It was already noon when a few people entered the inn. When dusk fell, they quietly walked out of the inn and walked along the Zhongjie Avenue, a few hundred meters away, to the Yin Temple.
The temples and thatched stone houses in the countryside are already considered temples. The Yin Temple in front of you is extremely majestic. The foundation is built on multiple levels at the foot of the mountain. The temple and temple are entrenched in the wild mountain, surrounded by red lacquer walls in the dense mountain forest. The courtyard is Bamboo and jade trees are widely planted outside the wall. When the breeze blows, the bamboo leaves sway, leaving mottled bamboo shadows on the courtyard wall!
Stepping up the stone steps and walking into the mountain gate, the courtyard is paved with cobblestones, surrounded by verandas and eaves. The tall Yin Temple appears on dozens of steps. On both sides of the steps are two statues of suppressed beasts that are taller than humans. The beasts have a stone mouth. The niche, filled with incense and smoke, floats around the Yin Temple, and with the setting sun shining on the tiled roof, it has an indescribable divinity.
Temples like this built at the foot of the mountain will deliberately build steep steps to show how tall the temple is.
In this way, when people look at the temple from the bottom up, they can realize their own insignificance and helplessness. The process of climbing up the stairs is also the process of getting closer to God. They step on the stairs and walk through the verandah to the front of the temple.
This temple is in the southern style, with gray tiles, red columns, and pepper-yellow painted walls. The eaves are raised like a crescent moon. The owl-beaked beasts on both sides are painted with gold paint. The seven-bay main hall is full of open tiles and decorated with flower and bird reliefs. The windows, coffins, and pillars are mostly painted in red, and there are bells under the temple that sway with the breeze.
Walking into the hall, there is a person-high altar located in the main hall, just like the steps for the emperor to go to court, with stairs in front and on both sides.
In the golden throne tent above, sits a kind-faced, honest and solemn female deity.
This statue of the god wears an emerald green long-sleeved dress with crimson cloud shoulders. There is a shawl like clouds in the arms. The wide sleeves droop directly to the feet when sitting upright. It can be seen that the purple Qi covering the waist and the red silk hanging on both sides of the knees are , wearing cloud-head embroidered shoes, holding a wat board in his hand, extremely solemn.
Looking at the top of the statue, this female goddess has her hair in a high bun, an imperial crown on her head, seven-color beads falling to the tip of her nose, thin willow-leaf eyebrows, a broad and blessed face, wide earlobes, and a jeweled necklace around her neck, which makes her look graceful. Luxurious and obviously divine, just like the queen mother and empress of a wealthy emperor's family!
They all thought that the Yin God refers to the Fengdu Emperor, the Five Palaces of Yama and other ghosts and gods, but unexpectedly it was a kind-hearted female god, and they immediately became curious.
"Yin Shen, what kind of god is he? I haven't heard of it."
Yue Erpao looked at the statue, scratching his head in confusion.
Several people thought there was no one in the temple, so they heard a voice behind them and looked back. It was a Taoist priest in a gray robe and a hat. When he saw them coming, he said in a gentle tone: "Shan Ke, the Yin God is Queen Houtu!"
"Empress Houtu, isn't Houtu Huangdi the god in charge of fertility and land?"
Song Siyuan knows a little bit about Empress Dowager!
"Zuo Zhuan·Xi Gong's Fifteenth Year" records that the emperor returned to the throne and took the throne.
Once the ancients involved in sacrifices and high sacrifices to heaven and earth, they would inevitably deal with the "Emperor, Heaven and Queen Earth".
But, what kind of god is Huang Tianhou Tu?
Folks say that the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother are children of the same family. In fact, the Queen Mother is just a deity in folklore. If we look for it in Taoism, we can only find similar images but no exact gods. If we temporarily classify the Queen Mother as the Queen Mother of the West, Taoism The Queen Mother of China and the West is the head of the fairies in heaven and earth, and her consort is not the Jade Emperor but the Prince of the East, who is often called the Donghua Emperor among the people.
If the Eight Classics are taken seriously, the Jade Emperor is only a Taoist folk belief. No matter how the people perform sacrifices, at least when it comes to worshiping heaven and earth at the government level, Emperor Tian must be God Haotian, and Houtu refers to Queen Houtu.
This god has a great background.
It is rumored that this god came from a matrilineal society, which was transitioning from a matrilineal society to a patrilineal society. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, he was honored as the God of Heaven and the Mother of the Earth together with Haotian. After the development of Taoism, Hou Tu was named one of the six emperors, and the Jade Emperor managed the Heavenly Palace. , she manages the back soil and is the god who dominates the earth. She is also in charge of yin and yang, fertility, harvest, and the beauty of all things. In the end, she has become the incarnation of the land, the mother earth that carries and nurtures all living things on the ground.
"It's true, but before Taoism absorbed the myth of Empress Houtu, Houtu had already been recorded in the Songs of Chu. She was the Lord of Youdu and the real master of the underworld!"
When the Taoist priest said this, everyone understood that since the dirt was infesting the corpse in the land, the god to be worshiped must be Houtu Empress.
"That's it. No wonder it's her. Young master, are you a Taoist priest from Heming Mountain?"
Song Siyuan heard Boss Qiu mention that the ancient town held a gathering of the Yin Temple every year, and it was presided over by a Taoist from Heming Mountain. This little Taoist seemed to be stationed in the temple.
"Yes, Heming Mountain will send little Taoist priests to stay at the temple every month. When they find pedestrians lingering in the back mountain, they will directly persuade them to return to avoid trouble on the ancient road."
"Then, little Taoist priest, are there really any living dead here?"
The little Taoist priest didn't say he didn't know what he said: "You can tell at a glance whether it's true or false. Just wait until a few of them climb the tower at night. People can't persuade others to come back, but they can come back once they're persuaded."
By saying this, he clearly regarded them as those foreign devils who came to explore!
Yue Guanchao and the others didn't mind either. They followed the Taoist priest around the verandah and continued up the stairs to the temple building behind the temple. They were surrounded by temple rest halls. After passing another level of verandah, they came to the high tower in the last courtyard of the temple!
This tall tower occupies one courtyard and is neatly arranged in four directions. It has steps carved with gray and white railings. Under the steps, there is a forest of countless steles on which the names of the people who erected the monuments and Taoist scriptures are written. Including the base of the tower, it is about 40 meters high.
The body of the tower is as wide as a corn cob, with a rounded top and a wide bottom. The body is covered with pepper-yellow walls, and the octagonal eaves are covered with green tiles. The body of the tower is divided into six different floors, with round arches and red painted railings visible on each floor. On the top of the tower, you can see the multi-layered golden roof standing like bamboo shoots on the pointed gray roof, painted with gold paint and pearls. There are also six copper ropes binding the golden roof and fastening it to the green tile eaves.
"This pagoda is also called the Houtu Pagoda. It was donated by the squire after the temple was established. All donors will erect a monument here. It can be regarded as being protected by the Houtu Empress all the year round."
When the little Taoist priest spoke, the sky had completely darkened, and the golden dome gathered the last beam of golden light and sank into the dark night.
Several people took flashlights and were led up to the tower by the Taoist priest. They could stay on each floor of the tower, but there was nothing inside except talismans and sacred paintings. They simply climbed directly to the sixth floor and stood completely on the top of the tower. After they exited the tower, they walked around to the city gate to observe carefully.
In the pitch-black night ahead, dots of will-o'-the-wisps lingered in the mountains, and some black figures could be seen walking among the mountains amid the boundless green fire.
Some people died, but not completely...
