ring of beasts

Yang Guang did not expect that the old man also worked part-time as a priest and a doctor in the village. These were two highly technical jobs.

In fact, that's right, otherwise how could the old man know and accumulate so many precious medicinal materials?

The visitor repeatedly told the old man that his doll seemed to be evil.

As an educated college student of the new century, Yang Guang finds it hard to believe that there is such a thing as encountering evil spirits. But he has become a cultivator and has encountered zombies, so what else can he not accept?

Yang Guang followed the old man to the middle-aged man's home.

A little boy was lying naked on an unclean earthen kang. His eyes were wide open but dull, his lips were parted in a silly smile, and drool was dripping down his cheeks and onto the pillow.

Yang Guang also saw this child during the day, and Yang Guang gave him some candies and biscuits. He was a very shy little boy.

The child's mother, with tears in her eyes, told the old man how the child had become evil.

The child was so excited today that he still didn't go to bed when it got dark and was playing in the fields not far from home.

Later, the child's mother saw that the child was touched by a black shadow who did not know whether it was a bobcat or a fox, and the child fainted.

Until now, I still look like this stupid person.

The old man tried to call the little boy's name, but the child didn't respond.

He was definitely not asleep or in a coma, because his eyes were blinking. He was definitely not a fool, because Yang Guang gave him something in the afternoon.

The old man opened his eyelids again and felt his pulse.

"I'm possessed by evil spirits," the old man said with certainty.

"Second Grandpa, please think of a way to save the baby," the child's mother cried.

"We must rescue him. Go home and get your things. You go collect firewood and light the stove." After the old man gave the order, he returned to his home in a hurry and confusion.

The child's parents quickly found some firewood and straw and started burning the stove.

The stoves here are not like the briquette stoves in the city.

Instead, it was a one-meter-square stove made of stone. The large pots on the stove were fixed. Because the children's parents didn't know what the old man was doing with the stove, they had to add some boiling water to the pot.

After a while, the fire in the stove was burning brightly.

By this time the old man had come back with his own tools.

An iron rod half a meter long and thick with arms. But this iron rod is not an ordinary iron rod, but similar to an ancient weapon called a "whip". The last part of the weapon, where the hand is held, is unknown.

What material is it wrapped in?

There is also a hat with chicken feathers all around it and a red cloak.

The old man put the weapon in the mouth of the stove and burned it with the firewood.

Then he put on his hat and cloak.

After a while, the entire weapon was burned red.

The old man held the wrapped end and pulled out the iron rod from the furnace mouth.

Then, the old man walked quickly to the child's bed.

He took the red-hot iron rod and stopped it ten centimeters away from the child's forehead, and ironed the child's head downward, neck, belly, legs, etc.

Of course, the iron rod did not come into contact with the child's skin, so the child would have been burned.

While the old man was waving the iron rod, he was still mumbling something.

Yang Guang looked at the image of the old man from the side. He really looked like a standard dancing master's equipment, which made people feel a little funny.

But Yang Guang didn't laugh because he saw incredible imagination.

As the old man held the red-hot iron rod in his hand and drove it back and forth around the child's body, something incredible happened.

There was a burst of green smoke where the iron rod passed by, as if the red-hot iron rod was really ironing something.

Moreover, there is a smell of burnt skin and flesh permeating the room.

But Yang Guang saw with his own eyes that the iron rod did not touch anything and was only ten centimeters away from the child's body.

Could it be that, indeed, indeed, something did get into the child...

Yang Guang was stunned.

"You bastard, get out of here. I'll wait for grandpa to burn you again," the old man shouted.

After a while, the child's eyes slowly began to focus and their eyes began to move.

"I'm thirsty," the child Yingying said weakly.

The child's parents quickly gave the child water.

After a while, the child was able to sit up.

Yang Guang was stunned.

I never thought that the old man's method would really work.

Early the next morning, Yang Guang said goodbye to the old man and the people in the village, and followed the old man's instructions to find the conditions of the ten thousand-year-old tree. Yang Guang promised to settle many matters after returning to Xiping and came to pick him up.

Seven or eight children went to Xiping to receive education.

The old man and the people in the village were naturally grateful for their kindness.

Chinese people have always been like this. It doesn't matter how they live, the key is that their children must have a good future. Although they live a leisurely and self-sufficient life in the mountains and valleys, they also don't want their children to live in this valley.

lifetime.

The old man told Yang Guang that there was a lot of evil around the ten-thousand-year-old tree.

When I was young, I was kidnapped by bandits. At night, I sneaked away while the bandits were drunk. As a result, I accidentally ran off the road and saw the big tree, but the area around the big tree was scary and there were some supernatural things.

The old man was so frightened that he had to run back to the bandits' den. Finally, his family used a goat to redeem him.

From then on, the old man seemed to be very sensitive to those things and gradually became a god.

The old man was very worried about Yang Guang going to the place where the ten-thousand-year-old tree was located, but Yang Guang had to go because he wanted to find the "genius treasure".

The old man originally wanted to send two young men to go with Yang Guang, but Yang Guang himself had many secrets that were not convenient to use in front of others, so he still refused.

Holding Xiao Hei's hand again, he continued walking to the west along the ancient road in front of the village.

When the village was far away and no one could be seen anymore, Yang Guang called Xiao Fei.

Following the old man's instructions, we followed the ancient road in front of the village for several miles. The canyons on both sides became increasingly narrow, and gradually turned into a narrow valley path that could not accommodate two people walking side by side.

It was dark inside the canyon, and only a sliver of sky above the head could be seen.

After spending most of the day out of this narrow trail, the outside turned into an open ravine.

A stream flows through the ravine, and the caravans that passed passed along the stone beach next to the stream.

However, Yang Guang had to find the bandit's den first before he could locate the ten-thousand-year-old tree.

According to the old man's instructions, there is no way to go to the bandit's den, which is in the col of the mountains on the south side.

Yang Guang led Xiao Hei across the clear stream and began to climb the mountains on the south side.

There are no roads at all on this mountain. It is covered with dense woods and weeds. Yang Guang had to use a sapper shovel to push through the dense vegetation and move forward.

Originally, Yang Guang could have let Xiao Fei carry him directly over the mountains, but then Xiao Hei would not be able to discover the "genius treasure". Although the chance was not high, Yang Guang still insisted on climbing over the mountains by himself, which would always be more difficult.

A little chance of discovering a "genius treasure".

It took more than an hour to finally climb to the top of the mountain.

Standing on the mountains, you can see the winding mountains and ridges everywhere. Like waves, there is a thick fog in the mountains.

After climbing another mountain, following the old man's instructions, we came to a hidden mountain col and found the bandit's den.

The bandit's den is a small village among the mountains.

However, the village is surrounded by low stone walls and sentry towers, but most of them are in ruins.

Yang Guang raised his legs and stepped into the dilapidated village gate.

Most of them are houses and courtyards that are roughly the same as those in the old man's village. The bandits' village has been deserted, and most of the remaining buildings and houses are very dilapidated.

There's just a big stone house in the middle of the place. It's probably the bandit's "Juyi Hall" or something like that.

The room is very spacious. But there are no special decorations. There is only a long table in the middle and a dozen benches. There is also a shabby portrait of Guan Gong hanging on the wall opposite the door. Most bandits and gangsters worship Guan Gong. You

Isn't it strange? Guan Gong has never been in the underworld. It is probably because Guan Gong is more loyal.

It is estimated that no one has been to this bandit's village for decades. There is a thick layer of dust on the seats, and there are long spider silks inside the house.

Yang Guang was tired after walking for a day, so he wiped the chair and sat on it.

It was getting late now, so Yang Guang made some food for himself.

While eating, I suddenly wondered whether there would be something like "Alibaba's treasure" in this bandit's den.

We know that although this bandit's den is dilapidated, the canyon plank road next to it is an important traffic artery in history. Especially in the middle of Sichuan, it is a prosperous place. Finance, taxation, and grain are transported to the Central Plains of Guanzhong through this road, and caravans are also very frequent.

.

Otherwise the bandits wouldn't have built a stronghold in this mountain.

Based on the old man's narrative, Yang Guang can roughly infer that this bandit den was most active in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, because at that time society began to be chaotic and the government did not have the energy to suppress bandits.

In the late Republic of China, during the Anti-Japanese War, all industries were in decline and commerce came to a standstill, so bandits sometimes kidnapped ordinary people like old men.

Ordinary people naturally don't have much wealth. A sheep or even a basket of eggs can redeem people from bandits.

However, the possibility that there is still treasure is not high, because in the old man's memory, there are no troops marching into the mountains to suppress bandits. After the trade road was idle, the bandits disappeared.

Yang Guang estimated that after liberation, the railway across the Qinling Mountains was built, and without the caravans passing by, the bandits naturally dispersed and went home to be good citizens.

In short, the idea of ​​​​looking for "Alibaba's treasure" is nothing more than Yang Guang's bad taste.

Since the bandits broke up the gang on their own, they would definitely take away the wealth they had accumulated and take away the loot. Why would they leave it here?

After dinner, Yang Guang wandered around the bandit's "Juyi Hall" and found nothing else except the statue of Guan Gong.

Yang Guang looked at the portrait of Guan Gong and found that the painting was pretty good, with a beautiful beard.

There is just a small poem next to the statue of Guan Gong.

"House seemingly endless rain

May we meet again later in the day?

Looking for the deserted night

Go back home with nothing to gain"

Unexpectedly, there are also literary bandits in the bandit den. It is probably written by someone like the bandit's adviser.

Judging from the content of this little poem, it should be that after liberation, the trade road was idle, and the bandits had nothing to grab, so they had to disperse. On the eve of the disbandment, this literary bandit was reluctant to give up, so he wrote this little poem.

But the writing is really not that good, not a single sentence is original, it was all plagiarized from other poems.

Yang Guang recited this crooked poem several times, and the group has dispersed. What are you looking for?

Suddenly Yang Guang's whole body became excited.

This poem hides other meanings.

.)