While talking to Lao Cao, I walked closer.
He also lifted his legs out of the coffin and stood in front of me.
Heizi also waggled his tail and came closer, circling around Lao Cao, sniffing him with his nose, looking very happy.
"Xiaozizi, are you here too? Then Brother Li Miao must have come in too. I'm really sorry for dragging you all into my business."
I looked at him and said seriously.
"Old Cao, you are sorry for hiding this from us. As I said before, the friendship between us and the karma and responsibility are entangled, how can we separate it. It is a matter of life and death, of course we have to go through it together! You You have to tell me the truth as soon as possible, so that we can face the dangerous situation together."
Lao Cao nodded and sighed lightly.
"Okay, since Xiao Wu you insist on doing this, it would be hypocritical for me to shirk it anymore. You and Heizi come into my [corpse shelter] first, it will be safer. I will tell you the origin of everything in detail from beginning to end. Tell it again."
So, I followed Lao Cao and climbed into this familiar huanghuali gloomy wooden coffin. Heizi also jumped in quickly.
Two people and one dog were squeezed into a new coffin that was not too big.
I was a little worried that the story was complicated and would take too long, so I frowned slightly.
"Old Cao, that Longhu Mountain disciple Zhang Hui is trapped on the village altar..."
Lao Cao waved his hand.
"Don't worry, even if Xiao Wu and you don't come, that little friend Zhang and I plan to die together at twelve o'clock tonight - for [Coffin God Village], it will be twelve o'clock noon tomorrow. Before that, as long as we If you don't take the initiative to attack or escape from the village, there will be no danger for the time being, because except for a few patrollers, the rest of the villagers are sleeping in the house. There is enough time for me to tell you the origin of everything. "
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good...but now that I'm here, I will never let you, Lao Cao, really sacrifice your life to die with this weird village! There must be other ways. I haven't had time to tell you yet. Compared with last year, , I have become a lot stronger again.”
Lao Cao didn't refute me, he just whispered.
"Anyway, Xiao Wu, please listen to me first before making any judgment."
So, he told me the origin and truth about this strange village.
The origin of all this story can be traced back to the ancestors of the Cao family in eastern Sichuan more than 800 years ago...
Eight hundred years ago, it was the Qiandao period of the Southern Song Dynasty.
At that time, the area that China had ruled since ancient times fell into great division and turmoil. The only remaining part of the Han Dynasty was the small imperial court of the Southern Song Dynasty, located in a corner of the southeast.
In the rest of the homeland of China, the Jin, Xixia, Mongolia, Xiliao, Dali, Gaochang Uighurs, and Tubo tribes appeared... In short, it was a mess, a real chaotic war.
In such an era, the people are in dire straits, and all kinds of demons, ghosts, and evil spirits are running rampant and harming people everywhere!
The fortunes of the imperial court were declining, and even if the righteous monks tried their best, it would be difficult to maintain the stability of the world.
Under such circumstances, various conflicts broke out within the major sects of Taoism.
The "Three Fu Lu Mountains" at that time were the three most powerful sects of the orthodox Taoist Fu Lu sect, namely Zhengyi Longhu Mountain, Shangqing Maoshan, and Lingbao Pavilion Zaoshan.
For some reason, after the mysterious death of the headmaster in Ge Zao Mountain, a huge sect civil strife broke out!
All the disciples, from top to bottom, were divided into several factions, fighting with each other. Just like the chaotic situation in the world at that time...
During this civil strife within the sect, there was a Taoist surnamed Cao - the youngest among the elders in Gezao Mountain at that time. He was once considered the most talented disciple in Ge Zao Mountain, and the fastest to become an "elder".
There are even rumors within the sect that he is the first choice for the next head coach.
Taoist surnamed Cao deeply hates this kind of internecine fighting within the sect! Therefore, when the sect's civil war broke out, neither party joined. Instead, they chose to leave Gezao Mountain, remain anonymous, and ignore worldly affairs.
He has complicated feelings about his identity as a former disciple of Ge Zaoshan, both loving and hating him. So he stopped mentioning it to others and claimed that he was a man from the mountains and a loose cultivator among the people...
Later in life, Taoist surnamed Cao also met some informal cultivators who were engaged in the folk shady business. I feel that although they are not as strong as the famous and upright people, many of them also have justice in their hearts, and a few of them become friends.
From these informal folk cultivator friends, Taoist surnamed Cao learned many miscellaneous skills in folk trades. Among them, the ones that interested him the most were the "Coffin Bearer" and the "Paper Maker".
Even in the years that followed, Taoist surnamed Cao did not continue to practice his own orthodox Taoism in Gezao Mountain, but began to study coffin bearers and paper makers...
The coffin bearer's coffin-carrying skills were quite good. After he learned the skill, he continued to study normally.
As for the paper maker's method of making paper figures, Taoist surnamed Cao felt that it seemed to have some similarities with the Taoist talisman spell.
After in-depth research, he found that it was very likely that this folk "paper-tying technique" was originally the result of the integration of some traditions left by lay disciples of different sects in the Fulu lineage, or even formal disciples!
After all, no matter how hard the Buddhist and Taoist sects prohibit the spread of Taoism and magic, some of it will still slowly flow out over thousands of years, forming new branches and dharma lines among the people...
So Taoist surnamed Cao became interested!
He combined the talismans of Ge Zaoshan, the paper makers' skills, and the skills of some folk craftsmen who made paper money to create a new folk miscellaneous sect - Yin Zhi Master.
And this Taoist surnamed Cao is the founder of [Yin Paper Master].
Many years later, he passed through a small village and met several evil cultivators who slaughtered the people and wanted to use the flesh and blood of living people to practice evil. Almost everyone in the village has been killed, except for two children...
Taoist surnamed Cao became furious and killed all the evil cultivators.
In the ruins, he helplessly looked at the two crying orphan children, and he could only adopt them. He is both an adopted son and an apprentice.
Taoist surnamed Cao named his first disciple Cao Sen and his second disciple Cao Lin. While raising them up, he also passed on his "Coffin Carrying Technique" and "Yin Paper Technique" to them.
The two adopted sons and apprentices were also very good at it. They learned the coffin-carrying technique and the yin-paper technique very well. When they grew up, the two brothers became well-known "experts".
However, Taoist surnamed Cao has always been hesitant. Should he also teach his disciples the magic of the Lingbao Sect, the orthodox Taoist sect that originated from Gezao Mountain?
After he left Gezao Mountain, although he kept his name anonymously and no longer paid attention to many things in the world of supernatural cultivation, he would always hear some news - Gezao Mountain had been severely damaged after the civil strife in the sect, and had fallen from the "Three Mountains of Fu Lu" to the third rate. It’s a sect.
I own Ge Zaoshan's magic. If I don't teach it to Cao Sen and Cao Lin, it may be lost.
Therefore, after hesitating for a long time, Taoist Cao decided to pass it on to his second disciple Cao Lin, who had a calmer and gentler personality. The eldest apprentice Cao Sen's character is a bit extreme and impatient, and he is not as popular with him as the second apprentice...
What's more, Taoist Cao feels that he has integrated many important magical powers from Ge Zao Mountain into his own [Yin Paper Technique], especially the "divine paper technique" in [Yin Paper Technique], which is the essence. !
Cao Sen also learned them all. The "original" Ge Zaoshan Taoist technique was learned later than his junior brother, so it didn't matter.
Over the years, although Taoist Cao didn't like his eldest disciple too much, he was basically on a par with his second disciple, Cao Lin.
But he never imagined that his only "little bias" would cause a huge disaster!
