"Why is there a horse here?"
"Why is there a Taoist priest inside?"
"Hey! I brought a cat with me!"
"You're passing by and resting here, right?"
"Sir, why are you here?" Someone approached Song You and asked. Song You also stood up quickly and pushed the futon under him back in front of the statue so as not to disturb others. Then he looked at these people and saluted and replied: "I was passing by here and saw a temple, so I came in to take shelter from the wind and rest. For a while, but did it delay or disturb you?"
"Not at all." The man was also very kind: "It's just that we are going to worship the Frog God here soon, and it is very noisy. If you want to take a rest, sir, walk two miles over there, which is the temple of Zhou Lei Gong. It’s not small, and generally it’s quite clean there, so you can go there to rest.”
"Zhou Lei Gong's temple?"
"Yes, that is the same family as you."
"That's it." Song You found it interesting, but couldn't help but shake his head. Then he did not leave immediately, but humbly asked for advice: "I heard that this frog god is also very efficacious. I wonder which god it is?"
"This is our local god." The man was enthusiastic and introduced him,
"The Frog God can bless you with no illness or disaster, a long life, and many children. If you want, you can stay and worship the Frog God with us, and keep your feet, legs, and waist after walking for a day. Yes, the pain is gone immediately, and I feel more comfortable than a god."
"So magical?"
"If you don't believe me, try it, but you have to be sincere."
"I'm afraid that won't work." Song You smiled and walked outside. At this time, a tanned middle-aged man in the crowd looked left and right, at the bay-red horse, then at the calico cat, and then at the Taoist. It seemed that his memories were finally brought back to him. It was the rather strange Taoist priest he had carried last year. His eyes lit up and he said, "It's you! Sir!" Song You also stopped immediately and saluted with a smile: "I've seen the boatman before. We haven’t seen him for a year, so the boatman seems a bit out of shape and almost didn’t recognize him.”
"Why are you here again, sir?"
“The scenery is great.”
"Aren't you traveling around the world?"
"I didn't go far." Song You answered honestly, not lying, and then said politely: "I didn't expect to meet the boatman again. It's really fate."
"It's fate..."
"Isn't the boatman going to sail today?"
"Not leaving the ship."
"Is it because we are going to worship the Frog God today?"
"I haven't been on a boat in almost a month."
"Why? Change your livelihood?"
"What's the point of getting out of the boat? I feel uncomfortable!" The boatman waved his hand and did not want to elaborate. Then he looked at him again.
"Sir, you are such a master. I haven't seen you for a year, and there is almost no change!"
"The boatman has lost a lot of weight."
"How can we, poor people, not lose weight? Having a big belly is a skill that only rich officials and rich people have."
"That makes sense..." Song You glanced at the boatman's thin and frail appearance, with yellow face and dark eyes. He didn't say anything, but said politely: "I heard people say that as you get older, it might be better to be thinner."
"real or fake?"
"But not too thin."
"Haha, too."
"I won't bother you any more."
"Go ahead sir, we are about to begin."
"Farewell." Song You returned the greeting to him and left the temple. Just now I saw that they seemed to be old friends. No one disturbed them while they were talking. Everyone was waiting for them. When they finished talking and Song You left, the sacrifice began.
This process is not serious, it is more casual. First, they took turns to offer incense and kowtow to pray. The person who offered the incense was sincere, but the others were not serious and quiet, but chatted quietly. It was obvious that this sacrifice was very casual, and there were no formal and obvious rules.
Song You stood at the door, watching and listening quietly. I heard some of them say that they encountered something strange last night. A man came down from Yunding Mountain and asked them what year it was and what month it was today. They were like crazy people. Immediately, someone else came forward and said that they had also encountered that person. I asked him about the disappearance of the Shizu County magistrate last year. After listening to it, I seemed to lose my mind and muttered to myself about gods and other things.
I also heard that last year, wild beasts gathered at the top of Yunding Mountain. No one has planned to climb to the top of Yunding Mountain for a long time. Most of the people who planned to climb to the top came here because of the reputation and were persuaded to return. They didn’t know about the wild beasts at the top of Yunding Mountain. Why do we get together and when do we disperse?
As soon as one person gets up, someone immediately takes over and offers the incense. Some people were halfway through speaking, and when it was their turn, they immediately knelt down in front of the statue, prayed devoutly, and then stood up to join in the chat again.
Halfway through, the idol took on a new look. All the smoke drifted towards the statue and sank into the clay statue, as if there was a bottomless pit inside.
After adding the incense, the incense has not yet burned out. Taking advantage of this period of time, a leader began to preach to everyone about the Frog God, the underworld and reincarnation. Most people believe that if they believe in the Frog God, they will be reborn in a good child in their next life. Some people who committed crimes originally entered the underworld. Those who deserve to suffer, don’t have to if they believe in the Frog God.
These are some small means to consolidate faith. When the sermon was over and the incense burned by everyone was burned out, a strange thing happened - a little bit of grease oozed out of thin air on the clay statue, reflecting colorful brilliance under the sky. It looked like it had just been blown up. The bubbles rose up on the surface, and when these people saw this, they immediately went crazy and rushed forward to lick these grease-like things.
After just one lick, he narrowed his eyes. After another lick, he showed a look of enjoyment. After a few more licks, I felt as if I was in a state of ecstasy. However, I would fall back and sit down against the wall or lie down in an awkward position.
Some seemed to be hallucinating, either talking alone, laughing, or reaching out to catch things in the air.
When Song You saw this, he just shook his head.
"Let's go." He turned around and walked away. The horse bell rang behind me. The calico cat also took small steps, feeling like it was bouncing with every step. It turned to look at him: "Did that toad make a mistake too?"
"yes."
"Is it the same as Sanhua Empress before?"
"no the same."
"Why is it different?"
"Sanhua Empress did her own thing. It was mortals who erected a statue of Sanhua Empress, offered incense to Sanhua Empress, and finally moved the statue to the big temple. Sanhua Empress and the believers are yours The equal exchange of love and willingness, relying on hard-working paws to exchange for incense. Empress Sanhua did not make a mistake, the fault was Tiangong." Song You said as he walked, his voice was gentle,
"But the toad in the temple is different. This temple didn't originally belong to him. He occupied the empty temple, which is fine. But now he uses this evil method to defraud faith and attract incense. Harm people.”
"Occupying someone else's temple? This is the most abominable thing!"
"..." The attention of cats and people is indeed different. Song You smiled and did not correct him. He just added: "It is also abominable to use harmful methods to deceive people into believing and attracting incense."
"I have a way to deal with him!"
"any solution?"
"We found a lot of Maojuzi and Xanthium spp. and put them on him."
"...That's a good idea." Song You pursed his lips and said after a few seconds,
"But toads don't have hair, so Maojuzi and Xanthium can't stick to them."
"Yes!" The calico cat seemed to have just remembered. Then he couldn't help but say——
"So ugly!"
"What's so ugly?"
"No hair, so ugly!"
“If a person has no hair, is he ugly?”
"..." The calico cat raised his head and silently glanced at Song You, then lowered his head silently and said no more. Song You pursed his lips tightly.
The silence was deafening. After a few seconds, the calico cat raised its paw, gently touched his trousers, and raised its head to look at him.
"..." This comfort is also uncomfortable. After taking a few steps silently, I looked back and saw that the Frog Temple was still there. No one was seen coming out, but people were entering one after another.
Song You couldn't help but feel a little strange. The wonder lies in the boatman. I just climbed a mountain in three days. Everything happened just three days ago, but in the eyes of others, it was already last year. In the past year, my life has changed drastically.
The wonder lies in the frog god. The last time I came here, although the frog god did not have the ability to bless people with health, longevity and fertility, he could still exorcise evil spirits for people. Although he was greedy for the incense in the world after all, he did not do anything else. Heavenly Palace and others The Taoist priests might take care of him, but Song You was unwilling to take care of him. Unexpectedly, he would be considered an evil god again this time.
It’s quite sad to think about it. People can't help but lament that chasing fame and fortune is never something that only humans can do. Fairies, ghosts, and even gods are not exempt from it.
But that toad must also be a stupid goblin. Incense has a fatal temptation for mountain monsters, and incense is the life of the gods. Occupying empty temples is the instinct of ignorant monsters. Absorbing incense is also what all gods do, but using this method is not a good thing for the heavenly palace and the imperial court. It can be tolerated, but it can also be said that it is not tolerated by God and humanity.
Even if he doesn't come, unless the magistrate of Changsheng County is stupid, corrupt and incompetent, and there is no spiritual power in the area, someone from either the Heavenly Palace or the imperial court will come to deal with him after a while.
But this may be the responsibility of the Tiangong, the court, and the Taoist priests, but it is not the responsibility of Fulong Temple.
It would be fine if no one was in charge of this place. Song You might take action, but since there is Lei Gong Temple two miles away, this kind of evil should be under his control, but Song You planned to ask first. Seeing this Is there another mystery inside, or is this famous Thunder Lord just trying to make ends meet.
Just after passing the small village and passing a tree, there was a small temple in front of it, which was smaller than the Frog Temple.
Song You walked over. There is still a couplet at the door: You are so bold and dare to come to see me; look back and don’t harm anyone!
When I went in, I saw a statue of a god sitting in the middle. He was tall and tall, with an upright face and angry eyes, but he was wearing a soap coat. It was none other than Zhou Lei Gong.
There are several small statues of gods beside him. They are small gods such as the local land god and other gods randomly offered by the villagers.
"Taoist priest……"
"Um?"
"What are we doing here?" Song You looked down and saw that the calico cat was a little uneasy. This temple was obviously not as big as the Frog Temple, nor was it as well-built as the Frog Temple, but she clearly felt guilty. She kept quietly glancing at the statue of the god sitting in the main seat, and her voice became quieter.
Thunder God is indeed a Thunder God. Then he asked Lei Gong to come out and see him.
