Nightmare Apostle

As the team approached, Yang Xiao and his team saw clearly that they were a team of people carrying red lanterns, walking out of the thick fog in such a strange way.

It looks like a ghost, and in the middle of the team is holding a square wooden sign, which is half a man tall, with a bright red word "Longevity" written on it.

"Longevity sticker." Xiang Fengchen recognized the longevity plaque and also recognized the origin of this pedestrian. "This is someone who wants to live longer."

"Celebrating your birthday in the middle of the night?" Nalan Shuo frowned slightly.

"Yes, there is no way to celebrate birthdays at this time." Someone behind him agreed. Indeed, although the exact time cannot be determined now, looking at the darkness, it must be late at night. Normal people would definitely not celebrate birthdays at this time.

Moreover, the birthday party should be festive and lively, playing and playing, the more auspicious the better, seeking good luck, but the team that came here exuded an air of death. It was not like celebrating a birthday, but more like a funeral.

"When the soldiers come to cover up the water and the earth, don't panic. Don't open the door first and see what those guys outside are going to do." Nalan Shuo was the first to express his stance. "Don't reply unless Mr. Xiang and I speak. Be careful of being tricked. Take your life away."

"You mean this team of people are here to beg for their lives?" Gong Banlan couldn't hold himself any longer, "Is there something wrong with this temple?"

The rest of the people were too lazy to talk to the dean of the school. It was pointless to discuss the issue of the temple now. After all, they had already entered, and there was no way they could not enter. The area was bare, with only large river beaches and endless thick fog. Either get lost in the mist and freeze to death, or go to the temple to keep warm. There is no third option.

It's too late to leave now. The birthday party has already arrived outside the door. Now we can only take one step at a time. If it doesn't work, we can sacrifice one person. It depends on who is unlucky. We are all old players here, so we can understand.

Listening to the rustling footsteps outside the door, everyone in the temple looked tense and said nothing. It was hard to tell whether the bonfire lighting up behind them betrayed their position.

At this moment, the wet wood in the fire made a crackling sound from time to time, constantly playing with everyone's heartstrings in the silent night.

The next second, there was a "bang" sound outside the door, and the team was neatly separated from the middle. Four men in black clothes carried a heavy chair like a sedan and placed it 5 meters away from the door. The left and right positions, the direction of the chair is facing the temple door.

"The birthday boy is here"

One of the leading men suddenly raised his voice and shouted. The shouting with a drake voice echoed in the night, irritating everyone's eardrums.

Everyone could see clearly that there was nothing on the chair, let alone anyone. Yang Xiao couldn't help but wonder if there was an invisible ghost sitting on it.

The other party didn't dare to come in. Maybe this was the ghost's killing method. As long as anyone answered, the ghost would capture him or lose his mind. In short, the end result would be the same, he would be tied to a chair and carried away. Go and completely disappear from this world.

Judging from the performance of the others, it also confirmed Yang Xiao's guess. Everyone did not answer for fear of being taken away as a scapegoat.

But what he didn't expect was that the team outside was not so easy to deal with. When no one answered, he walked forward and opened the door. It was foggy time, and the cold wind and fog rushed in. The team outside Everyone stood there with an indifferent expression, staring at them. The next second, a figure stepped into the temple door, it was the leading man.

First, he got out of the way and avoided the direction facing the chair. The leading man shouted again to Yang Xiao and his group, his voice getting sharper and sharper, "The birthday boy has arrived." Hearing this one by one, the people present were quite at a loss. Suddenly, the leader Xiang Feng Chen knelt down with a "pop" sound and faced The empty Taishi chair kowtowed, and at the same time imitated the leading man's tone and shouted: "Walk three-three, road three-three, borrow a treasure place, a sacred temple, follow the example of receiving a birthday star, and everyone also knelt down with a cheer. , pointed at the Grand Master's chair, and shouted in imitation of Xiang Fengchen's tone.

Seeing this, the leading man's expression improved slightly. At the same time, he stood up straight and continued to sing: "The sun and the moon are bright, the pines and cranes are everlasting, the chants of a fight are undefeated."

"The pine tree is long, and the flat peach is holding the sun for nine hundred years. I wish to dedicate Nanshan's longevity and prosperity throughout the year." Xiang Fengchen sang immediately.

Unexpectedly, the leading man sneered, "Nine hundred years old is too late. Pine years are long. If you are older than three thousand years old, you will be as old as today."

Hearing this, Xiang Fengchen raised his head and replied quickly: "Shou makes your words noble, and the threshold of the Shou family is high. It is not a public wish to be rich and noble. I only wish that Shou Gong's roots will be strong."

"There is no need to talk about wealth and honor. Thousands of taels of gold are left in the treasury. Tens of thousands of taels of silver are not in the eyes. The longevity star sits high on the Qiongtai, pouring and drinking to put an end to his sorrow."

"The incense of the Shou family is lingering, the blessings of the Shou family are long, the body will grow strong year by year, and the spring grass will grow every year. I am willing to be a house swallow and carry the incense into the house." Xiang Fengchen kowtowed to the Taishi chair again, with a sense of ritual. I did so much that I didn't want to get up for a long time.

From this back and forth, Yang Xiao also picked up some clues. The two of them were facing each other. In the jargon, they were called duets. Although the leading man had been suppressing Xiang Fengchen and rebutting each other, he was actually facing off against Xiang Fengchen, an old man in the world. Very satisfied with the lyrics.

This is a ritual in the process of celebrating a birthday. People who come to celebrate their birthdays say auspicious words, and the person in charge sent by the host family, also known as the birthday envoy, will constantly suppress the auspicious words said by the visitors. The meaning is to express their happiness. Being noble and showing wealth means that the auspicious words you said are not good enough for our family. Our family status and wealth are higher and better than what you said.

He didn't expect to encounter such a thing when he came here. Yang Xiao was secretly frightened. Fortunately, Xiang Fengchen, an old man in the world, was in front of him. Otherwise, this would have ended badly.

There are many subtleties in this libretto, and there are many taboos. If you answer the wrong question, you will be kicked out, or you will inevitably be retaliated after the birthday banquet. This matter is not trivial, and it will ruin the fortune of the birthday star and the longevity family. This is no joke.

After some exchanges, the visitors finally revealed their purpose. It turned out that Yang Xiao and his party were invited as filial guests. The so-called filial guests are people who perform filial piety on behalf of others on certain special occasions. Generally speaking, only the heirs are cut off. Only those who have passed away will invite filial guests to the house. If the house is full of children and grandchildren and you still invite filial guests, the younger generation will be scolded for being unfilial.

Sure enough, after some jargon testing by Xiang Fengchen, it was discovered that this old man who had passed his birthday was very long-lived and had already passed away all his children. The purpose of inviting them here today was to let them dress up as the old man's children and serve him. Happy birthday in front of the hall.

At this moment, Yang Xiao thought of the piece of silk cloth he was wearing. There was a bright red word "Longevity" on the back of the silk cloth. It must have been something like an invitation.

"Shou Shou, may I ask if the birthday star moves from the south to the north and the west river flows to the east?" After standing up, Grandmaster Xiang Fengchen showed his magnanimity and cupped his hands to the leading man while lowering his voice.

This question is very important. The southern star moves north and the west river flows east. It is not a good sign, which means that the good times are coming to an end. In other words, it is a disguised way of asking whether the old man has reached a situation where the oil has run out. After all, Doing longevity at this time is definitely not to ensure longevity, but to increase longevity.

In the eyes of the ancients, every special age will be regarded as a disaster. As the old saying goes, a life span is a threshold. The more famous life spans are 73 and 84. Among them, 73 is the age of Confucius and 84 is the age of Mencius.

For the ancients who advocated the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, these were the two major thresholds for the elderly in their later years. Many elderly people could not pass it. At this time, they needed to use external forces to "break through".

This is especially true for old people who have no children. Such people are usually considered to have lost all their blessings, which is very unlucky and makes it more difficult to pass the threshold.

There are also ways to crack it. The usual way is to find someone to "pretend" as a son or daughter to celebrate your birthday. This way you can deceive the world and show that you have a future, that is, you have good fortune.

This is called "Chong" longevity.

Sure enough, after listening to Xiang Fengchen's words, the longevity envoy didn't hide anything and immediately replied: "The longevity star has his own path to longevity. Those who have lived in the longevity village and heard this will understand it. This is a disguised admission. It seems that At present, the old birthday star's health is very bad.

"Dare I ask how old the birthday girl is now?" Xiang Fengchen asked the most critical question tonight. He was asking the old man how old he was.

But the next second, the leading man arched his body and raised his hand to point in the direction of the horizon, "Reunion in sixties plus thirty-seven years, the ancient and rare double celebration will have another spring and autumn."

Hearing this, Yang Xiao's head buzzed. Sixty years old is 60 years old, double sixty years old is 120 years old, plus thirty-seven years old, it is 21 years old.

Years old, which adds up to 141 years old. Can this old man live such a long life?

And the last sentence really aroused Yang Xiao's suspicion. Ancient Xi Shuangqing will win another Spring and Autumn Period. There is no problem in counting. Ancient Xi is 70.

Shuangqing is 140, and adding another spring and autumn, it is also 141 years old, but the bad thing is the word "rob".

"Securing" another spring and autumn is not something that a normal person who has passed his life would say.

If a living person takes away his life, he will be punished by God.