The Ascension of Ghosts

On the second day, Lu Sheng first visited the Wuchen Temple, and sure enough, he learned that a Taoist named Zhang Zhixuan had placed an order in the temple. He had said seven days ago that he had received a business and needed to go out for a few days, but there has been no news since then.Most Taoist priests wandering in the sky do whatever they want, Zhang Zhixuan has very little luggage, and he can travel with just one roll, so all the Taoist priests thought that he had earned enough travel expenses, so they left without saying goodbye.

Seeing Lu Sheng's question now, they all showed astonished expressions, but they didn't know Zhang Zhixuan's whereabouts at all.

Lu Sheng saw that he couldn't find any clues here, so he took the incense burner name card with him, accompanied Baili Xiao, and went to Xiao Lizhuang to stay overnight.

Xiao Li, Zhuangtou surnamed Sun, is in the prime of life, with a thin body, but his eyes are very shrewd. He has already been informed by Xie Rong, and now seeing Lu Sheng take out Xie Rong's name card, he becomes more respectful, especially for the two The military master vacated the upper room.

After Lu Sheng settled down, he first made indirect remarks and found out where the collapsed hole was, so he went to check it with Baili Xiao.

The pothole was on the edge of the field two miles away from the village, close to the hill, with a radius of about three feet. Lu Sheng looked inside, but he saw it was dark and bottomless, and there was even a trace of cold air oozing out of the hole.

He picked up another fist-sized stone and threw it into the hole. After waiting for more than ten breaths, he heard the sound of the stone falling into the water from far away in the hole.

Baili Xiao gasped and said, "This hole is more than a hundred feet deep, no wonder it can't be filled."

Without saying a word, Lu Sheng walked around the pothole, measured it with his feet, and said with a frown, "Brother Yun Chang told me about the pothole, he clearly meant that it was more than two feet in radius, but now it's a bit bigger. lock up."

Baili Xiao said: "Perhaps Zhuang Nong has poor eyesight and made a mistake in judgment."

Lu Sheng sighed: "If that's the case, that's all. I'm afraid this hole is still collapsing..."

Baili Xiao's face turned pale immediately, he stepped back again and again, a few feet away from the entrance of the cave, and whispered: "Brother Lu..."

Instead, Lu Sheng jumped vigorously by the pit a few times, and Baili Xiao called out to him in shock, "Brother Lu! Brother Lu! Be careful!"

Lu Sheng said with a smile: "It's okay, the land here is stable and there is no danger of collapse. It seems that the farmer was wrong."

Just now Bailixiao breathed a sigh of relief, but still stayed away from the deep pit. When Lu Sheng also left the place, the two of them asked the farmer for news along the way, asking if there was anything unusual.

Sure enough, those peasants were expecting Ai Ai, or talking about him from left to right, and some people mentioned that there were strange noises at night, which might be caused by wild animals, but they never mentioned the disappearance of the Taoist priest.

The two finally came to the place where the Taoist priest built the altar, and now there is no trace left. The soil is as fine as the cultivated land nearby. I handed it over to Lu Sheng for inspection: "Brother Lu, this piece of land was stained with blood about two or three days ago..." He walked a few steps along a piece of land, and continued, "Bloodstain meanders here, and then However, the traces were destroyed by the peasants and could not be found.”

Lu Sheng looked forward again, but only saw weeds and mud clods, bleak and withered, all of which had been plowed carefully, and naturally there was no trace of it.

Since they had nothing to gain, the two had no choice but to give up and return to the village.Unaware that the night was getting dark, Lu Sheng moved the square table in the guest room to the window, put the incense burner on the table, took out a thumb-sized cone-shaped black incense cake, put it in the oven and lit it.A puff of light blue smoke rises slowly, and the room is filled with a cool and refreshing fragrance. After one sniff, it refreshes the heart and cleanses the heart and soul.

Baili Xiao wondered: "Brother Lu, when did you learn the elegance and hobbies of a wealthy family, and you know how to burn incense?"

Lu Sheng coughed, and could only vaguely say: "Sister-in-law's annual gift, I haven't been able to sleep well recently, it's just to soothe my nerves."

It is true that Lu Sheng often sleeps lightly in recent days, and he is a little irritable. He went to the doctor to see him, but he couldn't find out what happened.

Baili Xiao saw it in his eyes, so he easily believed what he said, quietly went to bed, lay down with his clothes on, and only waited for the strange noise to come together before thinking about it.

Lu Sheng stood in front of the window, looking at the slightly opened window, the green smoke curled up and slowly came out of the window, because it was bedtime, the surroundings were completely silent, with occasional dogs barking and insects chirping, but it made the whole village even more empty silence.

He unconsciously felt restlessness in his heart, but he couldn't find the source, so he clenched the hilt of the sword tightly, frowning, and after a long time, he sighed, blew out the candle, and slowly lay down with his clothes off.

After an unknown amount of time, three "knock knock" knocks suddenly sounded outside the window. Lu Sheng opened his eyes suddenly, picked up his saber, got up and jumped to the window, hid behind the wall, and looked carefully.

Outside the window is the full moon, the moonlight is as white as silver, and the courtyard is glowing with a layer of blue light. There is a faint shadow of a person reflected on the paper window, and he raises his hand again, at a leisurely pace, "knock, knock, knock", He knocked on the window edge three times.

Due to the silence in the village, the sound was exceptionally clear and loud, but no one woke up, even Bailixiao was snoring like thunder, and there was no movement.

Lu Sheng quietly walked up to Bailixiao, pushed and knocked him, pinched him again, grabbed his shoulders and shook him, but there was no sign of him waking up.Lu Sheng's heart sank, and he looked at the censer in horror. Could it be that the censer was burning incense, which made Baili Xiao unconscious?

But why was he not affected at all?

When he was frowning, a hearty young man's voice sounded outside the window: "The honored guest in the room is well. I am ordering Linghu Feiyu to come and welcome the honored guest."

Lu Sheng turned back to the window, opened the window and looked out, there was a young man in green standing in the courtyard, under the moonlight, the man had a green scarf on his head, a deep coat with wide robes and wide sleeves. The inside is white, and the waist is adorned with huanggui, which is quite a legacy of the pre-Qin period.His complexion is fair and soft, and his features are gentle and elegant. On his forehead is a long and narrow prismatic red mark, suspected to be a birthmark, but it does not damage his appearance at all. Although he is a little worse than Xie Rong, he is still a rare handsome man.With a smile on the corner of his mouth, he cupped his fists and bowed deeply to Lu Sheng, "Linghu Feiyu dares to ask honorable guests?"

Lu Sheng was stunned for a moment. This young man didn't even know his last name, but he knew that he was a distinguished guest. Either he misunderstood someone or he had ulterior motives.

Lu Sheng said in a deep voice: "My surname is Xie, and the single name is Sheng. Dare I ask Mr. Linghu, why did you come here?"

Linghu Feiyu smiled gently: "It turns out that Mr. Xie is here. My master entertained the guests, and invited Mr. Xie to go with him. Don't let down the beautiful scenery of tonight."

The moon is full like a moon, and the clear light sprinkles on the top of the mountain, reflecting this ordinary courtyard as clear and quiet as a fairyland. Lu Sheng couldn't help being a little curious. This Linghu Feiyu also has an elegant temperament, which is somewhat similar to Xie Rong. .Lu Sheng simply said to wait a moment, put on his sword and cloak, pushed open the door and said, "Mr. Linghu, please lead the way. Who is your master?"

Linghu Feiyu led the way for him, and the long robe slowly swept the dew on the ground. The blue cloth was as soft and smooth as running water, and he said with a smile: "My master is named She, and his upper face is blue. To the east of Li Zhuang, the Da Wang Zhuang family has a heroic temperament and loves to host banquets. Now that Mr. Xie is invited, the saplings are so radiant, my master is overjoyed, and is looking forward to the arrival of Mr. Xie."

Lu Sheng secretly slandered him, he casually said the surname Xie, and Linghu kept thanking Mr., but he was eagerly waiting for what he said. He was so polite that he was extremely hypocritical, but he seemed sincere, not at all fake, but it was unpredictable.

He knew that too many words would lead to failure, so he didn't ask too many questions. After walking for about half an hour, he saw a magnificent house standing at the foot of a towering mountain, surrounded by walls more than ten feet high, and hanging a lamp every two feet. Green gauze lanterns, with a black Xiaozhuan script written on the lanterns, illuminate the surroundings brightly.

Several servants in brown robes opened the black door and greeted them beamingly: "The guest is here, my master has been waiting for a long time, please come in, please come in!"

Linghu Feiyu said: "The honored guest's surname is Xie."

All the young servants said in a hurry: "Mr. Xie, please! Mr. Xie is auspicious!"

Lu Sheng was surrounded and sent into the mansion.

Lu Sheng felt a little uncomfortable, but he remained calm. He followed the crowd into the door and walked through the double courtyard. Just now, he saw that there were bright lights in front of him again. Glazed ram horn palace lanterns hung along the corridor, and the five-colored lights shone brightly, illuminating the courtyard. It is so beautiful, it is as bright as the day.

The sound of silk and bamboo accompanied by melodious singing came across the rockery. Lu Sheng walked around the rockery, and saw a spacious house in front of him. At this time, several doors were all open, and there were strips of colorless veil hanging between the red lacquered columns. Cold night wind.

Illuminated by the lights, countless servants came in and out, delivering delicacies and vintage wines into the room.

The carved beams and painted buildings in that room are exquisite and luxurious. There are more than ten rows of guests, and in front of each person is a black lacquered mother-of-pearl food table, kneeling like a ceremony, facing the host.

There are two food tables for the main seat, the whole body is crystal clear and white, as if carved from a whole piece of suet white jade, and the beautiful peony pattern wrapped around the four legs of the table is decorated with gold leaf inlays. , a lady with gorgeous makeup, the desk on the left is vacant.

The servant had already rushed to report the letter, the lady hastily put down the bronze wine bottle in her hand, raised her skirt and stood up to meet her, and said happily, "Mr. There is something wrong with her appearance, sir, please don't blame me!"

When Lu Sheng heard the lady's gentle voice, calling him Mr. Xie, he felt more and more uncomfortable, but he had to bite the bullet and respond, and replied: "Xie, Xie Sheng is bothering Madam."

Hundreds of guests and servants in the room also got up, and said one after another: "It turns out that Mr. Xie has arrived, please forgive me! Welcome!"

The lady did not avoid suspicion, took Lu Sheng's arm, led him through the ranks of guests, and invited him to sit at the vacant desk on the left, which was the most honored guest seat under the host.

The servants filed up and placed all kinds of delicacies in front of Lu Sheng. The cured duck slices were delicate and bright red, the river fish was very finely chopped and piled up as white as creamy fat, the vegetable leaves were as green as emeralds, and the pearl balls boiled prawns. The roasted suckling pig is crispy and tender, and the golden and silver hooves are fragrant.Deer liver and tiger brain, bear paw and ape tongue, preserved wild boar, pheasant heart...a table full of beautiful things.Even Jianye Dafu's House couldn't display so many rare things.

After the attendant filled the wine for the guests, She Qingrong held up the three-legged bronze cup and said with a smile, "Thank you sir."

The banquet hall suddenly erupted one after another, and there was the sound of toasts from the guests, each of them shouted loudly: "...Thank you, sir."

Lu Sheng had no choice but to raise the bar and drank it all in one gulp.All of a sudden, everyone began to toast and exchange cups, pushing cups and changing cups, it was very lively.

The wine is golden yellow in color, with the scent of sweet-scented osmanthus, smooth and mellow in the mouth, but slightly bitter and astringent in taste, rushing down from the throat, immediately warming the internal organs and spreading to the limbs.

After drinking for three rounds, She Qingrong said with a cheerful smile: "Thanks to Mr. Xie's presence today, our Dawangzhuang will have a better chance of winning back the Nanjing."

An old man wearing a sky-high crown, a crane feather cloak, and three long gray beards hanging down his chest sat in the first row, cupped his hands, and said with a smile: "If the old man counts his fingers, this matter is a sure thing. Congratulations in advance to Mrs. Sheh and Mr. Xie."

Immediately, the crowd boiled over, and congratulated She Qingrong and Lu Sheng one after another.

Lu Sheng couldn't figure it out, and he didn't dare to act rashly. Holding the wine cup in his hand, he felt like sitting on pins and needles. Looking at the table full of delicacies, he lost his appetite. He was about to make up his mind to ask something, but suddenly he heard a commotion outside the hall. Xiao Pao broke in, knelt down in front of She Qingrong, and said in a panic, "Husband... madam, that monster has doubled in size, it has eaten up the two advance teams, and it is now heading towards my Dawangzhuang!"