My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 516 Spell to Summon Beasts
"It's getting late. If you ask me, you shouldn't go up the mountain today."

In the county town of Miao village, they were greeted by the thin county leader.

This is still due to the relationship between Lynx and Zhao Dahai.

They were worried that Chen Ling would run into the Wild Boar King when he arrived.

So for the past two days, I asked them to find someone to keep watch near the dock and wait for Chen Ling and the others to arrive.

"It's alright, the sun hasn't set yet. We've also prepared mining explosives. Just like you said, the pig king will stay far away when it smells the explosives."

Chen Ling smiled slightly and patted the two dogs beside him: "That's why I brought the dogs with me, so I can know what's going on early."

"That's okay too."

The tall, thin man nodded and sized up Heiwa and Xiaojin: "Tsk tsk tsk, these two dogs are really big, they look even scarier than wolves."

He looked at Heiwa for a while, then enthusiastically went to get something to feed him.

In front of Chen Ling, the two dogs would still eat other people's food, but they would still not be affectionate towards people after eating.

While feeding the dog, he said, "Our county's police force also went to the mountains this morning to look for that pig king."

However, we don't know where they are yet. Luckily, the old village chief of Ranjia Village is here; he can go back with you.

Chen Ling thought they were being asked to send the old man back.

That's not what it meant.

It's because this little old man was also an excellent hunter when he was young.

They also know Miao folk magic.

When walking in the mountains and forests, reciting a spell can help you avoid jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards.

They said it would be safer to go back with them this way.

……

"What the hell?"

"Miao folk magic? Is it that kind of witchcraft or shamanistic ritual?"

"Still believing in this stuff in this day and age?"

Yu Qi'an was stunned, finding what he heard somewhat ridiculous.

However, he quickly covered his mouth as soon as he finished speaking, afraid that he had said something wrong.

By this time, the old man from Ranjia Village had already joined them.

He listened to Yu Qi'an and smiled nonchalantly, "You're not wrong, this is the witchcraft passed down through generations."

"Did you bring it from the south when you migrated here?" Chen Ling asked.

"Yes, the old incantations used to contain the words 'Meishan' (梅山), and you had to pay homage to Meishan (梅山) when you chanted the incantation to invite divine power from Meishan. Now you have to pay homage to the local land deity."

The old man gave Chen Ling an approving look and said.

"After you moved here, have you had any dealings with leopards, tigers, or anything like that?"

Chen Ling asked again.

"Yes, if you encounter a leopard or a tiger, hide, don't move, and don't hurt it. It will walk away on its own, since they are usually afraid of people."

The old man chuckled, "Besides, you should prepare for self-defense before going up the mountain."

"Let's go back up the mountain first, and we can talk as we walk."

As he continued, the old man mentioned that the self-defense preparations he was referring to were the "flying technique" passed down from his master.

Every time they went into the mountains to hunt, in addition to carrying a ghost knife and a wooden stick, they also had to bring fire paper and incense.

Before entering the mountains and forests, one must first "fly" or "become invisible".

By concealing one's body and entering the mountains, any animal that might want to attack will ignore one and remain unnoticed. This allows one to move freely and independently in the mountains without fear of being attacked by wild beasts.

How can one become invisible?
The old man didn't hide anything and recounted his "flying" spell.

"Fly my hand, transform my hand, my hand transforms to offer sacrifice to the tiger's mouth, offer sacrifice to my foot, transform my foot, my foot transforms to the horns of nine oxen, fly my body, hide my body, my body hides in the sky bridge, unseen by people, untouched by lightning, please, Earth God, bestow your magic spell."

The old man recited the incantation for the flying technique in one breath.

"After reciting the incantation, stomp on the ground three times, then burn incense and paper money."

The old man continued speaking, and actually took out some joss paper and lit it.

He then stomped his feet three times, making three loud "thump, thump, thump" sounds, and dust flew up along his trouser legs.

"Can these few words really hide your body?"

Chen Ling and the others asked, puzzled.

The old man smiled mysteriously and told this story: When he was young, he once went hunting in the mountains after "flying" through the air. He passed by a paddy field and saw that the ridge was full of frogs. When he walked past the ridge full of frogs, the frogs ignored him and continued to croak with their cheeks puffed out.

"This means the 'flying' was successful. If you walk across the paddy field ridge and all the frogs jump into the field, it means your body has been seen by the frogs, and the 'flying' failed."

If the 'flying' attempt fails, the spell must be cast again, and the 'flying' attempt repeated.

The old man explained.

"This spell sounds like it's only suitable for solo use, right? It probably won't be useful during a hunt!"

Chen Ling asked again.

This drew everyone's attention to the little old man.

At this point, Chen Ling became everyone's mouthpiece. Yu Qi'an and the people from the provincial TV station were newcomers and afraid of saying the wrong thing, so they didn't dare to utter a word after Yu Qi'an had just blurted out something.

"Yes, this is also related to our local customs and rules."

When going into the mountains alone, the skill of leaping can be used for self-defense.

During a hunt, there are more people than animals, and with guns and knives, there's no need for these spells.

The old man pointed to the towering mountains in the distance and said, “Actually, it’s not that hunting is unnecessary, but if too many prey come down from the mountains, we will put away our weapons and guard the village. We won’t go out and offend them at that time.”

When encountering a group of more than a dozen wild animals or birds, the hunters in the Miao village dare not easily fire their guns.

They believed that the creature was driven away by a 'mountain spirit' or 'elf' from the mountains, and that firing a gun at this moment would bring misfortune.

If fighting is unavoidable, one must be mentally prepared and must not shoot at the leader, but only at those behind.

After shooting the prey, one should quickly smear gunpowder on one's face and hang the gun upside down on a nearby tree. One should also stand upside down next to the tree. When the "elves" see this behavior, they will assume it was done by one of their own members and let the prey go to avoid trouble.

“This time, the Wild Boar King is an exception. It dug up the graves of the Miao people’s ancestors and ate the bones of their people. It’s no longer a mountain spirit, but a real monster and demon. The Earth God will not forgive it.”

The old man gritted his teeth and said.

……

As dusk settled, the mysterious shamanistic culture filled Chen Ling and his companions with a mixture of absurdity and anticipation.

The old man spoke so earnestly that they felt a strong urge to see for themselves.

Those people from the provincial television station, in particular, had eyes that were frighteningly bright.

They no longer cared about taboos or anything like that.

He pulled the old man aside to talk.

After a while, they caught up with Chen Ling and the others.

I don't know if they gave me money or did some other kind of communication.

The staff from the provincial television station immediately turned on their filming equipment.

The old man chanted the incantation again, lit the paper, and demonstrated the 'flying technique' once more.

Bang, bang, bang...

After stomping his feet three times, the ashes of the paper danced up and down in a swirling motion.

However, to the old man's embarrassment, he had only walked a few steps after finishing the incantation.

Then a wild monkey in the tree urinated on him.

Then it bared its teeth and followed behind, yelling all the way.

Even when Chen Ling and his men fired shots to drive them away, and Heiwa and Xiaojin shouted intimidation, it was all ineffective.

The wild monkeys' reactions and their sharp cries were a bit unsettling and gave me goosebumps.

"Uncle Ran, you just finished chanting the incantation, and this wild monkey is acting like this. Is something wrong?"

"..."

The old man was startled by what he heard. He turned around and looked at the wild monkeys in the tree, as if he had remembered something.

"Don't say anything, just go."

At this moment, his embarrassed expression gradually darkened. He waved his hand and hurried along, as if something was chasing him.

His appearance made everyone a little nervous.

In addition, the wild boar king has killed several people in the past two days.

As the sky gradually darkened in the mountains, everyone felt a strange and inexplicably eerie atmosphere surrounding them.

Especially when we were halfway through the journey near the bamboo forest, we saw the hoof prints and bloodstains left by the wild boar king.

The hoofprints were as large as bowls and sank very deep into the soft mud.

Some of the dwarf trees that were right next to the bamboo grove were leaning to one side and to the other, their branches and leaves severely damaged. The surrounding land looked as if it had been plowed, with ditches running down the slopes and fresh, moist soil turned up, creating a rather horrific scene.

No one dared to linger for even a moment longer, and the TV crew filmed very carefully, taking only a quick shot before leaving.

Chen Ling was alright; he took a few steps and fired two shots.

Stop the persistent wild monkeys that are following us from the treetops behind.

Heiwa Xiaojin stopped making a sound at this point, and even his tail barely wagged.

It wandered around Chen Ling, sniffing around and urinating, getting familiar with the environment.

at last.

The group returned to Sanxiping before dark.

The wild monkeys stopped following us.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief.

Tell them that when they arrive at the village, they should not do anything else first, but offer incense to the local earth god.

"What's wrong, Uncle Ran? That wild monkey was chasing us so relentlessly, was something really wrong?"

When Chen Ling asked this question, Yu Qi'an, with his round face tense, didn't even bother to wipe his sweat. He tightly gripped Chen Ling's arm from behind, his eyes filled with expectation and fear.

That old coward is a coward too.

I was so scared on the way here that my face turned white.

But I still want to hear about this mysterious matter.

If there's nothing supernatural about it, he might actually be disappointed.

Fortunately, this is a Miao village, and the Miao people here also believe in ghosts and gods...

Just then, the old man said, "There is something wrong. It's nothing else, but the 'mountain spirit' I mentioned before chanting the incantation. It heard us say its name when it was getting dark, and it got upset, so it came over and sent the wild monkeys to scare us..."

This mystical talk really startled everyone except Chen Ling.

The people from the provincial television station, frightened, quickly took notes.

Especially when it hears the old man say that the mountain spirit has ears that can hear everything, or that it can hear what people are saying wherever there are trees in the mountains.

I quickly suppressed my fear and started taking notes while asking follow-up questions.

That's quite impressive.

Chen Ling squatted down next to the land temple, petting the dog and listening to their conversation.

He thought back and realized that he hadn't felt any danger. He trusted his instincts, since he had been awakened by jackals spying on him when he spent the night in the mountains in the past.

This is his extraordinary ability, or rather, his ability that surpasses that of ordinary people.

Furthermore, the two dogs reacted rather indifferently.

In addition to the tracks left by the wild boar king, it exhibited excitement and frenzy, leaving behind provocative urine marks.

I yelled at the wild monkeys at first, but then I ignored them.

The response was mediocre throughout.

……

A short while later, Lynx and Zhao Dahai came out, accompanied by two Taihang dogs, followed by the local county police, who also had some dogs.

Seeing the old man and the others with their mysterious and ever-changing expressions, they didn't dare to greet Chen Ling loudly.

They came closer and asked what had happened.

After Chen Ling finished speaking, the Lynx and the others also felt it was a mystery.

We didn't see any mountain spirits or fairies; they just gave the strange behavior of wild monkeys a weird name.

The police officers who came to help the mountain people deal with the wild boar king seemed to take it all in stride.

They didn't react much to what Chen Ling had told them about what he had seen and heard.

They just looked around at the two big dogs, Heiwa and Xiaojin, marveling at them.

They kept asking Chen Ling questions, such as what breed the dog was and how fierce it was.

Finally, naturally, some people also want puppies or something.

……

After a long chat, they became quite familiar with each other.

So, after Chen Ling and the others offered incense at the local temple, the group of police officers and Shanmao together complained to Chen Ling about their experiences over the past two days.

It is said that the wild boar king is ferocious and terrifying, but in reality, he is not too reckless; he is clever and slippery, unlike a pig.

It completely ignored the wild boar cannons they built.

We went around it from a distance.

Setting traps with these pig kings is useless; you need to dig traps, but you have to dig the biggest ones, the kind that can trap elephants, and those are hard to get through because of the solid rocks.

Knives and guns have limited effect on it, so explosives are the only option.

Unfortunately, while the wild boar king was quite frenzied when it came to taking revenge on humans, it actually became cautious and cunning after its rampage, or rather, after realizing that many of its kind had been hunted down.

"I think that's normal."

Chen Ling held his rice bowl, eating as he fed the dog bones, saying, "I'll say it again, this pig king can grow to 800 to 1000 jin in the mountains. Putting everything else aside, its ability to survive must be top-notch."

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it cautious, cunning, clever, or even wise. Haven't you heard of the wisdom of wolves? This pig, having lived a long time, is no less capable than a wolf.

"That's true, this wild boar king is too smart for a pig."

Lynx and Zhao Dahai have witnessed some amazing phenomena in the past two days.

Yu Qi'an was still immersed in what the old man from Ranjia Village had said. At this moment, he said with a hesitant expression, "The village chief just said that a spirit came out of the mountains. He said it was strange that a 'monster' like the Wild Boar King came out with a spirit. Something might happen."

He told us that he somewhat regretted chanting the incantation and using that "flying technique" in the woods.

The chanting attracted the group of wild monkeys; thankfully, it wasn't jackals or leopards.

The people from the provincial TV station nodded repeatedly. "The old man said that the tricks used to deceive the elves were overheard by the elves, so the spells would no longer work and the elves would become angry and punish their people."

"If it weren't for the local earth god's protection, there would have been trouble."

"Ah? Is there such a thing?"

Chen Ling and the others were slightly surprised, but they didn't delve into the details and instead continued talking about the Wild Boar King.

After all, the Wild Boar King is something that can be seen.

It also poses a great threat to the mountain people.

The so-called 'mountain spirits' and 'spirits' are invisible and intangible.

Aside from those who believe in such things, most people won't truly believe in anything based solely on human imagination.

However, after spending the night in Ranjia Village.

I woke up early in the morning to the sound of people making noise outside.

It is said that a large herd of wild sheep and deer ran out of the mountains, passed through Sanxiping, and went down into the forests below.

It left behind many droppings and a dense array of hoof prints.

On the hillsides behind several Miao villages, the traps and snares used to catch wild boars have also caught wild sheep and deer.

After a night, Yu Qi'an and the others, who had regained their senses, were instantly dumbfounded: "This... could it really have been driven here by mountain spirits?"

(End of this chapter)