Immortality: Starting from meeting the fox girl

Chapter 40 No such fate

A ray of morning sun has just risen.

The short Taoist man wearing a cotton robe yawned, reluctantly got out of bed, put on his woolen felt boots, and cleaned the City God's Temple as usual.

As the Xiayuan Festival Water Festival approaches, more and more pilgrims come to the Chenghuang Temple to offer incense and pray for blessings. Recently, he doesn't even have much time to sleep in.

As the watchman of the City God's Temple, the short Taoist has to clean the main hall twice a day.

Clean once before opening the door at Mao hour, and clean once after closing the door at Hai hour.

This tradition has been going on for many years.

As for the reason, the fat Taoist secretly told the short Taoist in private that it was probably because the Chenghuang of Jiamu County was afraid of making noise and had a mysophobia, so when the gate of the Chenghuang Temple was closed at night, pilgrims could not get in even if they wanted to.

Butcher Wang over there at Erxian Bridge did not believe in evil. He was very strong and could pick up a three-hundred-jin pig and run away. In the middle of the night, he even pushed the door of the City God's Temple, but the door did not budge. Butcher Wang was still seriously ill when he returned home. After a fight, I had to take several decoctions to get better.

Since then, no one from Jiamu County has bothered Master Cheng Huang at night.

The short Taoist was cleaning the snow in the courtyard with a broom in his hand. It snowed a lot last night and accumulated a layer on the bluestone bricks.

When he swept under the pine tree in the yard, he stared at the extinguished fire under the tree with some confusion.

"Someone burned paper across here last night? I don't remember."

"."

After being in a daze for a while, the short Taoist shook his head, thinking that he had remembered it wrong, and then picked up the broom and prepared to go to the main hall to sweep up the sandalwood ashes that fell on the altar.

But before he reached the main hall, the short Taoist heard the faint sound of people coming from inside the hall, not just one person but at least several.

The short Taoist was suddenly startled and swallowed subconsciously.

He remembered locking the door last night. How did these people get in?
  Could it be that I was careless and forgot about it?

The short Taoist threw down the broom in his hand and ran towards the gate of the City God's Temple in a panic. He saw that the door latch was not infested by insects and was inserted into the door intact. The copper lock was still hung well. He was a little confused for a moment.
  "That's weird, where did those people come from?"

"When I locked the door last night, there was no one there."

He stretched out his hand and pushed the door tentatively. It was indeed motionless as usual, and it didn't look like someone had opened it.

The short Taoist scratched his head, turned back and walked towards the main hall, picked up the broom and prepared to clean up the incense ashes.

As soon as he entered the main hall, he saw a young man in fox fur holding a huge fluttering moth in his right hand, holding a young girl in his left hand, and a white fox squatting on his shoulder.

The short Taoist stared blankly at the person in front of him.

He was deeply impressed by this fox fur suit. It was this person who helped the fat Taoist stir up a pool of living water last night. He swallowed and subconsciously asked:
  "This City God's Temple hasn't opened yet. Sir, how did you get in?"

"."

The young prince looked at the short Taoist with some doubts. What is there to ask?

"The door isn't locked? Can't you just push the door and come in?"

It was strange that there were no passers-by who came to the Chenghuang Temple to take shelter from the snow all night. When I and Brother Lu came here last night, it felt empty and eerie.

Lu Chenran smiled gently at the short Taoist:
  "I've met the Taoist priest."

"Does the Taoist know where there is a shop in Jiamu County that can make some rare antiques? I picked up a moth last night. Look -"

"."

As he spoke, he raised the flutter in his hand.

At first, Lu Chenran wanted to sell the moth, but when he woke up, he found that he had become attached to it. He happened to be short of a package or something, and he wanted to make the best use of everything. Wouldn't it be good to use this moth to make a package?

The short Taoist was still in a state of shock and confusion, and after a while he replied:

"Sir, are you talking about a shop that customizes antiques and antiques?"

"There is a gentleman on Toad Road in the east of the city who likes to study this kind of stuff. If he wants to customize something, you might as well go there and have a look."

"."

"Thank you."

After Lu Chenran thanked the short Taoist, he led Xiao An and the young prince toward the door.

The short Taoist raised his head and looked at the sculpture of the City God, and then at Mr. Huqiu who had already walked to the door. Suddenly he remembered that the key to the copper lock was still in his hand, so he walked out of the hall quickly and reminded:
  "Sir, key."                          

The sound of the door opening has already been heard.

Lu Chenran turned back to look at the short Taoist and said doubtfully:
  "Do you have anything else to do, Master Taoist?"

The short Taoist lowered his head to look at the key in his hand, then raised his head to look at the open door.

After being stunned for a while, he cautiously said:

"It's okay. Go ahead."

The young prince looked at the strange short Taoist, stretched out his hand to push the door, and shook his head.

Why was this Taoist priest so surprised? Like the Cangmu scholar I met before, they are all weirdos.

Then he followed Lu Chenran out of the City God's Temple.

The door was closed again, and the door latch and the copper lock that had just disappeared appeared again.

The short Taoist tremblingly took the key, stepped forward, slowly opened the door, rubbed his hands, and watched Mr. Huqiu go away.
  ——I am afraid this is not a gentleman who can be invited by the City God and sent away politely.

The words that the gentleman said last night seemed to echo in my mind again:

‘The water official doesn’t care whether the water sacrifice uses living water, sincerity is enough.’

"hiss--"

The short Taoist blushed instantly, feeling that he was so full of heart that he couldn't even hide it.

He hurriedly ran to the small house nearby and pushed his two senior brothers who were still sleeping soundly up. His face was full of excitement and his speech was unclear:

"Senior brother, senior brother, don't sleep!"

"We saw Mr. Foxqiu from Shui Guan last night. He is a true immortal!"

"."

The three Taoists, who had put on their clothes in a hurry, hurried out of the door and looked into the distance.

There was silence outside the temple, and the mountains were covered with snow.

Where is the shadow of Mr. Fox Qiu?
  The fat Taoist looked at the low-flying birds and sighed:
  "It seems that we don't have that immortal fate after all."

Outside the City God Temple.

The pool of water was swaying, with the wind and snow blowing by. The bird leaned forward and was about to reach the surface of the pool, but it raised its head and flew away, causing the water to rise in all directions.

Sparkling——

The fog is hidden in the dawn, and the clouds are steaming and the clouds are bright.

It snowed all night last night and the mountain road was a bit slippery, but many pilgrims were already walking towards the Chenghuang Temple one after another. Their figures were packed in, and their robe sleeves were waving briskly.

The young prince followed Lu Chenran, always feeling that he had forgotten to do something.

Suddenly she seemed to remember something, and she quickly said:

"Brother Lu, we seem to have forgotten to buy incense and pray for blessings."

"The caravan is leaving Jiamu County this afternoon. Well, there's still time -"

"."

Lu Chenran took Xiao An's little hand and suggested:
  "Brother Li, it's still too late to buy some incense."

"However, I have to go to Toad Road in the east of the city. Let's meet at the inn in the afternoon."

"it is good--"

The young prince responded hastily.

Then he turned around and ran towards the City God's Temple on the mountain.

(End of this chapter)