Chapter 443: Night Talk about the Snow Lotus Society Unexpectedly, there were few pedestrians on the road during the day, but at night, six people came to this dilapidated post station one after another. Lin Jue and the fox are the same. A pair of officials and servants. A young scholar. A middle-aged businessman. A well-dressed old man. Although they were all strangers, in those days, one had to be on guard against each other, and they intentionally sat apart. However, the guest hall of the post station was so small that so many people could sit in it, and there were two windows that couldn't be closed properly, so the wind, rain, and lightning kept coming in. If one wanted to stay dry, one had to avoid them, which made it even more crowded. Such mutual precautions are not really necessary unless one stays awake at night. It would be better for everyone to gather together and guard against thieves together.

Soon a voice was heard: "You all came here to avoid the rain, and it's fate that we met. Why don't you sit together, light a fire, keep each other warm, and work together to keep away thieves, and spend the night together? How do you think?" It's the man who looks like an official. As soon as the words fell, the young scholar suddenly agreed: "Very good! Very good!" The others had no objections either. Sitting together and lighting a fire can not only help people keep out thieves and keep warm, but also protect them from evil spirits. The young scholar seems to be timid and the most diligent. Everyone quickly collected some firewood in the official inn, piled it together in the middle of the guest hall, and lit a fire. They also agreed that when they were resting at night, if they found someone who was a thief and wanted to do something wrong, they must shout it out loud to alert everyone. Lin Jue naturally sat over there as well. If I don't go, I'm afraid they will have to be on guard against me all night, and I'll have to live in fear all night. It was only then that people noticed that not only was Lin Jue wearing a Taoist robe, but he was also accompanied by a white fox that looked quite extraordinary. "This……" The scholar immediately pointed at the man and the fox with a look of surprise on his face. "It doesn't hurt." Lin Jue looked at him with a smile. The fox also looked at him seriously. "Master, are you here from Qinzhou?" asked the middle-aged businessman. "Exactly." "No wonder! I heard that raising foxes is a trend in the capital now. The Taoists in Qinzhou all take a white fox with them. The Taoist priest should follow suit, right?" The middle-aged businessman said as he looked at Fuyao carefully. "The Taoist priest's white fox is quite extraordinary. It must have cost a lot of money, right?" "Pick it up."

"Ha ha……" The middle-aged businessman smiled but said nothing. The official-dressed man was the first to bow and say, "I am Sheng Yuqing, and this is my old servant who has followed me for many years. My name is Zhou Liu. Since we meet here, why don't you leave your names?" "Oh, sorry, sorry!" The scholar hurriedly returned the greeting, lowering his head very low, "My humble servant Qi Gao, I am polite!" "My name is Lu Yichen, and I used to be a businessman." said the middle-aged businessman. "My name is Maborn, and I live here locally," said the old man. "My name is Lin Fangjue." Lin Jue also said with a smile. "I didn't expect that I didn't see anyone on the road during the day, but at night, I actually met several people who were traveling with me..." The scholar was obviously scared. "This is normal," the official said. "In the past, people traveled during the day because they couldn't see clearly at night and were afraid of encountering ghosts. But in today's world, people's hearts are scarier than ghosts. It's safer to go out when it's getting dark and travel at night." "Yes, after all, if you encounter monsters and ghosts, you will just be eaten. But if you encounter bandits or robbers, the same may not happen. Especially for women." The old man nodded slowly. "What are you all going to do?" the scholar asked again. "We are going to Zhaojun County ahead to take up our posts. The world is in such a mess right now. A few months ago, Dazu attacked Zhaojun County, burning, killing and looting. Many officials in the city also died. Last month, the army under General Shuxian recaptured Zhaojun, and ordered me to go and fill the post of the county's chief clerk." The official said, "I thought it wasn't far away, but I accidentally encountered this sudden rain and had to come here to take shelter." After hearing this, the scholar nodded repeatedly. "I used to be a merchant who walked this road, and I often walked here. A friend of mine lived in front, so I went to visit him. It happened that he owed me a debt, so I went to collect it. Otherwise, I would not dare to walk this road for another ten years, and I would not be able to get the money back." The merchant said, looking up at the post station, "Just like this post station, I passed by here every year in the past few years, and it was fine. It was still there when I passed by here last year, but when I came again this year, it was empty. Things are unpredictable." The scholar nodded and looked at the next person. "Haha, don't be afraid, young scholar. I have a daughter who got married a while ago. A few days ago, I sent someone to bring a letter saying that she gave birth to a big fat boy, so I went to visit her. There are bandits on this road, and it is not safe to walk here during the day. I am old, brave, and familiar with the road, so I will walk at night." The scholar looked at Lin Jue. "Me? I'm a Taoist priest, traveling around the world, visiting famous mountains, and going outside the Great Wall." "In this world, how dare a Taoist priest go out unless it's something urgent?" The scholar was surprised and obviously on guard. "That's right." Lin Jue looked at him with a smile. "This……" Everyone looked at Lin Jue, but didn't say anything, only remaining a little more cautious in their hearts. "What about you?" Everyone looked at the scholar again. "Oh, I'm originally from Longzhou. I have a cousin who served in the army in the north and became a general. He wrote to me a few days ago and asked me to work as a clerk in his army... Well, I'm not afraid of being laughed at by everyone. I have been studying hard at home, but I haven't achieved any fame. Now, everyone knows that if people here want to take the imperial examination, they have to wait until the next dynasty or until my uncle is defeated. It's not a good idea for me to stay at home all the time, so I agreed and took the risk to go there." "It's all difficult..." A sigh came from beside the fire. The flames crackled.

It’s not good to just sit there, so why not start chatting? "How is the war going here now?" asked the businessman. "Alas, General Shuxian was about to enter the capital, but he was defeated and his army was blocked. Later, the Dazu people took the opportunity to march south and invade the city. The general was attacked from both sides. A few months ago, another group of his banners rebelled, and the general spent a lot of energy to quell him." The official sighed and said, "Fortunately, General Luo appeared. He is brave and invincible, and he is a master at using troops. He is unstoppable." "I heard, I heard that General Na Luo is the son-in-law of General Shuxian?" the scholar also spoke. "That's right!" the official replied. "That's what I heard too. But General Shuxian had more than ten daughters and more than ten goddaughters, all of whom were betrothed. He had a lot of sons-in-law," said the businessman. "Don't make irresponsible remarks like this." The official hurriedly stopped them. "I hope this war will end soon..." The old man didn't say much. After hearing this, he shook his head and sighed, "Since ancient times, whenever there was a war, the warriors became marquises, the scholars became prime ministers, and the common people suffered the most." "I would like General Shuxian to win. In this way, the children of us in the northwest can turn things around." said the businessman. "Exactly!" The scholar agreed repeatedly. Because they spoke normally, and except for the Taoist priest, the purposes of everyone else's coming here were also understandable, and coupled with their behavior and the sense of connection they had during the conversation, he slowly relaxed. "When General Shuxian's army marched south, it was said to be unstoppable. How was it stopped?" "I heard that he was a previously unknown person, not even a county magistrate in the city, but they stopped him. Sigh, you know the disputes in this world, sometimes they are really mysterious. It's possible that there is a heroic figure living somewhere, but he just can't show up in the prosperous times..." Everyone started talking about world affairs. Some of them are locals, some have some connections with the Northern Army, and some have heard and seen things for themselves. Regardless of how credible their words are, they have pieced together the current picture of the world. Also, because this was a roadside inn and there was a thunderstorm in the middle of the night, the conversation turned from world affairs to stories about ghosts, monsters and gods. The merchant started first: "I passed by Qinzhou before, and I heard that there have been many incidents of goblins, ghosts, and gods in Qinzhou in recent years. The most serious incident was that several cities in the northeast of Qinzhou were sunk underground. Many masters went there to deal with the goblins, and the gods also came down from heaven to eliminate them." "There are many demons and ghosts in this world," the official said. "I encountered one not long ago." "what?" Everyone was very interested. Lin Jue also looked over there. Even the drowsy fox lying beside him opened its eyes wide and looked at the man. "I lived in Qingzhou before. I felt confused for a while. I wondered if I had encountered evil spirits, so I went to a Taoist temple I often visited to burn incense and worship the gods. As a result, I met a Taoist priest I had never seen before and talked with him. I never thought that after chatting with this Taoist priest for a few words, I suddenly felt enlightened." The official said, "But when I went to this Taoist temple again, I found that this Taoist priest was not there at all, and no other Taoist priests came to visit during that period." “Is that a deity?” Everyone was guessing. "I don't know either. There is no statue that looks like him in the temple." The official shook his head. "But there is a tomb behind the temple. It is said that it was left by a Taoist priest in the temple. There is no name written on the stone tablet in front of the tomb, only a poem. I still remember that poem." After the official finished speaking, he paused for a moment, then shook his head and recited:

"Where are my old friends? Where is the path to immortality? Who can share my feelings? "Yellow flower courtyard, green lamp in the night rain, white hair in the autumn wind. "It was probably an old Taoist who wasted half his life seeking immortality. He left this poem on his deathbed. Alas, it's really sad." After hearing this story, Lin Jue became more motivated: "I have heard that ghosts and gods are essentially the same. Even if this is a ghost, since he can answer your questions and help you get rid of your confusion, you don't have to worry about whether he is a ghost or not. If you want to express your gratitude, burn a stick of incense for him in front of his grave. When you burn incense, it's okay to regard him as a god." Upon hearing this, the official was filled with awe and turned to salute Lin Jue. The others also looked at Lin Jue again. "I have encountered some of these things before." The old man said, "When you get older, you will always encounter many ghosts." Everyone looked at him and listened attentively. "In the past, there was a man in our village who lived next door to me. Our village was famous for brewing wine, and every family was rich, but his family was the richest. "One day he was returning home from the city, and soon after he left the city he met a woman who asked him for a ride, and the man agreed. "But after they had driven ten miles, the woman said to him, 'I am actually a ghost, and I was sent by another ghost to harm you. But you let me ride in your car, and after a conversation on the way, I felt that you were a good person and did not want to harm you, so I told you this. “The man immediately pleaded for mercy. "The woman told him to go back quickly and take his belongings to the city. She would walk slowly behind him. They must move out before noon. There was a city god in the city, and a little ghost like her could not enter. "The man went back, took all his belongings, called his family, and moved to the city. As a result, at noon, his house collapsed." When everyone heard this, they were all surprised. Lin Jue was also thoughtful. Next it was the scholar's turn. The scholar felt a little embarrassed when he saw that everyone was looking at him. He said, "I am young and have little knowledge. I don't know much about this kind of thing, but I am willing to tell you all about it to amuse you and pass the time at night." Then he looked at the crowd: "Do you know that there is a Tianshan Mountain not far from the border? There are gods and monsters on the Tianshan Mountain, and there are thousand-year-old snow lotuses. Legend has it that a snow lotus meeting is held every fifty years?" When Lin Jue heard this, he immediately sat up straighter. Amid strong winds and heavy rain and flashing thunder, several people sat around an abandoned government inn, telling stories in front of a fire. (End of this chapter)