Chapter 49 Peacock Flying
The Xiao Yu Gan had been sailing in the shallow water for a while. As the sun set, the lake surface became like a mirror. The shore was not visible in the distance, only rows of flying water birds could be seen.
The water here is actually several meters deep, and it is quite far. Usually, Qian Ping'an would suggest switching to a speedboat if we go further, but today he is obviously not prepared. "We have to turn back. Don't think it's calm now. Yunmengze has its fierce places, and there are many strong winds."
"Please move a little further." Tan Xiao saw that the snail was moving faster and faster, and it might reach its hometown waters soon.
"No need to go forward." At this time, Kong Xuan said with a sullen face.
Tan Xiao looked at him in surprise. Is it here?
Kong Xuan looked into the distance and frowned, saying, "I can't go to the waters ahead. There must have been a great altar in this area."
Tan Xiao was shocked. Even the great god couldn’t go?
Kong Xuan saw Tan Xiao's eyes, but this time he didn't have any negative emotions, he just said: "Virtue is so great that even ghosts and gods are terrified!"
Liu Qingquan raised his hand weakly: "Actually, I also feel uncomfortable..."
Only the most saintly and virtuous people in the human world can produce such power and influence. Just like in many places, people recite Wen Tianxiang's Song of Righteousness to drive away ghosts, or use imperial coins to ward off evil spirits.
To give an analogy that is not completely appropriate, in the case of Tan Xiao's family, even if he is not there, as long as the mask is there, other non-humans will be "warded off evil spirits" or will be scared to death like a male viper as soon as they show up.
This place must have been the territory of a great wizard in the past. It was once reserved. And what Kong Xuan said was that it once existed, which means that the great master is no longer here, but after many years he is still influencing the area in some way, preventing non-natural species from entering.
It’s not impossible for Kong Xuan to force his way into someone else’s altar, unless he comes to the world in the flesh.
——Kong Xuan has always been a soul that has come to the world. No matter how much it looks like a physical body, it is not a physical body. This is because the three realms were separated in the beginning, and it was difficult for the human world to support immortals and gods. If their physical bodies existed in the human world, the intersection of different worlds would likely cause one side to collapse.
Therefore, the gods need to find agents in the human world.
Liu Qingquan looked at the area and estimated the distance: "Since we can't go there, the evil spirit that captured Mu Fei should not be able to go there either. The great god and I can take a detour. As for the spiritual master... I'm afraid we don't have enough time today." Qian Ping'an originally said that they needed to return, so there was no point in going forward now. They had to get a speedboat tomorrow.
"Well... let's go back." Tan Xiao said, and asked Qian Pingan, "Master, may I ask if there was any legend about this place in the past..." He considered the words for a moment, "is there any legend about this place in the past?"
"There are so many legends about Yunmengze. Do you want to hear the story of the dragon girl?" Qian Ping'an quickly turned around. He was not surprised that the tourists wanted to hear the story. However, on the way here, Tan Xiao did not seem to want to chat at all, nor did he like to look at the scenery. Now that he wanted to tell the story of the dragon, Tan Xiao shook his head and asked if anyone was interested.
If there is such a person of great virtue and power, he should have left a name behind.
"Ah... does it count? That's the seal on the mountain over there." Qian Ping'an pointed to the distance. "It can't be seen from here, but it was discovered decades ago that there was a wall carving on the island in the lake over there. It is said that when Qin Shihuang was on a southern tour, he encountered a storm and lost the imperial seal. He thought it was the fault of the water god, so he dried the soil and cut down the trees in anger, and carved a spell on the island to suppress it. So we call that stone carving the Qin King's seal on the mountain. It is said that with this seal, gods and ghosts can't get close."
This great virtue can ward off ghosts and gods. Some powerful emperors can also respond to the will of heaven. It goes without saying that the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in ancient times could do this. It seems reasonable that the seal of the First Emperor can ward off ghosts and gods.
Tan Xiao remembered that Xiong Gui had told this story before, but the details were not engraved. After hearing Qian Ping'an's last sentence, "Keep away from gods and ghosts", it turned out to be very close to the current situation. Could it be that the legend is true?
"Teacher Xiong is right this time." Liu Qingquan couldn't help but say leisurely, "If classmate Tan Xiao ascends the throne and becomes the King of Chu, he might be able to take us in."
Tan Xiao: "..."
Kong Xuan said disdainfully: "You believe all the travel stories? They are not as good as yours." And if it was the aura of an emperor, could he not tell it? It was just the so-called seal engraved by the emperor.
Tan Xiao looked up and wanted to complain, but when he saw Qian Ping'an next to him, he forced himself to hold it in.
He had read the training booklet and knew that working on the water required a lot of attention, so it would not be a good idea to scare people at this time.
After a half-day of scouting, Tan Xiao returned to the hotel at almost nine o'clock and ate something in a hurry. Liu Qingquan contacted the headquarters and asked them to help solve the boat problem, including finding a reliable and experienced boatman. Today they found that to visit Yunmengze, they even had to know how to drive more than one type of boat.
The 404 Office quickly searched for someone who met the requirements in the local responsible units. In the end, they didn't find anyone in the responsible units, but they heard that there was a local folk part-time master with the Dharma name "Yu Gan", who was called Dachangren here. He could drive a boat, was familiar with the geographical conditions of Yunmengze, and was willing to help for money. He could even pick them up at the hotel tomorrow. Liu Qingquan of course agreed without hesitation.
Tan Xiao took advantage of the fact that the supermarket was still open and quickly went to buy some things, including white lentils, millet, rue, a small stove and containers, etc. There were some things that he couldn't buy, so he asked Master Yu Gan to help prepare them.
The next morning, Tan Xiao got up at the same time as usual and went downstairs to have breakfast at the hotel. He thought he was early, but he found out that the old man and woman who were taking pictures of birds had already finished their meal and left, and the hotel had already added a round of breakfast.
Tan Xiao was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for Master Yu Gan. Not long after, a tanned middle-aged man wearing a black coat came into the lobby. He looked around, his eyes fell on Tan Xiao's face, and he nodded at him in surprise.
Liu Qingquan said at the side: "Isn't this Qian Ping'an from yesterday?"
Tan Xiao then realized why he nodded at him, so he smiled back. What a coincidence.
Then I saw Qian Ping'an dialing the number.
Tan Xiao's cell phone rang. He slowly picked it up and answered it. "Hello?"
Qian Pingan turned and looked at him: "...Hello?"
Tan Xiao: "..."
Qian Pingan: “…”
Master Yu Gan? Yu Gan, Yu Gan... Tan Xiao tried to imagine pronouncing it in the accent of Chu Province, but it might be dried fish, dried fish!
The two of them looked at each other in silence. Qian Pingan felt that this was the most speechless thing in his life. He slowly walked over and asked, "Tan Xiao?"
"Master Yu Gan..." Tan Xiao said affirmatively but confusedly.
"But," Qian Pingan said in confusion, "They said that you didn't find the target of the mission during your water practice, so you had to find a guide. I didn't see you practicing yesterday, I just glanced at you."
"I've done it. I've done it." Tan Xiao took out a snail and said, "I'm using the Paijiao corpse-driving method to drive the snail away."
Qian Pingan was devastated, "Ah?"
No, what just happened wasn’t the most speechless thing in his life, this was!
Tan Xiao also asked him: "There are ghost cultivators beside me, but you didn't see them. Didn't you say they were demon cultivators?" The main job of these demon cultivators is to exorcise ghosts, but now Liu Qingquan and Kong Xuan are beside him, and Qian Ping'an doesn't look like he has seen them.
Qian Ping'an murmured, "...I open the fish pond during the flood season every year, and go boating during the bird watching season. I only go boating around the New Year. Normally, we can't say the word "ghost" on the boat. I deliberately keep my eyes closed so as not to accidentally shout it out." Even now, he didn't open his eyes, so he couldn't see it.
Tan Xiao: “…” No wonder, this is due to having too many part-time jobs.
The two looked at each other and were speechless again.
If I had said this yesterday...
Qian Ping'an silently took out what Tan Xiao wanted, "This is the Yan's Nest Grass you wanted."
"Thank you." Tan Xiao got in the car with him.
The driver was the same one from yesterday. This time it was Qian Pingan who called his car. Tan Xiao couldn't recognize him, but when he saw Tan Xiao, he said in surprise: "Oh, it's you again, young man. Old Qian, you said you were going to pick up a friend, how come you two became good friends in just one day!"
Two people: “…………”
Tan Xiao was too tired to complain anymore.
Qian Ping'an was sitting in the passenger seat today, Kong Xuan and Tan Xiao were sitting in the back seat. Liu Qingquan didn't dare to squeeze with them, so he climbed onto the roof of the car.
The car drove to a different place from yesterday, the other side of the river bank, which was closer to the final landing point yesterday. Qian Ping'an had already prepared the boat here.
Kong Xuan and Liu Qingquan sensed the place and decided to bypass the Dade altar from another direction. Anyway, according to Tan Xiao and Kong Xuan's perception, they would arrive there in an instant.
Qian Ping'an took Tan Xiao into the water and took off his coat, revealing the red clothes underneath. This was the attire for fighting gangsters. It was different from the spiritual master's robe and was more close-fitting. He tied his forehead and opened his eyes, only to see the departing figures of Liu Qingquan and Kong Xuan.
"Since we are in the same industry, I don't need to hide anything." Tan Xiao also took out his robe from his backpack and put it on, then threw the snails into the water with great fanfare.
“To send a dragon you must send it into the water, to send a tiger you must send it back into the mountains… I am sending you back to your hometown today, the rivers and roads are long, your lonely soul is heading towards Xiaoxiang for thousands of miles!”
Qian Ping'an watched Tan Xiao chant the spell of returning home and raising the corpse in a mysterious tone, and then he made a gesture to draw water, pointed at a point and shouted, "Rise!"
The snail stood up immediately, and if you don't look carefully, you can't really see it...
Qian Pingan: “…”
Even when I opened my eyes, it was still so...hard to detect. If I didn't tell you, no one would believe that you were chasing corpses. You must be chasing the sea!
…
Qian Ping'an sailed through the waves. Today was a good day with suitable temperature and sunshine. There were already many bird watchers on the shore, some using telescopes and some using tripods to hold cameras with long lenses. Tan Xiao and the others sailed into the depths of Yunmengze.
"Master Qian, the Qin Emperor's Mountain Sealing Seal you mentioned yesterday is not true, right..." Tan Xiao had heard Kong Xuan say it, and just wanted to confirm it with Qian Ping'an. The name for a tyrant is usually Master.
"Yes, it's just a story told to tourists. But I really don't know which great master's altar that was. I only know that the wall is engraved with Sanskrit mantras, one side is in Siddham style and the other side is in Devanagari style." Qian Ping'an said. Since it is in Sanskrit, it is absolutely impossible for it to be Qin Shihuang, or the imperial seal. I wonder if Xionggui will be disappointed if he knows.
Tan Xiao nodded. As they went deeper and approached the similar position as yesterday's landing point, the speed of the snail changed again and continued to go deeper.
When it slowed down, Tan Xiao judged that it should be the water ahead, so he asked Qian Pingan to stop the speedboat and float on the water. He took out the materials bought yesterday and added the bird's nest grass that Qian Pingan brought today.
Use bird's nest grass to start a fire, mix white lentils, millet and the main ingredient rice together, and simmer over low heat with a portable stove.
"What is this for?" Qian Pingan asked curiously.
"This is the Pai Sect's magic, fishing for dragons!" The "dragon" Tan Xiao was talking about was not a real dragon, but a general term for all water monsters. After all, in ancient times, when there was a problem in the water, the first thing people thought of was a dragon. They were probably looking for a powerful water monster in this area.
There is nothing wrong with this. All aquatic creatures are happy to be called dragons. Aquatic creatures all over the world respect dragons. In addition, dragons are inherently powerful. Many aquatic creatures that have made it big have some diluted dragon bloodline. Even if they don’t, their ultimate dream is to become a dragon, such as the carp leaping over the dragon gate. In many cases, when praying for rain and offering sacrifices, people will use other aquatic creatures, not limited to shrimps, crabs, fish, etc., as substitutes for offerings. This is called "taking a dragon."
Tan Xiao used the Paijiao recipe for fishing water monsters. Originally, it was all roasted and then thrown into the pond. Tan Xiao was more particular and stewed some rice porridge.
The most important ingredient in this recipe is actually not in the bowl but under the stove: the bird's nest grass.
Legend has it that dragons like to eat swallows but are afraid of pig iron, so five swallow-tail iron shackles were thrown into Yunmeng Lake to subdue the dragon.
——After this incident, everyone felt that it was unlikely that a dragon was causing trouble in the water. It was because the swallow-tail iron shackle was still there that the dragons in the waters of Yunmeng Lake could not make any waves.
Having said that, Tan Xiao used bird's nest grass to replace the live swallows in the original recipe. In the past, some people used live swallows to catch dragons, but Tan Xiao didn't dare to do that because swallows are now protected animals.
Tan Xiao uses hot water to boil the rice, which makes the aroma stronger. Under low heat, the rice porridge slowly boils in the pot. He is as patient as a fisherman, waiting slowly for the porridge to be cooked.
You can hear the sound of porridge fluttering under the lid. Tan Xiao lifts the lid and the fragrant aroma of white lentils and millet is already overflowing from the edge of the pot along with the rising porridge skin. He adds in the equally strong and fragrant rue and continues to simmer.
Just a quick glance when he lifted the lid, Qian Ping'an was already tempted by the fragrant rice aroma. He never thought that he could crave porridge so much. It seemed that he could imagine the soft and glutinous texture, the sticky and fragrant rice grains sliding into his mouth, and the stewed white lentils... If he took a sip in the cold wind, Qian Ping'an couldn't help swallowing his saliva.
There is just one thing that is confusing. He is also an old native of Yunmengze area, and his ancestors have dealt with Paijiao. How come he still doesn't remember that Paijiao's secret recipe is delicious?
Tan Xiao squatted down to cook porridge while looking around. After turning off the fire, he tapped the pot lightly with his fingers a few times.
A light heat rose up, wrapped in fragrance.
Qian Ping'an wanted to speak, but Tan Xiao raised his finger to signal silence.
Dragon fishing is similar to fishing, I think, but you must not scare the fish.
The water surface was slightly rippled by the cold wind that blew from time to time, and a light mist appeared on the water surface because of the temperature difference caused by the sun on sunny days. There seemed to be no other sound in the world except the distant birdsong, but it was not the case for Tan Xiao. He felt as if the air was stretched tight, just like his body.
The sudden change happened in an instant. The speedboat that was originally stationary beneath him was suddenly dragged and sped towards the depths of Yunmeng. A pot of rice porridge was shaken up and almost half of it swung off the boat!
Tan Xiao held the pot with the rag and made a gesture: "Kong Xuan!"
Three seconds later, there was no movement.
"You, you..." Qian Ping'an felt that Tan Xiao was too weird. He didn't even chant a spell, but just made some hand gestures. What was he wondering about? Wasn't it normal that there was no effect?
Qian Ping'an held the bow and drew out his master's sword with his backhand, "The wind blows and the bells ring. If there is anything, I will ask you... I need to recruit fifteen or sixteen soldiers. If there is anything in front of the altar, I will go into the clouds..."
Master Chu relied on recruiting soldiers to fight the gangs. The soldiers and spirits raised on the altar were used to subdue demons and exorcise ghosts. Because he usually did it as a part-time job, the response from the spirits was always slow every time he just opened a business. But today the soldiers were late, which was beyond common sense.
Qian Pingan also reacted and shouted, "Oh no! It's because of the cliff carvings!"
He lived near the Yunmeng Lake and was naturally familiar with the influence of the stone carvings left by the great virtue. His own spirit did not dare to approach the stone carvings, and could not even hear him calling upon it near the stone carvings.
However, he, like Tan Xiao, thought that they had left the influence of the stone carvings. After all, if not, how could the guy pushing the boat be doing this now?
Logically speaking, neither you nor I should act wildly near the stone carvings.
Especially Tan Xiao, he was always the one cheating, and this was the first time he discovered that the other party was cheating.
Ghosts and gods stay away, but other magic can still be used. Tan Xiaojian and Kong Xuan are disconnected, and he quickly reacts. He pinches the peace spell with his hands, "The card drives the four seas, the Tao is revealed in all directions, it's settled!"
This is the Paijiao method of calming the water. If you want the boat to not move, no matter how strong the wind and waves are, it will not move. Even if there is no one on the boat, putting a bowl of water in it will work.
After the order was made, the speedboat really stopped. The two men looked out and saw a dark shadow looming below, eager to try.
Tan Xiao opened the compass on his phone and identified the direction. "Hurry up and drive the boat to the east coast. We need to drive to the shallow water area!"
As he was talking, Qian Ping'an was also driving the boat. Both of them came to their senses and realized that only by getting closer to that side could they get out of the influence of the stone carvings.
Qian Ping'an increased the speed to the fastest. The speedboat was much faster than the small wooden boat yesterday, but there was still a certain distance between them. The objects under the boat were still trying to overturn the boat. Compared with the vast Yunmeng Lake, the tiny speedboat was struggling to break through the waves in the whirlpool.
Tan Xiao firmly grasped the safety formula and continued to strengthen it : "If I want a ship, it will be booked. If I want a ship to leave, it will leave!"
He was chanting the mantra with all his heart when he suddenly heard Qian Ping'an calling him, "Look!"
"What?" Tan Xiao moved forward a little, and just as he got close to Qian Ping'an, he stretched out his hand, grabbed Tan Xiao's neck and pulled Tan Xiao back .
Tan Xiao was highly focused, but Qian Ping'an was so strong that he felt his neck was almost broken. He coughed and did not even have time to practice the Ping'an Jue. He pressed against Qian Ping'an, saw the fierce look in his eyes, and said, "I'll kill you, you fryer!"
"Wake up!" Tan Xiao said anxiously. He saw that Qian Ping'an had been possessed by a ghost and fell into hallucination without knowing when.
Tan Xiao has always had a good resistance to hallucinations, but he couldn't resist his companion who was hit. No matter how he called out to the birds or ghosts, no one responded. He fought with Qian Ping'an with his hands and was pushed to the side of the boat. Qian Ping'an wanted to throw him into the dark shadow under the water.
The black shadow also slowly rose up along with the water, trying to catch him—
Tan Xiao could almost smell the strong fishy smell of water when he looked sideways, and the cold gaze from the lake below...
He closed his eyes and bit the tip of his tongue, then used the blood from his tongue to write the talisman out of thin air!
The tongue represents the heart, and the heart belongs to the element of fire, which has the strongest power to ward off evil spirits. Tan Xiao saw the blood splashing on Qian Ping'an's wide-open eyes, which were close at hand! His pupils shrank, and his strength suddenly relaxed. While letting go of Tan Xiao, he sat back hard, panting, with a look of horror on his face.
"Haa...what happened?" Qian Ping'an was confused for two seconds, then rushed over to continue driving the boat, cursing with dirty words, all of which could not be broadcast.
It’s not that Qian Ping’an has a particularly bad character , but he has discovered that he was possessed by evil spirits just now, so he said some dirty words to increase his courage and also to suppress the evil spirits.
Tan Xiao got up and touched the back of his head. He felt that the ends of his hair were wet, and he couldn't tell whether the wetness on his back was cold sweat or water.
He sniffed his fingers and smelled of water.
The speedboat had entered the shallow water, splashing the turbid water. Like a galloping horse, it roared in search of a way out.
The water was only a few meters deep. The birds passing by chirped and flew away as the engine roared. Tan Xiao, Qian Pingan, and the underwater creatures were all extremely nervous. They all felt that the chase was about to end.
"No..." Tan Xiao muttered. Before Qian Ping'an could hear clearly, he saw Tan Xiao turned around, still using one hand to hold the boat in place, and using the other hand to perform the Great Golden Knife Technique and stabbed directly into the water. He actually took the initiative to attack!
In an instant, Tan Xiao hurriedly felt that his hand seemed to touch something hard and slippery, and he also saw some beautiful patterns at a glance. The patterns suddenly emerged from the water, and a sharp bird cry sounded. It turned into a large bird and grabbed Tan Xiao's sleeve with its sharp beak!
Tan Xiao was caught off guard and took a step back, pulling his sleeves high.
At this moment, the speedboat had plunged into the mud and was stranded. The hull shook and the engine stopped roaring weakly .
Tan Xiao was startled and shouted: "Kong Xuan!"
Two seconds later, the familiar figure disappeared.
Bad luck, is there still no signal here?
The next moment, he heard the sound of dense flapping wings. All the waterfowl within his sight moved, accompanied by a long cry.
Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds gathered in Yunmengze, and bird photography enthusiasts from all over the country and even the world also gathered in Yunmengze. The shore was crowded with cameras and bird watchers generally brought 20 to 60 times monocular telescopes, which are more suitable for watching water birds in such an open wetland.
A bird watching competition will also be held here. The more bird species recorded, the higher the chance of winning. Photographers have already occupied good camera positions. The focal lengths of the lenses in their hands start from 500 to 600, or even more than 1,000, with good image quality. Today's light is excellent, enough to capture the feathers of birds in the distance clearly.
With the help of such telescopes and lenses, the huge crowd easily spotted the speedboat in the distance. After all, not only did the speedboat scare away flocks of birds, but the people on the speedboat were all wearing red clothes, which is the color that birds are most sensitive to, and it would easily scare them away.
"Is that your staff? What is he doing? Why did he stop? Is he stranded or did he do it on purpose?" A photographer asked in confusion as he looked at the scene in the camera. This speedboat was so discordant. Why would they let it disturb the bird watching festival?
The sponsor staff member in charge of on-site maintenance looked flustered. "I'm not sure, but that boat should be a patrol boat. Maybe there are some arrangements... I'll call and ask later."
The photographer looked at the screen of his colleague next to him, because his lens had a longer focal length and the picture was clearer. He saw the person on the speedboat suddenly stand up. He was not only wearing red clothes but also an old-fashioned robe. He raised his hand, and the red robe fluttered in the wind, which was completely different from the withered colors around him. There was also a waterfowl flying around... Although it was irrelevant to the subject, many photographers could not help but press the shutter a few times.
The next moment, something happened that shocked the people on the shore.
On one side of the lake, a green peacock nearly three meters long appeared from nowhere and flew over with its wings spread. Its gorgeous and colorful long coverts had a metallic iridescent luster, shining in the sun. As its body flew, its green tail stretched out in the air, proudly displaying its ultimate splendor, but its speed was not slow.
The sea is vast and misty, and thousands of birds are flying together, whether they are the elegant Oriental White Stork, the tall Black Crane, or the steady Bean Goose... The surrounding migratory birds present a scene like the phoenix in mythology, circling in the air but not daring to fly over the peacock, which is the only bright color in the sky, making all other colors dim.
The peacock's eyes are like gems, looking down on all living things.
The refracted sunlight seemed to envelop it in a halo, making the scene even more sacred. After appearing like a phoenix descending to the earth, the peacock glided towards the stagnant speedboat.
In the swamp, among the dense reeds, the breeze was blowing gently. Amid the dense shutter sounds, the man in red in the camera tilted his head, revealing half of his beautiful and clear face. The colorful colors hit the bright red background, and the tail feathers drooped like embroidery on a robe - he stretched out his hand and hugged the fallen peacock.
