Nongmen Shenjue

In the middle of the main hall is a statue of a fairy, with an altar table horizontally, and the table is full of flowers and fruits.A bronze censer with three sticks of incense next to it.There is another small ebony box, which has already been opened. Inside is a red sandalwood stick and a stack of special paper the size of a palm.

The row on the left is the Tang family, the leader is the old lady of the Tang family, and the others are the masters of the direct branches.The only junior is the eldest son of the eldest son.

The row on the right is the Lou family, and the participants are also the core figures of the family.

On the futon in the middle, there are several fairy girls sitting cross-legged, four of them in each, clearly separated from each other.These eight people are candidates for fairy aunts trained by the Tang and Lou families to participate in the competition. Judging by their appearance, most of them are in their thirties. Although their appearance is not beautiful, they have a rare temperament.

When the music outside stopped, several people came from the small door at the back of the hall.

There was an old woman with silver hair in front of her. She was estimated to be in her 70s or [-]s. She walked slowly, but she didn't ask for help.Her attire is not so much the same as that of fairies, but rather similar to fairy statues, with a lotus crown, green gauze scarf, white clothes with a golden girdle, and a green cloak.Behind him are two fairies, aged in their forties, one of them is holding a sword in both hands, the appearance is exactly the same as the sword in the hand of the god.

Mu Qingyan noticed that the golden tassel on the sword was embedded with a dragon and phoenix jade ring.

Dragon and phoenix were not used indiscriminately in ancient times.

Moreover, the jade ring is simple and warm, with extraordinary texture, and the dragon and phoenix are lifelike, echoing from head to tail, showing the state of soaring.

This old woman is undoubtedly the current fairy aunt.

As soon as she appeared, everyone in the hall stood up to greet her.

Standing in front of the statue, Grandmother Xiangu took the sword with both hands, placed it respectfully in front of the altar, took three incense sticks and lit them, prayed, and put the offering on the incense burner.

People from the Tang and Lou families kowtowed to worship.

After they kowtowed three times, their foreheads rested on the ground, and they were silent for a moment before getting up in the voice of Grandmother Xiangu.

"Today is a hundred-year sacrifice, and it has been a hundred years since my family built the temple. It is not easy to build a temple, and it is not easy for the clansmen to live in peace. I hope you will cherish it." The fairy aunt's voice was low, her face was old, but her eyes were clear.

"Yes." Tang and Lou agreed naturally.

"Today is also the succession ceremony of the temple gate. The new incumbent will be selected from these eight people, and everyone will act according to the rules."

Grandmother Xiangu first took out a brochure and handed it around to everyone: "The longest of these eight people has been in the temple for 25 years, and the shortest is 18 years. Their daily behavior, management and response are all in this brochure."

It seems that this booklet is a daily inspection result, which is also counted as part of the selection.

Everyone circulated it one by one, and there was no objection.

In fact, there are eight candidates, but the two families know who is the most outstanding and sure.

"The successor of the Fairy Temple is the second in ability, and the first in character. This is the admonition and rules left by the Patriarch, and we must not abandon it." The fairy aunt mentioned the word "Patriarch" again, and then looked at the following eight people: "You can wait. Would you like to serve the Fairy Temple, be loyal and diligent, and never come back from life?"

"Yes." The eight answered in unison.

This shows that even if they lose the election, they will not return home to marry, and will still stay in the temple to serve.In the future, it will probably be like the two fairy aunts who follow the fairy aunt, they can be regarded as the head of the temple.

Grandma Xiangu held out another booklet: "These are all kinds of questions accumulated over the past thirty years. According to the rules, the content of the assessment is extracted from it. Each person is limited to ten times, and the ranking is based on the results."

The questions in this booklet are all questions from fairy girls all the time, whether they are in life, or in schoolwork, or conflicts between family and friends, and there are also questions about certain phenomena and rules in the temple. These notes are anonymously put into the box, and the box is only opened when a successor is to be elected, and the notes are copied into the book.

With so many questions, it is impossible to take them one by one, and they can only be randomly selected.

The lottery and the paper in the ebony box were taken out, and the paper would have special dark lines when facing the light. Each piece of paper had a number written on it, from "zero" to "jiu", there were ten groups in total.The paper was face up, everyone checked it was correct, then folded it and put it into the lottery holder.

At the beginning, Tang Wanmei said that the selection was witnessed by a fairy statue, which was not wrong.

Draw lots to see the numbers and choose questions, which not only checks the abilities of the fairies, but also tests luck.There are such a large number of questions, some are very simple, and some are very difficult. What kind of questions are drawn depends entirely on God's will.

This is definitely to prevent cheating.

This kind of assessment method is not bad. After all, the main role of the successor is to manage the Fairy Temple, so it is very important to deal with the problems of the fairies.

The selection rules are mysterious to outsiders, but it is not a secret to Tang and Lou who can participate.Grandmother Xiangu seldom spoke, that is to say, she spoke concisely and to the point. The entire hall was dominated by silence, and the atmosphere was somewhat solemn and depressing.

As a result, Tang and Lou were nervous, and so were the eight candidates, and the only one who seemed to stay out of it was probably Grandmother Xiangu.She had a relaxed expression and followed the steps step by step. She was nothing special to the two families and the eight fairy girls.

The first group of numbers was put into the lottery tube, and Grandmother Xiangu sealed the entrance, held it up with both hands and shook it for a few times.

"According to the rules, when two numbers are drawn for the first time, the Tang family and the Lou family will each draw one." Grandmother Xiangu put the lottery on the altar and took two steps back.

The old lady of the Tang family said, "Youhong, you go."

Tang Youhong is the eldest son of the eldest son, and the only junior of the Tang family among all the people present.

"Yes, auntie." Tang Youhong replied and walked to the altar.

This old lady who sits at the head of the Tang family is not the biological mother of the old men of the Tang family, but the direct sister of the old men of the Tang family.This Tang old lady did not stay in the temple, but she did not get married either. After the short-lived old man of the Tang family passed away, she supported the entire Tang family.Just by looking at the attitudes of several Tang masters towards her, one can know her power.Unlike the fairy aunt and mother-in-law above, this old lady Tang has a cold face, always pursing her lips, looking cold and hard to get close to.

Tang Youhong's palms were sweating nervously, he took a deep breath, and took out a folded piece of paper from the lottery holder.

Grandmother Xiangu took it, opened it, and showed it to everyone: "Three."

"Chengqi, you go." The Lou family also sent an eldest grandson.

Lou Chengqi chose "one".

"March [-]." The fairy aunt opened the booklet, and the questions on the booklet were all numbered, so she looked for them directly by the number.As for the people who answered the questions, according to the practice throughout the ages, the fairies were arranged according to the time when they entered the temple. If they entered the temple at the same time, they were arranged according to age.

Even if they were born in the same year, the same month and the same day, the exact date of birth is different.

The question was not answered on the spot, nor was it published, but was first transcribed on paper.On the paper is the serial number of the question, the person who drew the number, and the person who answered the question. These are all on the right side, and the rest of the paper is blank, like... a test paper.

This scroll was placed in front of the incense burner on the altar table, and the drawing of numbers continued.

The double numbers were drawn a total of eight times, and after each draw, a new set of paper would be exchanged.The order of extraction by Tang and Lou is also carried out alternately.

"Draw three numbers for the second time." Grandma Xiangu put two sets of numbers into the lottery container this time.

The two families took turns to draw, and set out eight papers, sorted by names and put them away.

"Draw four numbers for the third time."

……

And so on.

It is also because for more than 30 years, there are so many questions in the brochure, even if it is a little thing that a fairy worries about her appearance, it may appear on it, and the number of listed is very huge.

After ten questions were drawn for each person, the eight fairies walked to both sides of the main hall.A low futon table had been prepared there, with pens and ink on the table, four people on the left and four people on the right. The Tang and Lou families were separated.In the temple, the Tang and Lou power holders are all at the altar, far away from the fairies, and they are not allowed to turn their heads and watch.

The fairy aunt handed out the questions copied earlier to everyone, and the fairy aunts began to answer the questions.

There is a time limit for answering questions, start drawing numbers at Mao, answer questions at Maozheng, and stop writing at the beginning of Chen.

The fairy aunts handed in the papers and still couldn't move them. The papers were all received by the fairy aunt's hands and put together in a mess. The fairy aunt took a random copy and read the questions first, then the answers. You need to nod or shake your head to indicate pass or fail.

The advantage of doing this is that you don't know who the answerer is, and you can't favor yourself.

And in order to prevent the selfishness of the two families, resulting in the failure of all of them in the end, it is a rule that they cannot shake their heads three times in a row.So, no matter what you think, if you express your opinion three times, you must pass one.

Furthermore, the selection of the results of the question records the number of "passes", so even if the same question is the same, it doesn't matter if the two opinions are not unified.

Ten questions for each person, a total of [-] questions, all read out by the fairy aunt and mother-in-law alone.

The result came almost instantly.

"The first name: Tang Zhilan, passed five times. No.2, Lou Huiwen, passed four times..." Most of the other fairies tied for two or three times, and two of them failed even once, which shows the strictness of the statements of Tang and Lou. .

The Tang family didn't show joy, because there was another link.

Sure enough, I heard Grandmother Xiangu say: "In the daily assessment, Lou Huiwen is the most outstanding. According to the rules, you can make up the number of passes once, so it is a tie."

Tang and Lou's expressions moved slightly, but one was happy and the other was worried.

"Additional test: sword dance." Xian Gu Po Po said.

When Tang Zhilan heard the word "Sword Dance", her face turned pale and her body swayed slightly.

The fairies entered the temple to learn various skills and talents, and as successor candidates, they learned more.In fact, other piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, etc., as long as you know it, you don't need to be deep, but if you learn one thing well, it will definitely be a real bonus item, and it is very likely to be used in the selection.

Since ancient times, sword dances have been used in additional tests.

Since the establishment of the Fairy Temple, including this time, the successor has had a total of five times, and three times have additional tests.

Everyone knows that sword dancing is very important, but it is limited by physical conditions and talents, and it cannot be made up for by hard work and practice.Tang Zhilan knew from the beginning that unless she was exceptionally good and could leave Lou Huiwen far behind, if she was bitten too tightly by the opponent, it would be easy to have additional tests, which would be bad for her.

The Lou family was delighted because Lou Huiwen was good at dancing since childhood, especially the sword dance.

The author has something to say: emmm... sword dance, of course, is not a simple dance, it is a serious competition of skills, no referee is required.For more details, please listen to the next chapter. (Haha, there is not enough time, and there is still a tail that can't be finished.)