Growing up, Qi Jingzhi followed his grandfather to attend many temple fairs at the Chenghuang Temple in the county. Naturally, every time he came, it was crowded and lively.
At this time, the City God's Temple was deserted after nightfall. The young man looked in through the crack in the door and felt that it was dark and miserable inside. It seemed that even the moonlight could not shine in.
He suppressed the doubts in his heart and reached out to knock on the door, but the temple door opened on its own first.
As soon as the temple door opened, bright light suddenly poured out from behind the door, filling Qi Jingzhi's eyes.
As far as he could see, the courtyard and the hall were all brightly lit, shining like daylight, which was completely different from the scene he had seen through the crack in the door before.
A tall, thin man in white clothes and a white hat with a pale complexion stood inside the door. He had a smile on his face, but his tone was quite affectionate: "Brother Qi, you're here late, please come in quickly!"
Qi Jingzhi's eyes were instantly attracted to the white high hat on the man's head, and he saw four big words clearly written on the hat: "You are here!"
After thinking for a while, he remembered a legendary ghost and god, and immediately clasped his fists and said with a smile, "I've seen the Seventh Master!"
The man in white hurriedly waved his hand: "Don't dare to call me nonsense. Mr. Xie Qi is the great master of the City God. Although we do the same job, our status is very different. Just call me Bai Dutou."
As he spoke, he led the way: "Actually, it's not just me. It doesn't matter which City God's Temple it is in Daqi. If you see Bai dressed like this, you can always call him that. There will be no mistake. Oh, Xie Qiye is naturally an exception."
Qi Jingzhi nodded and felt that in just one day, he had seen both Yin and Yang have their heads cut off one after another. This experience was also rare.
His mind was smart, and he immediately drew inferences from one example and asked with a smile: "Then if you meet someone wearing all black, you will call him a black head. The only exception is Fan Baye?"
Bai Dutou glanced at the young man with some surprise, and said with a bit of emotion in his tone: "That's right. Lao Hei just went out on an errand. I'm afraid I won't see you tonight. Hi, we are on this errand." , all because of this skin, your name is really of no use when you are alive."
Qi Jingzhi naturally followed the good example and asked as he walked: "Bai Dutou, my master Meng Fuzi said that someone is waiting to see me at the Chenghuang Temple. I wonder where he is?"
Bai Dutou looked up at the sky and said with a smile: "It's still early before the ceremony is held, and the City God is still taking a nap in the back hall."
Qi Jingzhi said in surprise: "It's the city god of this county who wants to see me?"
"That's not true. It's just that if you want to meet, you still have to wait for the City God to ascend to the throne. Today at noon, a broken dead soul came to Xiaosong Mountain. He was still conscious and insisted on seeing you again. Mr. Meng Then he said to him, "Brother, you are considered as a personal witness. If you come to the hall in the evening, that guy will feel more at ease."
After hearing what Bai Dutou said, Qi Jingzhi felt certain.
On the way out of the mountain, because he was curious about the spiritual whereabouts of the tiger spirits and ghosts after they were killed, he specifically asked Jiao Yulang, and briefly told the story of how humans turned into tigers and how the tigers shed their skin.
The knowledgeable little kid heard about the origin of the tiger spirit, and his face was very ugly for a while before he replied that the tiger spirit is a special ghost that is a combination of the undead and the tiger spirit, and is basically the tiger's. In part, after the ghost body is cut off, the spirit will return to the tiger's embrace and will never be freed.
As for the tiger spirit, according to Jiao Yulang's speculation, its spirituality is probably trapped in that weird tiger skin flower dress. Sooner or later, it will be eaten dry and wiped clean, and it will become a very special ghost. It was only because the tiger's skin was accidentally damaged and suppressed by the divine power in the palace that it took advantage of the opportunity of losing its skin to try to regain its spirituality by turning against the enemy. Unfortunately, bad luck failed and the success failed.
Later, when the man truly transformed into a tiger, his tiger skin patterned clothes completely lost their effectiveness. Instead, his spirit returned to freedom, and he was able to enter the underworld through the underworld after his death.
When talking about the tiger-skin flower clothes, the little kid even mentioned it specifically, saying that ghosts are a general term for a class of ghosts, and are not unique to tigers. In addition to minions, there are some strange beasts and strange objects in this world that can also create and manipulate minions. Each has its own special features, but they are just more rare.
Combining Bai Dutou's words just now, Qi Jingzhi knew that the broken dead spirit the other party spoke of must be the tiger spirit.
He was convinced, and he took the time to look at the City God's Temple in front of him, which was completely different from what he had remembered.
At this moment, compared to the past, when there were incense and tourists, there was no sound of noise or frolic in the temple, and the atmosphere was extremely solemn and solemn.
The main hall directly in front was far taller and grander than Qi Jingzhi remembered. The door of the hall was open, and the space inside was much wider and deeper.
Under the illumination of candlelight, all the statues of gods originally enshrined in the hall were gone, replaced by several tall desks, the layout of which was similar to that of the county government hall.
Seemingly sensing the young man's curiosity and doubts, Bai Dutou smiled and explained: "What I see in front of my eyes is the reflection of the underworld of the City God in the present world, somewhere between reality and reality."
Qi Jingzhi nodded and followed the other person's words with a compliment: "It's dignified and upright. It's really upright!"
"Haha, my little brother studied under Meng Si Gong, and he is indeed a good talker. People in this world mostly spread rumors about the scenes of the underworld, but they don't think about it. Our underworld is also a government, and the ghosts and gods were once living people. How could we treat this place It makes the wind miserable and ghostly?"
While they were talking, the two of them had already approached the palace door, and saw a couplet hanging on the pillar in front of the door, with the words faintly glowing with golden light.
"Come in and touch your heart, you might as well repent and do good."
Qi Jingzhi read out the first couplet, turned around and looked to his left, and saw the second couplet read: "Why light candles and burn incense when you go out to do good deeds?"
Standing in front of the palace gate, Bai Dutou stopped talking and laughing casually, and his voice was much lower. Su Rong introduced: "This is the handwriting of our City God. He did what he did before his death. Shi was the most selfless and selfless person. After his death, he became the city god of the county. He behaved as he did during his lifetime. He did not like to think of himself as a ghost or god, nor did he value the incense of his followers."
"Just by looking at this couplet, you can tell that the City God must have been a good official during his lifetime."
Qi Jingzhi once again paid a compliment without any effort, and then asked with some confusion: "I remember that the Zuo Deputy Censor seems to be a third-rank official, right? Why is he only the county god?"
Bai Dutou immediately shook his head: "That's not the case. Although there is only one county under the rule of the county town god, he has the title of Uncle Xianyou and is ranked as a superior. He can even more shade his descendants and create a divine shade gate. The non-human county magistrate can be compared..."
"You're showing off again!" An old voice suddenly came from the hall.
Immediately, an old man wearing crimson official robe slowly walked out of the palace door.
He has a serious expression, and the nasolabial folds on his face are deep and long, making him appear extremely majestic.
Bai Dutou quickly bowed and saluted: "Wan'an, sir!"
The old man stopped and reprimanded unceremoniously: "You have been this evil leader for many years, and you have even given up your name. You should have seen through the glitz of the world, but you are still so ungrateful! If you teach this little brother a bad lesson, Let’s see how Meng Xiucai treats you!”
He turned to look at Qi Jingzhi and said very seriously: "When Da Qi is anointed as a god, the county god will all grant the title of Uncle Xianyou. This is just an honorary title, and it is not the same as a human title... If you insist on comparing it, roughly On par with a fourth-rank official in the court. If I really call myself an earl, I’m afraid I’ll be laughed out of my head.”
As soon as the Old City God finished speaking, someone suddenly laughed loudly at the temple gate: "Haha, why should the Deputy Constitution be so serious? I don't know how many princes in the world would envy the longevity and blessings brought by the position of the City God. !”
Qi Jingzhi's heart moved. Master Meng had actually taught him that this so-called "Deputy Constitution" was the nickname of Zuo Fudu Censor.
He turned around and looked around, and sure enough he saw Master Meng striding in.
A faint smile appeared on the face of the old city god, and his tone became much gentler: "I kindly teach students for you, but you, a scholar, don't appreciate it."
Master Meng strode forward, bowed and saluted, and said with a smile: "Why do you get up so early tonight, sir?"
The old city god snorted and said slowly: "Isn't it because I heard that someone was complaining in private, saying that I don't know how to be considerate of my subordinates and don't even allow them to sleep! I have no choice but to rest less and go earlier. Get up and take care of business, so as not to get the reputation of being harsh!"
