As the sun sets in the west, a red sun hangs on the treetops. The sun has dimmed its dazzling light, and the blue sky is turned red by the fire clouds, which is particularly festive.
A big pig's head is enshrined in the center of the altar, and a red flower is placed on it. The afterglow of the setting sun falls on it, coating it with a layer of golden light. Next to it are cattle and sheep, as well as cured goods pickled by the villagers. All good stuff.
All kinds of sacrifices are piled on top, which is dazzling.
In the past, the Mountain God Ceremony was held in the village. Because this time it was going to be grand and large-scale, it was chosen outside the village. Now it seems that this decision was wise.
All the people from the nearby villages came. At first glance, they were densely packed with people. It looked very lively, and everyone's face was filled with enthusiastic smiles.
The village chief was welcoming everyone, with smiles all over his face. He was even more excited when he saw that familiar figure, "Officer Sun, why are you here!"
Sun Zhenbang smiled slightly, "How can I be absent from such an important event as the Mountain God Ceremony?"
The villagers had long been on friendly terms with Sun Zhenbang, and their personal friendship was even better. When they saw his arrival, they were not restrained and welcomed him in enthusiastically.
"Officer Sun, today is a good day. Let's have a good time! We won't come back until we get drunk!"
Sun Zhenbang was also affected by the laughter and laughter around him. His usually serious face was now full of smiles, and he said very boldly: "Okay."
"Then let's make an agreement. I won't save you any face."
The villager next to him laughed and joked: "Old Zhang, you better take it easy. If Officer Sun gets drunk and falls asleep, how about giving us silver handcuffs?"
"There is no Officer Sun here today, only me, Sun Zhenbang!"
Everyone was having fun and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
While everyone was talking, there was a burst of hearty laughter.
"The Immeasurable Heavenly Lord of Blessings, the poor Taoist should not be late."
An old man wearing Taoist robes, followed by a young Taoist priest, appeared in the sight of the villagers.
Sun Zhenbang looked at the old man in front of him, and saw that his beard and hair were all white, and he looked like an immortal. He couldn't help but asked with some doubts: "Who is the village chief?"
The village chief looked surprised and said: "Officer Sun, let me introduce to you. This is Taoist Priest Qingwei from Shangqing Temple."
Since the last time Taoist Priest Qing Wei visited Longyuan Village, he also knew that it was the mountain god that caused such a miracle to occur in Shangqing Temple.
In order to express gratitude for the incense given by the mountain god, I would come over and meditate at the foot of the mountain whenever I had free time, so the two parties have always been in contact.
Now that I know that Longyuan Mountain is holding a mountain god ceremony, I came here specially to participate.
Looking at the peaceful village with no damaged buildings, Taoist Priest Qingwei had a flash of understanding in his eyes.
"I knew that the village was not affected by the disaster."
The village chief was a little surprised, "Could it be that Shangqing Temple is also...?"
Taoist priest Qingwei nodded and bowed his head towards Longyuan Mountain not far away. "Under the protection of the mountain god, the Taoist temple was saved from disaster. Pindao came here to thank the mountain god."
It turns out that apart from Longyuan Village, Shangqing Temple was not damaged, but the strange phenomenon was not big and not many people knew about it.
The damage caused by this earthquake disaster is not small. Most of the buildings are either rebuilt or repaired. Situations like Longyuan Village and Shangqing Temple can be said to be very few and only one in ten thousand.
Since the last time Longyuanshan and his party met with Bureau 749, Taoist Priest Qingwei already knew the mystery of Longyuanshan. Thinking of this special situation, he naturally thought of the mysterious power of Longyuanshan immediately.
After Sun Zhenbang chatted with Taoist Priest Qingwei for a few words, he felt that this man had extraordinary conversational skills and unique insights, and they had a great time chatting with each other for a while.
I originally thought that people had almost arrived, but who would have thought that another villager came running over.
"Village chief, some monks have arrived at the entrance of the village!"
The village chief was a little confused and said: "What is the monk doing here? Could it be that he came to beg for alms from a nearby temple?"
"Where can we find a temple in the wilderness of our place?"
Everyone looked at each other with confused expressions. After all, they were relatively remote here, so it wouldn't make sense if they were passing by.
The village chief, Sun Zhenbang and Taoist priest Qingwei came to the entrance of the village, and as expected they saw several figures wearing yellow cassocks, dusty from the wind.
"Namo Amitabha, is this Longyuan Village?"
The village chief nodded, "Yes, I am the village chief here. What can I do for the masters?"
The leading monk showed a kind smile and said, "We are from Yunling Qiguang Temple. We heard that this mountain has magical powers and protects everyone during earthquakes, so I take the liberty of disturbing you. I hope the village chief will forgive me."
It turned out that these monks belonged to Qiguang Temple. The temple was not damaged during the earthquake. Everyone in the temple thought that the Buddha appeared to protect them.
At the same time, I learned that Longyuan Village also had this strange scene, so I rushed over to have a look. After all, this kind of thing is rare.
But I didn't expect that Longyuan Village would be so lively.
The villagers had never traveled far and were a little unfamiliar with this name, but Sun Zhenbang had heard Captain Zhou mention it a few times before.
"Qiguang Temple is a famous ancient temple with a long history."
The monks are very humble, "It's just a false name."
As the saying goes, a guest is a guest even after a long journey, so the village chief had no reason to refuse and quickly welcomed the person in.
"The masters have come all the way and must have worked hard. Please take a seat quickly."
The monks also discovered the presence of Taoist Priest Qingwei. They were stunned for a moment, as if they were still wondering why there was a Taoist priest here.
After learning that Shangqing Temple was also intact, the two sides had a lot of topics to talk about. After all, Buddhism and Taoism also have a lot in common.
No one noticed a vague gaze in the distance, watching their actions here.
…
There is a small road here in the southeast. The terrain is relatively high and the road is not easy to walk. In addition, it is remote and no one usually comes here. It has long been abandoned. The surrounding weeds are more than half a person's height.
Now there is a dark shadow lying inside, furtively looking at the movement in the distance with a telescope.
This person is a CIA spy.
After the last earthquake incident, the CIA received information from Zheng Huasen and was very interested in animal rescues.
At the same time, the CIA also noticed that whether it was animals rescuing people or the integrity of Longyuan Village, it was inseparable from Longyuan Mountain. This mountain seemed to have some secrets. Even the Daxia government ordered it to be sealed off. Worth pondering.
However, the CIA had no way of knowing the specific reason for the blockade, and whether it was specifically related to weather weapons now made them suspicious, so they ordered Zheng Huasen to investigate closely.
Zheng Huasen learned that Longyuan Village was going to hold a mountain god ceremony, so he lurked here to see if he could find any useful clues.
I originally thought that these villagers were just having a small fight, but I didn't expect that the scale of the event would be quite grand. However, judging from the current situation, there is nothing abnormal for the time being.
"Why are monks and Taoist priests here? Is this going to be an exchange meeting?"
Zheng Huasen held a telescope and looked at the crowd in the distance. The Taoist priests and monks were dressed more conspicuously, so he spotted them at a glance.
Sun Zhenbang came in casual clothes, but he was not seen.
Originally, Zheng Huasen wanted to disguise himself and sneak into it. Considering the information he found out, this Longyuan Village was quite strange. Many criminals had come here before, but they were all arrested inexplicably.
Coupled with the vague attitude of the government, he doubted whether there would be plainclothes police in the village, so he did not dare to act rashly and lurked here to observe, just to be on the safe side.
As time went by, more and more people gathered in Longyuan Village. The village chief looked at the time and nodded to the side.
Several villagers immediately understood what he meant and pushed out a huge gong from the side.
The gong looks very chronological. It has been passed down from generation to generation in the village. It has reached this moment and has special commemorative significance.
Although there are some wear and tear on the edges, they are very smooth and look like they have been maintained regularly.
Usually the gong is not used easily. Once it is rung, it means something big is happening in the village.
The gong hammer is also very huge and requires the joint efforts of people to pick it up. The village chief and several respected elders in the village jointly rang the gong.
"boom--"
"The auspicious time has arrived, the ceremony begins!"
The sound of the gong carried great penetrating power, floating in the mountains, echoing continuously, and everyone's hearts trembled.
The originally lively crowd became quiet now. Sun Zhenbang, Taoist Priest Qingwei, and the monks from Qiguang Temple all looked towards the location of the altar.
There was an object covered with red cloth in the middle. It was unclear what it looked like. The village chief pulled off the red cloth.
The lifelike snake statue came into everyone's eyes. The snake's eyes looked at everyone without sadness or joy. The sunlight shrouded it and coated it with a special color.
Everyone had the illusion that the mountain god was watching them through the eyes of the statue.
The atmosphere instantly became a little solemn. The village chief's eyes were full of piety, he clasped his hands and bowed to the statue.
"Worship the mountain god——"
Everyone also followed the village chief and paid homage to the statue.
However, the monks of Qiguang Temple were a little surprised. They did not expect that the mountain god that the villagers said was magical would actually be a snake!
However, as the Romans do, after being surprised, I didn’t have any other thoughts. Since I was here, I naturally started to pay homage.
"Sacrifice to the mountain god——"
Under the leadership of the village chief, every household will take out things from home and offer them on the altar, light incense and worship the mountain god.
Everyone is arranged in order. Although there are many people, it is not chaotic. This process takes the longest time.
Because in addition to the villagers of Longyuan Village, there were also people from other villages, and it took nearly an hour to complete the worship.
"Bless the mountain god for taking care of our Longyuan Village, thank the mountain god for blessing us, and we will worship it with devotion in the future."
The village chief muttered something, and white smoke rose slowly from the lit candle in his hand. There was no wind at this moment, but the smoke actually floated in the direction of Longyuan Mountain on its own, which seemed to be the mountain god's response to the villagers.
The curls of cigarette smoke, carrying the piety of the villagers, blended into the mountains. The distant mountains were endlessly green, and at this moment, they seemed to be covered by a thin veil.
"Roar!"
While the villagers were worshiping devoutly, a low roar of tigers was faintly heard on the mountain, which seemed to shake the mountain, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Through the afterglow of the setting sun, they could see the leaves swaying not far away, as if something was galloping towards them, and a colorful tiger appeared at the foot of the mountain.
Everyone was no stranger to this tiger. They had met it once before and knew that it belonged to the mountain god.
This tiger looks even bigger than before, its brown fur seems to be glowing, and its pair of tiger eyes are bright and full of inexplicable spirituality.
Followed closely by jackals, hyenas, monkeys, foxes and other animals.
Obviously these animals are ordinary, but the aura emanating from them is extraordinary, making the villagers feel the indescribable majesty.
For a moment, the air was extremely quiet. It was not that the villagers were afraid of these animals, but they just felt a little strange.
These animals all obey the orders of the mountain gods, not to mention that during the earthquake, they went down the mountain to save people, presumably under the instructions of the mountain gods.
If this was the case, how could it possibly harm humans, so everyone was just a little surprised and puzzled.
"What are these animals here for?"
"I don't know. Today is the mountain god's ceremony. Could it be that they came here after the mountain god's order?"
Everyone was talking about it, wondering what exactly these animals were going to do.
The villagers were fine and were used to it, but Taoist priest Qingwei and the monks were slightly a little out of sorts.
Although they had heard about animals saving people, they had only heard about it and had never seen it before. This was the first time they saw it.
Taoist Priest Qingwei was a little excited, "Blessed Immortal Lord, are these the animals that save people?"
The village chief nodded, "Yes, these animals obey the orders of the mountain god. Don't be afraid, Taoist priest, they will not hurt us."
The monks at Qiguang Temple recited the name of the Buddha and turned the rosary beads in their hands, "God has the virtue of good life, disasters come from heaven, animals save people, it is a rare great merit in ancient and modern times!"
If they had doubts about animals saving people before, seeing such a scene, their doubts dissipated a lot.
Taoist priest Qing Wei knew that Longyuan Mountain had mysterious power, but the monks did not know it. Looking at the scene in front of them, they felt amazed and could not help but whisper.
"Uncle Master, it seems that we really came to Longyuan Mountain at the right time. I originally thought that the rumors were false, but now that I saw it, I realized that the reality is even more shocking."
"I'm afraid these animals have become spirits. Is there really a mountain god in the mountain?"
"Buddha has appeared in our temple, so it is not strange to have a mountain god."
"Don't tell me, I feel refreshed when I step here. This is really a good place."
After the animals came down from the mountain, they stood on both sides in an orderly manner, like human soldiers, and did not rush into the crowd rashly.
I saw that the fur of these animals was shiny and smooth, and their faint animal eyes were full of human light, and there was no trace of cruelty or bloodthirsty.
"Roar!"
Accompanied by the Siberian tiger's low groan, two monkeys walked out of the team, standing on their hind legs and holding something in their hands. Two more foxes appeared behind the monkeys, following the same pattern.
Soon two groups of animals appeared, but they were in a group facing each other. They all still held things in their hands, and the Siberian tiger was directing from the side.
Seeing such a queue, the villagers can be said to be amazed. This small body is simply more erect than a human being, which makes people feel ashamed.
After arranging, the Siberian tiger looked at the village chief.
Looking at the spiritual eyes of the Siberian tiger, and then looking at the things on the hands of those animals, the village chief felt blessed at this moment, "You are also here to worship the mountain god?"
The Siberian tiger nodded. How could the movement at the foot of the mountain be hidden from Ye Qin's eyes? These animals had known about it for a long time.
Cultivation on the mountain is too boring and it is rare to have such an event. The animals naturally want to participate in this celebration, and Ye Qin does not want to restrict them too much.
The villagers are not outsiders and will not be alarmed even if they see these animals. It does not hurt for the animals to participate.
After all, the mountain god's celebration is held once a year. If you miss it, you will have to wait until next year. These animals come down the mountain one after another and bring sacrifices.
Seeing the actions and expressions of these animals, the village chief was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but muttered: "These animals often accompany the mountain gods day and night, and they have indeed become spirits."
He quickly moved out of the way, and other villagers also made way for the animals.
"Roar!"
Accompanied by the Siberian tiger's low groan, these animals walked in the direction of the altar with neat steps. They seemed to have been trained. The whole process could be said to be smooth and smooth.
If it weren't for the fur, from the back, he would look no different from an ordinary human being.
The animals placed the things behind the altar and then retreated to the side. Some villagers looked at it curiously, wanting to see what these animals gave to the mountain god.
After seeing it clearly, I was stunned and speechless.
All of them are precious medicinal materials such as Ganoderma lucidum, Angelica sinensis, Polygonum multiflorum and so on. The most eye-catching ones are the few thick ginseng roots.
It is about half the length of an adult's arm. What is amazing is that this ginseng has been fully formed, with limbs like humans and very dense roots.
"Dear me, this ginseng is probably five hundred years old. It can be said to be at the level of ancestors."
"I'm afraid it will take more than five hundred years. Look at the patterns on this ginseng, do they look like human facial features?"
"Doctor Wu, you have been collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains for so long, have you ever seen ginseng like this?"
Wu Yuan's face was full of emotion, "I usually see ordinary things. I have never seen such a magical thing. It seems that such magical things can only grow near the mountain god."
This kind of ginseng can be said to be worth thousands of gold, but there is no greed in the eyes of the villagers. Some are just amazed and surprised.
In addition to these medicinal materials, there are also many animals holding yellow talismans in their hands. The writing on them is like ghostly talismans, which the villagers cannot understand at all.
The medicinal materials can also be explained. After all, there were many precious medicinal materials in Longyuan Mountain before, but where did these yellow talismans come from?
The villagers could not understand the doorway inside the yellow talisman, but Taoist Priest Qingwei and the monk from Qiguang Temple on the side were stunned as if they had been struck by lightning!
(End of chapter)
