Before leaving the temple, Yao Gou bowed respectfully before the Peacock God. He took out two apples and a pear from somewhere and placed them all on the altar, muttering to himself, "Please bless me, old man."
Then, he reluctantly left with Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian and continued to go to the back mountain.
On the way to the wedding hall, the Lu Yingjiu group also visited different temples of different sizes.
Unlike the Peacock Temple, that temple is very old, probably built many years ago, and is small in scale.
I drank a few glasses of wine at the road welcoming ceremony, and found that the gods being worshipped were all different ghosts and gods, such as Di Ting, the Sun Wandering God, the Night Wandering God, the Black and White Impermanence, etc.
The statues are lifelike.
Jing Xian stared at the statue for a while and was quite satisfied: "This statue is quite realistic, not just a random drawing."
It's really not easy to get recognition from others.
After all, he really knew this priest.
We visited several temples and had a wine reception along the way.
Some ghosts, gods or strange beasts are famous, such as Wuchang and Pixiu, and they are very popular. Even if the temple is empty now, you can still see offerings and signs of regular cleaning.
Some priests were unknown, the temple was covered with dust and cobwebs, and some roofs were leaking, allowing a beam of sunlight to shine straight down, causing dust to fly in the air.
Obviously, the competition in the ghost world is also very fierce, and only a few can become famous.
Jing Xian saw him visit every temple and asked, "Why, do you still want to find the Peacock God? Why did your dream break down?"
"Yes." Lu Yingjiu nodded.
Besides, this is just one of his goals.
Every time he visited a temple, he would stand in front of the sculptures of ghosts and gods and secretly observe their expressions.
—If Jing Xian really came across his own statue, he would definitely not remain indifferent.
They walked all the way down like this. There was something strange in the Peacock God's dream, and Jing Xian's expression was also strange.
It turns out that there are people who really come to pay their respects.
However, Lu Yingjiu thought about it again. If Jingxian was a priest who was in charge of killing, then it was normal that he was not worshipped. After all, in an ordinary small village, all they wanted was peace and happiness. With so much love and hatred in it, there was no need to build a temple to worship the God of Killing.
Since he is a priest, he should want people to offer sacrifices and worship him.
Lu Yingjiu said to Jing Xian, "Do you know that there is a team-building fund for supernatural affairs?"
"I know." Jing Xian was stunned.
Lu Yingjiu said: "After you go, I can allocate some funds to buy some paper money and gold ingots to burn for you, and also light some incense for you."
Jing Xian was stunned.
He looked around the many temples in the back mountain again, but there was no name of his. He finally understood why Lu Yingjiu said that.
While Yao Gou was walking in front, humming a song, he stretched out his arm to hold Lu Yingjiu's waist and whispered in his ear: "I don't care about those things. They are just incense and offerings. I have a lot of money, and I'm just waiting for you to marry me."
Lu Yingjiu looked at the person in front of him without changing his expression: "I am talking to you seriously. In order to compensate me for not paying you a salary, and to prove that I am a good boss, I decided to create a new industry brand. The new team-building project is for us to burn paper money together."
"Salary..." Jing Xian just remembered this and then smiled and said, "If it's salary, you have to pay me the interest."
"Of course," Lu Yingjiu calculated carefully, "Six thousand a month, now more than two months have passed..."
Before he could finish his words, Jing Xian put his arm around his waist and kissed him on the face.
Road to welcome wine:
He didn't know if it was because Jing Xian had touched him more often during this period, his hair, face, and neck were all affected. He had already achieved a preliminary desensitization to this level of kissing.
He just glanced at Yao Gou and whispered, "What's wrong with you? There is no one who can make you jealous."
Jing Xian said: "How can you pay back my salary like this? Of course you should pay it back to me somewhere else, with interest."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He suddenly felt that the future was full of danger.
The phrase "both principal and interest" sounds too bad.
Then Jing Xian held him down again and bit his neck several times.
After finally parting, Lu Yingjiu didn't know what she was feeling. She felt helpless and speechless, her face was still a little hot, but she couldn't help but laugh and said, "If my business goes bankrupt one day and I really can't pay you, I'll sell you to a nightclub. With your face and figure, earning 100,000 a month is not a dream."
"It's more than a hundred thousand," Jing Xian said confidently, "A hundred thousand a day is a small amount. Come on, come on, give me another kiss and I won't charge you any money."
Lu Yingjiu was well prepared and dodged nimbly, leaving Jingxian feeling unsatisfied.
In this way, the three of them went all the way up the mountain.
The mountain behind was not high and they soon reached the top. From a distance they could see an old house with a black roof. It must be the wedding hall that Yao Gou mentioned.
The roof of the house was broken in several places, and several tiles were missing. Weeds grew in the corners, the red paint on the door was mottled, the windows were nailed shut with wooden boards, and the door was wrapped with a hideous big chain.
At first glance, it looks like a standard haunted house.
Yao Gou panted all the way and drank most of the bottle of water. He sat on a stone in front of the wedding hall for a long time before he recovered.
He pointed to the old house and said, "This is it." He wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand and continued, "You asked me why the wedding hall is on the mountain. I can tell you now: this is because this village has a custom of ghost marriages."
"Oh, how horrible is this? I've only seen a few normal-looking ghosts, and they were either ferocious or missing arms and legs. A normal person was forced to marry a ghost. How can there be true love?"
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
There is connotation.
Jing Xian: “…”
Want to kill someone.
After all, Yao Gou had dealt with a lot of people, and seeing their expressions, he immediately knew that there was something wrong with what he had just said.
Even if he realized it, he was confused and couldn't find the problem.
- He might never have imagined that the two people in front of him were professionals in ghost marriages.
Anyway, Yao Gou laughed and quickly changed the subject, and continued: "Well, let's not talk about this. Anyway, they arranged the ghost marriage without hiring an exorcist. They just did it themselves, thinking that by marrying the girl off, they could get the ghosts to bless her."
"As you can imagine, it has no effect at all. The ghosts they summoned are all lonely ghosts. How can they have any magic power or supernatural powers? At most, they can blow the wind in the wedding hall to scare people."
"After so many years, the village was not destroyed by some evil spirit. I feel so lucky."
Lu Yingjiu knew that unless the situation was urgent, a normal exorcist would not allow a ghost marriage.
What's more, the villagers are all ordinary people. If they come into contact with this thing, they will inevitably attract strange things, which will ruin the lives of those who are getting married.
He said: "Fortunately, this wedding hall has been abandoned."
"Yes." Yao Gou nodded, "It was also thanks to the exorcist in that village. He told the villagers to stop ghost marriages immediately, and then built the Peacock Temple."
"Is he also the exorcist named Chu?" Lu Yingjiu asked.
Yao Gou also nodded: "Yes. He can definitely be regarded as a great benefactor of the village. In my opinion, the village should build a temple for him and worship him."
He shook his head and continued, "It's a pity that he has an honest style and does good deeds without leaving a name. He has been in the village for such a long time, but no one knows his real name and calls him Master Chu."
Lu Yingjiu thought to himself, that's quite strange.
He usually keeps a low profile and often does not leave his name. So if he has lived in this village for a year or two and no one knows his name, it is indeed very abnormal.
Yao Gou rested well and stood up again: "Let's go, let's go."
He walked over first, took out a rusty key given by the village from his waist bag, and fiddled with the padlock.
A few seconds later, the padlock fell to the ground, and the metal made a loud noise. Yao Gou fiddled with the chain again, pulling it all off, and finally opened the door.
“Squeak—”
The wooden door was opened with a scream. Yao Gou coughed several times and pointed inside the house: "Let's take a look around. This house is not big."
Lu Yingjiu nodded, and the three of them went into the house.
Yao Gou brought a flashlight and gave one to each person, shining it into the house.
The first thing you see is the worship hall, which was originally decorated with red gauze, but because of the passage of time, it has all fallen to the ground and is dirty and in tatters. In addition, there is a table covered with an old red cloth and an empty red candlestick.
The window next to it was sealed shut.
As the wedding banquet was over, I could vaguely imagine how the cold wind would violently hit the windows, lift the curtains, and then blow out all the bright red candles in the room, leaving the room full of coldness and darkness every time the bride bowed deeply.
Yao Gou said with great joy: "Wait till I ask them to clean up this place, and then we can get married."
Lu Yingjiu asked him: "Xiao, what is the specific reason why you want to hold a wedding?"
Although he asked this question, after understanding the situation, Lu Yingjiu probably understood Yao Gou's idea:
First, things that are extremely joyful or extremely sad are very likely to attract ghosts, and weddings are naturally considered as extremely joyful events;
Second, there are different ways to deal with different ghosts. For example, if a baby who died young becomes a ghost, and if it does not show up for a long time, the exorcist will set up a ceremony such as a hundred-day banquet, or let the baby's mother stand on the top of the mountain at midnight and call out the child's name loudly...
In short, it is better to do things that are closely related to ghosts.
Since He Wanbai was deceived into getting married, the wedding is somewhat related to her, which might anger her and make her show up.
"Oh," Yao Gou replied, "I was thinking that she had been sold. If we show her a happy marriage, she will definitely be very touched and turn over a new leaf immediately."
Lu Yingjiu: “…?”
Lu Yingjiu held his forehead and said, "No, no matter how you think about it, she will be angry. You can't use human thinking to speculate about ghosts. Almost all ghosts, as long as they have resentment in their hearts, will be jealous and angry when they encounter other people's happy things."
"No!" Yao Gou was immersed in his own world. "You and Master Jing are so loving and perfect for each other. I would definitely be moved! And then I would voluntarily go to the ghost world to reincarnate!"
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Lu Yingjiu once again deeply realized that the big dog was unreliable and was simply complicating simple matters.
He sighed silently and said, "It doesn't have to be as troublesome as a wedding. Give me some time and I can find her. And don't ask the villagers to clean up the wedding hall. It won't be needed."
"no."
Lu Yingjiu was stunned for a moment, then turned to Jingxian.
The firm "No" just now came from Jingxian's mouth.
Jing Xian turned to him and said firmly again: "No, I think his idea is very good, and this suggestion for the wedding is very good."
The heart of respecting leisure is known to everyone who welcomes you with wine.
He whispered, "What are you doing? This problem can be easily solved."
"No." Jing Xian refused to give in. "I think this idea is impeccable!"
It was rare for Yao Gou to receive such a high level of recognition, and his eyes lit up: "Wow, this is the first time I see someone highly recognize me! Master Jing, you are really amazing! According to you, how can this wedding be better!"
Jing Xian was about to speak, but suddenly stopped.
He lowered his head to greet the wine and said in a gentle voice, "Listen to him."
Lu Yingjiu forced a look of mysterious doting on his face: "You have the final say on our wedding, our house, and our decoration."
Lu Yingjiu said, "Just listen to me and I won't do it."
Jing Xian said again: "No."
Lu Yingjiu: "Didn't you agree to listen to me?"
Jing Xian said: "You can listen, but you can only listen to part of it."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He was desperate.
It doesn't matter whether it is a real big dog or a fake big dog.
At this point, facing the two people who were so excited—although the two people were excited in completely different ways—he seemed to have no room for rebuttal.
Lu Yingjiu felt his eyebrows throbbing, and finally, under Jing Xian's expectant gaze, he choked out a few words: "Just keep it simple."
"Okay!" Jing Xian agreed readily.
Yao Gou was also very happy, and immediately said that he would go to the village to urge people to continue cleaning the wedding hall.
Before leaving, he suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Lu Yingjiu, "Are you interested in the temple here? I'll follow you all the way inside."
Lu Ying replied, "I am quite interested."
Yao Gou pointed to the back of the wedding hall and said, "I went there a few hours ago and walked around here. There is a very small temple in the back. I don't know who is worshipping there. If you are interested, you can go and take a look." He rubbed his hands again and said, "Alas, I just said it casually. The temple is really very small. It is probably useless. You don't have to go there."
"Let's go and have some fun." Lu Yingjiu said.
He has always had this habit. Even the smallest details cannot be neglected, as they may be used at a critical moment.
So Yao Gou asked them to go to the back of the wedding hall.
Sure enough, just after going out of the shabby back door, there was another small temple not far away.
Although it is small, it reveals a unique and exquisite feeling from the eaves to the corners. The walls are red and the tiles are green, the corners are clean, and there are flowers near the main entrance that are obviously well-tended. The tiles are sparkling in the sunlight, full of clarity and crystal. I don't know what color is used to dye them.
When Lu Yingjiu walked over, he also smelled the fragrance of incense.
All the candles and oil lamps were lit in the temple, and an old woman from the village was hunched over, adding oil to the lamps.
Unlike other temples, this temple does not have any statues, only a huge mural.
On the mural, a person is wearing white clothes from ancient times, with pendants hanging on his wrists and neck. The pendants are either colorful like gems or black as the night. They are runes used to drive away ghosts in ancient times.
He was surrounded by dark, green-faced, fang-toothed evil spirits, all rushing towards him as if to plunge him into hell.
It was his slender fingers holding a burning talisman paper. Intense colors spread from the talisman paper, brilliant gold, bright red, and green like a cat's eye gem, surrounding him vigorously like a tide.
The color drove away thousands of evil spirits.
He is upright and peaceful, and is immune to evil spirits.
Lu Yingjiu was stunned for a few seconds.
The deity worshipped in this temple is actually an exorcist.
Unfortunately, the exorcist's face was deliberately erased for some reason, and only half of his fair neck and the long earrings hanging from his ears could be seen.
On the altar, there were no coins, fruits or meats, only bunches of beautiful flowers clustered together, so lively that one could not take their eyes away. They must have been carefully selected by the worshippers.
The flowers dissipated a lot of the solemn atmosphere of the temple. Moreover, perhaps because the worshippers were human beings without the solemnity and majesty of ghosts and gods themselves, the atmosphere in the temple could be described as gentle and soft.
... just like the man in the mural.
Even though I couldn't see the exorcist's face, once I took a step closer, I couldn't help but be attracted to him and develop a liking for him.
—This must be a very powerful person.
Looking at the murals, Lu Yingjiu felt a subtle feeling in his heart for a moment.
He couldn't tell where this subtle feeling came from, and when he saw the white clothes, he felt that they looked very familiar. He must have seen them somewhere.
His memory came back to the dream he had after drinking the magic water.
There was snow and wind in the dream.
He was wearing a white shirt with rustling cuffs, and the exorcism bracelet on his wrist was exactly the same as the man in the painting.
Thus, an idea came to Lu Yingjiu's mind.
The idea was so absurd and unbelievable that even Lu Yingjiu himself found it funny.
But somehow, he really felt that the person in the painting seemed to be himself.
Yao Gou beside him was still mumbling: "... Hey, this is the temple I told you about. Is it really that small? It is said that this was built by the ghost exorcist surnamed Chu. I just can't figure out who this ghost exorcist is. Anyway, I heard from the villagers that the ghost exorcist surnamed Chu..."
"Master Chu has told us that no matter what, the fire in this temple cannot be extinguished."
A hoarse voice sounded.
The three of them looked away.
The old lady finally added the last bit of oil.
Her face was full of wrinkles, and she was probably in her seventies or eighties, but her voice didn't tremble, her hands didn't shake when she added oil, and she seemed to be in good health. A scholarly aura, unique to a scholar, spread over her body and was reflected in her unhurried tone of voice.
She continued slowly, "In this temple is the exorcist that Master Chu admires the most. The master often stays here for several days, and usually doesn't allow too many people to set foot here. He asked us to change the flowers on the altar every three days, and not to offer incense or money, saying that people don't like those things."
Lu Yingjiu asked: "Do you know who the idol here is?"
The old lady shook her head.
Lu Yingjiu felt regretful.
But it's also true that the exorcist surnamed Chu wouldn't casually tell such a thing to an old man who doesn't know how to exorcise ghosts.
But the old lady spoke up the next second: "You knew it before, but I forgot."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
The old lady hit her head and said regretfully, "I am old, and my memory is getting worse day by day."
Lu Yingjiu: "... Indeed, it is now available."
"But," the old lady continued, "he said that the man would come back here one day, so this temple must be preserved."
This sounds really magical, and quite like a trick used by quack masters, saying that fate will take you to a certain place.
Lu Yingjiu asked again: "Do you know the name of this 'Master Chu'? This... you should still remember it, right?"
"I remember." The old lady said, "His name is Chu Qianju."
Lu Yingjiu was stunned.
For a moment, his mind was filled with thousands of thoughts.
Could it be that the curse in the legend is true
From hundreds of years ago to now, has Chu Qianju really been in reincarnation forever? He came to this village more than ten years ago, built a temple for the Peacock God, stopped the villagers from having ghost marriages, cleaned up the Feng Shui of the village, and then quietly left here for an unknown destination.
The old lady looked towards the mural, where an exorcist in white robes was embraced by colors. Although he was surrounded by evil spirits, it looked romantic and gorgeous.
She said: "Before Master Chu left, he said one sentence: 'I hope we can meet again in the same long cycle and short life.'"