Chapter 133 Winter Solstice Performance
In the blink of an eye, the weather is getting colder and colder, from autumn to winter, it is bitterly cold.
It was a difficult year. Summer floods dealt a heavy blow to agriculture in the south, while the north also suffered from severe drought.
This is not difficult to understand. The water dragon that was supposed to move north was trapped in the south, and heavy rain fell from the sky.
Firstly, it was too late when it went north, and secondly, a large amount of moisture was lost in the south. Even though it was later sent to the north by the gods, it was still not enough to match the amount of rain in the past.
There were both floods and droughts during the lean period, and bitter cold in winter, leaving the new emperor with a huge mess.
The hardships of people's lives are far worse than before.
This is a sign of the world changing. It's not just Gong Mengbi who feels this way. Even other foxes will inadvertently say, "Times are tough, and the good times are gone."
Foxes also need to eat, drink, and make a living in the human world. The harder their lives are, the more devoutly the people worship the gods.
Perhaps there is no way out in the human world, so we have to seek help from gods and Buddhas.
Even gods and Buddhas don't eat, but foxes do. Even foxes have a hard time these days, and even with their little tricks, they can hardly make a living.
The winter solstice is here in a blink of an eye.
The fox yard was decorated with lights and colorful lanterns.
Ning Caichen and Ma Junji returned home on holiday to celebrate the festival with their families. Gong Mengbi offered them a very high monthly salary, which was enough to improve their lives and allow them to concentrate on their studies.
How could a teacher, unable to make a living, have the energy to teach his students? Gong Mengbi only wanted them to do their best, so he was not stingy with money. He even gave them gifts during festivals.
This winter solstice, each person received an extra half month's salary.
During such a big festival, the homeless foxes celebrated in the fox yard.
After more than five months of study, from June to November, these foxes have become very different from before.
Gong Mengbi has a good way of teaching, and does not just limit himself to imparting knowledge.
What he has always been doing is to broaden the fox's horizons and enlighten his mind.
If one has a narrow vision, he will exhaust his life's energy on petty pursuits. How can he have any extra energy to see the wider world?
If a fox's cultivation stops at the outer level, its life span will not be long. Only when it reaches a higher level will its life span increase significantly.
If one does not practice cultivation, then the trivialities of daily life will be enough to cause the fox to decline day by day, until there is no point in retreating, and he dies from his old age or from a disaster.
It is often said that foxes have to go through nine tribulations in their practice. In fact, it is not that they are destined to go through nine tribulations before they can achieve enlightenment, but that practice is not easy and they will encounter various difficulties.
Those wild fox cultivators are ignorant and don't even know what is important and what is unimportant. They wander around in the human world. The lucky ones may achieve something, but most of them disappear without a trace.
In Fox Court, Gong Mengbi taught them how to advance and retreat, what is beneficial and what is harmful, communicated experiences, shared knowledge, and taught them how to practice, and gradually the atmosphere was naturally reversed.
Of course, necessary discipline is indispensable, but they must also be convinced by the reasons and benefits.
The fate of quite a number of foxes naturally disintegrated during this period of practice. The enrichment of their horizons and the change of their mentality even resolved many bad karmas.
From the initial transformation into human form to influencing people, and then to the current worship of heaven and gods, absorbing energy and preserving spirit, the fox is becoming more and more like a human, getting rid of the temperament of wild beasts, and gradually developing human aura.
This popularity was mostly gained from the two teachers. Even Ning Caichen and Ma Junji themselves often couldn't tell whether the ones they were teaching were foxes or humans.
When Gong Mengbi heard them sigh like this, he would often ask with a smile: "To Heaven, what is not human?"
From a human's perspective, perhaps looking different doesn't make them human. But from Heaven's perspective, humans are humans, and foxes are humans too; there's no distinction.
Whether someone is a human being or not is obviously not determined by appearance.
For the foxes, feasting is essential for celebrating the winter solstice. Although they don’t have the cooking skills of Fatty Kang, they can still make edible meals.
However, the most important thing about the fox was not the banquet, but the performance in front of the god that Gong Mengbi requested.
On the day of the winter solstice, rituals are performed in front of the Goddess of Mount Tai to express gratitude.
Because of this incident, all the foxes were in a tense and exciting atmosphere.
Fox spirits can be seen everywhere, either calling the wind, or driving away animals, or transforming themselves, all performing rituals in preparation for the gods.
Only the fox prisoner in charge of the banquet showed an envious and pitiful look.
Before the night banquet performance, Gong Mengbi received greetings from afar.
There was a wisp of elegant floral fragrance lingering around him. Gong Mengbi smiled knowingly, found a quiet room, closed his eyes and responded to the call.
The room was filled with sweet fragrance, the warmth of the fire and the scent of flowers. It was Liang Ji who invited me.
Gong Mengbi transformed himself with the scent, looked at Liang Ji and Liu Sheng, and said with a gentle smile, "I'm relieved to see that everything is going well for you."
Liang Ji smiled and said, "Brother, you've been running around all these days. I've made some progress in making the Lengxiang Pills. Since it's a festive occasion, I'd like to invite Brother Gong to come and get together."
Ever since the incident in which the ghosts and gods from the capital city came to investigate the death of the City God of Wuning County was settled, Liu Sheng has been wandering around with Liang Ji, trying to collect the flowers of the four seasons and the rain of the four festivals.
The most difficult one was the white peony, because the season had passed, so I asked Granny Shi for divination and found it in a valley before the flowers withered.
Later, when Grandma Shi passed away, it was Gong Mengbi who observed the celestial phenomena and calculated the cause and effect to guide them out of the maze.
Liang Ji has gathered the four kinds of water vapor: rain from the Rain Water Festival, dew from the White Dew Festival, frost from the Frost Descent Festival, and snow from the Light Snow Festival.
Among the four elite flowers, the white peony, white lotus and white hibiscus have all been refined, leaving only the white plum blossom.
Although the past six months have been tiring, both Liu Sheng and Liang Ji enjoyed it.
Liu Sheng's originally decadent and dilapidated body and martial arts became even stronger. Liang Ji's popularity and cold fragrance were enough to make her visible in broad daylight, without fear of sunlight.
Gong Mengbi sat with them for a while before giving them instructions: "You should go to Dalei Mountain. Dalei Mountain has plum blossoms planted by Senior Qi Xiu, including many white plums. They are blessed with the spiritual energy of the mountain and are worth using."
Liu Sheng took out the letter of introduction hidden in his bundle. This was something Gong Mengbi had asked for from Granny Shi. Elder Qi Xiu was originally from Qingxu Monastery, and Granny Shi had always had a good relationship with Qingxu Monastery, so recommending someone to practice cultivation was not a problem.
Gong Mengbi took the letter and thought of Grandma Shi, feeling a little melancholy for a moment.
Gong Mengbi did not stay long. Now that he was affected by the fragrance, he could not eat or drink, and it would also waste Liang Ji's magic power. Therefore, he said goodbye soon and prepared to perform magic at the night banquet.
At night, Gong Mengbi led the foxes to offer sacrifices to the Goddess of Mount Tai and the Jade Fairy Goddess.
It was freezing cold, and the foxes that appeared were now wearing thick coats.
Even Gong Mengbi was wearing a fiery red cloak, hiding his white winter clothes underneath.
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