"Old Taoist Priest, do you think it was the Nuo God Cult that caused the resurrection of corpses?"
Bai Chongyang was not sure of what Yue Guanchao said: "The Nuo God Cult only used living corpses. How the living corpses were resurrected is still a mystery. Their activities have become more frequent in recent years, and they have begun to treat diseases and save people. They may have invited the Yin God. They also disrupted the ceremony. If you don’t believe it, just go and have a look when the Yin God is invited in a few days.”
"Those few days also happen to be the Spring Equinox Nuo Festival. There are many Nuo dance groups coming out. If you float along the river to the Jialing River, you can see many Nuo God Ships. By then, maybe you can still dance. You can see the enthusiasm of the people when you see them curing diseases and saving people or giving money to others."
Song Siyuan heard the hidden meaning of the old Taoist priest's words: "Old Taoist Master, since it is the Nuo God Cult that is causing trouble, you must also know that there is something fishy behind the Nuo God Cult, so you let the people of Jiangyouguan seal the city gate. Then, the oil lamps at night What role does it play?”
"These oil lamps are all made of clear oil soaked in medicine to cure diseases and save lives. They are to prevent the people from being poisoned. If you are right, the effect of these clear oils is minimal. Since those people can poison the people of Jiangyou Town, this shows that the Nuo God Cult has more power. A superb method of harming people.”
Yue Guanchao thought to himself that the old Taoist priest probably didn't know the news about Yinping Wuzhai, so he always thought it was the work of the Nuo God Cult. However, he recalled what You Tianchen, the old Taoist said, said that the strange behavior in Yinping was related to the title of Yinping Wuzhai. Combining the two together, one fact can basically be determined - Nuo Shen Cult is probably just a puppet church, and it is likely that the remnants of the Witch God Kingdom are manipulating them to do things.
Wanting to understand this, Song Siyuan and Yue Guanchao became more curious about the Nuo God Cult. She originally wanted to confess to the old Taoist priest, but it seemed that it was not the time yet. They did not know whether Bai Lao Taoist was an enemy or a friend, so they could only hide it for the time being. Looking at him.
"Don't you want to thoroughly investigate the truth?" m.
Yue Guanchao asked his most curious question. You Tianchen said that the Taoists in Heming Mountain have always been trying to save the souls of the dead in Yinping. It makes no sense that they are doing nothing now.
After hearing this, the old Taoist priest let out a long sigh: "Heming Mountain can indeed subjugate demons and slay ghosts. In the past, whether it was collecting the remains or performing rituals, it was all to save the dead so that their souls could rest in peace. However, people's fanaticism and madness It has nothing to do with us. At present, the world is in chaos and darkness, flesh and blood become ghosts, and all living beings often show ghost appearances. Even the political Yuan is helpless about this. As a Taoist, we can only advise people to do good deeds and accumulate virtue. The living corpse is obviously the work of the Nuo God Cult. , now that we know these are not ghosts and gods, what can we do? To reassure people’s hearts is all we can do!”
"However, the old Taoist can introduce you to a Taoist. There is a Taoist who has returned from the northwest and entered Shu from Yinping. He has been practicing here for more than a month. He has always been a chivalrous man and done justice to evil. You might as well discuss it with him. Maybe he can Can find a way to deal with living corpses."
"who?"
"I'll ask him to come over and talk about it, and you'll know as soon as you see it."
After saying that, the old Taoist priest gestured to the little Taoist boy, and as he took a breath, he saw two people approaching with rustling footsteps.
"There are no gods in the Qinling Mountains. There are immortal guests in the mountains. I wonder which kind guest wants to see me."
In the golden light of the day, the bamboo forest swayed, and everyone heard his voice before they saw him. The clear and open-minded voice was all too familiar.
The white-clothed Taoist met their eyes and his eyes lit up: "Brother Yue, we meet again."
"Brother Xu, see you soon!"
Yue Guanchao thought it would be some wandering Taoist, but he didn't expect it to be Xu Xiake. In addition to surprise, there was also a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"It turns out that we all know each other. In that case, you might as well reminisce about the past in the back hall. You will definitely gain something."
Several people walked into the back hall and came to the backyard. Song Siyuan had long wanted to see the situation of the Yinping Ancient Road. She just heard the old Taoist say that Xu Xiake entered Shu from Yinping, and asked: "Brother Xu, why are you so evil? You can't go to the northwest." You shouldn’t be so exposed.”
"It's a long story. After I went south along the Qinling Ancient Road, I walked from Longnan to the northwest..."
A few months ago, after Xu Xiake said goodbye to Yue Guanchao and his party, he originally wanted to go south to Sichuan. Later, he met a group of caravans at Hanzhongyi. They said that a scripture cave had been discovered near Dunhuang City, and foreigners went there to buy and sell scriptures. Make a lot of money in the international market.
Some cultural relic dealers sensed business opportunities and began to excavate Buddhist caves in Dunhuang. They also wanted to find some scriptures and sell them at a high price in the international market. These businessmen heard that they planned to go to Hexi in the future, and they might be able to find other scripture caves.
Xu Xiake listened and felt itchy in his heart. Anyway, he had not traveled to Hexi yet, so he decided to follow these merchants to the northwest. At the same time, he also wanted to see what the scriptures that had been passed down for thousands of years looked like, so Xu Xiake took After getting out of the silver yuan, we followed this group of businessmen and transferred to Longnan, entering the Hexi Corridor from Su Province.
Along the way, he followed the camel convoy to eat naan bread, eat cheese, walk through the Loess Plateau, and cross the desolate Gobi desert in the oasis valley. He encountered the long sandy weather, and both the people and the camels were blown away. When he crossed the Hexi Corridor Countless towns finally came to the oasis Dunhuang City.
After Xu Xiake arrived in Dunhuang, he was not familiar with the place, so he asked everyone about the Sutra Cave. He followed the local people's guidance to the Crescent Oasis in the southeast of Dunhuang City, and then found the Dunhuang Sutra Cave near the oasis.
Here, he met Wang Yuanlu, a Taoist priest from Taiqing Palace.
According to Taoist Wang, many foreigners have come to him to buy scriptures before. At first, he was unwilling to sell scriptures to foreigners, but when he saw that these foreigners all had government permission documents, as well as officers and soldiers, To protect him along the way, what could he, a little Taoist priest with no money and power, do? He could only sell things half-sold and half-gifted.
When Xu Xiake went there, the scriptures had been protected. He heard Taoist Wang say that when he first discovered the scriptures, he had already reported it to the local government. However, seven years later, no one paid any attention to him. So much so that he became disheartened.
When those foreigners publicized the situation of the Dunhuang scriptures all over the world, the former government realized that the scriptures were priceless treasures. However, they only sent people to give them a few hundred taels of repair money and did not do much to protect them. Instead, they were famous because of their great reputation. , inviting more foreigners to buy scriptures.
If you don't sell it, these foreigners will steal it with their strength. So far, part of the Dunhuang scriptures have been bought, part stolen, and another part was sent to the capital by the previous government in the name of protection. Their whereabouts are still there today. unknown.
It was also at this time that Xu Xiake realized that the theft of scriptures was so serious. In the next half month, he helped Taoist Wang sort out the Dunhuang scrolls and saw countless murals in the scripture cave. Although the old Taoist priest was thin, he faced the monks. But he was quite enthusiastic about the construction of the building.
Some people died, but not completely...
