Chapter 23 [Movement in the Grass]
"It's a pity that the pangolin monster ran away without all the efforts."
Porter Xie Guangan listened, lowered his head and sighed.
Responding to Lao Xie’s reaction, villager Lin Erge laughed and said:
"According to Brother Haizi, the Immortal Fang made the pangolin swear a heavy oath that he would never do evil again, so he spared its life. Since you have made an oath, you must obey it, otherwise taking the oath is no joke. "
The scholar Zhou Qing next to him focused on another place. He frowned and asked Brother Lin in a strange tone:
"This is a real fairy, you just missed it?"
"Fang Xianchang is of course a true immortal. Immortals are immortals. What's wrong with immortals?" The villagers felt very strange about the scholar's expression.
For the simple mountain people, the fact that Fang Chang is a fairy has no additional meaning except that it will make people respect him more.
The scholar was choked and remained silent for a while.
The porter next to him sighed:
"Second brother Lin, your village is really lucky. Such a catastrophe was met with an immortal and it was resolved. Such a rare event, your village does not know how lucky it is."
The villagers nodded and said:
"Who says it's not? Everyone is praising us for our good luck, but the person who should be most grateful is that Fairy Fang."
Someone asked again: "Where does that immortal live?"
"It's just behind Yunzhong Mountain, living on the top of the precipitous Xianqi Cliff, where ordinary people can't go up at all. Only some people who have been running the mountain all the year round can get there."
"But no one can go up. When I was young, the old people in the village said that there are immortals on it. Don't disturb them, otherwise there will be disasters." Brother Lin replied.
Regarding this matter, except for porters and scholars, they all regard it as a mountain village ghost story.
The porter Xie Guangan is familiar with Second Brother Lin and knows that he can't make up stories, while the scholar deduces that the matter is true.
Each expressed a few opinions on this matter, and the porter smiled and said:
"The fairy trail is hard to find, but the mountain temple in the story can't be escaped. People like me who pass by Yunzhong Mountain all the year round will pass by Linxi Village next time. If they have free time, they can go to worship the mountain **** and seek blessings when passing by. It might work.”
A few people around the fire nodded. For similar rumors, everyone always prefers to believe them.
Looking at the sky, seeing that the crescent moon has climbed up, the villagers got up and said:
"There is hay in the house to lay the bedding. Everyone is tired after traveling all day. You can consider resting early. I have to go and clean the fire and put it away, so I won't accompany you for the time being."
Then he put away the bowls, chopsticks, pots and jars, left the small courtyard, and closed the gate by the way.
Scholar Zhou Qing saw the villagers walking away, continued to shake his head and sighed: "I'm still too ignorant, these villagers don't know how to cherish such a great opportunity in front of them—"
Hearing what the scholar said, the Jianghu man who looked like a family member laughed and said:
"Not to mention whether this story is true or not, so what if you know it's a chance? If there is no such thing as fate, an ordinary person will just miss it neatly even if a **** stands in front of you. And with your body, you probably won't be able to climb up." If you go up that cliff, you might disturb the immortals, so why do you do such a thing in such a beautiful time."
The porter next to him also kindly dissuaded him, telling the scholar not to think about such dangerous issues.
The scholar nodded, agreeing with the advice of the people around him, he cupped his hands shyly and said:
"I made everyone laugh, I'm just more interested in these strange village stories."
"There is a saying in the book: Respect ghosts and gods and stay away. After reading the books of sages and sages over the years, of course it is the right way to enter Beijing to apply for the exam. It is the right way to manage the country with a family, so that you can live up to your good years."
Several people in the same company all praised it, and wished the scholar the title of the gold list.
Then the topic changed, and Xie Guangan took the lead, talking about things in a small town not far away: "Speaking of strange stories in the countryside, a lot of things have happened in Huqiao Town recently, and they are quite strange."
The old man next to him who hadn't spoken for a long time nodded slowly: "That's right, I've heard about it a little bit. Some people say it's haunted, but what exactly happened? Why did it happen?"
Porter Xie Guangan said: "Originally, I set off earlier and faster than you. When passing by Huqiao Town, I had a few conversations with acquaintances there, and then I met you and walked together—"
"He told me that the Pang Yuanwai in Huqiao Town had a series of accidents at home recently, and his animals were restless. He was looking for a mage, Wu Jie, to resolve the disaster."
"Pang Yuanwai? That's a powerful family."
"Isn't that right? The surrounding villagers complained about him, but they only dared to talk about it in private. It would be great if it spread to Pang Yuan's ears."
"Ah... the peaceful years, not everywhere peaceful..."
Scholar Zhou Qing sighed aside.
Several people shook their heads.
The old man took the lead in yawning, and said with a little lack of energy: "It's getting late, everyone, go to rest early, and we have to go together tomorrow. From here to Long'an Mansion, we have to wait until tomorrow evening."
"And sleep and sleep."
"I'm really sleepy."
"Goodnight everybody."
Walking into the house, Xie Guangan adjusted the burden of goods on his back, took out the thin bedding that he used to carry when going out, tidied up the straw on the ground, spread it out on it, and fell asleep with his clothes on.
...
…
Fang Chang was walking in the mountains with a pannier on his back.
However, he didn't bring a stone axe. He just carried a small straight-backed jade knife with him. He simply found flexible bark and made a sheath for the knife.
The wild boars that were delivered to the door before, the meat provided has been eaten, and the bones and the like have been stewed and drunk, and the bacon hanging on the firepit is still too early to be completed, so they will hunt for food recently.
The meat is still delicious.
With cooking utensils, even if it is just a clay pot, the quality of food is greatly improved.
Stewed food has a better taste and a more distinct taste layer. It is also possible to stew plants and prey together to combine a variety of eating methods.
Using the boiled animal fat, the vegetables become more delicious, not to mention the oil residue sprinkled with a little crushed salt, which makes people want to stop.
While walking, Fang Chang saw a few low plants with wild fruits on them, showing an attractive deep red color. Walking up gently, he picked off the wild fruit, no matter what it was, and put it in his mouth.
噫, too bitter.
It's full of bitterness, it's not delicious, and it's a waste of good looks.
This bitter taste is a bit like medicine, but unfortunately I don't know the type, and medicine is of no use to Fang Chang now.
Based on his current conditions, he is able to distinguish spiritual herbs.
In these days, he came across several plants, all exuding strong or weak alluring aura, Fang Changju marked the location, and prepared to pick them when they matured.
"Where to go!"
Seeing movement in the grass ahead, Fang Chang flew up and held down the prey.
This is a snow-white rabbit, an ordinary beast that looks delicious.
Dispose of the rabbit and put it in the back basket. Fang Chang is about to turn back and return. This rabbit plus some wild vegetables and tubers is enough for him to eat for two days. It is useless to catch more.
Next to it is the Mountain God Temple, which seems to have been renovated recently. Since he doesn't know whether Zhang Mountain God has recovered, Fang Chang hasn't bothered to go up recently.
There was movement again in the grass in front.
Second update~
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(end of this chapter)