"I'm going to call Zhang Zhong right away." Cui Zhen left his seat and stood up. "I'm willing to accompany you despite my humble position."
Nanfeng waved his hand, "It's better not to go there. Be careful that you never come back. By the way, go and call the messenger here, and I'll ask him a few questions."
"Okay." Cui Zhen turned around and went out.
After going out, Cui Zhen remembered something, "Since evil spirits are causing trouble, we should bring a few masters or Taoist priests to take precautions."
"Okay, you can send someone to call a few and we'll set off at noon." Nanfeng nodded. There are also temples and Taoist temples in Yu County, and there are hundreds of Taoist priests and monks in total, but none of them are profound.
Cui Zhen responded and wanted to close the door, but walked in again, moved the brazier towards the south wind, then closed the door and left.
Although Cui Zhen's move was meant to please, it was also sincere. Although Nanfeng gave him a stick when they first met, he did not bear any grudge against Nanfeng. The root cause was that Nanfeng treated others very well. , he shared a lot of the income from logging and selling, and he made a profit of more than a thousand taels in just this six months, and all the government officials also benefited from it.
Not long after, someone shouted a report outside the door. Nanfeng answered, and a young messenger came in. This man was the one sent by Qinghuai Township to deliver the letter. However, he did not know anything about Heishigou. After asking a few questions, Nanfeng let him go down.
As soon as the man left, the concierge came to inform him that Magistrate Hu from the neighboring county had come to pay him a visit.
Nanfeng immediately went out to greet him. Magistrate Hu was the magistrate of Ju County, and Longkong Temple was in Ju County. Magistrate Hu would definitely be useful in the future.
The fat man was making noises in the room at this time. Naturally, Magistrate Hu could not be allowed to see him. Magistrate Hu also knew that the fat man was only the county magistrate in name, and Nanfeng was really in charge. Therefore, Nanfeng said that the fat man was ill, so he did not Insist on seeing the fat man.
Magistrate Hu had two purposes for coming here. One was to borrow food. Ju County was located in the far west of Gong County. It was remote and extremely poor. After the snowfall, Magistrate Hu wanted to open a porridge shop, but he had no rice to cook.
Being rich and confident, Magistrate Hu asked to borrow 300 shi, but Nanfeng gave him 500 shi.
The second purpose of Magistrate Hu was to study. There were many civil servants in Ju County, and he also wanted to learn from Yu County in exchange for silver rice, but he was not familiar with the way.
Regarding Magistrate Hu's second request, Nanfeng did not immediately reply. Cutting down trees and digging mountains required decapitation. He and the fat man were picked up official positions, and they were bachelors who left at the last word. It would be a big deal if they left. In short, Magistrate Hu is a man with a family and a family. When the superiors really tracked him down, Magistrate Hu could not escape but the monk could not escape from the temple.
After careful consideration, Nanfeng told Magistrate Hu the truth, saying that there was someone in Fatty's court, so they dared to do whatever they wanted.
Seeing that Magistrate Hu was very frustrated, Nanfeng gave him an idea. Ju County was not allowed to cut stones and cut trees, but Ju County and Yu County were next to each other. Yu County could send people across the border to cut trees, and Magistrate Hu just had to turn a blind eye. You can get 50% profit.
Magistrate Hu immediately beamed when he heard this. He took out a small wooden box from his pocket, opened it and handed it to Nanfeng. Inside was a formed Xishan old ginseng. Looking at the size and appearance, it was eight hundred years old, if not a thousand years old. .
Nanfeng accepted it with joy and gave him an extra hundred shi of grain and rice. It was no wonder that Magistrate Hu didn't see rabbits and hawks. This old ginseng was worth a lot of money. If he couldn't harvest it, he would really be reluctant to give it away.
According to official practice, Magistrate Hu was invited to a banquet at noon, but he had important matters to deal with at the moment, so he told the truth and told Magistrate Hu that something strange had happened in Qinghuai Township and that he had to go to deal with it. I was afraid that he would not be able to host a banquet at noon. .
Magistrate Hu didn't come all the way just to have lunch. After hearing this, he hurriedly stood up and left. Before leaving, he didn't forget to invite Nanfeng and Fatty to visit Ju County.
After sending Magistrate Hu away, Nanfeng gave ginseng to Fatty. Ginseng has the best effect of replenishing qi and is not so unpalatable among many qi-replenishing herbs.
The fat man asked where he was from, and Nanfeng told him the truth.
"The more you do, the bigger things get. Sooner or later something will happen." The fat man is worried. The conditions and environment for the two of them to practice are very good at the moment. If something happens and they lose their official positions, they will be homeless and suffer from hunger and cold.
"If you don't respond to him, aren't you afraid that he will take advantage of you?" Nanfeng asked back.
The fat man thought for a while and felt that what Nanfeng said made sense, so he remained silent.
Then Nanfeng briefly told Fatty about Qinghuai Township. Fatty shouted that he wanted to watch the fun, but Nanfeng disagreed. This matter was too dangerous and Fatty couldn't get involved.
But Fatty disagreed. If he had to go, Nanfeng could only take him with him.
At noon, a group of people set out on the road. The fat man was the county magistrate. In addition to the fat man's carriage, there was another one without a hood, with a monk and a Taoist priest sitting on it.
The monk is young, wearing a ragged cassock. He is in his early thirties, and his Dharma name is Wu Zhen. The Taoist priest was an old Taoist, over seventy years old, and his clothes were quite shabby. His lungs seemed to be in bad condition and he kept coughing.
The county captain rode a horse. Although Nanfeng could ride a horse, he was only rough and not very skilled. After riding for a long time, Bian's hip hurt, so he ran to the carriage behind and sat with the Taoist monk.
Both of them had brought their clothes, and when they saw Nanfeng getting on the bus, they moved their clothes to make room for him.
Nan Feng asked where they were coming from, and then confessed to them. He said that he was in charge of government here and had been busy with political affairs and neglected to take care of the monks. After saying this, he ordered Zhang Zhong to give them to the Taoist temple where they were staying after he returned. Each sent ten stones of grain and rice, and three rolls of cloth.
Zhang Zhong agreed. In fact, he was not in charge of this. The reason why he agreed was because he knew that Nan Feng had deliberately told those two people about this move.
Nanfeng does have this idea. As the saying goes, a strong general is not short of hungry soldiers. If you don't give others benefits, how can they do their job with all their heart
On this cold day, the two of them were dragged out of work. They were originally full of resentment. After hearing what Nanfeng said, their resentment suddenly turned into joy. Monks are also human beings, and they have their own emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy. Being exempt from vulgarity is no longer a calling.
After the conversation, Nanfeng knew that Monk Wu Zhen was good at taking pictures to save the dead. To put it bluntly, he was better at catching ghosts. But the old Taoist turned out to be not Taoist Yuqing, but Shilu Taiqing, who belonged to Taiqing Yuanzhi. This person was good at seeing the truth, exorcising evil spirits and subduing demons.
The power distribution of the various sects in the Three Qing Dynasties did not completely follow national boundaries, but only in a certain area. Taking Yuxian County as an example, it belonged to the territory of the Western Wei Dynasty at this time, but it did not belong to the Western Wei Dynasty before. Before the borders of the Western Wei Dynasty and other countries were determined, The various sects of the Three Qing Dynasties already existed, so it is normal for the Taiqing sect to appear in the territory of the Western Wei Dynasty.
This old Taoist, whose name is Tianmu, is the same generation as Tian Yuanzi, but he has only been taught one cave god urn. In this remote and remote country, those who can teach urns are considered experts. Many Taoists have never even taught, they are just some The wild way of self-cultivation and blind enlightenment.
Nanfeng wanted to see the two people's belongings. Although they were not very willing, they could only let him see it. Tianmuzi took a detachable wooden table, which was a necessary item for opening the altar. In addition, In addition, there are Dharma flags, bells, gongs, snare drums, cinnabar, realgar, white phosphorus, incense candles and other items used in the Dharma altar.
Different from the many attires of Tianmu Lao Tao, Monk Wu Zhen’s attire is less, including five or six items such as wooden fish, rosary beads, alms bowl, and yellow umbrella.
When Nanfeng looked at Wuzhen's outfit, Taoist Tianmu had a lot of contempt in his eyes. Buddhism is a foreign sect. After entering China, it borrowed a lot of Taoist scientific instruments. This wooden fish rosary was originally used by Taoist priests.
The key point between Taoist priests and monks is very subtle. Taoist priests look down on monks, and monks look down on Taoist priests. However, the teachings of both of them are moral and benevolent. Therefore, when they see each other on weekdays, they are still very harmonious and friendly on the surface.
Although Monk Wu Zhen was young, he was very calm. He lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes along the way. He rarely spoke, and even when he spoke, he mostly used noble words that were not tacky. Tianmu Lao Tao didn't talk much. He was very wise and sharp. When he spoke, he was mostly directed at Wu Zhen. Nine out of ten sentences were aimed at making trouble and exposing Wu Zhen, which made Wu Zhen very embarrassed.
Seeing that the two of them might start fighting if they kept talking, Nanfeng didn't dare to talk to them any more. He ran back to ride his horse and walked with the county lieutenant Zhang Zhong.
Qinghuai Township is more than sixty miles away from the county seat. In order to get there as early as possible, everyone walked as fast as possible. Those who rode in cars and horses were fine, but the dozen or so soldiers on foot suffered a lot. The snowy road was not easy to walk on because of the slippery conditions. You still have to carry a spear.
In winter, it gets dark early, and it snows even earlier. It gets dark just before midnight. Fortunately, there is snow on the ground, and the horseman can barely see the path.
After a hard journey, everyone finally arrived at Qinghuai Township at the second watch.
Townships and towns are about the same size. There is also a town here, and there are offices, but they are not as big as county offices, and they are called public offices.
The person who reported the news earlier had already returned on horseback. Xiangzheng and others knew that the magistrate was coming and had been waiting in the office. As soon as everyone arrived, they immediately stepped forward to greet them. After paying homage, they led everyone to eat and stay.
After eating and settling down, Old Taoist Tianmu asked to see the surviving person. The township government sent people to lead everyone to the village where the person was. Fatty Nanfeng, Tianmu Wuzhen, plus a county captain Zhang Zhong, soldiers. Didn't follow.
Qinghuai Township is in the northwest of Yu County, and the village where the incident occurred is in the northwest of Qinghuai Township. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. It is an out-and-out mountain village.
It was already midnight when everyone arrived, and the young man who escaped death was a young man. Due to being surprised and contracting the cold, he was already ill at this time and was lying on his bed with a high fever and talking nonsense.
Seeing this man, Nanfeng felt guilty. If he hadn't issued a notice to find the medicine and offered a large reward, these villagers would not have ventured into the mountains to search for medicinal herbs.
Wu Zhen reached out and touched the young man's forehead, then frowned and backed away, "Amitabha, this man has been infected by Yin Qi before. There must be a ghost hiding in the black stone ditch."
Tianmu tilted his head and glanced at Wu Zhen, stepped forward to take his pulse, and rolled the young man's eyelids, "The pulse is turbulent and the whites of his eyes are dim. This person has been exposed to highly toxic monsters before."
Wu Zhen is good at catching ghosts, but that doesn't mean he can't catch monsters. Tianmu is good at catching monsters, but that doesn't mean he can't catch ghosts. The two held different opinions and debated endlessly.
"What do you mean, is it a ghost or a monster?" the fat man asked doubtfully.
"There is no doubt that it is a ghost." Monk Wu Zhen said with certainty.
"It must be a monster." Old Taoist Tianmu said seriously.
Nanfeng raised his hand to signal the two of them not to argue, and then stepped forward to inspect the man. He was not very proficient in magic, but he was not ignorant either. After inspection, he found that the surviving young man's aura was very weak and his pulse was chaotic. Although he was not possessed by demons, Possessed, but indeed infected by abnormal aura.
"What on earth is it?" The fat man came over.
"I don't know, I have to go to Heishigou to have a look..."