chewing dragon

Chapter 40 County Town God

From childhood to adulthood, Qi Jingzhi followed his grandfather to many temple fairs back to the Town God's Temple in the county. Naturally, every time he came, there were huge crowds of people and it was very lively.

At this time, after nightfall, the Town God's Temple was very deserted, the young man looked in through the crack of the door, he felt that the inside was dark, miserable and unreal, as if even the moonlight couldn't shine in.

He endured his doubts before reaching out to knock on the door, but the temple door opened by itself first.

As soon as the temple door opened, bright light suddenly poured out from behind the door, filling Qi Jingzhi's eyes.

As far as he could see, the courtyard and the hall were all brightly lit, shining like daytime, which was completely different from the scene he saw through the crack of the door before.

A tall, thin man in a white coat and white hat with a pale face stood inside the door, with a smile on his face, but his tone was affectionate: "Brother Qi came quickly, please come in quickly!"

Qi Jingzhi's gaze was instantly attracted by the tall white hat on the man's head, and he saw four large characters clearly written on the hat: "You are here!"

After thinking for a while, he remembered a legendary ghost and god, and immediately cupped his fists and said with a smile: "I've seen Qi Ye!"

The man in white hurriedly waved his hands: "Don't dare to call me indiscriminately, Mr. Xie Qiye is the great god under the seat of the City God. Although we do similar jobs, our status and status are worlds apart. Just call me Baidutou."

He said while leading the way: "Actually, it's not just me. It doesn't matter which city god's temple it is in the Great Qi Kingdom. If you see Bai dressed up like this, you can call him that. There will be no mistakes. Oh, Xie Qiye is naturally an exception."

Qi Jingzhi nodded, feeling that in just one day, he had seen both Yin and Yang one after another, this experience is also rare.

With a quick mind, he immediately drew inferences from one instance and asked with a smile: "Then if you meet someone who is dressed in black, we will call him Heidoutou, with the exception of Mr. Fan Baye?"

Bai Dutou glanced at the young man in surprise, and said with a bit of emotion in his tone: "That's right, Old Hei happened to be out on business, so I'm afraid I won't be able to see you tonight. Hey, we're on this business." , all relying on this skin to bluff people, the first and last names in life are really useless."

Qi Jingzhi naturally followed the good advice, and asked as he walked: "Bai Dutou, my master Meng said that someone is waiting to see me at the Town God's Temple, where is he?"

Bai Du raised his head to look at the sky, and said with a smile: "It's still too early to be promoted to the hall, and Master Chenghuang is still taking a nap in the back hall."

Qi Jingzhi was surprised and said, "It's the city god of this county who wants to see me?"

"That's not true, it's just that if you want to meet, you still have to wait for the Lord Chenghuang to ascend to the hall. Today at noon, a dilapidated dead spirit came to Xiaosongshan. Then he said to it, brother, you are considered a personal certificate, and you will come to the church at night, so that guy will be more peaceful."

Hearing Bai Dutou's words, Qi Jingzhi felt a sense of confidence.

On the way out of the mountain, he asked Jiao Yulang specifically because he was curious about the spirituality of the tiger spirits and ghosts after they were beheaded, and briefly told the story of how the human turned into a tiger and the tiger's skin faded.

The well-informed little boy heard about the origin of the tiger spirit, his face was very ugly for a while, and then he replied that the tiger minion is a special ghost formed by the combination of the dead spirit and the tiger spirit. Partly, after the ghost body is cut off, the spirit will return to the tiger's embrace, and it will never be free.

As for the tiger spirit, according to Jiao Yulang's speculation, its spirituality is mostly trapped in the strange tiger skin flower dress, and sooner or later it will be eaten up and wiped clean, turning into a very special ghost.It's just that the tiger's skin was accidentally damaged and suppressed by the divine power in the palace, so it took advantage of the opportunity of fading its skin to try to regain its own spirituality, but it was a pity that the luck was bad and the success was on the verge of failure.

Later, that guy really turned into a tiger, and the tiger skin and flowered dress completely failed. Instead, his spirituality returned to freedom, and he was able to pass through the underworld and enter the underworld after death.

When talking about the tiger skin flower dress, Xiao Wazi made a special mention of it, saying that ghosts are a general term for a kind of ghosts, not unique to tigers.In addition to minions, there are other strange beasts and strange things in this world that can also create and serve minions. Each has its own special features, but it is even rarer.

Combining the voice of Bai Dutou just now, Qi Jingzhi knew that the broken ghost in the other party's mouth must be the tiger spirit.

He was certain in his heart, so he took a leisurely look at the Town God's Temple in front of him, which was very different from his impression.

At this moment, compared with the incense and tourists in the past, there is no sound of noise and frolicking in the temple, and the atmosphere is extremely solemn and solemn.

The main hall directly in front was far taller and grander than what Qi Jingzhi remembered. The door of the hall was wide open, and the space inside was much wider and deeper.

Under the candlelight, all the statues that were enshrined in the hall disappeared, replaced by a few tall books, and the layout was similar to the hall of the county government.

Seeming to see the curiosity and doubts of the young man, Bai Dutou explained with a smile: "What I see before my eyes is the city god's divine palace underworld reflecting the present world, which is between reality and reality."

Qi Jingzhi nodded, and complimented the other party: "Majestic and upright, it really looks upright!"

"Haha, my little brother is a student of Meng Sigong, and he really can talk. People in this world often spread rumors about the scene of the underworld, but don't think about it. Our underworld is also a government, and ghosts and gods were once living people. Make it miserable and ghostly?"

While talking, the two of them approached the gate of the palace, and saw a pair of couplets hanging on the pillars in front of the gate, the words faintly blooming with golden light.

"Come in and touch your heart, you might as well repent and do good."

Qi Jingzhi read the first couplet, turned his head and looked to the left, and saw the second couplet read: "Go out and do good deeds, why use candles and incense?"

Standing in front of the palace gate, Bai Dutou stopped chatting and laughing casually, and the volume of his voice became much lower. Su Rong introduced: "This is a book written by our Lord City God. He was the left deputy governor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate during his lifetime. Shi, the most stern and selfless, was named the city god of the county after his death, behaved as before, he didn't like to pretend to be ghosts and gods, and he didn't pay much attention to the incense of believers."

"Just looking at this couplet, one knows that the City God must have been a good official during his lifetime."

Qi Jingzhi once again offered a flattering compliment, and then asked with some doubts: "I remember, Zuo Fudu Yushi seems to be a third-rank official, right? Why are you only sealed as the county town god?"

Bai Dutou immediately shook his head: "That's not how it is said. Although the county town god has only one county under his rule, he has the title of Uncle Xianyou on him, which ranks in the top rank and can even shade his descendants. Inhuman county magistrates can be compared..."

"You guys are showing off your tongue again!" An old voice suddenly came from the hall.

Immediately afterwards, an old man in a crimson official robe slowly paced out from the palace gate.

He has a serious expression, and the deep and long nasolabial folds on his face make him appear extremely majestic.

Bai Dutou hastily bowed and saluted: "Master Wan'an!"

The old man stopped in his tracks, and reprimanded unceremoniously: "You have been the boss of this shackles for many years, and you have even given up your name. You should have seen through the glitz and gloom of the world. If you don't want to, you will still be so unprogressive! If you teach me badly Let's see how Meng Xiucai treats you!"

He turned to look at Qi Jingzhi, and said very seriously: "Da Qi enshrined the gods, and the county town gods all conferred the title of Uncle Xianyou. This is just an honorary title, and it is not the same thing as a human title... To be compared, roughly It is comparable to a fourth-rank official in the court. If I really consider myself an earl, I am afraid I will be laughed out of my teeth."

As soon as the old city god finished speaking, he heard someone laughing loudly at the temple gate: "Haha, why should the deputy constitution be so serious? Just because of the longevity and blessings brought by the city god's position, I don't know how many princes in the world are envied. !"

Qi Jingzhi's heart skipped a beat. Master Meng had really taught him that this so-called "Vice Constitution" was just another name for Zuo Fudu Censor.

He turned his head and followed the prestige, and sure enough, he saw Master Meng striding in.

There was a slight smile on the old city god's face, and his tone was much gentler: "I kindly teach students for you, but you are a talented person, but you don't appreciate it."

Master Meng strode forward, bowed and saluted, and said with a smile, "Why did my lord get up so early tonight?"

The old city god snorted, and said slowly: "Isn't it because the old man heard that someone complained in private, saying that the official didn't know how to show respect to his subordinates, and didn't even allow him to sleep! The old man had to take a little rest by himself, and go to bed sooner." Get up and take care of business, so as not to get a bad reputation of being harsh!"

(End of this chapter)