"swallow?"
The calico cat seemed to have noticed something was wrong.
Only then did the swallow fly over and fly above the city gate. Then it folded its wings and pierced down like a sharp arrow.
Like Yuan'an City, there is also a pond outside Zhaoye City, called Xima Pond. There was originally a temple by the pool, but after the war, only the ruins were left. There was a tree next to it, which in late autumn had dried up to the point where only its branches were left, which was quite a sight.
"brush!"
The swallow landed on this tree.
It lowered its head and looked at the man, cat and horse who had just walked out of the city gate. It opened its mouth, as if it wanted to say something, but was embarrassed, so it turned its head and pretended to comb its feathers.
"haven't seen you for a long time."
The Taoist smiled and looked up at Yanzi.
With a swipe, the swallow immediately pulled his head out from under the wings and stared at the person below:
"Meet sir!"
The cat also squatted upright, raised its head high, and recognized the swallow as the one it had known before, so it also imitated the Taoist's tone and said:
"haven't seen you for a long time."
"I've seen Empress Sanhua..."
"Miss Sanhua has also seen you." Mao'er kept talking and continued to ask, "Why are you back now?"
"I was delayed on the way..."
"What are you doing so far away?"
"..."
There was a slight sound of flapping wings.
The swallow left the branch, flew over, and landed on the back of the maroon horse. He looked at Song You again, hesitated for several times, and then said, "When Yan An returns this time, he only wants to continue to explore the path and find the stream for Mr."
Song You smiled when he heard this:
"That'll be troublesome for you."
The calico cat immediately followed suit and said:
"Then I'll trouble you."
"No trouble, no trouble."
As the swallow spoke, he turned to comb his feathers and said at the same time: "It's my creation..."
Seeing this, the Taoist smiled again. Knowing that he and Sanhua Empress had very different personalities, he didn't say much and just continued to move forward with his stick:
"Then let's go."
The defenders on the wall behind him stared with wide eyes.
"We are going to Yuezhou on this trip. From here, we have to pass through most of Yanzhou, but we have already walked the road ahead and have no destination, so we will go directly to Yuezhou."
"Understood."
"The world is so big, how do you know we are here?"
"After I returned to Anqing, I heard from my ancestors that my husband had gone to the north, so I came all the way to the north to look for him." Yanzi paused here, and did not say that he had also heard from his ancestors that he was going to the north. If he hadn't heard about his own affairs, given his character, I don't know if he would dare to come to the north to continue looking for his husband. But even if he came, I'd probably have to hesitate for a long time and muster up the courage.
"The north is also big."
"Actually, it's not that hard to find. To the north of Changjing is Hezhou. Nowadays, there are legends about Mr. in all parts of Hezhou, and there are also rumors about Mr. in Yanzhou's army. Oh, and Empress Sanhua. Even though I rarely stop. You can also hear rest from the mouths of the people, you just need to follow the legend of Mr. and Sanhua Empress to find it." The swallow said, lowering his head and glancing at the cat quietly, "At most, it will only be difficult to find after arriving on the grassland. Some. The grassland is too big. But I guess you will probably come to Zhaoye City. If you can’t find it, you can go to places like Tianzhu Mountain and Qingtong Forest in Yuezhou to look for it. I didn’t expect that I would just see it when I came to Zhaoye City. Sir and Sanhua Empress came out with their horses."
"Destined."
Song You said with a smile.
In fact, he and Sanhua Empress had already arrived here five months ago, but they just went to Yuanzhi City first and then turned back. Otherwise, Yanzi wouldn't be able to meet them today.
"You are very smart."
Sanhua Empress praised.
"Don't dare..."
"How's the good breed? How's Yanxian?" Song You continued to ask as he continued walking.
"Improved varieties were planted in Anqing last year and yielded a bumper harvest. The imperial court was overjoyed when they found out about it, so they promoted it in Xuzhou this year. Thanks to the blessings of the gods, Xuzhou has good weather this year and a bumper harvest this year. Maybe it will be spread across the country slowly. "Yes." Yanzi paused as he said, "Before I set out, my ancestor had been enshrined as the 'True Monarch of Anqing to Save the Suffering Sufferers' and the righteous god of the Taoist Heavenly Palace. All Taoist temples in Xuzhou must enshrine the statue of our ancestor. Wherever sweet potatoes, swallow beans and swallow rice are grown, the largest Taoist temple in a county must also enshrine the statues of the ancestors and enjoy incense for eternity."
It's rare to say such a long thing.
But this kind of talk cannot be finished if it is not long.
So he took a breath and then continued: "My ancestors have also passed away, turned into gods, and are living in the palace of heaven."
"That's it..."
Song You nodded.
Good seeds and good harvests are a good thing for the people. If the Yanxian has done good things, he should naturally be named a god.
All Taoist temples in Xuzhou must enshrine the statue of Yanxian. Elsewhere, on a county-by-county basis, there is at least one Taoist temple enshrining the statue of Yanxian, which is indeed quite a few. In fact, few dynasties in this world have set strict requirements on the number of statues like Yanxian. Most of them were worshiped spontaneously by the people and temples in various places after the gods were conferred.
Yanxian indeed solved Dayan's urgent need and was closely related to people's livelihood, but I don't know if there were other reasons.
However, for a god like Yanxian, even without the rigid requirement of the imperial court, palaces and temples in various places would spontaneously invite him to the altar. People in various places may also spontaneously build small temples for him.
Maybe as time goes by, Buddhist temples will also invite him to the altar.
As for the power of the priesthood, it mostly depends on the people.
After all, incense becomes a god. Even if the heavenly palace gives you any priesthood or divine power, it will not be as practical and useful as what the common people can give you.
Whatever the people believe in you, you will have it.
If Song You were to guess——
Mostly due to a good harvest of grain and rice, they can't run far.
If he has the divine power to have a good harvest of grain and rice, and if Lao Yanxian is willing to take charge of things, and his reputation among the people is good, maybe many wealthy families with vast fields will build temples for him next to their fields, and some villages may also build temples for him in the mountains. Funds were raised to build a temple next to the fields, and there would probably be no shortage of incense during the grain planting season.
At that time, the true king will probably be promoted to emperor.
The higher you go, the more difficult it becomes.
Yan Xian is not a human being after all...
However, such a god is actually more popular with the people than the Lord God of the Heavenly Palace who claims to be boundless and omnipotent but actually does nothing, and will most likely outlive them.
Maybe you can really enjoy the incense for thousands of years.
Doesn't Yanxian just want to be here for a long time?
Song You shook his head, not thinking about this. He turned to look at Yan Zi on the horse and asked:
“What’s the scenery like overseas?”
When Yanzi heard this, he immediately became energetic.
That's a lot to say. But it was so sudden, and I didn’t know what to say.
His head moved from side to side, his eyes swaying.
"The scenery overseas is not necessarily better than Dayan, but many places are different from Dayan." Yanzi said stupidly, but it was much better than before.
"I've seen something different, and it's pretty good."
"yes……"
"Are you in danger?"
"There are dangers. Most of the demons and gods overseas have no rules and act recklessly, just like the troubled times in our ancient times." Yanzi paused as he spoke, "Fortunately, Yanzi is used to coming and going in these places. Except for a few demons, most of them won’t make things difficult for Yan Zi.”
"It sounds difficult."
"Just have to worry about escaping."
"Good……"
It can be seen that this swallow has grown a lot.
He has experienced ups and downs and seen the world.
At this moment, a man and a horse appeared in front.
There is a big stone on the grassland. The man is dressed as a warrior. He has tied his horse to the horse post and is sitting with his back against the stone, as if he is eating dry food.
"We know each other……"
Sanhua Empress had sharp eyes and saw it first, then looked back at the Taoist.
"Is it……"
Song You walked over slowly.
The man also turned to look at them.
I didn't recognize him at first glance, but after a second glance, the memory slowly emerged in my mind. It wasn't until the other party called Mr. Song that the voice clicked, and the picture in my mind immediately became clear.
When I passed by here five months ago, I met a group of riders from Zhaoye City. We spent the night together and chatted for a long time. This person was one of them, and his surname seemed to be Feng. Thinking of this, when we parted the next day, the scene of the heroic group of military warriors carrying the corpses of their comrades and leaving with the heads of the nocturnal males, drinking and singing, also came to mind.
So I walked over to talk to him.
Youqi, surnamed Feng, said he was returning home.
It turns out that the Saibei people's army is pressing down on the border, and the pressure on Zhaoye City is not small. The Tanmahouqi from both sides are constantly roaming on the grassland, often fighting each other. It was okay for many soldiers to stay in the city, but going out of the city to do horse riding became the most dangerous job. So the general in the city promised that anyone who dared to go out would be promoted and returned home after the battle was over.
You Qi, surnamed Feng, was originally from Jianghu in the south. Knowing that there was tension in the north, he joined the army and agreed immediately.
Now that the war has stopped, it is natural to return home.
"Now I have become a casual official who is accompanying the captain of the Rong army. It is not bad to return to my hometown. Hey, I thought the general was lying at first, but I didn't expect that he actually kept his promise."
"congratulations."
Song You said to him.
Just asking about a few other people, he smiled and shook his head.
Chance encounters in the rivers and lakes often only last for a short moment. After chatting for a while and eating dry food, the knight surnamed Feng pulled out the horse post, took the reins, said goodbye to him, and rode away.
At this moment, he is like a free man in the world.
The grassland was already withered and yellow. The man and the horse only lasted for a while, and then they were far away.
Song You seemed to see him raising his head and drinking from the wine bottle.
It seemed as if I heard the same high-pitched, loud and wild singing as that morning. People in the army should sing with broken gong voices. It has a very ancient and mysterious flavor.
Loneliness is particularly important at this moment.
Peace is so rare.
After a while, the Taoist turned his head to look at the cat and the horse. Then he looked up at the swallows flying randomly in the sky and seemed to be unable to stop, and then he walked away.
It's a different direction from Jianghu people named Feng.
I recommend Qi Miao's light "Shepherd's Tantra" to everyone.
(End of chapter)
