The reason why Hu Yuan gave the Green Snake and the White Snake this blessing was mainly because he snatched Zhixiang's little spider from Fahai's hand, and there was no way for Fahai to give Zhixiang the string of rosary beads embodying the shadow of the Buddha. The plot of Two Snakes.
Based on Hu Long's observation, the green snake and the white snake are still a little short of transformation, and the string of rosary beads should be the key thing to make up for their shortcomings.
Although he was not a gentleman, he was embarrassed to turn a blind eye to the matter that delayed the opportunity of the two snakes. Moreover, this matter was just a piece of cake, so he did it according to his own will.
After settling the matter, Hu Yuan no longer stayed, and went south with his acquaintance, intending to explore the background of the national master Taiyin Zhenren.
On this road, he no longer used magical powers to rush. Instead, he got a carriage and drove slowly, observing the customs and customs of this world along the way.
Because the emperor longs for immortality and the court does not practice virtuous governance, the people of the world are now in dire straits all the time, fleeing and fleeing under the exploitation of corrupt officials, and their lives are miserable.
Since ancient times, good and evil have waxed and waned, so it is said that "when a country is about to perish, there must be evildoers."
With the rapid decline of the Tang Dynasty, the dragon energy of the country was no longer enough to suppress all kinds of evil spirits, and there were many demon activities all over the world.
Among the demons, kind-hearted ones such as White Snake, Green Snake, and Zhixiang are really outliers. They regard humans more as food and playthings, and they often use various means to harm living beings wantonly.
Along the way, Hu Long would always try his best to help the people who were suffering whenever he saw them. Even if he could not eliminate the source of the trouble, he would solve their urgent needs. As for those demons stained with bloody souls, he would definitely use thunderbolts to kill them. Its form and spirit are destroyed.
In this way, he went all the way to help those in need and slay demons, but he also publicized the name of "Tai Shang Dao" Taipu Zi Hu Yuan all the way. Many people among the people have taken the initiative to convert to "Tai Shang Dao". "Believers.
It took several months before Hu Long and Zhixiang's master and servant finally reached Yongzhou.
However, although they were not walking very fast, Taiyin Master, who was accompanied by a large group of people, traveled even slower. It was said that it would take more than a month to arrive.
Until the Tang Dynasty, the land south of the Yangtze River had not been fully developed. Yongzhou, which was geographically far south and far away from the Central Plains, was a barbaric place used by the imperial court to demote and exile officials.
Liu Zongyuan, a great literary figure of the generation, was demoted to Sima Yongzhou when Emperor Li Chun came to the throne. He stayed in this remote place with few people but countless scenic spots for ten years, leaving behind hundreds of poems and essays. After his masterpiece, he was finally recalled to Chang'an a few years ago, but was later demoted to the governor of Liuzhou.
Hu Yuan had gone through several generations and had a thorough understanding of the human condition of the world. He no longer judged Li Chun's demotion to Liu Zongyuan based on simple right and wrong. However, he still admired Liu Zongyuan's poems and articles, especially his clear, profound, far-reaching and distant poems. A work of leisurely scenery with majestic and clean landscapes.
Since he came to Yongzhou now and had nothing to do for a while, Hu Long followed Liu Zongyuan's "Eight Notes of Yongzhou" and visited the beautiful scenery of the deserted mountains and fields.
On this day, the master and servant found the nameless small pool described in the most popular "Little Stone Pond" among the "Eight Records of Yongzhou".
Hu Long looked at the tranquility surrounded by bamboo trees, heard the sweetness of the flowing water like jade, saw the clear and ethereal water in the pool, and admired the calmness of the fish swimming back and forth. For a moment, he felt relaxed and happy, so he half-leaned on a blue stone beside the pool. After sitting down for a while, I took a jasper gourd and sipped the fine wine contained in it.
The acquaintance didn't have this kind of elegance, but he was a little envious of the plump figures swimming freely in the pond. However, he never dared to disturb his master's arty mood. Even though he was bored, he could only stand aside and became drowsy after a while.
Suddenly, a rush of footsteps came closer and closer, and soon they arrived near the small stone pond.
Hu Long didn't seem to notice anything, still minding his own business, pouring himself a glass of wine with the beautiful scenery and enjoying himself.
Zhixiang immediately perked up and looked intently at the sound. He saw a middle-aged man holding a five-foot-long pole walking towards him quickly.
This man was in his forties, and his simple face was full of vicissitudes caused by the weight of life, but his eyes were bright and sparkling with hope.
His steps were light and swift, and his sharp eyes were scanning the rocks and grass on the ground, as if he was looking for something. When he saw someone beside the small stone pool, his face suddenly changed, and he hurriedly raised his left hand to make a gesture, and Hu Long and Zhixiang both kept quiet and did not move.
In fact, not to mention Hu Long, even Zhixiang had already discovered what the other party was looking for.
Seeing that this man had a good heart, the Prime Minister was willing to help him. He smiled and pointed to a clump of grass three feet in front of his feet.
The man's eyes sharpened, and when he looked carefully, he saw a dark shadow lurking in the grass. The look on his face became more and more solemn. He repeatedly made gestures to tell him not to move, while he walked forward slowly and gently.
When he got closer to the grass, his movements suddenly changed from slow to fast. The five-foot-long pole with a twig on the top of his right hand reached out like lightning, and held down seven inches of the black figure's neck.
After the black figure was pinned down, it immediately struggled desperately, but it turned out to be a four-foot-long black snake with white stripes.
The man leaned down, stretched out his left hand, pinched the black snake seven inches with three fingers, then released the wooden pole and lifted it up, put it into a thin-necked bamboo basket made of bamboo strips around his waist, and carefully sealed the top lid. , then breathed a long sigh of relief, turned to look at Zhixiang and said: "This little brother is too courageous. He has clearly seen the poisonous snake, how can he not care? If he is bitten by it, That’s something that can’t be cured in just seven steps!”
The acquaintance only curled his lips and said nothing.
It wasn't that he didn't know the other party's good intentions, it was actually that he had noticed it as soon as the snake came within a hundred steps.
However, he was just afraid of the green snake and the white snake. How could he take such a little snake to his heart? Naturally, he was too lazy to pay attention to it.
He waited until the black snake crawled within three feet in front of him for some reason, then he slightly released some of the aura of a century-old "big demon" and calmly frightened the black snake, making it huddle in the grass and tremble.
Seeing that the man was a little embarrassed, Hu Long put away the gourd and stood up. First, he slapped the Prime Minister on the back of his head, and then smiled at the man and said, "This kid has always been careless, but he has just walked on the edge of life and death. I am a poor man, so I would like to thank the donor for his life-saving grace on his behalf."
Seeing that it was the Taoist Hu Yuan who was talking to him, the man did not dare to be negligent, so he hurriedly bowed and said: "The Taoist Master's words are serious, and the villain must not take them seriously."
Hu Long saw that the other party was very skilled in catching snakes, and he must have been accustomed to this industry, so he casually chatted and asked about some situations.
When he started talking, he was a little surprised to find that this man was also a "celebrity", the same Jiang snake catcher mentioned in Liu Zongyuan's other famous article "The Snake Catcher".
This man said that he was the second in his family, so he called himself Jiang Er. His ancestors passed down the skill of catching snakes, specializing in catching venomous snakes that can be used as medicine and selling them to support his family.
After his grandfather, father, and brother were killed by snakes one after another, Jiang Er originally intended to abandon his ancestral business and find another way to make a living. The disagreement also happened when the emperor continued to increase taxes in order to seek longevity, and the imperial preceptor issued a decree to use poisonous snakes to offset the taxes.
Although Jiang Er knew the truth of "those who are good at swimming will drown", he had to bite the bullet and continue to carry out his ancestral business and carry it forward, leading the whole village to risk their lives to catch snakes to avoid the suffering of wealth.
In this way, although his village loses its young people to snake hunting every year, it can barely maintain food and clothing, becoming a "paradise" in Yongzhou and even the whole world.
Hu Long shook his head and sighed, feeling that Jiang Er regarded his hometown, which had been renamed "Snake Catching Village", as a paradise-like paradise, which actually contained great sadness and irony.
The sound of a dog's barking suddenly reached my ears, and then a khaki-colored puppy with a round head and a round head and a cute and innocent look sprang out from the trees and grass in the forest, rushed to Jiang Er's feet, raised his head and whined.
Jiang Er's expression immediately changed, and he hurriedly knelt down and asked, "Dudou, what happened to Ah Xuan and Xiao Huzi?"
The little dog called "Dudou" actually seemed to understand human speech. He nodded repeatedly, then turned around and barked toward the northwest.
Seeing the anxious look on Jiang Er's face, Hu Long secretly used his magical power of "Heaven Seeing and Earth Hearing" to listen and observe, and he immediately knew what happened.
At that time, while comforting Jiang Er, he ordered his minister to go twenty miles to the northwest and bring back the two people there as soon as possible.
The acquaintance agreed, and immediately stepped into the void and flew away. Jiang Er and the puppy "Dudou" on the side were shocked and dumbfounded.
