If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 774: Ghost Encounter in Ruined Temple
"Young Taoist priest, what are you doing? I feel very uneasy when you look at me." Gou Jiao said hesitantly.

"Do you know how to read qi? I'm reading your qi." Xiaoyu said.

"Master, when you look at my qi, why do I feel as if thorns are piercing my bones and needles are stabbing my thighs?" Gou Jiao asked.

Xiao Yu smiled and said, "Your perception is very sharp. Of course, I also tried hard to see."

The copper-headed and iron-browed ghost who protects Xiu Ge is neither hidden in the ghost world nor in the Shinto dimension.

They hid in Xiu Ge's luck, as if they had become part of the cloud of luck.

To see what they look like is as difficult as seeing through the complete fate line of a great nobleman.

Xiaoyu wanted to see if there was any god hidden in Gou Jiao's destiny.

I wonder if the gods are protecting him so that he can always win.

"Master, haven't you seen it before? Why are you looking at it again?" Gou Jiao asked.

Xiao Yu said: "Your luck is like a cloud. The cloud is very thick and it is not clear at first glance. You need to observe more and observe carefully."

Gou Jiao asked curiously, "My luck is as strong as a canopy. Am I destined to be very rich and powerful?"

Xiao Yu shook his head and said, “Your Gou family may be very famous in Julu, but the cloud of your own luck is not like a Huagai.

Have you ever seen cow dung? That's about it.

This is not surprising, as the virtue of a gentleman will be destroyed after five generations.

You are a playboy who does not work and does not inherit the family business. It is impossible for you to become rich and powerful in the mountains."

Gou Jiao's face turned black, "When cow dung is magnified, it looks like a canopy."

"The key is that your cloud of luck is the same size as cow dung, and it has not been enlarged to be as big as a canopy!" Xiaoyu said.

Gou Jiao was a little excited and said, "Young Taoist priest, your words are inconsistent. Previously, you said that my luck is like a cloud, very thick, but now you say it is only as big as cow dung."

To be honest, Xiaoyu also felt that the luck of having a casual relationship was a bit strange.

It was clearly a ball the size of cow dung, and was light white in color, not colorful, but she stared at it and couldn't see through it.

Even if he really is a noble person as great as a canopy, she could still make out some clues if she stared at him.

There is something mysterious about casual relationships.

“The luck of ordinary people is like the smoke from an incense burner, only a thin wisp.

Your luck is as solid as a cloud, but not as big as a canopy."

"That should be bigger than cow dung." Gou Jiao said.

"Okay, okay, you know better than a fortune teller. Your luck is like a canopy, and you have the appearance of an emperor. Are you satisfied?"

Xiaoyu no longer looked at his expression and strode forward.

Gou Jiao followed closely and said, "Little Taoist priest, I am not an arrogant person. I have no interest in wealth and fame. Emperors and generals are like dirt to me.

It's just that luck is like cow dung, which is a bit unpleasant to hear and is not good for the path to immortality. Don't be angry!"

"Do you know how to practice light body skills?" Xiao Yu didn't want to go back to the previous topic at all.

Gou Jiao nodded and said, “When you go out, you must learn some martial arts.

Even if you encounter bad guys on the road, you must be able to protect yourself."

Xiao Yu said with a wooden face: "You just came down from Mengshan and were imprisoned for several months."

Gou Jiao looked ashamed, "My kung fu is not good enough, and the bandits are too fierce."

He did learn some martial arts, but he didn't have internal strength.

The so-called "qinggong" is nothing more than adjusting your breathing and stabilizing your rhythm to reduce the energy consumed by running.

This technique is often used in the military and is a compulsory course for newly enlisted soldiers.

First you should strengthen your body and have sufficient energy before you start learning internal skills.

If you don't learn internal skills, you won't be as strong as a dragon or a tiger.

One must first have sufficient essence and energy in the body to be able to extract "internal energy" from the essence and blood before one can practice internal skills.

That is to say, "refining essence into qi."

If the "essence" is insufficient, how can we transform it into qi?
Only when one’s internal strength has been slightly improved and reaches the realm of true essence, and is able to absorb the vital energy of heaven and earth, will the “internal force” truly feed back into the body.

Gou Jiao has been in the initial stage of strengthening his physique and has not yet started to "refine essence into energy". Without internal strength, he cannot fly over eaves and walls.

"You are too slow. Let me teach you a set of Qinggong."

After running six or seven miles, Gou Jiao began to breathe heavily.

He might have continued running, but the mountain road was rugged and his speed was much slower.

Gou Jiao shook his head and said, "I only practice immortal arts, not martial arts."

Xiao Yu said: "Practicing martial arts can also make you immortal."

"Hehe, little Taoist priest, you are good at physiognomy, but when it comes to cultivating immortals, your knowledge is not as good as mine!"

Gou Jiao looked proud, shook his head and said: "The innate essence of the human body is like a glass of water.

If I use this cup of water to cook porridge, I can’t use it to brew immortal wine. I want to keep my innate water for cultivating immortality.”

Xiaoyu glanced at his thin, dark and shriveled face, which was clearly a sign of loss of energy.

Maybe he once had a full glass of water, but now it may only be four-fifths or even three-quarters full.

"Then I'll take you on the road."

She broke off a branch from the tree and asked him to hold the other end.

In this way, he was like a pendant on her body, being pulled by her and running forward quickly.

"Little Taoist priest, please go slower. This stick is too thin. It's going to break!"

The feeling at this moment was like being hung on the top of a ten-story building by a thin rope.

He really didn't need to use any strength, but his body kept shaking and he felt like the rope might break at any time. He was so scared!

"Don't worry, I'm a martial arts master, and my stick is filled with true energy. Even if you break, it won't break." Xiao Yu said.

"Just pull my sleeve and run!" Gou Jiao shouted.

"No, you're dirty and covered with fleas. I'm afraid of being infected." Xiaoyu said.

Gou Jiao's wrinkled face flushed slightly, and he muttered in a rather aggrieved tone, "When I was in Pingxiang, everyone called me 'Julu Zidu'."

Xiaoyu ignored him.

After running another seven or eight miles, Gou Jiao was suddenly awakened by a gust of cool wind and shouted in panic, "Little Taoist priest, stop! We are on the wrong road! We are on the wrong road!"

Xiao Yu stopped and asked, "There is only one mountain road here, how did you get lost?"

The main peak of Mount Meng is not very high, but the range of the mountain range is about twenty to thirty miles.

Earlier, they left the Mengshan camp and returned to the place where Xiaoyu was kidnapped by bandits that day, which was the entrance to the Mengshan mountain road.

After running for more than ten miles, they were about to leave the Mengshan area.

Xiaoyu planned to leave Mengshan first and then let Gou Jiao lead the way.

"Little Taoist priest, look at the dilapidated temple in front." Gou Jiao pointed to the broken eaves and broken walls hidden by dead trees on the hillside in the distance, "A few months ago, I rested in the temple.

After a night, the next evening, we were robbed by bandits on the mountain. "

Xiaoyu first followed his instructions and looked at the dilapidated temple three or four miles away, then raised his eyes and looked at the black smoke above the dilapidated temple.

She raised her eyebrows and asked, "Did you really spend a night in that dilapidated temple?"

Such a strong evil spirit is obviously the lair of evil spirits. How did this guy survive?

Gou Jiao said: "I remember what happened last winter very clearly.

It was snowing at the time, and it took me a lot of effort to collect enough firewood from the surroundings. "

"Did you encounter any strange people or things that night?" Xiao Yu asked again. Gou Jiao was suspicious and said, "Is there something wrong with that dilapidated temple? I have been away from home for three years and have hardly encountered any monsters or ghosts. But I have encountered robbers and bandits frequently in the past year."

Xiao Yu pondered and said, "It's getting dark. Let's go to that dilapidated temple tonight and spend the night."

Gou Jiao looked up at the sun at around four o'clock in the afternoon and said, "According to the speed of the Taoist priest, we can go to Gong County ahead. No, we are going the wrong way. I plan to go north, but you want to take me back to Gong County."

"Where are you going north?" Xiaoyu asked.

Gou Jiao was stunned for a moment, then said in confusion, "I have no plan to go anywhere. I just saw a mountain ahead, so I have to climb over it, and then look for another mountain or another river after I pass the mountain."

Xiao Yu said, "In that case, if you see a temple in front of you now, what's the harm in going back to the temple?"

After saying that, she once again used her "Flying on the Grass" skill, stepped on stones and weeds with her hemp shoes, and ran straight towards the ruined temple.

As the saying goes, Wangshan runs to death.

They were originally on another mountain peak, and the mountain where the ruined temple was located was at the outermost edge of the mountain range, three or four miles away, so it took a lot of effort to walk there.

Xiaoyu is currently a Taoist priest nicknamed "Thunder Hand".

He had just cultivated the true Qi, and not only could he not fly, his lightness skills were also mediocre.

By the time she and her friend walked through the weeds and arrived in front of the dilapidated temple, the sunset had already turned the western sky bright red.

"You go find a place to rest. I'll go up the mountain to practice Qi for a while."

Xiao Yu left him behind and jumped all the way to the top of the mountain. He sat cross-legged facing the west and absorbed the purple energy of the sun for half an hour.

When she finished her evening class today and returned to the dilapidated temple halfway up the mountain, she saw Gou Jiao still standing where they had parted before.

It seems like it hasn't moved.

He just stood there with his arms folded, stamping his feet to keep warm, looking around with a hint of panic on his face.

Seeing Xiaoyu stepping on tree trunks and grass stems and floating over using his lightness skills, he immediately showed an expression of joy and relaxation.

"Little Taoist priest, you are really a believer."

Xiao Yu asked, "Why am I a believer? Have you collected enough firewood and found any food such as pheasants or rabbits?"

"I thought the young Taoist priest left with an excuse, but he came back after a while. He is a trustworthy person."

Gou Jiao tilted his head to take a look at the dilapidated temple, swallowed his saliva, and whispered: "The young Taoist priest said that this temple is abnormal. I don't know martial arts, and I'm worried that if I run around everywhere, I might run into evil spirits."

Xiao Yu said calmly, "Didn't you complain before that you had been traveling outside for three years but didn't even achieve your wish of exploring the unknown?"

Gou Jiao said: "That's what I said, but I am seeking the way to immortality. I am not really curious about evil things themselves, and I don't want to compete with others in courage. I want to prove my courage by living in a problematic temple."

He said with a shy look, "The adventure I long for is like Cui Sheng's, after a thrilling experience, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel, passing through the netherworld and entering the fairyland.

Now we know clearly that there are only evil spirits in the dilapidated temple.

I went in for an adventure, and after a narrow escape from death, there was no miracle waiting for me at the end. What was the point of that?"

"You are quite clear-headed. Your mind is never confused." Xiao Yu smiled and walked towards the temple gate first. "I just saw that there is an evil aura here, but evil aura does not mean demons or ghosts."

"Is there really no evil spirit?" Gou Sheng was skeptical.

Xiao Yu walked past the temple gate with cracked brick walls and leaning beams, and walked a few steps into the courtyard. He glanced at the resentful black air lingering on the beams in front of the temple gate, and then glanced at the fierce evil energy around the statue.

Her own aura became more and more ordinary, and she smiled and said, "You don't believe me, so don't you believe in yourself?

Did you spend the night here alone?

If there really were evil spirits, how could you have walked to Mount Mengshan safely?

I was refining Qi on the top of a mountain before, and I vaguely understood the source of the evil energy.

As the saying goes, poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people.

They should be bandits similar to the Mengshan Volunteer Army who once set up camp nearby.

Just like the Mengshan Volunteer Army, they disbanded when they saw that the government was coming to suppress them.

Gou Sheng was completely relieved, and nodded in agreement, "The young Taoist priest is right, demons have demonic auras, ghosts have ghostly auras, and where rebels gather, of course there will be an evil aura.

Even if there are no bandits nearby, it is possible that a group of robbers who rob houses often stay here.

Look, how clean the temple is.

It can be seen that people often come here to stay overnight. "

This should be a mountain temple.

It used to be very popular, and the building occupied half an acre of land, with three halls for worship alone.

The main altar was placed in the middle hall; the clay statue was half collapsed, and its face and identity could not be seen clearly.

The small rooms on the left and right are respectively occupied by the Judge and the two ghost messengers who bring blessings and longevity.

At this time, the temple was completely abandoned, with moss filling the courtyard and weeds overgrowing the paths.

The walls are dilapidated and collapsed, and the corridors are lonely and dilapidated.

There were more than ten piles of broken bricks and tiles, all of which were crooked beams and broken pillars.

But the main hall was kept very clean, without any clutter or thick dust.

Only the ashes of burning grass and wood remained in the center of the hall, probably left by passers-by who lived here.

Gou Sheng ran behind the statue skillfully, picked up a clay pot from the corner, and said with a smile: "Little Taoist priest, look, there is still half a pot of beans here!
There must be people staying here overnight often.

Before, I thought it was villagers and hunters, but now the young Taoist priest saw the evil aura, maybe it was left by robbers.

Let's not take things too far.

Just grab two handfuls of beans, one for you and one for me, not to fill your stomach, but at least to get through the night."

Not only were black beans hidden in the corner behind the statue, there was also an old well in the yard that could actually pump water.

Xiaoyu stayed in the house to calm down and concentrate, while Gousheng was busy alone. He first went to collect firewood and then put the beans in a clay pot to cook.

Remembering that before Xiaoyu left, the bandit gave her a piece of bacon, he went over with a shameless face and asked for a piece of bacon as big as a fist, cut it into slices, and put it in a pot to cook with the beans.

Bacon is not only meat, it is also salt.

A dozen slices of bacon were put in and cooked for half an hour, and a rich aroma wafted out of the jar.

"Little Taoist priest, please go first."

Although Gou Sheng was very hungry and kept swallowing saliva, he still used the washed broken tiles to serve Xiaoyu a large bowl of food.

"Thank you, Gousheng. I'm not very generous, so half of it will be enough."

Xiaoyu used a pair of tree branch chopsticks to push half of the beans and meat slices back into the clay pot and ate up all the dinner on the tiles.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they lay down beside the fire in their clothes.

Soon Gou Sheng's breathing became heavy and there was a faint snoring sound.

Xiaoyu also pretended to fall asleep.

The only sound in the hall was the crackling of burning charcoal.

Outside the house, there was wind blowing through the forest, like the roar of wild beasts, one after another, which sounded quite scary.

Xiao Yu is a little impressed by this kid Gou Jiao. He takes this kind of environment lightly, which shows that he is really determined to seek the truth.

Before three o'clock in the morning, a monster suddenly fell lightly from the beam at the entrance of the hall.

It was seven feet tall, with messy hair draped over its shoulders, an indigo-colored, swollen face, two pale eyeballs as big as copper bells, and a purple tongue that was four feet long and hung down to its lower abdomen.

The monster stood at the door and looked around, as if on guard against something.

Seeing nothing worthy of its fear, it strode into the hall.

He treated Xiaoyu as nothing and walked straight up to her, with his long tongue touching the edge of her face.

Because the tongue blocked the throat and mouth, its voice was a little unclear, "Radish, radish Taoist, radish~~~"

(End of this chapter)