In Mianyuan County under the dark night, a team of night watchmen were patrolling.
The person leading the team was Monk Ma, who had just been promoted to Chief Flag Officer.
Hearing the sudden sound of the gong, Monk Ma stopped suddenly. He listened carefully and discerned the direction and distance of the gong. He frowned and said, "Why is there a gong sound in the middle of the night? Who is beating the gong?" ?”
A night watchman who was following him guessed: "Could it be the watchman?"
"The time is not right, and the sound is not right either." Monk Ma shook his head.
According to the rules, the clock watcher clocks every other hour.
Monk Ma and the others met the watchman not long ago. Calculating the time carefully, they found that at most a quarter of an hour had passed.
So it’s impossible to update again so soon.
Moreover, two people usually go together to watch, one plays the gong and the other plays the bang. Therefore, the sound produced by the gong should be "tuk-duk...bang-bang", but now there is only the "bang-bang" sound of the gong, and the "tuk-duk" sound of the drum is not heard.
After listening carefully to the sound of the gong, a patrol officer nodded in agreement: "Your Excellency is right. The sound of this gong is deep and deep. It is indeed not like the sound of a watchgong, but rather like the sound of a gong clearing the way..."
This speculation immediately aroused discussion among the night watchmen.
"Open the way? But it's midnight, the city gates are closed, it's impossible for outside officials to enter the city!"
"Could it be Anzhi County?"
"Impossible. Anzhi County has never liked to disturb the people. He doesn't even sound the gong to clear the way when traveling during the day, let alone at night? Besides, he is a people-friendly official, and it is not like us who specialize in dealing with evil spirits. How can he go out in the middle of the night?"
"Open the way?"
Monk Ma listened to the night watchman's discussion, and his heart suddenly moved.
He thought that in addition to officials, there was another kind of being who would also sound gongs when traveling, not only to remind pedestrians to give way, but also to deter monsters and ghosts so that they would not dare to cause trouble.
Could it be...
Monk Ma raised his hand, pointed in the direction of the gong sound, and asked, "If I remember correctly, is the City God's Temple in that direction?"
Although everyone didn't understand why he suddenly mentioned the City God's Temple, they nodded immediately and replied: "The sound of the gong came from the direction of the North City Gate, and the City God's Temple is indeed over there."
"Let's go over and have a look." Monk Ma no longer hesitated and immediately led the team in the direction where the gong sound came from.
At the same time, he also ordered his subordinates: "Prick up your ears and listen carefully, and count the total number of sounds of this gong."
After a while, the deep and heavy sound of the gong stopped.
Before Monk Ma could ask, the night watchmen following him all said, "Sir, there were seven rings."
Monk Ma nodded slightly. He was silently counting the number of gong sounds just now, and it was indeed seven.
"If it is really a gong that clears the way, seven times of the gong means that the county official is leaving... Is it really the city god of Mianyuan County? But didn't the scholar and the old Taoist say that the city god of Mianyuan County has long since fallen? Where did this city god come from now? Is he real? Or is he a fake demon? Does it have anything to do with the fact that my lord asked me to burn incense and light up this afternoon?"
Many questions emerged in Monk Ma's mind.
Only by meeting people who sound the gong can they get the answer.
Their team was very fast. Even though they were fully armed and wearing helmets, it didn't take much time to reach the northern area of the city.
In the distance, they saw two lanterns floating swaying out of a courtyard.
These two lanterns are really floating, and there is no one around them. From a distance, they look like a pair of huge eyeballs.
Behind the lantern floats a sedan that looks like a shrine.
The people carrying the sedan were not people, but weird little clay figures—the same little ghost statues in the City God's Temple.
Behind the shrine, there were several signs floating with the words "avoid", "quiet" and other words.
The patrol officer had a good eye and immediately reminded: "Sir, that sedan floated out from the City God's Temple."
The shackles officer held the knife in one hand and a special compass in the other, and began to detect the strange lanterns, sedan chairs, little ghost statues and life cards flying under the night streets.
"There is no movement in the compass, and no evil or ghost energy is detected on the lanterns, sedan chairs, imp statues, and fortune cards."
"Isn't it true that the City God is on a patrol?"
"But hasn't the City God of Mianyuan County fallen long ago?"
The yoke officer's words did not make everyone relax their vigilance. They were talking in low voices while unsheathing their swords and assuming a ready posture.
Some people even held the Cloud Piercer Arrow, always ready to warn others.
We are all old night watchmen, so we naturally understand that just because no evil or ghost energy has been detected, it does not mean that there are no problems with this weird traveling team. It is also possible that they are too strong or have some special magical power that interferes with the compass's detection.
"Sir, do you want to stop this team?" the patrol officer asked in a low voice.
"Stop it!"
Monk Ma ordered in a deep voice without any hesitation.
As a night watchman, if you see supernatural phenomena in the middle of the night, you must investigate.
What's more, this team with strange origins has not been reported to the Demon Suppression Department. If there is any problem, if it is not investigated, wouldn't it be harmful to the people in the city?
Regardless of whether this team is demons, ghosts, humans, or immortals, since they have arrived in Daxia and under the jurisdiction of the Demon Suppression Division, they must abide by the laws and act according to the rules.
Upon hearing Monk Ma's order, a dozen night watchmen immediately rushed forward and surrounded this strange team.
However, they were not in a hurry to take action because they were not yet sure of the other party's identity and purpose.
Monk Ma held a Zen staff in his hand and strode directly in front of the lantern and sedan chair.
This Zen stick is a weapon specially made for Monk Ma. One end of the Zen stick is heavy and can be used as a war hammer, while the other end is pointed and sharp and can be used as a sword and gun.
In addition, the iron ring on the Zen staff can emit Sanskrit incantations under the action of blood and energy, helping Monk Ma to perform magical powers as a warrior monk.
Monk Ma put the Zen staff on the ground. As the blood energy stirred, the iron ring on the Zen staff immediately emitted a burst of Sanskrit chanting. While blessing the surrounding night watchmen, it also blessed the lanterns, sedan chairs, little ghost statues, etc. , causing interference.
In the midst of chanting, Monk Ma shouted sternly: "Stop! This place is under the jurisdiction of the Demon Division of Mianyuan County. Who are you? Why are you traveling in the middle of the night? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do?"
The flying lanterns, sedan chairs and little ghost statues stopped as they were told.
Immediately afterwards, the sedan curtain slowly rolled up, and a familiar face appeared in front of Monk Ma and the night watchmen.
He was still the same as he was before his death, bowing his hands in front of everyone and saying with a smile: "Mr. Ma Qi, all colleagues, stay well. I went out late at night to keep an appointment with you."
Seeing this person, Monk Ma opened his mouth in shock.
The reactions of the night watchmen around him were similar to his.
A quarter of an hour later, the strange lantern and sedan swayed outside the gate of the Demon Suppression Department.
Along with him, there was Monk Ma and his group.
Although they knew the identity of the person inside the sedan, they did not relax their vigilance. They still surrounded him and escorted him back to the Demon Suppression Division.
Because they were not sure whether the person in the sedan was real or fake, or whether he was some heretic pretending to be a demon.
I'm not sure if this person is still the same young man he once was, or if he has changed.
So they chose to deal with it cautiously.
In the Yamen of the Demon Suppression Department, Qin Shaoyou has not rested yet.
He was practicing in the mission room, waiting for the guests to arrive.
Suddenly, he felt a throbbing in his heart.
Opening his eyes, he stood up and walked to the door of the mission room, where he saw Monk Ma and others, half escort, half escort, surrounding a sedan, entering the Yamen of the Demon Suppression Division.
"It's really here..."
Just as Qin Shaoyou was thinking about it, Zhu Xiucai and Cui Youwei, who were in charge of night duty, walked out of the duty room together.
They were all a little surprised when they saw this strange sedan.
Before the two of them could speak, Qin Shaoyou also walked out of the mission room and greeted them: "Let's go and meet our City God."
At the same time, the flying little ghost statue lowered the sedan chair.
The sedan curtain opened on its own.
A man floated out, bowed to Qin Shaoyou, and said with gratitude: "I have met you again, humble Cai Guizhong!"
