Modify destiny starting from Liaozhai

Chapter 217 Dragon Tattoo
"Monk, next time you talk to me, don't look at me."

The two walked side by side on the riverside road.

Xu Changsheng was carrying a bookcase and looked like a scholar.

Beside him was Monk Jishi, who was wearing a white monk's robe. The two of them walked slowly towards the north along the riverside avenue.

"The poor monk no longer has any distracting thoughts in his mind."

"Then look back at the female donor who just passed by."

"Poor monk..."

"Look back."

Jishi: "..."

"As long as the poor monk doesn't look at you."

Looking at Monk Jishi who was being defeated by his own Qi every day, Xu Changsheng was in a good mood and said, "Master, the Dharma is not enough. You still need to understand it carefully."

"Amitabha."

After that, the two of them looked at the fisherman who was wearing rags and wearing bare feet as he passed by them.

The two looked at each other again.

"Ninth."

"The exact same tattoo."

The two of them were heading north along the Xiangjiang River, and they naturally saw many fishermen in the past few days, but all they saw was a blue dragon tattooed on their left arm.

At first, when the two met, they were only slightly surprised.

Xu Changsheng also jokingly said something like "Qinglong on the left, white tiger on the right".

There are very few people who still practice tattooing in troubled times, let alone fishermen on the riverside.

But as they met one after another, all with the same tattoos, the two of them knew that something was probably wrong.

"Maybe it's the custom here to protect the safety of one party."

Xu Changsheng guessed.

When he came to Xiangzhou alone before, he had encountered a similar custom. All adult men in that place must carry a stone tablet with them.

Carved on the stone tablet is a statue of a goat-headed man.

It is also a local custom to pray for protection and safety.

Monk Jishi shook his head, "There is an aura of gray on that tattoo."

"Ok?"

Xu Changsheng frowned, but he didn't notice this.

So he poured out his spiritual consciousness, not too presumptuously, but only used the amount at the early stage of fetal breath.

He originally wanted to catch up with the fisherman and check the condition of his tattoo.

But he never thought that his spiritual consciousness had just been released, so he looked surprised.

"There's a situation ahead, so walk faster."

After saying that, he made a seal with one hand and walked forward at a speed of three feet.

The monk followed suit.

The two of them walked for less than half a stick of incense before they stopped. About a hundred meters in front of them, there was a high platform protruding out of the river from the roadside.

The high platform is about two feet in diameter, and is covered with bluestone slabs. It looks like a huge stone at the bottom, and a stone turtle is enshrined on it.

The turtle looked up to the sky, with its limbs lying on the ground. It was carved lifelike. There were countless incense sticks beside it, and the smell of incense could be smelled from a distance.

Around it, there were many villagers kneeling in worship, most of whom were also fishermen.

What really attracted Xu Changsheng here was that these fishermen all had identical dragon tattoos on their left arms.

With the advice from Monk Jishi, he investigated carefully and found that the tattoo had a certain popularity.

When I got this tattoo, I did use human ashes.

The ashes of a person after they are burned.

"This is the monument turtle."

Xu Changsheng looked at the stone turtle statue and explained.

"What is a stele turtle?"

"In ancient times, people used it to suppress floods. Look at the top of the tortoise shell of the stone statue. There are still traces there. It was originally used to hold stone tablets."

"The stone tablets usually have inscriptions by Confucian gentlemen and wise men, which are used to suppress water transportation in a place and prevent floods from raging and affecting the common people."

This was a little different from the Western Buddhist country where Monk Jishi was, so he used Buddhism. There was a faint golden light in his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked at the stone turtle.

But at this moment, the originally motionless stone turtle turned to look at them.

Then he turned around, exerted all his strength, and jumped into the raging river.

"Puff-"

Big water splashes.

"The river god has appeared."

"The River God has appeared. Please be blessed by the River God."

All the villagers paid homage and kowtowed.

Xu Changsheng did not move. His consciousness was always watching, and he naturally noticed that the stone turtle turned into water and disappeared as soon as it fell into the water.

"Monk, you scared that weird thing away."

"Weird? Weird indeed."

The two of them each used their own blinding methods, passed by the villagers, and climbed to the high platform to take a closer look.

Monk Jishi used his clairvoyant eye, and Xu Changsheng also used his Dongxu Eye.

Nothing.

This was an ordinary high platform, and even in the place where the stone turtle had been, neither of them noticed the slightest trace of evil or ghostly aura.

There is no Shinto aura either.

It's just plain...weird.

Both of them wanted to see what this place was about, so they followed the group with the largest number of tattoos back to their village.

The village was built near a swamp. Many houses were propped up on wooden piles on the swamp, and the houses were built directly on the swamp.

It seems to be enjoying the "baking" of the swamp miasma.

The two of them each used their spiritual consciousness to scan the village.

"Did the donor notice anything strange?"

Monk Jishi asked.

"There are a lot of people in this village."

"A lot of people?"

"Ah."

The world has gone through vicissitudes, the people are in dire straits, and nine out of ten people have died. However, the number of people in this village built near the swamp has not decreased too much.

You know, after the great changes in the world, monsters and monsters are not only found in the mountains.

There are many among the great rivers.

There are dragons in troubled times in the great rivers and lakes. Even in the creeks and swamps, there are many water ghosts and river monsters.

For the misfortune.

But this village... doesn't seem to have been affected by the catastrophe.

This is very unreasonable.

"Maybe it's the tattoo that protects you."

Because both of them discovered that everyone in the village had tattoos on their arms, regardless of gender.

Xu Changsheng was noncommittal and just said, "Let's take a look and then talk."

Even so, he still showed his body, stepped on the only dry place on the road, and came to a child who was touching shrimps by the swamp at the entrance of the village, and asked curiously:

"Little baby, what is this on your arm?"

The children just touched the shrimps and paid no attention to them.

"Huh!"

The child's shot was very accurate and quick. He suddenly stretched out his right hand and caught a river shrimp under the water plants on the edge of the swamp.

So Xu Changsheng took out two copper coins with his backhand and waved them in front of the children.

The child's eyes lit up when he saw it, and he immediately reached out to grab it, but missed it and almost threw himself into the water.

Then he curled his lips and said, "This is what the Dragon King has blessed us with."

"Then who stabbed you?"

"Tattoo Chen."

The child said matter-of-factly.

Xu Changsheng didn't know the secret method of searching for souls, so he had to add another copper coin to his hand and continued to ask: "Where does Tattoo Chen live? Can you take us there?" The child looked at the copper coin for the sake of it. , shook his head.

"Tattoo Chen comes every spring, and we don't know where he lives."

"But if you give me more money, I can take you back to my parents. They might know."

The child's dark eyes rolled around, looking at the ghosts and ghosts.

Xu Changsheng put away the copper coins in his hand and stood up, "Who said this money is for you? Don't think too much about it, kid."

By the time the child realized what he was doing, Xu Changsheng had already walked far away.

Yelled childishly.

When Xu Changsheng came back, Monk Jishi smiled helplessly: "Even a child has to be bullied."

Xu Changsheng disagreed, "I'm just giving him a complete childhood."

Having said that, Xu Changsheng thought of his previous travels with Fox and Xiao Xing.

If they were here, they would definitely say that they did a great job.

Xu Changsheng missed them a little.

I don’t know what state the fox has reached now?

I don’t know when I will get my revenge.

But when that time comes, he will definitely come to find me.

When the child saw Xu Changsheng disappearing while walking, he was frightened and hurriedly ran towards his home, forgetting to take the few river shrimps he touched.

Under the awareness of the two of them, the child's parents had no unusual reaction.

While repairing the old fishing nets, he told the children not to run outside because it was not safe outside.

The child thinks so too. He shrinks between his mother's legs and feels that this is the safest place in the world.

So Xu Changsheng used Taoism again and helped the children send the shrimp cages back.

As it turned out, it wasn't just the children who were scared this time.

The three members of their family all knelt down, covering the tattoos on their hands, and shouted "Lord Dragon, help me". There was a faint breath in the tattoos.

Tattoos are weird.

Xu Changsheng looked at Monk Jishi and asked, "Master, will you take charge of this matter?"

Monk Jishi raised his palms with one hand and recited the name of the Buddha.

"A poor monk travels to the Central Plains to observe world affairs."

After saying that, he looked at Xu Changsheng in confusion, and said puzzledly: "The poor monk has heard that you Central Plains monks are all dissatisfied with cause and effect. Why is the donor..."

Xu Changsheng said with a carefree smile: "People in the world are in charge of the affairs of the world, why can't they be in charge?"

After hearing this, Monk Jishi glanced at him more, and his evaluation of him was a little higher.

That night.

The two of them didn't go anywhere, just waiting by the swamp.

Xu Changsheng caught a few fish in the swamp and roasted them on the fire. Monk Jishi was chanting the rebirth mantra beside him.

Seeing that Xu Changsheng had actually condensed the souls of these fish, he casually opened a rift between the two realms and sent the souls to a river in the underworld.

From birth to death, one-stop service.

Monk Jishi looked shocked and was in a daze for a while. He also understood why Xu Changsheng was so indifferent when he was in the small world of Fruitless Tree.

Being able to break through the two realms at will makes it really easy to escape from there.

But he didn't ask much. Xu Changsheng's willingness to expose this method in front of him was a sign of trust in him.

"Monk, why are you going to Yunmengze in the north? Is it possible that you are also going to attend the Taoist sword ceremony?"

Xu Changsheng turned the fish over and sprinkled cumin on it, and the aroma immediately hit his nostrils.

"Go find the corpse mountain."

Monk Jishi said bluntly.

"What are you looking for them for?"

Xu Changsheng held the grilled fish in his left hand, made a gesture with his right hand, and swept it forward, and all the bones on the grilled fish fell off immediately.

He held the grilled fish and began to eat fiercely.

The corner of Monk Jishi's mouth twitched. He had seen many Qi practitioners over the years, but this was the first time he had seen one use Taoist techniques to pick out fish bones.

"Even a poor monk doesn't know. You will know when you go there."

Xu Changsheng nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

After eating all three grilled fishes in one go, Xu Changsheng lay on the stone and basked in the moon, while Ji Shi sat cross-legged on the stone next to him.

The moonlight shines on his white clothes and his bald head, which also creates a unique scenery.

Just when Xu Changsheng was about to take a nap, he suddenly sat up straight and looked at the village in front of him with a heavy expression.

Then it was Monk Jishi who stood up.

Under the cover of their consciousness, they discovered that the family that Xu Changsheng had scared during the day actually walked out of the house.

The three members of their family all had dull eyes, and the moonlight shone on them, glowing as white as death.

They walked out of the house mechanically and came to the swamp.

Like a living corpse.

"This is a way to drive away a mountain of corpses!"

After Monk Jishi finished speaking, he was about to take action, and Buddha light was already emerging from his body.

Xu Changsheng quickly stopped him.

"What are you going to do?"

"Purge!"

"What if it doesn't work?"

The monk was silent.

Xu Changsheng shook his head and said: "The situation is still unclear, and we don't know what the means are. However, nothing has happened to these fishermen. Let's take a look at their situation first."

The monk nodded, acquiescing to his idea.

Under the cover of the two people's consciousness.

The family of three gradually walked deeper into the swamp.

The deeper we go, the closer we get to the river.

The water became deeper and deeper, and soon, the water was below their waists, and as it moved forward, it was below their arms.

It also submerged the tattooed dragons on their arms.

A stream of corpse energy emerged from the tattoo and quickly enveloped the three of them, and then a green dragon shadow flashed past them.

The three of them stopped motionless on the river.

The man's life breath disappeared rapidly, and his body quickly became shriveled.

he died.

Xu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly, a life was lost now?
The woman then started to return with the child, still walking like a corpse, mechanical, sluggish, and stiff.

As for the man's body, it began to sink after becoming shriveled up.

until it disappears.

"coming."

Xu Changsheng turned his head to look at the river, and he could certainly feel the aura of the Qi Condensation Stage rising from it.

So, this is human sacrifice?

Are the tattoos on your hands a way to communicate with the river monster?

If this is the case, then in this troubled world, this river demon is still relatively good. At least it is willing to do things after taking human lives.

After all, most demons only care about taking human lives.

"You wait here, I'll come when I go."

After Xu Changsheng finished speaking, he took a few steps to reach the tidal flat by the river, where a loach spirit was watching furtively.

It was aware of the existence of Xu Changsheng and Ji Shi, but it could not see their cultivation level, so it was so careful.

As soon as Xu Changsheng came to him, he learned the detention technique from Xiao Xing and locked him directly.

Then he returned to Monk Jishi.

The monk also had Sanskrit words flowing in his eyes, and he was using Buddhist methods to investigate.

After a moment, he suddenly said:
"The people in these villages...are already dead."

"what?"

Xu Changsheng did not look at him, but looked down at the loach spirit he had captured.

"Want to live?"

he asked.

(End of this chapter)