Xue Bi shook her head to get rid of these messy thoughts. She followed Yu 'er and Yan Zi to the bedroom at the back of the hall. She put her hands on Yu' er's shoulders and said, "Anyway, this is your first time going to the Jade Lake. You have to prepare well!"
Yu 'er's eyes flickered and he said in a low voice, "Can I not go?"
Xue Bi put her hands on her waist and said, "Of course not!"
"Go, go, it will be fun!" Yan Zi said with a smile.
Yu 'er changed the topic and said, "Ah Bi, what did you want to tell me just now?" Of course, she didn't want to leave this sea.
Xue Bi sighed helplessly. Even if she wanted to avoid talking about it, she couldn't avoid it after all. Therefore, she chose her words carefully and told her about the Three Holy Mothers.
"How could such a thing happen!"
Yan Zi widened her already round eyes and cupped her burning cheeks with her hands: "No wonder he suddenly issued an edict. That Xu Xian really has guts for lust!" She gritted her teeth, and it was hard to tell if she was embarrassed or angry.
Xue Bi said, "Yes, it seems that many sisters are very indignant. This gathering is probably to discuss how to deal with this matter!
I think the Jade Lake will take some measures! "
"What measures?" Yu 'er asked.
"Probably to deal with Xu Xian!"
"I want to go!" Yu 'er suddenly stood up and said, "Xu Xian won't do such a thing. I have to explain it to them!"
Xue Bi touched her forehead. Her attitude was very clear, but she felt that it was better to persuade her not to go!
But as this was the first gathering after Yu 'er joined the Jade Lake, she couldn't not go!
…
Xu Xian accompanied Ao Li to the sky above Hangzhou and looked into the distance. The sky was really clear and there were no clouds. The air was so dry that it didn't feel like the south of the Yangtze River. Fortunately, he didn't see the rivers drying up and the earth cracking, which made him feel a little relieved. It seemed that the weather was just abnormal and there was no disaster yet.
The red leaves of the distant mountains were burning, giving off a refreshing feeling of autumn. Xu Xian took a deep breath, thinking that it would be the Double Ninth Festival in a few days. At that time, he would gather with them for a feast, climb high and look into the distance.
Before Xu Xian could fully appreciate the scenery, Ao Li took his hand and flew towards the west. "Let's go!"
After flying for a short while, Zhang Xuan arrived above a village. There was a temple floating above the river at the entrance of the village.
Green smoke lingered in the surroundings, accompanied by the sound of gongs, drums, and suona. Many boats followed the river and gathered around the temple. There were also many people worshipping in front of the temple!
Xu Xian rubbed his chin and muttered, "This is your temple?
Let's go down and take a look! "
He then landed on the cloud and pulled Ao Li's hand to the front of the temple. They went around the big cauldron with smoke lingering in the air and the many men and women kneeling on the ground and approached the main hall. The main hall was full of people. At a glance, they could see the backs of people, kowtowing three times and nine times to the statue on the altar. They looked very pious.
Ao Li said proudly, "How is it?"
Xu Xian praised, "Amazing, amazing!" Suddenly he laughed and pointed to the statue and whispered in Ao Li's ear, "Is that you?" The statue of the Dragon King in the Dragon King Temple was very classic – a Dragon King wearing a luxurious robe, with a human body and a dragon head.
The dragon head was half ferocious and half mystical. In short, it was hard to tell the gender. Fortunately, the color was not wrong, it was white.
The whisper that was close at hand, accompanied by a gust of hot air, Ao Li felt the tip of her ear warm up. She could not help but turn her head away from Xu Xian. There were some unfamiliar emotions surging in her heart, which she somewhat liked.
But when he followed Xu Xian's finger and looked over, he immediately became angry. That was how he was, and without hesitation, he elbowed Xu Xian!
Xu Xian clutched his stomach and pretended to grit his teeth. His other hand was still holding her small hand.
"Where did you come from? How dare you laugh in the Dragon King Temple!" A skinny old woman suddenly said sternly.
After all, in that solemn atmosphere, Xu Xian's laugh was really abrupt and attracted many people's attention. In addition to Ao Li's alluring beauty, she attracted even more attention.
Ao Li snorted coldly, "None of your business!"
There was an uproar in the temple. "How dare you be disrespectful to the temple devotee!" "This is disrespectful to the Dragon King!" "Arrest them, otherwise the Dragon King will not rain!"
"Don't swear!"
Xu Xian raised his hand to cover Ao Li's mouth and bowed to the Shaman. "We passed by your precious place and did not know the etiquette. We did not mean to offend you, please forgive us!"
"Seeing that you are foreigners, offer an incense stick to the Dragon King and I will forgive you!" The Shaman saw that Xu Xian was not an ordinary person and did not dare to offend him.
"Wu wu, let go!"
Ao Li forcefully pulled away Xu Xian's hand that was covering her mouth. Xu Xian's arm went around her shoulder and covered her mouth, almost hugging her in his arms.
"Okay, okay."
Xu Xian replied with a smile and let go of Ao Li. He first paid for the incense and lit up three sticks of incense. He bowed to the statue of the Dragon King. Although the real Dragon King was right beside him and was looking at him angrily, the few sticks of incense in his hand would not be able to appease the old man's anger.
The Shaman squinted her eyes and said, "Kneel!"
"Yes, how can it be considered as asking for forgiveness if you don't even bow!" The villagers were discussing.
Xu Xian looked around and kowtowed to the deity. Everyone in and out of the temple was staring at him. Someone in front of him had already given up the praying mat. He could only smile bitterly, "You don't have to be so serious with this little girl, she can abandon you at any time."
Ao Li also became proud and pointed at Xu Xian arrogantly, "Hehe, hurry up and kneel!"
The others probably found it hard to understand "kneel", it was really "kneel".
Xu Xian smiled and said to Ao Li, "Not only did she ask me to kneel, she also gave up two praying mats!"
Ao Li proudly said, "I won't kneel!" How can there be a reason to kneel to oneself!
Seeing that there was another dispute, suddenly there was a shout from outside the temple, "Not good, Fugui was taken away by the officials!"
"What!" A peasant woman in the temple hurriedly stood up and ran out.
The people in the temple also followed. Xu Xian and Ao Li followed the crowd to the outside of the temple. Not far from the front of the village, they saw a few officials escorting a few young and strong farmers. The farmer woman who ran out earlier was holding onto one of them, refusing to let go.
The farmer was about forty years old and had a simple and honest look on his face. He was trying to persuade the peasant woman to go back when he suddenly saw Xu Xian in the crowd and shouted, "Officer Xu, Officer Xu!"
The crowd parted to let Xu Xian come forward. He asked curiously, "You know me?" Without needing him to say anything, the few officials also bowed to him and said, "Officer Xu!"
Only then did he realize that in the Hangzhou area, he could be considered a famous person. There were quite a few people who could call out his name.
The farmer said, "Officer Xu, you forgot about me. At the entrance of Xuanji Temple, you saved the lives of my entire family."
These words took a lot of thought. Luckily, Xu Xian had an extraordinary memory and immediately remembered. When he and Pan Yu went to Xuanji Temple to ask for the First Snow, there were a few people waiting in front of the door. Among them was the farmer with the strange disease.
Later, Xu Xian guessed that the farmer had obtained a piece of ore with radiation and carved it into the ice cicada. Later, Pan Yu bought the ice cicada and after coating it, she gave it to Xu Xian. Xu Xian still kept it.
"So it was you. What did you do?"
"Officer Xu, he brought a few people to destroy other people's tombs and was reported to the yamen."
Xu Xian said, "Destroying tombs? Could it be grave robbing?" In this era, destroying tombs was a serious crime.
The farmer straightened his neck and shouted, "Officer Xu, we are not grave robbing. We are beating the drought demon to pray for rain. There has been no rain for a long time and the soil of Old Man Liu's tomb is still wet. If it isn't a drought demon, then what is it? If we dig it up and burn it, then it will rain!"
"Didn't I say it before?
If it doesn't rain, then all we need to do is to beg the Dragon King. Why do you have to beat the drought demon and invite such a disaster? "The old Wuzhu woman in the Dragon King Temple said bitterly.
Xu Xian was speechless. This was really a big confrontation of feudal superstitions!
However, compared to digging up other people's ancestral tombs, it was more reliable to beg the little girl beside him.
The so-called "drought demon" was also known as "drought demon". Xu Xian knew a thing or two about it. The drought demon was originally a monster that caused drought in ancient legends. There was a saying, "When the drought demon appears, the land will be barren for thousands of miles." There was also a verse in the Book of Songs, "The drought demon is like a plague, like a burning fire."
Xu Xian guessed that there might really be such a demon in ancient times. However, the so-called "drought demon" now had a different meaning from the past. It was probably a type of zombie. It was transformed from a dead person within a hundred days of death. The corpse of a dead person that became a drought demon would not rot and there would not be any vegetation growing on the tombs and water would seep out.
Only by digging it out from the tombs and burning it would there be rain.
These were the two unique skills of the ancient people to deal with drought, the drought demon digging and the dragon king lifting.
The farmer begged, "Officer Xu, please save us!" The few villagers behind him also begged. No one was willing to go to the yamen.
Xu Xian asked the few officials, "Did you expose the corpses?" If they really dug up their corpses, then there was nothing they could do.
Hearing Xu Xian's question, the officials did not dare to be careless, "Officer Xu, we just started to dig up the soil and were held down."
Xu Xian said, "Since the corpses were not exposed, they were also anxious to pray for rain. It is better to be lenient!" It was not worth it to get into jail for such a thing.
The officials were also tactful, "Since you have said so." They turned around and ordered, "Release them!"
In reality, such cases could not be treated like grave robbing. Grave robbers were all sentenced to death if they were caught.
As for these farmers who beat the drought demons, they were also punished with a flogging when they were caught and brought to the yamen.
The villagers thanked him profusely. Xu Xian also told them not to beat the drought demons anymore, lest they were reported to the yamen again.
"How can it not rain? If it goes on like this, how can we survive?" The villagers were all worried.
Xu Xian could only say, "We just have to pay our respects to the Dragon King."
"As expected of a scholar who became the top scholar and a high-ranking official. These words are very insightful!" The Priest praised loudly.
The corner of Xu Xian's mouth twitched. He did not know what to say. He looked up at the azure sky and said, "Don't worry, it will rain soon!" Only he could see the white shadow of a dragon swimming across the sky.