polar demon

Chapter 17 River Temple ([-])
The horses pulling the cart were skinny and their necks were pressed low by the scales. Although they worked extremely hard, the cart still often slipped in the mud.The carriage has no roof, and if it rains on the road, you have to go into the woods to take shelter.

The car was covered with thick straw, which was wet after being drenched by the heavy rain.The middle-aged yamen servant Wang Li lay face down on it, and was taken care of by Wang Lishi and his son Wang Hu.

Jiang Yuan sat on the carriage and shook the carriage. Originally, Wang Li should be responsible for driving the carriage, but he was so injured at this time, Jiang Yuan had no choice but to do it himself.Fortunately, although the horse pulling was thin and old, it was quite docile, and even a novice like Jiang Yuan could drive it effortlessly.

"Young Master." Wang Lishi suddenly said, "When you reach the intersection ahead, please take the road on the right."

Jiang Yuan glanced at the intersection ahead, frowned and said:
"If you turn right, you will leave the road to Yangcheng."

Wang Lishi wiped away her tears and begged in a low voice:

"It still takes a few days to go to Yangcheng, and the child's father may not be able to delay until then."

Yamen servant Wang Li was injured, and the wound was drenched by rain. He had been in a semi-comatose state with a high fever for the past two days. It seemed that he might die if he couldn't reach Yangcheng.

Talking to Jiang Yuan, Wang Li could only beg in a sad voice.After all, firstly, Jiang Yuan was the benefactor who saved their family of three, and secondly, Jiang Yuan's ferocity and cruelty made Wang Li's heart afraid.So even if it was his own carriage, Wang Li didn't dare to make a claim.

Jiang Yuan hesitated and asked:

"Then where does the path on the right lead to?"

Hearing Jiang Yuan's breath loosened, Wang Li hurriedly replied:

"The river bend leading to the Xuan River, there is a river temple on the bank, and the old boss of the child's father lives in it. That man is proficient in medicine and can save my husband."

"The Temple of the River at the Bend of the River" Jiang Yuan seems to have some memories of this place.

He soon remembered that this place he had often heard from traders in Taiping Town said that it seemed to be an ominous place.
The Xuanhe River descends from Yangcheng all the way to the east, and when it reaches the foot of Jiuquan Mountain, it is blocked by the mountain and diverted to the north, forming a huge river bend.

However, the world is dark and chaotic, and unidentified dead bodies often flow down the Xuan River, and are washed by the river to the bend of the river and piled up, which makes the strange and evil things happen frequently in the bend of the river.In ancient times, the people raised funds to build the Heshen Temple, not only to suppress evil spirits, but also as a righteous village to collect and place unknown dead bodies for others to claim.

There is only one body collector guarding the Heshen Temple all year round. Occasionally, some people go to lodge. They are also passers-by who have been robbed by mountain bandits and cannot rush to the next village, or poor scholars who can only walk to Yangcheng on foot due to poverty during exams every day. .

"Is your husband's boss an official post? Then why are you working as a corpse collector in the Heshen Temple?" Jiang Yuan asked.

Wang Lishi explained:

"The man's name is Yan Gudao. He used to be a catcher in Yangcheng. He was very famous back then, and many thieves fell into his hands. However, catcher Yan has an upright character. He offended many people and was excluded. Disappointed, I resigned from my post and came to the River God Temple."

Jiang Yuan didn't expect there to be such a person, he thought about it secretly, he was not in a hurry to go to Yangcheng, and what's more, he was taking someone else's car.In terms of emotion and reason, there is nothing wrong with going to Shanghe Temple.

The sun was setting and the cold wind was blowing.

At the intersection, Jiang Yuan pulled the reins, and the carriage turned to the right path and disappeared into the forest, heading towards the faintly visible Xuanhe River in the distance.

Xuanhe River is a big river with wide banks and gentle river level. During the day, you can often see boats sailing down the river.If the weather is fine, the sparkling water with white sails and fishing songs will be a beautiful sight.

But as night fell, there was no longer a cargo ship on the river, and the river surface was a deep black color, and the river water would also become turbulent. Under the waves, it seemed that there was an unknown mystery.

When the bright moon loomed in the dark clouds, Jiang Yuan finally drove to the river bend.

At the bend of the river, there is a large flat rocky beach washed up by black rotting wood washed up by the river.At the end of the river beach is the lush Jiuquan Mountain. At the foot of the mountain stands a dilapidated building, which is the Temple of the River.

The River Temple is backed by a high mountain and faces a big river, surrounded by lush forests, which looks very lonely and deserted at night.

This is an ancient temple. The black tiles on the top look dim and old in the night. There are clumps of weeds growing between the tiles.The temple is very large, and it can be seen that it was magnificent in the past, but it has become decayed and lonely with the passage of time.

When the carriage arrived outside the Heshen Temple, Wang Li called his son Wang Hu and tried hard to move the unconscious Wang Li out of the carriage.

"Let me do it." Jiang Yuan said, carrying Wang Li on his shoulders and walking towards the Heshen Temple.

After stepping into the temple gate, a wide courtyard greets you.

In the center of the yard is a release pond, and the bluestone pavement around the pond is covered with thick fallen leaves.

And in the open space not far from the release pool, a torch was inserted into the ground and burned blazingly.In the firelight, a burly figure was pouring tung oil on a pile of firewood, and there was another person lying faintly among the firewood.

As Jiang Yuan and the others stepped into the courtyard, the burly figure stopped and turned to look at them.

Under the light of the fire, it can be seen that the man is about five or sixty years old, with a bun on his head tilted to one side, a big beard on his mouth and cheeks, wearing tattered clothes, and a wine bottle tied on his belt. gourd.

"Hey!" the man shouted loudly, "it's better to travel all night than to stay here, you go away!"

Jiang Yuan thought that this person was Yan Gudao, but before he opened his mouth, Mrs. Wang and Li hurriedly said:

"Yan Butou! Please save Wang Li! He is dying soon."

The old man called Yan Butou looked at Wang Li in surprise:

"Siblings? What happened to Wang Li?"

While talking, Yan Gudao hurried over, and was surprised when he saw Wang Li, the yamen servant on Jiang Yuan's shoulder: "Why are you injured so badly!"

After he finished speaking, he didn't wait for everyone's explanation, and hurriedly took Wang Li from Jiang Yuan's shoulder, carried Wang Li on his shoulders, and walked towards the hall at the end of the courtyard.

Wang Li also hurried into the hall with his son Wang Hu.

Jiang Yuan came to the pair of firewood alone. As he approached, he could smell a rotten smell in addition to the strong smell of tung oil.

He pulled out the torch on the ground and looked towards the firewood pile, only to see a corpse that had begun to rot lying in the middle of the top layer of the firewood pile.

The corpse's hair was disheveled, as if it had been soaked for a long time, its body had swollen and bulged, its skin was pale and wrinkled, and it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman.What makes people feel weird is that the teeth and nails of this corpse seem to be still growing after death, and a few fangs have even grown out of the lips.

"Don't get too close!" Yan Gudao returned to the courtyard after settling Wang Li. He took the torch from Jiang Yuan's hand, and threw the torch on the firewood pile without hesitation.

The pyre soaked in tung oil quickly rose into flames and burned. Jiang Yuan noticed that the dead body in the pyre seemed to be writhing when it was burned, and he didn't know if it was due to heat shrinkage.

Jiang Yuan looked at it quietly for a while, and the smell of cooked meat and burnt meat mixed and dispersed.After a while, the corpse had been burned and shrunk, and soon became a pile of charred bones, and the flames gradually subsided.

"Why did he become like this?" Jiang Yuan asked.

Yan Gudao sighed and said:
"Evil energy enters the body, and even if you die, you will not live in peace. There are still a few of these parked in the room over there. If no one comes to claim them after two days, they can only be burned like this."

Jiang Yuan looked in the direction Yan Gudao said, and saw a row of side rooms that were so dark that there was no light at all, and it was very gloomy.

"Not to catch the head, but to be the body collector?" Jiang Yuan asked.

Yan Gudao smiled and said:
"It's too strenuous to deal with the living, but it's easier to get along with the dead. You saved Wang Li's family, I have to thank you, so I also give you a piece of advice: This river temple is far more dangerous than you imagined. Entering here , I don't care about the life and death of outsiders, so I advise you to leave as soon as possible."

Jiang Yuan said with a half-smile:
"Why, are there still ghosts here?"

Jiang Yuan not only needs to stay overnight, but also needs to take Wang Li's carriage.What's more, he was very curious about this Yan Gudao. From Yan Gudao, Jiang Yuan felt a special energy, which was very similar to the power opposite to ghost energy on the wooden sign Sun Daming gave him.

Seeing that Jiang Yuan had no intention of leaving, Yan Gudao shook his head and said:
"If you don't want to go, go in through the side door next to the main hall. There are three vacant rooms inside for accommodation. By the way, one of them lives in a scholar who is rushing home for the exam, and the other lives in a couple. Don't bother too much them."

After finishing speaking, Yan Gudao ignored Jiang Yuan, turned around and walked into the hall, and began to check Wang Li's injuries.

Jiang Yuan didn't care about Wang Li's injury, and didn't bother to enter the hall.He walked towards the side door that Yan Gudao had mentioned, and came to a dark backyard.

There are three dilapidated houses standing side by side in the backyard. The door of one of the houses is wide open, and a person is faintly visible on the couch inside. The house is dark, but the person's appearance is difficult to see clearly.

This is the scholar Yan Gudao said?Jiang Yuan was puzzled, and walked straight towards the house.

It wasn't until Jiang Yuan entered the house that the figure sitting quietly in the dark seemed to wake up suddenly, followed by a young voice:

"I'm really sorry! I'm sorry! I lost my mind at the next moment, I'm rude and rude!"

The torch was lit in the house, and soon an oil lamp was lit, and the dim light filled the whole house.

I saw a young scholar sitting on the couch. He was wearing a square scarf and a long gown. He had a handsome face and a gentle and elegant demeanor.It's just that the scholar's face was miserable, and there were tears in the corners of his eyes, obviously he had just cried not long ago.

The scholar hurriedly wiped the corners of his eyes, then got up and bowed to Jiang Yuanchang:

"I'm Lu Junsheng, I haven't asked my brother's name yet."

Jiang Yuan sized up the scholar named Lu Junsheng before replying:

"Jiang Yuan."

"So it's Brother Jiang," Lu Junsheng said, "Brother Jiang looks like he also came back from Yangcheng for the exam?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head:

"On the contrary, I'm going to Yangcheng, and I'm staying here halfway. Brother Lu, what's on your mind?"

Lu Junsheng smiled bitterly, and didn't want to talk more.He pointed to the next room and said:

"Brother Jiang can live next door. The room is clean after being cleaned. Originally, I was staying with a fellow townsman, but he left without saying goodbye for some reason last night. I was going to leave during the day, but it rained again. The time was different." It's early, Brother Jiang, please rest earlier."

Jiang Yuan shrugged and left Lu Junsheng's room.

After arriving outside the house, Jiang Yuan turned his head, only to find two hunched figures standing at the door of the house against the wall.

The two figures were shrouded in shadows cast by the wall, they seemed to be hunched over, even standing tremblingly.

"You two, what's the matter?" Jiang Yuan asked.

I saw those two people walking out of the shadows, but they were an old couple.

Their skin was wrinkled like orange peels that had lost moisture, and their hair was gray and white. The two supported each other, and they seemed to fall down at any time when they walked.

The old man looked at Jiang Yuan expectantly and asked:

"My lord, have you seen my grandson and granddaughter? My grandson is six years old and his name is Yang Xiaolong. My granddaughter is four years old and her name is Yang Xiaohuang. They are so tall, wearing linen clothes, and wearing pigtails on their heads." .”

Jiang Yuan shook his head.

The old woman still did not give up, she touched the corner of her eyes and said:
"We are from Jiqi Village. When we returned to our hometown last night, we encountered heavy rain and stayed here. As a result, our grandson and granddaughter were lost in the middle of the night. We searched for a day but couldn't find them... If we can't find them, what will we do?" live?"

"Sorry." Jiang Yuan said, "If I meet them, I will definitely bring them over to the two old people."

During this journey, he has never seen any children.If we meet again in the future, Jiang Yuan won't care about this effort.

Shaking his head, Jiang Yuan came to the vacant room next to Lu Junsheng's room. The room was very simple and shabby, with only a square table and a wooden bed to insulate moisture, and there was no bedding on the bed.

Jiang Yuan didn't care about these things, he sat cross-legged on the bed quietly and continued to practice the inner skills of "Kuangsha Saber Technique". Everything in this Heshen Temple seemed very interesting, and he would not be lonely if he wanted to come to this night.

(End of this chapter)