At this time, Zhao Huai was following the myna all the way, holding the skull in its beak to guide the direction, as if it were a compass.
Now he finally understood why the myna took so long to come back.
First of all, Jinzhou is a big city. It takes time to travel. Throwing out the time to get out of the city, plus the rugged mountain roads, it is really far away. Fortunately, Zhao Huai can fly with a sword, which saves a lot of time.
But this is the geographical location of Jinzhou. It is backed by the sea and has a large river running through it. After leaving the city, there are countless mountains nearby.
Zhao Huai walked all the way out of the outer city of Jinzhou and arrived in the mountains and forests near the outside of the city. He was backed by an endless sea of trees and mountains. Once he entered the sea of trees, he could no longer fly.
In front of him, there was only a winding mountain road that extended deep into the jungle with no end in sight.
Today, Zhao Huai is wearing a dark robe and a bamboo hat. There is a myna standing on his shoulders. He takes a step and his body appears on the branch.
Step on it lightly, and it will appear on another tree like an afterimage.
He was walking so fast, and a temple soon appeared in front of him.
Zhao Huai was in the air and couldn't help but murmured: "There is actually a temple here?"
After landing slowly, he climbed up the stone stairs step by step. He soon came to an open temple with rubble and red walls. The words "Mingyin Temple" were written on the plaque.
Looking to the other side, I found that there was another road up the mountain, with pilgrims coming in and out in twos and threes.
At the entrance of the temple, there are two young monks holding brooms and sweeping the fallen leaves at the entrance.
Zhao Huai looked puzzled, glanced at Bage next to him, and asked: "This is the path you led, you can't go wrong, right?"
Bago tilted his head and glanced at him, but said nothing, but continued to fly into the temple with the bone in his mouth.
Zhao Huai followed him and entered the temple. He walked so fast that the young novices sweeping the floor ignored him.
There is a large courtyard after entering the door. In front of it is the incense hall. The bronze statue of Buddha is in the innermost part, which can be seen at a glance.
Zhao Huai stopped a young monk who was passing by and asked, "Master, excuse me, do you know if there are any evil practices in the temple recently?"
The place he wants to find now is the location of the lantern girl. Maybe the monk here will know something.
The young monk made ten with his hands and said seriously: "Evil sect? Donor, are you mistaken? Our place is a pure place of Buddhism. How can there be evil sects?"
"If you really want to talk about evil sects, there is indeed one near the temple. For details, you'd better ask the abbot. He knows more than us."
After the monk finished explaining, he left.
Zhao Huai nodded and continued to follow Ba Ge.
After arriving at Xiangtang, Myna did not stop, but continued to fly towards the back mountain of the temple.
"So it's not in the temple."
Zhao Huai suddenly realized, and was about to follow and call the bird back.
I saw a familiar woman in a green skirt and an old man in a cassock with a white beard walking out of the side door side by side.
"Miss Lu?"
Zhao Huai couldn't help but said in surprise.
Isn't the woman in front of me Lu Wanqiu, an inner disciple of Wangxian Sect?
Those long legs are still so white, long and straight.
At this time, Lu Wanqiu was talking seriously to the old man in cassock.
Suddenly, she was keenly aware that someone was staring at her.
As soon as his eyes moved, he happened to bump into Zhao Huai.
Seeing Zhao Huai, Lu Wanqiu smiled politely and said:
"It turns out to be Mr. Zhao. I haven't seen him for a long time since I said goodbye to the fox demon."
"Miss Lu, this young master is also here to deal with evil spirits?" The old man in cassock raised his white eyebrows and asked with a smile.
"The abbot misunderstood. It was Mr. Zhao who saved my life last time, and I was able to turn the corner. We are just friends, not fellow disciples."
Zhao Huai faced the two of them with a normal expression and said with a slight smile: "I just came to the temple to offer incense. I didn't expect to see the girl again."
"It's quite a coincidence." Lu Wanqiu responded with a smile.
"Shopkeeper Zhao, this is Abbot Mingguang of Mingyin Temple." Lu Wanqiu introduced at the side.
Zhao Huai and Abbot Mingguang nodded to each other.
"I heard the abbot just mentioned the word evil?"
Zhao Huai did not forget the conversation between the two of them just now, so he asked calmly.
If a sect disciple takes action, there must be traces of demons.
When mentioning evil spirits, Lu Wanqiu's expression became a little more serious and she nodded lightly:
"Yes, recently, a very powerful evil spirit appeared near the spiritual mine excavated by Wangxian Sect. It is said that it can kill people in dreams. It often never wakes up after falling asleep. Many workers were brutally murdered."
After hearing these words, Zhao Huai suddenly thought that the big man who bought the coffin not long ago was a worker in Ling Mine?
He said that whenever someone goes home at night and passes by a hillside, someone will die suddenly the next day.
So this is what the lantern girl did!
Thinking about it this way, Zhao Huai seemed to know where the skull came from.
Could it be that this skull was dug out of the spiritual mine?
They had always been in a peaceful state, but it was because of the spiritual mine that the grave was dug, so the skull was taken back by the myna?
"Amitabha."
Abbot Mingguang said the Buddha's name and said with regret: "In the final analysis, that evil spirit is also a pitiful person."
"But all monsters are extremely cruel, how can they be pitiful?"
Zhao Huai said very curiously.
He saw that this abbot was not an ordinary person, and he must know some of the inside story of this lantern girl.
Abbot Mingguang said slowly: "This evil spirit has been circulating for a long time. It has been passed down orally as a story. Now it is rarely known. I also heard the story when I was a child and learned about it from the abbot in the temple."
"Hundreds of years ago, there were no temples here, and the city of Jinzhou was not called Jinzhou. At that time, under the rule of Dayan, this evil spirit was originally a lady of a family in the state. Because he went out secretly, he met a A downtrodden scholar.
The two soon fell in love, but the woman's father did not agree with the marriage. A fierce quarrel broke out between the woman and her father, but to no avail, so the woman took her dowry and ran away with the scholar.
The two found a mountain and lived in seclusion. They lived very happily and agreed to stay together forever.
But as time went by, the scholar became free and planned to take the imperial examination. The woman also supported him and spent money to support him in studying. A few years later, the scholar set off on a long journey to take the imperial examination in the capital. The woman spent all her money to pay for the scholar's travel expenses. , and went out to see each other off.
However, things didn't go well.
After the scholar left, there was no news at all, not even a letter. When the results were released, the woman did not expect any good news about the scholar.
So late one night, she went out with a lantern and came out of the mountains to look for her husband.
But she couldn't find her, and she died in the mountains. This longing eventually turned into obsession, and she turned into evil spirits.
After hearing this, Zhao Huai fell into deep thought.
The story was not new, on the contrary, it was very bad and vulgar. He had heard many such ancient stories.
Is this an evil spirit from hundreds of years ago?
That really caught a big fish, no wonder the strength is not weak.
However, in Zhao Huai's view, this story is still suspicious.
He could understand that the lantern girl was looking for a husband.
But why does it turn into evil spirits?
Searching is a good thought, and good thoughts will not turn into evil spirits.
But the scary look of the lantern girl doesn't look like an ordinary evil spirit, which shows that there must be some resentment that makes her so powerful that she turns into a nightmare.
At this time, Zhao Huai habitually tossed the copper coins to see the result.
It came out after a thousand calls.
The hexagram in front of me finally changed.
[Hexagram 1: Thoughts should be straightened tonight. The cold rain and fragrant souls hang on the graves, dispelling resentments. Your instructions are "blessing". 】
...
ps: There is one more update, posted during the day.
