Chapter 90: An old rogue
The sun sets in the west, and the clouds are shining.
The four people landed in front of the mountain village. There are bluestones, yellow earth and black tiles, and there is smoke rising vertically, mixing into the mountain mist.
The proprietress said that this is a spiritual place, which is true. It is almost a natural place for gathering spirits, and the feng shui is excellent.
Lin Du felt the spiritual energy around him. Although it cannot be compared with the spiritual veins buried by the Supreme Sect, it is still much richer than the thin spiritual energy along the way.
It is the time for cattle and sheep to return to the fold, and there is no need to drive them. A few yellow cattle just happened to come down from the mountain.
Someone came out of the house and shouted loudly incomprehensible calls. There seemed to be a stream not far away, and silver bells were ringing. There was a girl singing a ditty, clear and melodious, just like the gurgling of a stream.
The singing was getting closer and closer. The four of them looked at the same time. The last bit of sunset light before the distant mountains disappeared turned into the golden edges on the girl's collar and pleated skirt.
Lin Du suddenly looked at Tao Xian thoughtfully. When the sunset light falls into people's eyes, it becomes divine.
"Excuse me, young lady, is this Qinglu Village?" Tao Xian asked for directions unconsciously.
The girl had a red face and her eyebrows were moist and sweet. She tilted her head and smiled, "Yes, do you want to stay overnight?"
"We are here to look for someone, Grandma Ma. I wonder if she is still in the village?"
The girl tilted her head, "Grandma Ma? She should still be at the home of a pregnant woman in the village, but I don't know which one."
"Are there many pregnant people in the village?" Lin Du asked casually.
"Spring is coming soon, it's time." The girl didn't seem to understand what Lin Du said, but she smiled again after touching Lin Du's face.
"You are so beautiful, as beautiful as the Moon Goddess! I think the Moon Goddess was born to look like you when she was young?"
Lin Du was stunned, then lowered his eyes and smiled, "Then I am marrying up."
The customs record records that the gods worshipped by the villages in western Yunnan are different. Mountains, water, wind, thunder, and everything have gods.
"If she wears a white robe, she will look more like it." The girl gestured, "But she also looks like it in a green robe. She looks like the incarnation of the Moon Vine."
Xia Tianwu's eyes flickered when he heard this, "Excuse me, young lady. I am a medical practitioner and I am particularly interested in plants. What kind of plant is this Moon Vine? Can you teach me about it?"
"You don't even know what Moon Vine is? This is a sacred object that represents the Moon God. Wherever the Moon Vine grows, it will be blessed by the Moon God. If..."
The girl suddenly smiled shyly, "Whoever's bedside is landed on by the Moon Vine's flowers, that person will be the Moon God's bride..."
"Wanxia! What are you doing there? Why don't you come back?"
Someone called out from behind. The girl turned around suddenly and waved her hands. "I know. I'm back!"
She turned around and smiled at the four people. "I have to go back first. Goodbye, strangers."
The girl's skirt fluttered, and the silver bells on her feet left tiny sounds in the air, like a little peacock going away.
Lin Du stroked the Fusheng fan, thinking, "This Moon God is an old rogue."
Flowers are the reproductive organs of plants.
Sending flowers to the bedside is really too straightforward.
"Do the gods worshipped by these villages really exist?" Mo Lin frowned, always feeling that there was something strange in the girl's words.
They are Taoists who believe in their own way, which is different from the direct worship of gods in this village.
Everyone has their own way.
"If it exists, it probably won't be a true god." Lin Du pondered for a moment, "But those who are higher and stronger than humans are also gods to them, which is not wrong."
What kind of good god would interfere in the affairs of a village in the spirit world and brazenly act like a hooligan and rob a woman?
The bride of a god doesn't sound like a good thing for a girl.
The four people walked into the village and stood in front of a courtyard with bluestones piled up to ask about Granny Ma.
"You ask Granny Ma? She is probably resting at the village chief's place now."
"It's the beginning of spring now, it's the right time."
The man stood in the yard, with a child of seven or eight years old running behind him.
"It's... when?" Tao Xian asked.
"It's the time for the next generation in our village to sprout." The man smiled, "Why are you looking for Granny Ma?"
"We're looking for her to seek medical advice." Lin Du interrupted, "Excuse me, auntie, where is the village chief's house?"
"It's at the very back, near the Moon Well."
Lin Du thanked him and led the people inside. Along the way, they could still smell the pungent smell of chili oil and the sound of spatulas, which almost covered up the crying.
Xia Tianwu and Lin Du looked at the family at the same time.
The family was quiet, with no signs of cooking, only crying.
"Why, why is it a girl?" "
I don't want a girl. If it's a boy, there's still a chance to leave this village, but..."
The woman's crying continued intermittently, and was soon interrupted by a male voice that was suppressing anger.
"Don't talk nonsense. What's wrong with the girl? She was favored by the Moon Goddess! Besides, I have never left the village. What's wrong?"
Xia Tian frowned. Tao Xian tilted his head and saw that Lin Du did not stop. He even smiled when he met his eyes. He held a heavy iron folding fan in one hand. Because it was hanging straight down at his side, the veins on the back of his hand were slightly raised.
As they walked along, they found a well. There was a circle of vines around the well, winding and twisting, green and almost black. There was a layer of mist-like stuff on it, which made the whole vine a bit weird gray. White flower buds were scattered on the vine, which seemed a bit translucent in the sunset.
Xia Tianwu paused, turned around and whispered to Lin Du, "It's the vine in Granny Ma's courtyard. Although it looks a little different, it's indeed the same smell. I won't mistake it."
Lin Du narrowed his eyes. This layout...
If this vine was originally there, it was really a blessing from heaven.
"What's wrong? Is there anything strange?"
"Just looking at the layout along the way, it's a natural Yin-gathering and soul-trapping formation. This Inoue vine is the pulse of the formation." Lin Du paused, "It may not be correct."
Natural formations are rare. Lin Du has learned the basic 49 formations and the incomplete 10 formations of the ancient times. He is now learning the large volume of the collection of 108 formations.
The 108 formations are what all formation masters in the cultivation world must master. If one can master the 108 formations and can set up and carve formations, one can already have a place in the formation master alliance.
I don't know if it's because he has counted the ancient formations, but Lin Du learned the 108 formations very quickly. Now he has only the less used formations at the end that he hasn't finished learning and memorizing.
Xia Tianwu didn't care about Lin Du's words "may not be right". The guesses of the junior master uncle have never been wrong, not to mention the formations.
She pondered for a moment, "From what Junior Master said, do you think this vine came later?"
"It's just a suspicion, not necessarily correct."
Lin Du glanced at the array in his hand that detected Yin Qi. The pointer had already soared to more than half, indicating that the Yin Qi was extremely heavy, but because it was mixed with the fragrant spiritual energy and close to the mountains, it was difficult for cultivators to detect it with only the five senses.
"It could also be natural. This village might be a good place to raise corpse puppets."
Xia Tianwu's face condensed and he looked at the door of the village chief's courtyard.
Tao Xian and Mo Lin were already standing outside the village chief's courtyard and calling for the door.
The courtyard was very clean and bright, but it was not more spacious and luxurious than the courtyards of other villagers along the way. At a glance, they were all the same. A girl was sitting in it, smiling very sweetly at a basin of water.
Tao Xian explained his purpose, but the girl didn't seem to listen. The washing things in her hands were dripping.
Soon, a middle-aged woman with a slightly protruding belly came down from the inner room. She held her waist and looked at the people outside the courtyard gate, "Are you here to see Granny Ma? Please come in."
The group came in and entered the main hall. They saw a black-haired old woman sitting at one side of the square table, and an old man sitting next to her, but no young man.
Xia Tianwu smelled the light flower fragrance on the old woman again.
She calmly pressed on the jade belt around her waist and watched Mo Lin come forward to explain his purpose.
"I am Mo Lin, a disciple of the Supreme Sect. I encountered an evil sect that eats human blood. When I attacked, I was accidentally poisoned by a snake. I have heard of your great name for a long time. I came here today to ask you to diagnose and treat me."