Hearing what she said, Gu Mang and Mo Xi's expressions changed slightly. If the temple had a spirit, then there must be some kind of spirit hidden in it. If the spirit was pure and kind, it would solve problems for people without asking for anything in return. If the spirit was evil, then it would be troublesome. Those evil spirits would ask for something in return when they fulfilled their wishes, and those rewards would often be much heavier than what the prayers received.
Sure enough, Su Qiao continued, "Any husband and wife who have worshiped in this temple, as long as the beautiful wife is able to conceive, their husband will inevitably die mysteriously within a year or a few months. There is no exception. "
"So …" Gu Mang murmured and fell into deep thought, "The child exchanged with the husband's life …"
There was a moment of silence, and only the crackling sound of the charcoal could be heard.
Suddenly, there was the sound of steam and the white fog was boiling. It turned out that the tea was boiling, and the sound broke the stiff atmosphere. Su Qiao picked up the copper pot and filled the cup, saying, "Come, drink some hot tea first."
The two thanked her. Gu Mang pondered while drinking tea, and suddenly asked, "Miss Su, this matter … Does everyone in town know?"
"Some know, some don't." Su Qiao said, "Anyway, there are a lot of people who know. Our town is poor, and we rely on the good money from the pilgrims to live. Entering the local temple costs a lot of money, and those who come from poor backgrounds are all driven back by the people who collect money at the door. Generally, only those landlords can afford to go. "
"Didn't anyone remind those rich young masters and ladies?"
"Why should we remind them?" Su Qiao raised her eyebrows, "Looking at the clothes of the two of you, you are also ordinary people. We have been bullied by those rich young masters, haven't we? What's more, they wanted to come to pray, and no one choked their necks and forced them to enter the temple. Who is to blame for this misfortune? "
Gu Mang remembered that Mo Xi was born with the noblest bloodline in Chong Hua. He was worried that Mo Xi would be angry if he heard this, so he couldn't help but glance at him. However, Mo Xi didn't show any signs of anger. He lowered his eyelashes and pursed his lips. No one knew what he was thinking about, but his expression was serious.
"Besides, our Lotus Town is plagued with miasma all year round. The town is full of people who have no spiritual power talent. They can't resist the miasma and are prone to diseases. When they are sick, it's harder to ask for money from those old men and women than to climb up to the sky. If we don't take advantage of this time to scrape a layer of oil from them, should we wait until we are sick to death and beg for their mercy?"
"…" Gu Mang sighed and did not say anything.
Su Qiao looked at the moonlight outside the window, got up and stretched. She rubbed her arms and said, "Alright, it's getting late. It's good that you two know the danger. You can stroll around Lotus Town, but don't go to that evil temple."
Gu Mang said, "Of course we will listen to Miss Su."
Su Qiao went to tidy up the guest room for them. Mo Xi saw that she was limping and asked, "Miss, is your leg injury serious?"
"Oh. It's not a problem. " Su Qiao waved her hand, "My black dog's brain is not good. It pulled my cloth. I scolded it a few times, but it actually bit me. Damn it."
Mo Xi did not say anything more. He only handed Su Qiao a bottle of medicine for bruises.
Su Qiao took the medicine bottle, opened it and sniffed, "Is this medicine expensive?"
"It's not expensive."
Su Qiao scooped a little and held it in her palm. She returned the bottle to Mo Xi, "These days, there are exorbitant taxes. It's not easy for anyone to live. Even if it's not expensive, I wouldn't dare to accept it. I can't finish applying such a big bottle of medicine. You two should keep it for yourselves.
It might be useful in the future. "After she finished speaking, she limped upstairs to sleep. The silk garments custom-made for her by the rich in the house were so luxurious. They were made of gold and silver thread, and they were overflowing with color. However, she herself was dressed shabbily. She was so small that she was like a speck in the room.
At night, Mo Xi and Gu Mang closed the door of their room and looked at each other. There was only one bed in the room. Gu Mang's soft eyebrows immediately curved into a provocative smile. He sat on the only bed in the room. Mo Xi looked away.
"Junior Brother, aren't you going to rest?"
Mo Xi shook his head. He did not look at him. Instead, he stood at the furthest place from the bed and said, "I'll go out for a walk again."
Gu Mang knew that Mo Xi was not in a good mood. He sat on the edge of the bed with his legs crossed and rested his chin on his hand, teasing him, "What if Miss Su also goes out for a walk later and you bump into her? What will you say?"
"Or do you think that Miss Su is prettier than me? You say you want to go out for a walk, but you actually want to see her again?"
Mo Xi said sternly, "Don't talk nonsense."
Gu Mang smiled, "Then I'll have to trouble Junior Brother to go to sleep."
Mo Xi was silent for a moment. He seemed to be thinking of a way to avoid being in the same room as this guy. However, he obviously could not think of any good ideas. He could only walk to the bed with an ashen face. He looked down at 'Senior Sister Gu' from above with his cold eyes.
Gu Mang looked up and blinked innocently.
Mo Xi, "…"
After a few moments of silence, he suddenly raised his hand. Gu Mang thought that he was really going to take off his outer robe and go to bed. However, he saw Mo Xi's slender fingers move in the air. With two clicks, he directly undid the buttons on the bed and pulled the curtains with both hands.
With a "whoosh", the moon-white bed curtains were instantly closed tightly.
Mo Xi's cold voice came from outside the curtains, "Lie down."
"Oh …" Gu Mang was still in a daze. After a while, he tentatively reached out to pull the curtains. He wanted to poke his head out to see what would happen if he did not listen to him.
However, as soon as his hand touched the curtains, he was stopped by Mo Xi through the curtains.
"What are you doing?"
Although this Junior Brother was extremely young and could even be said to be immature, his strength was already so great that it was somewhat frightening. Gu Mang's fingers almost broke, but Mo Xi was not aware of it.
Gu Mang trembled, "… Nothing, I just wanted to take a look at you. Let's talk nicely. Can you let go of me first?"
Mo Xi's sword-like eyebrows raised in anger, "You're still not sleeping? Are you still going to make a fuss? "
"Big Brother, I just want to tease you. Who wants to provoke you? Can you let go of me? Stop breaking my fingers, I'll scream if you do."
This time, he stepped on the wrong foot. Young Master Mo hated being threatened the most. Hearing this, he became angry and the strength in his hands increased. Gu Mang did not back down. He did what he said and immediately shouted shamelessly at the top of his voice, "Hubby … Pain … Ah! You're hurting me … Ah, ah ah … "
This shout was hoarse and sexy, soft and melodious, causing one's imagination to run wild. How could this be? As if he had been scalded, Mo Xi suddenly let go of Gu Mang's hand.
He opened the curtains. Against the candlelight, there was an angry and embarrassed handsome face. Before Gu Mang could say anything else, Mo Xi suddenly pushed him onto the bed and covered his mouth. He lowered his voice and gritted his teeth, "What do you want!"
Gu Mang said sincerely, "I'm just teasing you."
Due to his excessive anger, young master Mo's chest heaved up and down as he glared at the b * stard beneath him. Every single word he spat out sounded like he was grinding his molars. "You better sleep obediently, and I'll pretend that nothing happened. If you provoke me again, I'll make you suffer! "
After a while, Mo Xi waited for Gu Mang to be obedient. He looked at him with his clear black eyes, as if to promise, "Big Brother, I'm wrong. I won't dare to do it again." Only then did he release his hand. Gu Mang's cheek was pinched red by him. He panted a few times and then moved his moist eyes. He looked speechlessly at the young master on top of him and sighed, "Shidi … when you lecture me in the future, can you change the place? At least let's not be in this position on the bed."
Mo Xi was slightly startled. He suddenly realized that he had pushed Gu Mang onto the bed in a moment of anger. At this time, Gu Mang's black hair was scattered all over the place. The curtains around them swayed and the room was full of ambiguity.
"…" Mo Xi suddenly got up. His eyes, which were wandering in the boundless night, flashed with uncertainty. Looking at him, Gu Mang had no doubt that this young master would have pressed him against the wall and pummeled him until he exploded if the situation did not permit it.
After a while, Mo Xi suddenly raised his hand and fiercely pulled the curtains shut again. The curtains rustled and his deep voice came from outside the curtains. He said stiffly, "I'm sorry."
It can't be, is he so serious?
Gu Mang sat up cross-legged inside the curtains. He could not help but laugh.
After a while, Mo Xi said from outside, "But I … hate people who don't respect themselves the most. Please forgive me, Senior Martial Sister. Don't mess around like this again."
Gu Mang groaned, "I don't dare anymore. I don't want to be pressed on the bed and lectured by others again."
"You even hurt my finger while you were at it."
"… You can hurt my finger too."
This was very fair. But shouldn't a normal person say, "Does it hurt? I have medicine" or "I'm sorry, let me take a look"? At the very least, they should say, "Really? Are you alright? "—" You can hurt my finger too. "What kind of violent way of thinking was this?
Gu Mang hurriedly said, "Forget it, forget it. No need, no need. I'm going to sleep. You should rest too. "
They slept soundly until dawn. Gu Mang woke up from his dream. He gently lifted a corner of the curtains and found that Mo Xi was not lying down. Instead, he was sitting at the table.
At this time, the first rays of the morning sun shone on Mo Xi's beautiful face. The young man's facial features were sharp and cold, but his eyelashes were as soft and long as the stamen of a flower. Mo Xi's head was tilted down. It was obvious that he was trying his best to stay awake. But in the end, he could not hold on and fell asleep.
Gu Mang blinked his eyes and looked thoughtfully at his Junior Martial Brother, who was born in a noble family.
The warm sunlight sprinkled in little by little and poured into the room.
The oil lamp in their room had been burning dutifully all night. At this time, it finally burned to the end. Suddenly, it burst into a few clusters of dazzling sparks and went out silently.
After breakfast, they bid farewell to Su Qiao. Before they left, Miss Su reminded them again and again not to go to the local temple. She also gave them a paper umbrella. "These days, the sun is hot and it often rains in the evening. Take this with you, it might be useful." She then smiled at Mo Que. "Take it as me returning the favor of Young Master Mo for the bottle of healing medicine."
The two thanked her. As they walked in the bluestone alley, Gu Mang looked at the paper umbrella. He opened it and looked at the surface of the umbrella. At first, he was startled. Then, he praised sincerely, "The drawing is very beautiful. Miss Su's hands are too skillful."
Mo Xi looked at it and saw that the colorful ink on the surface of the umbrella was dazzling. She had carefully drawn the Qingdai river, the buildings, terraces, and crisscrossed paths. It was indeed a picture of a beautiful landscape of singing and dancing. He did not expect that an embroiderer from a poor and remote village would have such a magnificent landscape in her heart. He could not help but be surprised.
"Such a beautiful umbrella. Even if it were raining, I would not bear to hold it. At first, I thought she would only give us a normal one. How would I dare to accept this? " Gu Mang handed it to Mo Xi. "Put it in the Qiankun bag and keep it safe. When the local temple matter is resolved, we will return it to her."
Mo Xi nodded and put away the umbrella. The two of them walked side by side to the local temple in the suburbs.
When they arrived outside the temple, they saw the 'people who were receiving gifts from the gods' that Miss Su had mentioned. It turned out that they were the four townspeople blocking the entrance of the temple. There were three adults and one child. One of them was receiving gifts from the gods, one was selling incense, and one was selling peach wood amulets of marriage. As for the last child, he was actually standing there begging for food. The four of them were using all their strength and were shouting loudly.
The one who was collecting money at the entrance was shouting, "It is difficult to find family harmony with one's family even with a thousand taels of gold.
The one who was selling incense was shouting, "It is difficult to send a mortal heart to the Nine Heavens. A wisp of fragrance is in front of Buddha."
The one who was selling the amulets of marriage was singing, "It is difficult for two people to have such deep feelings. Golden wind and jade dew give birth to magnificent lotuses."
The little beggar was more honest. He had a drooling face and supported himself with a broken bamboo cane. He knocked on the bowl and said crisply, "Dear godfathers and godmothers, please give me some rewards!"
Gu Mang and Mo Xi walked towards the entrance. The four of them were like bees that had smelled honey and became more energetic. Among them, the little beggar was the most energetic. He stretched his neck and said, "Master, Madam, Young Master, Young Mistress, Godfather, Godmother, I wish you all to live to a ripe old age together and have many children and grandchildren." As he said that, he raised the broken bowl high and said with infinite desire,
"Do a good deed and give me some money. Grandfather Earth will take it as his reward. The two of you will definitely have a child soon!"
Mo Xi had inexplicably become the godfather and godmother of Master, Madam, Young Mistress and Young Mistress, and was even wished to have a child with Gu Mang. Naturally, his expression was not friendly.
However, Gu Mang was quite interested. He touched his chin and said with a smile, "Wonderful. If one day I have nowhere else to go, I might as well come here to beg for food. I think I can make a fortune after working here for two years regardless of wind or rain."
The little beggar immediately stared at him vigilantly, "I have taken this position. You can't fight with me."
Gu Mang laughed and poked his forehead, "Didn't you just call me Master and Madam godfather and godmother? Why are you so fierce all of a sudden? "
"If you have milk, you are a mother. If you give me money, you are a father."
Hearing this, Gu Mang rummaged in his Qiankun bag. After a long time, he took out a blue shell coin, "Okay, okay, okay. Quickly call me father." As he said that, he pointed at Mo Xi and said with a smile, "Call him mother."
Mo Xi looked at him coldly, "…"
Mo Xi was not the only one who looked unfriendly. The little beggar also rolled his eyes and snorted, "So little money. Are you trying to send a beggar away? At least three silver shell coins. Otherwise, you won't be allowed to enter the temple! "
"Hey, you bastard …" Before Gu Mang could finish his words, Mo Xi put three gold shell coins into the little beggar's bowl without batting an eyelid. Then, he turned around and glanced at Gu Mang. He ordered the little beggar,
"Call me father. You should know how to call me father. "
The little beggar indeed had the morals of a beggar. His anger immediately turned into joy. He conscientiously bowed to Mo Xi and said sweetly, "Godfather!" Then, he turned to Gu Mang and said, "Godmother!"
Gu Mang, "…"
Although Mo Xi did not like the way the little beggar called him, at least he had won a round. Thus, he no longer talked to Gu Mang. He gave the exorbitant gift money, six ridiculously expensive incense sticks, and a shockingly expensive peach wood amulet of marriage. Then, he led Gu Mang into the temple.
Gu Mang followed behind and sighed, "I was just joking with you. You are so petty. You actually want to take revenge. Look at you. You are angry all day long. "
Mo Xi said, "I am not angry."
Gu Mang raised his eyebrows slightly but did not expose him. He was very smart. In the past few days, he had already summed up the experience of teasing Mo Xi. It was okay to make fun of this decent person, but one should not overdo it. The key was to know when to stop. This principle was like fanning a fire. A light breath and a little wind could create a satisfactory flame. If one accidentally fanned too hard, one's face would be burned until it looked like a Dragon Li.
The two of them walked around the temple, but they didn't sense any obvious evil aura. The statue of the Earth Lord enshrined on the altar was charmingly naïve and simple. It couldn't be more simple, and there wasn't the slightest bit of evil.
Gu Mang shook his head and said softly, "The sun is high in the sky now. The Yang energy is very strong. I am afraid it will be difficult to check."
Mo Xi said, "Since Miss Su said that there will be something strange after praying, then let's do it according to the rules. If there is still no reaction after praying, then we will come here at night to take a closer look. "
"Do you really want to do it?" Gu Mang smiled and said, "If you really want to do it, then I am afraid you have to be very serious. If you do it half-heartedly, who knows if the Evil Spirit will notice the problem between us?"
Mo Xi flicked his sleeves and said, "I know this." He paused and looked back at Gu Mang's warm black eyes, "But you have to do it."
Gu Mang was stunned, "Do what?"
"… Be serious."
"Oh." Gu Mang smiled. His long eyes were like meteors in the night sky, shining brightly, "Of course. I, Gu Mang, have never failed a commission because of not being serious. "
Mo Xi glanced at him and quickly looked away. He did not speak, but his face was still a little gloomy. It seemed that he was very suspicious of whether Gu Mang's words were reliable or not.
They walked to the altar lamp and lit the incense. Gu Mang held it in his hand and blew on it, extinguishing the flame. Only the star-like red dot was left burning silently, and some soft incense ash fell. Six incense sticks. Light smoke rose in spirals, and the fragrance of pine and cypress scattered in the courtyard.
"Half for you and half for me." Gu Mang divided the incense sticks and said, "Let's go into the temple and pray."
The two entered the Earth Temple together and knelt on the prayer mat in front of the Merit Box.
The incense sticks went past their eyebrows and over their heads. They raised it to the middle of their foreheads and then knelt down together. They had wanted to make a wish and speak, but they did not know how to start. Thus, they remained silent and let the smoke float and the ashes fall. In the end, they seemed to kowtow sincerely, their foreheads touching the ground, but they did not ask for anything.
Because at this moment, none of them knew what wish they would have, and it could be related to the people around them.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
