Chapter 279

The team traveled through the mountains and forests, and the wheels creaked.

On both sides of the road, the bamboo forest was swaying, deep as ink.

The sky was gloomy, and the mountain wind whistled from time to time, blowing the bamboo forest to rustle, and the withered yellow bamboo leaves flew messily.

Li Yan rode his horse and looked up into the distance.

Under the mountain ridge opposite, there were several lakes scattered.

The big ones were like bright mirrors, reflecting the sky.

The small ones were like bright pearls, quiet and clear.

Between the lake surface and the mountains and rivers, the mist was curling, with a unique charm.

"It is worthy of being a land of a thousand lakes."

Li Yan turned his head and smiled: "How long has it been since we left Hanyang, and all we see along the way are lakes. This place must be the ancient Yunmeng Marsh."

"Li Li Shaoxia is right."

Tian Wei, the eldest son of Squire Tian, also rode his horse to the side, full of interest and said: "The 'Yu Gong' and 'Zhou Li' all have records of Yunmeng Marsh, saying 'its marsh is called Yunmeng', but it is not detailed."

"But according to the research and speculation of the academy scholars, the scope of Yunmeng Great Marsh in ancient times was amazing, but since the Pre-Qin period, the scope has gradually shrunk. By the Tang and Song dynasties, it had already become this pattern of scattered lakes."

"Oh?"

Li Yan became interested, "Does Wenjin Academy also study this?"

Tian Wei smiled: "That is natural."

As he spoke, he pointed to the front, "Li Li Shaoxia, do you know that the two Chengs of my Confucian school grew up here. Although the School of Mind is prosperous now, my Wenjin Academy still pays attention to 'investigating things to extend knowledge' and 'exhausting principles by things'."

"'Confucius made Zilu ask for the ford' is the source of my Wenjin Academy. I don't know how the evolution of the Jingchu land works. To tell you the truth, we follow the master to travel all over Ezhou, which is doing this."

After hearing this, Li Yan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked: "Since this is the case, has Brother Tian ever heard of the 'Siming Society'?"

The name "Siming Society" was told to him by the coroner Old Liu in Shangjin City.

This is the inheritance of ancient Chu witchcraft, which once took root in Junshan, Dongting, and left traces throughout the Chu land, but later disappeared in the long river of history.

Li Yan turned to Ezhou, and his initial purpose was to find this Dharma lineage, all because he absorbed a wisp of divine steel from the "Phoenix Gold Ornament".

And divine steel can enhance the Soul-Hooking Rope.

Except for the Black Well Blood Water mission of the Yin Division, the only divine steel he absorbed in the mortal world was through the Phoenix Gold Ornament of the "Siming Society", so he was very interested in it.

"Siming Society?"

Tian Wei pondered: "It seems I heard the master mention it once. It is a folk witchcraft, only secretly passed down among women."

Li Yan was a bit surprised. He didn't expect that this ancient "Siming Society" hadn't been cut off, and hurriedly asked: "Do you know where they are?"

Tian Wei shook his head: "I don't know about that. The master just mentioned it once. After all, it involves witchcraft, so it's not good for us to ask too much."

"In a while, during the Duan Yang Festival dragon boat race, the master will come to Hanyang. If Li Li Shaoxia is interested, I can introduce you."

"Many thanks, Brother Tian."

Li Yan was in a good mood and hurriedly bowed to thank him.

This Tian Wei has some scholar habits and also likes to show off. Squire Tian specifically told him to have a good relationship with Li Yan and others, so he took the initiative to talk.

Seeing such capable people and strangers, he was also polite to him, and he couldn't help but feel a bit proud. He looked at the lake in the distance, couldn't help blinking, and pretended to be mysterious:

"Li Li Shaoxia, have you heard of the 'Three Treasures of Yunmeng'?"

"Treasures?"

Sha Lifei on the side's eyes lit up, "Brother Tian, tell me quickly."

Tian Wei nodded: "Yunmeng Great Marsh has had many legends since ancient times, but there are three that have been widely circulated among the people."

"The first is Lord Yunzhong, the ancient Chu land god, who is the master of this Yunmeng Great Marsh, who can raise clouds and rain, and also bring down thunder."

"It is rumored that the ancient Chu land ancestors built a divine palace in the depths of Yunmeng, named 'Shou Palace', where gems are everywhere, competing with the sun and moon, which is the origin of 'Jian Jiang Dan Xi Shou Palace, Yu Ri Yue Xi Qi Guang'."

"During the Kaiyuan years of the Tang Dynasty, the Chang'an Confucian scholar Lu Sheng traveled to Yunmeng at night. The fog suddenly rose, and he mistakenly entered a palace. The walls were inlaid with gems and beautiful jade. He heard people talking and grabbed a handful in panic.

After waking up, he thought it was a dream, but there was a handful of gems in his hand. This is the first treasure: Lord Yunzhong's Divine Palace Shou Palace."

"The second one is related to King Yu. It is rumored that the great flood of the Divine Land, Gun stole the breathing soil of the Heavenly Emperor to block it, but the water potential was difficult to curb. The Heavenly Emperor saw that Gun had been controlling the water for nine years without success, so he ordered the Fire God Zhu Rong to kill Gun at Yu Jiao.

Gun's corpse did not rot for three years, his abdomen swelled and gave birth to a dragon, and the dragon transformed into Great Yu. Emperor Shun gave the order, and Great Yu inherited his father Gun's business of controlling the water, and the breathing soil left by Gun was hidden in Yunmeng Marsh."

"This is the second treasure, breathing soil."

"During the Warring States period, Guiguzi lived in seclusion in Yunmeng, widely accepting disciples, with many disciples, such as Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Fan Ju, Xu Fu. Regarding this Yunmeng, some say it is Yunmeng Mountain in Yuzhou, and some say it is Yunmeng Marsh.

During the Kaiyuan years of the Tang Dynasty, a Daoist mistakenly entered a stone forest between Yunmeng Marsh, which was engraved with many inscriptions, all of which were Pre-Qin secret methods, and also left the name of Ancestor Wang Chan.

He succeeded in his cultivation and went to Chang'an to sell hexagrams, which was the famous Xing Hepu. So this third treasure is Ancestor Wang Chan's Hidden Scripture Forest."

Sha Lifei on the side was a bit speechless, "Brother Tian, how do these three treasure lands feel more unreliable than the other?"

"In the Qin Ling Mountains, there are 'Ten Absolute Fierce Graves' and 'Qin King Undying Palace', but no one has ever seen them, so I guess they are all rumors."

"Hahaha..."

Tian Wei smiled: "Naturally, they are all legends. Many people have been looking for them for thousands of years, but they have all found nothing. Just listen to it as a story."

However, Li Yan on the side was thoughtful when he heard this.

These first two treasures, "Lord Yunzhong's Divine Palace Shou Palace" and "breathing soil", he felt were a bit unreliable, and he guessed they were local rumors.

But this third one made him feel moved.

The reason is very simple, the notes of the living Yin messenger left by Liu Gang mentioned that "Xing Hepu".

The other party is also a "living Yin messenger" and is extremely powerful.

Even the "Youyang Zazu" mentioned Xing Hepu's "longevity" and "return to Yang" for others.

This is simply rebellious, directly violating the "Yin Precepts", but Xing Hepu is still alive and kicking.

And there is another thing, even more strange.

Xing Hepu once lived in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain, with many disciples following. One day he told his disciples that a special guest would visit in three days, so don't be negligent.

Three days later, Xing Hepu went down the mountain to greet him in person, and sure enough, there was a guest.

The guest's appearance was extremely strange, five feet tall, with a huge head, accounting for half of his height, wearing a wide scarlet robe, holding an ivory tablet horizontally, with very long eyelashes, a melon-like face, and his mouth split to the ear root when he laughed.

This strange guest talked freely with Xing Hepu, and the content of the conversation was mostly not about human affairs.

Xing Hepu had a disciple named Cui Shu. During the banquet, the strange guest suddenly looked at Cui Shu and said, isn't this "Old Father Taishan"? And Xing Hepu nodded and said yes.

And the so-called "Old Father Taishan" is a niche scattered immortal, which is recorded in "Biographies of Immortals" and "Taiping Guangji".

Liu Gang speculated that this Xing Hepu had already cracked many secrets of the Yin Division, and could even protect some practitioners who returned to Yang.

That strange guest is very likely not human.

He searched for him many times during the Song Dynasty, but unfortunately there was no trace of the other party, as if he was deliberately erased during the chaos of the late Tang Dynasty.

To be honest, Li Yan is also very interested in this person.

After reading Liu Gang's notes, he specifically went to read "Youyang Zazu" and found that this Xing Hepu was close to a demon in divination and deduction.

He once predicted that the "Taichu Calendar" formulated by Luo Xiahong and others in the first year of Taichu of Emperor Wu of Han would run for eight hundred years and be one day off, so someone would inevitably formulate a new calendar.

Sure enough, the following year, in the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan of Tang, Monk Yixing formulated the "Dayan Calendar".

Divination and deduction methods are difficult to learn and refine. This person has reached an unimaginable realm, maybe he really cracked the secrets of heaven and earth. I didn't expect to hear news about him in this Yunmeng Marsh.

It's just that this "Ancestor Wang Chan's Hidden Scripture Forest" sounds a bit mysterious, whether it really exists, it is not yet known...

Everyone walked forward, listening to Tian Wei talk about various strange stories, which can be considered a kind of fun, and even Squire Tian's family listened with great interest.

Unknowingly, it was dusk.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, the bamboo forest was dark and deep, so it was dark early, and the servants in the team lit lanterns.

A gust of wind blew, bamboo leaves drifted, and the lanterns swayed.

In this pitch-black bamboo forest mountain road, it inexplicably appeared a bit strange.

Turning right through a mountain road, I saw a broken temple standing quietly on the side of the mountain on the official road.

Looking at the appearance, it had long been abandoned, the red paint was peeling off, the bricks and stones were mottled, the tiles on the temple roof were incomplete, and weeds were growing among them, adding a bit of desolation.

!.

Squire Tian looked at the sky and raised his hand: "Let's rest here, get up early tomorrow to hurry, we should be able to arrive at noon."

His wife was obviously a bit worried, "Master..."

"Don't worry."

Squire Tian smiled: "This is the nearby Water God Temple. Later, the river was transformed and it had long been abandoned. I was a peddler when I was young, and I often rested here overnight."

"Don't stay in the temple at night" is a taboo for traveling, but sometimes when forced, you can't take care of so much.

Moreover, there are sorcerers in the team, so naturally they are not afraid of any lonely ghosts.

Of course, to prevent accidents, Li Yan pinched the magic seal and smelled it. When approaching the broken temple, he directly raised his hand: "Everyone, please wait a moment."

After saying that, he took out the Divine Tiger Order, pinched the seal and stepped on the gang, and used the "North Emperor Body Protection Curse".

With his current cultivation, the power of the magic technique is naturally stronger.

"Roar!"

Everyone only heard a tiger roar, the surrounding wind suddenly blew, and a fierce evil spirit spread outward from Li Yan.

Hu-lu-lu!

The horses were a bit startled.

And Lu San just whistled and immediately appeased them.

The Tian family were all dumbfounded.

Squire Tian's son-in-law, Liu Yizhong, even pressed the hilt of his sword, full of vigilance.

Clatter!

Only to see centipedes, millipedes, and poisonous insects that couldn't be named running out of the broken temple, fleeing in all directions.

Seeing this strange phenomenon, many people swallowed their saliva, looking at Li Yan and others, their eyes were already full of awe.

They walked all the way, only feeling that the young man spoke kindly, but couldn't see any difference, didn't expect that he would have such magic techniques.

Only Squire Tian remained unchanged.

He crossed a large mountain forest from Dangyang with Li Yan and had seen the other party perform magic techniques many times, knowing that he was a sorcerer with real skills.

If it weren't for this, how could he be willing to pay a lot of money to hire him.

Wang Fu on the side stroked his beard and smiled: "Everyone, don't be surprised. This place is dark and humid, and it is inevitable that poisonous insects will gather. You can sleep peacefully tonight, and there will be no wild beasts making trouble."

"Li Li Shaoxia's wonderful technique!"

Tian Wei praised repeatedly, and at the same time understood in his heart, no wonder his father relied on him so much. The Confucian sorcerers he had seen in the academy also performed body protection techniques, but they didn't have this momentum.

Hearing Li Yan say that the hidden danger was gone, everyone was naturally more at ease.

With a creak, the temple door was pushed open.

Only to see that this broken temple was not small, with spider webs everywhere inside, and traces of bonfire burning on the ground, obviously often inhabited.

On the temple altar, a young god general was enshrined, wearing armor and a treasure helmet, holding a battle axe in his right hand. Even if it was covered in dust, one could see his handsome appearance.

"So it is General Yang Si."

Wang Fu suddenly realized, picked up the broom placed at the temple entrance, and went up to sweep the dust and spider webs for the statue.

Sha Lifei also hurriedly went up to help.

In the Yangtze River Basin, four water gods are usually enshrined.

Ganzhou enshrines Master Xu Xun, because he once led his disciples to use the method of "wood overcoming water" to calm the water disaster in Ganzhou, and the story of "Master Xu slays three dragons" is widely circulated.

Sichuan enshrines the Li Bing father and son, naturally because of the Dujiangyan.

And Ezhou enshrines General Yang Si.

This General Yang Si also once calmed water disasters and beheaded flood dragons. His Mystic Sect title is: Nine Waters Heavenly Spirit Great Marshal Purple Cloud Unified Law True Monarch Water Country Suppressing Dragon An Yuan King Lingyuan Universal Salvation Heavenly Venerable.

Just listening to this title, you know it's not simple.

The Tian family naturally didn't have idle hands.

After cleaning up, and lighting the bonfire, the temple became much warmer.

The Tian family brought quite a few people for this return to their hometown to offer sacrifices, and even had a famous chef, whose craftsmanship was extraordinary. Even in this wilderness, it couldn't stump him.

The big pot was set up, and dried lake fish, dried tofu, and vermicelli vegetables were washed and put into the pot, stewed together to make a big pot of delicious fish soup.

They also brought a lot of thousand-layer cakes, roasted hot in the fire, and mixed with the hot fish soup, the fatigue of the journey was swept away.

After all, there were quite a few women in the team, and they were tired after a day's journey, so they spread straw mats and went to sleep early.

And Li Yan and others took turns keeping watch with the retainers and guards.

Squire Tian's son-in-law is a thousand-household officer of the Guard, his family martial arts are extraordinary, and he had already entered Dark Jin, so naturally he was also arranged to keep watch.

Unknowingly, the night grew deeper.

In the middle of the night, the wind grew stronger, whistling outside the temple.

Dong dong! Dong dong!

In the whistling night wind, there was a strange sound.

Li Yan opened his eyes suddenly, looked outside, and showed a trace of joy in his eyes, "Thunder?"

It had been cloudy all day, and it was estimated that it would rain.

He was waiting for "Duan Yang Thunder".

"No."

Squire Tian's son-in-law Liu Yizhong, who was keeping watch, was obviously a bit surprised, "I have heard this sound, it is 'Tuogu'!"

The so-called "Tuogu" is the sound of the Yangtze alligator, because it often appears at night, like beating the watch, so it is also called "Tuo Geng".

"Oh."

Li Yan was a bit disappointed, "This 'Tuogu' is really loud."

Who knew, Liu Yizhong pressed his hand toward the hilt of the sword, looking a bit nervous: "I have been here, the nearest waterway is also several miles away!"

"This 'Tuogu', a bit wrong..."

Third update at twelve o'clock

(End of chapter)