Tai sui

As soon as the kind Chang Jun helped Yao Qi back to the Qiuziyuan, he heard a loud bang on the door of Xi Ping's house in the far north.

With a roll wrapped in a mattress under his armpit, Xi Ping rushed out the door without even saying hello.

Chang Jun called him back: "Shiyong, what are you doing? It's almost dark, and the gate of the courtyard will be locked at Xushi..."

Xi Ping's angry voice came from the wind: "Then-I-de-out-outside!"

With the wind under his arm, Xi Ping decided to find a big rock and smash the puppet to pieces—if he didn't know that the puppet was actually a human, he would have done so long ago.

In fact, even if he really wanted to kill someone ruthlessly, he felt that he would not be unable to do it, but the half-doll was not only human, but also a small thing the size of a fingernail.Facing such a little thing that could be crushed to death with all his strength, he was so full of anger that he couldn't express it.

This crap doesn't know how to make a bed, make a bed, dress and comb your hair, except for biting people and rolling your eyes, and it's also a cannibal who swallows a box of sapphire alive!

This is not swallowing gold, this is swallowing several big mansions in one bite!

Pang Jian's virtue is missing in his ancestral grave!

Xi Ping ran up the mountain road, knocked a rice boy patrolling the mountain into a spinning top, and rushed straight to the "Chengjing Hall" halfway up the mountain.

Chengjingtang is the place where the stewards of Qianxiu Temple are on duty. If students have anything to do, they can find brothers and sisters who are enlightened in Chengjingtang.Probably the location is not difficult to find, but the small courtyard is hidden in the middle of a bamboo forest, and Xi Ping is not familiar with the place, so he saw the roof of Chengjing Hall from afar, turned around several times, but couldn't figure out where to get in.

In desperation, he dug a rice boy in the tree pit, searched all over his body, and found out a crumpled wayfinding talisman. He was about to "ask the way", when he heard a familiar voice behind him asking, "It's getting dark." ...Hey, why is it you again?"

Xi Ping turned his head, and the breeze passed by him, and then, the sword shadow under the feet of the living legend in the green shirt turned into countless fragments of light, and fell to the ground calmly.

"Are you reincarnated as a night cat, you run around at night." Zhi Xiu picked up a bamboo leaf that fell on his shoulder, and then his eyes fell on the bedroll in Xi Ping's hand: "It's so rich in spiritual energy, what good thing?"

A moment later, on the small table in the Chengjing Hall, General Zhi looked at the blue puppet and fell silent.

The person on duty at the Chengjing Hall that night was an old half-immortal with white beard and hair, his name was Su Zhun, who was said to be in charge of the punishment hall in Qianxiu Temple.Although he was in charge of punishment, Elder Su's face was not fierce at all, he was always smiling, like an amiable old man next door.

Brigadier General Su inspected the half puppet, raised his head and asked, "You just said, how many spirit stones did this puppet eat?"

Xi Ping: "It's about ten catties less."

It was the first time that Elder Su heard someone talk about spirit stones, and he couldn't figure it out for a while.

General Zhi said sincerely: "The last time I was outside Jinping City, I wanted to ask, little friend, is there a private mine of spirit stone in your residence?"

"That's not true," Xi Ping said honestly, "There are only a few jade mines and agate mines."

Zhixiu: "..."

Elder Su: "..."

Where did this young master who doesn't eat fireworks come from!

"That's not important," the young master Yangzi continued to make angry remarks, "He ate all my spirit stones, what should I use? How can I give..."

Xi Ping almost spewed out the truth about "how to write a letter to my family", but suddenly remembered that Qianxiu Temple apparently forbids disciples to contact their family members, so he turned his voice back abruptly: "Anyway, it is... the elder , can you make him spit it out?"

"Since you have entered the door, you have to call me senior brother." Elder Su kindly corrected Xi Ping's title of calling himself an outsider, "Half I don't have a stomach. Digesting food is different for human beings, so it may not be able to spit it out. However, with so many spirit stones, I don’t think he can digest them all at once, so if he immediately smashes the magic circle around him and cuts off his spirit veins, he can still open them up. Bring some back to your stomach."

Xi Ping: "..."

Xiao Banou's eye-damaging peach-red jacket had been stretched by Lingshi, and Elder Su rolled up the tattered jacket to expose his stomach.The waist and spine on both sides of the semi-doll are made of special wood and moon-plated gold. The magic circles on the top are activated by spirit stones, looming, and the belly is human skin, which is stretched out of shape.There is still a crooked scar standing upright in the middle of the belly, which still rises and falls with the breath... revealing a half-distorted and broken vitality.

Elder Su put his hands into his sleeves, smiled at Xi Ping like a child, and said, "Go and take down the 'Yingbi' dagger hanging on the wall for Senior Brother. I'll cut it open for you, don't worry, it's still possible Grab some back."

Xi Ping looked at Banqiu, and then at Su Zhun: "Respect...brother, didn't the book say that the wood on his body, which is plated with moongold, is equivalent to the flesh and blood of a human body?"

Wouldn't that be the same as breaking bones, cutting off meridians, and disembowelling?

Su Zhun nodded, the lines at the corners of his eyes deepened: "Indeed."

"No..." Xi Ping's expression contorted several times, and he pointed at the half-occupied man in a broken voice, "Has he always been so edible? If he is planted in the soil, in a few years, even Xuanyin Mountain may be bald." ?”

Su Zhun was originally teasing him, but when he heard that the boy became more and more outspoken, even Xianshan dared to arrange it, and hurriedly said: "Hey, you can't talk nonsense!"

General Zhi is still there!

Zhixiu smiled: "A grown-up boy consumes about the same amount of spiritual stones as a practitioner, so he shouldn't be able to eat you...your family's gemstone mine. But this boy is unlucky. His original owner probably didn't feed him properly. Hanging your life with just a ray of spiritual energy. It must be because you have been hungry for so many years that you couldn’t help swallowing a box of spiritual stones. I won’t eat like this again if I don’t starve. Disciple gives three sapphires every month, you are not enlightened It won't be used up before the orifice, and he will take one every month."

Xi Ping: "It's only three per month, and I have to give him another one?"

Why can't it be used up!At least four of them are burnt in a month!

"Indeed," Elder Su agreed, "I don't think that evil cultivator's skills are good, and this semi-puppet's appearance is also very average. The box of spirit stones he swallowed is enough to exchange for a battalion of real puppets. What do you want him to do? Don't bother so much, just dissect him and get back the spirit stone, and buy a new one later."

As he spoke, he beckoned, and the evil warding knife "Yingbi" hanging on the wall fell into his hand softly.

Su Zhun rolled up his sleeves and pushed away the blade: "Brother is old, his eyesight is not good, let me see where to cut the knife first..."

"Wait, wait..." Seeing Yingbisen's cold saber light falling on Banou's belly, Xi Ping instinctively stretched out his hand to block it, "Brother, wait a moment."

Elder Su said: "If you wait any longer, the spirit stone will be gone."

Hearing this, Xi Ping stared at the puppet, feeling more and more disgusted the more he looked at it.

But hate it, let him tear up a child like a piglet for something, and he can't do it.

So he got stuck in his throat, unable to spit out or swallow.After a long time, he flicked his sleeves bitterly and said, "Forget it!"

"Ah, forget it?" Elder Su pretended to be surprised, "One hundred taels of sapphire, four 5000 taels of gold, don't you want it?"

Xi Ping wandered around the market all day long, and he knew that a big man could buy a pair of palm-sized salt and pretzel noodles in the southern suburbs of Jinping, and he had also heard that what kind of family had enough money to live for a month.

But although he wouldn't say something out of his mind like "why not eat minced meat", he was never short or short. Whether it is "one hundred taels of sapphire" or "thousand taels of gold", in his mind, it is actually not as urgent as "I will have no Lingshi to write to my grandmother in a few days".

He also felt distressed, but it was not a sharp pain, but more annoyed.

"I contradicted that Pang Dutong that day...he picked it up first! He just tried his best to trick me! The old man, who is almost a hundred years old, knows as much as I do. He has such a broad mind. 'Three in and three out'!" Xi Ping angrily pushed the half puppet in front of Elder Su, "I donated it to the temple, you can use him as a rice boy envoy, or put it on display, anyway, I don't want him anymore."

"That's a good thing." Elder Su smiled, "This half-marion ate so much sapphire in one go, after digesting it, his mind and stature will grow a bit, and he may not be a waste by then. Where is the junior brother?" It’s donating a spouse, it’s donating a mountain of gold!”

Xi Ping: "..."

No, it's too bad!

He was in a dilemma for a while, continued to raise this thing and donated it to Qianxiu Temple, he seemed to be taken advantage of again.

This is such a shitty thing, he's going to be suffocated to death!

After a while, Xi Ping held the puppet between his arms, and went back as he came.

Shizi's mud that couldn't support the wall was burned with anger.He is determined to work hard, and when he is strong, he will beat the sack surnamed Pang into a pig's head!

This revenge will not be avenged, and his surname is not Xi.

Pang Dutong was not on duty that day, so he had a rare leisure time. He wiped his face, and the sharp-edged face immediately became ordinary.He changed out of his sapphire blue robe, went out to have a midnight snack in casual clothes, and came to Qifeng Pavilion.

There was a wind on the Lingyang River, and the fog cleared a lot.As soon as Pang Jian sat by the window, he sneezed twice, rubbed his nose and looked up, just in time to see Cui Ji not far away.

Cui Ji is two hundred steps away from the Huafang Ferry, and the courtyard is dense with old trees.There are no glazed tiles or large plaques at the door, only a section of dark gray stone wall, with the words "Cui Ji" on the corner illuminated by a snow-white steam lamp, and the small koi seal of wealth and ostentation underneath.

He didn't have any family background, so he didn't dare to look into the courtyard.

Pang Jian suddenly felt something, and expanded his inspiration to the extreme. He felt a ray of hatred coming from the west—Xuanyin Mountain.

"Curse me behind my back." Pang Dutong immediately knew who it was, and smiled nonchalantly, "Little devil, there is a time when you thank Grandpa Pang."

He deliberately pushed the boat along with the current and gave Xi Ping the half-marble, and he deliberately didn't remind Xi Ping to take good care of the Lingshi.

If you don't cut jade, you can't make a weapon, and you will bring some snacks to Qianxiu Temple, like a spring outing, the boy just looks like he intends to dawdle.If you don't make any more trouble for him, maybe he won't even be able to open his spirit aperture in a year.

The sweet-scented osmanthus duck was served, and Pang Jian was about to move his chopsticks when he heard a dispute downstairs.

Seeing the waiter in the shop chasing a young man away: "Even if you don't want to buy a whole duck, you can buy half a duck—half a duckling is also fine. Half a duckling is only two hundred yuan, and I told the shopkeeper to give you a duck head. Let's I have only heard that duck heads are not used, but I have never heard of special purchases of duck heads, or you can ask elsewhere?"

Although the young man was fairly clean, his trousers were so short that they hung on his ankles, his poor appearance was incompatible with Qifeng Pavilion.The people around laughed when they heard that someone came to buy duck heads, and someone joked: "Brother, have you grown a beard, and you want to buy a 'girl', isn't it too early?"

Pang Jian glanced at it, and saw that the "little brother" was actually a half-grown girl.

The girl knew that she was showing timidity, her face "brushed" to the base of her neck, and she said stiffly, "Our family only eats duck heads. With a small population, we can't finish half a duck, can't we?"

The shop waiter looked at her hanging trouser legs and frayed cuffs: "Half a duckling can't even eat enough for the big raccoon raised by our shopkeeper. What kind of golden branch and jade leaf are you, your appetite is expensive enough."

The girl subconsciously put her hands behind her back.

The shop waiter said: "It's not on the menu, we don't sell it, if you really want to eat it, you can see who bought the duck and don't eat the duck head, and 'jointly buy' with others."

As soon as the words were finished, a good-natured person knocked on his disheveled table and said, "I have a duck head here, who wants it? Take it away."

The girl became angry from embarrassment, stomped her feet, and said loudly: "Qifeng Pavilion is short of catties and short of two!"

"Hey, how do you talk..."

"Qifengge shop is bullying customers! Short of catties and short of two!" Seeing the nurse in the store approaching, the girl turned and ran, and bumped into a diner head-on. "They said it themselves just now! Half a duck can't even feed a cat!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, guest officer," the waiter in the shop hurriedly supported the diner who was stumbled by the girl, "It's late at night, I don't know where the lunatic came from."

The diners flicked their fronts in disgust: "If you want me to say, the ancient system should be restored. Once the city gates are locked, no one can come in! The good Jinping City has been ruined by these countrymen outside Nancheng !"

As soon as these words came out, Qifeng Pavilion immediately echoed.

"That's not true! In the past two days, I heard that the refugees are going to sue for impeachment, and a large group gathered outside the gate of the south city!"

"What did you say?"

"It's still the land acquisition for the Tengyunjiao railway track," said a well-informed person in the seat, "It's been so many years, and I don't know how to find it out... Alas, it's pitiful to say that I was out of the city on business that day and saw the gang of refugees. They are all laid on the floor beside the canal, surrounded by mosquitoes and flies, good guy, it looks like a mass grave from afar.”

"I think there will be trouble this time. I heard that all the princes in the palace have written petitions for the people, but the sage's anger is broken."

"What's the matter with the saint?"

"The sage wants Tengyunjiao to run all over the place—didn't someone come from the Chu country in the west a few days ago..."

Xifengge is a time-honored brand, not cheap, and most of the diners have a little money - but they are not big people, and the housekeepers of big people are not so talkative outside.Shopkeepers of small merchants, managers of chariots and horses... and so on, they like to get together and discuss some state affairs that are speculative, in order to show that they are well-known and well-informed.

Pang Jian heard the flutter in his left ear and the right ear, he didn't know what to think of, and poured himself a glass of wine slowly, he was a little lost in thought.

At this time, there was a commotion in the street, and someone shouted: "Look, the stars are falling!"

Pang Jian looked at the reputation, and several meteors flew across the sky quickly and fell to the horizon.

In the Chengjing Hall of Qianxiu Temple, General Zhi looked at Xi Ping's jet train-like back, couldn't help being happy, and took a cup of tea from Elder Su: "Pang Wenchang is really a wonderful person."

Elder Su said: "Wenchang was brought up by me. I know him. He is very unruly. After the person who looks down on him is perfunctory in person, he can't even remember his face when he turns his head. If he didn't value it, he wouldn't do these small tricks." - whose family is this young master?"

These two look like a grandfather and a grandson. In terms of seniority, Su Zhun is just an enlightened monk from the outer sect, so he has to respectfully call Zhixiu "Master Uncle".But the two of them talked with ease, as if they had been friends for many years.

"An upstart with no foundation, but with a simple background. I got involved in an incident earlier, and I think I have the right temper with Xiao Pang. It is also the little Pang Ti who added him to the recruitment list. The Tianji Pavilion probably wants to reserve someone. ... But there really was him, and he picked it up before the inner door was picked." Zhi Xiu laughed, "You brought out that little Pang, why did I ask him if he wanted to accept the invitation order?" When you were young, he spoke in exactly the same tone as you did when you were young."

Su Zhun looked a little weird for a moment: "Ask him if he wants to accept the invitation... I said, little uncle, are you going too far?"

Zhi Xiu was puzzled: "Huh?"

"Wenchang didn't come from Qianxiu Temple, but because of an accident, his spiritual orifice was opened. I feel sorry for him. It was because of your inner sect guarantee that he was allowed to enter Tianji Pavilion as a registered disciple." Su Zhun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You wrote a letter casually and left it behind. That child put your letter of guarantee and carried it with you. He was so grateful that he sold his life to Tianji Pavilion. Several times his life was hanging by a thread and his colleagues snatched it back. Burning to the point of confusion, and still clutching your letter of guarantee and saying 'I'm sorry for General Zhi', you really... how can you test people's hearts like this?"

Zhi Xiu was a little embarrassed: "I didn't know there was such a relationship... He didn't say anything, I'm fine, and I'm not just spying on anyone's ins and outs."

"Why," Su Zhun glanced at him, "the rumors are true, one less of the four major regrets in Xuanyin Mountain?"

Zhi Xiu: "What are you preaching? What are the 'Four Great Regrets'?"

"It's rumored that you're finally going to accept disciples, little uncle—the closed disciple of Great Elder Si Ming, Master Feiqiong Peak, and the sword cultivators of the entire sect are jealous for being the first disciple of Feiqiong Peak. You're good, accept it." Feiqiong Peak, the mountain seal has not been opened for 30 years, and I live in a thatched hut at the foot of the mountain, and I don’t mention the matter of accepting apprentices. "The little master does not accept apprentices." The lord does not speak, and Princess Duanrui does not wear colorful clothes' and call Xuanyin the four major regrets, haven't you heard of it?"

"Where are you going?" Zhi Xiu frowned, "Please tell me, don't spread this word any more. I'm worthless, so I arrange it casually, but I shouldn't be disrespectful to Senior Sister Duan Rui."

Su Zhun asked: "Why, do you really want to recruit apprentices? Don't want a mountain of talented swordsmen, just want a blank sheet of paper and teach from scratch?"

"I haven't understood the world yet, so how can I be qualified to preach to others?" Zhi Xiu took a sip of tea and waved his hand, "Sister Duan Rui will come over in a few days and open the class to teach the "Youxuan Sutra" to the disciples. "."

"What? Princess Duanrui!" Su Zhun was taken aback, and couldn't help but sit upright, "In Qianxiu Temple, apart from Senior Brother Zhuji, we are the only half-immortals who can receive that old ancestor. Not enough."

"I know, didn't I come here early to greet you?" Zhi Xiu said, "I am the main recruiter for this class of disciples, so it would be impolite not to come as a companion."

"Is it the 'Bitan Peak' of the eldest princess who is targeting this new class of disciples?" Su Zhun said, "But I heard that the old ancestor went to retreat in order to achieve 'Ascension to Consummation'?"

Zhi Xiu narrowed his eyes slightly: "Well, it's out."

"This... she can't retreat for a hundred years, right? Is it a little hasty?"

"There's nothing you can do about it because of the situation," Zhi Xiu shook his head, he wasn't used to talking about others behind his back, he didn't say much, he just said after a moment of silence, "Mingyi, think about it now, you insisted not to enter the inner sect back then. Alright, let’s get rid of demons and defend the Tao in the human world, wish for 200 years, and then find a clean place to retire..."

Su Zhun smiled and said: "Stop talking nonsense, why don't I join the inner sect? It's the inner sect who doesn't want me. If the inner sect gives me a look, I'll pack up and roll over by myself... Sigh, but then again, you don't intend to Accepting disciples, presiding over what kind of general election? It has been many years since the master of Shengling Peak has left the mountain. You don’t know, because you presided over the general election, Senior Brother Luo is afraid that the poor grades of this year’s disciples will hurt your face, and he intends to force them to death. They must all open their spiritual apertures."

"Hey... that's not necessary. I was ordered by my master to deal with an evil cultivator, and bring back the candidate disciple so as not to bother others." The matter of repairing "Tai Sui" was mentioned, "This person was born out of nowhere and disturbed the 'sea of ​​stars', so he must get rid of it."

Su Zhun was shocked after hearing this: "What did you say? Tai Sui? Is there really Tai Sui in this world? You have seen it!"

Zhi Xiu was stunned: "Why, you know?"

"I've heard of this name," Su Zhun said hesitantly, "but...that's not a human being either."

"What is not a person?"

"It's... a totem, an imaginary evil god." Su Zhun said, "The folk evil spirits are scarce in resources, and they are easy to hug, you know that."

Zhi Xiu nodded.

"They have all kinds of paths, and being together is mutual benefit and mutual assistance. There are very few leaders who are convinced by everyone, so they often fabricate gods such as 'Queen Mother of the West' and 'Tai Sui Xingjun', and worship together at gatherings. One obeisance... that is a ceremony, obeisance means that we are all the same. When I was in Tianji Pavilion, I caught a group of evil spirits who worshiped 'Tai Sui'."

Zhi Xiu: "If the fire doesn't go away, the sound of cicadas is endless."

"Yes, that's the sentence!" Su Zhun said, "'Tai Sui' is a wooden shrine! Why, they made the shrine alive?"

The two looked at each other with serious expressions on their faces.

Su Zhun asked again: "You said he disturbed the 'Xing Chen Hai', what happened?"

"Sea of ​​Stars" is an abyss and impasse in the Xuanyin Mountains, it is said that one can glimpse fate.

But the fate is so mysterious that those who watch the sky will be trapped inside if they are not careful, and there will be no place to bury them, so Xuanyin Mountain expressly prohibits disciples from entering.Except for Zhang Jue, the great elder of Si Ming, even the Master of Shengling Peak, if there is no call, is only allowed to go to the Sea of ​​Stars once every ten years, and it must not exceed half a stick of incense at a time, let alone spy on his own life.

Zhi Xiu said: "Xingchenhai summoned Zhaoting and gave a vague direction to the 'Dragon Vein'. When I took Zhaoting down, I saw turbid air turbulence near Jinping... It was the meaning of evil spirits. The turbulence was not severe At that time, we all thought that it should be in the middle and late stage of foundation establishment, but since Xingchenhai was alarmed, this person must have some evil ways, just to be on the safe side, my master let me go."

"Even Xingchenhai didn't see that evil cultivation?"

"Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't ask Da to go alone. I don't care if I live or die. Jinping's population of millions is not a joke." Zhi Xiu frowned and said, "But that 'half-step cicada slough' is too watery. I have seen Senior Sister Duan Rui instructing her own disciples to suppress their cultivation to the spirit aperture stage, and the foundation-establishing disciples still have no strength to fight back--that evil cultivator was able to be attacked by Xiao Pang walking alone in the world with a mortal child. But he The cultivation base is indeed in the late stage of Ascension...to me, it feels a bit like the cultivation base of a pile of pills."

"The elixir is sand, and it can be piled up like a chicken coop and a pigsty to reach the sky, but it can't build a building," Su Zhun said, "If the elixir can be piled up to ascend the spirit, how many peak masters does Xuanyin have?"

"I know that..." Zhi Xiuxiu was about to say something, when suddenly, a small bell rang in the quiet and clear hall.

In the small courtyard, all the idle rice boys turned around and faced the window collectively, looking up at the sky.

Su Zhun turned back and pushed open the window of Chengjing Hall.

Meteors are like arrows, piercing the quiet night sky.

"How is it so good, the stars in the southern sky have fallen?" Su Zhun murmured, "It's an ominous sign."

The author has something to say:

I can't write anymore...

The currency purchasing power and exchange system is roughly like this:

One copper coin and two cakes (dead noodles and no meat), just ordering water is enough for a meal, and there will be discounts at night if they are not sold out.

There are [-] copper coins = one tael of silver

12 taels of silver = one tael of gold.