Hearing that the second senior brother returned to Xianling Temple, the atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became lively. The old cripple didn't pay attention to what he said while eating. He took the second senior brother and the hunchback and drank a few more bowls of sorghum liquor.
Zhang Wenfeng did not dampen their interest and drank a small bowl along with them.
After three bowls of strong wine, the old lame man was in high spirits, half-stepping on a stool with his lame leg, his hands resting on the table, his face glowing red. It felt like he was back in the happy days of traveling around the world, drinking a lot of wine, and eating huge chunks of meat. He turned over the pages of his rolled-up almanac in a loud voice.
When people get old, they like to talk about the proud deeds of their youth, and they have to start from the beginning every time.
Everyone's ears were already ringing from hearing this, and they listened patiently while eating and drinking.
After eating and drinking, Zhang Wenfeng stood up and patted the hunchback on the shoulder, leaving the second senior brother, a good old man, to listen to the lame man's advice.
Anyway, as long as there is one person who listens, the cripple will not be less happy and can live in his own passionate world of martial arts for a short time.
It was already dusk, and there was still a lingering red color on the horizon that refused to fade away.
"Brother Feng, do you have something to tell me? The old cripple likes to talk about old things after drinking some cat urine. He is not like this usually."
The hunchback smiled and looked up to explain to the lame man.
Zhang Wenfeng walked through the wheat drying field and walked under the trees to the east. When the hunchback followed, he chatted as usual: "Brother hunchback, on the afternoon of the 26th, you took Lu Jinzhong for a walk in the backyard, right?"
There are only twenty-eight days in February. In fact, he came into this world for only three days in total.
A lot of things happened during this period, which felt like they had been the same for a long time.
The hunchback's face froze. He didn't know how the viewer knew about this?
That afternoon, the temple owner went to the drug store in the town and needed to select some ingredients for making incense. He and Laizi were worried because they didn't know the goods. Every year around the end of the month, the temple owner would go down the mountain.
He grows vegetables and land in the Taoist temple, and often goes home when he has time. He is not like a lame old bachelor. He has called the Taoist temple his home for more than ten years. He has a family and a family, and working in the Taoist temple is just to supplement his family income.
Lu Jinzhong, a Taoist priest who was acquainted with him in the past, met him and said that he missed his days in the Taoist temple. He hoped that he could be accommodating and go to the mountains on a day when the temple owner and the lame man were not around. He was nostalgic but had a wish.
For the sake of a silver bean, he agreed as it was not a big deal.
He informed Lu Jinzhong in advance of the time to go up the mountain and sent the lame man to the vegetable field on the back mountain. He took Lu Jinzhong around the backyard of the mountain and did not let Lu Jinzhong enter the main hall to burn incense. He was worried that the lame man would break him when he came back. Easy to talk to.
It took less than half a day to burn incense, but Lu Jinzhong did nothing. He hurried up the mountain and left. He also told him not to tell the visitor, so as not to attract blame.
Now the master of the temple is asking this matter with certainty, but he doesn’t know how he knew it?
The hunchback knew he was in the wrong and explained with a smile: "Master, I was confused for a moment and made him go up the mountain. But please don't worry, I saw him not leaving even an inch. He was only in the backyard near the hut where he used to live." I walked around and didn’t even let the door in.”
He cleverly changed the title and heard the unkindness in the viewer's tone.
Zhang Wenfeng chuckled in his heart and his face turned cold: "Lu Jinzhong is dead. He died on the first day of March, that is, at five o'clock in the morning yesterday, in the fields south of Hexi Town."
The hunchback took a few steps back with a frightened "Ah".
He was holding a wedding ceremony at his home in Zhangjiazhuang. Yesterday afternoon, he heard a few words from his guests, which were very evil. Someone in the town died after being hit by a ghost. His death was very miserable and strange. The man strangled himself to death.
He didn't know that it was Lu Jinzhong who died at the time. He looked up in horror at the young viewer who had previously thought that humans and animals were harmless and could be fooled casually. Could it be...
Zhang Wenfeng didn't look at the frightened hunchback, and asked: "He was in the backyard that day. Did he ask you which hut I live in now?"
The hunchback no longer dared to speak nonsense. He said "Ah" and found that his throat seemed to be blocked and he could not speak complete words. He nodded vigorously and coughed a few times.
Zhang Wenfeng looked up at the sky and said: "After Lu Jinzhong found out where I lived, he pretended to go down the mountain, but actually came back, climbed over the wall into the backyard, and did some magic tricks on the bed where I slept. He wanted to harm me. , but his moral integrity was not good enough, and he suffered the backlash of evil magic, so he died. The details of the case are from the letter I heard from the city, and the case will be closed in a few days."
Turning around and leaving, a faint sigh came: "Brother Tuo, you broke the Taoist rules. I can't keep you here. For Master's sake, I don't want to pursue everything in the past. You pack your things and go home overnight so you can take care of yourself. If you are outside If you chew your tongue, I will find you."
After saying that, the person has gone far.
The hunchback was so frightened that he dared not say a word. His legs were so weak.
On summer nights in the countryside, the legend of Taoist martial arts fighting spread under the big trees is so evil and terrifying that no one has ever seen it with their own eyes. There is a lot of debate among the half-believers and enthusiastic people. The older generation believes it with certainty, while most young people do not believe it.
Only now did Hunchback realize that there are really powerful people in this world that are beyond imagination.
The temple owner's words, "Do what you want" were like a stone weighing on his heart, making him unable to breathe.
After a while, the hunchback regained some strength, supported his heavy legs, and went back to his residence in the dark to collect the packages.
He secretly regretted that he shouldn't have been greedy for that damn ghost's silver bean.
The food on the mountain is provided, and the monthly payment set by the old temple owner can be regarded as a job that guarantees income despite droughts and floods. Many pairs of eyes in the village are staring at it. It's good now. He's done it, but this kind of scandal can't be done. Make a statement.
When I walked out of the backyard, I met Laizi and Zhang Wenxing who were walking out holding on to the door frame after drinking.
"Hey, hunchback, what are you doing? Why did you go back up the mountain just now?"
The lame man stopped the hunchback who was carrying the package and wanted to sneak away quietly.
The hunchback didn't want to publicize his scandal, so he showed a tight smile and said: "I just remembered that there are two urgent things at home. I didn't tell the second boy, so he has to go back overnight. Uncle Lame, please drink slowly, and we can talk about it later."
"That's it. It's dark on the road. Use a lantern to illuminate it. Don't fall."
"No need, I'm used to running at night, I'm very familiar with it."
Watching the hunchback hurried down the mountain, the cripple didn't take it seriously.
After finishing his work and eating, the hunchback often returned home at night. For country people, five miles was not a long journey.
The lame man went to the toilet to urinate, then came back drunkenly and slowly cleaned up the things in the kitchen, humming a tuneless ditty.
It’s been a long time since I drank so much. The patron has used a lot of oil in the past few days, and there is one strip of bacon missing on the stove. He won’t say anything more, but he can’t let the patron hold the spoon anymore. Young people are lavish.
The second senior brother summoned up his inner strength to get rid of the smell of alcohol in his body, washed his face and hands, and then went to the brightly lit main hall.
The viewer doesn’t have to drink with Uncle Lame. How can he save face by returning to the mountain gate?
Zhang Wenfeng was waiting in the palace. He was not unkind. He could tolerate anything as long as he did not break the rules.
After offering incense, chanting sutras and finishing evening classes, I invited the second senior brother to the west hall, cooked a pot of tea, and told the second senior brother about the hunchback. The second senior brother was so angry that he clenched his fists and got angry.
"You're so confused, how can he eat everything inside and out... Oh, I'm so angry."
"When Uncle Lame asks about the hunchback in two days, you and Uncle Lame can separate the matter and there is no need to report it to the village. After all, family scandals cannot be publicized. It will not look good."
"I understand, so don't worry, Master."
"I'll go to the city tomorrow morning. That group of thieves has been wiped out. We don't have to guard against thieves day and night. We can have a peaceful sleep."
Zhang Wenfeng briefly explained the matter of assisting the Daolu branch in exterminating the traitors, so that the second senior brother would not insist on staying up all night. After drinking the tea, he went out to arrange a place to stay, and gave the other set of keys to the second senior brother for safekeeping so that he could put down his bed. , take a rest early.
Returning to the west hall, under the light of the oil lamp, I finished copying the remaining books and put the originals left by my master back in the secret room.
Opening the copied book, I found the sound transmission technique, which contained only a few lines.
One morning Fu Gujing taught Yuan Qi usage instructions. Zhang Wenfeng thought about it in detail for about a quarter of an hour and felt that it was almost done.
After several attempts, he mastered the art of beaming sounds into lines and transmitting sounds into the secret, commonly known as the "sound transmission technique".
There are similar secret techniques in Jianghu, which can be used in the acquired realm, but the sound transmission distance is not far enough, at most ten feet. However, with the real sound transmission technique, it is not a problem to transmit sound to tens of feet in the early stage. When the cultivation level is high, it can reach up to one hundred feet. , even miles away.
