The sky was gradually getting dark, and it was unrealistic to ask Huang Xingye and his team to go down the mountain at this time.
Taoist Qingsong went into the kitchen to cook again, using the ingredients Qi Wen bought and some things Huang Xingye brought as ingredients to make a dinner that was big enough for everyone to eat.
Maybe it was because he found Taoist Qingsong, Huang Xingye felt an unprecedented sense of security in Yunshan Temple. Especially after he had talked to Taoist Master Qingsong in the afternoon, he felt more relaxed.
Huang Xingye, who had not enjoyed his appetite in recent days, ate a lot that night and had a few drinks.
As for the accommodation problem, it was easy to solve. Ji Yuan simply gave up his own room. The straw bedding inside was enough for six people to sleep. Huang Xingye was not the kind of person who would be obsessed with the master and servant sharing the same bed.
Ji Yuan naturally ran into the two Taoists' room and shared a bed with them.
When everyone had gone to bed, Qi Wen in the room had also fallen asleep and was breathing evenly. Taoist Qingsong, who was the most uneasy among them, finally couldn't hold back and began to ask Ji Yuan in a low voice.
"Mr. Ji, I know you are still awake. You must have thought of a way to help Huang Xingye, right?"
Of course Ji Yuan didn't sleep, and he knew that Taoist Qingsong would not be able to sleep. When he heard Qi Xuan's slightly uneasy question, he also made a joke.
"Of course there is a countermeasure. The countermeasure is for Taoist Qingsong to go down the mountain with Huang Xingye. If there are any variables, he can help him slay the demons and monsters."
Taoist Qingsong's heart trembled when he heard this.
"Oh... Mr. Ji, you know how strong I am. It's OK for me to tell fortunes for others, but I haven't even seen a ghost. Isn't this a bit too difficult? I have just completed my life span. What if I die directly after all this..."
Ji Yuan didn't scare him anymore. He asked Taoist Qingsong to agree, so he naturally had his own plans.
“Hehehe… Taoist Qingsong will definitely follow Huang Xingye down the mountain, but he may not be the real Taoist Qingsong.”
After saying this in a profound and mysterious way, Ji Yuan's magical power flowed slightly, and some changes began to occur in his body. His nose became a little wider and a little flatter, the corners of his eyebrows became longer and the angle also changed, the wrinkles on his forehead, the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, and even the skin color, muscles, and moles on his face were all changing.
Two breaths later, the two faces of Taoist Qingsong were facing each other.
The sky is bright tonight with a shining moon. With starlight shining through the windows, a certain level of visibility is still maintained after the human eye has adapted.
At this moment, Taoist Qingsong's eyes widened, he held his breath and was unable to speak.
Ji Yuan has not yet learned the real transformation. In fact, the transformation in Lao Long's jade slip is also very "anti-human". Ji Yuan needs to comprehend it carefully and then find a way to modify it before he can learn it.
Essentially, this kind of transformation cannot be compared with Sun Wukong's seventy-two transformations. There is a shadow of sleight of hand in it. It is still okay to learn from it for now.
In addition, Ji Yuan and Qingsong Taoist are similar in size, so he uses his superb sleight of hand to achieve a kind of "face changing".
The characteristics of his own magical power are quite mysterious. There is almost no fluctuation when it is not frequently called upon. With the help of some "transformation" techniques, his "face-changing" is extremely difficult to be seen through. He then put on the Taoist robe of Qingsong Taoist and changed his hairstyle.
By then, it is estimated that only Qi Wen, who lives with Taoist Qingsong day and night, can see the problem in this world. No one else can see it, not even Huang Xingye, people outside, and even ordinary ghosts and gods.
Strictly speaking, the deformation at this moment is similar to the combination of magic and martial arts disguise and makeup, but both traces are extremely faint.
On the next morning, regardless of Qi Wen's initial expression of having seen a ghost, it was the two Taoist priests Qi from the Taoist temple who escorted the guests down the mountain. Finally, Taoist priest Qingsong followed Huang Xingye and the others and left the mountain together.
As for Mr. Ji who was there yesterday, he was said to have caught a cold and did not get up.
In Yunshan Temple, Taoist Qingsong, who was hiding in the house, waited for everyone to come down the mountain. It was a long time before Qi Wen came back.
"Master, I'm back!"
Qi Wenxing ran back in a hurry, and when he entered the house he saw Qi Xuan drinking tea with a sigh of relief.
"Master, why does Mr. Ji's face look like yours? Is this a disguise technique used by martial arts masters? Can you teach me?"
Taoist Qingsong slapped Qi Wen lightly on the head.
"What kind of disguise technique is that? That's a magic technique. I've told you so many times that Mr. Ji is a god."
Qi Wen rubbed his forehead subconsciously and muttered something.
"Mr. Ji himself said that he is not..."
. . .
Once you leave the Yunshan area, the road becomes easier to walk on, or in other words, there is a road under your feet, or it is at least flat.
Huang Xingye and others left a horse-drawn carriage in Yunkou Village. They couldn't use it when they went up the mountain yesterday, so they naturally didn't have to walk when they returned today.
There were two carriages in total, one with a canopy and the other a flatbed cart. They did not return to Dongle County, but went directly to Maoqian Town.
In the carriage, Huang Xingye began to feel nervous again.
"Master Qingsong, wouldn't it be better for us to go to the City God Temple first?"
"No need. Since you have offered sacrifices to the City God, the City God of Dongle County must have known about it by now. He may have sent ghosts and gods to inspect the Land God Temple in Maoqian Town."
While Ji Yuan was speaking, he was looking outside through the curtain of the carriage, but he didn't see anything unusual.
"But Taoist Qingsong, wouldn't it be safer if we hid in the county town? My wife's family is in the city, and the children are staying with her temporarily in the city..."
"Boss Huang did the right thing, but you can't avoid it. We still need to face this matter. Even the gods and ghosts can relax sometimes, and ordinary people are even more so. Even if we stay in Dongle County forever, we can't be safe. It's better to solve the matter thoroughly."
"Hey, the Taoist priest is right!"
After saying these words, Ji Yuan just closed his eyes and acted as if he didn't want to say anything more. Even though Huang Xingye was nervous, he had to speak softly to Li Mian beside him.
Around noon, the carriage arrived outside Maoqian Town, and the servant driving the carriage reminded the people in the carriage.
"Master, we are almost home."
Before Huang Xingye could say anything, he saw Taoist Qingsong, who was sitting opposite him, open his eyes.
"Let's go and see the land temple first."
"Hey! Ah Fu, drive to the land temple!"
"Yes, sir!"
The servant answered and adjusted the direction of the carriage. After a while, the carriage stopped outside the land temple. Ji Yuan, Huang Xingye and others got off the carriage one after another. Before the servant came forward, Li Mian, Huang Xingye and "Master Qingsong" walked over.
The land temple is located on the southern side of Maoqian Town. At this time, apart from the craftsmen hired by the Huang family and the old men in the town who were preparing for the construction of the temple, there were no other villagers watching.
Ji Yuan stopped about ten steps outside the temple and whispered to Huang Xingye and Li Mian.
"There is a daily parade in front of the temple, so don't say anything unnecessary."
"Day cruise?"
Huang Xingye asked cautiously.
"It is the so-called Sun-wandering God, who should be sent by the City God of Dongle County."
"Oh oh oh! I know, I know!"
Huang Xingye felt relieved, but Li Mian beside him was full of doubts. He looked towards the other end of the temple but could not see anything special.
The three of them came to the land temple together. The craftsman and the old man in charge of the temple hurriedly greeted Huang Xingye, which naturally attracted the attention of the two day patrolmen, and they all looked at Huang Xingye.
"This person is Huang Xingye."
"Yes, he went to the City God Temple to offer sacrifices and report the situation here."
"Who is this Taoist?" "It seems to be Qingsong Taoist from Yunshan Temple, the one who often sets up a stall in front of the temple."
While the two Japanese patrolmen were talking, they looked at Huang Xingye carefully. Even though Ji Yuan saw it, he didn't remind Huang Xingye to avoid him making a fuss.
After carefully observing the statues in the temple, Ji Yuan discovered that the statues had many non-human features. Currently, the incense was very weak and the remaining Shinto aura of the statues was not strong. It was obvious that the statues had not been to the land temple in the past two days.
Looking at the arm of the statue placed in the corner, the master craftsman is filling the soil to support it, but has not yet put it back on the statue. There is no evil spirit left on it, and it looks more like it was knocked off by someone.
"Is it just a man-made disaster?"
After watching for a while, Ji Yuan went back to the Huang Mansion in the town with Huang Xingye and others, and the two Japanese patrolmen also followed them.
The Huang Mansion is naturally not as good as the Wang Mansion and the Chu Mansion in Jingji Prefecture, but it is definitely a noble mansion in Dongle County.
Because of the arrival of Taoist Qingsong, Huang Xingye prepared to entertain him with fine wine and delicious food.
However, before lunch, Ji Yuan asked the Huang family's servants to prepare two small wooden signs, and had some wine and food delivered to the guest house prepared by the Huang family. Then he went into the house alone, and specifically told the Huang family not to disturb him for the time being.
Huang Xingye had no choice but to go out for dinner with Li Mian and the rest of his family.
In the guest house, Ji Yuan picked up a pen and wrote "The Daily Patrol Right Envoy of Dongle County" and "The Daily Patrol Left Envoy of Dongle County" on two wooden plaques respectively.
Then place three sticks of sandalwood in a large bowl filled with raw rice and light them.
After a while, the two Sun Gods were led over, and they understood what was happening as soon as they saw the situation.
"Master Qingsong, you can actually see us?"
Seeing one of the Japanese patrolmen asking questions, Ji Yuan bowed to them.
"There were too many mortals before, and I know the rules of the underworld, so I did not contact the two officials. I hope you can forgive me."
The two Japanese patrols looked the Taoist up and down before speaking.
"Well, I don't blame you for waiting. This table is really rich in wine and food."
"I was just about to invite you two to enjoy it together!"
"Hehe, wonderful!"
The two day patrollers also smiled. In the small county City God Temple, there was actually no body shaping for the day and night patrols. It was also difficult for them to get their turn during the daily offerings, and they seldom had rich food and wine to enjoy.
Ji Yuan and the two patrolmen were eating while talking, that the eating of air by ghosts and gods did not conflict with his eating of vegetables, it was just that some of the dishes would appear to be untouched after the meal.
During the conversation, I learned that there have been patrols coming to Maoqian Town day and night for the past two days, but they were mainly looking for the God of Land. It seemed that the God of Land had hidden himself, and even the people in the underworld could not find him.
"Is there such a thing?"
Ji Yuan was also surprised when he heard this. Did the God of Land hide himself
"It is absolutely true. It is precisely because of this strange matter that the underworld has not found any trace of evil spirits, but has continued to send people here."
By now the food and wine had been finished. Ji Yuan frowned and thought for a while before speaking to the two ghost messengers.
"Two Japanese inspectors, I think this matter is not simple. I hope you can go back and report to the City God right now. Tell him that Huang Xingye has a special fate and that some evil creature seems to be plotting something. I hope the underworld will send more people to investigate."
The two Japanese patrolmen looked at each other.
"I will go back and report to the Lord of the City God and wait for his decision."
"Thank you for bothering me!"
Ji Yuan bowed and saw the two Japanese patrolmen off. After waiting for a while, his eyes flashed and he raised his foot and lightly stepped on the guest house.
The ground was rippling with arcs of light like water waves.
"Please come and see the land god of Maoqian Town!"
As long as you are connected to this land vein and want to become the land god, you cannot escape the "God of Captivity" no matter how hard you try.
A puff of green smoke swirled up from the ground in the room, and a hunchbacked "person" wearing a yellow earth robe appeared in front of Ji Yuan. His face was covered with yellow hair but had human facial features.
As soon as he saw Ji Yuan, the land god hurriedly bowed and saluted.
"The land god of Maoqian Town pays homage to the Immortal! I pay homage to the Immortal! The Immortal is a great master of Taoism. It is good that you are here! It is good that you are here! You must make the decision for me!"
The appearance of this land is so similar to that of Huang Xingye who went up the mountain to seek help yesterday, which made Ji Yuan frown again.
"God of the Land, please sit down and talk. Why didn't the underworld show up when it came to you?"
The land god seemed to know the strange art of "binding gods". He was very confident at this moment, but he insisted on standing.
"To reply to the Immortal, Huang Xingye has offended a powerful creature, and even the City God of Dongle County may not be able to suppress it. I helped the Huang family without knowing it. If you hadn't come now, I would not have dared to show up!"