Chapter 41: Calling the Ghost by Name
"Tan Xiao? Tan Xiao?"
Wang Xiaoan called out to the stunned Tan Xiao twice from behind. Tan Xiao suddenly realized what was going on and pulled his hand out of Kong Xuan's palm, "Sorry..."
Kong Xuan also saw Tan Xiao's slightly stunned expression, and even the way his clothes brushed against him when he stood up and left seemed to have some deep meaning. However, Kong Xuan had long given up hope that Tan Xiao would recognize him. How could he recognize him if the disease didn't let him go?
So Kong Xuan walked away bored again.
Lin Yang at the back was hesitant to speak: Uh, the teacher didn’t ask us to move things for Tan Xiao.
The students on the playground have gathered. Tan Xiao has a hard time finding people he knows in the crowd. It feels like everyone blending into the crowd is like a drop of water in the sea.
Tan Xiao and the director went backstage together. A staff member ran over and said breathlessly, "Well, the fire in the cafeteria has been put out."
Tan Xiao was startled, "When did the fire start?"
"It's okay, it's not a big deal. I just asked some people to go get the fire extinguisher to put it out, so I didn't have enough manpower to ask for help." Wang Xiaoan didn't take it seriously. "It's a cafeteria, a place where fire is used, so you have to be careful."
Since the fire was in the cafeteria, Tan Xiao immediately thought of the boy guarding the lunch.
The Kitchen God’s “Zuo” (stove) is next to the character for fire, and the Kitchen God controls the stove fire and food. Although the boy guarding the food is in charge of the food smell, he will not ignore the fire, unless he is not on duty, right?
Although Tan Xiao was puzzled, as Wang Xiaoan said, there was a fire source in the kitchen, so the fire was still logical.
At this time, the party has already started at the front desk.
At half past seven, the emcee came on stage and began to speak the words that led to the show, which began with a school song sung by the school choir and the alumni choir. There was nothing new, but it was full of a sense of ceremony. Senior Ruan, who had given a lecture before, also served as the male lead singer because of his excellent appearance.
When Tan Xiao saw Ruan Zhanxue's name on the big screen, he suddenly remembered that from Senior Ruan to the school cafeteria, and then to the fire prevention knowledge leaflets distributed by the school, has the fire in Nanchu been a bit intense recently, or has he simply not noticed it before?
Tan Xiao stood at the back with his arms folded waiting for his performance. His show was still relatively early in the evening. By this time, night had already fallen, but one could still vaguely see the color of the sunset on the horizon, which was bright red like blood. It was swallowed up by the darkness at a speed that was almost observable with the naked eye. The light clouds in the sky covered the crescent moon, which seemed not as bright as the stage lights.
An inexplicable feeling of uneasiness appeared in Tan Xiao's heart. He was a little surprised because he rarely got stage fright. This was not a particularly large occasion, and the audience were all his classmates.
"Xiaozai, how long will it take until you go on stage?" Lin Yang ran over and handed Tan Xiao a bottle of water, then pointed behind him, "Wow, your little brother really only works for you."
"Almost there." Tan Xiao took a look and because there were few people on the side of the stage, he easily recognized Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan turned his head away, raised his chin slightly, and did not look at Tan Xiao.
Tan Xiao moved his fingers and stared at him.
This person...
"You didn't see it. Just now, your party director approached him and asked him where he was from, but he didn't say anything." Lin Yang whispered gossip to Tan Xiao, "In fact, I suspect that his family should be in the town. Yu Zhenzhen said at the beginning of the school that he was from the mountainous area, which might be true."
"Huh?" Tan Xiao glanced at Lin Yang, not looking very surprised.
"Because when we went to Qiyunling before, you stayed behind on the way back. Not long after the car started, Kong Xuan also asked to get off. I don't know how he told the teacher, but the teacher agreed. So I suspect that his home might be over there?"
Tan Xiao blinked.
There seemed to be screams and whistles from the audience.
“Aaaaaaah!”
“Ughhhhh!!”
Zhong Da Hu Zi let out the loudest cry of his life. Unlike the feeling of resignation when he met Peacock God, at this moment he had no skills at all and was only filled with fear of being chased.
Is it true that I am going to die here this time?
He looked back and saw a black and white beagle spitting flames as it ran and was chasing him relentlessly. Although it had not yet caught up with Zhong Da Huzi, who was nimble and used hexagrams to constantly dodge, he could see a shadow behind it. As the light and shadow changed, it became more and more obvious that, unlike the beagle's cute appearance, its shadow had fangs and saliva dripping into fire when it opened its mouth, and the edge of its body seemed to be covered with barbs, and if you looked closely, it might as well be a flaming flame.
Its big ears pick up all sounds. About 40 centimeters tall, it projects a huge shadow on the wall that is chasing the mouse more ferociously than its real body. Its figure seems to cover the sky and the moon.
The moment he saw him, Zhong Da Huzi summoned up all his life's reaction power, saw the hexagram from the flames, dodged to the side, and successfully avoided the attack with his flesh and blood body.
It seems that the more nervous you are, the faster your brain works and your potential is unleashed.
Zhong Da Huzi even figured out where to run in just one second, and that was Nanchu No. 1 Middle School!
Nanchu No. 1 Middle School is a very dangerous location. He once thought that it referred to Tan Xiao, but now he suddenly realized that, no, on the contrary, the dangerous location was not Tan Xiao but the one behind him. Tan Xiao was the only one who could save him. Turning danger into safety was real !
At least Tan Xiao won't eat him in one bite.
And the one behind him...
Zhong Da Hu's beard was shaking: Although he couldn't see the other party's true identity with his cultivation level, he was a mouse, and he was afraid of peacocks, snakes, and of course fire!
"Spiritual Master, save me!" Zhong Da Huzi shouted the title of the person he hated the most before today, and ran into Nanchu No. 1 Middle School. However, he didn't know the whereabouts of the spiritual master. But that Bigger seemed to be entering this place not for the first time, and seemed quite familiar with it.
As a result, after entering the campus, Zhong Da Huzi's divination was not so helpful to him. Not far from the cafeteria, after a forward roll, Zhong Da Huzi was ultimately unable to dodge, and watched Bigger's mouth open wider than his head: "Ah Wu——"
“clang!”
Just at that moment, a long weapon came out from the side!
It was caught right between Bigger's teeth, piercing Zhong Da Hu's neck and almost piercing his trachea!
Zhong Da Huzi's pupils dilated, and he suddenly shrunk his head to look. In front of him, a scarlet robe fluttered in the wind. From Zhong Da Huzi's perspective, an extremely tall man with a resolute face, gritted his teeth and held the weapon in his hand to wrestle with Bigger, shouting: "I am a fierce general under the seat of the East Kitchen Siming. What evil dares to be so presumptuous in front of the cafeteria!"
Hearing this, Zhong Da Huzi sat up immediately. That was right. He could see clearly from a different angle that the warrior in red robes with two wings on his hat was holding a long spoon. It was clearly Zhong Da Huzi's old acquaintance, the boy guarding the meal.
The boy who was guarding the meal straightened his back and held the spoon. He glanced at Zhong Da Huzi with great effort and said unhappily, "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen civil servants who clearly distinguish between public and private affairs?"
Although it had been beaten by Zhong Da Huzi, no evil spirit could act so recklessly in front of the cafeteria.
Zhong Da Huzi bowed his head in remorse and said, "I don't need to thank you for your kindness!"
At this moment, there was a "click" sound, and the spoon of the boy guarding the meal broke.
The man, the rat and the dog looked at each other, and the atmosphere became a little awkward.
Bigger slurped his saliva and actually farted, sending out sparks. The loud fart startled the boy guarding the meal who was holding the broken spoon. He let go and ran back: "Spirit witch ahh ...
Zhong Da Hu Zi: “…”
Zhong Da Hu Zi: "Wait for me!!"
…
"The next program is 'Feather Dance' performed by Tan Xiao from Class 2 (3) of Senior High School."
The emcee read from the cue cards. At this time, someone was clearing away the stage equipment left over from the previous show in the back, so she had to recite a few more words to buy time.
"The dance is adapted from the intangible cultural heritage of Southern Chu, the Spiritual Master Wu Dance, and Tan Xiao is the inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage. The ancient Chu witches worshipped the gods with songs and dances..."
Tan Xiao was about to go on stage at any time, so Kong Xuan moved his drum up and also stood on the side.
"Thank you. It's time for me to go on stage." Tan Xiao said, suddenly extending his hand.
Kong Xuan was stunned. This was the etiquette of the human race, but it seemed that Tan Xiao was doing it to him for the first time. He was not very familiar with the etiquette of the human race, but he knew that shaking hands expressed many meanings, including gratitude, so he hesitantly stretched out his hand and shook hands with Tan Xiao.
"…The witch dance reflects the dreamlike feeling of the chief witch during the ceremony, as if the god made eye contact with him at the moment of the descent of the gods on the altar. The incense smoke is like clouds, surrounding the witch's hope and joy. The dance is both ancient and gentle, showing the passionate and romantic character of the people of Southern Chu!"
The master of ceremonies went down quietly in the darkness.
Tan Xiao lifted his robe and stepped onto the stage.
The stage had gone completely dark, with only a spotlight in the middle. The hanging drum stood under the light, and Tan Xiao curled up with his head buried in front of the drum.
The accompaniment of the zither and qin in the speakers sounded weak and long, rolling like flowing water, ethereal and romantic.
Tan Xiao's body was stretched out, the copper bells rang with his every move, his sleeves spread like the wings of a phoenix, showing the lightness and softness of Chu dance to the fullest, and in an instant he exerted force and slapped the drum, combining hardness and softness.
“Boom!”
The sound of drums becomes the soul of the accompaniment, but in fact the drums are just props here, and the real music comes from the speakers, but it does not hinder Tan Xiao's precise beats.
The Chu people are good at sleeve dancing. The young man's wide robe and big sleeves fluttered like flowing clouds, making his waist look even more slender.
In this small space, it is like walking on rivers and mountains. With just one person and one drum, it seems as if one can see flags, feather ornaments, gorgeous ornaments, and fragrant herbs. The Chu witch on the altar entertains the gods with singing and dancing, calling on the gods for response.
Witchcraft is different from religions. Wizards who pay more attention to practicality treat gods by praying, cursing, and sometimes even tempting gods.
Over the past thousands of years, the status of shamans has changed from the temple to the people. No matter the glory or the darkness, gods and shamans share it, because they are in a mutually beneficial relationship. Gods come to the world as shamans, and shamans respond with gods.
Even though it has become a work for entertainment, every time the sleeves are raised, every time the eyes are turned back, every time the waist is bent, there are traces of communication with the gods, which is a warm response with the gods.
The young man under the light was immersed in the dance, emitting a radiance that was more attractive than chasing the light, deeply moving the hearts of every audience member below the stage.
"This is so beautiful... Is this what the ancient people watched? What a blessing!"
Wu Tianyu from Class 1 (5) of Senior High School heard the whispers of his classmates and thought to himself, "You don't know what a greater blessing this is. This really works!" Of course, today Tan Xiao was probably just performing...
Kong Xuan also stared at the stage.
In the gap between his fluttering sleeves, he seemed to meet Tan Xiao's gaze, but the time was so short, just like their initial telepathic connection, brief but profound.
He could hardly look away.
Hundreds or thousands of years ago, Yuan Feng said while drinking wine that the different sacrificial postures of human beings contained different meanings, and they prayed for different things to different gods.
They prayed to the god incarnated by their ancestor Zhurong for prosperity and protection, they hoped that the phoenix would lead them to heaven, and they would also curse the strange phenomena in the sky with vicious words.
They would even select beautiful witches and handsome shamans to pray and dance to the gods in charge of love, and the gods would then perform joy with their own witches and shamans so that the world would know what the way of love is. The witches and shamans could be the human race you love the most, or they could be the human race you hate the most.
It was also at this time that the cool breeze of the autumn night blew, and a huge black shadow jumped on the teaching building behind me, with lights flashing but no one noticed.
Yu Zhenzhen shuddered and felt inexplicably panicked. Looking around, everyone seemed to be chilled by the wind. It seemed as if the wind was blowing into people's bones.
"boom--"
Thunder rumbled, dark clouds gathered, and the weather suddenly changed.
There were faint low whistling sounds coming from all directions.
What, what is this sound?
It should be the speakers, the surround sound? It's scary.
Even the school leaders sitting in the front couldn't help twisting their bodies and discussing with each other: "It's probably from the witch dance accompaniment, creating a primitive atmosphere. It actually happened to be thundering..."
It really creates a great atmosphere. The moon was hidden in the clouds, and even the lights on the scene seemed to be dimmer.
On the stage, Tan Xiao raised his eyes and caught a glimpse of a flickering black shadow on the wall of the teaching building opposite. The shadow was getting bigger and closer. He seemed to see the light being sucked away by the shadow, and the shape of the shadow was like... like a huge dog with fangs .
It wasn't just the lights, Tan Xiao could even see the faces of the people in the audience gradually becoming dazed, as if their spirits were being sucked away by the light.
A strong sense of uneasiness broke out!
What's this?!
Tan Xiao's movements were only slightly imperceptible, and he looked intently at the black shadow while taking the Yu step. The black shadow's flickering eyes seemed to look into his eyes for an instant - at this moment, only Tan Xiao's body was still as bright as before, and the spotlight on him was not affected.
"Spirit witch, Spirit witch, help me."
A small voice sounded.
Tan Xiao saw a figure so faint that it was almost indistinct. It was the boy guarding the meal. It had crawled to the stage entrance at some point, and its body seemed about to be sucked away at any time.
"It was chasing us." The food-guarding boy cried loudly, "I was almost burned to death, and there was also Zhong Da Huzi! He was behind us!"
At this moment, Zhong Da Huzi saw an acquaintance. His buttocks had been burned to a bloody mess, and his mortal body had been running for a whole day. He didn't have the strength to run to the stage like the boy guarding the food. When he saw a familiar figure, he hid under the stool and shouted, "Help, help, help! Disciple!"
Wu Tianyu, who was in a daze, suddenly saw a huge rat. He was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat, then came to his senses.
Although I have never seen the real person, isn’t this… isn’t this that person? !
Apart from this, where else can you find such a big white mouse, calling "disciple" in its mouth?
Am I dreaming? Wu Tianyu looked around in panic, only to find that everyone was in a dazed state, seemingly half awake, able to whisper to themselves, discuss, and even applaud, but their minds were completely frozen, and no one noticed that there was a giant white rat under his stool.
There was a chill behind him, and it seemed like there was a heat wave rolling. Wu Tianyu, who had a lot of experience with evil spirits, didn't dare to look back for a moment. He trembled and looked at the stage for help.
Tan Xiao's eyes gradually turned cold. Although he had little practical experience, he could not tell what kind of monster was in front of him, but there was no need to investigate now. He simply ignored it, adapted his movements on the spot, and turned around to beat the drums to the music.
Boom.
The reverberating drumbeats spread out with a mysterious aura that had been accumulated for thousands of years.
The trend of dimming lights stops immediately!
The boy who was guarding the meal was able to catch his breath, climbed onto the stage, climbed onto Tan Xiao's shoes, and hugged his ankles tightly for a sense of security. At this time, only Chu Wu could protect him.
The black shadow that came with the fire seemed to realize that the opponent was difficult to deal with, but still licked his fangs unwillingly.
At this moment, the music was coming to an end. Tan Xiao did not look back at Kong Xuan in the audience, but the feeling of handshake before going on stage emerged in his mind. There was no mistake. He might have seen it wrong, but how could he have touched it wrong.
Throwing aside all stereotypes and those distinctions between gods and men that he thought existed, the remaining answers were not impossible and could even be obvious!
At this time, Tan Xiao, as a spiritual master, has many options, the most convenient of which is to beat the drum to exorcise evil spirits.
But he no longer hesitated, raised his sleeves and made a gesture, his eyes looked at Kong Xuan, as if touching him with his eyes, causing waves of echoes, and he chanted: "Summoning Yuan Feng's son - Kong Xuan in front of the altar!"
Hearing the sound, the black shadow whimpered softly and slowly shrank.
——Cure the ghost by calling its name.
The true name of the god has the effect of warding off evil spirits!
It was also at this moment that Kong Xuan's eyes sparkled with infinite light. He stepped forward, and his school uniform turned into a robe embroidered with feather patterns. His short hair became long hair decorated with feathers, and above the gold and jade belt around his waist was an acrylic keychain in the shape of a phoenix.
The Peacock's true body followed the lingering ending of the music and slowly walked to Tan Xiao's front. He was like a spirit being seduced in the music, attracted by the witch to descend into the world. He waved his sleeves, and a five-colored divine light flashed in his sleeves, saying: "Spirit of the world, you must be startled when you hear me."
In an instant, the dim lights at the scene gradually regained their brightness.
Tan Xiao, who was connecting the last movement, responded to the rhythm and looked back. The feather pattern fluttered with his robes like a phoenix about to fly, and the light fell on his body.
Just like the witch in the music, he finally achieved his wish, but still had infinite meaning left for everyone to judge. All this is for the gods on the witch altar, so that they can see the witch's enchanting appearance and teach the people of the world.
The audience seemed to have just woken up from a dream. They watched this wonderful performance in silence for a few seconds, and then the whole venue burst into warm applause.
