xishan Island, it must be the cave that those Taoist priests on the island specially used for cultivation. What is that cave called? Let me think about it. The old man scratched his head vigorously, but for a moment he couldn't remember the name of the cave. So he kept talking to himself, "What did those Taoist priests say at that time? They called that cave like 'the ninth cave in the world'." ”

Hearing the name of the old man's mouth, Yu Fei'er's mind instantly appeared with a text that he had seen in an ancient book, "The Ten Great Caves of Heaven are located between the famous mountains of the earth, and are the places where the heavens send the immortals to rule, namely: the first Wangwu Cave, the second Weiyu Cave, the third Xicheng Cave, the fourth Xixuanshan Cave, the fifth Qingcheng Cave, the sixth Chicheng Cave, the seventh Luofu Cave, the eighth Juqu Cave, the ninth Linwu Cave, and the tenth Cangshan Cave. Thinking of this, Yu Fei'er couldn't help but blurt out: "What the old gentleman said about this world's junior brother Nine Caves is not the Linwu Cave?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it's called Linwu Cave. I heard from a Taoist priest who cultivated inside that there was once a dragon living in this forest house cave, and he also said that the other end of this forest house cave led straight to the heavenly realm. Old man, after listening to this Taoist priest's words, I naturally didn't believe it, if this forest house cave really led straight to the heavenly realm, they would have gone to the heavenly realm to enjoy themselves, how could they continue to cultivate here?"

"According to the records in the ancient books, this forest house cave is also known as the Heaven of the Left God's Void, it really leads straight to the heavenly realm!" Yu Fei'er said truthfully.

"Don't listen to the nonsense in those ancient books, except for a stone road leading to the back of Longdong Mountain, all the other stone roads in this forest house cave lead to the bottom of the water. If this forest house cave really leads to the Heavenly Realm, could it be that the Heavenly Realm will be below the surface of the water?"

How could the road to heaven be so simple as up and down in the direction? Yu Fei'er didn't explain much, and immediately echoed the old man's words: "Yes, yes, you can't believe all the words in the book. Since the old gentleman didn't believe what the Taoist priest said, why did he say that the forest house cave had its magic?"

"Old man, the reason why I say this forest house cave is amazing is because the temperature inside the cave is very special. In winter, although the sky outside the cave is cold and frozen, the inside of the cave is warm like spring, and in summer, although the sun outside the cave is like fire, but the cave is cool and warm, better than a fairyland on earth. ”

"This forest house cave is really a good place for my Taoist cultivation! According to the old gentleman, there is actually nothing particularly mysterious in this Xishan Island, so why did it suddenly become mysterious again?"

"It all started five years ago, when there was no flood in Suzhou. I remember that day, I was carrying goods on the docks as usual. At this time, several fishing boats came up on the dock, and immediately after that, the fishermen on the fishing boats were seen carrying several corpses ashore. The entire dock was in chaos. After some understanding, I finally learned that these dead people were actually fishermen who were fishing in Zhenze Lake. Today, as usual, they wanted to dock their fishing boats to Xishan Island to rest, but before the fishing boats could get close to Xishan Island, they were wrecked and killed, and then these passing fishing boats brought their bodies back. Since that day, the bodies of fishermen have been carried back by fishermen on other boats on the dock. Soon, rumors that people had cast spells around Xishan Island began to prevail, and since then, no one dared to approach Xishan Island again. ”

"So, those Taoist priests who are cultivating on the island can't go out of the island and go into the city to buy daily necessities?" Yu Fei'er immediately asked her own question.

"Since the Taoist chief from Longdong Mountain relieved the flooding of Suzhou City, those Taoist priests on Xishan Island no longer need to go to the city to buy goods in person, because the Suzhou prefect's yamen prepares a large number of items for them every year. Whenever the Suzhou prefect's yamen loaded the enshrined items into the boat, the island would send a special escort boat to escort them. It can be said that in the past five years, except for the ships of the Suzhou prefect's yamen to transport the offerings, no other ships can only enter Xishan Island. ”

After Wen Yiyang listened to the old man's words, the doubts in his heart were not only not solved, but even greater, so he followed the old man's words and asked: "Anyway, this disaster five years ago was solved by the Taoist master from Longdong Mountain, and it is reasonable for the Suzhou prefect to offer them some daily necessities every year, and Xiaodao does not feel that there is anything wrong. Now that Suzhou City has such a powerful Taoist to give protection, you should be happy, why do the two old men look so sad when they talk about worshiping the river god? What do you mean by 'pity for the two children'?"

"Ahem!" the old woman on the side sighed and said, "The two of us are not sad because the Suzhou Prefect's Yamen will give those Taoist priests on Longdong Mountain every year, but because of the special tribute that the Taoist chief from Longdong Mountain needs every year when he worships the river god. It wasn't a big deal that this worship event required some tribute, but in addition to the ordinary tribute, the Taoist from Longdong Mountain asked for a pair of boys and girls as tributes to the river god in Zhenze Lake. ”

"Bastard, there is such a thing! I thought this Taoist was an immortal, but now it seems that he is clearly a wicked person. Wen Yiyang took the case.

The old man hurriedly grabbed Wen Yiyang's clothes and asked him to sit down again, and then said tremblingly: "Xiaodao Chief, you keep quiet, if the people in the government hear it, it will be a big trouble." You say he is a wicked man, but he is a living immortal in the eyes of the prefect of Suzhou. To be honest, compared to the number of people who drowned in the flood, the lives of a pair of boys and girls are really not much, which is why no one in the huge city of Suzhou will stand up and say that bad word because of this incident. But on the day of the annual worship of the river god, everyone present heard the sound of the pair of children who were being sacrificed crying, and their hearts were not happy. ”

"No, I must stop this demon path!" Wen Yiyang couldn't help but stand up again.

Yu Fei'er hurriedly got up and pulled Wen Yiyang's sleeve and said, "Brother Yiyang, don't be impulsive, it's better for the two of us to go to this event of worshiping the river god with these two old men after eating breakfast." I want to see who the Taoist chief is, and what kind of god is the river god he worships? As for the Tianqing Temple in Suzhou City, it seems that we can only go one day later. ”

Wen Yiyang nodded in agreement: "Well, this is a matter of life, and the two of us can't ignore it." In case we delay our time because of this matter and miss my teaching to Elder Yuqing, then you and I will have to make another trip back to Longhu Mountain to get the treasure mirror. ”

"Well, compared to this life-threatening matter, one more trip is nothing. Yu Fei'er immediately expressed her attitude.

Seeing that the two trail chiefs insisted on going, the two old men had to remind: "Since the two trail chiefs insist on going, then go with the two of us, but the two trail chiefs must not make trouble after arriving at the worship venue, if they really anger the river god, then Suzhou City will suffer again." ”

Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang's purpose was to make trouble, but in order to make the two old men feel relieved, the two of them repeatedly said that they were just going to see and would never make trouble. In this way, after the two of them hurriedly ate breakfast, they followed the two old men all the way towards Zhenze Lake.

The two walked behind the two old men for more than an hour, and finally came to a worship site on the shore of Zhenze Lake. At this time, the people who came to the lake to worship the river god had already surrounded the worship site on the shore, but many people were still rushing here. Thanks to the fact that the officials of the Suzhou prefect's yamen at the edge of the worship site blocked the crowd that was constantly squeezing forward, otherwise the altar placed on the shore of the lake would have been squeezed into the lake by the crowd.

Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang stood in the middle of the crowd, and despite the deafening noise, they could easily distinguish a few women in the crowd crying in the noise. The two of them couldn't help but guess in their hearts that this must be the relatives of the boy and girl crying in the crowd.

At this time, I heard several officials in the hall shouting a few times: "Quiet, quiet, the worship is about to begin." ”

The crowd fell silent, and everyone's eyes widened as they looked at the altar that had been set up on the shore of the lake. Except for the cries of the women, which were heard from time to time, the whole crowd was almost silent.

The altar set up in the middle of the worship site is not complicated. In the middle was a table with a pair of red candles, an incense burner, and an unlit incense stick. In addition to these worship items, there are many ritual utensils on the table for Taoist priests to cast spells, including: blank rune paper, a bell made of copper, a peachwood sword, several flags and tokens, a pen holder with several cinnabar pens resting on it, and a small pot of cinnabar. On both sides of the altar is a row of bamboo poles, on which are hung with various Taoist curtains.

Soon, eight young Taoist priests walked out of the edge of the worship hall with peachwood swords in their hands and words in their mouths, and then walked towards the center of the altar. When they reached the table in the center of the altar, they immediately split into two groups and stood on either side of the table. Immediately after, a middle-aged Taoist leader wearing a golden robe walked out. The middle-aged Taoist leader held the dust whisk in his right hand, and stood in front of his chest with his left hand, and slowly walked to the center of the altar with the same words in his mouth.

After the middle-aged Taoist leader came to the center of the altar, he stood still in front of the table in the center of the altar. At this time, his eyes were closed, and his mouth was still thinking. After the words in his mouth were finished, the middle-aged Taoist leader opened his eyes, and at the same time waved the dust in his hand at the pair of big red candles placed on the table a few times, and actually lit the pair of big candles placed on the table.

The ordinary people who were watching didn't dare to come out for a moment, for fear that they would disturb the immortal practices. When the candle on the table was lit, the middle-aged Taoist leader immediately put the dust in his hand on the table, and then picked up the unlit incense on the table and lit it on the candle. When all the incense in his hand was lit, he inserted the incense in his hand into the incense burner in the middle of the table. Immediately after, he picked up the peachwood sword on the table with his right hand and danced, chanting incantations incantationally. As soon as the incantation in his mouth was finished, he stretched out his left hand to take the peachwood sword in his right hand, and then took out a cinnabar pen from the pen holder with his right hand, dipped it in a little cinnabar, and quickly drew a few spells on the blank rune paper on the table.

After all his preparations were completed, the middle-aged Taoist leader immediately ordered the eight young Taoist priests standing on both sides of the table: "Disciples, go and put the boys and girls into the bamboo baskets quickly. ”

With the command of the middle-aged Taoist leader, two young Taoist priests immediately stood out on both sides of the table. After responding to the middle-aged Taoist leader, the two young Taoist priests quickly took a pair of boys and girls from the hands of the two officials on the edge of the worship ground, and then walked towards the lake.

Two shelves have already been set up by the lake at this moment. Seeing their children being put into the two empty bamboo blues hanging on the top of the shelves, the cries of the women in the crowd suddenly became heartbreaking. Their cries were intertwined with the cries of the two children who were placed in bamboo baskets, like needles piercing the hearts of all the onlookers present, but none of them dared to come out to stop the worship.

As a pair of boys and girls were placed in the bamboo baskets, the two young Taoist priests immediately controlled the shelves and slowly moved the bamboo baskets towards the lake, and did not stop until the two shelves on the shore were completely facing the lake.

The middle-aged Taoist who stood in the center of the altar waited for his two apprentices to adjust the position of the bamboo basket on the shelf, quickly raised his right hand and picked up a talisman from the table and pierced it on the tip of the peachwood sword, and then used the peachwood sword in his hand to pick up this talisman and lit it on the candle flame, and then he recited the incantation in his mouth.

As the talisman on the peachwood sword was ignited, the sun in the sky suddenly seemed to lose its vitality, and the sky, which was still sunny, slowly darkened at this time.

Wen Yiyang and Yu Fei'er had already noticed this change in the sky for the first time, and they couldn't help but be shocked in their hearts. Born with a vision, there must be something strange in it, so there is really a river god in Zhenze Lake?