And said you're not a fairy

Chapter 182
I rested for two days in Qingyang Temple.

I saw that the storm I had caused two nights ago was gradually receding in Jianghuai City.

That day, Chen Yuan and Changchun Taoist, the master of Qingyang Temple, went to the countryside mentioned by Changchun Taoist to learn carving skills from the carpenter.

Two Taoist priests, one old and one young, left Qingyang Temple.

Chen Yuan led the gray donkey in front, and Changchun Taoist led a red horse raised by Qingyang Temple behind.

"Taoist Priest, the carpenter I heard about is Liu Xibao. He lives in the countryside south of Jianghuai City, in a village called "Shaxi Village". It is about fifty miles away from Jianghuai City and not far from Jianghuai City."

"The round trip is only over a hundred miles. Wherever we go, we can stay in the village for one night and it won't be too late to come back tomorrow."

Changchun Taoist said to Chen Yuan who was walking in front.

"It depends on the situation. This is someone else's special skill. I'm afraid it's difficult to learn it."

The two of them walked in tandem, one behind the other, on the busy street, and Chen Yuan responded.

Just like the painting sage Wu Yeshou who taught him painting skills, if it weren't for the old relationship between the other party and Fuhu Guan, he might not be able to learn Wu Yeshou's painting skills.

Strictly speaking, people like the painting saint Wu Yeshou and the carpenter Liu Xibao, their skills have reached the point where they are almost Taoist. Although they are still ordinary people living in the secular world, they are no longer ordinary painters and carpenters. , but an expert hermit who lives in seclusion in the city!

"Too."

Changchun Taoist agrees with Taoism.

For people like Wu Yeshou and Liu Xibao, they must have a sense of arrogance in their hearts for being able to achieve such achievements. This is why Wu Yeshou does not even show face to the extremely noble emperor.

When Chen Yuan and Taoist Changchun left Jianghuai City, a wide official road appeared in front of them, and the number of pedestrians on the road began to become sparse.

Chen Yuan and Changchun Taoist respectively mounted gray donkeys and bay red horses and galloped on the road.

Logically speaking, the running speed of a donkey cannot be compared to that of a horse. There is a huge innate gap between the two sides.

But the gray donkey under Chen Yuan's crotch could steadily keep up with the Changchun Taoist, and the speed of the bay red horse could even exceed it.

"Taoist Priest, after following you for a long time, I'm afraid even this donkey has some supernatural powers."

After running for a while, the Changchun Taoist sighed when he saw that no matter how fast he accelerated, the bay-red horse could never catch up with the gray donkey under Chen Yuan.

You must know that the bay red horse he is riding is not a low-grade horse, but a high-grade horse of excellent breed. It is the best quality among the few horses raised by Qingyang Temple. , usually he, the spectator, rides most of the time.

Although it is not as good as those BMWs raised with fine feed in the homes of dignitaries, it is considered to be extremely high-quality among all horses.

This can be seen from the tall figure of the bay red horse, but it is still left behind by the gray donkey, which is slightly smaller than the bay red horse.

"may be."

Chen Yuan smiled and turned around and responded.

The gray donkey was seriously ill and was given "life-killing soup" by a shady dealer to make money. It was not long before he died. After he cured it with a talisman, it could be said that he was recognized as his master.

I have been following him. Later, on my way back to Aoshan last time, I was lucky enough to take the jelly grass "Silver Moon Grass". In addition, during this period, I went to the stable to feed it with Silver Moon Grass when I had time. Now Hui Although the donkey has not yet formed immortal bones, it is not far away.

Naturally, it is incomparable to ordinary horses.

When they arrived at Shaxi Village, it was already noon an hour later.

The weather is excellent today, there are no clouds in the sky and the sun is shining.

Chen Yuan and the others were not in a hurry and were not traveling very fast, so it took them an hour.

When the two of them arrived at Shaxi Village, Chen Yuan discovered that Shaxi Village was a large village with about three hundred households. It was located on the edge of a very low, hundred-foot-high hill. The flat land at the foot of the mountain was all cultivated by the common people. Crop fields.

However, Chen Yuan and the others did not arrive by chance. When Chen Yuan and the others walked into the village, they found that the funeral seemed to have just been held not long ago.

On the winding path into the village, you can see paper money scattered everywhere in the weeds on the left and right sides of the road.

After entering the village, you can see many children playing on the roads in the village.

You can also see many villagers doing chores like drying and grinding grain in front of their homes.

Chen Yuan and his two stranger-looking Taoist priests appeared, attracting the attention of all the villagers along the road, and everyone stared at them.

But looking back, because Chen Yuan and Changchun Taoist priests both looked good, no villagers regarded Chen Yuan and Changchun Taoist priests as bad guys and were wary of them.

"Taoist Master, the old Taoist first goes to the villagers to inquire about the situation of Liu Xibao's family."

Changchun Taoist suggested.

"Go ahead."

Chen Yuan agreed.

Changchun Taoist led the horse to a house, spread a bamboo mat in front of the door, and was drying beans on the bamboo mat. Although not tall, a round-faced woman with a strong body asked about Liu Xibao's family.

After talking for a quarter of an hour, the Changchun Taoist came back with his horse, but his expression was not very good.

"Taoist Priest, we are late. Liu Xibao died ten days ago and was just buried."

Changchun Taoist said to Chen Yuan.

"Liu Xibao is dead? How did he die?"

Chen Yuan was a little puzzled.

"It was said that he was a child in the village. Someone went to play in the pond and accidentally fell into the water. Liu Xibao happened to be passing by and saw him. He jumped in to save the person without hesitation. However, when the person was rescued, he was drowned. It was pitiful. In his family, apart from his wife and elderly parents, he didn’t even have any children left.”

Changchun Taoist explained to Chen Yuan the reason for Liu Xibao's death.

"That's a pity. It seems that Liu Xibao is not only an excellent carpenter, but also a kind man."

Chen Yuan was surprised and said a little regretfully.

It seemed that their trip this time was in vain.

"Yes, Liu Xibao is indeed a good man who can sacrifice his own life to save the lives of others."

Changchun Taoist agreed.

"only……"

However, Changchun Taoist's tone changed and he seemed to hesitate to speak.

"Just what?"

Chen Yuan said curiously.

"It's just that good people are not rewarded with good deeds. Another family in the village who saved the boy's life by Liu Xibao was afraid that Liu Xibao's family would blame them, so they said that they did not let Liu Xibao save the boy, and that Liu Xibao had to save it himself."

"The two families were somewhat related in the village, but later there was a big conflict during the funeral. Later, the family was criticized by the whole village. They couldn't bear it, so they took the whole family and hid at the wife's natal home. went."

Changchun Taoist said truthfully, his tone was a little heavy.

Chen Yuan fell silent for a moment. It seemed that after rescuing someone, he was not understood and did not speak up, or even criticized because he was afraid of being blamed by the family of the rescuer. This kind of thing could happen no matter in the past or present life.

"Where is Liu Xibao's family?"

Chen Yuan asked Changchun Taoist.

"It's at the west end of the village."

Changchun Taoist replied.

"Let's go to Liu Xibao's house and take a look."

Chen Yuan suggested. "Since you've come here, it would be good to even go and worship."

Chen Yuan then said again.

In fact, no matter which school of Buddhism or Taoism, their scriptures all have part of admonishing good deeds. Taoists believe that doing good is accumulating negative virtue, so Chen Yuan still admires this kind of good person who can sacrifice himself for others and risk his own life to save others. .

"Listen to the Taoist Master."

Changchun is humane.

Then the two led the donkey and horse to Liu Xibao's house in the west of the village.

After a while, they arrived at Liu Xibao's home.

This is a courtyard that looks pretty good in the village, built with bricks and stones.

It is much better than most of the courtyards in the village, which are built with rammed earth.

There is a sycamore tree planted in front of the yard, which is as thick as a barrel and three feet high with lush branches and leaves.

In front of the small courtyard, under the cover of the plane trees, there is a large shady area. In addition to enjoying the shade in summer, it also has a unique scenery.

After Chen Yuan arrived here, he looked directly under the sycamore tree, because under the sycamore tree, he saw a man who was more than six feet tall, slender, wearing a brown cross-collar gown, with a sparse beard and skin on his face. A sallow-yellow middle-aged man wearing a Liuhe hat was standing under the tree, looking at Chen Yuan and Chen Yuan with some vigilance.

But the strange thing is that only Chen Yuan can see this middle-aged man, and Changchun Taoist did not notice it.

"Liu Xibao is a carpenter, and his skills are very good, so villagers from all over the surrounding villages come to him for work. As a result, his family background is considered very good in the village."

Changchun Taoist took the initiative to introduce to Chen Yuan the situation of Liu Xibao's family.

After finishing speaking, Changchun Taoist went up and knocked on the door.

creak!

Chen Yuan and Taoist Changchun did not wait too long. After a harsh sound of wood rubbing against each other, the courtyard door was opened.

A 27-year-old woman came out wearing a cross-collar pink gown, with crooked eyebrows, a somewhat haggard look, and red eyes.

"Who are the two Taoist priests?"

Seeing two Taoist priests, one old and one young, standing outside the door, each holding a horse and a donkey, the woman looked a little surprised.

"Hello madam, I am Taoist Changchun, the master of Qingyang Temple in Jianghuai City. This person next to me is Taoist Qingming. We were originally here to visit your husband on business."

"It's just that when I arrived in the village, I found out that your husband had passed away due to an accident, so I came over to take a look. It would be best if I could pay my respects to your husband."

Changchun Taoist said to the woman in front of him.

"Are you two friends of the husband of the common woman?"

Hearing that the old Taoist priest speaking in front of her turned out to be the master of Qingyang Temple in Jianghuai City, the woman's attitude suddenly became much more respectful.

She has heard of the name Qingyang Temple. This Taoist temple seems to be the grand temple in Jianghuai City. It is said that the Taoist temple has an official background. There are many wealthy families and dignitaries in the city who are believers in Qingyang Temple.

But she really didn't expect that her deceased husband would actually interact with such a big shot as the master of Qingyang Temple!

"No, we just know him, but he doesn't necessarily know us. We just want to ask him for a favor."

Changchun Taoist denied it.

"Although the two of you are not close friends with your late husband, since you are here for your late husband, a commoner woman cannot let you two pass by. Please come in."

The woman only hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

The visitor is a guest, not to mention these two people. One of them is the owner of Qingyang Temple. Although the other person does not know his identity, but he can go with the owner of Qingyang Temple, which means that the other person’s identity will definitely not be with Qingyang Temple. Wherever the Lord sends.

Then the woman turned around, opened the courtyard door, and said to Taoist Changchun and Chen Yuan:

"Two Taoist priests, please bring the horses and donkeys into the yard. Horses and donkeys are valuable items. If they are left outside the yard, the little woman and her family cannot bear the responsibility if they are stolen."

Chen Yuan and Taoist Changchun took matters into their own hands and led the gray donkey and bay-red horse towards the yard.

When Chen Yuan and Taoist Changchun were walking into the yard, Chen Yuan happened to see the middle-aged man standing under the sycamore tree, looking anxious.

He wanted to rush over to stop Chen Yuan and Changchun Taoist from entering the yard, but they couldn't get out of the plane tree at all. Once they reached the intersection of the shadow of the plane tree and the sunshine, it was like being electrocuted, and they retreated under the plane tree with a look of reluctance.

I could only watch helplessly as Chen Yuan and Changchun Taoist led the donkey and horse into the yard.

After Chen Yuan and Taoist Changchun entered, the woman closed the courtyard door, found a stake in the yard for Chen Yuan and Taoist Changchun, and tied the reins of the gray donkey and bay red horse.

Then the woman invited Chen Yuan and Taoist Changchun into the main room to sit down, and served tea to them.

At this moment, a short old woman wearing pure black clothes with silver hair, holding a porcelain bowl full of strong medicinal smell in one hand and a wooden stick in the other, came tremblingly from a room in the back room next to her. After walking out of the main room, he went directly into the kitchen.

Chen Yuan looked at the layout of the house and found that since it was in the countryside, although the house had a yard, it did not strictly adhere to the independent layout of the main house, the west wing, and the east wing.

Although Liu Xibao's family has several houses, each room is connected to the main house.

This is a common layout for farmers in the countryside, because it makes it easier to take care of family members if they get sick or have an accident.

"Two Taoist priests, that was the husband's mother just now. The folk woman's father-in-law is seriously ill and is lying in the house. He cannot come to see the two Taoist priests. Please don't mind, the two Taoist priests."

After the old woman walked out, the woman walked in from the outside and spoke to Chen Yuan and Changchun Taoist.

"It doesn't matter, it's our arrival that has disturbed Madam's family."

Changchun Taoist said politely.

"Madam, I wonder if your husband is wearing a brown gown, tall and thin, more than six feet tall, with a sparse beard, and a Liuhe hat?"

Chen Yuan suddenly asked the woman.

"Has the Taoist priest seen the husband of the commoner woman?"

The woman was confused when she heard this.

Changchun Taoist just made it clear that they and their husband had not known each other before.

"I think I've seen it before."

Chen Yuan thought about it and replied.

"Just when I entered the yard, Pindao saw your husband under the sycamore tree in your yard, and he wanted to follow him in."

Then Chen Yuan said again.

After Chen Yuan finished speaking, the woman's expression was extremely complicated and she didn't speak for a long time.

After a long time, the woman breathed a sigh of relief and suppressed the sadness in her heart: "Taoist Master, don't make fun of the common woman. The husband of the common woman has been dead for ten days and has been buried. Where did you see it?" What about the husband of the civilian woman?"

Chen Yuan shook his head and said seriously: "What Pindao just said is absolutely true, and there is absolutely no lie."

The woman looked at Chen Yuan and didn't look like he was joking.

"Could it be that what the Taoist priest just saw was the ghost of the husband of the commoner woman?"

The woman thought of a possibility, her body suddenly shook, and a look of disbelief flashed in her eyes.

"When Pindao first saw him, his feet were off the ground and he was floating three inches in the air. His figure was ethereal. He was undoubtedly a ghost."

Chen Yuan said.

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(End of this chapter)