"Please lend me a fire to drive away evil spirits and continue the day." I saw the little ghost holding an empty lantern, standing in front of the fire, and said respectfully and saluted.
"..." Silently, the lantern lit up. Song You felt strange when he saw it.
"Thank you, Mountain God." The kid bowed and saluted again, then turned to Song You and said with a smile, "Okay, please come with me and I will take you outside the market town."
"Okay." Song You followed him, chatting while walking.
"Are you from the previous dynasty?"
"How does the Taoist priest know?"
"The names are different."
"How to say?"
"Since the Great Yan Dynasty, people have loved to call Taoist priests and folk Taoist practitioners sir."
"I see, then I will also call you sir."
"Just feel free to do it."
"Then let's call him Taoist Master." The little ghost walked in front holding a lantern, and the ground reflected the firelight, just like the color of dusk: "I am indeed a member of the former dynasty, but I was born in the last years of the former dynasty. At that time, the world was in chaos and there were demons and ghosts. Frequently, when my parents and I walked into the mountains, we were accidentally eaten by an evil tiger, and we turned into ghosts. But soon spring came, and there were thunders and stings. The evil tiger ate people and became evil. , was taken in by God, and I escaped because I had never harmed anyone. Later, I regained my freedom, and slowly lived in this mountain, and unexpectedly discovered that there is a whole other world between these mountains."
"This is a world of fairies and ghosts."
"Yes, in this world, it is rare for us fairies and ghosts to have such a world."
"Alas..." Song You just sighed. This is a world where humanity is paramount, and there is no doubt that it squeezes the space for monsters and monsters, but he is a human being, so how can he say that?
"Taoist master, you don't have to be like this. Even though I am a ghost, I was once a human being." The kid smiled and said,
"It's not bad to be a wild ghost in this mountain. Although Taoists often come to this mountain to catch ghosts in recent years, ghosts like us usually don't make things difficult for them. And there are so many fairies and ghosts in this mountain. After all, hardship is hardship, and it’s not that boring. It can’t be said to be more stubborn than the human world.”
“This trip really opened my eyes.”
"It's not something to be surprised about. Although we are monsters and ghosts, now that we have developed spiritual intelligence, we still have our own lives!"
"That makes sense." As he spoke, he had reached the edge of the market town. The kid stopped, raised the lantern with a smile, and asked, "Taoist priest, do you still remember the way you came?" Song You took the lantern from his hand.
"I vaguely remember."
"Be careful along the way."
"It is truly a great blessing to meet you tonight."
"Why am I not like this?" Since they met by chance and talked casually, they naturally separated when the time came. There is really no need to say anything.
They bowed to each other to respect this fate, said goodbye, and then left. The kid returned to the market town, and Song You also walked into the night.
The lantern illuminated a small area, and the cracks and weeds on the dry dirt road were clearly visible. There were shadows on the roadside. Someone came from behind and walked into the fog in front. Someone also came from the fog in front, with a pair of eyes that were either surprised or confused. Song You passed by and went to the market.
Song You touched the horse's neck and said, "Do you remember how to go back?" The horse didn't say anything, but silently raised its hooves and moved forward.
Song You smiled.
"Thanks to you." The calico cat followed them with small steps, looking up at him and at the fairies and ghosts passing by on the roadside. Apart from its body, it kept walking forward, its eyes, neck and head turning with them.
"That incense seller just now, you kept staring at me. It's really rude." Song You said as he walked.
"People have attained the Tao. After becoming a spirit, they are no longer ordinary animals. You'd better not look at them like that, as it will scare them."
"That's a rat!"
"Everything in the world, be it demons, ghosts, or spirits, as long as their intelligence is complete, they are all the same as humans. If you eat them, it will be like cannibalism, and you will be infected with evil spirits, which is not allowed by nature."
"I'm just looking around!"
"It's very rude."
"..." The little cat remained silent, seeming to be thinking, so his pace slowed down a little, and he fell behind a little. After he thought clearly, he immediately ran to catch up with him, shaking his head at the same time: "Luan Luo Luo~" He said "Liao Luo Luo~" The pronunciation is slightly, but the tone of the pronunciation is very disrespectful.
Walking all the way outside is also wonderful. This is really a world of goblins and ghosts. In addition to the well-behaved goblins and ghosts who have built a market town in the middle, there are also countless little things on this road who are not well-behaved and lack wisdom.
Song You saw a kind of little spirit with upright limbs, as if it were human-like. It looked different from humans. It was only as high as a palm. It carried a small house about the size of a palm on its back. It was traveling hard. It was neither from that market town nor from that market town. To get to the market town, just follow the road.
It's so foggy that I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing. Then I saw a little person walking on the trunk of the tree holding an umbrella. She looked like a delicate woman. The umbrella was also a flower umbrella, but she was walking on the trunk of the tree backwards, with her head down and her feet up, stepping on the lower edge of the trunk.
I don't know why it won't fall. I don’t know why I need to hold an umbrella. Not only can that umbrella not cover the rain, but it will probably accumulate rain when it rains.
There are also people who are shouting while walking. These people are also very small, a little smaller than a palm. Their limbs are upright, like human figures, and they are different from humans. They are almost naked, except for two or three strips of cloth, which can be said to cover their shame. These strips of cloth do not have any The vital points that cover them are instead wrapped in other places.
I couldn't understand what they were saying, but their voices were harsh and intense, but there was nothing in front of them, as if they were talking to the air.
Interestingly, they only talk like this when no one is seeing them. Once someone sees them, they immediately shut up.
At first, Song You thought they were talking to him, and after looking at them several times, these little people became loud and quiet several times.
Song You found it interesting and puzzled. Later, when he saw other monsters and ghosts walking by on the road like this, he realized that this was probably their nature.
"Taoist priest, I seem to have been poisoned by eating fungus!"
"You didn't eat at all."
"Yeah..." It gradually got farther and farther away from the market town. There are gradually fewer pedestrians on the roadside. There was heavy fog in front of me and heavy fog behind me. The light on the mountain path gradually became less and less. Only a few fireflies were slowly moving in the mountains.
It was vaguely discernible that it was still the same road as before. At some point, there was no other light in his sight except his own. Occasionally, he could make out a little bit, but it was almost invisible in the fog, and evil things began to follow him around.
"Taoist priest..." the calico cat reminded in a low voice.
"It's okay." Song You held the lantern and continued walking forward. It was difficult to see the appearance of the evil things in the dark night and mountain fog. They did not dare to get too close under the threat of the lantern's flames. Only their shadows hidden in the darkness could be vaguely seen, their breathing could be heard, or they could be heard. They make subtle sounds that are inaudible and incomprehensible, thereby sensing their presence.
But it seems that living people are far more attractive to them than the fairies and ghosts that often come and go in the mountains. Gradually, more and more of them gather.
This thing is just like people. Once there are more of them, they become bolder. So they began to get closer and closer to the fire.
"There are more and more..." the calico cat whispered to Song You. Her body had quietly tensed up, her hair began to stand up, and she was thinking about whether she could scare them away if she breathed fire.
Gradually, their figures appeared in the periphery of the fire, and they were clearly visible under the dim light.
Sure enough, there are many kinds and strange shapes. Or they are evil things born due to different coincidences between heaven and earth, or they are ghosts full of resentment, some have entities, some have illusory figures, some have human form, some have twisted shapes, some are good-looking, some are ugly, and some only retain evil. They have beast-like instincts to attack and prey, and some have twisted minds and can understand human speech.
Some know it and some don’t. Some of them can also be used as medicine, either whole body or part of the body. The medicines produced have endless magical effects, such as not telling lies and becoming more courageous.
Some of them can even be cooked and eaten directly after being caught, and they also have unique effects. There are things about them for sale in the market town ahead, either objects transformed into certain evil things after death, or parts of their bodies. It feels like everything can be cooked and used as medicine.
The prerequisite is that you can catch it, know how to prepare medicine, and dare to swallow it. Don't associate them with goblins and ghosts.
Goblins and ghosts also dislike them and even fear them. Their image in the hearts of goblins and ghosts is not much different from the image in the hearts of people. In their eyes, goblins and ghosts are almost the same as humans. The biggest difference is that most goblins and ghosts have some moral principles and are not so easy to deal with.
Faced with this scene, I am afraid that many fairies and ghosts in the market town will be frightened and will either walk back with lanterns or find other ways to escape.
Song You showed no fear and watched as he walked. Gradually, they formed a circle, with three layers inside and three layers outside.
Even the bay-red horse began to feel uneasy, turning its head to look at Song You repeatedly. When Song You smiled and reassured it, it felt more at ease and continued to move forward with its hooves raised.
These evil spirits are undoubtedly afraid of this lantern. If the lantern's flames don't move, they won't move, just staring greedily from outside.
As the lantern flames took a step forward, those behind them crowded forward, while those in front of them crowded back a step, and some were so squeezed that they fell to the ground and rolled back.
Being brave and brainless, he began to frequently glance at the shadow beside the maroon horse, trying to jump into the shadow.
"Ha..." Song You laughed twice, then suddenly spoke up and asked them curiously: "You guys want to eat us?" There was no answer for a while.
The evil spirits only stared at them. The greed in his eyes said it all. Song You was not satisfied with this silent answer. He shook his head with a smile, raised the lantern in his hand, and said, "If you answer me, I will put it out." Some evil spirits who could understand looked at each other, and then rounded up. He opened his eyes, and strange voices sounded one after another: "Yes!"
"yes……"
"yes!"
"..." Song You shook his head in a funny way: "You are so stupid, this lantern can't burn you, so what are you afraid of?" But he was trustworthy - he just stopped, raised the lantern and blew it.
"Huh..." The fire in the lantern suddenly went out. The only light in the mountains also disappeared, turning into a dead, oppressive and breathless darkness.
The group of evil spirits in the darkness immediately rushed forward like a tidal wave bursting out of a dike. They excitedly rushed towards the man, horse and cat in the middle, squeezing and shouting.
"Canopy!" Suddenly, the light lit up again in the mountains. This light was not white light, nor green light, blue light, or purple light, but a bright yellow, yellow, and red glowing fire.
The fire didn't come from the front or back, nor from the left or right. It lit up from every part of the body, up and down, and in all directions. It was everywhere, illuminating half of the mountain in an instant.
Along with the fire, there was an overwhelming fire. Whatever evil things turned into nothingness.
