Chapter 132 Jiuli Temple

The next day, before dawn, the old pipe could not wait to pace back and forth in the yard, waiting for the sunrise.

After waiting for more than half an hour, he finally saw the light of dawn in the eastern sky.

Today, the old pipe changed into clean clothes. It was rare that he did not bring his pipe with him. His son had been warned by him not to come to the backyard before noon.

In the middle of the yard, there was a stone he found from somewhere else, which was as big as a hound's head.

Originally, he wanted to find a stone as big as a millstone, but considering that it was his first time to cast a spell, he should not be too greedy, so he did not really do it.

After he tidied his clothes, he lit a stick of incense in the east as Yuan Ming instructed.

Then, the old pipe began to imitate Yuan Ming's appearance the day before, walking around the yard, stepping on the Gang step, chanting in his mouth, and paying homage to the four directions of heaven and earth.

After walking around, he came to the stone he had chosen, covered it with his hands, closed his eyes, and prayed sincerely.

After a moment, he took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and looked forward to the miracle.

However, the stone under his hand did not light up with golden light, and it was still black and dirty.

"Failed?"

The old pipe only felt a buzz in his mind, and his eyes suddenly went black, and he almost fainted.

He finally managed to calm down, but he was still a little dazed.

"The immortal master will not lie to me, there must be something wrong... Yes, yes, it must be that my steps are not done well... Come again, come again." The old pipe muttered in a trance, and immediately cast the spell again.

After performing the ceremony again, the result was, of course, still a failure.

The stone is still a stone, and it failed to turn into gold.

The old pipe looked around, looked at himself again, and slapped his forehead.

"The immortal master said he was naked at the time. That's right. It must be because my clothes are too luxurious, just like gold and silver." The old pipe muttered as he stripped himself naked.

"It will work this time." He silently encouraged himself, and had completely forgotten that Yuan Ming had told him that there was only one chance.

If it doesn't work the first time, it won't work in the future.

The old pipe didn't care about these things anymore. If he failed, it would mean he would lose everything.

He couldn't afford to lose.

At this moment, the old pipe, naked and dark-skinned, was like a monkey in the Ten Thousand Mountains, ridiculous.

He repeated the ritual that was destined to be useless and worshiped the heaven and earth again.

But when he opened his eyes, all his expectations were shattered again, and the stone was still a stone.

"How could this happen..." The old pipe sat down on the ground dejectedly, unable to accept it.

But at this moment, there was a sudden noise from the front yard.

Then, the old pipe saw his son trotting in from outside.

"You bastard, didn't I tell you not to come into the backyard before noon?" Old Tobacco Pipe said angrily.

Thule was stunned when he saw his father naked.

Thule picked up the clothes on the ground, and before he could put them on, he saw seven or eight burly men in black clothes rushing in.

"What are you doing?" Old Tobacco Pipe tied his belt in a hurry and scolded.

After scolding, he found out that these people were all thugs of the Jixiang Gambling House.

"Dad, they insisted on breaking in, saying they were here to close the shop, and I... I couldn't stop them." Thule said with a sad face and grievance.

"You know the relationship between me and your boss, right?" Old Tobacco Pipe eased his expression, straightened his chest, and asked.

As soon as the voice fell, a hearty laugh came from outside.

"Old Tobacco Pipe, no matter how good our relationship is, we should settle accounts clearly, right? Your shop is mine now." You Zhuzha walked in from outside, holding a piece of paper with a seal in his hand, which turned out to be a house deed.

"What did you say?" Old Tobacco Pipe was stunned when he heard this, his eyes full of disbelief.

You Zhuzha took out a few more pieces of paper from his sleeve and said:

"I said, your grocery store and inn, as well as those pieces of land, are all mine now. You should move out of my inn before noon."

Old Tobacco Pipe trembled and walked up to You Zhuzha, took a closer look, and found that the house deeds in his hand were all his.

He felt a surge of blood rushing up, and his eyes were instantly covered with bloodshot.

"No, it's not true, you lied to me..." Old Tobacco Pipe lost his mind in an instant, waving his hands and grabbing the house deed in You Zhuzha's hand.

You Zhuzha had been prepared and dodged to the side.

The thugs around him immediately rushed up and lifted Old Tobacco Pipe up.

"If you don't accept my toast, you'll have to drink the fork. Get out." You Zhuzha waved his hand, then walked into the backyard and looked around.

Yesterday, the young man exchanged these houses and fields for him at a very fair price, and only made one request, that he must come to collect the houses after sunrise this morning.

He made a lot of money from this business, so there was no reason to refuse such a harmless request.

…

In a back alley outside the main street of Tiehu Town, the old tobacco pipe family of three sat on the stone steps at the door of someone else's house, all with gloomy faces and bitter faces.

The old woman who had been in charge of taking care of the grocery store still didn't understand why her own shop and fields became someone else's?

The old tobacco pipe had not yet recovered from the previous blow, and looked distraught.

He was extremely annoyed by the old woman's questioning, and he couldn't swallow the breath in his heart.

The old pipe suddenly stood up, staring at the wall in front of him, and ran into it.

Fortunately, his son beside him was quick-witted and grabbed his clothes and pulled him back.

Tule hugged the old pipe tightly, shouting: "Dad, no, you can't die."

"The family is ruined, what's the point of living..." The old pipe wailed in pain.

"Dad, I still have money, I still have money, we can still live." Tule shouted hurriedly.

Hearing this, the old pipe and the old woman were stunned.

Seeing that he didn't struggle anymore, Tule felt relieved and quickly took out a cloth bag from his sleeve and poured out ten silver coins from it.

"Dad, you usually keep money tightly, this is my own private money." He scratched his head a little embarrassedly and said.

"Oh my, you are my good son..." the old woman almost cried.

The old pipe was stunned.

After a long time, he was full of bitterness, knocked the silver in Tule's hand, and sat down on the ground.

"It turned out to be you... son, you have made me suffer, it's all your fault..."

The old pipe was very sad, crawled on the ground, and cried.

...

At this time, Yuan Ming had naturally left Tiehu Town long ago.

The old pipe was just a small episode he encountered when he went down the mountain, and the search for incense was the most important thing at the moment.

He left Tiehu Town according to the direction told by the casino owner, and walked north for twenty or thirty miles, and a rather tall mountain appeared in front of him.

According to the map that Yuan Ming bought in the town before, he knew that the mountain was called "Jiuli Mountain", because the distance from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain was nine miles, and there was a large temple in the valley, named "Jiuli Temple".

Yuan Ming walked on the mountain road and found that there was an endless stream of people from southern Xinjiang who came to the mountain to burn incense. He could smell the smell of incense, candles and fireworks from a distance.

"It seems to be here!" Yuan Ming said secretly, mixed in the crowd of incense, and stepped into the temple.

Jiuli Temple is quite large, with four or five courtyards in front and back. Many walls are mottled, obviously for some time.

Passing through two gates, Yuan Ming walked through a bustling square and came to the door of the main hall. There stood a tall statue in the hall, all black, with a human body and a dog head. He held a long sword in his right hand and a strange fan in his left hand, and looked up at the sky and howled.

The pilgrims came forward one by one, knelt down to worship the statue, burned incense and prayed, and the incense was curling.

Yuan Ming listened to the crowd for a while and basically figured out that the god with a human body and a dog head was called "Fang Ya Shen".

During this period of time when he was searching for incense in southern Xinjiang, he also had a certain understanding of the gods here. The five tribes in the northern region each have their own gods to worship. The residents near Jiuli Mountain are basically the Kasi tribe. This temple is dedicated to the "dog-tooth god" of the Kasi tribe.

The statue of the god in this temple is said to be very effective in making wishes. It is deeply believed by the people in the nearby area and is worshipped year after year.

Yuan Ming followed the crowd, offered a bunch of incense to the dog-tooth god, and donated a handful of copper coins to the cabinet next to him.

"Thank you, donor, the dog-tooth god will bless you with peace and health." A temple keeper next to him bowed to Yuan Ming.

This person is quite tall, with thick hands and feet, and calluses on the tiger's mouth. It seems that he has practiced sword and martial arts.

"Thank you, temple keeper. I came here today. In addition to worshipping the dog-tooth god, I have another thing to ask for. I wonder if it is convenient?" Yuan Ming returned the bow and said.

As he spoke, he took out ten copper coins and quietly stuffed them into the temple keeper's arms.

The temple keeper smiled and said, "It's convenient for others and for yourself."

"Can I have a word with you?" Yuan Ming asked, looking at the pilgrims who were still coming in an endless stream.

The temple keeper made a gesture of invitation and took Yuan Ming to a corner.

"What's the matter, donor? Please tell me directly." The temple keeper said.

"I want to find a man named Wu Sang. If you know where he is, can you tell me?" Yuan Ming asked.

"I have never heard of the person you mentioned in the temple." The temple keeper said after a little thought.

"That person came here about half a year ago. He is in his thirties, with big ears and is especially good at making incense. Maybe he has hidden his name. I hope you can recall it carefully. I will definitely thank you generously." Yuan Ming said, took out a silver coin and stuffed it into the temple keeper again.

"I have been in this temple for three or four years. I am familiar with everyone from the abbot to the children. I have never seen the person you are talking about. Please ask somewhere else." This time, the temple keeper slightly sidestepped Yuan Ming's attempt to stuff the silver coin into his mouth. After apologizing, he turned and left.

Yuan Ming looked at the temple keeper's back, slowly walked back to the entrance of the main hall, looked around thoughtfully, and then turned to walk out of the square. When he turned a corner, a black raven flew out of his body and flew towards the eaves of the main hall.

Yuan Ming walked straight towards a side hall not far away without stopping.

This is a place for pilgrims to drink tea. Yuan Ming found an empty seat and sat down. He took the teapot and teacup on the table and drank by himself.