Call——
Xia Zhichan tightened the reins in her hands, and the horse slowed down its running hooves, snoring and trotting to the front of an abandoned temple.
"Stay here tonight."
He said, taking the lead in getting off his horse, holding the reins in his hand and walking forward.
"No, in a place like this?"
Nan Er also dismounted, but he frowned and looked at the deserted temple in front of him that had been abandoned for who knows how many years, and he only complained in his heart.
"Why don't we drive a little further while it's still dark, and at least find a place to stay in front of us. This place is so ghostly that it makes people uncomfortable."
The deserted temple in front of them is not small. The originally towering mountain gate is very dilapidated. There are several holes of different sizes on the gate. Following the holes, you can see the weeds in the yard that are already half the height of a person.
The completely dry yellow grass rustled in the wind.
"There is no Zhendian ahead. I have inquired with the shopkeeper before. It will take us three days to see Zhendian on this stretch of road. If we don't rest here today, we will have to sleep in the wilderness."
Xia Zhichan didn't even give Nan Er a chance to refuse. As he spoke, he tied the reins to a dead tree that was as thick as his thighs.
He touched the horse's mane, and the horse snorted dissatisfiedly, while its front hooves kept scratching in the dust on the ground.
"But there's something really wrong here. I always feel... uncomfortable."
Nan Erjiu traveled around the country and lived alone in the wilderness countless times. Sometimes while resting in the mountains and forests, he encountered tigers or extremely hungry wolves.
Logically speaking, he is not timid, especially after experiencing many demons and ghosts with Xia Zhichan, ordinary scenes cannot scare him.
But today is different.
This seemingly deserted temple always gave off a vague feeling of disgust that he could not express. The feeling was so subtle that he could not describe it in words.
"What, are you scared?"
Xia Zhichan took out a water bag from her sleeves and let the horse drink water after running all the way. Only then did the horse, which had been a little restless, calm down.
These two horses were not bought by them, but were given secretly by the postmaster Zhang Yue when they left Jiangcheng. They were military horses specially used for Jiangcheng post. They are all mixed-breed horses that have been carefully cultivated, and their endurance is much higher than that of ordinary horses.
"How could I be afraid..."
Although Nan Er said he was not afraid, he still subconsciously held the long knife at his waist and looked around with uneasiness.
"I'm just afraid there's a ghost here."
"Is there a ghost? Then tell me, if there is a ghost, am I afraid of him, or is he afraid of me?"
Xia Zhichan smiled, shook her head, and patted the horse's back. After his horse calmed down, he lowered his head and began to eat weeds on the ground.
What does he do? The five-color spirit officer is specialized in subduing demons. If there really are ghosts, do you think it’s the people who are afraid of them or the ghosts who are afraid of them?
"That's true, but we can't..."
Nan Er is not worried about monsters. Since he followed Xia Zhichan, he has never seen any monsters that Xia Zhichan can't deal with.
But in fact, he didn't understand enough. The old turtle on the river could kill Xia Zhichan. Later, the dragon corpse in the backyard of the deserted house killed the latter as easily as killing a chicken. Finally, there was the evil possessor in Jiangcheng. The ghost king who is a catfish spirit.
Of course, the appearance of the first two is more or less related to Yan Chixia, the ancestor of Lingguan, so they did not harm Xia Zhichan, but actually helped him. The old turtle allowed him to successfully touch the edge of the entrance. The dragon corpse gave him dragon blood and immortal sword energy, which gave him the ability to kill the catfish spirit later on.
But Nan Ertongtong didn't know about these things.
All the monsters he could see were dealt with by Xia Zhichan without exception.
"Okay, when did you become a coward?"
Xia Zhichan had already taken the lead and stepped forward, then pushed open the dilapidated temple door with just a slight push.
"I...but today is New Year's Eve. Are we going to celebrate the New Year in this ruined temple?"
Nan Er and Xia Zhichan left Jiangcheng and traveled for another month. It was already winter, but luckily it didn't snow much. Today was New Year's Eve, the last day of the year.
It's really hard to accept that these two travelers have to spend the New Year in an abandoned temple in a deserted mountain.
"Yeah, what happened on New Year's Eve?"
Xia Zhichan pushed the mountain door open and looked at Nan Er, who was still slowly reining in the horse with a reluctant expression. He pointed to the forest outside:
"Why don't you go hunt some pheasants and hares? The Chinese New Year won't be too shabby."
"good."
Nan Ershuan had a good horse, but unlike Xia Zhichan who was empty-handed, he took off the baggage from behind the saddle and threw it to Xia Zhichan.
He himself went back into the forest and hunted some game to satisfy his craving while it was still dark.
"Come back before dark, don't let the blind bear lick you..."
Xia Zhichan said jokingly.
"Get lost! If there really is a blind bear, I will treat you to steamed bear paws."
As the sound faded away, Nan Er's figure had disappeared into the dense forest.
With Nan Er's skills, it doesn't matter even if he encounters a bear, just don't encounter him...
Xia Zhichan stared at the gray forest.
There might be something more powerful than the blind bear in this forest. I hope Nan Er won't be unlucky to meet him, but to take a step back, even if he is unlucky to meet him, he can always outrun him if he can't beat him.
"Meow~"
The black cat got a furry head out of the sleeve robe on his left hand side, and then tried to crawl out, but Xia Zhichan held its head down.
"Even if you don't come out, I can feel it."
Xia Zhichan raised his head and looked at the dilapidated mountain gate. The scenery he saw in his eyes was different from that of Nan Er.
Above the ruined temple, a spiral of black air reaches straight into the sky, like a black Milky Way, flowing down from the clouds.
"It was so black that I could see it from ten miles away."
He just told a lie, that if they didn't stop now and continued on their way, they should be able to reach a small village in the middle of the night without having to stay in this ruined temple.
But he still stopped, without the black cat coming out to warn him. He could already feel the weirdness of this place just by relying on his soul perception ability at the entry level.
"Meow~"
The black cat was still struggling. She barked a few times and found that Xia Zhichan didn't intend to respond, so she got a little angry and stretched out her claws to scratch him.
Xia Zhichan had no choice but to take a biscuit and stuff it into the black cat's mouth. The previous ghost bone biscuits were all eaten by the black cat, and now he has collected them again.
The black cat was a little happier after taking the cookie. It ignored Xia Zhichan and got back into the sleeve robe, as if the purpose of her coming out was to beg for cookies.
The man walked in and stepped on the withered grass in the yard, making a crunching sound.
The courtyard is not small. Judging from the layout, it should be a main hall in the middle, with smaller side halls on both sides, then there should be another courtyard at the back, and an apse at the end.
This scale is not an ordinary temple, and I don’t know why it was built in this mountain forest, so that the incense was cut off and it became this dilapidated appearance.
Xia Zhichan first walked through the withered grass and came to the main hall.
When I opened the door, I saw a statue standing on a high platform. One foot seemed to be stepping on something, and the right hand was raised as if it was holding something. It looks very majestic, but it has faded away from its original appearance due to years of disrepair, leaving only a vague body, making it difficult to tell which deity it is.
Xia Zhichan looked at it and speculated that it should be a temple of the Heavenly King, because most of the Buddhas and Taoist ancestors worshiped by the Buddhist and Taoist families were sitting cross-legged, and rarely had such a powerful and domineering appearance.
This majestic image was first born out of the military generals and marshals who guarded the border and had great military achievements. Because the people were grateful for their achievements, temples were built to enshrine their statues.
"What a bother."
Xia Zhichan saluted the statue on the table, which had completely revealed its clay body. Then she walked forward and briefly cleaned the table where the statue was enshrined. She took out three pillars of fragrance from her sleeves and lit them, then inserted them respectfully. into the incense burner in front of him.
Then he exited the hall and closed the door.
It can be seen that although the place is a little more remote this time, the temple was still very popular. Even though it is now dilapidated, most things are still intact.
Xia Zhichan pushed open the side hall on the left and looked inside.
Compared with the main hall, the side hall is much more dilapidated. There should have been statues of gods enshrined inside, but now they have disappeared. Only half of the platform is left, and weeds have grown over it.
"Just here."
Xia Zhichan found a fairly flat place, put down the luggage Nan Er had entrusted to him, and cleared the weeds at his feet.
He found a few pieces of dead wood and weeds to build a fire, and surrounded it with a few stones and earth.
ha!
Point one hand forward like a sword.
The scene where a ball of fire was supposed to burst out did not appear at all. Xia Zhichan tried again, then smiled bitterly and had to give up.
Resigned to his fate, he took out the flint and fire sickle from Nan Er's luggage, and hit it hard several times. Finally, he used the sparks to ignite the withered grass, and then the flames started little by little.
The firelight made the entire side hall a lot brighter. At this time, the sun outside was already setting in the west and was about to hide in the embrace of the mountains.
Xia Zhichan broke off a few dead branches to keep the fire burning.
Then I heard a clicking sound.
It seemed like something crisp was coming from the collision of each other. It kept clicking. In the empty and quiet side hall, the sound was particularly obvious.
Ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta.
The dead branches burned in the fire, and occasionally they would burst with a pop, but compared with the sound, it seemed so slight that it was insignificant.
Xia Zhichan acted as if she didn't hear anything. She stirred the wood in the fire with half a dead branch. She couldn't let the flames get too bright, otherwise the sparks would probably ignite the dead grass in the corner of the side hall.
The clicking sound became more urgent and closer.
Ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta.
The voice had come to the fire, very close at hand.
Xia Zhichan rolled her eyes in annoyance and folded half of the dead branch in her hand hard, making a snapping sound.
"Are you annoyed? Get out of here!"
