"That is to say, this is the territory of the imperial court. The people who come here to offer incense and worship to you are all the people of the imperial court." Song You paused, "You occupied this temple to absorb the incense from these people. You need to get permission from the imperial court or the Heavenly Palace.”
"who are they?"
"..."
Song You thought about the terminology again and then said: "Theoretically, the imperial court controls everyone in the world, and the Heavenly Palace controls all the gods in the world."
"What do you want from me?"
"It's not us, it's them. I was just entrusted by them to come and check."
"What do they want from me?"
"Trouble you."
"..."
Sanhua Empress was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then continued to walk forward. She walked to the altar with small steps, jumped up lightly, and squatted down on the altar. She was not much lower than Song You who was standing there. , and it just says:
"It was those people who burned incense for me themselves."
"Does this temple belong to you?"
"No one wants it."
"I'm afraid that won't work either."
"Why?"
"Because the incense in this world is limited, if someone gives it to you, you can't give it to other gods, or you have to give less to other gods." Song You said, "And the imperial court and Tiangong will not treat you as a lowly little demon. Reasonable."
"Then I won't eat it."
"I'm afraid that won't work either."
"And why?"
"There are rules in the Heavenly Palace. There were monsters here who secretly absorbed incense before and were killed. The temple you occupied originally belonged to them."
"..."
Sanhua Empress only stared at him with round eyes.
It is difficult for humans to see emotions on a cat's face, but Song You thought to himself that it was probably frightened.
After a long time, it asked again:
"Why?"
"Maybe it did something bad."
"I didn't." Sanhua Empress stared at him, "I just helped people down the mountain catch mice. And I originally had a temple, a small temple. Later, someone brought my clay statue to this big temple. It wasn't me. It’s coming.”
"No matter how small the temple is, it won't work. It's just that it wasn't discovered before, but now that it has been discovered, even if I don't care about you today, someone will still come to find you."
"What should we do?"
"If you had never attempted to kill anyone, sucked human essence, or eaten human flesh, you would not have died."
"What will happen to me?"
"If you don't run or resist, I can take you to see them, and they will follow the rules and regulations." Song You said to the cat in front of him, "This may be better for you."
Empress Sanhua rolled her eyes:
"good……"
Seeing the Taoist priest looking away, he immediately ran away.
"brush!"
The cat's movements were so agile, not to mention a well-trained cat demon. He jumped off the altar almost instantly and was out of the temple door the next moment.
Running up the path, it was like a flash of lightning, with only variegated shadows visible. After running for a certain distance, the calico cat stopped, turned its head, and stretched its neck to look over the top of the weeds toward the temple.
"Well?"
Didn't catch up?
Empress Sanhua was stunned for a moment, a little confused.
After waiting for a while, no one came out yet. It changed its position so that it could look in through the gate and saw that the man was still standing in the temple, not knowing what to do.
How strange.
The calico cat simply sat down on the spot, sitting upright, stretching its neck and raising its head, staring at him without blinking.
Time passes slowly.
The calico cat finally couldn't help it and walked closer to the temple, cautiously peeking inside.
But the Taoist priest looked at it calmly: "It is your greatest luck to meet me. If someone comes next time, they may be much more vicious than me."
"Why don't you come after me."
"How can I catch up with you?"
"Then what will you do if I run away?"
"..."
Song You looked at it and felt helpless, but he still explained patiently: "I was just entrusted by Wang Shangong to come here to see the situation. I didn't come to catch you or punish you. Besides, in the temple This clay statue is closely related to you, and I can find you no matter how far away you are.”
"right!"
The calico cat's eyes suddenly opened wide, as if he was enlightened by the shock, and there was also the pleasure of solving the doubts, and the trouble and anxiety caused by this. The small cat's face actually showed so many emotions at once.
What should we do?
The calico cat is almost gone.
"Taoist priests take it as their own duty to eliminate evil sacrifices in temples of obscenity. You should feel lucky. I am a fake Taoist priest."
"What should we do?"
"I will take you to see Wang Shanggong, who is a kind man. I will explain your situation to him and try to get them to treat you lightly. Of course, before that, I will go to the foot of the mountain to inquire to prove that what you said is true. Really, and then..."
"And then!"
"You will get your results."
"What's the result?"
"You should be punished."
"Being punished?"
"Mostly locked up, locked up somewhere."
"somewhere?"
"Like in a tower."
"!"
"I don't want to scare you, but the result is probably like this." Song You looked at the little kitten demon and felt a little soft, "It's like this most of the time."
"!!"
"Monsters live a long time."
"!!!"
The calico cat was still staring at him with wide eyes, his mind running rapidly.
Instinct makes it want to run away, as far as possible, but it is very smart, and it tells it that staying seems to be the best choice.
It regrets so much now. When the villagers moved its statue from the small temple to the big temple, it should have moved it back secretly at night. If it had stayed in the small temple, it might not have been discovered. .
After a long fight, the calico cat finally entered the temple.
"Then where are you taking me?"
"Not far."
"Are you leaving now?"
"Let's do it tomorrow." Song You looked up at the sky, "I'll stay at your place tonight and go there early tomorrow morning."
"Isn't it not far?"
"Not even close."
"good……"
The calico cat simply sat down on the spot and looked at Song You without blinking.
"Just be casual."
"good……"
"Isn't this your temple?"
"right!"
The calico cat suddenly woke up, but could not relax.
It was almost dusk outside, and the three sticks of incense that had been burned when I came here had long been burned out, leaving only the light smell of herbs.
The calico cat jumped up to the altar again and ate the local river fish. Thinking that he would not be able to finish all the meat today, he felt it was a pity, so he turned around and wanted to give some to the Taoist priest below, so that he could give more to himself. He said some kind words, but it was a pity that the Taoist priest refused to eat and only ate what he brought.
The sky gradually darkened and the temperature dropped sharply.
The moon rose very early tonight, and was rounder than last night. The moonlight became colder and colder, but this temple had no door, and the cold wind poured in wantonly.
After watching the moonlight for a while, I became bored. When I looked back, I saw that the calico cat had laid down and huddled up, with only its head and body, not its feet and tail. It turned its head and stared at him without blinking, not knowing what it was thinking. What.
"what's on your mind?"
"Taoist priest, if I am locked up, will anyone still offer incense to me?"
"Of course not anymore."
"Can we go out and play?"
"Of course it won't work."
"Is there any meat left to eat?"
"Probably not."
"..."
The calico cat looked depressed. In fact, it still didn’t know what it had done wrong.
But it's just a cat.
Not to mention the imperial court and the Heavenly Palace, not to mention these Taoist priests, even the many Jianghu people who pass by and stay here, it cannot afford to offend.
The night became quieter and quieter, with only the sound of wind remaining.
After a long time, I heard the Taoist priest say again: "I also have a question to ask you."
"ah?"
"I also have a question for you."
"You ask, be more natural in my temple."
"How long has it been since Sanhua Empress opened her spiritual wisdom?"
"A few years ago."
"It's only been a few years."
"It's been a long time."
"How did you become a monster?"
"That's how you become a monster."
"Have you had any adventures?" The Taoist priest nodded and looked at it. "For example, you have met someone, eaten something unique, or stayed in a particularly comfortable place for a while."
"No."
"Really not?"
"..."
The calico cat refused to say anything. He just turned his head and looked at the Taoist priest without blinking. After a long time, he said:
"I am very smart."
"possible."
Song You withdrew his gaze and said no more.
The time is getting later and later, and the mountains are getting colder and colder.
Song You leaned in the corner and closed his eyes.
The calico cat lay on his back and yawned, sometimes staring at Song You, and sometimes having random escape plans in his mind. In fact, he was just bored.
But now it can neither go out to play nor jump up and down like it usually does in the temple, which is really embarrassing.
Until five o'clock in the morning, it was the coldest.
The cold wind comes in.
Song You opened his eyes a little, and hugged his arms tighter around his chest, as if this could lock in the heat. He looked next to him, and saw the calico cat lying on a straw futon under the moonlight. The upper body was also shrunk tightly, and it looked like just a small hair ball.
Song You seemed to be touched and couldn't help but ponder for a moment.
Early the next morning, a chicken crows at the foot of the mountain.
The calico cat woke up earlier than Song You, and sat on the futon, looking straight at him, wondering what he was thinking.
Maybe thinking about his future destiny.
Song You ate a cold steamed cake he bought on the road yesterday, and then took it to the foot of the mountain to inquire about it. He learned that there was indeed an efficacious cat fairy in the temple on the mountain. If anyone's house was seriously harmed by mice, he only needed to bring some When the fish and meat incense candles are used, it will be purified that night, so that its fame spreads to further places, and people from all over the country come here to get rid of the rat plague.
After asking about the last family, Song You stood still at the door again, looking up into the distance, lost in thought.
"Why don't you leave?"
The calico cat was right next to him.
"Let's go now."
"What are you doing?"
"nothing."
"You still haven't moved."
"I was thinking..." Song You aimed at it again, "Your followers are quite widely distributed."
"Yes!"
"Someone comes to make offerings every day, and you go to his house to catch mice at night?"
"Yes!"
"What if it's far away?"
"Go faster."
"Then you've had a hard time."
"It's not hard."
"Let's go."
"Have you gone to see Wang Shanggong?"
"yes."
One person and one cat walked out of the village, Song You walked in front, and the calico cat hung behind, neither far nor near. Neither of them spoke, they just walked silently. But if this picture were seen by others, it might be strange.
