debt repayment

She frowned, closed her eyes, and thought in a half-dream and half-awake state that she must have heard wrong. How could the wind outside speak human language?

"Mother—mother—"

The voice became more and more clear, and it was sent to her ears from a very far away place. Seeing that she was about to be sucked into a terrifying wave, she hurriedly woke up, sat up, and looked around in a hurry.

She made too much noise and tore off most of the quilt. Zhou Jizu murmured a few times and woke up from the cold.

Seeing his wife sitting there trembling, Zhou Jizu lazily said: "Ma'am, what's the matter? Have you had a nightmare again? It's all right, don't be afraid, go to sleep, because my husband will go to the palace to have a pilgrimage to the Holy Majesty tomorrow..."

"Husband, someone is really calling me 'mother'!" Zhou Guo held Zhou Jizu's hand tightly with his sweaty hand, "It's not a dream! It's not a dream! Listen, sir! Someone is really calling My mother!"

Zhou Jizu was a little annoyed: "Okay, go to sleep, you won't be able to hear these things when you wake up..."

"Mum—mother! Mother!—"

The weeping whimper became clearer, like an invisible thin blade, passing through the night and cold air, and reaching his ears.

Zhou Jizu froze immediately.

The wind is really howling!

Zhou Jizu is well-informed, and has never seen such absurd and weird things. Zhou Guoshi fell silent when he saw him, and quickly grabbed his sleeve: "Husband, listen, I didn't lie to you, someone really called me Mother!"

"...Madam, don't panic, go out and have a look for your husband." Zhou Jizu still had doubts about this ghostly thing, so he put on his coat on the bed, opened the door and went out.

But seeing the dark moon and high wind, the bleak wind blows off the few remaining leaves on the branches, and the dark sky covers people's heads.

The biting chill hit his face and made his hair messy, but he didn't care about it. He went straight to the side room in the outer courtyard and woke up the servant girl. There was nothing strange about the gust of wind and the weeping cries.

The voice seemed to come from a very far away place, but it also seemed to be very close. After all, the people Zhou Jizu brought were all fleshy. Hearing that strange crying sound made his scalp numb, and hurriedly went straight to the mansion to raise money. Go to the small building of the monks.

"Qin Daochang, open the door! Open the door!"

After a few inaudible footsteps, the door opened from the inside, revealing a pair of apricot-shaped black eyes in the darkness, holding a lantern to illuminate it, it turned out to be a young monk.

"What's the matter with Duke Zhou?"

Seeing that he was not in a hurry, Zhou Jizu had a stomachache, and hurriedly said, "Qin Daoist, did you hear the ghost's cry? Didn't Qin Daochang say that, just set up an enchantment on my house, the ghost Can't the filth get in?"

"Exactly."

"Then what is this screaming all over the sky?!"

Qin Daochang frowned, looked at the dark sky, and said strangely: "The wind is not unusual, there is no filth calling."

"How do you say that? Qin Daochang, you can talk nonsense..." Zhou Jizu was shocked by his innocent appearance, and thought to himself that he had raised an idiot liar, and he was angry, but suddenly felt the ghost screaming above his head. Disappeared since then.

The wind whistled in the late autumn night as before, as if it had never been mixed with mysterious and unusual sounds.

"What's going on? I just heard the voice clearly!"

"What's the sound? Duke Zhou, Pindao lives in this attic, and he didn't notice that there was a spirit of ghosts mixed into the mansion. Could it be that Duke Zhou has been busy recently and has auditory hallucinations? Zhou Gong relieves worries..."

"No, no, no! I didn't hear it wrong, there really was a voice calling!" Zhou Jizu turned his head to look at the servants and maidservants who followed, and said, "Didn't you hear the cry? You obviously heard it too, so It's where I sleep! Tell Daoist Qin that there is a real voice!"

The servant girl said: "Qin Daoist, what the master said is true. When the slaves came with the others, they clearly heard ghosts screaming in the yard! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Daoist Master, can you You have to help our master, a ghost has entered this house, and our lives will be difficult!"

"Everyone, don't panic, everyone, the enchantment set up by Pindao is still intact, which means that no ghosts and ghosts have entered the mansion. I think you can trust the power of Pindao. Please also believe in Pindao. .”

"Qin Daochang, it's not that I don't trust you, but so many ears have heard ghost screams, so it can't be everyone hallucinating together? Qin Daochang, please give me an explanation for this matter," Zhou Jizu said , "It must be given."

"Maybe it's a meowing cat," Daoist Qin pinched his fingers, showing a troubled look, "Duke Zhou, there really isn't anything unusual in the mansion."

"Impossible, Daoist Qin, please follow me to the yard for a walk."

Seeing Zhou Jizu's insistence, Daoist Qin could only sigh: "Okay."

This has the courage of an insider to walk together, and a group of outsiders returned to Zhou Jizu's courtyard in mighty force.At this time, the wind just stopped, and even the dead leaves on the trees stopped shaking. A thin air current flowed in the night, and occasionally black crows flew by. Other than that, there were no animals.

Unexpectedly, after a whole night of investigation, Qin Daochang's compass turned round and round, but he couldn't calculate the slightest ominous omen.

"It should be just the voices of wild animals or night-walking drunks. Don't worry, it's all right. If you don't believe in Pindao, go to other fellow Taoists in the mansion. The answer they give you is definitely the same as that of Pindao. "

Seeing this, Zhou Jizu thought about the cry that seemed to be nailed to his eardrums not long ago, although he still felt chills down his back, but he had no choice but to say: "I was worrying too much, thank you Daoist Qin for clarifying the confusion."

Zhou Jizu returned to the inner courtyard, and from a distance, he saw bright candles burning in the bedroom, a little bit of warm yellow light leaked through the paper between the flower windows into the night, illuminating a small piece of night in front of the house. .

Zhou Guoshi sat on the head of the bed disheveled and disheveled. Seeing him coming back, there was anger in his eyes with tears in his eyes: "Husband, what's the matter?"

"Ma'am, don't be afraid. Daoist Qin said that there is nothing unusual in the mansion. Maybe it's just the meowing of cats outside, which was carried by the wind. Don't be afraid, why did you light all the candles?"

Mrs. Zhou Guo smiled bitterly: "Naturally, I was afraid that Yingniang would come to the door. Husband, I was really afraid of that bad thing. A few days ago, I went to the palace to visit my sister, and I saw His Highness the Crown Prince again... He was so born. So lovely."

Seeing the sadness in her eyes, Zhou Jizu couldn't help sighing: "Madam, this is the end of the matter, if you don't succeed, you will be benevolent. For the sake of the family, for your sister's family, and for the sake of His Royal Highness, everything we do is worthwhile. Don't worry, since It’s not Yingniang who is here tonight, and she won’t be here in the future, Madam, let’s rest earlier.”

Zhou Guoshi nodded and blew out the lamp in his bed.

during the day.

Recently, the palace is also busy with the ceremonies of the God Worship Festival. As the head of the harem, Guo Hou has to take the concubines to clean up the old things that are no longer needed in the palace.At this time, it would not be appropriate for her to go into the palace to chat with her sister.

She hasn't seen the child these days.

Anyway, judging by the child's appearance, maybe he doesn't like her very much either.

She spent another day lonely and at ease.Unexpectedly, when she was falling asleep at night, the wind knocked against her window and rattled, and leaked into her window through the gap.

"Mother, mother... mother..."

She was suddenly terrified, as if all the blood in her body had froze.

Here it comes, again, that voice comes again!

"Mom——mother—"

Here she comes, here she comes!

It's Yingniang who's back!

Like a grasshopper on a hot pot, Zhou Guoshi pushed and slapped her husband, and exclaimed, "Husband, it's coming again! That cry is coming again!"

Zhou Jizu has been busy with the royal family and his family's ancestor worship matters these few days. He couldn't find his way out of bed as soon as he got out of bed. Now that he was woken up by her, he was a little annoyed: "What's going on?... What happened again?"

"It's Yingniang! It's Yingniang! Yingniang is here again!"

"Madam! Didn't I tell you, isn't that a ghost!"

"But, but someone is really calling..."

Let that cat meow!If it's really filth, it won't get in, so don't be afraid, go to sleep.I have to trouble you for another day on the day after tomorrow, so go to sleep. "

The husband murmured, and lazily turned over and wrapped the quilt. She was afraid and trembling, and her heart sank to the bottom of the valley.

A sleepless night.The cries outside come and go, far away in the sky, close in front of you.

Seeing that tomorrow is the festival of offering sacrifices to the gods, Zhou Guo became more and more restless.

The Festival of Worshiping the Gods is one of the most important festivals in Changming. The whole country needs to set up altars, light incense and offer gifts to worship the gods to comfort the gods.

All walks of life have their own patron saints, but no matter how they pay homage to them, they cannot avoid Emperor Xuanwen of the South.

Different from the northern emperor who is in charge of killing and killing, and the eastern and western emperors who are linked to luck and well-being, Emperor Xuanwen is gentle and sensible, and educates all living beings with virtue. The ceremony to pay homage to him does not require precious delicacies, rare beauties, and only needs to burn two sticks of incense It is enough to sincerely report the merits and demerits of the past year to the statue of the emperor.

Emperor Xuanwen's god worship ceremony is the best and most difficult to do. If the worshiper sincerely explains his faults, is not arrogant about his merits, and repents and rehabilitates his mistakes, he will be blessed by the gods; To cover up the inhuman things done, offering sacrifices to gods will not work.

Don't want your real money, as long as you have a sincere heart.

Therefore, for simple and kind people, Emperor Xuanwen is a good god; but for the unspeakable monsters, ghosts and snake gods, the descending of the gods may not necessarily be good luck.

Ordinary people dare not be disrespectful to the God and the Emperor, and the bandits don't worship him if they don't ask for his blessings and good luck.

For the monarch and various high-ranking officials and nobles, paying homage to the southern emperor is still the most important part of the festival.An old fox is an old fox, he should say what he should say, hold back what he shouldn't say, cover up so-so, and it will be over, if he can't hurt the heavens and reason, and disrespect the emperor, the old man will just open his eyes Just close one eye and reduce the blessings on this human head.

As for those secrets of deception, Zhou Guoshi and other insiders have concealed them from God for 18 years.