Deep in the night knowing the snow

It had been raining for several days, and the carriage drove him to the outside of Jiangyin City on the evening of the second day, which was still some distance away from the city. The driver opened his mouth and asked for five taels of silver.

Mu Tangfeng weighed his purse, hesitated and got off the carriage.

There wasn't much money in the first place, and there was still a long way to go, so instead of staying in a hotel in the city, he might as well find a ruined temple nearby to stay overnight.

Wait until the rain stops tomorrow before continuing on our way.

Mu Tangfeng thanked the driver, "It's been a hard journey, so let's send it here."

The coachman looked him up and down, thinking that the scholar was really poor, so he snorted coldly, twitched his horse, and drove away in the carriage.

Some mud splashed on his body from the wheels, Mu Tangfeng watched the carriage go away, turned around with an umbrella, and walked towards a ruined temple he saw on the road.

The raindrops fell on the leaves of the loquat tree, dripped down the tip of the umbrella, and made a splash in the mud.

The night shrouded the loquat forest, and Mu Tangfeng noticed yellow-orange fruits growing between the leaves of the trees.

The wind blew the leaves rustling, and some fruits fell from the trees.Mu Tangfeng leaned over to pick up the fruits, and found a few from the leaves piled on the ground, wiped them clean with a handkerchief and wrapped them up.

The ruined temple is hidden deep in the woods, many tiles on the eaves have fallen off, and the Zhumen is leaning to one side, shaking slightly and making an ear-piercing "creaking" sound.

Moss grew on the stone steps built of blue bricks, and thin light-colored wild chrysanthemums grew in the corners of the walls.

Mu Tangfeng stepped on the blue bricks and put away the oil-paper umbrella in his hand.

There were faint candlelight flickering inside, and several long scars were broken on the face of the Buddha statue. A bit evil.

There were two men sitting in the corner of the temple. They were sitting on the futon at this time. Seeing Mu Tangfeng coming in, one of them laughed.

"The little brother also came in to hide from the rain?"

Mu Tangfeng put the umbrella in the corner, "It's a bit late to enter the city now, and I plan to rest here for the night."

The two men looked at each other and said to him, "Young Master, it's better to leave as soon as possible, don't stay in this temple for too long."

Mu Tangfeng found some straw and spread it on the ground. Hearing this, he paused with his fingertips and asked, "What do you mean, my lord?"

"This temple was originally dedicated to evil gods. Look at the Buddha statue...the front is a Buddha and the back is a ghost mother with thousands of faces."

"It's okay to stay here and rest for a while...but staying overnight...is absolutely not allowed."

Mu Tangfeng looked at the Buddha statue, and saw that the side of the original Buddha statue was much thicker than the ordinary one, and there were obviously carvings and other things behind it.

He walked towards the back of the Buddha statue, and saw that the original golden Buddha had turned into a black obsidian thousand-faced ghost mother.

On the surface of the statue is the appearance of an ordinary woman, with an extra eye on the forehead, and the eyeball carved in white seems to be blood red.There is a face on each side of the woman's profile, the front face is expressionless, and the two sides are crying and smiling at the same time.

There is insidiousness in the smile, secret joy in the cry, and contempt that seems to be a smile that is not a smile on the expressionless face.

The ghost mother raised her six arms in the air, but her body was covered with a snake's tail.

The huge black snake tail hangs down on the ground, and the scales are shining, looking lifelike.

Mu Tangfeng withdrew his gaze, the corner of his eyes glanced at the ghost mother's face, and his footsteps paused.

He seemed to see just now that the ghost mother turned her eyes and smiled benevolently at him.

Mu Tangfeng felt a little weird in his heart, pretended not to see it, and went back to the temple.

Seeing him coming, the two young masters lowered their voices, "Did you see it? That thing is very evil."

"You'd better not spend the night here... If it's really impossible, if someone calls you at night, don't answer."

"Don't open your eyes either."

Mu Tangfeng nodded. He has nowhere to go now, so he will definitely stay in this temple tonight.

"You came to Beijing to rush for the exam?"

One of the young masters looked at the scrolls exposed from his luggage, and asked him.

Mu Tangfeng took out the scroll, "Well, I came from Yecheng."

"The two of us will be picked up and taken to the city later...how about you come with us?"

The two young masters looked kind-hearted, with a tentative tone in their tone.

"No need, thank you son." Mu Tangfeng thanked the two of them for their kindness.

I don't know each other before, so it's not appropriate to trouble others like this.

"I'm only staying for one night...it should be fine."

Mu Tangfeng paused for a moment, glanced at the Buddha statue, and his eyes fell on the hidden snake tail in the corner.

I don't know if it was his illusion, but the snake's tail seemed to move slightly just now.

The two sons gave him a few more words, and there was a sound of a carriage stopping outside the temple, and the two of them stood up and bid farewell to Mu Tangfeng.

"Young master, you must be careful."

Mu Tangfeng thanked them both, and watched them leave the ruined temple.

The carriage drove towards the distance leisurely, the sound of wheels pressing on the mud gradually disappeared, the surroundings became quiet, and he was the only one left in the temple.

Mu Tangfeng took out a candle from his luggage, lit it on the candlestick in front of the Buddha statue, dripped a circle of candle tears on the ground, and welded the candle to it.

He took out the scroll from his luggage, and began to read it by the candlelight.

The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier, and the raindrops slammed on the ground like beads with broken strings. The dark clouds occasionally collided with each other and flashed a white light, and the thunder rumbled.

Mu Tangfeng read it for nearly an hour, put down the scroll, glanced at the sky outside, and untied the loquats he picked up in his handkerchief on the way.

The pale orange fruit was plump, Mu Tangfeng tasted one, it was not as sour as imagined, but it was also sweet.

He ate them one by one, putting the core on the straw on the other side, and when there were two more fruits, he put the two fruits on the ground and folded the handkerchief.

The handkerchief was embroidered with pear blossom patterns and carried a faint fragrance of pine branches.Mu Tangfeng folded the handkerchief and stuffed it into his bosom. He was about to touch the fruit on the side, but his fingertips felt icy cold.

The fruit on the ground did not know when it disappeared.

The candlelight flickered, and Mu Tangfeng's heart skipped a beat. He suppressed the numbing fear, pretended to be calm, and pretended nothing happened. He picked up the scroll and continued to read.

His eyes fell on the book, but Mu Tangfeng couldn't read the words on it.

He paid attention to the movement on the side, his heart seemed to be suspended, beating slowly, his breathing was much lighter, for fear of disturbing something.

The Zhumen was blown back and forth by the wind, "creaking——", a gust of wind came in through the crack of the door, the candlelight flickered a few times, and then suddenly went out.

A wisp of blue smoke came out of the candle wick, and the whole temple was darkened.

The scroll in Mu Tangfeng's hand fell to the ground, and the corner of his eyes flicked across the corner of the temple, and a thick black snake's tail flashed past.

He picked up the scroll from the ground, with cold sweat dripping down his back, and lit the candle in front of him with a torch.

The candle was emitting a faint light, and just as he put down the torch, the candle fell to the ground with a "snap", and the flame went out.

"laugh."

Someone blew into his ear.

There was an emptiness in the laughter, lingering in his ears like a ghost, as if something cold and greasy had touched his face.

"Sir?"

Mu Tangfeng remembered what the two sons said before they left, and quickly closed his eyes.

There was a rustling sound not far away, and Mu Tangfeng felt a suffocation coming from his mouth and nose.

It was as if someone had pulled him into the bottom of the water, and he was struggling to breathe as the icy water surged from all around him.

Something gripped his ankle, and there was a biting chill.

Mu Tangfeng opened his eyes and found that he was no longer in the ruined temple.The cold lake water on all sides drenched his whole body, he choked, coughed constantly, and struggled to swim towards the shore.

There is a pavilion not far away, willow trees are planted by the lake, and a large area of ​​peony is flourishing.

The pear blossom branches floated on the water, while Mu Tangfeng struggled to create ripples, pushing the pear blossom branches far away.

The feeling of falling at the ankle became stronger and stronger, and Mu Tangfeng felt that half of his body was so cold that he lost consciousness.He kept flapping his hands, his speed getting slower and slower, as if he saw a man by the corridor in a trance.

The man was dressed in a dark fox-patterned begonia-bordered gown, with a tall and handsome figure, his black hair slanted into his temples, and he couldn't see his face clearly, only his eyes were mostly on him.

Cold water poured into all internal organs, Mu Tangfeng's limbs became stiff, his face became paler, and he instinctively stretched out his hand to the person by the corridor.

"Help... help."

Mu Tangfeng's eyes gradually merged and became more and more blurred. He drank a big mouthful of cold water and gradually closed his eyes.

Just before closing it, he seemed to see the man coming towards him.

At this time, in the ruined temple.

Mu Tangfeng fell to the ground, his face was pale, the corners of his lips were tightly pursed, and his heart was tightly knit together.

Beside him, stood a man, the one he had seen in his nightmare.

The man was handsome and unparalleled, his expression was uneasy at this moment, the night was surging in his pair of black eyes, silvery white light glowed from his fingertips, and the ghost mother appeared in midair and knelt on the ground.

"There is no change in the merits and virtues, are you playing the deity?"

The ghost mother lowered her head tremblingly, and said, "My lord... I don't know... I cast a nightmare on him. You saved him in the illusion, and you should be repaying his kindness..."

The man gave a low laugh and murmured softly, "Trash."

He clenched his fingertips together, and the ghost mother rolled her eyes, let out a shrill scream, and disappeared on the spot.

The night wind blew in, and a corner of the man's robe was blown up. He leaned over and grabbed Mu Tangfeng's neck on the ground.

Seeing Mu Tangfeng's breathing getting weaker and weaker, the merit book in his arms flipped wildly, and a few large characters emerged.

Grace will be revenged, and there is no chance for immortality.

The man clicked his tongue and secretly said trouble.

He let go of his hand, casually picked up a futon and sat down beside Mu Tangfeng.

Mu Tangfeng woke up leisurely the next morning, and there was a man in black sitting beside him.The man in Xuanyi was as handsome as a moon, with a warm smile on his face, he bent his eyes at him when he woke up, and his tone was gentle.

"Mr. Mu, please stay safe."