"Qichuan Heling...?" Dongfang Shiming recited the poem over and over again, turned around and asked suddenly, "Taoist Priest Baihao, have you ever heard of a place called Qichuan Heling nearby?"
Baihao frowned after hearing this: "Qichuan Heling...ah, I have some impression."
"How do you say it?" Dongfang Shiming was interested and asked quickly.
But Baihao thought about it carefully, and finally shook his head with regret: "I have never been there in person. In those years, Master went out every once in a while, and he always mentioned this name when he came back. I didn't pay attention at the time, but now that I think about it, I just remember He always goes north."
"Well..." Dongfang Shiming nodded and continued to ask, "Then do you still remember how long it takes for your master to come back every time he goes out?"
"It's different every time. The longest time I remember, he ran away for nearly half a month because of this."
Half a month...to the north. Dongfang Shiming calculated the length of the journey. It seems that it is necessary to visit Qichuan Heling Mausoleum for yourself.
Look further down. I guess the same is true for Hefan Yunzhuang. As for the beggar, he had to inquire.
He read the rest of the content several times and basically memorized the doubtful points.
Coincidentally, people's voices also came from the yard outside. Baihao took a look outside, turned around and said, "It seems someone is coming. If you don't want to stay a while, I'll be right back."
Dongfang Shiming shook his head: "No need. We have just finished reading, and we don't want to bother you anymore. Let's say goodbye."
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of the broken bow and the letter. So he had no choice but to say: "This..."
"You can take these two things. It's no use leaving them here. Just keep the clothes." Baihao waved to him and agreed simply.
"Thank you very much, Taoist priest." Dongfang Shiming bowed behind him to express his thanks.
The three of them went out together. There were indeed several families of people in the yard, waiting for Pehao to help them worship the gods.
Dongfang Shiming took Baihao to bid farewell to Taoist Baihao. Dongfang Shiming put away the two clues, his eyes hesitant.
He was thinking whether to go back to Dongfang's house first after Xiang Fengguan left, or to look for the mysterious Qichuan Heling Tomb first...
The snow is still thick outside. The two stepped through the deep snow and planned to leave by car.
At this moment, Dongfang Shiming suddenly heard a singing voice that was almost shouting not far behind him.
"I was born to love wild things, and I carried a bamboo stick across Kyushu. I lifted the waning moon to the dawn with a broken basket, and the wind sang on the song board about the spring and autumn. My feet stepped on the road to the world, and I shouldered all the sorrows of the past and present. Now there is no need to sigh to eat, the village dog Why do you keep barking?"
"Oh?" Dongfang Shiming was attracted by the beggar's singing and turned to look.
Suddenly, I saw a beggar in tattered clothes, holding half a broken bamboo stick, singing a ballad with his mouth wide open, and limping towards him.
The beggar's mouth is really big, and when he sings, he can see clearly only a few yellow teeth left in it. I saw him stopping in front of the gate of Xiangfeng Temple quite familiarly, and shouted: "Today we are offering music to the gods and Buddhas, our stomachs are growling happily. Could you please get some incense money so that we can have enough to eat!"
Bai Hao was also very curious about this old beggar who spoke rhymes, and stood behind Dongfang Shiming and looked over there.
The old beggar's cry had an immediate effect, and soon the two of them saw Taoist Priest Baihao running out, holding a sling of money and two steamed buns, and placed them in the beggar's broken bowl.
The beggar bowed deeply and sang a few good words. Then he turned around and collected the money, hung the broken bowl on his waist, grabbed the steamed bun and gnawed it, and walked away.
Seeing the old beggar getting closer and closer, Dongfang Shiming suddenly thought of the "beggar" sentence in Shoumei's poem. His mind moved, and he thought, could one of the three clues be this old beggar?
After a burst of excitement, Dongfang Shiming thought that it was indeed a coincidence. He took out a piece of silver from his pocket and walked towards the beggar.
Seeing this, Bai Hao quickly followed behind to see what was going on.
The beggar walked forward with his head down, focusing entirely on the steamed buns. Suddenly blocked by Dongfang Shiming in front, he raised his eyelids and stopped chewing in his mouth.
"Old sir, I'll give this to you. It's cold, and you're too cold here." Dongfang Shiming said, stuffing the big ingot of silver into the old beggar's hand holding the steamed bun.
Seeing such a big piece of silver, the old beggar raised his head.
However, before Dongfang Shiming could continue to speak, there was a hint of disdain on his face.
"Young master, if you do good deeds and accumulate good fortune, go to that Taoist temple." He leaned on the bamboo stick and grabbed the silver coin. ."
After saying that, he loosened his fingers and the silver coin fell to the ground with a "snap", stained with a lot of mud.
"This..." Dongfang Shiming was a little stunned.
"You two, if you want to do a good deed, beg and set off. Don't block the old beggar's begging path." The old beggar grabbed his bamboo stick and knocked on the road. Dongfang Shiming hadn't recovered yet, so he had to turn sideways to let him pass.
The old beggar passed the two of them without looking back, then continued singing and walked away. The sound was like a broken bowl, but extremely high-pitched.
"This, this, this..." Bai Hao came to his senses first, turned around and stamped his feet angrily at the old beggar's back, "He is so rude! Why is there such a guy? I don't like him!"
Dongfang Shiming looked at the silver on the ground in trance. It wasn't that he felt humiliated. On the contrary, he became more and more aware of the beggar.
If he were an ordinary beggar, how could he be so weird? It is precisely because he is so different that people need to pay attention.
Seeing that Taoist Priest Baihao was no stranger to him, he had to ask carefully.
Thinking of this, he patted Bai Hao's head: "Let's go, don't be angry, he has already gone far."
"Uh-gu-gu..." Bai Hao was still having a little temper at first, but when Dongfang Shiming touched her head, she quickly stopped being angry.
She stretched out her arms, grabbed Dongfang Shiming's hand on top of her head, and gently put it around her shoulders. Smiling a little willfully, she followed Dongfang Shiming back to Xiangfeng Temple.
In the yard, Taoist priest Baihao was helping the villagers bring offerings from the baskets. Seeing the two men coming back, he turned to the door to meet them.
Looking at their postures, he was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Are you coming here just to show off your affection?"
"Uh, no, no." Dongfang Shiming was a little embarrassed and tried to pull his hand back, but was held tightly by Bai Hao. He had no choice but to raise his head and get to the point: "I want to know something about the old gentleman who came to beg just now."
Taoist Bai Hao really knew him very well. As soon as he heard it, he said: "He is an old acquaintance. He comes to beg once every fifteenth day."
"Oh...how long has he been begging?" Dongfang Shiming asked.
Baihao counted slowly with his fingers, raised his head and said, "It's been many years. Ever since I came to Xiangfeng Temple, he has been coming every month. It must have been twenty or thirty years, rain or shine."
