no puppet

It's the time of the year for ear seedlings again, when the sun is in full bloom and the heat is lingering.

The warm wind seemed to be on fire, burning over the two rows of low moss-packed stone steps outside Fuze Mountain, twisting and twisting along the way, turning in the narrow and secluded alleys of the ancestral hall, and blowing crackling all the way.

Yin Chun clasped his hands together and knelt in front of the statue.

After a while of silence, Fang Shi closed his eyes, and said reverently and solemnly: "Disciple Yin Chu has been troubled by trivial matters recently, and he has not come to pay homage for a long time... I hope the god is magnanimous, so don't blame him for it."

The ancestral hall is a dilapidated narrow house made of bluestones. It had been abandoned for a long time at that time, and there were several layers of dusty cobwebs inside and out.Behind the worship mat, there were a few sticks of incense sticks of different heights scattered here and there, and now the smoke cleared, leaving only a pile of scattered white ash left in the incense burner.

The statue enshrined in the center of the ancestral hall is as tall as a person, but its facial features are already blurred, and all of them are stained with reddish-brown rust stains to mottled.

Yin Chu knelt on the worship mat for a while, then straightened up, took a bucket of clean water that had been prepared, squeezed the rag tightly, and began to clean up inch by inch along the broken base of the idol.

At this time, the surrounding area of ​​the ancestral hall was full of daylight, and two old women walked up one after the other, each holding a bulging vegetable basket. When they saw a figure flickering at the end of the dark alley, they couldn't help but widen their eyes in surprise.

One of them said: "That place, as I remember, seems to be the family's ancestral hall, where is enshrined... what kind of god?"

Another person said: "Oh, it seems that it has been abandoned for a long time. I'm afraid they can't even remember that there is such an ancestral hall in the mountain?"

"Yeah, Mr. Cheng is old now, how can he manage these things?"

"When the old man was young, he was a well-known master of exorcising evil spirits in the town! It is said that people used to see him go out to get rid of ghosts, do rituals and so on..."

"Hey, it's just a legend. How can there be so many gods and ghosts in the world? In the end, it's all just people's hearts."

People are in trouble...

It seems that there is such a reason, but when you think about it carefully, it seems that it is not.

Yin Chu lifted up the rag, and wiped the rough and rusty gold edges on the bottom of the statue with his water-stained palm, and wiped it steadily for a whole circle.

However, the moment he stretched out his arm again and unintentionally stretched towards the back of the statue—an accident happened just like that without warning.

The statue itself is thick and wide, so while wiping the dust on the front, the range between the line of sight and the rear end of the base forms a completely dead angle.

Yin Chun couldn't see what kind of tricks were in the corner, he just turned sideways, the rag in his hand hadn't touched the cobweb-covered back of the god statue, his eyes suddenly went dark, and then he slammed his face against it. Something cold and soft.

When he came back to his senses, the first thing he saw was a face with messy hair.

The figure was distorted, hanging upside down on the dusty back of the god statue. At this moment, he closed his eyes and dozed off unscrupulously—only because Yin Chu exerted force to drag the base, he was forced to reverse his posture. Accidentally brushed his lips against his sharp side cheek.

Yin Chun was startled for a moment, but quickly reacted, raised his hand numbly, and pushed aside the face that was too close.

Due to his many years of traveling and traveling abroad, he has already become insensitive to any such unexpected incidents, and he is not surprised.

What's more, the depths of the mountain forest have always been the most yin, and it is not surprising that some humanoid monsters with low abilities come out and jump around occasionally.

However, I have studied under Mr. Cheng for many years, my younger brother said he was dull and cold, and my younger sister laughed at him for being dull and paralyzed. It is not without a certain reason.

This is the case of Yin Zhen, his extraordinary composure and rationality have already torn the little curiosity and panic in his heart to pieces, and swallowed them up at the same time, leaving nothing behind.

"...Sneaky from outside, or spirits born and bred in the mountains?"

With a numb expression, he quickly pulled out a flamboyant exorcism talisman paper from his sleeve, snapped it, and stuck it impartially on the slightly pursed mouth of the monster in front of him after he had slept soundly.

"It won't be useful to live in a shrine. My master's ancestors have been famous exorcists for generations, including the god Youqing who has been enshrined in this shrine for a hundred years. He once regarded all demons in the world as things that must be eliminated."

"So just be honest, don't resist, and go to hell obediently, so that you can be reincarnated as a complete person."

As Yin Chun said, he took out a larger talisman paper from his bosom, raised his hand without any explanation, and patted the monster's heaving chest with all his strength.

All of a sudden, the dust flew, and the room was shaken with a clear and loud noise.

—However, after that, nothing happened.

On the contrary, he unintentionally looked at a mess of hair and a pair of hazy almond eyes.

It was the first time in Xie Hengyan's life that he encountered a blunt and rigid elm bump like Yin Chun who could only slap talisman papers randomly.

It was also the first time in Yin Chun's life that he encountered a strange "monster" who was not afraid to hang around the statue and doze off while hanging upside down.

Just when Yin Chun was hesitating whether to sacrifice the third piece of exorcism talisman paper, Xie Hengyan finally opened his golden mouth, and tore off the tattered thing floating with the wind on his mouth——

He hummed twice, and said, "Hey...brother, I'm hungry, what can I eat?"

So the third piece of talisman paper in Yin Chun's hand went straight forward and stuffed it into Xie Hengyan's mouth.

Xie Hengyan: "Bah, bah, what did you feed me?"

Yin Chun looked at Xie Hengyan indifferently, and said word by word: "A lost monster, is it still delusional to ask for food from humans?"

Xie Hengyan jumped forward and jumped down from the top of the statue.Until then, the long hair that had been covered by the handstand was flying around, and it was just now that under the shadow, there was an unexpectedly soft, restrained and handsome face.

Xie Hengyan stood in front of the naturally tall Yin Chun, who was a whole head shorter than him.

"Even if I use the sky-high magic spell, it's useless to me." He gently tore off the talisman paper from his chest, and stuck it between the tattered prayer mats beside him, "My lord, I'm a god... It is the real body of this idol after taking form."

He bent his long and slender knuckles arbitrarily, and tapped the rusty arm of the god statue, making three deep and long trills.

"God descends to earth, you should have something to say - young man, where is the offering? Where is the offering?"

Yin Chun remained silent and stared at him silently for more than a while.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he stuffed a whole stack of freshly baked talismans into the person's mouth, turned around and flicked his sleeves, and walked away with a bucket and rag.

Later, when I went down the mountain at night and returned home, I happened to meet my younger brother Kang Wen standing alone in the courtyard gate dealing with weeds.

Yin Chun walked over and asked him, "Where's Master?"

"The old man is getting tired and tired, so he took a rest early." Kang asked, "Did you go to the mountain to clean the ancestral hall today?"

"Well, go."

Yin Chun was just about to enter the door with a bucket in his hand, when he suddenly remembered something, and asked softly, "Recently, on Fuze Mountain, has something new moved in... Any residents you haven't seen?"

Kang Wen was taken aback for a moment, he said that he and Yin Chun, the naturally numb and unreasonable elder brother Yin, had lived together for nearly twenty years, and this was the first time he had heard him take an interest in other people's affairs.

"Don't you know? For the past six months, outsiders have been restricted from entering and exiting at the foot of the mountain, including along the town's wharf." Kang asked casually. It's a hot and chaotic season... Well, you can't, you ran into a ghost while walking, didn't you?"

"No." Yin Chun waved his hand and said helplessly, "When I was cleaning the statue during the day, I met a lunatic in the mountains."

Kang asked mockingly: "Oh... that is a ghost encounter, isn't it? Senior brother, be careful not to set yourself on fire!"

Yin Chun's face was cold, he didn't take it seriously and said, "What's causing the fire? What's going on?"

Kang Wen bared his teeth, and threatened him with all his might: "Brother, you must be careful with the doors and windows at night—"

"Kang asked!"

While talking, an old and distant voice suddenly sounded from the room: "If you talk nonsense again, I will punish you to go out and copy scriptures!"

When Kang Wen heard this, he hurriedly shut his mouth quietly, and after waiting for a while, he heard the old man in the room say again slowly: "...Chonger, come here."

Yin Chun responded lightly, bent down and put the bucket beside the stone steps, carefully adjusted his clothes, and then gently pushed open the old door in front of him a thin crack.

But seeing that the house is surrounded by four walls, it is no surprise that there are several rows of thick and thick characters carved on the inner wall of each wall, which are so terrifying that ghosts and gods can't help but retreat three points.

And among the piled up characters, an old man with gray beard and hair and wrinkled face like a dead tree was sitting impressively.

——Looking at his vicissitudes and appearance, he should be at least over a hundred years old.

In fact, this person's surname is Daofeng, and he was once one of the most powerful sect masters in Laifeng Town from Fuze Mountain to its outer reaches.

It's a pity that the years will not forgive people. In the past, Mr. Cheng, who was once famous all over the world for his achievements in expelling monsters, is now over sixty years old, and he is no longer as prosperous as he used to be.

In this life when he became enlightened, most of the things he did were good deeds that were praised by others.

When he was young, he was brave and good at fighting, and traveled all over the world, just to kill all the monsters in the world.

When he was old, he was injured and unable to do what he wanted, and people increasingly questioned his true strength in various ways.So he chose to retreat to the mountains and forests, not caring about world affairs, and concentrated on raising apprentices at home.

Among them, Yin Chun is naturally the most sensible and obedient among all his apprentices.

"Have you been to the shrine today?"

The old man's thick voice was like a bronze bell ringing at dusk.

Yin Chuan knelt on one knee not far from him, respectfully: "The statue and incense burner, including inside and outside the ancestral hall, have been cleaned. If Master wants to pay homage, he can leave at any time."