The journey back was much lighter than when we set out.
After all, there was less baggage on the boat, and there was no harassment from the Black Mountain Demon King's relatives and friends along the way, so the journey was smooth sailing.
However, even so, by the time they arrived in Qingzhou, it was already the end of the year.
Although winter has arrived in Qingzhou, it is far less cold than in the north. The slightly humid sea breeze blows on the body, which makes people feel lazy and comfortable.
"That's great."
Little Loach is eager to return home. He has always been a homebody, and this transportation of luggage is almost the longest time he has been away from his hometown.
The ship entered the Canglang River along the estuary, and then returned to the Yanhu Lake. Looking at the gray-yellow land on both sides, Qiu Ping felt extremely friendly.
He never wanted to live those days of fear and fear again.
"Master Tiju, I'll take my leave first. I have to go to the City God to return my life." After entering Yanhu Lake, the old ghost bowed his hands to Qiu Ping and said politely.
Qiu Ping also wanted to go home. After a few polite words with the old ghost, he went his separate ways.
"Hey, I seem to have forgotten something... Whatever, I have to go home and sleep first."
Little Loach looked at the old ghost's leaving figure and felt that he had missed something.
What is going on?
…
Qiu Ping returned to [Zhuolong Pass] and saw that there were lanterns and colorful decorations inside the Pass. Rows of red lanterns were hung at the entrances of each office, which looked quite lively.
The human world is about to celebrate the New Year, and Shinto is also busy.
Because the human world is busy with sacrifices from all walks of life, Shinto has to be busy receiving incense. Chief officials like Qiu Ping also have to make year-end summaries and report to their superiors.
"Ouch."
Qiu Ping had just returned when suddenly, in the shadows on the side, a snow-white monster with a shape like a white-haired lion and a single horn on its head rushed towards him.
The little loach subconsciously slapped it, and the lion let out a scream and then fell to the ground.
At the same time, two small figures rolled out, but they were the little shrew and the little carp Li Huanying.
"Ouch."
The two touched their buttocks and screamed.
"What are you two doing?"
The little loach looked at the white-haired lion, his face a little dark.
"We are playing the role of the Nian beast. When I was in the mountains, I would dress up as an adult beast every year and go to play in the human world." The little shrew ran to the white-haired lion. After finding out that it had not been photographed, it Breathed a sigh of relief.
In ancient legends, the Nian beast was an evil beast that would come down the mountain to eat people every year. Later, it was surrendered by Emperor Tianguan and imprisoned in the sky.
I don’t know whether this rumor is true or not, but now many gods will take advantage of the Chinese New Year to deliberately pretend to be adult beasts. On the one hand, they find opportunities to play in the world, and on the other hand, they play tricks on humans and gain their prayers and worship.
Little Shrew has been a mountain god in her family for generations, and she started playing the role of the Nian beast when she was very young.
In fact, many of the rumors about beasts in later generations were caused by gods like them.
"It's fun to play the Nian beast. Every time I sneak up behind people and jump out suddenly, scaring them. They also use firecrackers to scare me, but I'm not scared, but I still have to pretend to be scared. They think It scared me away, but I was able to take the opportunity to swallow up their scattered thoughts.”
The little shrew folded the white-haired lion and murmured.
"How childish."
Qiu Ping looked at the white-haired lion with some disdain, but his eyes were fixed on the lion, motionless.
"Hmph, I don't care about it."
The little loach raised its head and swaggered into Fallen Dragon Pass.
The gods of each yamen were busy. When someone saw Qiu Ping coming back, they said hello, then lowered their heads and went about their own affairs.
No way, for the human world, the Chinese New Year is a day to celebrate reunions, but for the gods, it requires all kinds of overtime work.
Too busy to stop.
Qiu Ping walked around the Fallen Dragon Pass with a stiff smile on his face. Although he loved fishing, the feeling that everyone else was busy and he had nothing to do still made him feel weak.
What he was most worried about was that he had been gone for half a year, but the Fallen Dragon Pass was still running in an orderly manner.
When the leaders above see this, will they think he is dispensable?
Little Loach became wary, but he really didn't know what to do. It wasn't a good thing if his subordinates were too capable.
"Master Tiji, you are finally back."
Qiu Ping was passing by the [Yin Yang Division] when he saw Judge Cui holding a stack of documents in his hands. After seeing him, his face showed "joy".
"Judge Cui, long time no see."
Qiu Ping seemed a little weak.
"When you are not at home, our Fallen Dragon Pass is really busy. Fortunately, you came back before the New Year, otherwise we really don't know what to do."
"Really?"
Little Loach's depressed mood immediately improved a bit.
"Yes, you see, we can't spare any time for this year's 'Youshen Tournament', and the list has been delayed. I was still talking to the people below yesterday, but you are back today."
Judge Cui picked up a thin book from under a pile of documents.
"This... what is the Youshen Tournament for?"
This was the first time Little Loach had heard of this word. He was a country loach before. Later, he finally got promoted, but his station was in hell, so he had never heard of this thing.
"Every Chinese New Year, the common people in the world will invite the statues of various gods out of temples, or pretend to be gods, and parade between cities and rural areas. Our true gods will also mix in every year, enjoy the incense and answer prayers."
Judge Cui and Qiu Ping briefly explained.
Little Loach's eyes brightened a bit. Compared to the messy paperwork and official duties, this kind of thing seemed to be fun.
"But... I still have to do the year-end summary. I may not have time recently."
Qiu Ping immediately became distressed. He still had to report to his superiors this year's achievements of Falling Dragon Pass and the development of the coming year. He had basically been fishing this year, and was blind to many things.
I guess writing this summary is quite time-consuming.
"Don't worry, Mr. Tiji. I have already helped with these little things. Speaking of which, you originally came up with the method of summarizing the report. Later, it was spread throughout the world through the hands of Fuhe Shuibo and Yanhu Longjun. Shinto, even Lord Wei Ling has praised you."
Judge Cui took down the top book. Qiu Ping flipped through it a few times and found that the various situations in Fallen Dragon Pass were clearly sorted out with tables and figures. He couldn't find any faults even if he wanted to. .
"You are the chief officer of our yamen, we can handle these trivial matters for you."
"Yeah, yeah."
Little Loach nodded and felt happy in his heart. Yes, as the chief officer, I have to focus my work on more meaningful things.
"Oh, by the way, Taisui Mountain has also sent you an invitation, saying that you are invited to participate in this year's Taisui Photography Event..."
…
"Ouch."
In the dark mountains and forests, the sky was dim and not a single star could be seen.
Suddenly, a white-haired lion jumped out of the darkness, letting out a deep roar and its eyes scarlet...
"Oh my god."
A white-haired bat about the size of a human was happily preparing to go out to look for food. It was frightened by the lion and immediately ran away, crawling and urinating.
"Ha ha ha ha."
Two undisguised voices of ridicule came, but they saw the white-haired lion lying softly on the ground, and two figures, one shorter and one shorter, sprang out from behind the white-haired lion.
When the bat saw this, he knew that he had been tricked and became furious.
How brave he is to run wild in Huang'ao Village. Who doesn't know that this is Grandpa Qiu's territory? The villain is not talented. It was a fragrance.
I want to see which bastard dares to play tricks on me.
Although the white-haired bat had bad eyesight, through the dim light, he vaguely saw a strange child with ordinary features and a big forehead, followed by a three-inch-tall mouse.
"Grandpa Qiu, it turns out you are old enough!"
The moment he saw the person clearly, the white-haired bat felt a lightning strike in his head, and his whole body started to tremble.
This Grandpa Qiu is from our Changning County, oh no, he is considered a man of the hour in our Tai'an Prefecture.
In just two years, it was like riding a rocket, rising from ninth grade to sixth grade, which was a bit too abnormal.
"Bai Saner, you are too timid."
Qiu Ping grabbed the lion's head with one hand and smiled happily.
"Yes, yes, I am too timid. The main reason is that the lion was so realistic that I was caught off guard and thought it was a real lion."
The white-haired bat had a smile on his face, but he was a little flattered in his heart.
To him, even the land lord in the village was a big shot, let alone a sixth-rank Shinto official.
"Let me tell you, my beast is a family heirloom, and it is a top-quality product in our Changning County." The little shrew jumped on the head of the white-haired lion, holding its horn in one paw, and said very proudly .
"Let's go scare the others."
Qiu Ping found pleasure in playing the Nian beast. He got into the belly of the white-haired lion and supported his head with both hands, while the little shrew dragged its tail behind. The two cooperated in tandem, and quickly He walked down the mountain happily.
Although the flavor of the New Year in the village is not as good as in the city, because this year is a bumper harvest year, everyone's life is rich, so they are in the mood to buy some New Year things to bring back.
Every household rarely lit oil lamps. Figures were reflected on the windows through the lights, and bursts of laughter came from inside.
After a year of hard work, only at this time can everyone put down all their burdens and reward themselves.
"Ouch."
The little loach held the white-haired lion's head and walked swaggering ahead, roaring from time to time.
Although there was no one around, he and the little shrew had a great time playing.
"Kids, the village in front seems to be very happy. Let's go and scare them."
Qiu Ping stood at the entrance of the village, feeling the joy in the air and the sweetness of the food, and his mood became happy.
"Okay, my lord!"
The little shrew tensed up and responded loudly.
The two of them jumped into the village, one behind the other.
Although their Nian beast is fake, it can still be regarded as a Shinto magic weapon. When the two of them got into it, mortals couldn't see the flaw at all.
They walked on the ground, leaving pink footprints on the ground.
As they walked in the village, some negative bad luck and bad luck also gathered, forming faint black clouds that wrapped around the Nian beast.
As the misfortune gradually worsened, Nian Beast's pupils became scarleter.
"Duang! Duang! Duang!"
"Hurry up and hand over the fire dates, or your little temple will be destroyed."
The little loach stretched out a foot and kicked the temple door of the Earth God.
After a while, a cloud of green smoke appeared on the ground, and an old man about three feet tall appeared in front of Qiu Ping and the two of them, holding a cane in his hand.
"Qiu Tiju, you are so elegant."
The Earth God looked at the Nian beast running back and forth in front of his door and couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, how did you know it was me?"
The little loach's head poked out from the side of the Nian beast, and it was discovered as soon as it appeared.
How do I know? It's not because of your loud voice like a broken gong. I can hear it even if I turn into ashes.
"Of course Qiu Tiju, your temperament is so refined that it shines brightly even in the dark night."
The landowner had a smile on his face and started telling lies.
However, the little loach did eat this trick. Although he was a little embarrassed to be praised, he still felt secretly happy.
It seems that the masses have sharp eyes. In the future, I will have to visit the grassroots and listen to the voices of the people below. This will help me improve myself.
"This is the fire date you asked for. It has been prepared for you a long time ago."
The Tutu Master smiled and stuffed two fist-sized red dates into Qiu Ping's hand.
He planted this in the blessed land, and it will take many years to grow, so he is reluctant to give it to others.
"It's not rude to come back without reciprocating, so I'll give you a bonus during the Chinese New Year."
The little loach gave the date to the little shrew, and then rummaged through the space between the scales.
A red fruit? No, the pure Yang aura is too strong, and the ninth-level gods cannot bear it. A hundred-year-old peach? No, this thing is to increase life span and is useless to gods who are born as ghosts.
Ah... the little loach finally found a [Wutu Yellow Apricot].
This is a fruit with the earth attribute, and it should be of some help to an earth like the earth. He had plundered this from the Dragon Palace's treasury, and it didn't taste particularly delicious. He ate it once and never touched it again, so he just kept it as a favor.
He stuffed an apricot with an khaki smell into the hands of the earth god, then held the lion's head and prepared to run to the village to scare people.
"Fairy fruit?"
The Earth God felt the aura that lingered in the yellow apricots, almost as thick as the earth, and he was stunned.
Even if he spent all his wealth on it, he might not be able to equal one-tenth of this fruit.
This little loach is really promising.
When the two of them were in the same village, I could barely be considered his superior, but now in the blink of an eye, this kid is about to go to heaven.
Updated, please vote
(End of chapter)
