Liaozhai Great Sage

Chapter 252
night.

Ning Caichen suddenly woke up from his dream and shouted Xiaoqian's name.

He was covered in cold sweat, but when he realized it, he found that it was just a dream, an incomparably real dream, and everything that happened in the dream seemed to be real, vivid and fresh in his memory.

"Is it just a dream? Or did Xiaoqian really come here just now?" Ning Caichen turned over and sat up, gasping for breath, completely out of sleep.

He felt that he should ask Li Xiuyuan about this matter, Mr. Li, he is very proficient in matters of ghosts and ghosts, and he may be able to interpret the dream just now.

But when he just lit the candle, he suddenly found that Nie Xiaoqian's ashes urn on the table had disappeared.

There was also a piece of straw paper for sacrificial offerings left on it, with a line of graceful handwriting on it, which seemed to be written by a woman, and the content of the letter was also very simple, just a line of farewell.

Seeing this, Ning Caichen's expression darkened just now, and he realized that the dream just now was real.

Nie Xiaoqian really went to reincarnation.

"Is it just a dream after all?" Ning Caichen murmured, lost in thought.

And time flies, it is the morning of the second day.

After killing the tree demon, Li Xiuyuan gave Yan Chixia the remaining jars of fine wine as promised, and had a drink with Xia Houwu at Lanruo Temple to celebrate.

Yan Chixia and Xia Houwu fell asleep after being drunk.

Li Xiuyuan meditated for several hours, regained his energy, and prepared to go back to Guobei County today.

I didn't go to say hello to the two of them. It was already agreed yesterday that once the tree demon was wiped out, Yan Chixia would naturally continue to act chivalrously, slaying demons and slaying demons, and capturing robbers. Wu, thinking that there is a big gap between himself and Yan Chixia's martial arts, so he stopped pestering him to compete and decided to travel around.

But Xia Houwu also said that if Li Xiuyuan needs his help in the future, just ask, he will be obliged.

With Longma, alone, he walked towards the outside of Lanruo Temple.

On the way, I met Ning Caichen who was wandering in the temple.

"Master Li, are you going back?" Ning Caichen asked.

"Yes, the tree demon has been exterminated, and the old Black Mountain demon has gone to nowhere. All the ghosts of Lanruo Temple have disappeared, and peace has been restored here, and it's not too early for me to come out, too. It's time to go back home, aren't you going to Guobei County to collect the bill, why don't you go with me?" Li Xiuyuan said.

Ning Caichen saluted and said, "Xiaosheng still wants to stay here for a few more nights, and then go to Guobei County to visit Mr. Li in a few days."

"Lanruo Temple is now safe and secluded. It is a good place to live. It would be good for you to rest here for a few more days." Li Xiuyuan nodded without breaking a sweat.

He could see that Ning Caichen was still obsessed with Nie Xiaoqian and was reluctant to leave.

It's just that humans and ghosts have different paths, and Nie Xiaoqian went to reincarnation, and this fate can be regarded as over.

The two had some conversations, and finally Li Xiuyuan bid farewell to Ning Caichen and returned to Guobei County on a dragon horse.

After staying in the gloomy Lanruo Temple for a few days, it still feels a little strange to return to the bustling Guobei County.

In order not to surprise people, Li Xiuyuan put away the dragon horse before entering the city, and then walked for a while and entered the county.

"Isn't this the young master? Why did you come back from outside the county so early in the morning?"

"Hey, good morning, young master, have you had breakfast, how about a bowl of noodles for you?"

"Go, go, you want the young master to solicit business for your family. You are too stingy to ask the young master to sit down with a bowl of noodles."

Many people in the county who knew Li Xiuyuan greeted him warmly, especially the shops by the road, and they all wished to lure Li Xiuyuan into the shop for something to eat.

If you can get a compliment from Li Xiuyuan, it will be a great honor for those who cook in Guobei County.

Business will boom a lot.

However, when Li Xiuyuan passed by a steamed stuffed bun shop that he often went to, he found that the shop with good business was deserted and almost no one patronized it, while the shopkeeper was frowning and sitting there with a lot of thoughts, as if Encountered something embarrassing.

"Shopkeeper, what's the matter, you don't look very good? Did you give away steamed stuffed buns a while ago, and the donation was too much, and you lost your money?" Li Xiuyuan asked with a smile.

"Oh, it's the young master?" The shopkeeper looked quickly, and when he saw Li Xiuyuan approaching, he was immediately startled, stood up hastily, and bowed respectfully, "I've seen the young master."

"You don't need to be so polite. I'm not an official, so I don't have that much prestige." Li Xiuyuan said.

The shopkeeper smiled: "It will be a matter of time for the eldest young master to get a good name in the exam, and sooner or later he will be an official."

"You guys think that being an official is a very dignified and dignified thing, but I don't think so, I think being an official is a kind of responsibility, so if you say that I will be rich and prosperous in the future, with wives and concubines in groups, I will be very happy , if you praise me as an official, I'm not so happy." Li Xiuyuan said.

"Eldest young master's words have a smell and need to be carefully tasted. The younger ones don't understand those big principles." The shopkeeper said.

Li Xiuyuan said: "What's the matter, I didn't open the stall today? It can't really be that the last time I donated a lot of buns, I lost my money."

The shopkeeper said sternly: "Giving alms to save people is a matter of great merit. It's too late for the little one to be happy. Besides, the eldest young master also reduced the rent for the young one. The small one didn't lose money. On the contrary, he was taken care of by the young master." , the business has improved a lot, and the money earned has also increased a lot.”

"It's a good thing, so why are you worried?"

Li Xiuyuan said: "I wanted to eat something at your stall, but who knew you didn't show up this morning."

"It's not that the small ones don't do business, but that the business can't be done. Every time the small ones steam a basket of steamed buns, strange things happen, which makes the business unsustainable," said the shopkeeper.

Li Xiuyuan asked curiously: "Oh. Strange thing? What kind of strange thing."

The shopkeeper explained in detail, roughly, the steamed stuffed bun shrunk a circle as soon as it came out of the cage, and when it was delivered, the bowl-sized steamed stuffed bun shrunk to the size of a ball of flour, tasteless to eat.

"Is there such a thing? Well, just bring up a basket of steamed stuffed buns, and I'll see what's going on." Li Xiuyuan said.

The shopkeeper didn't think much about it, but just ordered Xiao Er to bring up a basket of steamed buns.

Soon, Xiao Er went to the back kitchen of the store to get a basket of steamed buns, and as expected, before the Xiao Er came out with a basket of steamed buns, the steamed buns shrank and shrunk visibly, and finally only one A small ball of white flour, taken with a handful of hands, turned into a powder directly, which is of no usable value at all.

"Young master, look at this," said the shopkeeper.

Li Xiuyuan smiled: "It's not a big deal, it's just being eaten by a ghost."

"Eat by a ghost?" The shopkeeper was surprised.

"Yes, ghosts eat qi. What they eat is the essence of the food. If they take wine to sacrifice to ghosts and gods, if ghosts and gods enjoy it, the wine will immediately lose its taste, become rancid, and sour. This is because the smell of wine has been absorbed by ghosts and gods." If it is eaten, so is the food, if it is eaten by ghosts and gods, the food will lose its original taste, just like your steamed stuffed bun." Li Xiuyuan said.

"It's in broad daylight, oh, how can there be ghosts." The shopkeeper trembled a little with fright.

"Who says there are no ghosts during the day? There are not necessarily fewer ghosts during the day than at night. It's just that ghosts hide in dark places during the day and don't come out to move around, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. It looks like you have a few little ghosts hiding in your shop." Li Xiuyuan Look towards the store.

But I saw five or six dark-faced and thin men huddled there in the dark place of the shop, motionless, it was really not easy to see if you didn't pay attention.

"What, what, is there a ghost in the shop?"

The shopkeeper turned pale with shock: "Well, what should I do?"

"Don't worry, since we happened to meet them today, let's do the shopkeeper a favor and get rid of these little devils." Li Xiuyuan walked into the shop as he spoke.

After entering the store, he felt a gloomy aura, which is the aura that ghosts often have.

Li Xiuyuan walked towards the five or six ghosts, and said, "Why do you ghosts hide in other people's shops during the day and steal other people's food? Don't you know that this is a very immoral thing?"

The five or six ghosts curled up in the corner saw that Li Xiuyuan could actually see him, and immediately understood that this was an unusual expert.

A taller ghost came out respectfully and said: "We have no choice but to hide here to beg for food. We were all affected by disasters when we were alive, and we had nothing to eat. People who died of starvation turned into starving ghosts after death." , and because there are no relatives to sacrifice, I came here only because I was hungry, so I had to hide in the shopkeeper's shop to beg for a few meals, and left after eating and drinking."

"Please forgive me, this expert. We just ate a few meals secretly. We absolutely didn't intend to harm anyone. This shopkeeper is also a blessed and kind person. We dare not harm him. It is the shopkeeper who passed by. , we have to hide in the corner and avoid it far away, lest we be affected by our ghost aura and make the shopkeeper get sick."

Another starving ghost said timidly.

"How many days have you eaten here?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

"It's been five days, and we will leave after eating on the last day of the day. We have agreed that each person will be full for one day, and we ghosts can last for a year after eating a full meal. I believe we can support you until the day of reincarnation. Day." said the taller starving ghost.

Li Xiuyuan said: "You six starving ghosts have eaten the shopkeeper's six days, how can you repay this kindness?"

"In my next life, I will work for him for free for one year."

"I will help him with ten small things in the next life."

"I will give him 100 taels of silver in my next life."

"." These starving ghosts said one after another, and they all said their own ways to compensate the shopkeeper.

It can be seen from this that all the benefits a person gets during his lifetime are all due to his good deeds and accumulated virtues in his previous life. The so-called help from nobles is actually the merit left by him in his previous life.

(End of this chapter)