Liaozhai: A scholar should draw a sword

Chapter 197
In the past, there was plenty of money to be a village chief, but since the government imposed a levy on crickets, this job has become more and more difficult.

After all, the price of crickets is getting higher and higher, and the government does not pay for crickets, and they have to choose good ones.

If you can't complete the task, you will naturally ask the village chief for accountability.

As a result, the position of village chief has changed from scrambling to scrambling to give up, and no one wants to be the first bird.

Fame is only a scholar, and his family background can only be regarded as a small rich. There are many people in the village who are more qualified than him to be a village elder.

But in the end, he was recommended by all the squires in the village and was forced to become the head of the village.

"Although I was mentally prepared before, it was only after I became the village chief that I realized that this is a big fire pit..."

Cheng Ming let out a long sigh, and continued to vomit bitterness.

"Ordinary crickets can't pay the price at all, and the price for a slightly better quality is staggering.

The people went all over the mountains and fields to catch crickets, complaining a lot.If the farm work is affected by catching crickets, then the food will not be handed in.

Moreover, even if a good quality is caught, the common people will not complain, and quietly sell it, who will hand it in stupidly?

After all, one good cricket could be worth a lifetime of farm work.

After only three years as the chief, all the valuable furniture in this family were sold.

If this continues, I'm afraid that even this courtyard will not be able to survive..."

No wonder the house looked so shabby.

Zhou Yu finally understood the reason.

"By the way, I said earlier that the cricket possessed a human soul. Your expression doesn't look natural. What's the reason?"

Zhou Yu asked straight to the point.

"Oh, it's a long story..."

Cheng Ming shook his head and sighed.

"Some time ago the county government started collecting crickets again, but I really didn't have the money to buy them, so I had to go to the countryside to find the people.

But the people either hide, or pay a few ordinary crickets perfunctorily.

As a scholar, if you are not talented, you can't follow those evil officials to force the people, right?

In desperation, I had no choice but to look around for crickets with a bamboo tube and silk cage, hoping to catch one by myself.

During the period, I also caught some, but they were all common goods, weak and small.

Handing it over to the county government with a fluke mentality, he was reprimanded in the end, saying that no matter how dare to perfunctory, he would be held accountable for the crime.

At that time, I was really desperate and wanted to die.

She cried and persuaded me, saying that I was the breadwinner of the family, and she and the child would not be able to survive if I left.

It is also said that there is a hunchbacked witch in Qiligou, who can use ghosts and gods to predict bad luck, so why not try it.

Originally, it wasn't that I didn't believe these witches' nonsense, but as the saying goes, I went to the doctor in a hurry, so I asked my wife to ask.

Jiannei went for a trip and brought back a piece of paper.There are no words on the paper, but a scribbled drawing.

There is a hall in the painting, and there are mountains, stones, bushes and so on. There is also a toad in the painting, and there is a cricket not far from the toad.

Jiannei was very happy, because she didn't say anything to the witch, she just prayed silently through the curtain, and as a result, there was a cricket in the painting, which was exactly what she wanted.

I held the painting and looked at it for a while, and felt that the environment in the painting was somewhat similar to the area around the Great Buddha Temple in the village.

So, with a glimmer of hope, he came to look for crickets outside the Great Buddha Temple.

I searched for most of the day but found nothing, not to mention the trace of the cricket, and I couldn't even hear the sound of the cricket.

Just as he was about to leave in despair, suddenly a toad jumped from his feet.

After a while, he was refreshed, didn't this match the content in the painting?So he followed the toad.

When I came to the edge of a low bush, the toad stopped, and I suddenly found that the scene in front of me completely matched the painting.

Looking carefully, I found a big cricket with a long tail, a blue neck, and golden wings in the grass.

Although Bucai never fights crickets, he can tell that this cricket is definitely top grade, and he is very excited.

After a lot of effort, I finally brought it home to the net, and fed it with crabmeat and chestnut powder, and planned to take it to the county government the next day.

It's just that I never thought of it..."

When he said this, there were faint tears in the circles of Cheng Ming's eyes, it seemed that he was talking about sad things.

Zhou Yu did not speak, quietly waiting for the next sentence.

"That night, because I was happy, I drank a few more glasses and went to bed early.

Unexpectedly, my nine-year-old dog heard the cricket and ran to tease it. The cricket wanted to jump out, but the dog grabbed it with his hands, but... somehow he was crushed to death.

He was frightened, and ran to find his mother crying.

Seeing that the cricket had a broken leg and a shattered stomach, Jiannei was so frightened that he almost fainted.

When he regained his strength, he cried and said to his son, you are a curse, this cricket is your father's life, you have crushed the cricket to death now, and when your father sobers up, he will definitely kill you...

Quan Zi was so scared that he ran away crying, and Jian Nei also fell on the table and cried bitterly.

This movement also woke me up, and I walked out.

After asking the reason, Bucai seemed to have fallen into the ice cave of ten thousand years, and almost lost his breath.

After that, he picked up a stick and tried to settle the score with Gouzi.

Unexpectedly, I searched the yard but found no trace of him.My heart skipped a beat, and I hurried to the side of the well only to find out that the child was frightened and actually... actually jumped into the well..."

"This……"

Hearing these words, Zhou Yu didn't know what to say for a while.

It is ridiculous that a small cricket can drive a family to such a point.

"Fortunately, Jiannei and I fished up the dog in time, and found that there was still a little warmth in his chest.

Bucai also knew some medical skills, and after some treatment, the child finally had a weak breath.

The next morning, he woke up, but he seemed to have lost his soul, his eyes were cloudy, his expression was dull, and he didn't respond to calling him, and he only knew to sleep all day long..."

Hearing this, Zhou Yu's heart moved, and he immediately said, "Is there such a thing? Well, you bring the child here and let me have a look."

"Okay, wait a moment, sir."

After a while, Cheng Ming walked in leading a little boy.

Sure enough, as soon as he saw the little boy Zhou Yu, he saw the problem. It was really a symptom of losing his soul.

Losing the soul does not mean losing all of it, if it is all lost, it is a dead body, and it is impossible to still live in the world.

People have three souls and seven souls, and there are three souls: one is the soul of heaven, the other is the soul of earth, and the third is the soul of fate.

There are seven souls: one soul is heavenly, two souls are spiritual, three souls are energy, four souls are strength, five souls are the center, six souls are essence, and seven souls are heroes.

The soul is spiritual and intelligent, the three souls are Qi, the four souls are strength, the five souls are the center, the six souls are essence, and the seven souls are heroes.

Human life and soul, through the Tianchong Linghui soul among the seven souls, dominates thoughts and wisdom.Through the two souls of strength and the central soul, the main action.Master the body through the elite two spirits.Only the center and one soul is the center of the seven souls.

A person's soul is attached to the seven chakras.

The soul of fate is the foundation, if the soul of fate is not there, then the other souls will disappear with it.

Therefore, the children who become famous are currently incomplete with three souls and seven souls, so they will appear stupid.

"I finally understand..." After observing for a while, Zhou Yu couldn't help but said, "Master Ling's symptoms are due to the lack of a soul.

Part of his soul is attached to the cricket before you. "

"what?"

Hearing this, Fame couldn't help but be surprised.

Then, some unreasonable things suddenly became logical.

At that time, the couple had completely fallen into despair, their son was suffering from dementia, and the crickets were still missing, and their lives had fallen into darkness.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, there was a burst of crisp crickets in the yard.

After becoming famous, he couldn't help being lifted up, and subconsciously followed the sound to find it.

It turned out to be surprisingly smooth. As soon as he arrived in the yard, a cricket jumped out by itself, and even jumped onto his arm.

Cheng Ming was a little surprised, and tried to move a few steps, but the cricket didn't run away.

From the looks of it, although it is not very big, its appearance looks very good. It is shaped like a mole cricket, with plum blossom wings, square head and long legs. It should belong to the high-quality category.

It's just that Cheng Ming is not very proficient in crickets, and he is afraid of being sent to the government to be punished, so he took it to the market to fight with people to verify its merits.

After hearing what Zhou Yu said, it actually has something to do with his son?No wonder the cricket took the initiative to find him.

After figuring this out, the tears of becoming famous couldn't stop streaming down.

Thinking about it, it was because the son felt guilty and obsessed, so his soul left his body and turned into a cricket to make up for his mistakes.

Not long after, the famous lady cried heart-rendingly when she heard the whole story.

After all, as a parent, no one can accept such a thing.

"Okay, don't cry, it's not as bad as you think."

After the woman cried for a while, Zhou Yu finally spoke out to comfort her.

"I implore sir to save the dog."

After becoming famous, he immediately bowed his hands and bowed a big gift.

The woman even knelt down on the ground, kowtowed to Zhou Yu and begged in a sobbing voice: "I beg you sir to save the child, we husband and wife must repay the kindness of sir even if we are oxen and horses."

"Okay, you don't have to perform such a big ceremony, it's actually not a big deal."

For Zhou Yu, this was really nothing, but it was a matter of little effort.

"Great, thank you sir, thank you sir."

The couple were pleasantly surprised and excited, and thanked them repeatedly.

Next, Zhou Yu ordered Cheng Ming to take out the cricket.

At this time, becoming famous can no longer take care of the task of handing over crickets. As long as he can save his son, the big things have to be put aside first.

"Sir, what do you want to prepare? Such as incense candles, offerings and so on."

The husband and wife had seen the sorceress call the soul before, and the battle was quite mysterious, so they asked.

"Need not!"

Zhou Yu waved his hands, and then put one hand on the top of the famous son's head, and supported the cricket in the other, and sang a song "Soul Calling":
"The soul is back, go to the king's constant work,
What are the four directions, the place where you can give up your joy,
And away from him some ominous.

The soul is back!The East can't be trusted.

A long man is a thousand feet, but the soul is a little bit.

On the tenth day, it will flow out of gold and stone.

Everyone is accustomed to it, and the soul must be released.

Come back, you can't trust me.

The soul is back!The south can't stop..."

After chanting a song calling for souls, the cricket turned into a dry shell, but the son who became famous had a gleam of light in his eyes.

"Tian'er, Tian'er, I am mother, I am mother..."

The woman couldn't wait, shaking her son's shoulders.

"Mother!"

The little boy finally woke up and called out subconsciously.

"My God, my God, you are finally alright."

The woman hugged her son and wept bitterly.

"mother……"

The son also cried loudly.

Cheng Ming wiped away his tears, and then saluted Zhou Yu again: "Thank you, sir, for saving my life!"

Zhou Yu smiled and waved his hands: "You're welcome."

"Father, I'm sorry, the boy didn't do it on purpose..."

The little boy cried for a while, then confessed to his father.

"It's okay, it's okay, Daddy doesn't blame you anymore, hurry up, kowtow to thank you sir."

The little boy knelt down and kowtowed obediently.

Later, he talked about his strange experience, saying that he had a dream, dreaming that he turned into a cricket, so he ran back to find Dad.

"It's all daddy's fault..."

"It's my mother's fault. My mother shouldn't scare you..."

"It's because the child is not good, the child is naughty, and the parents almost died..."

The family of three rushed to admit their mistakes, and they were in harmony.

"Okay, your family will talk about this later, the problem now is that the cricket has to be handed over, otherwise the government will make trouble for you."

When this matter was mentioned, the mood of becoming famous became heavy again.

He could ask Zhou Yu to save his son before, but now he can't ask Zhou Yu to give him a cricket, right?
At this time, Zhou Yu said to fame: "Now, go and find a rooster right away, the stronger the better."

Although he didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Zhou Yu's gourd, Cheng Ming subconsciously responded, "Okay, I'll go now."

It just happened that I won a silver ingot before, let alone one, buying ten is not a problem.

After a while, Cheng Ming came back with two big red roosters and bought some wine and cooked food.

Buying an extra chicken is just in case, and can be used for entertaining if not used.

"Just this one."

Zhou Yu chose one, and then ordered Cheng Ming to take out the bamboo tube, and put the mummy of the previous cricket into the bamboo tube.

Immediately afterwards, he made a rare gesture and recited the incantation silently.

Under normal circumstances, Zhou Yu generally used the skills of Confucianism.

But this does not mean that he only knows Confucianism. He also knows a lot of Taoism and Buddhist supernatural powers, and he is more proficient than many Taoist and Buddhist disciples.

What he is performing now is a soul transfer method originated from Taoism, that is, transferring the soul of the rooster to the cricket.

When this technique is practiced to the highest level, it can not only transfer the souls of animals, but even human souls.

The whole process took only ten breaths.

"Grasshopper..."

The cricket, which was just a shell, suddenly came alive again, making a clear and high-pitched cry.

And the rooster became a shell.

It is just right, and it saves the need to kill again and go through the pain once. It is good for roasting, boiling, stewing, and cold dressing.

"It's amazing, it's almost amazing..."

The couple had an incredible look on their faces.

At this time, Zhou Yu turned his head towards Cheng Ming and said: "Tomorrow you will take this cricket to fight and win back the money that was poured in before.

But remember not to miss your mind, otherwise no one will be able to help you. "

Hearing this, Cheng Ming hurriedly cupped his fists and said: "Thank you sir for reminding me, I don't dare to ask for more extravagantly, as long as I can pay the job, I will let go of the money I lost before."

"No, no, no, I still have to win it back, and at the same time, I can test how good this cricket is."

"This...Since Mr. said so, then I will go to the cricket market tomorrow."

Zhou Yu nodded, "Well, in short, let's accept it as soon as it's good."

……

(End of this chapter)