Chapter 167: Opera in the Barren Mountain (Thanks to the leader of the "Bachelor A" group) "This believer, do you know where Shimen Mountain is?" "Brother, I want to ask you for directions to Shimen Mountain." "This escort leader has traveled a lot, so he must have seen a lot. Does he know how to get to Shimen Mountain?" "You are such a thief, how dare you! Fortunately, I am kindhearted. If you knew how to get to Shimen Mountain, I would give you a quick death!" "That black dog! Come here! Chuchu~" "Old man, have you heard of Shimen Mountain?" The third senior brother asked countless people for directions on the official road before finally someone found one who had heard of Shimen Mountain. He was an old man carrying a load on his shoulder. Some vegetable shreds could be seen stuck between the bamboo strips in the load. He must be carrying the vegetables to the city to sell, and was stopped by the third senior brother. "Shimen Mountain..."

The old man looked thoughtful: "But what about the Shimen Mountain where a strange boy was born?" "We don't know either. We just arrived here, but I don't think there is another Shimen Mountain in Biluo County." The third brother bowed and said, "If this is Biluo County, then it must be there." "Why isn't it Biluo County?" "Please show me the way, old man." "Along here..." The old man pointed ahead and said a few words, then turned around and saw that they were a group of Taoists. He wanted to be kind to them, so he withdrew his hand: "It's hard to explain it clearly. I happen to be going in that direction too, so please follow me. I'll show you the direction when we reach the fork in the road." “Thank you for your kindness!” "No thanks, no thanks..." "It's troublesome for believers to carry an empty load. Since it's not very heavy, just put it on our cart." "No trouble, no trouble..." The father-in-law politely refused, and the third brother could see it, so he reached out to take his shoulder pole and put both the load and the bamboo basket on the cart. Although it doesn't weigh much, it is always more comfortable to do it with bare hands than to carry something on your shoulders. Both parties provide convenience to each other. Relax and chat. "The old man just said that someone in Shimen Mountain gave birth to a strange boy. What does that mean?" The third senior brother looked back at the fourth and second senior brothers and asked. "That is, at the foot of Shimen Mountain, there is a village. Someone gave birth to a baby boy. They were very happy. But soon after he was born, the boy could speak, and he spoke fluently, just like an adult. He also said where his family originally lived, what his name was, and that he had a wife. Don't you think it's magical?" Lin Jue listened silently and became interested. The little sister beside her looked down at the road, but she didn't stop walking. She found a small branch with a bent top from somewhere, stuck the bent end of the branch on the ground, and pushed the branch as she walked.

"Swish..." Draw a thin line on the ground all the way. She looked focused, as if she was immersed in it. Only the fox noticed the subtle changes in Lin Jue's heart. It was trotting in front of him with small steps, but suddenly stopped and looked at Lin Jue first, then at the old man. "Fuyao, please make way." The little sister lowered her head and said, "The cart I push might hit you later." The fox tilted his head and looked at her again. "Is there really such a thing?" The fourth brother said to the father-in-law. "That's what's being said, so it's probably true. I'm afraid the gods in charge of these things underground must have made a mistake. People say that gods nowadays are becoming less and less effective, and the big gods are not as effective as the small gods." The old man was afraid of delaying them, so he walked quickly, swinging his arms, and said as he walked: "Shimen Mountain is very far from the official road. If I hadn't heard about this incident, and I asked where that place was adjacent to, I'm afraid I wouldn't know." "What happens after that?" "What can we do next? We finally gave birth to a boy, are we going to send him back?" said my father-in-law. "Someone who knows about these things said that although this kind of thing doesn't happen often, it's not rare. There are similar things recorded in many books. When the baby grows up, he will forget these things and become just like ordinary people. And some babies will be smarter than ordinary ones." “Mostly, it is.” "Really? If it were me, I wouldn't send the child back either. After all, he's my own child, isn't he?" "I have heard of similar stories as well." Fourth Senior Brother said, "In my hometown, a woman died and came back to life a few days later. But after she came back to life, she said she was someone from the neighboring village. She had just married two years ago. She was working in the fields and it was too hot, so she fainted. When she woke up, she became this woman. Both women were married. The family was scared and went to the neighboring village to inquire. As a result, everything was exactly the same as what the woman said. Later, the husband's family in the neighboring village heard about it and came to fight for this woman." "What to do then?" "What else can we do? We can file a lawsuit." The fourth brother said, "In the end, the county magistrate also ruled that she should belong to the family of the physical body." "Why?" "Because the soul is illusory, officials cannot judge its authenticity, but the flesh can tell the authenticity at a glance. If we don't judge it this way, many people will pretend that the soul is illusory and change themselves from one person's wife to another's wife, or change husbands, or do other things. That would disrupt the etiquette and the moral principles." "Oh that makes sense." "It's probably the same. No one is willing to abandon their own children, and no one is willing to abandon their wives and concubines." "Where are you going, Taoist priests..." "Oh, we are originally Taoists from Mount Yi. We came down from the mountain to look for a way out." "Yishan..." The two sides chatted with each other for a while, and before they had gone far, the old man stopped and pointed to a small path: "Several Taoist priests walked along this path for five miles without turning in the middle. After passing a towering tree, turn right after one mile and find a way down the mountain at the edge of the cliff. After reaching the river, turn left and climb a mountain when the river is about to turn. Follow the path and climb two more mountains. You can see several villages. If you can see another big mountain, it should be Shimen Mountain. These are all small paths and are very difficult to find." After everyone heard this, they looked at each other. This pile of descriptions alone is hard to remember and find, and it’s a small path, and the old man himself is not sure of his wording.

But that’s how it is these days. Therefore, it is difficult to deliver messages and find the way. They had no choice but to ask the old man to say it again. Everyone tried hard to write it down, then took the shoulder pole and handed it back to him, thanking him and saying goodbye. Looking at this path again, it is only two or three feet wide, and in late spring, the grass is lush and covers a lot of the path. No matter what, this cart can't move. Many fellow disciples looked at each other and had to unload their luggage from the cart. There happened to be a dense forest beside the official road, so they lifted the cart and hid it deep in the forest. To prevent it from being lost, Lin Jue asked his fox to make a fox paw mark on it so that it would be easier to find if lost. Then they carried their luggage on their backs or put them on the backs of horses or donkeys and took to the path. The little sister was very diligent and wanted to carry more, but the brothers did not allow her to do so, so she had to carry her own luggage and sword. She took a look at the path and saw that it was relatively flat, so she continued to push the branch forward. Don't underestimate this branch—— The little junior sister can concentrate on everything she does. This place is another four or five hundred miles away from Qiuru County where the sixth senior brother left behind. The senior brothers have to walk an average of a hundred miles every day. The journey is boring. If Caili hadn't accompanied her to play, or if the senior brothers hadn't talked to her about the scenery along the way, she would have walked here so attentively most of the time. As long as you focus, you won’t feel tired or bored at all. You can even forget about time. We walked forward for about five miles and indeed saw a towering tree. However, after passing the tree, there were many forks in the road. Estimating that it was about a mile away, everyone discussed and found one of the two roads going to the right. Fortunately, they reached the edge of the cliff. With the help of the fourth brother's friend, they got down the cliff and found the river, groping their way forward. It's really a groping process. It was clearly daytime, but in this completely unfamiliar mountain area, it felt like being in the dark. At first there were some farmlands and houses around. But as we walked further, there were only barren mountains all around and even people asking for directions could not be seen. I saw it getting dusk, and then I saw it getting dark. "Are we going astray?" “Walk five miles without turning in the middle, and you will reach a towering tree. After one mile, turn right, go down the mountain when you reach the cliff, and turn left when you reach the river. Climb the mountain when you turn, and cross two mountains in a row. There will be a village and a mountain.” The little sister held her precious sword in one hand and carried the branch on her shoulder with the other, carrying them in a very formal manner. "That should be correct." At this time, everyone had already climbed two mountains, but there was no village in sight around them, and it was even more invisible after dark. "Let me ask a friend for directions." The fourth brother frowned and said, then suddenly looked around and shouted, "Are there any birds or animals nearby that haven't rested yet?" "Cuckoo..." A night owl flew silently and landed on a nearby branch. Then the fourth brother bowed to him and said, "Oh, I am the Taoist Hu Mengjin from Fuqiu Temple in Yishan. I would like to ask you, Taoist friend, where is the house nearby?" Lin Jue's eyes lit up.

It turns out that gathering beasts and training birds has this wonderful use. "Gu..." After hearing his words, the Night Owl spread its wings and flew away. With the little light left in the sky, they could see the direction it was flying, and they hurriedly headed in that direction. When it was completely dark, the bright moon rose again in the mountains. Hard to find, hard to find. At some point, the night owl also disappeared. The good news is that human figures can occasionally be seen on the roadside, which means that we are not far from where the villagers live. The bad news is that these figures are all lonely ghosts in the mountains. However, when people die, they become ghosts, and most ghosts are weaker than humans. Ordinary people traveling in groups of two or three or four or five can avoid being harassed by ghosts, and even make many ghosts retreat on their own initiative, let alone seven Taoist priests with great skills. But as I walked, I discovered something strange—— There was actually a ghost traveling with them. "..." The many Taoists did not say anything, nor did they use magic immediately. Instead, they looked at each other. At first, they suspected that these ghosts were plotting against them, but after careful observation, they found that although they were walking with them, they were walking in front of them or behind them. Some of the ghosts were even timid and did not dare to walk on the same road with them, so they walked through the wasteland on the left and right. They looked aggrieved and pitiful, and they felt bad for them. The light is dim at night, and these ghosts are blurry, making it even harder to see them clearly. One could only vaguely discern that some of the ghosts were in a daze, as if they had no consciousness, and looked like candles in the wind, while some were more focused and would secretly look at them, as if they were afraid of being discovered by them. There were even two ghosts around them making unclear sounds, as if they were whispering about them. The many Taoists looked at each other again. The junior sister couldn't help but look at Lin Jue. The fox looked up at the ghosts one by one. It didn't feel any threat, so its eyes were full of curiosity. It even turned its head to listen to what they said. "Excuse me, where are you going?" Suddenly, the voice of the third senior brother was heard. "!" The two ghosts who were talking shuddered, as if they didn't know they could see themselves. They looked at each other as if shocked, and suddenly disappeared. Many Taoists looked at the third senior brother. Even foxes are like this. "Hey! These cowards, we only allow them to peek at us, and they will talk non-stop when we look at them! We only allow them to talk, and they will run away when we talk!" The third brother grinned, "They are really just like some people in the world." "They must be going somewhere, let's go and take a look." The second brother said thoughtfully. "Well, it just so happens that we are all heading in the same direction." The fourth brother nodded.

"It just so happens that we can't find a place to stay tonight." said the fifth brother. “Fuyao…” Lin Jue was just about to ask Fu Yao to go see what was ahead when he saw his own fox seemed to have sensed something. It raised its head and stretched its neck, looking ahead intently. Then, without waiting for him to say anything, it leaped forward lightly, appearing as a light and slender white shadow under the moonlight in the mountains. He stopped and turned around, looking back at everyone under the moon. Everyone followed him. The mountains were originally quiet, but there were some sounds of blowing in the wind. After walking for a while, I heard human voices, humming with ups and downs. "Theatrical troupe?" Senior Brother Seven is an expert. After crossing a hill, the front suddenly opened up and under the moonlight, there was a flat wasteland. But in this flat wasteland, there was a simple stage with bright red lanterns lit, dozens of benches below, and three or two figures above, singing loudly. The voice suddenly became clear. Are they really performing an opera? It is true that they were human beings, but in the middle of the night, in the wilderness, someone actually set up a stage to perform a play. It was even an opera that Senior Brother Seven had heard before. He was already tired after walking all day, but when he heard the opera he became energized and even started to sing along, shaking his head. The many Taoists looked at each other again. (End of this chapter)