About a dozen of them all looked middle-aged. The two escorts were easy to identify. They wore the same clothes and were dressed like Jianghu people. One of them was holding a eyebrow-point knife in his hand, and the other was wearing a flail at his waist. The rest of them were dressed as businessmen, and according to Dayan's regulations, the color of their clothes was mainly black and white.
The group of people entered another pavilion, unloaded the goods and piled them in a place where they could not get wet. Then they took off their cloaks and shook off the water on the floor.
The pavilion is not big and the horses and mules have solid skins, so they are left outside to soak in the rain.
A dozen or so people were talking in low voices with dialect accents. They were soaked in water and blown by the night wind. It was so cold that some people couldn't help but look at the fire in front of Song You and the dry firewood in the corner of the pavilion. They stared at each other.
Finally, someone came over and handed over to Song You.
"You're polite, young gentleman. Did you collect this firewood? I'm afraid I won't be able to use it all this night. Can you sell us some? My clothes are wet and I want to warm myself by the fire."
Dayan loved to call Taoist priests sir.
Song You is still wearing Taoist robes.
"I didn't collect it. I had it when I came. If you need it, feel free to use it."
"You're welcome."
The middle-aged businessman carried a small handful of firewood over, but instead of borrowing a fire, he lit a fire himself. He then took out the dry food and heated it in front of the fire. He ate the water while chatting quietly, looking left and right from time to time.
The wind carried the sound.
Hearing them discussing their previous decision to take shelter from the rain and having a slight argument, Song You roughly understood the reason for their night trip.
This group of people are all tea merchants. Originally, today's destination was Didian, a place convenient for merchants, thirty miles ahead. However, it rained heavily on the way. Some people’s goods had waterproofing problems for some unknown reason. They were afraid that the tea would get soaked, so they found a place to take shelter from the rain. However, that section of the road was very foggy recently, and many people did not dare to walk that section at night, so the rain As soon as they turned small and solved the waterproofing problem, they set off in a hurry.
Passing by here, it was already dark and it was not a good idea to walk at night, so we had to rest here.
Some people say that this place has long passed that period, some people say that the tea sellers have moved away, and it must be the fog ghosts causing trouble here. Some people said that we should not have taken shelter from the rain at that time, while others said that we should not have stopped just now and should have continued moving forward. Others discussed Song You.
Although Song You was wearing a Taoist robe, he was still young. Only one out of ten Taoist priests these days could catch demons and drive them away. Naturally, no one took him too seriously. After a few words of conversation, they no longer focused on him.
"Fog ghost..."
Song You stared at the fire in trance.
This is a common ghost in the mountains. It likes to appear in the fog. Those with low abilities rely on the fog to cover their bodies, and often rely on intimidation to harm people. Those with advanced skills can spray fog to cover a place and attack pedestrians in the fog.
However, this kind of ghost usually cannot become a climate, and ordinary warriors and even bold and strong men are not afraid of it.
The fire became smaller and Song You added more firewood.
Before I knew it, the rain stopped.
When the mountain rain stops, fog often occurs, mostly in the form of clouds, or accumulated in mountain recesses, and this time is no exception.
It's just that the fog seems a bit too thick.
Although it was getting late, it was not without any light. You could vaguely see the outlines of the mountains in the distance. In the light of the fire, you could also see the ancient cypresses beside the road and the weeds under the trees. But now it is just that. For a brief moment, the whole world seemed to be filled with fog.
There were no mountains or trees in the thick fog. Even if there were fires burning in two pavilions not far away, they could only see the vague light of each other.
Even this firelight was compressed to the limit by the fog.
It seems to have become weird without realizing it.
The merchants were suddenly shocked. They didn't know where they were, but they were attacked by monsters.
"Don't be afraid, everyone! The more afraid people are, the more ferocious it will be!"
"You're right! Ghosts are also afraid of people!"
"Add more firewood! Make the fire bigger!"
"No more firewood..."
Everyone looked at each other and looked in the direction of the other pavilion, only to see the orange light of the fire.
Although there is only a distance of three or two feet, there is heavy fog in the middle. Looking at the current situation, it seems that only this small area illuminated by the fire is safe. Who dares to go through the thick fog to get firewood there? Or should we all go there together and just go over there?
Suddenly there was a cold wind blowing outside.
Everyone turned their attention to the two escorts invited.
The bodyguard with the flail was beating in his heart and his eyes were slightly averted. The one with the brow-pointed knife met everyone's gaze, turned his head and spat, and raised his brows to show his anger, fearing that even the little devil would be frightened:
"I'll borrow some firewood!"
"Senior brother, I'll be with you!"
"It doesn't matter, junior brother, you stay here to protect all the bosses. If there is a ghost in the middle, grandpa will kill it with one knife!"
"Mr. Chen, be careful!"
"You're just a kid, just go and come back!"
The bodyguard surnamed Chen held the eyebrow-tip knife, strode into the thick fog, and headed straight towards the fire on the opposite side. Judging from the fact that he is not very tall, he is somewhat imposing.
When all the merchants saw this, they felt a little calmer.
As the saying goes, people are 30% afraid of ghosts, and 70% of ghosts are afraid of people. With such a brave warrior and strong blood, ordinary little demons and little ghosts are not afraid of him anymore.
So everyone just watched the figure blurring quickly. They could vaguely see him swinging a knife a few times and swearing a few words in a Kansai accent. However, in addition to blurring the sight, the fog also seemed to have the effect of blurring the sound. They walked out a few seconds later. Step, I couldn’t hear clearly.
The merchants became nervous again, sometimes staring at that side, sometimes turning their heads and looking around.
Not long after, a figure walked out of the fog.
It was the escort surnamed Chen.
The bodyguard surnamed Chen still held the brow-pointed knife, but his other hand was empty. He just stood outside the pavilion with a slight panic on his face: "No, the young gentleman next to you has fainted. Someone come quickly." , help me lift him up!"
When everyone heard this, they were shocked again and their pupils widened.
The other escort had already taken out the flail and held it in his hand, hanging it down and shaking it, but he kept licking his lips to hide his nervousness.
In the end, the businessman who went to borrow firewood from the pavilion next door stood up, forced himself to calm down, and even gave a salute:
"We are just passing by, earning some hard money, and have not disturbed you. If you are willing to leave here, we will come here when we return, and we will bring you some pig and goat incense candles as a thank you."
"What did you say? Come here and lift someone!"
"His Majesty, His Majesty's voice doesn't sound like what I learned."
"..."
The bodyguard surnamed Chen froze immediately, staring at them with wide eyes. In the next second, like a popped balloon, the canopy exploded into a ball of mist, blended into the surrounding fog, and disappeared without a trace.
This ghost died easily, but it was even more frightening.
Everything is as rumored...
But according to rumors, this ghost is not easy to deal with.
After about a snap of the fingers, another figure walked out of the fog, holding a eyebrow-point knife in one hand and a bundle of firewood in the other. He stepped through the fog in three or two steps in a hurry, until he walked into the light of the fire. range before relaxing.
When he looked at everyone, he found that everyone had their eyes wide open and stared at him with frightened and suspicious eyes.
The escort surnamed Chen was stunned and his eyes became serious.
"What? What happened?"
"That fog ghost just pretended to be you and wanted to coax us out."
"Has anyone gone?"
"It doesn't learn like..."
"Humph, little trick!"
The bodyguard surnamed Chen released his left hand and rolled the firewood he was holding on the ground. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a figure moving around in the fog, and he quickly became vigilant.
"Mr. Chen, how are you doing over there?"
"Which way?"
"Of course it's the young gentleman! Did he notice anything unusual? Was he scared? Was he reluctant when you went to borrow firewood?"
"this……"
The escort surnamed Chen was stunned for a moment.
I was so worried just now that I went to borrow firewood in a hurry, said a few words, and then returned in a hurry with the firewood. I dropped the firewood several times, but I didn't care. Now when I think about it carefully, I realize that both the pavilion over there and the young gentleman in the pavilion are surprisingly calm. Looking back at it now, I can only think of the crackling sound of the flames and nothing else.
After thinking for a while, the escort surnamed Chen said:
"I didn't care if there were too many, but as soon as I asked to borrow firewood, the young gentleman immediately agreed and let me take it all away."
"Have you explained the situation to him? Have you invited the young gentleman to come over?"
"Mr. Li was joking, how could I forget this?" The bodyguard surnamed Chen was a little unhappy, "I told him that this place was haunted, and that we had too many goods and it was inconvenient to move over there with him, and asked him to come over. , but he just asked me to take away the firewood."
"this……"
The merchants looked at each other again.
Before he could say anything, he heard a whimper. The wind sounded like a ghost crying. The cold wind and rain actually caused the fire in the pavilion to sway and almost go out.
The flames once turned deep red, making the mist pavilion look like the underworld.
Everyone quickly formed a circle to shelter from the wind, and the fire was rekindled, and the light in the pavilion became bright again, bringing a sense of security.
The bodyguard surnamed Chen stood up with a knife and cursed again.
There is a folk saying that swearing can drive away imps. Maybe the escort surnamed Chen had this idea, or maybe he just wanted to embolden himself.
Whatever the reason, the merchants really felt some comfort from this. But then I thought about it, martial arts practitioners have strong energy and blood, and monsters are difficult to attack. If they have a courageous heart that is not afraid of monsters, they will be more stable. However, ordinary martial arts people seem to have no way to deal with this misty ghost. I am afraid that at most It is difficult to protect them by protecting yourself.
And this firewood... Even if the fire is not blown out by the cold wind, I am afraid it will not last until dawn.
This fog ghost can wait until they run out of firewood!
As soon as he thought of this idea, another gust of wind blew.
"call……"
It's more urgent and colder than before, as if it's blowing from the skin to the internal organs and straight into the depths of the soul, making people shiver. As if it had been stimulated by something, the fire shrank to the extreme, and only scarlet charcoal could be seen.
Before everyone had time to protect—
"call……"
The fire was extinguished instantly.
For a moment, only the scarlet light of the charcoal was left, reflecting on the panicked faces, and they were no different from human beings to ghosts.
The charcoal is still rapidly turning black and gray.
In their panic, everyone saw a figure moving in the thick fog, and another group of fire not far away, glowing vaguely yellow in the thick fog.
The fire over there didn't even go out! ?
"Go over there!"
Someone shouted something, and everyone immediately scrambled to their feet and ran frantically toward the fire.
The drizzle hit my body, chilling my bones.
The merchant surnamed Li was short in stature and the oldest. Even if he ran with all his strength, he ran the slowest. Seeing the fire that represented safety getting closer and closer, he suddenly felt a hand grabbing his clothes, and then grabbing it again. He touched his arms and neck, and the cold fingertips seemed to pierce into his flesh. At that moment, he was extremely frightened. He stretched out his arms to grab the clothes of the person in front of him, but he could no longer reach him.
It's over now...
When he was about to die, he could no longer remember the refined words he had learned when he was a businessman. He only knew that he was probably going to end up here today, and that the ghost would probably eat his flesh and blood, suck out his soul, and leave nothing behind.
At this critical moment, a hand covered with calluses grabbed him. The calluses were as hard as wood and made his skin hurt when scraped.
The merchant surnamed Li opened his eyes wide and realized that the escort he had spent a lot of money to hire had an effect. At this time, he grabbed his wrist tightly, cursed behind him, and dragged himself forward with great strength.
The two sides seemed to be fighting over each other.
"Canopy..."
The merchant surnamed Li vaguely saw a burst of fire, like a knot of wood being burned. The cold feeling on his body disappeared immediately, and the pulling force behind him also disappeared, replaced by an irresistible force pulling him forward.
brush!
The merchant surnamed Li has been dragged into the pavilion.
The voice of escort surnamed Chen spitting echoed in his ears again, and he said with pride and contempt:
"I took too many chances!"
The merchant surnamed Li recovered from his panic and realized that the pavilion was so quiet——
It’s not that there is no wind noise, but there is only the ordinary wind noise, which is so subtle that it is almost inaudible. Compared with the howling of ghosts and wolves just now, it is simply calm. But the fire in the pavilion was burning brightly and crackling, sending a comfortable temperature, and the dark wind seemed to be unable to blow in.
It seems to be the same as when I first arrived here.
In the light of the fire, a young man wearing a monk's robe still sat cross-legged on the ground. He had a handsome face and a calm expression, his head lowered, and the light of the fire reflected in his eyes.
This pavilion is really peaceful.
Looking back outside, I saw that the fog was still shrouded in thick fog, and there were still shadows of people moving around. They were lingering and reluctant to leave, but they seemed to dare not approach.
"Everyone..."
It was the little gentleman's voice.
Everyone was startled and quickly turned their heads to look respectfully.
"Just rest here tonight."
The young gentleman pursed his lips as he spoke, and turned to look outside the pavilion. There was drizzle in the mist, and he added softly:
"Don't worry, I will come find you when the rain stops."
