Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 785: Shattering a thousand dreams in one night ([-])

In the main hall of Guandi Temple, more than a dozen Bagua cult members who heard the gunfire were frightened and panicked. A group of key members, including Zhou Tianzhu, knelt in front of the Liu family and his son and begged.

"Master Holy Emperor! Please use your magic to repel the Beihai soldiers outside!"

"Master, sow the beans and you will become an army! Hurry up and spread the beans and you will become an army!"

"As long as I can escape today, I am willing to spend all my wealth to serve you!"

"Third brother, you have specially studied under a teacher, now it's up to you!"

With a solemn expression, Liu Chenglin took out a yellow cloth bag from his waist, untied the belt, reached out and grabbed a handful of soybeans mixed with hay.Then he quickly walked to the incense table, twirled the left hand holding the grass beans in circles on the curling cigarette for a few times, made a hand gesture with his right hand, and began to mutter something.

"Innocent's edict is played, driving the grass beans, transforming the magic soldiers, and setting up camp for me. Come quickly, don't stop for a long time, listen to my god's mantra, and perform your true actions. With a drop of divine water, the grass turns into beans. Hurry is like a law. !”

After he finished reciting the incantation, he raised his hand to grab the water offered during the apprenticeship from the incense table, drank it in one gulp, and then sprayed it out on the grass beans in his hand.

"Pfft~~!"

Everyone present was staring intently at Liu Chenglin's open left hand. Even Fu Bao, who was an inmate, stared at his eyes and held his breath, not even gasping for air.

This is a magic!Although I couldn’t understand much, it was a knife stabbing my butt – my eyes were opened!
At this moment, time seemed to have become extremely long. Everyone in the hall was concentrating and waiting for the miracle to appear.But after waiting for a while, the beans were still beans, the grass was still grass, and nothing happened.

Liu Chenglin panicked.You must know that whether he was practicing privately or demonstrating to his die-hard followers, as long as he sprayed out a mouthful of water, the strong wind would rise suddenly, the fog would appear, the grass beans would disappear, there would be crowds of people all around, and the sound of soldiers and armors clashing would continue.

To be honest, without this hand, the four of them, father and son, would not have been able to seduce so many people and make them so determined that they would be willing to use their family's money and food as offerings.

Then, Liu Chenglin made the seal with his right hand again and recited the incantation in his mouth. It seemed that he was going to do it again.

Liu Chengli, who was on the side, saw that his third brother was actually playing tricks, and he felt anxious and angry. He felt that a ghost-headed sword was hanging above his head and was about to be chopped off.Unexpectedly, he was so anxious that the words in his heart actually came out.

"You should change it for me! If you can't change it, we guys will really be doomed today!"

The term "throwing beans into soldiers" was first seen in the "New Commentary on the History of the Five Dynasties" compiled during the Northern Song Dynasty. It mentioned that during the Five Dynasties period, there was a man named Ma Yin under Liu Zhiyuan who was good at black magic and could turn grass into swords by throwing beans. Form a soldier.Guo Wei, who was still Li Cunxu's personal soldier at the time, suggested killing this man first, so that Taiyuan City would be easily accessible.

By the time "Tao Zang" was published in the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty, "throwing beans to form soldiers" had become the "orthodox magic of magic" of Taoism, and its real name was "Cao Bean Method".

However, it is different from the interpretation in mythical novels. This spell does not just find a few beans at random, but needs to be practiced on two specific days of the year, May 49th and July [-]th.Draw a formation on the ground, prepare a lot of sacrifices and medicines, and recite the incantation from seven o'clock in the evening to five o'clock the next morning, exactly a thousand times, for seven to seventy-nine days in a row, so that you can get the spell. Grass beans used.

In this process, the amount of soybeans and grass to be prepared is limited. It does not mean that you can store a house of soybeans and use them casually. You can only use one bucket or two liters of soybeans and one bunch of clean grass.To put it bluntly, it’s 15 pounds of soybeans and a handful of hay.

Although "Throwing beans and making soldiers" has been touted to be magical and invincible, but if this thing really works, can the Dao Lord and Emperor be captured by the Jin?Could Chongzhen be forced to hang himself in a crooked neck tree?Could the Liu family in Shan County be strangled to death by the Qing court?

There is an ancient saying that sums it up best: "All magical powers are just trivial skills."Spells, witchcraft and the like can also be used to trick people in private areas. But when the state machine takes action, let alone spreading beans, even if Sun Dasheng comes and throws feathers, there is no chance!

"Why isn't it working?! Third brother, please speak softly!" Liu Chengcheng was really anxious. He grabbed his brother's arm and burst into tears.

"Dad, brother, I tried my best." Liu Chenglin took a breath and leaned tiredly on the incense table. His face was pale, as if he was seriously ill.

The mantra has been recited three times, and the three cups of water used for the apprenticeship ceremony on the incense table have been sprayed out, but except for the left hand that is wet, there is not even a ghost of the "magic soldier".

Hearing what his most capable son said, Liu Tingxian's face became increasingly gloomy.

At this time, a believer suddenly became crazy. He stood up and waved his fist and shouted: "Don't be afraid! We can't recruit the magic soldiers, but we still have the Vajra to protect us! Thousands of hands can cover it. Ten thousand hands can block it. The green dragon and white tiger are here to protect us. Urgent. Hurry, kill, kill, the Five Saints are here!"

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, thinking that "throwing beans" would be useless. Can "Vajra Body Protection" work?I have long heard that the fire blunderbuss of the Beihai soldiers are more powerful than those of the imperial court. They are indestructible. No matter how thick the armor you wear or how thick the shield you lift, it will be useless. One shot will knock down the King of Hell.

At this moment, the ghostly howling sound sounded outside again, and it was very close.Not to mention Liu's father and son and other Bagua cult members, even Fu Bao was frightened and thought to himself, what kind of things are being used? It sounded so permeable at night!

The ghostly howling stopped after more than ten seconds, and then a deep male voice was heard saying: "Say, have you had enough trouble inside? The people outside have been tied up, now it's your turn! Please do your best. Get out of here, kneel down and hold your head!"

All the Bagua believers in the hall looked pale, but Liu Chenglin had the courage to say loudly: "Master, we are just villagers here worshiping Buddha and practicing boxing, and we have not committed any crime, why are we locked up for no reason? "

The male voice outside laughed and said loudly: "What a gratuitous one! What kind of Buddha are you worshiping? What kind of incense are you burning?! I think it's the old mother of no life, vacuum hometown! Stop talking nonsense, if you don't come out, you will face the inside Let’s shoot! Let’s see which one is better, your magical body protection or the gun!”

"Dad!" Hearing the shouting outside, the boss Liu Chengcheng couldn't bear it anymore. He collapsed on the ground, holding Liu Tingxian's legs and crying.

Can he not be afraid? 28 years ago, 15-year-old Liu Chengli witnessed dozens of members of the Liu family being arrested by officers and soldiers, and the Liu family, a wealthy family in Shanxian County that had been prominent for hundreds of years, was wiped out.

The eldest brother Liu Shengguo, who had held the position of leader for a long time, was killed and exiled. Thanks to Liu Tingxian's second brother who had never participated in the affairs of the Bagua Cult, Xiang Shang's head was saved and he was permanently punished. Exile with no return home.

Eight years ago, the incident involving the leader of the Zhen Gua, Duan Wenjing, occurred. Although the Qing government did not obtain Duan Wenjing, it found out that Liu Shengguo's son, Liu Erhong, was the "Zhongtian Cult Leader" at that time.As a result, Liu Erhong was beheaded on the spot after being captured, and the third, fourth, and fifth Hongs who had been assigned to armored slaves for more than ten years could not escape death. The inheritance of the Liu family's great house was completely ended.

Now it's their second wife's turn, but Liu Chengli hasn't lived enough yet, and he doesn't want to die.

The problem is that although Beihai Town is a sworn enemy of the Manchus, no one in the world would be able to spare what Liu and his son did!
"Ah~~~!"

Liu Tingxian, who had been silent all this time, sighed, knowing that his dream of being the leader was finally over.When a false god meets a true god, as the saying goes, the land lord will pick out his ears - Wei Ni!The only hope at the moment is that the second child, Liu Chengqi, who did not attend the opening ceremony, can escape.

Rewind the time to more than 20 minutes ago, when the signal flares of the Beihai Navy had not yet reached the sky, and the dogs in the backing village had not started barking.

Liu Chengqi, who was sleeping soundly in the hot quilt, suddenly opened his eyes as if he had been pricked by a needle, and sat up suddenly.Since he was a child in martial arts, he has a good understanding of Qi and has developed very keen senses.In the darkness, a white arm hugged him, and the woman in the same bed said vaguely: "What's wrong?"

Liu Chengqi was silent for a while, then reached out and touched the clothes and pants placed on the bed.The woman also woke up at this time and got up to light a fire.Under the light and shadow, you can see that the woman has slender shoulders and a slender waist, tall breasts, arms as white and delicate as suet jade, a good-looking face, and a charming look between her eyebrows. Although there are some fish scale lines at the corners of her eyes, you can't see them at all under the light. It's really true. The water looks like hibiscus.

"What's wrong with you? Are you going out in the middle of the night?"

"Don't ask questions that shouldn't be asked about a man's family! Go and bring me some clothes."

The woman stood up obediently, brought a cotton-padded jacket and handed it to Liu Chengqi.This year she has enjoyed a lot of good things, and has been wearing gold and silver, all thanks to the man in front of her.Although she knew that her husband's death must be related to Liu Chengqi, she was unable to resist.

It is said that among Liu Tingxian's three sons, the eldest Liu Chengcheng had a heavy shadow in his childhood. His long life as a slave to an armored man made him very cowardly.

The third child, Liu Chenglin, was only three years old when he was exiled. When he was ten years old, he had just begun to feel the suffering. The thousand taels of silver sent by the Hou family made him have enough food and clothing in an instant.Later, he systematically studied the theory of Bagua Cult from Xu Yunqing. He was obviously Liu Tingxian's successor, so he had an arrogant personality.

Finally, let’s talk about the second child Liu Chengqi. He is a short-built man with a sinister face and a cruel heart.He was unable to study since he was a child, so he learned martial arts from a boxer from the Zhen Gua Sect.During the long years of exile, if he had not relied on his skills to catch some prey for food, the Liu family and his son would have starved to death and froze to death.

After Liu Tingxian began to preach and accept disciples, Liu Chengqi rarely appeared in public because of his fierce appearance. He was mainly responsible for enforcing the religious rules in private, and occasionally taught fists and kicks to key believers.In the 20 years since his exile, he has taken at least seven or eight lives on his hands.

The woman kneeling on the kang had just tied Liu Chengqi's belt and buttoned his cotton coat when suddenly light came on outside, flickering, and the room was bright red even through the window paper, and then the dog in the yard started barking. .

"Oh my God! What's going on? I'm afraid." The woman screamed and threw herself into Liu Chengqi's arms.

"Go away!" Liu Chengqi pushed the woman away, opened the pillow, grabbed the sheathed dagger and put it in his arms. He turned around and took out a musket from the back of the wooden cabinet containing food, and took out a match rope and a matchstick from the box containing clothes. Gunpowder pot and cowhide bag for gun.

During the Battle of Shengjing, with the rapid defeat of the Qing army, many standard weapons were lost to the civilian population.Liu Chengqi bought this Zambarak musket from an Eight Banners soldier for 30 taels of silver and a bag of millet.

In the woman's horrified eyes, Liu Chengqi hurriedly filled the gunpowder pool, quickly filled the propellant and blunderbuss, tamped them down with a pipe, and finally lit the match and clamped it on the hammer.It seemed very simple, but it took him more than a month of practice to achieve such speed.

Before leaving the house, he suddenly stopped, turned back to the west room, took out a cowhide bag containing several pennies and scattered silver from a box, and then hurried out the door.

At this time, the entire Kaoshan Village had woken up from its deep sleep. People were shouting, dogs were barking, children were crying, and there was a lot of chaos everywhere.Liu Chengqi walked out of the yard with his gun and walked quickly towards the Guandi Temple in the west. Unexpectedly, he didn't go far when he saw a large light shining in the west, making the night sky look like day. He was stunned.

Amidst the noise and chaos, a faint buzzing sound came from Liu Chengqi's ears.Flies coming from the cold weather?
He looked around, then raised his head suddenly, and was surprised to find that in the air above his head, there was a black shadow with a faint red light, like an eight-clawed spider.If it hadn't been for the bright light from the Guandi Temple, half of the sky turned white, and Mahakala would have been hard to see clearly.

Liu Chengqi suddenly felt his hands and feet were cold, and he knew something was wrong.

He had heard from the Eight Banners soldiers selling guns that the Beihai soldiers would use an "eight-clawed monster" that could fly in the sky when fighting.No matter day or night, as long as it is illuminated by that thing, the cannon will explode in an instant, killing a large area.Therefore, when the Qing army was in the field, whenever they saw that thing in the sky, they would run away, only regretting that their parents had lost two feet.

Liu Chengqi, who came back to his senses, quickly dodged and pressed his back against the cold earth wall, and his brain began to spin rapidly.After only a moment, he gritted his teeth and made the decision not to go to Guandi Temple, but to go north out of the village and then west into the mountains!

"Dad, my son is so sorry! Big brother, third brother, it's not that I don't respect brotherhood, I have to live to continue the incense of the Liu family!"

Liu Chengqi knelt on the ground, holding a musket in one hand, and kowtowed repeatedly in the direction of Guandi Temple, saying goodbye to his father and brothers.He stood up and checked his position, and then he walked quickly along the shadow of the wall, bending his waist.During this period, two gunshots from the west frightened him out of his wits. He paused for a while before daring to continue sneaking.

They ran like this like a croaker for a while, watching the big tree at the intersection to the north of the village getting closer and closer.When he came to the outer wall of a house on the northernmost side of the village, there was no longer any obstruction in front of him.Except for the bare tree, it was an empty field.

Waves of cold wind swept by, making Liu Chengqi, who was sweating all over, feel dizzy.He calmed down, looked around, got his bearings, took a deep breath, and rushed out!

Unexpectedly, after running more than ten steps, someone suddenly shouted in the darkness ahead: "Who?!"

Liu Chengqi didn't dare to say anything. He turned around and ran away. He ignored the musket in his hand and threw it away.My feet stepped on the field ridges covered with residual snow, and my figure also rose and fell.All I could hear was a sharp whistle and shouting from behind: "Someone is running to the northwest! Stop him quickly!"

Immediately afterwards, several bright lights swayed in the darkness and soon focused on him.

He didn't know how long he had been running, but Liu Chengqi felt that the light and shadow around him was getting darker. Just as he was about to slow down and take a breath, he heard a dense rustling sound behind him, as if a group of rabbits were following him.He glanced back unconsciously, and his soul suddenly flew into the sky.

In the corner of his eye, a five-foot-tall black shadow was stalking behind him, getting closer and closer to him.

Liu Chengqi took a sharp breath and suddenly sped up his feet, trying to get rid of the opponent.Unexpectedly, he was fast, and the black shadow behind him was even faster.

Under the moonlight, I saw the black shadow suddenly jump up, leaping six or seven meters, rising and falling several times in a row, and was less than three feet away from Liu Chengqi's back.The black shadow saw the right moment, raised his arm and swung violently. His arm seemed to have grown longer in an instant, and slapped Liu Chengqi on the shoulder.

With a muffled "bang", Liu Chengqi suddenly felt as if his left shoulder had been struck by a steel whip. The force was so strong that it penetrated his skin and flesh, and the pain reached his bone marrow.He couldn't hold his breath any longer, he let out a scream, tilted his body and fell into the snow.

"You can run away! It seems that if I hadn't come today, I would have let you run away because of my unpreparedness."

"You, you are wrapping your arms and fists, hiss~~" Liu Chengqi's shoulder hurt terribly, and he knew that this time he encountered a real move.

"Okay, you can see this."

"We have never had any grievances with Shanxi old boxer Master Guo. Why are you so close to each other? That's all. I have a bag of money in my arms. Take it. How about letting me live?"

"Do you know what I do? I'm just here to arrest you." The black shadow calmly took out a small flashlight from his trouser pocket, turned it on and looked at himself. A fool could tell that he was wearing a Northern suit. Navy uniform.When Liu Chengqi saw him, his face was ashen.

The person who came was none other than Zhang Xiude.

(End of this chapter)