Everyone owes me a favor

Behind him was the whistling sound of mist sprayed from the fire meeting the water, and the smell of burnt thatch was so strong that it could float ten miles away.

The young man sits in the upper air outlet, dips in the deep mountain spring to wash his hands briefly, and sits cross-legged with his legs braided against the water, taking the wild fire and the cries of the villagers as a background that has nothing to do with him.

"Yi" is ignorant and ignorant, just sitting beside him, picking up the belt he dropped on the stream stone, and holding it in the palm of his hand, for fear that he will disappear suddenly like when he came.

After the young man finished washing, he held his face in his hands, looked at the water as a mirror, and praised sincerely: "Ah, he is so handsome."

After finishing speaking, he turned his head and met the eyes of the plain-clothed child behind him.

He scratched his ears, his expression was not apologetic, and he just explained plainly: "People will not be burned to death. I went door to door when I came up from the back mountain. They were all participating in the sacrificial ceremony. Let go of the chickens, ducks, cattle and horses."

"One" didn't understand what he was talking about, and grabbed his belt wholeheartedly.

The boy didn't pay attention, and stood up by himself, but the belt was completely pulled off with the movement of standing up, and he suddenly ended up in loose clothes.

The boy sighed, but he didn't scold him for his rude behavior: "You like my belt?"

"Yi" regarded the thing in his hand as a part of the boy's body, and held it tightly, refusing to return it.

The boy knelt down and patted his head: "Okay, then don't move around."

After finishing speaking, he pulled up the two ends of the loose belt, wrapped it around in a circle, and bound the child's hands and feet in front of him.

The texture of the belt was quite soft, and the boy deliberately avoided letting the decorations rub against his skin.

After tying a neat flower knot, the boy made sure that he would not run away, so he picked him up horizontally, carried him to a dry place sheltered from wind and light, and placed him with another unconscious sacrifice: " Sit here obediently, don't move or shout."

"Yi" didn't quite understand what the young man was talking about.

But he really can't bark.

He has always been quiet, even when the children are going crazy together, imitating animals and shouting at the moonlight outside the window, he just sits quietly with his knees wrapped around him, observing them.

Now, "Yi" is staring at the boy with eyes that are so clear that they are not human.

The young man pondered for a moment, then groped in the storage bag, found out a crisp candy, and stuffed it in "Yi"'s palm.

"Yi" took the candy, played with it for a while, then looked up at the boy.

The boy made a movement of putting it in his mouth, and "Yi" stuffed the whole candy that was still wrapped in thick paper into his mouth.

The young man let out a sigh, quickly stopped his movement, rested his chin and meditated for a while, then took another identical crispy candy himself, and peeled off the wrapper.

"One" followed suit ignorantly.

The boy lifted the candy he had pushed aside, brought it to his lips, and licked the candy.

"Yi" also lightly tapped the candy with the tip of his tongue, tasted an unusual and special taste, only felt his tongue was saliva, sweet and delicious.

There is no need for the boy to teach him, he is like a little beast, licking the candy in small bites.

Seeing that "Yi" is really obedient and obedient, the young man rubbed his soft forehead hair, took a new misty-colored belt, tied it into a neat and thin waist, and pressed the sword on his waist , showing a dazzling bright smile to "One", threw the sugar in his hand in the air, opened his mouth to bite it, and then strode towards the village where the fire was dying.

Later, after a long time, "Yi" realized what shocking thing the boy did in that small village when he was eating candy and waiting for the boy to come back.

The boy was not in a hurry to return to the mountain village.

He hid in the dark, concentrated his energy, and used the technique of sound transmission to spread the bell-like "oracle" throughout the mountains: "My people, my son, my divine power, has achieved great success, and a mere child is no longer worth cultivating. Thirty adult strong men are required to make offerings every year, and to offer sacrifices as usual, so that we can keep you in peace and safety. This fire is a lesson for you for not obeying the instructions."

For more than ten years, the "god" has always conveyed the "oracle" to the temple, and then the temple to convey it to the people.

Many mountain people heard the voice of God for the first time, and they were horrified and inexplicable for a while, and their faces blackened by the smoke looked at each other.

They were very puzzled, they clearly made offerings every year, why would the god suddenly turn his face and set fire to the house?

The "God" seemed to know their doubts, and said leisurely: "I already know that I have met the temple celebration, isn't it because you colluded with them and planned to fool things?"

Miao Zhu was terrified to death, and before he could tell, he was surrounded by mountain people who were inexplicably angry because of the loss of their property.

The mountain people swung the rake and hoe and smashed Miao Zhu to the ground. Miao Zhu's head was bleeding instantly, and he fell to the ground moaning and mourning.

And the few words and the monstrous fire from the "God" also aroused the doubts of the "God" among the mountain people.

These mountain people who read very little have always been straightforward in their thinking:

Previously, as long as they sacrificed their children every year, they could get a good harvest. This was a good deal, after all, for them, they could have as much as they wanted.

Children will not defend themselves and protest, and even if they try to resist, they are weak and alone.

But if thirty men with their throats cut are sacrificed every year, the situation is a little different.

The adult men present were terrified beyond words, and a question that hadn't surfaced in decades since the god sacrifice began appeared in their minds:

...What kind of "god" is this?

The truth is, people are prone to muttering once disaster befalls them.

Miao Zhu, who is as angry as a silk, is picked up by the mountain people and questioned again, asking about the origin of the "god".

This person has only read some books, and he is not even considered a sour scholar. He was chosen by the "God" only because he knew some words and knew how to obey.

He was pampered and supported by the villagers for a long time. He was delicate and fleshy, and after eating two beatings, he cried to his father and mother, waving his hands and crying that he didn't know anything.

The mountain people were even more angry. They felt that they had been fooled, and they were afraid that other people would compromise with the "God", and in the end the disaster of cutting their throats and offering sacrifices would fall on them. , A smashed meal.

The ground is covered with mud and gold, and the bones of gods are turned into ashes.

Looking at the peeling paint and shattered mud skulls, and hearing the panicked screams of the imprisoned children in the inner room, those who were dazzled by anger gradually realized that the situation was not good.

Apart from other things, the supernatural power of this "god" is real.

They smashed the golden body of the "God", and once revenge is incurred...

There were also a few stunned greens yelling that if it dared to come, let it look good, but most of them were terrified, they stepped on the messy ground, their faces were dull, and their faces were ashen.

While everyone was panicking, they suddenly heard a strange voice outside the temple: "Excuse me, may I ask..."

Hundreds of long and short agricultural tools were aimed at the door, and who would have thought that the person who came was a cowardly, slender young man with a fence on his head, so he couldn't see his face clearly.

Someone boldly shouted, "Who is it? Don't be so fucking pretending!"

The young man was generous, and lifted the black veil on his head: "Uncles, I am a wandering Taoist priest, passing through the precious land, I saw thick smoke billowing on the mountain, and it seemed that there was a monster haunting it, so I went up the mountain to check it out." , what a bother..."

It is always unavoidable for people to respect clothes first and then others, not to mention the noble and dignified young man in front of him, who looks like the son of a great family, more like a fairy coming to the world than the illusory, man-eating evil god who has never met before.

As soon as they saw his face, the mountain people dispelled their doubts instantly, and heard that he was a Taoist priest, and it was like the rain after a long drought. Help out.

The culprit who set fire to the village was clearly in front of him, but the villagers didn't realize it.

The young man listened carefully, nodding seriously from time to time, and was well-mannered.

After listening, he looked around at the tearful mountain people, leaned over with his sword, and saluted: "Chang Boning, Fengling, is willing to help you solve your problems."

Not long after, the yellow sand and rocks outside were heard wildly, as if the gods were furious, and the sky was shaking with electric shocks, restless.

The "evil god", who originally planned to come to enjoy the delicacies in the middle of the night, was furious when he realized that the temple had been destroyed.

There is no human voice in the village, and it is as quiet as a mourning hall.

There was only a young man in a white shirt, sitting on the altar where the sacrificial fire was still burning, quietly wiping the sword with his "holy water".

The monster came out of the black mist. It looked like a strong and powerful man with a strong demonic energy all over his body. It was invisible to ordinary people, but people from the Taoist sect could tell it at a glance.

Seeing the appearance of the visitor's attire, the monster looked around and confirmed that there were no other monks, so he laughed strangely: "Oh, Fengling is so weak now, do you want to send a young boy to save people?"

The young man no longer had the respect and humility he showed in front of the mountain people: "I'm sorry, I'm not here to save people."

He sat on the spot, held a smooth sword flower, and smiled at the blood sect demon cultivator in front of him: "I'm here to kill people."

Moxiu didn't take it seriously, shouted "Arrogance", pushed his palm with the blood mist accumulated, and then rolled his sleeves and sneered.

With his cultivation base, facing a weakling of this age, it seems unnecessary for him to make an extra move.

Moxiu has met many Taoist boys, and has a lot of experience with their strength. If he pushes out this palm wrapped in a poisonous blood mist, even if half of his bones are not broken, he will be poisoned and die.

Unexpectedly, the crimson blood mist moved.

In the mist, two cyan and purple lights intertwine, rolling like a whirlpool, twisting and absorbing the blood mist, showing the momentum of hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea, and turned into something controlled by a young man.

The mountain people hiding in the ruins and temples were dumbfounded.

The demon cultivator was frightened and horrified, he didn't dare to neglect, he drew his sword to control his energy, and with thousands of murderous intentions, he went to kill the young man on the stage!

The young man tilted his head slightly and raised his eyebrows facing the frost blade that was stabbing straight at him.

With a clank, the swords collided.

Mo Xiu opened his eyes wide, in disbelief.

The young man is actually a fast swordsman, the sword flies like a star, leaving only an afterimage like snow, in just a few seconds, the blades of the two have already clashed more than ten times, making his wrist numb.

Fast swords are not uncommon. However, when the magic cultivator is running the magic pill, the spiritual power will inevitably overflow, and the overflowing spiritual power will be absorbed by the young man, like water meeting water, and merged into the two swords held by the young man himself. This made his sword both fast and heavy, as if the sky was about to fall and the mountain was about to be destroyed.

Moxiu realized that he had miscalculated the opponent's strength, and when he wanted to withdraw, it was already too late.

"I call the sword technique 'Return to the Market', do you know why?" The young man chased him to the front of the fog after he made a feint and merged into the black mist, and he smiled lightly, "It's to take 'Wan He Go to Return' Ruins' meaning."

Different from his relaxed voice, his sword was brilliant and fierce, the light layer broke through the flat ground, went straight into the shadow of the cloud, entered the cloud channel, and cut through the black mist.

When the blood bloomed, the boy flicked the blood beads off the sword, retracted the sword and turned around.

The two swords closed together and turned into an ordinary-looking green sword, which he held in its sheath.

The black mist dissipated, and the corpses of monsters with their heads and bodies separated were left on the ground.

The mountain people jumped out, praised the boy for being a hero, and scolded that demon for doing so much harm to people. They were completely deceived. Fortunately, there was a little fairy who saved everyone from the fire and water.

The young man received the praise frankly, before reminding them: "Where's the child?"

As if waking up from a dream, the mountain people rushed into the temple, broke the lock, and rescued the child inside.

They had been frightened for a long time, and looked at the strange faces crying and screaming, and they were numb.

Miao Zhu had already been beaten to death, and there was no way to identify the child's identity. Those who had some special birthmarks and signs were taken back by their family members. If there were no, they could only be identified according to their approximate ages, and they went home individually.

As for whether he admitted his mistake, probably only God knows.

The young man stood by the temple, with a smile on his lips, and looked at each other coldly.

The village head, who was over the age of [-], came tremblingly, bowed to the young man, thanked him for eliminating the disaster in the village, and said that in the future, he would set up a youth longevity shrine in the temple and burn incense day and night.

Among the thousands of thanks from the mountain people, the boy left his name and went down the mountain holding the sword at his waist.

When he turned his back on the villagers, a pleasant and sly gleam flashed in his eyes.

The boy only used a fire to completely kill the god who had occupied the village for many years, from the inside out that night.

He walked briskly to the halfway up the mountain, and then he remembered something, yelled that it was broken, turned around and ran back to the place where the child was hidden.

The child who was knocked out by him is no longer there. Judging by the footprints, he went back to the mountain.

But "one" is still there.

He obediently played with the ants attracted by the scent of the crispy candy wrappers with his feet. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he raised his head and stared fixedly at the person coming. He was very happy, but he didn't know how to express it. Face.

The boy untied him and asked, "Do you have any relatives in the mountains?"

"One" didn't speak.

The boy said to himself: "Come on, there is not much difference between having and not. Do you want to go home?"

"One" is still silent.

The young man's temper is not bad, and he was still able to continue talking on his own after repeated cold occasions: "I heard from the people at the bottom of the mountain that the regular sacrifices on the mountain are nine-year-old children. Are you nine years old this year?"

"One" does not deny.

"...Nine years old." The young man seemed to have remembered something, and there was a bit of worry in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by an indifferent smile.

He stretched out his hand to him: "You and I are destined. Would you like to come with me?"

"Yi" cautiously stretched out his fingertips, tapped the lines on his palm lightly, and then gave him his index finger.

The boy laughed again, pulled the child up, and carried him on his back.

A round of red sun broke through the mountains, and the sky and the earth were so clear that there seemed to be molten gold.

The young man walked quickly on the mountain path and sang loudly: "You don't want to cross the river, but you cross the river! Fell into the river and died, what's wrong with you!" He looked like a beautiful and crazy little lunatic.

However, soon, the boy lost his arrogance.

He sat at the table in the inn, staring at "Yi" opposite him.

"Do you have a name?"

"One" looked at him.

"Do you know how to read?"

"One" still looked at him.

"...Are you really unable to speak? Didn't you get scared?"

The child understood this sentence, let out a soft "ah", cleared his throat, and sang a section of the blessing song taught by the temple.

This long passage of wishing the gods is full of brilliant words, but it is a pity that it is useless.

After some tests, the young man confirmed that, except for eating, drinking, sitting and lying down, the child was no different from a small beast in other respects.

"Hmm..." The boy frowned, "Why don't you know anything."

"Yi" was not ashamed, he didn't know what kind of trouble he had caused the boy, but he was not very happy after seeing him frowning, he crossed the table, and reached out to gently rub his brow.

...Laughing, it looks good.

The young man was poked on the forehead by him, he couldn't laugh or cry for a while, he took the brush and inkstone, dipped it in the green ink, contemplated for a while, and wrote the three characters of iron hook and silver stroke on the paper, full of spirit.

...You Hongchen.

The young man bit the body of the pen in his mouth, and said vaguely and enthusiastically: "You Hongchen is just opposite to my name, free and unrestrained."

The child leaned over to read what he had written.

The boy pointed out the three characters on it to him: "You, Hong, Chen. From today onwards, I decided to give you this name. Do you like it?"

The child blinked, half understanding.

The boy tentatively called him: "Little Hongchen."

The child vaguely understood, pointed to himself, and raised his eyebrows.

"Little Hongchen?"

The child struggled to utter a syllable: "...huh?"

The teenager was sure he was a smart kid, smiled and touched his head to show his approval.

Xiao Hongchen moved his hand away from his body, pointed at the boy's chest, and poked it.

Boy: "What for?"

Xiao Hongchen pointed at himself, and at the boy.

"My name is..." The boy understood, paused for a moment, scratched his cheek unnaturally, picked up the paper with the words "You Hongchen" and shook it, coughed softly, "I... Fengling Chang Boning."

The movement of "You Hongchen" is indeed opposite to the stillness of "Chang Boning".

For the next four years, the two stayed together day and night. The child held a sincere heart and served his god. Every day was like a pilgrimage.

At first, You Hongchen imitated how the children in the village called their elders, calling him father, but the boy refused, saying that he was old enough to call him elder brother.After You Hongchen read some books, he began to call the young boy "Father".

The young man has indeed done everything his father should do, and it is not a shame to be called "foster father".

He took him to travel all over the world, taught him how to read and write, practice swords and konghou, and often took him to see theaters in Washe.

The first play You Hongchen watched in his life was "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai".On the stage, Liang Shanbo noticed that Zhu Yingtai, who was disguised as a man, had ring marks on her ears, so he asked her why.

Zhu Yingtai explained, "There is a reason for the scars on the earrings. Brother Liang, why should he be suspicious? There are many temple fairs in the village, and I play the role of Guanyin every year. Brother Liang must concentrate on making a fuss. You don't want to think about your future."

Liang Shanbo said: "I dare not look at Guanyin from now on."

While peeling melon seeds for his adoptive father, You Hongchen asked, "Father foster, why doesn't he dare to look at Guanyin?"

The boy waved his small fan and replied, "Because he has feelings for Zhu Yingtai."

You Hongchen asked: "If you have feelings, why don't you dare to look at them? I also have feelings for my foster father, and I am willing to look at my foster father every day."

The boy didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and hit him on the head with a fan: "Silly boy, how can your relationship with me be compared to this."

You Hongchen thought about it too.

In the whole world, You Hongchen doesn't believe in Buddha, ghosts, or gods, he only believes in his father-in-law.

He thought that Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai probably did not have such a deep friendship.

Later, You Hongchen separated from his adoptive father, and was taken back to the Buddhist hall by the old monk of Hanshan Temple. When he saw the lacquer, gold, plastic and colorful Buddha statues, he felt only uncontrollable disgust in his lonely heart.

Any painted golden body will remind him of his past experience in the mountains.

When he himself was a sacrifice and was imprisoned and forbidden in the mountains, he didn't feel anything, but when he thought about it, he only felt terrified.

In this way, he avoided looking at the Buddha statues all the way until he came to a Buddha statue.

He saw a Buddha's hand protruding forward in the sandalwood mist.

A clear Buddha bell rang at this moment.

In an instant, as if struck by lightning, he saw the day when he first met his adoptive father, he stretched out his hand to himself, and asked himself if he would go with him, and he put his index finger into his palm, and from then on, he stepped into the world of mortals .

You Hongchen looked up at that solemn Buddha's hand, and was momentarily fascinated by it.

Seeing that he was stunned, the old monk sang, "This is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. With the power of compassion and vows, he saves those who are about to fall and those who have already fallen out of the endless hell."

You Hongchen's shoulders trembled, he couldn't speak, he lowered his gaze, not daring to look again.

From then on, he paid homage to Ksitigarbha the most in Hanshan Temple, but he rarely dared to look directly at Ksitigarbha.

He felt that he must have something on his mind, and he didn't want to confess it to others, nor could he tell the gods and Buddhas clearly, but he couldn't tell exactly what kind of mood it was.

……

Ruyi's wandering thoughts were interrupted by Feng Ruzhi's frivolous voice: "Master, what are you thinking?"

As soon as he came back to his senses, he saw that several people had already entered the city wall of Shuisheng Ancient City, and were in the main hall of an inn.Looking at the pearl curtains and gold silk screens around, the charming proprietress, and the faint feminine fragrance in the air, one knows that this place is an elegant gold selling cave.

Haijing on the side was already blushing, staring at Ruyi, unable to utter a single word.

Feng Rugu asked again: "How is it here?"

There was nothing wrong with Ruyi's expression, he nodded slightly, showing approval.

There was already a woman on the stairs pointing to Haijing's little bald head with a smile, Haijing's face was flushed with embarrassment, and she wished she could plunge into the ground: "Little uncle... do we really live here? The Buddha will blame us... ..."

"Hey, that's not right." Feng Rugu said nonsense, "This is clearly the Buddha's test for you. Only when you enter the land of wind and moon, your heart is still like iron, and your heart is like still water for thousands of beauties, you can have the foundation of becoming a Buddha."

This rhetoric did not reassure Haijing, and Luo Fuchun and Sang Luojiu at the side were also very uncomfortable, staring at each other's shoes together.

Only Ruyi and Feng Ruyuan were very calm.

As soon as you know, this kind of Qingyin small class has visitors from all over the world and is well-informed. The daughter who plays the piano and sings music has been here for a long time, so it is extremely convenient to inquire about news.

This is what his foster father had taught him.

When traveling with his adoptive father, if he heard of evil spirits somewhere, he would definitely come to the Fengyuechang in that place and choose an elegant place to live. In less than a day, he would learn about the customs of this place, what are the legends, who is kind to people, Whoever commits a lot of crimes will definitely be caught by him.

In contrast, Feng Rugu's explanation was much less serious: "Both left and right want to stay and inquire about news. Giving rewards to Xiaoer is worse than giving money to a pleasing girl. If she is happy, I am also happy."

Luo Fuchun couldn't help grinning, with disgust on his face.

The lady proprietress handed over three delicate keys to Feng Rugu, her posture did not deliberately seduce her, but her charming tone of voice made people's hearts twitch slightly: "Master Dao, there are three upper-class rooms in total, and there are songs in the rooms. Ben, if you want to hear anything, just ask.”

Throwing one key to Luo Fuchun and Sang Luojiu, the other to Haijing, Feng Ruyuan threw the last one to Ruyi, and unexpectedly sent out an invitation: "Master, would you mind living with me?"

Like a downcast.

He thought about his adoptive father all the way, but up to now his heart is still undecided.

Since the adoptive father entrusted him to take good care of Feng Ruyuan, he should do his best.

Besides, he could see that Feng Rugu had something to discuss with him.

So he nodded, and followed Feng Rugu upstairs, leaving only Haijing holding the key with a dull expression on his face.