"Interesting, interesting..." Song You shook his head, feeling doubly amused. After tidying up for a while, we set off. Just when I feel happy, my steps become brisk. I don't necessarily walk faster, but time passes faster. The grass, trees, mountains and clouds on the roadside also become much more pleasing to the eye.
The little girl walked in front, holding her little bamboo stick, but it was not used as a stick. Instead, she waved it around in her hand and hit the heads of the grass on the roadside. Sometimes when she encountered a butterfly, she would jump up and hit the butterfly.
Song You looked at her and found it interesting. Sometimes I can't help but think - how boring this journey would be without her?
"Ms. Sanhua, aren't you sleepy?"
"Miss Sanhua, you are not sleepy!"
"Is that tiring?"
"Not tired!"
"Is it fun?"
"It's fun!" The girl strode forward without looking back, waving the bamboo stick in her hand, and only her voice came: "It would be more fun if I had a knife!"
"Oh..." Only then did Song You understand - she learned from that female hero. In the middle of the afternoon, the girl finally got tired. She rubbed her eyes and turned back to look at Song You, asking him if she could take a nap on the back of the horse.
Of course it is possible. So she turned back into a cat, returned to the cloth bag on the horse's back, and went to sleep.
The journey was indeed much less interesting. Walking from the mountainside to the top of the mountain, and then from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain, I passed by the former site of the village of the previous dynasty and came across many abandoned pavilions. In some places, I can still vaguely distinguish the earthen barriers that were set up before, and the original stone boundary monuments were carved. Most of them are still in place, but half of them are covered in weeds.
The sun is tilting farther and farther to the west. When we reached the halfway point of another mountain, another pavilion appeared in front of us.
The scenery here is quite good. There are mountains on one side and cliffs on the other. The dense shrubs on the roadside are scattered with flowers of different colors. There is a sense of beauty in the mottled chaos.
The dirt road passes through the flowers and grass, all the way up the mountain. When it reaches the edge of the mountain, it looks like it breaks off halfway up the mountain. Beyond that, there is the blue sky.
The pavilion is at the end of the road that can be seen. Next to it is a pine tree that grows on the mountain. It leans out towards the roadside and the cliff, as if to greet travelers on the roadside.
At first, Song You thought it was another abandoned pavilion, and was still wondering how this pavilion could be located here. But after taking a closer look, he realized - this is not an abandoned pavilion?
The green tile roof reflects the light, and the pillars of the pavilion are bright red, as if they have just been painted. It is clearly a new pavilion. As I got closer and changed the angle, my view was no longer blocked by the pine branches and pillars of the pavilion. I could still see a tall person sitting in the pavilion, wearing neat robes, and he was still drinking tea.
The sound of horse hooves gradually approached the pavilion. The man in the pavilion turned his head and looked at Song You with a smile, as if he was waiting for him here and extending an invitation.
"..." Song You was thoughtful, and then walked over with a smile. There is a stone table in the pavilion, a teapot and tea sets, and two tea bowls. One is placed in front of the person in the pavilion, and the other is placed on the other side.
The man in the pavilion looks middle-aged, with a slightly square face, thick eyebrows, rough skin, but well-dressed. Looks like a celebrity.
As soon as Song You entered the pavilion, he stood up. Song You also immediately paused. So one of them stood in front of the stone table, and the other just arrived at the entrance of the pavilion, saluting each other.
"Be polite."
"Be polite."
"Please take a seat."
"Okay." The two sat down across the stone table. Then he saw the middle-aged man making an invitation gesture: "Please have tea." Song You picked up the tea cup.
Take a look at it first, it’s pretty good to bleach the floating green. When you smell it, you can see that the tea has a strong aroma and it is made from good tea. I paused and took a sip, but it was a little bitter and not soft enough.
The middle-aged man looked at him with a smile: "How brave of you."
"Just a cup of tea."
"How about this tea?"
"Just average." Song You put down the teacup and didn't want to drink anymore. He just looked at this person and said, "Why are you waiting for me here, Your Majesty the Mountain God?"
"I once met one of your ancestors, and I am an old friend. Now that his descendants are here, I naturally want to come and meet him." The mountain god said to him,
"The mountain road is rugged, so we set up a pavilion on the roadside. I invite you to drink a cup of tea, sit down, rest, and talk for a while."
"Why didn't you come to see me last night?"
"I saw you chatting happily with the wild ghost from Pig Tail Mountain last night. If I came to meet you, wouldn't I disturb this pure fate?"
"Thank you, Your Excellency." Song You's gratitude was extremely sincere. The mountain god could consider and take care of his encounter with the kid. It was pure goodwill and worthy of thanks. However, he paused and asked doubtfully. He said: "It's just that when I encountered an evil thing in the mountains last night, your Excellency was clearly present. Why didn't you come out to meet me?" Hearing this, the mountain god paused in his toasting gesture.
"You knew I was there?"
"Not only do I know that Your Excellency the Mountain God is present, but I also know that the evil creatures that gathered here were probably invited by Your Excellency. Otherwise, I was just passing through the mountains, how could I have provoked so many evil creatures at once... It is impossible for all the evil creatures in the mountains to be present. Let's gather there for a court meeting?" Song You smiled and said, then turned to look at the mountain god,
"Although I heard in the market town that you have a bad temper, since you set up a market town here to provide convenience and shelter for the fairies and ghosts in the mountains, and also gave them fire as light to drive away evil spirits on the mountain roads, I think you are also a benevolent and charitable person. The mountain spirit, why do you want these evil things to embarrass me? Is it related to my seniors at Fulong Temple?"
"You're smart."
"But that was at least a hundred years ago. I have never met or known that senior. Why would Your Majesty the Mountain God embarrass me because of this?"
"I'm not that stingy."
"Are you here to give me alchemy materials? In that case, I would have let down your kindness."
"But it's not."
"oh?"
"Although your senior has boundless power, he doesn't practice the method of prolonging life. I'm afraid he would have died a long time ago." The mountain god raised his cup to drink tea, as if he didn't think it tasted good. He hesitated and put it down again.
"Besides, I actually have no grudge against him. Last night I just wanted to see how capable the descendants of Fulongguan are and whether they can inherit the style of the one from back then."
"That's it." Song You smiled, not showing what he was thinking.
"So what do the mountain gods think?"
"You know it in your heart, why bother asking?"
"Such words always have a different flavor when others say them."
"Ha! Interesting!" The mountain god smiled,
"You can talk better than your master!"
"I don't know which master it is."
"It's been too long, and you haven't seen him yet. There's no point in knowing who he is." The mountain god shook his head.
"There is something about you that surprised me, but I only discovered it today."
"Appreciate further details."
"You are not modest."
“It’s good to hear about yourself from others.”
"Last night, I saw you destroy the evil things in the mountains with a snap of your fingers. Although your fire technique is superb, it can be seen from this that your attainments in the Five Elements Spiritual Technique must be extraordinary. However, you are only barely worthy of Fulong. It’s just the inheritance of the concept.” The mountain god paused and said
"But I didn't expect that at such a young age, in addition to cultivating the Five Elements Spiritual Art and the Five Elements Magic to such an extent, you would also have other accomplishments."
"I've indeed learned a lot." Song You paused.
"It's just that the mountain god said something else, but I'm a little confused."
"Young people don't need to be modest." The mountain god waved his sleeves.
"You were able to find me there last night. Obviously, you can't do it only by practicing the Five Elements Spiritual Technique and the Five Elements Magic."
"So that's it..." Song You quickly put on a smile and bowed: "Your Excellency is able to carve out such an area in the middle of this mountain, relying on the mortal world but staying away from it. It is really an incredible ability. With your magical powers, , and among the mountains where you were born, how can I see through you?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I just asked casually, and you admitted it yourself." Song You smiled and looked at the tea on the table again.
"Human things may be more complicated than you think."
"..."
"Why are you silent?"
"How dare you insult me?"
"Isn't it that your Excellency was rude first?"
"..." The mountain god was silent and looked at the Taoist. The pavilion in the mountain suddenly became quiet. Even the wind in the mountains stopped, the trees on the mountains stopped shaking, the birds in the mountains stopped singing, and the entire mountain suddenly fell into a terrible silence.
The Taoist was calm as usual, as if he didn't notice. After a while, the wind picked up again in the mountains, and the leaves were blown rustling. The people leaning out next to the pavilion relaxed and waved to welcome guests, but the birds were timid and did not dare to sing for a while.
The mountain god lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and then said: "As expected of the successor of Fulong Temple."
"Did you lose that master's face?"
"But I have never heard of any descendants of Fulong Temple who became famous all over the world through their cleverness."
"Is this tea delicious?"
"I heard that the Five Elements Spiritual Technique is the best match for the Five Elements Magic. It's a pity that although your master also learned the Five Elements Magic in the past, he only practiced the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Technique. He failed to learn the Five Elements Spiritual Technique from the top human monks. It has always been my regret that the Five Elements Magic is so elegant.”
"That's really a pity." Song You shook his head and said, "My master only practiced the Five Elements Spiritual Art, and he also specialized in the Five Elements Magic in the first half of his life. It's a pity that my master didn't seem to pass by and meet you when he traveled, otherwise you would have been able to As expected."
"It's the same with you."
"Your Excellency has misunderstood. What I am practicing is not the Five Elements Spiritual Art, and my attainments in the Five Elements Magic are not high. Only the Fire Art is quite good. I showed it to you last night."
"Huh?" The mountain god suddenly frowned and stared at him with burning eyes.
"False." Song You felt relaxed all over and said with a calm smile: "I am practicing the Four Seasons Cycle. What I just told the mountain god was just because I was unhappy and did it deliberately to make you feel uncomfortable. "After saying this, I felt completely at ease.
Although the Five Elements Spiritual Technique is overbearing, its effectiveness is far less than that of the Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique. People who major in Five Elements Spiritual Technique and Five Elements Magic, no matter how deep their practice and attainments are, it is difficult to find the mountain god last night.
But if this Taoist practices the four-season cycle method and what he has learned is mixed, this is not necessarily the case. Song You did feel that someone was looking at him last night, and he guessed that it was the mountain god, and these evil things were also related to him.
It was just that there were many considerations at the time - first of all, I learned from the little ghost that this mountain god was indeed benevolent and charitable and a good god.
Secondly, although there are many evil things in the mountains, they do not pose any threat to the descendants of Fulongguan. They just throw a big stone on the road to see how you pass.
Sanlai had just met Xiao Gui, and this friendship was really rare. If he had found the mountain god at that time, he might have disturbed this clean relationship.
Si Lai was just guessing at that time and could not be sure. Finally, there is laziness in nature.
I knew that the mountain god was kind-hearted and had met the ancestor before me, so I came to test myself. I also had the kid as a reason. I was in a good mood at the time, and the laziness in my temper took effect, so I just left if I wanted to.
Who would have thought that the mountain god would be waiting by the roadside today. I have to say a few words to him. So that I can feel at ease.
