As an elegant cat, it is naturally impossible for him to live on the street like a dog.
Lei Ling found an empty room with no one and slept on the beam for the night.
In the early morning of the next day, not long after I went out for a stroll, I heard someone say that today outside the city, a "Taoist Master Qingchan" would perform a ritual to eliminate the locust plague.
Soon, everyone rushed to tell each other, and a large number of residents went out of the city to watch.
Everyone hates locusts so much. When they hear that someone wants to eliminate locusts, they naturally want to see it with their own eyes.
"Shall we go too?"
Lei Ling was a little worried about Ye Ming going on.
"go."
Well, the fears came true.
It would be too unfair if that Taoist Priest Qingchan didn't like him and wanted to get rid of the demon.
Although Lei Ling was helpless, she had no choice but to leave the city together.
The altar was opened at the edge of a wheat field ten miles outside the city. This was one of the few wheat fields in Lingbi Prefecture that had not been harmed by locusts.
A large number of scarecrows are placed in the fields to scare away birds and scare locusts.
I'm afraid it's useless just to face the locust plague.
Everyone was watching from a distance, and there were officers and soldiers on both sides of the road to maintain order.
Lei Ling squatted on a tree not far away and could clearly see the surrounding situation.
Suddenly I heard a commotion in the crowd, and someone said, "The princess has arrived," "The prefect has arrived," "Taoist Master Qingchan has arrived," etc.
Lei Ling followed the sound and saw the crowd parting, the soldiers clearing the way, and three sedans arriving together.
First, a fat official with a big belly came out of a sedan chair. He was the magistrate of Lingbi.
The fat magistrate got off the sedan, ran to the second sedan in a very shameless manner, nodded and bowed and said something.
Later, a maid helped a woman wearing a bamboo hat out of the sedan chair.
The woman's bamboo hat had white gauze hanging down, making it difficult to see her face.
Through the flattery of the fat prefect, it is not difficult to guess that this is the "Princess Lingbi".
The last person to get off the sedan was a Taoist with a sword on his back.
This man's appearance is a bit strange, his eyes are obviously much larger than ordinary people, his nose is small, his cheeks are bulging, his mouth is exaggeratedly wide, and the corners of his mouth almost reach the level of his cheeks.
Princess Lingbi sat on the seat specially prepared for her and said a few words to the strange-looking Taoist.
After the Taoist replied a few words, he went to the Dharma altar.
The fat prefect on the side was still accompanying Princess Lingbi with a flattering expression.
The Taoist priest went to the Dharma altar and before he started practicing, the people watching began to shout "Taoist Master Qingchan".
The Taoist priest seemed to be impressed by the people's cheers, and saluted everyone with a smile on his face.
"Why do I feel that this Taoist Master Qingchan is a demon!"
Lei Ling muttered.
Ye Ming smiled and said: "He is a demon. He was cultivated from a toad, but now he seems to have turned to Taoism."
"Toad! No wonder you dare to deal with the locusts."
Lei Ling understood a little bit,
"So, this Lingbi magistrate has quite a lot of connections, and he can actually invite the toad spirit to help."
Ye Ming corrected him: "I'm afraid he wasn't invited by the magistrate Lingbi."
"It's not him, you mean Princess Lingbi?"
"good."
Hearing this, Lei Ling looked at Princess Lingbi's position curiously:
"I heard that this princess likes Buddhism. Why did she invite a Taoist priest to practice it this time?"
Ye Ming did not answer her doubts, but just looked at Princess Lingbi. In front of the extremely sinister eyes, Princess Lingbi's veil had no effect, and Ye Ming successfully saw her true appearance.
This is a picture...
Face burned by fire.
Yes, Princess Lingbi's face must have been disfigured by the fire, and she looked a bit hideous and terrifying.
Not only the face, but also the neck, shoulders, etc. were burned, leaving obvious traces of trauma.
No wonder she doesn't show her true face to others, not because she is too beautiful, but because she is afraid of scaring people.
Taoist Master Qing Chan on the altar began to practice. He held a mahogany sword and muttered words in his mouth. One talisman after another was lit. He would ring a bell and throw rice. Various cups and utensils were in his hands like arms. .
As the practice began, a chilling air formed.
It seems that this Taoist Qingchan is really up to his word, and Princess Lingbi did not find the wrong person.
However, something unexpected happened in the sky. Before Master Qingchan's ritual ceremony was over, he saw a dark thing suddenly appear in the sky in the distance and fly towards him.
The buzzing sound of flapping wings can be heard even from miles away.
"Locusts, locusts are coming!"
someone yelled.
The overwhelming blue-black locusts were like a cloud, covering them up. The number was so large that it made the scalp numb and goosebumps all over the body.
At this time, Princess Lingbi, who had been sitting and watching, stood up and shouted with a beautiful voice:
"Everyone, help the Taoist Master kill the locusts, and don't let the Taoist Master's rituals be interrupted!"
As soon as the locusts appeared, the fat magistrate was so frightened that he got into the sedan chair. When he heard what Princess Lingbi said, he didn't come out himself. He just cursed at the leader of the soldiers:
"Leave a team of people to protect our mansion, and the rest will follow the orders of Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
Upon hearing this, the leader quickly took action.
Fortunately, they were prepared before coming. The soldiers took out the prepared torches, mugwort, etc. and lit them to fight the locusts.
When the people around him saw this, they all rushed forward to fight against the locusts, using clothes, nets and other objects.
Although the locusts have no wisdom at all, they still have a basic sense of crisis. Layers of locusts swarmed towards Taoist Master Qing Chan.
The battle between man and locusts began. As soon as the battle began, a large number of locusts fell on Taoist Master Qingchan, biting him.
The soldiers from the government were the first to rush to Taoist Master Qing Chan and use torches to drive away the locusts.
There are too many locusts, and they are spreading a green poisonous fog.
After a while, some people felt dizzy and weak.
More people stepped forward and continued to fight against the locusts...
"Are we going to go up and help?"
Lei Ling felt that Ye Ming would probably go up to help.
"No, there are so many locusts, and ten more of us won't be enough. There is no effective method, and the number of people is useless."
Ye Ming's answer surprised Lei Ling, thinking that the old devil was planning to take action.
It is useless to unite as one. People have no effective way to deal with locusts. With so many people, it is useless. They are very powerless in the face of the locust disaster.
When Taoist Master Qing Chan reached the back, he was almost surrounded by the locust swarm. It became a big locust swarm and he could no longer continue the ritual.
Seeing this, Princess Lingbi was very anxious. She personally took a net made of gauze to swat the locusts on Taoist Master Qingchan.
But before she could get closer, she heard the sound of a toad chirping, and the locust surrounding Taoist Qing Chan fled quickly as if it had been frightened by something.
Before these locusts could escape, a long tongue stretched out and all the locusts along the way were stuck to the tongue.
As soon as his tongue was retracted, Taoist Master Qing Chan took it back into his mouth and swallowed all the locusts.
At this time, Taoist Master Qing Toad's head was no longer a human head, but a toad's head. With his mouth open, he could swallow thousands of locusts.
It's just that there are too many locusts around, even at the devouring speed of Taoist Qingchan, it's just a drop in the bucket.
On the contrary, many people were startled when they saw Taoist Master Qingchan like this and shouted, "There are monsters, Taoist Qingchan is a monster or something like that."
Princess Lingbi knew Taoist Qingchan's true identity, so she was not surprised. She immediately ordered the soldiers to appease the people and tell them that Taoist Qingchan was a good person.
While the people were fighting locusts, they looked at Taoist Qingchan and felt relieved when they saw that he was indeed helping and heard that he was a good person.
Besides, the common people are still familiar with toads. They mostly regard them as beneficial insects in the fields, and they are not considered repulsive in the first place.
Therefore, the speed of accepting the concept that Taoist Qingchan is a demon is relatively fast.
There are so many locusts that no matter how hard everyone tries, they can't eliminate many.
Even Taoist Master Qing Chan, who ate until his stomach was bulging and burped until he could no longer eat, did not have much impact on the number of locusts.
This time the locusts appeared and lasted for more than an hour.
The surrounding more than ten acres of wheat fields, as well as the surrounding vegetation and leaves, were all eaten up.
Two others died on the spot because they were weak and inhaled too much locust toxin.
This time, the locusts won.
The exhausted Princess Lingbi was supported by the maid, sitting on a chair, with tears streaming down her face.
She had always been kind-hearted and did not want to see the people suffer. This time she personally asked an expert to take action. Unexpectedly, she still failed to save a wheat field.
It is foreseeable that there will be no harvest in Pingzhou this year, and it is unknown how many people will starve to death as a result.
Thinking of this, Princess Lingbi burst into tears and cried bitterly.
The surrounding people and soldiers were also sitting on the ground with dejected faces. Everyone knew that there would definitely be a famine this year.
Many people are already running out of food at home, and now such a commotion makes them even more desperate.
The fat prefect was also dejected and worried about his career. This locust might ruin his career!
When he thought of this, the fat prefect was filled with hatred, but there was nothing he could do.
"Princess, this time Qing Chan has failed to live up to his expectations and has let down the princess and let you all down!"
Taoist Master Qing Chan returned to his human form and apologized to Princess Lingbi with a full face.
"I can see the Taoist Master's efforts. I can't blame the Taoist Master for this."
Princess Lingbi was sensible and knew that Master Qingchan had tried his best, but she didn't expect that the locust disaster would be so terrifying, which was really powerless.
Just when everyone felt that the road ahead was gloomy, they suddenly saw a fast horse galloping in the distance, and a messenger came on horseback, shouting:
"Mr. Bai of Yanhua Prefecture personally ate locusts. The insects can be eaten if they are put into oil!"
"Mr. Bai of Yanhua Prefecture personally ate locusts. The insects can be eaten if they are put into oil!"
"Mr. Bai of Yanhua Prefecture personally ate locusts. The insects can be eaten if they are put into oil!"
The messenger shouted all the way, and many people were surprised when they heard the words and started whispering among themselves.
Princess Lingbi, who was crying, stood up after hearing this.
Later, the messenger dismounted and came to report to the prefect.
The princess and others were by her side, asking the messenger whether what he said was true.
The messenger explained why.
The entire Pingzhou has been plagued by locusts, and Yanhua Prefecture next door is no exception.
When everyone was helpless to deal with the locust plague, Mr. Bai ate locusts in front of all living beings to show his determination to fight against the locust plague.
It turns out that locusts are actually quite delicious!
Later, a Mahua vendor tried frying locusts.
Turns out, fried locusts are delicious...
Now people in Yanhua Prefecture next door are catching locusts all over the mountains and fields to eat. If they can afford it, they fry it, and if they can't, they eat it raw on the spot.
When everyone heard this, they were in disbelief.
Can locusts and other ferocious things be eaten?
Many people are suspicious.
Seeing this, Princess Lingbi decisively asked someone to set up the stove, add oil, and fry the locusts herself.
The maid was shocked when she saw this. How could a princess with a rich body eat such evil things?
She wanted to stop it immediately, but Princess Lingbi didn't care. She picked up a locust with chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
The maid was in a hurry, but Princess Lingbi waved her hand to indicate that it was okay, and said to the fat prefect beside her:
"This thing tastes great!"
When the fat prefect saw this, he knew that he wanted to eat it in public. Although he was reluctant, for the sake of his official career, he still had the mentality of giving it a try and ate one...
"This locust tastes really good."
When everyone saw that both the princess and the prefect had eaten, no one doubted them anymore. Their eyes lit up and they looked at the locusts that had been killed earlier.
Taoist Priest Qing Chan on the side saw this and scratched his head:
"It turns out that not only I think locusts are delicious, but people also think locusts are delicious..."
When the fat prefect heard this, he immediately complained:
"Taoist Priest, you knew locusts were delicious, why didn't you tell them?"
"After all, I am a toad, and my taste is different from that of humans. I don't see you eating mosquitoes and the like, so I thought you wouldn't be able to eat locusts."
"Oh, what a pity!"
The fat prefect sighed, if he had known earlier, this political achievement would have been his.
Eating locusts for the sake of the common people is a great achievement when you think about it. What a pity!
Princess Lingbi didn't care what the fat magistrate thought, she just looked at Yanhua Mansion:
"Mr. Bai of Yanhua Prefecture, he is a hero in this world!"
...
