Yue Guanchao and the others stood on the stairs and looked towards the ancient town in the mountains. The surrounding wild mountains were filled with smoke and hazy moisture, and the peaks further away had suitable shades and were endless, like a map of mountains and rivers spread out before their eyes.
Ren Peacock patted the railing and said with emotion: "Look at the nearby hills, these fortresses and platforms were used to resist bandits. Whenever bandits came, every household with men had to patrol the forts. Later, after the three counties formed an alliance, Tudong Town was able to live a peaceful life because it was located at the junction of the three counties."
"The past days were restless?" Song Siyuan asked. Ren Peacock curled his lips and retorted: "It's really not Ansheng. Since the land was changed to return to Liu, Xiangxi has been completely transformed by the officials. I heard that in the past, only the Gu people were allowed to live in earth buildings and stilts, and they were not allowed to build houses or halls." Yu, they know that the land tax cannot be collected in these poor mountains and rivers, so they will change it to a tea tax and a salt tax. As long as the people in the southwest drink tea and eat salt, it is equivalent to paying taxes to them. It is for this reason that the salt and tea tax is regarded locally. The charges are very heavy, making the price of salt tea prohibitively high."
"In recent years, the three provinces have known that there are bandits in the three border towns and counties. Government orders are not sent here easily. Even the security team and tax collectors rarely come here. Without these annoying flies, our life is getting better and better. Well, in peacetime, Xiangxi was exploited so miserably by the exiled officials. In the last years of the previous dynasty, chaos broke out, but the situation has become better. This shows how much these government officials have exploited us."
"Oh, forget it, forget it, let's not talk about this. We will go back for lunch later and take you to find the master in the afternoon." Several people looked at the general direction of Tudong Ancient Town, and followed the peacock down. After leaving the blue brick pagoda, Jin Qinghua had already packed up the house when she returned to the yard. There were many houses in the Ren family, and Peacock still lived in her original house. As for Yue Guanchao and the three of them, they no longer had to squeeze together and were scattered on different floors on the second floor. guest room.
It was already noon when they arrived here. After Jin Qinghua called them to go downstairs for dinner, they all went down the stairs to the main room. The round table was already filled with Xiangxi dishes, which were full of local characteristics.
"This is rice tofu, stir-fried iron-bone pork, stir-fried rice eel with bacon, beef soup pot, yellow native chicken, boiled turtle with wheat sauce, loach tofu, fried sour pork with red pepper, spicy and sour fish with corn, and stir-fried meat with mushrooms, all from Western Hunan I don’t know if you are used to eating local dishes, but you also want to try my handiwork.” As she spoke, Jin Qinghua had already divided the bowls and chopsticks, and several of them didn’t eat at all in the morning, just eating millet. Southwest The dishes mostly use spicy spicy food, which tastes fragrant, spicy and extremely refreshing. Before he knew it, Yue Guanchao had cooked three large bowls of rice.
"This child, I have never seen anyone eat so much food. If you don't have enough to eat, there is still more in the pot." Jin Qinghua's eyes were filled with shock when she saw Yue Guanchao replenishing rice three times. This kind of food intake is definitely considered a huge amount among southwestern people: "After all, northerners eat a lot. What you eat is enough for me and your uncle Ren to eat for several days." Song Siyuan heard this, looked at this vulgar man with playful eyes, put down the bowl and chopsticks and joked: " Yue Guanchao, did you hear that? You have eaten someone else’s rations for several days, and you still dare to eat it?"
"Hey, Yaomei'er, you can't talk nonsense. Being able to eat is a blessing. You guys have been traveling hard, so you should eat something delicious." As Jin Qinghua spoke, he added another basin of thin rice to them, and waited. After eating well, Peacock and the others took advantage of the warm spring sun to walk to Fengtou Mountain. A few people walked along the mountain road and plank road to the top of the mountain. They saw the corpse of the village and the mansion appearing in the dense bushes.
If you look closely, you will see that Yizhuang is just an ordinary courtyard with gray bricks and gray tiles. The courtyard is built into a stone wall. You can see that the top of the wall is covered with mottled weeds. There are four eaves protruding from the corners. On the lintel of the door, there is a black plaque with the word "Yizhuang" written on it.
Next to Yizhuang is the old Taoist priest's house. This house is much larger than Yizhuang. The front and rear courtyards form a square courtyard with white walls hanging outside.
There is a plaque on the "Phoenix Temple", and there are lanterns hanging on both sides of the lintel. The black-painted wooden door opens on one side, and the stone pavement has been swept away from dust. It is obvious that someone is still living here.
"Listen to my old man and my wife, this old corpse driver is a Maoshan Taoist priest named You Tianchen. He wandered here twenty years ago and was licked off half of his face by a wild mandrill in the mountains. Fortunately, he was rescued by a hunter who entered the mountain. In order to repay his kindness, all the people Because of this, a Phoenix Temple was built in Fengtou Mountain to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters for the nearby people. At the same time, the corpses were driven home, so that those who died unjustly outside could return to their roots." As Ren Peacock spoke, he walked into the yard and shouted inside: "Is the master here at the top of the house?" After a while, an old Taoist priest in a gray coat walked out of the main room. They looked at the old corpse driver carefully. He was not particularly tall, with white hair and a boyish face, and a strong and strong appearance. Temperament, with gray hair tied up in a bun and a flat hat.
They turned their attention to the face of the old Taoist priest. Only half of his slightly narrow and thin face was healthy. The other half seemed to have pimples and sores, with many proliferative scars. It looked shocking, even if the other half of the face was fine. Considered ugly.
"Peacock, why are you back at this time? Aren't you afraid that the cave god will arrest you?" You Tianchen has been in western Hunan for more than 20 years, and his local accent has long been lost in his words, but it is different from the locals. It sounds half-sounding. He is half-Han, and his accent is surprisingly easy to recognize.
"Oh, I'm not afraid, but my mother-in-law made local vegetarian chicken and asked you to taste it. If you say so, I will come down the mountain." Before Ren Peacock finished speaking, he shook the hand in his hand a few times. The old Taoist priest twitched his nose when he heard these words, and took the jar skillfully: "Infinite Heavenly Lord, put the things down first. These three bastards went to Xiu'an County next door to deliver the corpse. After passing Fengtou Mountain, they didn't even have a face. Don’t show it, I haven’t eaten anything good for several days.”
"Master, do you even know that they are coming back?" The old Taoist priest took the black jar and waved his hand: "You can't hide it from the old Taoist priest's eyes no matter what you do with your fingers." After saying that, he opened the jar. He took out a piece of vegetarian chicken as thick as his finger, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it slowly until his mouth was full of grease.
Maoshan Taoist priests can get married and eat meat. However, the old master was nearly killed by a mandrill and was rescued by the mountain people. In order to fulfill his wish, he rarely eats meat. His favorite food is vegetarian chicken made from tofu skin.
This kind of thing is a specialty of Sichuan. It is made of fresh bean skins, marinated with aged soy sauce and ground sesame oil, and then wrapped with pepper, pepper, sesame, MSG and other seasonings, rolled into long squares. If you want to be more like it, you will use old hen soup to collect the juice. It looks similar to brown spring rolls. When you take a bite, it has a rich numbing aroma and a variety of flavors. It is the best in vegetarian cuisine.
Back then, the old Taoist master redeemed himself for Ren Kongque. In order to express her gratitude to the old Taoist priest, Jin Qinghua never lost contact and would send some vegetarian food to express her gratitude all year round.
Seeing that the old Taoist priest was enjoying his meal, Ren Peacock asked: "Old Master, how did you redeem me back then so that I could escape from the hands of the cave god? If I can redeem my body, why don't others come to find me?" You." When the old Taoist priest heard that she was here to ask this question, his eyes evaded slightly: "Not everyone can be redeemed, the key factor lies in the Luohua Cave girl herself." These words aroused the curiosity of the three people, and let Peacock Striking while the iron was hot, he continued to ask: "Why is the seed on the Luohua Cave Girl? Aren't they deceived by the Cave God?" The old Taoist priest wiped his mouth: "Yao Mei, being chosen by the Cave God to become the Luohua Cave Girl is indeed a forced purchase. It is a forced sale, but there is still some pulling and pulling. For example, some people become Luohua Cave Girl after a few days, and some people are deceived for a longer time, and it takes two, three, or even half a year before they become crazy. Look at Luohua Cave Girl’s own aspirations.”
"In other words, the Luohua Cave Girl was not deceived by the Cave God overnight. As long as the Luohua Cave Girl has a firm mind, she will not be taken down by the Cave God so quickly. You have been deceived for half a year and have not fully become the Luohua Cave Girl. It is considered an extreme mental state. Be firm." The old Taoist priest paused and his eyes became mysterious: "I also took this opportunity to redeem your soul. As long as you are unstable, the old Taoist priest will definitely not be able to do anything." Ren Peacock recalled the past, she was indeed He is a cheerful and lively person. After being confused by the cave god, he gradually became depressed and became sentimental in the end. In the end, he could no longer distinguish between reality and dreams, and he just felt dizzy.
"But, since I have left, why can't the cave god let me go? I found the Hip Fox Mountain totem on his arm. Could it be that he still won't let me go after I left." After many years, Ren Although Peacock had given up hope of the resurrection, he still wanted to know why the Kua Hushan totem appeared.
When the old Taoist priest saw her mentioning this matter, his brows gradually became serious, and he sighed slightly and said: "Yao sister, the Dongshen is already angry because the engagement was annulled. Since your name was chosen by the Dongshen, it has been deposited with the Dongshen. Zhang, the old man just used the blood-sucking paper man to replace you, which means that he will wait for you to fall into the hole after a hundred years."
"There is still a marriage contract between the Cave God and you. Let alone you getting married, he can feel it even if you go far away. It is true that I asked you to leave, but I didn't say I asked you to get married. You are in the outside world in private. When you get married, the cave god will definitely punish that person, and the appearance of Kuahu Mountain is to remind you not to forget that you are from Kuaohu Mountain."
"Is it possible that I really caused Brother Zhi's trouble?" When Ren Peacock heard the old Taoist priest's words, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, but this emotion was quickly suppressed: "I don't believe it, there must be something wrong with this cave god, since If you have so many magical powers, you can just make the cave girl go crazy. Why do you have to wait a few more months? There must be something wrong here."
"Master, according to your opinion, there are many girls after me who have also taken this path?" Ren Peacock just figured it out now. The implication of the old Taoist priest's words was that he had redeemed the souls of many women. However, they were not so lucky and still became the Luohua Cave Girl. Her words caused the old Taoist priest to nod in acquiescence: "Yes, it is also an old Taoist priest. I am incompetent and cannot save more people."
