"I don't know if it's related yet, but this reminds me of the monster abilities described by my ancestors that I saw in the audience." Song You paused, "I heard that monsters that turn into spirits from plants and trees are rare. Some monsters that turn into spirits from plants and trees. Spirits have longer lifespans than ordinary spirits, and some have more bizarre abilities."
"Sir, please enlighten me."
"I heard that after some plants become mature, they like to cut and reproduce everywhere. As long as the cuttings are taken from the body, or the plants reproduced by themselves, when they grow up in the future, they are considered part of themselves. As long as they are not far away, they are related to the main body. Thousands of connections have endless magical uses." Song You said, "Sometimes an ancient tree becomes a spirit, and the entire mountain becomes his descendants, either for his use, or simply regarded as his. As long as the descendants of the tree demon cannot be completely cut down on the entire mountain, it will be difficult to remove them."
"This is happening!"
Priest Wang opened his eyes wide.
However, he has been working in the Changjing City God's Temple for many years, and he has indeed caught many monsters in Changjing, but he has rarely encountered monsters transformed from vegetation.
"There are not many grass and trees in the world. They usually live far away in the mountains or guard their roots. They will not travel far away easily, let alone come to the city easily. The Lord City God and a few military officers are only responsible for the affairs of the city. For this It's normal to not understand monsters and their methods." Song You said while sensing the remaining monster energy from the monster's injury. He confirmed his guess and continued, "Besides, with this kind of method, even if it is a monster transformed from vegetation, , and only a few can understand it.”
"So this demon is a bamboo spirit?"
"pretty close."
“Could it be that the Bamboo Forest in Changjing is all his clones?”
"It may not be all of it, maybe only part of it. It may not be a clone, maybe it's just his hiding place." Song You said, "There are all kinds of things in the world, and I don't know what they are."
"How to remove it?"
"I think this monster has been operating in Changjing for many years. I don't know how many bamboo forests of the same kind are related to him. If there is no immortal who has special skills and can find it all the way based on the connection, a divine power will remove all possible hiding places of the monster. To destroy it, you can only use stupid methods." Song You said and shook his head, "I can't think of any other way in the next moment."
"Stupid method..."
Priest Wang looked at Lord City God.
Lord Cheng Huang was thoughtful.
The so-called stupid method was to remove all bamboo forests of the same kind in Changjing. However, Song You said it was a stupid method, but to their ears, it was already very clever.
If the teacher hadn't pointed it out, they would have been walked by this monster for many nights. Maybe they could slowly discover the pattern in the bamboo forest that appeared every time, or maybe they couldn't react, it was possible.
Lord Cheng Huang thought about it and said:
"It's just that bamboo has always been stubborn. Even if it is cut down at the root, it will be difficult to get rid of it completely..."
"There is no need to dig up the roots." Song You said, "After the grass and trees become refined, they are no longer the same as ordinary grass and trees. Even if the bamboo demon lives in the bamboo forest now, it is only a temporary residence. All he needs to do is cut down all the bamboos he lives in. Cutting it off is like cutting it in half. Maybe these bamboos will grow again next year, maybe they are still related to the bamboo demon, but the bamboo demon is dead, and these newly grown bamboos are just ordinary bamboos without Tao Xing. What does it matter?"
Pause for a moment:
"If these bamboos are all his clones, and their vitality was severely damaged when they were cut down by their roots, he must not be much better. His body was seriously injured before, how could it withstand such devastation? Just let him People who are skilled in martial arts or good at catching monsters can just follow the person who chops the bamboo and quickly identify and remove them."
"The little god understands." Lord Cheng Huang handed over his hand, "It's just that there are more than thousands of bamboo groves in Changjing City. They are both human objects and the favorite things of literati, but it is not something that the little god can decide, so I have to ask the Ministry of Rites The Yuan Wai Lang of the Sacrifice Department conveyed to the court that how to choose depends on the court's calculation and courage."
"It would be a pity to cut down all the similar bamboo forests in Changjing."
"Let the emperor of the world make the decision." Lord Cheng Huang handed over his hand again, "Anyway, thank you sir."
"It's easy to give a few more days to the priests. I think they can think of this." Song You glanced at the military attaches, thought for a while, and added, "There are books in the world that record all kinds of fairies. Although most of the ghosts and strange stories are made up, they are quite interesting to read. Since some adults often deal with monsters and ghosts, why not go and take a look, maybe one day you will be able to use them."
"Thank you sir for your advice..."
"It's getting late, I'll take my leave now."
"Little God, send sir back."
"Thank you City God..."
Song You did not refuse.
It has been more than a month since I arrived in Changjing. Although I often deal with the monsters outside the city, I have made money recently and often go to the teahouse diagonally opposite to drink tea. I often hear things about this city god.
I don’t know if it was his previous words that awakened him, or his being in Changjing gave him the confidence and courage to change, or it was the new path he pushed him to try that finally made him feel the normal spirit. How to be worshiped, attract incense, and taste the benefits, maybe there are three kinds of things. In short, this city god has been really diligent during this period of time.
In the past, I often heard rumors that a certain household in Changjing City was having a little devil, and usually I would hire a bold and strong man or a gentleman to settle the matter. There have been fewer such rumors in recent days, but there have been more rumors about priests searching for ghosts at night and being seen by people at night.
Although this will inevitably affect the livelihood of some private gentlemen, it is ultimately a good thing for the common people.
I heard that the imperial court was also searching for monsters and catching ghosts in the city.
But when it comes to searching for monsters and catching ghosts, be it the imperial army, Buddhist masters, or the masters raised by the Juxian Mansion, how can they compare to the City God who is dedicated to his duties?
Gods who do good for their people deserve respect.
Song You walked with him in the city and chatted quietly.
He did not forget to tell him that his cat has often been hunting mice in Dongcheng recently, and asked the priests to take care of him and not to catch him as an ordinary monster.
…
The next afternoon.
The Taoist and the cat were sitting at the door and basking in the sun. Suddenly, they saw a few officials coming to the teahouse diagonally opposite. Then there was a bustle of people, and they didn't know what they were doing.
The Taoist glanced twice, then lowered his head and stroked the back hair of the calico cat on his lap:
"I heard that people from the imperial court are searching for demons and ghosts in the city every night recently. Empress Sanhua goes to Dongcheng every night to hunt rats. Have you encountered them?"
"People from the imperial court~"
The calico cat opened its eyes just a slit, and its voice was so small that it made a milky sound.
"Just people walking down the street at night."
"Miss Sanhua is in the house."
"That's true."
Song You nodded.
It's not that those people only patrol the streets and don't go to people's homes. In fact, many of the monsters hiding in Changjing may have taken human form, lived in rented houses, and even had regular businesses in Changjing. It's just that the people who recently invited Sanhua Empress to hunt rats were all high-ranking officials in Dongcheng. Those who searched should rarely go to these people's homes to search unless they noticed something big.
In addition, Sanhua Empress is not of high moral character, has never harmed anyone, has no sinister aura, and is inconspicuous.
"But Sanhua Empress must be careful. If someone wants to arrest you..." Song Youyou paused here, "Sanhua Empress knows how to tell them, right?"
"I don't know..."
"How do you say that?"
"Just say that I am the cat of Taoist priest Fulongguan. I live on Willow Street. I was invited by the Taoist priest to help people catch mice."
"Miss Sanhua is really smart..."
Song You continued to stroke Mao'er's back.
Every now and then a piece of cat hair would float up.
In the past month, Sanhua Empress would occasionally lie on top of him, especially when basking in the sun. I have to say that this was really a gift.
Just then, a woman came over.
"Are you playing with the cat again?"
Song You turned around and saw the heroine next door, and smiled: "The heroine came back early today."
The heroine also grinned and said, "Come back and see the excitement."
"What's the excitement?"
"Last night there was a thunderbolt in the clear night in West City. It was said to have chopped the bamboo forest in the courtyard of a family to pieces. The neighbors were all awakened, but his family did not wake up. And guess what happened this morning?"
"tell me the story."
"This morning, the court issued an order saying that the monster that caused chaos in Changjing was a spirit made of bamboo. At least half of the Xiangfei bamboos in Changjing City are its clones. They said that all the Xiangfei bamboos should be cut down. Many civil and military ministers felt that It's ridiculous. But the National Master made a prediction, and it was indeed the case, so the order was implemented." The female hero chuckled, "I don't know how many dignitaries will feel sorry for me."
"The imperial court is so courageous."
Song You glanced at the teahouse diagonally opposite again...
Yes--
There is also a row of bamboo planted next to the teahouse. It seems to be Xiangfei bamboo, which is considered the favorite bamboo of the literati in Changjing.
Bamboo is an elegant thing, but if there is a demon living there, it has to be eliminated. Although Song You has confirmed that the demon is indeed the enlightened form of bamboo, he also confirmed that the reason why Priest Wang could not find him repeatedly was because of his thunder. He will also be able to escape from his body, which is basically a substitute transfer method. However, if he is still unable to find him after cutting down all the Xiangfei bamboos in Changjing City, I am afraid he will be laughed at and scolded by the world's literati for thousands of years.
Two days later.
In a house in Dongcheng.
The white walls and black tiles, the bamboo forest beside the wall, the wind blowing and the rustling of the bamboo leaves make people's hearts calm.
The owner of the house frowned, a little worried.
Three days ago, the court issued an order, and the Imperial Guards in the city went out of their way to search every house. Even the bamboos planted in pots and placed in attics, as long as they were Xiangfei bamboos, were cut down. I heard that most of the Xiangfei bamboos in the entire West City and East City have been cut down, and now it's his turn.
It's a pity that the bamboo in his courtyard has been planted for more than three years. It's really sad to cut it down like this.
It’s just that the king’s orders are hard to disobey…
At this time, I saw that the sunset was as bright as gold, and the white wall seemed to be coated with a layer of light gold. The bamboo shadows were all reflected on the wall, and the wind was calm. It was really elegant and quiet.
The owner suddenly had a thought in his mind and took up his pen to draw bamboo shadows.
These bamboos could no longer be kept. At that moment, the setting sun cast all the bamboo shadows on the wall, as if they were specially copied for him. He felt it was God's will, so he used pen and ink to outline the bamboo branches and leaves and left them on the wall.
Just after I finished painting, there was a knock on the door.
The servant went to open the door, and several officers and soldiers came in, reported their names and intentions, found the bamboo in the courtyard, checked it several times, and then chopped it with their swords.
Every time the knife was struck, the owner was bleeding.
The literati had a sense of integrity, and no matter who gave the order, they just pointed at these officers and soldiers and angrily said that if the monsters could not be found, such behavior would surely make future generations laugh at them for thousands of years.
But he never expected that the bamboo in the house would already bleed when he cut it halfway.
At first it was bright red blood, just like a human being, but later it turned into transparent and bubbly juice, and more flowed out with each cut, whether it was the officers and soldiers cutting bamboo, the owner of the house who was scolding angrily next to him, or just someone who was there. The servants who were watching and trying to dissuade their master were all stunned with fear and their eyes widened.
After a few more cuts, the juice flowed all over the floor.
Until the knife went down, there was a sudden sound.
A burst of white smoke exploded out of thin air.
The officers and soldiers dispersed quickly, drawing swords in a panic. Some seemed to see a tall demon in the white smoke, while others saw dark bamboos, and there were faint sounds of pain and wailing. When the white smoke gradually dissipated, the officer outside the house heard the noise and came in to check. He drew his knife and stepped inside. For some reason, he saw a bamboo branch that had been burnt black. The body was covered with knife wounds and was no longer moving.
Everyone was shocked for a moment.
In the following days, Chen Daguan's painting of bamboo shadows in the courtyard became a favorite among the literati in Changjing. The incident of officers and soldiers cutting down the bamboo demon in Chen Daguan's courtyard was also passed down as a thrilling and strange story among the people.
…
Golden Jasmine launches a plan to save expired monthly tickets——
It’s the end of the month again, and the monthly ticket in your hand is about to expire. It would be a waste not to vote, so why not vote for Jasmine! Every month, the babies hope to have a home, so come and save them!
(End of chapter)
