old grace

Xie Qinghe could understand Shangguan Shiyi's thoughts.

It is not ghosts and gods that really do evil in Xingcheng, but the greed and viciousness in the hearts of mortals.

The younger brother said that he wanted to refute the rumors, even if the legend of An Xiangu was banned, wouldn't there be Zhang Xiangu and Li Xiangu?Which city does not have a Town God's Temple?Which city does not have a Bodhisattva temple?Which city does not have ghost stories passed down from generation to generation?From ancient times to the present, witches and witches know how to use the rhetoric of confronting evil spirits and possessing bodies to share the worries and kill people for their "employers".

However, Xie Qinghe can fully understand Fu Chuan's anger.

"Yes." Xie Qinghe readily agreed.

He likes this angry junior brother very much, and he doesn't want to play against him at all.

"Let's stay in Xingcheng for a few more days, sort out several related cases, and sort out a set of external rhetoric. Either let the local Jianhu Village help spread the word, or ask the Xingcheng Order to post a notice , Let’s see when the time comes, what’s convenient and what to do.”

"Don't worry. If you have anything to discuss with me, I can handle it." Xie Qinghe comforted softly.

On the contrary, Fu Chuan was a little embarrassed: "I shouldn't be in a hurry with the elder brother."

Not to mention that Xie Qinghe was not on the mountain at that time, even if Xie Qinghe had been practicing in Hanshan, unless he came to Xingcheng to investigate the matter in person, Xie Qinghe would not be able to order the outer disciples to defy Shangguan Shiyi's order and act according to his own ideas .

It is easy to be disrespectful to the master if this topic goes too deep, Xie Qinghe and Fu Chuan tacitly stopped mentioning it.

Walking along the river for a while, the "secluded river" recorded earlier is no longer the same.

Even though the imperial court had extremely strict control over the prostitution in wild temples, the worship of Aunt An Xiangu was still very popular in Xingcheng, and it was spread up and down.

The most direct manifestation is the "Xiangu Stone" by the river. It is said that the vicinity of this stone is the place where An Xiangu ascended to immortality.

People who believe in An Xiangu will come to this big stone with incense candle offerings, burn incense and worship, and pray for their hearts.The wishes of most believers are very simple. Those who want to have a child, those who want to have a smooth delivery, those who want to have a good marriage, and those who want to be treated well by their in-laws after marriage... In the once secluded river, three or three couples came to worship together People, not to mention the turmoil, have nothing to do with "quietness".

Fu Chuan glanced at it from afar and said, "So that stone is on the river bank."

The stone left in Anjibu Village is a river stone that has been soaked in the water for a long time, and obviously has nothing to do with the big stone on the bank.

The women nearby all stared at them with strange eyes. Firstly, all three of them were very handsome, and the women who were used to seeing ugly men in troubled times were willing to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Secondly, they all knew that Aunt An would not bless men, so they were inevitably curious. Xie Qinghe and the others came here.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Xie Qinghe and Fu Chuan couldn't even talk conveniently.

There are embankments on the banks of the Xingcheng River. In winter, the water is dry, and the river rocks and silt under the embankments are exposed.Xie Qinghe walked and watched along the embankment, and stopped somewhere.Without waiting for his order, Yun Chao jumped down directly, stepped on a few outcropping sharp rocks, walked to the place where Xie Qinghe's eyes touched, and looked back at Xie Qinghe's eyes.

Xie Qinghe shook his head.

Yun Chao jumped to the side again.

Xie Qinghe just nodded.

Yun Chao stood on the river rock less than five inches square, motionless.

Fu Chuan glanced left and right: "Eldest brother, we...just wait like this?"

"Winter days are short and nights are long, and it will be dark soon. Those who come here are all female relatives, and they will rush home." There were women staring at them in all directions, and Xie Qinghe couldn't speak openly. Use the sound of mosquitoes directly into Fu Chuan's ears, "Wait a minute."

After the mosquito voice finished speaking, Xie Qinghe switched to a normal voice and asked, "Find a place to sit for a while."

Nearby there is a pavilion specially built by the noble ladies of Xingcheng to shelter from the rain and sun, and there are women sitting inside, so Xie Qinghe and Fu Chuan naturally have difficulty passing by.

Fu Chuan was looking around for a suitable place to sit down, Xie Qinghe had already taken off his jacket and spread it on the stone beside him, beckoning Fu Chuan to sit down.

Fu Chuan was startled: "Senior brother, how dare I sit on your clothes..."

Xie Qinghe had already sat down and gave him half of the seat: "You don't want to sit on my clothes, take off your clothes?"

Of course it's even worse.Fu Chuan was worried that Xie Qinghe's newly embroidered crane pattern would be suppressed while sitting on a decent chair, so he would not be willing to spread the clothes cut by the elder brother himself on the cold, hard and slippery stone.He hesitated and stood for a while, seeing that Xie Qinghe was always inviting, he still walked over and sat down next to Xie Qinghe.

The two sat here waiting for the sky to disperse. They were surrounded by women who came and went, and it was inconvenient to talk.

Xie Qinghe's meditation skills are excellent, he can sit and listen to the weather, and he can also listen to the woman praying and beseeching in front of the Fairy Girl Stone, so as to cultivate the way of the world.

Fu Chuan felt very uncomfortable, he was bored, and it was not convenient to even catch the big brother.Staring at Xie Qinghe's clothes for a while, then staring at Xie Qinghe's knees, after seeing the knees, he secretly looked at the legs, waist, and chest... Remembering that he grabbed a handful of pine nuts from Yun Chao earlier, he ate a few and didn't finish. Fu Chuan took out the pine nuts and carefully peeled them with his fingertips—knocking the pine nuts was naturally faster.He does not seek efficiency, only entertainment.

Fu Chuan's pine nuts peeled more and more slowly, and the sky gradually darkened.

This place used to be a secluded river, quite a distance from the city gate, and the women had to go back early if they wanted to get home before dark.Not only the women who came to burn the sacrifice left in twos and threes, even the women carrying baskets and selling joss sticks almost left.

Lamps and candles are extremely precious resources in any era. Women who walk around at night with lanterns are either noble ladies who call for slaves, or prostitutes who beg for life at night.The little women of the common people are usually not so well-off and decent.

In the twilight, a circle of flickering incense candles surrounded the Xiangu Stone, which became more and more clearly visible.

Seeing that the people in all directions had disappeared, Fu Chuan stuffed the peeled pine nuts to Xie Qinghe, stood up first, pulled a thick red candle from the Xiangu Stone, walked to the edge of the river bank, and asked, "Would you like to leave?" not come out?"

Yun Chao tapped the stone he was stepping on with his toe, and said, "It does want to."

This matter has nothing to do with the Yaozu, it is completely within Xie Qinghe's ability, he finds the target very quickly.When he came to the embankment and took two steps, he confirmed the original shape of the stone. Yun Chao stood on the stone and suppressed it calmly.

——If it wasn't for the broad daylight and too many women and common people at that time, there would be no need for Yun Chao to stand still until now.

Fu Chuan laughed and said, "Brother, let him come out."

Yun Chao took a step back.

At this time, there was only a ray of skylight remaining, and darkness was infiltrating silently in all directions. As soon as Yun Chao let go of his feet, the wind around him became miserable.

The whole riverside seemed to have entered another world. The river smelled fishy and swept towards the embankment. Carrion corpses climbed out of the gaps between the sharp stones on the riverside. The sound of ghost cries came from the wind, which made people Creepy.

Fu Chuan couldn't help laughing: "What do you want me to say about you? You were trampled so hard that you can't move. If you let go of your feet, you'll be a monster. If you don't understand the rules, will I kowtow to you in front of that rock?" He said, He dug and dug from his boots, took out the wet and smelly river rock wrapped in a pillow towel, and held it up for the ghosts in all directions to see, "Do you still recognize the wisp of thought you lost?"

The wind in all directions stopped, and the dark sky parted, revealing a crescent moon.

A faint shadow appeared under the moon, graceful and affectionate like a woman. When it spoke, its voice was sobbing and rough as if the wind had broken a stone. It was unspeakably strange: "You... want... how...?"

"I want to see what you are, why do you pretend to be Miss Tuo'an?" Fu said.

The shadow rustled on the ground, and it sounded like a laugh: "I... just... An Huiji."

"If you were Miss An, why didn't you show up when I sent Brother Lu to the riverside to ask about souls 16 years ago?" Fu Chuan asked.

The shadow moved again, and Quack replied: "Because...for...I...not...it's...a...soul...soul." The shadow actually tilted its head, it has no entity at all, and naturally it can't see the facial features clearly, but it has a very graceful and charming face. Female, seemed surprised and curious, "Are you...the...teacher...brother...of...a Taoist...scholar? You...are...worse...worse...than...he..."

"He," Shadow shook his head rustlingly, "find...can't...find...me."

The shadow is an elongated shape on the ground, and it can even give a blessing to the body strangely: "You... on behalf of... me... give... him... a gift. Thank you... thank you... he... buried... my... corpse... Body. Corpse...body...into...earth, I...be...safe...happy."

Fu Chuan has raised ghosts in the world of demons, and has more experience in playing with ghosts than Xie Qinghe. Of course he knows that shadows are not ghosts.

When talking with the shadow, Fu Chuan has been secretly observing.The vitality that the shadow continuously outputs is very stable. It is by no means unable to appear, but deliberately maintains the state of the shadow, so that it can slip away at any time—or, it does not want to reveal any entity, so that Fu Chuan can catch it.

"Miss An's body is buried, and you are not a soul. Then what part of Miss An are you?" Fu Chuan asked.

Shadow seemed to think this question was very interesting, and after moving around for a while, Shashasha groaned and said, "I...is...a...remembrance. I was...sinked...into...a...river...and imprisoned...in a...pig...cage...how...what? ...also...on...don't...go...time. So...hate...ah! Hate...ah..."

"Body...dead....soul...scattered...gone. I...still...in...water...."

"This...hate...difficult...to dispel, this...resentment...difficult...to repay."

The shadow rustled and groaned in a rough voice, looking quite sad.

Fu Chuan, who has always been easy to empathize with others, was unmoved by his confession, shook the river stone in his hand, and asked: "You said you were Miss An's memory, so what is this? It has nothing to do with you ? Then I smashed it?"

Shadow tilted his head again and pretended to be innocent: "Smash it... right..."

When a normal person wants to smash something, he either throws it on the ground or throws it forward.Fu Chuan was very spiritual when he smashed things. He quickly turned around, facing the "Xiangu Stone" surrounded by incense candles and yellow paper, which had received countless incenses for more than ten years, and smashed out a small river stone in his hand.

The huge Xiangu stone cracked at the sound, directly breaking into seven or eight big stones and countless small stones.

The shadow didn't even have time to scream, and disappeared without a trace in an instant.

A real figure suddenly appeared near the Xiangu Stone, with a thin body, covered with stone moss, long hair hanging down his shoulders, his face was pale and gloomy under the dim moonlight, and his appearance was even more weird. His left eye was round and small, and his right eye was long. And slender, with a bulbous nose upturned, and a bloody mouth that can't cover a mouthful of undulating teeth - anyone who looks at this face can't help but feel heartache.

Fu Chuanchang has never seen such an ugly person at his age, but it made him feel a little sympathetic: "All creations in the world have spirituality, and you are just a mere river stone. Stay away from the world and live your life well, who will care about you? You shouldn’t be arrogant, steal the position of ghosts and gods, and even eat incense from the world. Are you guilty?”

His words have been spoken very gently, and they have the meaning of forgiveness and indulgence.

As long as the stone monster confesses his sins and repents, no longer enjoys the incense of the world, and lives in the wilderness far away from human habitation, Fu Chuan can decide to forgive it.

Who knew that the stone monster didn't appreciate it at all, and roared angrily: "What crime do I have! When they killed me, you didn't come to save me, and asked them if they were guilty. When they killed those poor people, you didn't save them , ask the person who killed them if they are guilty. I am so difficult, I am so difficult, I have some strength to uphold justice, so you come to me and ask me if I am guilty! You tell me, what do I have? crime!"

Fu Chuan asked: "Who are you upholding justice for? How do you uphold justice?"

The stone monster sat up from the ground and counted with his fingers: "Shishi, a trustworthy girl, lived hard at her in-law's house and was beaten by her husband. She came to beg me to give her a gentle husband. I stuffed the stone into it." Her husband’s belly. Her mother-in-law thought she had killed her husband and wanted to kill her, so I also stuffed a few big stones into her mother-in-law’s stomach.”

"Ruan, a believer, likes her neighbor Lao Er, and begged me to give her her husband. When her husband went to build a house for someone else, I let her husband be crushed to death by the beams. Her mother-in-law would not allow her to remarry. Lao Er Er's mother was not allowed to marry her, so I beat her mother-in-law and Lao Er's mother to death."

"Mr. Mu, a believer, she is very pious. She burned a lot of joss sticks and yellow papers for me. I hope her unworthy son can be motivated and sensible, and don't let her worry about it. I can't control people's hearts and make her son motivated and sensible. I will kill him." After saving her son, she will no longer have to worry about that ignorant child."

……

The stone monster talked endlessly about its achievements, and it was full of complacency in its words, thinking that it was a good "fairy" who responded to requests.

The more Fu Chuan listened, the more he felt he was being careless.This guy is not only ugly, but also has a bad brain. It is weird enough to cheat other people indiscriminately for the sake of the believers. When it becomes crazy, it even cheats the believers who often come to worship it!

The husband is not good, kill the husband.

If the child is disobedient, kill the child.

It's hard for me to satisfy your request, life is so hard, I might as well kill you too!

"Who are you?" Fu Chuan asked suddenly.

The stone monster was saying that it helped Wenshi, a trustworthy woman, deal with the widower’s uncle. He was elated, and was suddenly interrupted by Fu Chuan to ask for his name. He was a little unhappy: "I told you, I am An Huiji. Miss An's family , Xiangu An from Xingcheng."

"Then who was talking to me just now? It was the shadow on the ground." Fu Chuan asked.

"The shadow on the ground just now, although it seems to disappear from time to time and doesn't even have an entity, it tells me that it is very organized. She also saw Senior Brother Lu, who came to the river 16 years ago to summon my soul, so it must be real. The legacy left by 'Miss An'. What about you? Who are you?"

The shadow speaks logically, and the stone monster is eye-catchingly stupid. They can never be the same "thing".

The stone monster was so questioned that he fell silent.