Through the dim moonlight, Qianqiu could vaguely see the appearance of the small ruined temple in front of her.
The small ruined temple is not big, with only one main hall and a small courtyard in front. It is surrounded by some earthen walls mixed with thatch. The gate in front of it is also dilapidated. Perhaps due to disrepair, one door is gone, and the other one barely stands on a pile of withered grass.
"Help, help, is there anyone?" Several more calls for help came from inside the ruined temple.
"It's important to save people. Xiaodao, go find some food by yourself. Don't run too far." The kind-hearted Qianqiu jumped off the horse without thinking and rushed in through the gate. Xiaodao also called out softly and ran away.
Qianqiu, who entered the temple with a torch, saw that the front of the temple was also overgrown with weeds. There was only one Buddha statue with only half of it left. He didn’t know what kind of Buddha it was. There were a few small candles placed on the table in front, and the sound came from It came from a dry well in the courtyard.
Qianqiu slowly pushed aside the weeds and came to the dry well: "Who is in the well?"
The people in the well saw the light of the fire and heard the sound of pulling weeds, and hurriedly replied: "Brother, help me, help me up!" After that, he started crying.
When Qianqiu heard it, he thought it was a little girl. He got closer and poked his head over. By the light of the fire, he could see that the dry well was not deep. A little girl in red with a face full of tears looked up at him down the well.
"I'll rescue you first." Qianqiu looked at the golden soil under her feet, "Tufa - earth slope!" Qianqiu muttered the term.
The soil under the girl's feet suddenly rose up until she was lifted out of the dry well.
Only then did Qianqiu take a closer look. The girl had a pretty face, her face was stained with ash, and she was wearing what should be a human bridal outfit. She was very gorgeous, and the accessories on her head were messy and her hair was mixed together. Qianqiu pinched her nose. Although the bride in front of her looked good-looking, there was a faint smell mixed with the aroma, which was a bit fishy.
"Why did you fall into the well when you were dressed like this?" Qianqiu asked in confusion.
The bride was a little frightened by the sudden rise of the earth platform. It was not until she saw the young man in front of her that she calmed down a little. She knew that a young man who practiced magic had saved her. She hurriedly and respectfully said: "My lord, I don't know this either. Tonight It was originally the little girl's big day. She was dressing up in the boudoir in the afternoon, but then she fell asleep for some reason. When she woke up, she was in a dry well, and she didn't know where she was." As she spoke, the bride lost control. continued to cry.
Qianqiu smelled it and found no evil spirit from the girl, so he said, "This is the misty forest. What's your name and where are you from?"
"The little girl's name is Dong Na, from Qingshui County."
"Is it the Qingshui County east of the Holy Mountain?" Qianqiu looked at the map and found that his master had mentioned this place.
"Exactly!" Dong Na cried and replied, but she was a little happy. The young man in front of her knew the name of Qingshui County, and he must also know where it is.
"Qingshui County is not close to here! It takes two hours to ride a horse, let alone take it away." Qianqiu said doubtfully, "But don't worry, girl, I will take you back. It's getting late today. It would be fine elsewhere, but in the misty forest, there are many dangers, and it is really not suitable for traveling at night. You can rest for now and hit the road again tomorrow morning."
"But... I'm a little afraid of the weird atmosphere in this temple." Dong Na looked around. On a foggy night, this ruined temple was really a bit scary.
Qianqiu comforted him and said, "It's okay. You can rest next to the Buddha statue later. I'll be in front of the incense table. I will protect you if anything happens." I don't know why, but Qianqiu has matured a lot since leaving his master.
"Okay, thank you, sir." She actually didn't want to stay in this ghost place for a while, but the young man in front of her had cultivation and was the only one she could rely on now, so there shouldn't be any problem listening to him.
Qianqiu shook his head and told her not to take it to heart, and went to meditate in front of the incense table to adjust his breath. He already knew in his heart that the girl would come here because of the monster. With such a long journey, she didn't believe that an ordinary person could reach it in such a short time. But he decided not to tell her yet. Ordinary people would definitely be afraid of monsters, and it would be troublesome to go home if they made a fuss.
At midnight, the fog became thicker and thicker, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the breathing of the two people.
Suddenly, a huge black figure emerged from the misty forest. He stood at the door of the temple, looked around, then secretly walked into the door, followed the path in the yard and headed towards the dry well.
Qianqiu, who was adjusting his breath with his eyes closed, heard the noise from a distance and woke up instantly: "There is a monster." Knowing that a monster was coming, he glanced at Dong Na who was sleeping next to the Buddha statue, and then quietly hid behind the pillar. This position Just enough to see the monster standing next to the dry well.
In front of the dry well, a huge black figure poked his head, rubbed his hands, looked into the well, and said vaguely: "Hey, little lady, I'm here!"
Qianqiu took a breath, the scene in front of her was too scary. A dark figure shouted these words towards the dry well in such a ruined temple in the middle of the night. If he didn't come here, Dong Na would be scared to death.
The black shadow shouted softly for a long time. After taking a closer look in the well, he found that no one was there. He suddenly became anxious. Could it be that he had let her run away? Then he looked around and carefully searched for the smell with his nose.
The wellhead was next to the wall, blocking most of the moonlight. Qianqiu could not clearly see the face of the visitor, but from a distance he could smell the same fishy odor as Dong Na, so he must have arrested the person.
"No! There's someone!" The black shadow smelled a hint of a cultivator and muttered to himself in shock. He rushed out with a single step and ran away in a panic.
Qianqiu originally wanted to light a fire to see what this monster looked like, but he didn't know that he was so timid and ran away immediately after smelling his own scent. He hurriedly chased after him. In the darkness, he looked around and saw nothing. He only heard the person running away towards the east.
"This monster is too cowardly! It's too embarrassing for the monster. I'll stop chasing him. I don't know where the knife went. There's one sleeping in the temple. It will be bad if he encounters danger again." Qianqiu Thinking to himself, he turned back and walked into the ruined temple.
Back in the temple, the bride was still sleeping soundly. Qianqiu felt much more at ease, but felt a little depressed. He wanted to know what kind of monster captured the bride. Then he thought about it, and there might be monsters in Qingshui County.
The next day, the fog cleared a little, and Dong Na woke up early feeling restless. She didn't know how anxious her family would be when they knew she was missing.
She stood up and walked slowly to Qianqiu's side, wanting to ask. Unexpectedly, Qianqiu opened his eyes immediately, looked at Dong Na who was also a little scared, and said, "Are you awake? Then let's set off quickly. Bar."
"I couldn't ask for more, thank you sir."
"Don't call me Sir, just call me Qianqiu." Qianqiu found some water and wiped his face.
"Absolutely not. You are a cultivator, and we are not allowed to call him by his first name." Dong Na quickly stepped back.
"What's wrong with practicing or not? I'm just an ordinary person, so I'm fine." Qianqiu said generously, "By the way, do strange things like this happen often in your county?" He didn't forget to ask.
"Qingshui County is neither big nor small. It borders Huanghu City to the east, Sanchuan Lake to the west, and Wanhua Valley to the north. It has diverse terrain and simple folk customs. However, strange things often happen, but they have become more frequent in recent years. As far as I know, Girls often disappear during these days." Dong Na recalled seriously.
Qianqiu nodded, it must be right, there must be monsters causing trouble. Thinking of this, he activated the contract that had turned into small beads deep in the cultivation pool, and called for the knife.
After a while, the knife stopped at the door of the ruined temple and neighed several times.
"You get on the horse, it will follow me, I will take you home." Swing asked Dong Na to get on the horse, and he followed behind. The master once reminded him that in the world of etiquette, men and women are not intimate, and they cannot touch women at will, let alone a woman. bride.
"Xiao Dao, take care of her and follow me. I'll treat you to delicious food tonight." Qianqiu gently touched Xiao Dao's mane. Xiao Dao enjoyed it very much and shook his head slightly.
Qianqiu raised his feet and ran forward, with Xiao Dao following closely behind.
For two years, the master asked him to chase Lao Wang every morning. His leg strength was developed and he could run for more than ten miles without losing breath.
After walking for an hour, we left the misty forest, and after walking for another hour, we reached Qingshui County.
When the two of them came out of the misty forest, they suddenly felt enlightened. They saw a large green grassland in front of them, with no end at a glance.
"Let's take a rest." Qianqiu turned around and said to Dong Na.
After saying that, he turned around, looked at the Inviting God Mountain in the distance, knelt down on the spot, and kowtowed three times in the direction of Luoxia Slope: "Master, Qianqiu will definitely work hard."
Dong Na immediately glanced at Qianqiu who was so solemn: "Sir, are you from the mountains?"
Qianqiu hesitated for a moment: "Oh, no, I'm from Dongdongxixi Village." He suddenly remembered that his master had told him not to reveal his whereabouts, so he simply mentioned a village in the mountains casually.
"This little girl is short-sighted and doesn't know this village. Your Excellency is so outstanding. The place where you belong must be a treasure land for outstanding individuals." Dong Na praised.
"Actually, I don't know where this place is." Qianqiu muttered in his heart.
After a short rest, the two of them hit the road again.
Along the way, Qianqiu ran a little slower. He had never been out of the Holy Mountain. He had only seen these things from a distance on the Luoxia Slope. There were no fields, no such exquisite houses, and no such clean and beautiful lakes. It was really a feast for the eyes. .
【Sanchuan Lake】
After more than an hour, Qianqiu finally ran to the Sanchuan Lake that Dong Na mentioned.
The name of Sanchuan Lake sounds grand, but in fact it is not spectacular. Instead, it feels like Xiaojiabiyu: the entire lake is composed of small lakes, and countless flowers, plants and trees separate the small pools. The lake-like water is also a unique landscape. Going east from Sanchuan Lake, not far away is Qingshui County.
Qianqiu stopped, found a small place by a lake, squatted down and washed his hands and face. After running for a long time, he was sweating profusely. He looked around and found that several merchants were washing by the lake not far away.
"Be careful!" A clear female voice sounded not far away.
The merchants looked up and after searching for information to no avail, they suddenly became upset.
"Who is speaking?"
"Old Pan, is that you?"
"No, there are no women in our caravan."
A group of people looked at each other, looking around for the source of the sound just now. At this moment, a large ripe fruit fell from the tree and hit a merchant on the head. When the fruit was smashed, he was also accompanied by an exclamation.
"I told you to be careful, and you didn't listen, right?" A small orange cuckoo stopped on top of the merchant's head and spoke.
"Monster! Monster!"
