Chapter 72 Fuqi Under the ancient pine trees in the courtyard. It was already a bit chilly in the evening. Lin Jue came back late and was very tired. He didn't have much time or energy to cook. He couldn't bear to let his master and senior brothers, especially his little sister who had just returned from hard labor, eat the stew cooked by his seventh senior brother. It happened that he had not finished the flour he bought at the foot of the mountain last time, so he just mixed some dough, baked a pot of pancakes, and placed it in the middle of the table. The pancake is baked casually, flattened with a spatula, and it doesn't matter if the edges are cracked, it is still crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The aroma of the dough and the soft fragrance of lard make it good to eat the pancake alone, and it is even a good meal these days. Add the cooked mutton bought at the foot of the mountain and the remaining salted vegetables and minced meat, and we have tonight’s dinner. The Taoists on this mountain are casual by nature. When eating this kind of food that does not require holding a bowl, there are all kinds of standing and sitting postures. Some are lying down, some are squatting to feed foxes, and some are pacing with cakes in their hands. They interrupt each other to discuss the affairs of Yi County at the foot of the mountain and the God Yili. After eating, everyone gathered together again and gathered around the table. The bowl containing the cakes was placed in the corner, with only the last piece of cake and some crumbs left inside. The third senior brother wiped the oil stains on the table with a rag, the seventh senior brother happily brought a sand table and placed it on the table, and the sixth senior brother stood on a bench and tied a thin rope to the branch above - the ancient pine tree just happened to stretch out a branch horizontally, and the pine needles formed an umbrella, covering the top of the dining table, and the thin rope was connected to an iron pen under it. Taoist Yunhe took half a cake and sat aside, silently chewing and watching, with wrinkles all over his face. Junior Sister also took a cake and ate while watching, but her eyes were full of curiosity and youth. Lin Jue knew that this was spirit writing.

Fuqi is a method of divination and asking questions to gods and spirits. It requires someone to establish contact with the gods and spirits. This person is called a Jishen, and the gods and spirits that are invited are called Jixian. You can't just invite a spirit medium casually. In most cases, the spirit medium and the spirit medium body are bound together. In some cases, a spirit medium finds someone and asks the person to be the medium, forming a relationship similar to that of a superior and a subordinate, with one offering offerings and the other receiving money. In other cases, the two parties meet by chance, feel that they are destined to be together, and make an agreement, like old friends. What can be done with the spirit planchette, whether it is divination or asking questions, all depends on the ability and knowledge of the spirit planchette: some gods and monsters are knowledgeable in divination, so they can tell fortunes for people; some gods and monsters cannot do divination but live long and know many past events that have been buried in the sands of history, so they can ask questions; some spirit planchettes understand geography, some understand the art of war, some like to discuss politics, some like to chat about trivial matters, and some only know about things in a period or a state, and they don't know anything beyond this period or this state. In short, they are just like people, very diverse. Most mediums compose poems when answering. So it's called the spirit writing poem. How accurate the answer is depends on the skills of the medium. How good the dictation poem is also depends on the skills of the medium. However, the purpose of dictation poem is to answer questions, so most of them are doggerel. There are even some mediums who can't do anything and know nothing, but just like to paint. People who invite the mediums can neither tell fortunes nor ask questions, they just help people paint. You can't even tell whether it is the medium who is painting, or this person is painting in the name of the medium in order to charge more. Other questions and doubts are similar. Therefore, nine out of ten spirit writings in the world are probably fake. Fuqiu Peak has a long tradition of Fuqi, and is backed by Yishan Mountain, where there are countless ancient gods and monsters, so there is no need to worry about not being able to find a powerful Fuqi master. Although Lin Jue knew it, he was still very curious about it. So he rubbed his already dizzy head, opened his eyes wide, and looked carefully. At this time, the sky was just a little dark, not completely dark yet. I saw the sixth senior brother under the ancient pine tree using a wooden stick to smooth the large square sand table. He then took out a strange stone, lit three incense sticks and inserted them into the sand table. He reached out and gently held the iron pen. The iron pen was tied to the branch of the ancient pine with a rope. It hung down and just touched the sand table. It poked into the sand table and did not move. "Please come, Master Ji!" The Sixth Senior Brother was obviously very accomplished and had a very close relationship with the spirit medium. With just these words, he invited the spirit medium to come. The autumn wind blew, the ancient pines rustled, and a few pine needles fell. The Sixth Senior Brother didn't care and just said, "The Jixian is here. Just ask whatever you want to ask."

"Can I ask anything?" Lin Jue was curious. "The spirit medium is one of our family members, and you are one of our family members too. Just ask. As long as you have no evil thoughts in your heart, you won't offend him." said the Sixth Brother. "Junior brother is curious." said the third brother. "Let him see it for himself." Seventh Senior Brother said with a smile. "Junior sister is curious too." Lin Jue said. The little sister who was chewing a piece of biscuit nearby was stunned. It was obvious that she was just concentrating on eating and watching the strange things at the same time. "Then let's ask where the two junior brothers and sisters come from." said the seventh senior brother. "it is good." Sixth Senior Brother nodded, and as if to prove it, he simply let go of his hand. At this time, the iron pen was only connected to the pine branch by a rope, and the pointed lower end fell into the sandbox. Lin Jue knew that most of the spirit writing services performed down the mountain required people to hold the pen with their hands, either directly or using other bamboo baskets or rings. The reason was that the spirit medium was weak and far away in the sky, so he could not move the pen, and the only way to control the pen was with the help of the spirit medium's hand. Maybe this was the reason at first, but nowadays, it is probably because it is hard to tell the real from the fake. The so-called using a bamboo basket and a bamboo ring to fix the pen is just because they can't let go of their hands, but they want people to think that this is indeed difficult and magical. It is impossible to be like Sixth Brother. "call……" It seemed like there was wind again, but it also seemed like there was no wind. The ancient pine tree did not shake, and the pine needles did not fall. Only the iron pen connected to a thin rope began to shake slowly, as if blown by the wind, and wrote a line of small words on the sand table. Lin Jue couldn't help but look carefully. The little sister, holding the biscuit, also looked over, but she had only been learning to read for two months and didn't know many words. Lin Jue looked at her and had to help her read: "The breeze shakes the green willows; "The guest house has grown green since we parted." The handwriting of these two sentences is quite ancient. "What do you mean?" The junior sister couldn't help but feel confused. "Liu is your last name, and it seems to be the name of your village? This poem seems to be describing the scenery of spring and summer. It was early summer when we left the village." Lin Jue thought about it and explained it to her. Looking at this poem, his mind suddenly recalled the scene when he left the village. There was a pond next to the pavilion at the entrance of the village, and willows were planted in the pond. Moreover, this poem expresses the feeling of parting. "Ah..." The junior sister was a little surprised. But the iron pen paused for a moment and then started shaking again.

Lin Jue seemed to feel a little bit of power in a trance, coming from nowhere, causing the pen to shake. “I wish to give this feeling to the bright moon; "Ten thousand years will follow you to the side of heaven." Lin Jue frowned slightly, took another look, and then he saw it. "It didn't say where the senior brother came from." "It's the '舍' in the second sentence and the '予' in the third sentence. When combined, they form the word '舒'." Lin Jue explained to his junior sister, "The place I came from is called Shu Village." "Oh!" The junior sister opened her eyes wide. "how?" Sixth Senior Brother looked at them. "can." Lin Jue looked thoughtful. "magic!" The junior sister said. "Haha, Junior Brother has a lot on his mind. He must be wondering how the spirit medium knew this. He might still be guessing that maybe the spirit medium is familiar with our Taoist temple and you, Junior Brother Six, or that he has a telepathic connection with you, and learned about their origins from you." The Third Senior Brother had more contact with Lin Jue, and laughed, "You should show us your true abilities." As soon as the words fell, there was laughter all around. "No no……" Lin Jue was struck by what he said. Although it was human nature to think about these things, he was afraid of offending the spirit medium. He waved his hands and bowed his head repeatedly, and then said, "Let's ask about the situation in Yi County down the mountain." "Just ask." Sixth Senior Brother smoothed the sand table again. "..." Lin Jue organized his words and asked the sand table and the iron pen, "May I ask the spirit medium, what is behind the evil spirits that steal money in Yi County? What do they use the stolen money for?" After he finished speaking, all the brothers remained silent and looked at the sand table and stylus on the table. Taoist Yunhe also cast a glance over. But the thin string and iron pen did not move for a long time. Just when Lin Jue thought that he had violated the rules of the spirit writing by asking two questions in a row, the string and the iron pen finally moved: “How many flowers have fallen in the gentle wind? "The moon is hidden in the clouds and I dare not speak." The iron pen only wrote these two sentences on the sand table.

Lin Jue was slightly startled, then fell silent. This is pretty much what he thought. Although the rat monsters in Yi County were weak, and it seemed that any brave person could knock them down with a stick as long as they could withstand the gray smoke that made people unconscious, they were actually not simple. In addition, there were many rat monsters like this in Yi County, and some people were also infected with death energy and came to obstruct. The person behind them was obviously unusual. "Then can the fellow Taoists of Qiyun Mountain invite the Lord of God to investigate and eliminate it?" There was silence for a long while. The string finally started to move, and the stylus began to rustle. “The wind, frost, rain, and snow are all around; "Finally the clouds will clear and the moon will appear." Lin Jue looked at these two sentences and fell into deep thought. It was obvious that the person behind this, whether it was a human or a demon, was undoubtedly very powerful, which the spirit dared not point out. However, he still felt that the gods invited by the Taoist friends of Qiyun Mountain, or the gods above the nine heavens, would solve this matter. I just don’t know whether it is foresight or speculation. "The Jixian has left." The Sixth Senior Brother said with a smile, "No matter how powerful the Jixian is, his knowledge and ability are limited. You can only refer to him, but don't trust him completely. If something important happens, it's better to trust yourself." "That makes sense..." Lin Jue nodded. "Brothers, who wants to eat the crumbs in the bowl? Even though these crumbs are the smallest, they are the most crispy and crunchy when fried! So fragrant! Who wants to eat them?" The little sister next to him had already taken the last piece of pancake in the bowl, and grabbed the broken pieces inside, and asked everyone. "Eat quickly, and clean up after you're done." "Brother, go and have a rest. You've been out for two days and you must be tired. I'll clean up and wash the pots and dishes." "That's fine..." Lin Jue really felt very sleepy, so he got up and went back to his room. It’s a good time to sleep when the weather is cool. I was in a trance and had a dream. The dream was full of strange things, including unknown goblins and ghosts at the foot of the mountain, the mountain god of Yishan that had never been seen, Emperor Yujian and Lord Yili of Qiyun Mountain, and even Taoist Qingxuan and the female Taoist named Jiang Ning that I had met in the city early this morning. Sure enough, his mind was already on strange stories. (End of this chapter)