Chapter 165: Singing Plays on a Desolate Dashan (Thanks to the

"This good believer, do you know where Mount Shimen is?"

"Third Shixiong, I ask you for the way to Mount Shimen."

"This escort leader has traveled north and south, and must be knowledgeable. Do you know how to get to Mount Shimen?"

"You thief, you are bold! Fortunately, this Daoist has always been kind-hearted. If you know how to get to Mount Shimen, I can give you a quick death!"

"That black dog! Come here! Suck suck~"

"Old man, have you heard of Mount Shimen?"

Third Third Third Shixiong asked for directions on the main road from I don't know how many people, before finally one person had heard of Mount Shimen.

That was an old man carrying a pole. In the pole, you could still see a little bit of vegetable silk stuck between the bamboo strips. He should have been carrying vegetables to the city to sell, and was stopped by Third Third Third Shixiong.

"Mount Shimen..."

The old man showed a thoughtful look: "Is it the Mount Shimen where a strange boy was born?"

"We don't know either, we just arrived here, but I think there is no second Mount Shimen in Biluo County." Third Third Third Shixiong bowed and said, "If this is Biluo County, then it is that place."

"How could it not be Biluo County?"

"Please point the way, old man."

"Along here..."

The old man pointed forward and said a few words. When he turned his head and saw that they were a group of Daoists, he intended to be kind to the Daoists, so he took his hand back:

"I can't explain it clearly. It just so happens that I am also going in that direction, so follow me. When we reach the fork in the road, I will point the direction for the Daoists."

"Thank you, good believer!"

"No thanks, no thanks..."

"It's troublesome for the good believer to carry an empty pole. Anyway, there is not much weight, so put it on our flatbed cart."

"Not troublesome, not troublesome..."

The old man politely refused. Third Third Third Shixiong could see it, so he reached out and took his shoulder pole, and put the pole and the bamboo basket on the flatbed cart.

Although it is said that there is not much weight, it is always more comfortable to have empty hands than to carry things on your shoulders.

Both sides gave each other convenience.

Relaxing, it was good to chat.

"Old man just said that a strange boy was born on Mount Shimen. What does that mean?" Third Third Third Shixiong looked back at Fourth Third Third Shixiong and Second Third Third Shixiong and asked.

"That is to say, in a village under Mount Shimen, someone gave birth to a boy. They were very happy at first, but not long after the boy was born, he could speak, and he spoke fluently, just like an adult. He also said where his family originally lived, what his name was, and that he had a wife. Isn't that strange?"

Lin Jue listened silently, already interested.

Little Xiao Shimei beside him looked down at the road, her steps didn't stop, but she didn't know where she found a small branch with a curved top. She pushed the branch with the curved end on the ground.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

A thin line was drawn on the ground all the way.

And her expression was focused, as if she was immersed in it.

Only the fox noticed the subtle change in Lin Jue's heart. It was originally trotting in front with small steps, but suddenly stopped, first looking at Lin Jue, then at the old man.

"Fuyao, move aside." Little Xiao Shimei said with her head down, "Don't let the cart I'm pushing hit you."

The fox tilted its head and looked at her again.

"Is this really happening?"

Fourth Third Third Shixiong said to the old man.

"It's all spread like this, it's probably not fake. I'm afraid the gods who manage these things underground made a mistake somewhere. People say that the gods nowadays are becoming less and less effective. Big gods are not as useful as small gods."

The old man was afraid of delaying them, so he swung his arms and walked very fast, saying as he walked:

"That Mount Shimen is far from the main road. If I hadn't heard about this, and if I hadn't asked where that place was adjacent to when I heard it, I'm afraid I wouldn't know either."

"What happened after that?"

"What can be done after that? It's hard to give birth to a boy, can you send him back?" The old man said, "People who understand these things say that although such things are not many, they are not rare. Many books have recorded similar things. When the baby grows up a little, he will forget these things himself and become like an ordinary person. And some will be smarter than ordinary babies."

"Most are indeed like this."

"Right! If it were me, I wouldn't send him back. No matter what, isn't he born by myself?"

"This poor Daoist has also heard similar stories." Fourth Third Third Shixiong said, "In my hometown, a woman died, and a few days later she came back to life. But after she came back to life, she said she was so-and-so from the neighboring village. She had just married two years ago. It was too hot to work in the fields, and she fainted from the heat. When she woke up, she was in this woman's body. Both women were married. The family was scared and ran to the neighboring village to ask. As a result, everything was exactly as the woman said. Later, the husband's family in the neighboring village heard about it and came to fight for this woman."

"What happened then?"

"What else could be done? Go to court." Fourth Third Third Shixiong said, "In the end, the County Magistrate judged that she belonged to the family of the flesh."

"Why?"

"Because the matter of the soul is ethereal, and the officials cannot judge its truth or falsehood, but the flesh can be seen at a glance. If it were not judged this way, many people would use the ethereal nature of the soul to change themselves from one person's wife to another's, or change husbands, or other things, and that would disrupt the etiquette and order."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"It's about the same. No one is willing to abandon the child they gave birth to, and no one is willing to abandon the wife or concubine they married."

"Where are the Daoists going..."

"Oh, we are Daoists from Mount Yishan. This time we went down the mountain to find a way out in various places."

"Mount Yishan..."

Both sides chatted with each other. They didn't walk far before the old man stopped and pointed to a small path:

"The Daoists follow this small path, walk out five miles, don't turn in the middle, pass a towering tree, walk right after one mile, go to the cliff to find a way down the mountain, go left after reaching the river until the river is about to turn, climb a mountain, follow the road and climb two mountains, and you should be able to see a few villages. If you can see a big mountain again, it should be Mount Shimen. They are all small roads, very hard to find."

Everyone looked at each other after hearing this.

Just this pile of descriptions is hard to remember and find, and it is a small road, and the old man himself is not sure about the wording.

But this is how it is in this era.

So it is difficult to deliver letters and find the way.

They had to ask the old man to say it again, and everyone tried their best to remember it, then took the pole and handed it back to him, thanked him, and said goodbye.

Looking at this small path again, it was only two or three feet wide, and in late spring, the spring grass was lush, covering a lot of the road.

In any case, the flatbed cart could not go.

Many senior brothers looked at each other and had to unload the luggage from the flatbed cart. It just so happened that there was a dense forest beside the main road, so they carried the flatbed cart and hid it deep in the dense forest. To prevent it from being lost, Lin Jue also let his fox leave a fox paw print on it, so it would be easy to find if it was lost.

Then they carried their luggage on their backs or put it on the backs of horses and donkeys, and walked onto the small path one after another.

Little Xiao Shimei was very diligent and wanted to carry more, but several senior brothers did not allow it, so she had to carry her luggage and take her long sword.

Looking at this small path, seeing that it was still flat, she continued to push the branch forward.

Don't underestimate this branch—

Little Xiao Shimei can focus on everything she does. This place is four or five hundred miles away from Qiuru County left by Sixth Third Third Shixiong. The senior brothers walk an average of a hundred miles a day. The journey is boring. If it weren't for the fox accompanying her to play, and if it weren't for the senior brothers talking to her about the scenery on the road, most of the time, she walked over so focused.

With focus, it is not tired or boring at all.

It can even make people forget time.

Walking forward all the way, after walking about five miles, they really saw a towering tree, but after passing this tree, there were many forks in the road.

Estimating that it was one mile, everyone discussed, found one of the two roads heading right, and luckily reached the cliff. With the help of Fourth Third Third Shixiong's friend, they went down the cliff, found the river, and groped forward.

It was really groping.

It was clearly daytime, but in this completely unfamiliar mountain, it felt like groping in the dark.

At first, there were some farmland and cultivated soil, and there were residential houses around, but after walking far, there were only desolate mountains around, and even people to ask for directions could not be seen.

Seeing that it was dusk, and seeing that it was dark.

"Did we go off course?"

"Walk out five miles, don't turn in the middle, reach the towering tree, walk right after one mile, go to the cliff to go down the mountain, go left after reaching the river, climb the mountain when turning, climb two mountains in a row, and there are villages and big mountains." Little Xiao Shimei held her precious long sword in one hand and carried the branch on her shoulder in the other, reciting it word for word.

"Then it shouldn't be wrong."

At this time, everyone had already climbed two mountains, but they couldn't see any villages around, and it was even harder to see after dark.

"I'll find a friend to ask for directions."

Fourth Third Third Shixiong frowned and said, suddenly looking around, and shouted: "Are there any birds or beasts nearby that haven't rested yet?"

"Coo coo..."

A night owl flew silently and landed on a branch nearby.

Fourth Third Third Shixiong bowed to it and said: "Oh, I am Hu Mengjin, a Daoist from Fuqiu Temple on Mount Yishan. I would like to ask, friend, where are there people nearby?"

Lin Jue's eyes lit up.

It turns out that gathering beasts and calling birds has this wonderful use.

"Coo..."

After the night owl heard his words, it spread its wings and rose.

Borrowing the little remaining daylight in the sky, they could see the direction it flew, and everyone hurriedly walked in that direction. By the time the sky was completely dark, a bright moon rose in the mountains.

Hard to find, hard to find.

I don't know when, the night owl disappeared.

The good news is that human figures can occasionally be seen on the side of the road, indicating that they are not far from where the villagers live. The bad news is that these figures are all lonely ghosts in the mountains.

However, when people die, they become ghosts. Most ghosts are weaker than people. Ordinary people who are in groups of three or five can still avoid the harassment of demons and ghosts, and even make many small ghosts actively retreat, let alone seven Daoists with Dao practice.

But as they walked, they discovered something strange—

There were actually ghosts walking with them.

"..."

Many Daoists didn't make a sound, and didn't use magic at the first time, but looked at each other.

At first, they suspected that these ghosts had plans for them, but later, after careful observation, they saw that although they were walking with them, they were walking in front of or behind them, and some ghosts were timid and didn't dare to walk on the same road as them, so they walked in the desolate fields on the left and right, looking a bit aggrieved and pitiful, and they felt bad in their hearts.

The light at night was already dim, and these ghosts were blurry, making it even harder to see clearly.

They could only vaguely distinguish that some ghosts were confused, as if they had no wisdom, looking like candles in the wind, while some were more solid and spirited, secretly looking at them, as if afraid of being discovered by them.

There were even two ghosts beside them making unclear sounds, as if they were whispering about them.

Many Daoists looked at each other again.

Little Xiao Shimei couldn't help but look at Lin Jue.

The fox looked up at the ghosts one by one, feeling no threat at all, so its eyes were full of curiosity, and it even tilted its head, wanting to hear what they were saying.

"May I ask where you are going?"

Suddenly Third Third Third Shixiong's voice came out.

"!"

The two ghosts who were discussing shook their bodies, as if they didn't know they could see them, like being shocked, looked at each other, and suddenly disappeared.

Many Daoists looked at Third Third Third Shixiong.

Even the fox was the same.

"Hey! These cowards, they are only allowed to peek at us, and when we look at them twice, they discuss endlessly! They are only allowed to talk, and when we talk, they run away!" Third Third Third Shixiong grinned, "They are really like some people in the world."

"They must have a place to go, let's go and see." Second Third Third Shixiong said thoughtfully.

"Hmm, it just so happens that we are all heading in one direction." Fourth Third Third Shixiong nodded.

"It just so happens that we can't find a place to stay tonight." Fifth Third Third Shixiong said.

"Fuyao..."

Lin Jue was about to call Fuyao to see what was in front, when he saw his own fox as if it had noticed something, raising its head and stretching its neck, looking forward intently. Then, without waiting for him, it jumped forward lightly, which was a light and slender white shadow under the moonlight in the mountains.

It stopped and turned to look back at everyone under the moonlight.

Everyone followed.

The mountains were originally quiet, but some blowing and beating sounds came from the wind. After walking a distance, they heard human voices again, rising and falling, with ups and downs.

"Opera troupe?"

Seventh Third Third Shixiong is an expert.

Until they climbed over a mountain ridge, the front suddenly opened up. Under the moonlight was a flat piece of desolate land. But on this flat desolate land, a simple stage was set up, with bright red lanterns lit, dozens of benches below, and two or three figures above, singing opera loudly.

The sound suddenly became clear.

Were they really singing opera?

It was true that they were people, but in the middle of the night, in the desolate mountains and wild ridges, someone actually set up a stage to sing opera.

It was even an opera that Seventh Third Third Shixiong had heard. He had been walking all day and was already tired, but when he heard the opera, he became energetic, and shook his head and sang along.

Many Daoists looked at each other again. ===== CHAPTER 166 =====