Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 150 Hungry Ghost
After counting all the supplies, early the next morning, the six Qin Huai men specially picked out a few good horses from the three divisions. Together with a hundred brave guards, they led several carts to the parade ground to meet Yuan who had been waiting for a long time.

"Captain Qin."

The water descendants near the coast saw that the supplies and troops had arrived, and hurried over with a somewhat grim look on their faces.

"What's up, brother? Are you impatient?"

Qin Huai jumped off his tall horse, took two steps forward, and greeted him with a smile.

"No, it's just that Master Huineng sent me a message last night that the situation of Jade Mountain and Jade Water has changed, and I am a little anxious. Alas, I didn't expect that only five days after I left, the sea near the sea suffered from a dragon sucking water, the gods were angry, and the plague was rampant. Under such a series of disasters, Yuan really can't help but worry about the safety of the tribe. If I offended the captain, I hope you will forgive me."

Qin Huai waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to worry about it.

Yuan glanced at the cart protected by the hundred guards and hesitated: "Has Captain Qin ever counted the supplies? This operation concerns the lives of thousands of people, so Captain Qin should check carefully."

Qin Huai nodded, handed over the list, and asked about Jing'an's incident.

"As the saying goes, intelligence comes before troops move. I would like to ask Guide Yuan to tell me in detail what happened in Jing'an in the past few days."

Yuan took the list and walked around the car to check the supplies while frowning as he organized his speech: "This is a long story and time is tight. Captain Qin wants to hear me talk about the most important things first. We can talk about the rest on the way."

Seeing that Qin Huai had no objection, Yuan thought for a while and then spoke slowly.

"The story began in April this year. After the return of spring, the tribesmen planned to take advantage of the late dry season when the wind and waves were light and the fishing conditions were good, just like in previous years, to catch more fish for their daily life and practice. But unexpectedly, from some day on, the fish schools disappeared in large numbers, and our harvest was very small. Then, the green seaweed that was seen everywhere in the past gradually withered and turned black, and the water became turbid and smelly. We spent a whole month looking for the cause, but unfortunately, we found nothing except a few bones.

In May, we found that the tribesman who was guarding the cemetery in Yushan had not come down the mountain for a long time. The elders and I felt that something was wrong, so we went to investigate. As expected, we found a charred body that was torn beyond recognition in the stone house of the gravekeeper. We originally thought that it might be an enemy or a ghost, but we didn't expect that the culprit was a legendary thing. "

Having said this, Yuan stopped, glanced at Zhiming, and then looked at Qin Huai with an ambiguous look in his eyes.

"Qin Baihu is a Taoist disciple, so he must be familiar with the six realms of reincarnation in Buddhism, right? The evil ghost we caught at the end is closely related to the hungry ghost realm in the six realms of reincarnation. Its belly is as big as a drum, its neck is as thin as a needle, it spews fire from its mouth, and its whole body stinks extremely. The hungry ghost that harmed my uncle is the cataract ghost recorded in Buddhist scriptures."

Yuan gnashed his teeth, it was obvious that this uncle had a special relationship with him. Qin Huai, however, noticed something was wrong and raised his eyebrows: "Since your uncle dared to guard the cemetery alone, he must be a very powerful person. How could he be killed by a mere ghost?"

Yuan sighed, walked to the last truck, his voice a little low.

"Captain Qin guessed correctly. My uncle's strength is not much different from mine. We originally thought that with my uncle's strength, as long as he didn't encounter the thousand-year-old ghost king, he should be able to protect himself. But the number of hungry ghosts is not just a few hundred, but like a tide, endless, and can't be counted!"

Qin Huai looked at Yuan with a strange expression, as if asking: How did you survive?

"Fortunately, these hungry ghosts can only move on the peaks of Jade Mountain and cannot go beyond a hundred meters. Although I don't know the reason, at least they have left us Shuiyi with a chance to survive and seek help from the Three Divisions."

After Yuan checked the supplies one by one, he returned the list to Qin Huai and gestured for him to talk while walking.

"set off!"

At Qin Huai's command, dozens of soldiers and horses marched out of Longyuan with their iron hooves, watched by the gatekeepers.

Although it was hot in July, Jiaozhi, located in the low-latitude tropical zone, was still extremely hot at this time. I thought that the hot and humid touch would accompany Qin Huai and his party all the way to Jing'an, but I didn't expect that the temperature would drop a lot and the air would be much drier after walking only a dozen miles out of the city.

"Captain Qin, do you feel it? The further east we go, the closer we get to Jing'an, and the weirder the weather becomes. When I came to Sansi, it was still hot, but I could see white frost in some places along the way. White frost is a rare thing."

"Could it be that this climate change is also related to the turmoil of the earth's atmosphere in Yushan and Yushui?"

Qin Huai was a little curious. According to the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, these strange phenomena could be attributed to the disorder of celestial phenomena caused by the turmoil of the earth's qi, which was a sign of the birth of a rare treasure. Anyway, there were few people who knew astrology, and these sorcerers would just talk nonsense according to the star map, and no one would question it. Now that there was finally someone who had experienced it personally, Qin Huai naturally wanted to hear a more realistic statement.

"It's very likely. This chill is neither dry nor wet, and it goes straight into the bones. It has an evil nature, but it is different from the chill brought by ordinary ghosts. I have little experience, so I can't say for sure what it is."

Long Suinu was doing needlework out of boredom, the railway man had his eyes slightly narrowed as if he was dozing, and the crazy witch had a blank expression, as if he didn't take Yuan's words to heart.

The monk and Guan Wei had some guesses, but since they hadn't seen the real thing, they couldn't make any assumptions. The atmosphere among the group became quiet, and there was no speech for a while.

As the journey got farther, Qin Huai also felt the strange coldness that Yuan had mentioned. What helped Qin Huai to perceive this was the sharp five senses brought by Penglai Xian.

Different from the bone-piercing coldness, if you feel it carefully, this coldness is even a little warm?

Thinking about the hungry ghost realm that Yuan had mentioned before, Qin Huai pondered for a moment and decided to throw the question to the big monk in the team to hear his opinion first.

After all, Zhiming is a master of Buddhism, so it would be a waste if he is not used.

Qin Huai slowed down his horse, came to Zhiming, looked at the smiling monk and joked.

"Master Zhiming, are you still used to riding a military horse?"

The monk saluted with one hand, his expression very calm.

"Thank you for your concern, benefactor Qin. I am a thick-skinned monk, so a few bumps and bruises are nothing."

After some polite exchanges, Qin Huai asked Zhiming many questions about hungry ghosts.

"I have heard that you are a master of Buddhism. Could you please tell me about the realm of hungry ghosts in the six realms of reincarnation?"

"If you want to listen, then of course you can. So-called hungry ghosts are always hungry and weak, fearful and timid. They are weak and ugly, living at the bottom of the sea or near the mountains and forests. They have little joy and much suffering, but their lifespan is long and far away from disasters. It just so happens that the Ullambana Festival held by the Three Officials a few days ago is related to these hungry ghosts who are frightened by the sight of them and cannot eat for years."

Guan Wei, who was riding on a chestnut horse, leaned over and stared at the monk. He suddenly said, "In the past, I was greedy and jealous, and I deceived others. Because of this, I fell into the realm of hungry ghosts."

Guan Wei curled his lips, obviously disdainful of the Buddhist concept of merit and karma.

Seeing that someone had spoken first, the monk remained calm and did not argue with Guan Wei. Instead, he started talking about an old story.

"To be honest with you, Mr. Qin, the hungry ghost disaster at Yushan was a difficult problem that my master and I personally went to Yushui and spent a lot of effort to solve. Now that Mr. Qin asked about it, I will tell you about the twists and turns."

After saying this, without caring whether the others could listen or not, three wooden signs with ghosts engraved on them appeared out of thin air in the monk's hand.

"It should have been late May. Donor Yuan came to the Three Departments and reported all the strange things happening near the sea. After the Three Departments discussed with Qingwei and Zhenbei, they unanimously decided to let my master (Huineng), who was better at dealing with such strange things, go to help. As a close follower, I followed my master and witnessed the whole process.

The general situation that Donor Yuan just said is correct, but there is one thing I think I need to explain. The range of activities of those hungry ghosts is not limited to Qifeng, but covers the entire Yushan Yushui. They are unwilling to step out of Qifeng, just because they are attracted by something and cannot leave. "The big monk raised the wooden sign in his hand, and there was a wonderful magic in his words.

"Each of these three wooden signs seals a hungry ghost. They are the outer obstacle ghosts entangled in karma, the inner obstacle ghosts who suffered from their own actions, and the food obstacle ghosts who were deeply sinful. After my master arrived at Yushan at the end of May, he used many methods to lead most of the hungry ghosts into the strange peaks, and then suppressed them with the diamond spirit. It has been two months now. Now I think these hungry ghosts should have been purified. In my humble opinion, Mr. Qin only needs to be careful of those who slipped through the net, and don't worry too much about this ghost tide."

As the monk was speaking, a drop of rain fell on his shiny head without warning, splashing some water droplets.

Dark clouds covered the entire sky without anyone noticing, and thick water vapor seemed to appear suddenly and filled everyone's surroundings.

"Huh? Is it raining?"

The railway man put on his hat and continued to take a nap; Long Sui was doing needlework and Guan Wei was humming a little tune. The water drops turned into white mist and disappeared before they even reached them; the arrogant witch, however, showed some expression and seemed to be enjoying it.

The raindrops soon turned into water lines. Qin Huai was a little surprised to see the monk whose robe was not wet at all in the pouring rain.

This monk is quite capable of stopping wind and avoiding water. Could it be that this is due to his indestructible power?
The big monk lowered his eyes, and his gaze met Qin Huai's. Knowing what he meant, he took the initiative to speak.

"My appearance is that of the Bodhisattva of Infinite Intentions. I was born with a clear mind and a bright spirit, and I can avoid wind, fire, thunder and rain. Although I don't have the divine power of the Heavenly Appearance of the donor Qin, this is also quite convenient for daily use."

"Master, that's a good trick."

Qin Huai responded, but as to whether he believed it or not, only God knew.

Seeing that the mountain road ahead was muddy and the cart could not move easily, Qin Huai thought for a moment, then lightly stepped on the horse's belly and rushed to Yuan who was leading the way.

Under the heavy rain, Yuan, a member of the water snake tribe, seemed to have grown three times larger, and was now almost level with Qin Huai's chest and abdomen.

"Guide Yuan, are there any inns along the way? I see the rain is getting heavier, and it won't last long if we keep wasting our energy like this. Why don't we find some bricks and tiles to shelter from the rain first?"

Yuan glanced at the cloud tails that were covering a dozen large vehicles. The sky was indeed dark. Even though he was extremely anxious, he could only nod and reply in a muffled voice.

"There is an inn a few miles away. The food and drinks are good and the place is big. Can Captain Qin still hold on?"

Qin Huai turned around and shouted, his voice spreading from the front to the end of the team.

"Speed ​​up the march!"

Zhang Teng at the end of the team heard the military order and whistled, and the cart surrounded by hundreds of guards slowly increased its speed.

A quarter of an hour later, Qin Huai brought dozens of cavalrymen to the inn that Yuan mentioned.

Jia'an Inn.

There was a black-lettered sign with marks of swords and knives hanging above the door, which looked like a black shop no matter how you looked at it.

Qin Huai narrowed his eyes and twitched his nose, as if he smelled a faint smell of blood.

Guan Wei dismounted and seeing that Qin Huai did not move, he took the initiative to walk into the room, wanting to call out the boss.

"Are you here? It's raining heavily outside. I'm here to get you a few rooms!"

There was no light in the dark lobby. I couldn't tell whether there was a noise coming from the kitchen or the backyard, and then a reply came out.

"I'm here, I'm here. Sir, have you been waiting for a long time?"

Before he finished speaking, a man in his thirties, wearing coarse blue cloth, appeared and greeted Guan Wei.

"Sir, are you alone?"

The guy looked outside the door and heard a lot of horse hooves sounds.

"Fifty or sixty people and hundreds of horses, can this inn accommodate them?"

Guan Wei's tone when speaking to the common people was very calm, and he showed none of the emotion he had when he was arguing with Monk Zhiming.

The waiter looked embarrassed and said, "Well, sir, you may not know that my boss and several other waiters fell ill the day before yesterday and are seeking medical treatment in Longyuan. I am the only one left in the inn. Although we still have ten rooms, we can barely accommodate you all if we squeeze in. But I am afraid that I can't serve so many guests by myself, and the stable in the backyard is probably also not enough."

"Don't bother. We are all soldiers and not that delicate. If the store owner opens the stable, we will build a shelter to avoid the rain."

Qin Huai walked in and whispered to comfort the waiter.

"What kind of food and drinks would you like, sir?"

"No need, ten guest rooms will do."

The clerk saw that Qin Huai's demeanor was far from that of an ordinary person, so after taking the silver ingot, he handed a key to Qin Huai and gave him some instructions.

"There are many mosquitoes, rats and ants recently. The well water in the courtyard has been polluted and cannot be drunk. If you want to drink water, you can go to the large vat in the kitchen to scoop water. That is the clean water I just picked up from the river this morning."

Qin Huai nodded, turned around and went out to tell Zhang Teng and the remaining six people about his arrangements.

"Miss Long Sui, Master Zhi Ming, the railway man, Zhang Teng, you lead half of the soldiers to guard the first half of the night, and the rest of you will follow me to guard the second half of the night. Do you have any objections?"

Seeing that no one questioned it, Qin Huai distributed the keys. Three people in one room was just right.

After taking the keys, Zhang Teng led the soldiers to set up a tent, while Qin Huai set up a few simple stoves in the middle of the lobby, took out a few large iron pots and various vegetables, and prepared dinner.

Inside the house, the lights were warm and the smell of food was wafting.

Outside the house, the wind was blowing coldly and the sky was filled with gloomy clouds.

(End of this chapter)