The Beacon of Kyushu

Chapter 40 The Tongling Gorge Turns Bad from Good Fortune

Unknowingly, the sky brightened again.

Murong Yunyao looked at the canyon where she had been searching for nothing all night, and sighed slightly, "Oh, those believers must have been transferred to other places. It seems that my work was in vain all night." put the money into his own purse, and then went straight to Tong Lingxia layman.

Although she didn't stop, she was very troubled, "With the little money in my hand, I can't go back to Bianliang at all. I want to beg along the way but I'm afraid that it will be self-defeating. Is it possible that the lady is really going to rob?"

Murong Yunyao walked for a long time, and saw a village outside the forest. She looked back at the murderous dense forest last night, and sighed, "Oh! Not only did she not help Ah Nian find her sister, but she almost lost her Fate is on the line, if I died here last night, Brother Yun and Eight Kings Qiansui will probably never find me for the rest of their lives, and I don’t know if they will be sad? Sigh! Fortunately, this girl is so lucky that even ghosts and gods dare not get close !

Talking to herself, she walked towards the village.The village is not too big, but it has all kinds of shops, tea sheds, and restaurants. The strange thing is that there is no pedestrian on the street.

Murong Yunyao thought to herself, "Why don't you choose a wealthy family in the village and ask them to give me some silver and food." She thought about going to a decent farmer's door and knocking on the door lightly, "There are people inside." Is it? I’m a traveler and I don’t have enough money with me, so I hope you can give me a stutter.”

Murong Yunyao knocked for a long time, but when no one responded, her hands became harder.Unexpectedly, the dilapidated wooden door opened in response, and then a strong smell of blood came from the house.

"Ahem!" Murong Yunyao couldn't help coughing due to choking, she instinctively wanted to retreat, but inadvertently glanced into the yard.It's okay if you don't look at it, but after seeing it, she was petrified by the scene in the yard!In the not-so-spacious courtyard, there were several corpses lying here and there, one of which was an old man with a sharp knife sticking out of his back.The blood stains all over the ground had turned black and purple, and a large number of mosquitoes and flies circled around these corpses, unwilling to disperse for a long time.

Murong Yunyao frowned, unexpectedly she stepped across the courtyard and walked straight to the main hall facing the gate.The doors and windows of the main hall were closed at this time, Murong Yunyao pushed open the two wooden doors of the main hall with a little force, and walked into the house vigilantly.

The room was covered with thick curtains, and even the most dazzling sunlight at noon could hardly illuminate the main hall.Just as Murong Yunyao walked into the room curiously, she was hit on the forehead by a soft object.

She hurriedly raised her head to look up, and saw that it was a leg that bumped into her, the leg of a young girl who hanged herself.Not long after the girl died, her body was not completely stiff. Although a long tongue was sticking out, the corners of her mouth were slightly turned up, as if she died without pain, and she was smiling at herself at this moment!

"Ah!" Murong Yunyao exclaimed, and instinctively drew the sword from her waist, but it was empty.Only then did she remember that her sword had been destroyed in that strange forest last night.She tried her best to calm down her mind, then took three steps in parallel, and quickly exited this shocking courtyard.

Murong Yunyao's breathing was a little disordered, she wiped away the cold sweat that oozed from her temples with her hands, and then knocked forcefully on the door of the courtyard next to her.After a few knocks, the door was pushed open from the inside, and the person who opened it was a white-haired old man.

The old man asked vigilantly in sign language: "Little lady, who are you? Why did you knock on the door of the old man's house?"

Murong Yunyao has been fighting wits and bravery with the followers of Chaos Sect these days, barely mastered some superficial Chaos Sect sign language, and hurriedly gestured: "Old man, I come from Tongling Gorge and want to go to Bianliang. When I leave home, I will go I was in a hurry and didn't bring enough money, so I had no choice but to ask the old man for stuttering, and I hope the old man will not be offended."

Seeing her expression, the old man looked very afraid, but at the same time seemed very excited, and kept making all kinds of weird gestures towards Murong Yunyao.Murong Yunyao understood that the meaning of the old man's gesture was that he was extremely devout to the holy religion, so he hoped that the grand priest would not doubt it.

Murong Yunyao was startled, and thought to herself, "Why does he call me the big sacrificial wine? Even if he mistakenly thinks that I am a believer, but my age is still inexperienced, he should at most call me a small sacrificial wine. How about my big sacrifice?"

Seeing Murong Yunyao staring at him without saying a word, the old man hurriedly said: "Honorable Guangmu Dajijiu, I will always be your most devout believer. It is the greatest favor to the old man that you can come to the old man's house. Don't say anything." You just eat a meal, even if you want the old man's life, the old man will not hesitate!"

Murong Yunyao nodded slightly, and secretly said, "This Guangmu Dajijiu must be a young girl, and she looks very similar to me. Why don't I pretend to be her for a while, so I can have a good meal. Fun, fun!" Murong Yunyao said I became interested for a while, but then I thought again, "The believers of Chaos Cult are either dumb, blind, or deaf, and everyone seems to be different. What kind of banquet is this Guangmu Dajiu? Forget it, forget it! This girl is ice and snow smart, just play by ear." She wanted to give up and said in blunt sign language: "Hurry up and get some food for me, I'm hungry."

The old man responded, and looked Murong Yunyao up and down again, and saw that Murong Yunyao was wearing a purple dress, wearing a pair of moon-white leather boots, and did not wear any weapons on his body.It seemed to be completely different from the Guangmu Dajiu in his impression, he couldn't help frowning slightly, and a trace of doubt arose in his heart.He looked at Murong Yunyao again and again, then took a few steps forward tremblingly, and asked with a puzzled look: "Big sacrificial wine, excuse the old man's talk, why are you so tired today, why are you still dressed like this, and you call yourself my girl?" , I wonder if the great sacrificial wine can enlighten me?"

Murong Yunyao was thinking in her heart, but she was not in a hurry to answer.Seeing that she didn't speak, the old man suddenly realized: "It's the old man who is old and forgets that the Guangmu Dajijiu can't hear it, and ask the Dajijiu to forgive the old man!" After he finished speaking, he communicated with her again using sign language, "Da Jijiu, why are you dressed up like this today? Is there some important matter in the church that you are sent to do?"

Seeing this, Murong Yunyao made gestures and said: "There is indeed an important matter in the Holy Cult that I sent me to sacrifice wine. This matter is related to the safety of my Holy Cult, so I have no choice but to dress like this to prevent leaks. Since you are a believer in my Cult, you should keep it a secret , if you dare to publicize it, be careful that the Holy Lord will punish you and make you fall into the netherworld forever!"

The old man clasped his hands together and raised them above his head, and said in his mouth: "The sacred religion of chaos, protect my heart forever. Eliminate demons and protect the way, and never fall into the nether world." Then he gestured very respectfully: "Guangmu Dajiu, you must not get angry, old man Be sure to keep your mouth shut." He hurriedly welcomed Murong Yunyao into the house, and hurried to the kitchen to prepare meals.

The light in the room was dim, and Murong Yunyao took advantage of the weak light to look at the room.I saw a wooden altar in the middle, and a chaotic stone statue was placed on the altar.The altar is very small, and its color has changed over time. The stone statue is also old and small, with no grandeur at all. This is the second time for Murong Yunyao to see the Chaos Stone Statue, but the two statues are completely different.

Murong Yunyao saw that there was still a set of old tables and chairs in front of the altar, which had been used for an unknown amount of time, and the table and chairs had been rubbed until they were as smooth as a mirror.Murong Yunyao sat down on the wooden chair on the left, intending to sit down and rest her feet, but just as she sat down, the wooden chair made a "creaking" sound.She stood up hastily, for fear that the wooden chair would collapse and she would fall to the ground.

"Dajijiu, why don't you sit down?" The old man smiled and brought two large bowls of black things, and before they were placed on the table, a strange smell came over his face.Murong Yunyao quickly covered her nose, and gestured dissatisfiedly: "It smells so bad, can this kind of thing be eaten!"

The old man was startled, and then smiled wryly, "Dajijiu, these dried bamboo shoots and bacon are already the best things in the old man's house. If it wasn't for the Dajijiu, the old man would be reluctant to entertain guests."

Murong Yunyao saw that the old man was sincere and didn't seem to be deliberately teasing her at all, so she could only sigh slightly, "Old man, why is your family so poor? Looking at the Song Dynasty, although the emperor was incompetent and the officials were rampant, ordinary people didn't As poor as your family."

The old man put two large bowls on the table, shook his head and smiled, "You don't know about Dajijiu. The old man's family was not bad at first, because my son Meng Duowen became a guide for the Dajijiu every year. Pay him all the incense money to worship the Holy Lord, and then he spent all the savings in the family."

Murong Yunyao gestured and said: "Old man, I have heard a lot about the great sacrificial wine to help your son improve his mana and improve his Taoism. How much incense money did you ask for?"

The old man replied: "Duowen Dajiu received ten copper coins to help my son return to the realm of chaos once. In addition, he promised that as long as the offerings are consistent every year, he will help my son return to the realm of chaos three times in three years and become a teacher." The small sacrificial wine in the middle. If it is enshrined for another ten years, there is hope to return to the realm of chaos six times, and become the big sacrificial wine for one person under one person and over ten thousand people. This is the blessing of the old man and my son, it doesn’t matter if you are poor, As long as my son can reach the heaven as soon as possible and not fall into the nether world, everything will be worth it!"

After seeing his gestures, Murong Yunyao's nose became a little sore, and her eye sockets were slightly red, and she sighed in her heart: "Oh, poor parents in the world, the old man has worked so hard for his son, and he would rather endure hardships and suffer for his own son than help his son. Realizing that illusory dream, I really don't know if it's for his own good or for his harm!" Then the face of her father Murong Yanzhao appeared in her mind, and crystal tears almost welled up in her eyes.

Seeing Murong Yunyao staring at the table in a daze, the old man thought that the food was not to her liking, and hurried to the butcher's house in the village to get some fresh meat, and made a gesture to ask Murong Yunyao to wait, and then gestured: : "Dajijiu, if you are willing to mention my shameless son in the future, the old man will be grateful!"

Murong Yunyao hurriedly held back the old man, afraid that he would find that his expression was different and he couldn't take care of it anymore, so he sat straight on the wooden chair that was about to fall apart, and ate the moldy dried bamboo shoots and bacon with big mouthfuls.Before she took a few mouthfuls, she was almost nauseated by the weird taste. After barely eating a few mouthfuls, she pretended to be full and quickly put down her chopsticks.

"I want to ask you a few questions, you must tell me the truth!" Murong Yunyao looked into the eyes of the old man, tried to pretend to be very cold and arrogant, and kept signing at him.

The old man hurriedly said: "What's the problem with the great sacrificial wine? I will tell you the truth!"

Murong Yunyao asked: "What's the name of your place?"

The old man said: "This place was originally called Qingping County, but because it is adjacent to the Holy Church, it is also called Chaos County."

Murong Yunyao continued to ask: "What's your name? Are you a local?"

The old man nodded and said: "The old man's name is Jiang Shan, and he is a native of the local area."

Murong Yunyao hesitated for a while, and said again: "Do you know when the holy temple in Tongling Gorge was built?"

Jiang Shan was taken aback for a moment, as if he didn't expect Murong Yunyao to ask such a question. After a while, he said, "Great sacrificial wine, why do you ask knowingly? The temple in Tongling Gorge was built after the fall of Zhou, and it has been 20 years."

Murong Yunyao nodded, thinking, "It seems that I was not mistaken yesterday, that temple was indeed built shortly after the founding of the Song Dynasty." She thought about it and continued to ask: "Then what does the family next to you do? ? Why did everyone in the family die? Why didn't anyone collect their bodies?"

Jiang Shan trembled violently when he heard the words, his eyes were full of fear, and even his sign language became intermittent, "Da... Da Jijiu, that... that family's surname is Liu, and the old man is... in-laws! They are just ordinary people. Farmers. During spring plowing last year, they accidentally found a golden dragon made of five treasures in the field. They went to Dali to find someone to look at it, and they said it was priceless. Their family was very happy, and they didn’t even do farm work. I did it, and stayed at home every day to take care of the golden dragon, for fear that others would steal it! I was worried that there would be trouble because of this, and I reminded them several times to throw the golden dragon away, but they refused. Later, this matter spread to Jinpeng Villa in Dali Went there, the owner Duan Siming saw the money, and led someone to kill their family early this morning, took away the golden dragon with five treasures, and ruined my daughter who just married. Pity my daughter! She can't think about it for a while Just... just hang yourself!" His gestures became faster and faster, and at the end of the comparison, he burst into tears, and his expression was full of anger and helplessness.

Murong Yunyao suddenly remembered the female corpse hanging on the beam, and hurriedly asked: "Duan Siming killed good people in broad daylight, so the government doesn't care?"

Jiang Shan shook his head, and said helplessly: "Duan Siming is from Dali, how can the government of the Song Dynasty get him! What's more, he is famous in the world, who is his opponent? Also, the old man heard that he has heard a lot about Dajijiu and him. The private teaching is very rich, the government will not offend Jinpeng Villa and the Chaos Sect for the lives of a few grassroots people..." When he spoke, he was filled with righteous indignation, and for a moment he forgot that sitting next to him was the Guangmu Grand Priest of the Chaos Sect.

Then Jiang Shan came to his senses, shut his mouth quickly, and kept slapping himself hard.Seeing this, Murong Yunyao deliberately pretended to be indifferent, and said in sign language: "You don't have to be like this, I have long been dissatisfied with Duo Wen's actions, but I have been holding back because of the face of the leader."

The speaker didn’t care about the listener, and Murong Yunyao’s random reasoning in a hurry shocked Jiang Shan again, “Guangmu Dajijiu, you... aren’t you the fiancée who has heard a lot about Dajijiu? It is said that you are inseparable , Is this all...all fake?"

Murong Yunyao was startled when she heard the words, and then she secretly laughed, "The Chaos Cult's behavior is really weird. Not only are they dressed differently, the sacred objects they enshrine are different, they even treat love differently. Their followers Not only can you marry a wife and have children, but you also need to make it known to everyone, even this kind of countryman knows it clearly, it's really weird."

She thought about it and said disdainfully: "Who said that an unmarried couple will be intimate? It's a piece of nonsense! If it wasn't for the deliberate arrangement of the leader, how could this Jijiu marry a guy like Duowen!"

Murong Yunyao pretended to be serious, but Jiang Shan was really fooled by her, and hurriedly said: "Don't get angry at the great sacrificial wine! This old man doesn't know what's going on, so he was just talking nonsense for a while, please forgive me!"

The two had been communicating in sign language, and Murong Yunyao was afraid at first that the old man would find something strange.But after making gestures for a long time, she realized that Jiang Shan only had a half-knowledge of sign language, and often instinctively explained when he didn't understand, so she was relieved.

That night Murong Yunyao stayed at Jiang Shan's home, thinking about whether she should go to Dali to meet this wicked Duan Siming.

(End of this chapter)