I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 218 The Land Summons
The magistrate stood behind the two men, staring intently, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

He had just finished talking about how someone in the countryside had encountered a deity and been taken as a disciple when suddenly a deity appeared before him.

The magistrate gripped his fan tightly, his gaze shifting back and forth between the old man and Jiang Langjun.

He couldn't believe it.

The old man holding the bamboo cane seems to be the local deity.

That Jiang Langjun is...

Why can one summon gods with just a few words?

Seeing that Jiang She was about to speak, the county magistrate quickly suppressed his anxious thoughts and shamelessly stood aside, listening quietly.

Jiang She's tone was relatively mild.

"How much does the local deity know about the matter of Mirror Dust Mountain?"

The earth, already somewhat hunched over, bent even deeper, clearly shrinking back, and said in a trembling voice:
"That Mirror Dust Mountain... has been here for over a hundred years, but it doesn't usually show itself to anyone. I've investigated it before, but the cultivators there have powerful magic and deep foundations. Even though I reported it to the City God, it was to no avail..."

Jiang She listened quietly, waiting for him to finish speaking.

He then asked, "Did Tianmu Mountain have a mountain god before?"

The landman's withered hand, gripping the bamboo cane, tightened. He stammered and spoke in a low voice.

"Dead, dead."

The magistrate was startled, and the fan in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud." Both men looked over, and the magistrate quickly picked up the fan, concealing his fear and shock, and forced a smile.

"I apologize for my momentary lapse in etiquette; please continue."

Jiang She then remembered the two men and raised his hand. The magistrate and the temple keeper suddenly realized that they could only see the two men's lips moving, as if they were talking, but they could not hear any conversation.

The two men exchanged a glance, and the magistrate noticed the astonishment in the temple keeper's eyes.

"you also?"

Both of them were alarmed.

……

Jiang She looked at the land again and asked, "When did you pass away?"

The land felt a cool breeze, and in an instant, even the smell of incense in the temple disappeared. His courage grew considerably.

"It's been almost a hundred years."

Jiang She nodded. "Where is the mountain god temple located?"

The old man's eyes suddenly reddened, his beard and hair trembled, and he bowed deeply with a hunched back.

"It was originally right here... but they demolished it and turned it into a temple for the gods. Back then, the minor gods occupied a corner next to it and consumed people's incense offerings. They smashed it all a hundred years ago."

"Please, Immortal Master, protect me! Please, Immortal Master, protect me!"

He lifted his robe, about to kneel and perform a grand salute, but was stopped by a force.

"The land must not be treated like this!"

Jiang She helped him up.

The land spirit, summoned by a single sentence, knew he had encountered a master. When asked about Mirror Dust Mountain, he knew the master intended to investigate. After suffering so many years of injustice, he could finally vent his frustrations.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I do not seek to rebuild the temple, but only to seek justice for my friend's death!"

Let's talk about the land in detail.

"Mirror Dust Mountain is only open once every ten years. The last time it opened was several years ago. If we wait idly, we may have to wait another five years. If you cannot find the place, Immortal Master, you may come with me."

"The leader, Daoist Jingchen, no longer leaves the mountain; most of his disciples travel around..."

"..."

He spoke for a full quarter of an hour before he finished.

The Earth God stood in the open space of the temple, looking towards the halls not far away.

The gate was wide open, and one could see rows of statues of deities inside.

The temple was filled with the constant burning of incense, and the figures of worshippers praying overlapped with those of the pilgrims at the mountain temple many years ago. That temple was not so bright and magnificent; it was much more dilapidated and smaller, and the statues of the gods were just painted clay.

Jiang She also looked over.

He said, "I understand."

…… ……

The county magistrate and the temple keeper couldn't hear what they were saying, nor did they dare to read their lip movements to guess what the immortals were talking about. So they simply walked aside and started talking to Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu and a few others.

The magistrate was filled with curiosity.

He put the fan aside and gripped Li Bai's sleeve tightly.

"Taibai, are the ghost stories in your poems, the feast of the mountain spirits, and the poems you wrote all true?"

Yuan Danqiu glanced at Taibai.

Li Bai did not say it directly, but only said:

"It's half true and half false. Many of them are legends I heard along the way. For example, the story of the Deer Mountain God in Xiangyang who had a connection with the people at the foot of the mountain for eight hundred years. The story of the banquet in the mountains is also a story I heard. It's like a hunter in the mountains heard a howl and dreamed of ghosts and gods at night."

Bai then wrote these wonderful things into a poem and gave it to his friend.

"As for what follows—drinking heavily, dreaming for years, and riding the wind away…"

Li Bai thought about it.

"This matter has also been mentioned in many poems and essays by ancient people."

The magistrate did not believe it.

The land and Jiang Langjun are speaking right in front of him, who would believe that?
Before the group, the magistrate frankly said, "To tell you the truth, when I was young and studying in Shu Prefecture, I heard many strange and wondrous things. There was a powerful family living nearby."

"Speaking of which, they also share the surname Jiang, and their demeanor and appearance are somewhat similar to that of Jiang Langjun, so they might be related."

"The moment I saw Jiang Langjun, I felt that his face was familiar."

Yuan Danqiu suddenly asked.

"What kinds of miraculous things happen?"

The county magistrate stumbled.

At that time, he was focused on studying at the state school, hoping to gain admission to the Imperial Academy through connections, and didn't pay much attention to such matters. He mostly heard about them from his family at the dinner table when he returned home.

The magistrate recalled and said:
"Back then, it seemed like there were always families in the city losing their babies. Every one or two nights, a child would go missing."

"Later they discovered that the babies had been stolen by a woman. When they went to look for them, they found that the babies were being cared for peacefully in a cave, and there were even the babies' washed clothes outside the cave."

Li Bai thought to himself.

Mr. Jiang appeared calm and collected, holding several wailing infants in his arms, while the women around him kept wiping away tears and expressing their gratitude…

The more I think about it, the stranger it seems.

He couldn't help but laugh.

The magistrate paused, "But what I said was wrong?"

Li Bai smiled and bowed apologetically with his hands clasped.

“What you said, Your Excellency, is very interesting. I was just thinking about something else.”

The magistrate, having been asked by them, is now the one telling others the stories he's heard.

He continued speaking.

There lived an old man near their house who had suffered from famine. When he was desperately hungry, he would swallow anything, even tree bark or dirt, as long as it filled his stomach. Later, when the years were better, his stomach became unbearably bloated, and he was on the verge of death. Hearing that Mr. Jiang knew medicine, he sought him out. Inexplicably, the old man's stomach shrunk, and a long snake crawled out from under his blankets…

Li Bai asked, "A snake?"

Just as the magistrate was about to describe how terrifying the snake was, Jiang She and the local earth god came over.

He stopped talking abruptly.

The county magistrate and the temple keeper stepped forward, somewhat curious and yet deeply respectful, and hesitated for a moment: "Young master... what brings you here, Immortal Master? Why have you come to my Yuqian County to inquire about Mirror Dust Mountain?"

The two of them have now come to their senses.

Jiang She glanced at them with a smile, "Your Excellency and the temple keeper are too kind. I am merely traveling and happened to pass by, so I came to take a look."

The magistrate did not believe it.

He saw the land with his own eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then he saw not far away, dust particles were falling, as if the entire roof tiles of the temple were trembling.

【Ask for monthly ticket】

(End of this chapter)