This Liao Zhai is not right

As the City God of Guobei County, he communicates with the deity statues in the City God Temple of Guobei County. Although he can sense that the general situation in Guobei County is calm, he cannot know the specific details and has to listen to the reports of the civil and military judges.

"Reporting to the City God, there has been no trouble in Guobei County in recent days. Our ghost soldiers have used the art of possession to provide relief to the refugees outside the city. We have also organized them to reclaim wasteland and engage in production as the City God said before, and stepped up the sowing of spring grain. The chaotic situation has been alleviated. However, Guobei County is poor and the remaining grain in the county may not be able to support the autumn harvest. We have thought about it for a long time and plan to spend the gold and silver money we have obtained from Lanruo Temple and send people to Jinhua Prefecture to buy food to fill the vacant granary. We hope to get the approval of the City God."

"You can make the decision on this kind of small matter by yourselves. Apart from the money to support the old man with a sloping foot who is guarding the charity cemetery outside the city, the rest can be used. If it is not enough, I still have some spare money."

After cultivating Yang Shen, one will have the ability to create things out of thin air and turn stones into gold. Su Su generally no longer has the need for a lot of money, not to mention that there are more than a dozen gold ingots piled up in the small courtyard of the land temple outside the door, which is obviously more than enough to buy food for emergency.

"The generosity and selflessness of the City God really makes us ashamed. The few gold bars obtained from Lanruo Temple are enough to cover our expenses. There is no need to use the City God's private wealth."

Compared with the former City God Li Dingyuan who was extremely greedy and only accepted offerings but did not do any work, it was hard to find a superior like Su Su who received his salary on time and also used his private money to support the affairs of the City God Temple.

"Before I left, I asked you to keep an eye on the area around Lanruo Temple and look for traces of evil spirits. Did you find anything?"

In order to prevent Black Mountain Lord from taking revenge on Guobei County after learning the news that the tree demon grandma and the Rakshasa woman were beheaded, Su Su ordered the civil and military judges to keep a close eye on the area around Lanruo Temple and report any disturbance before leaving.

This precautionary arrangement really worked. Judge Wen reported solemnly, "An underworld soldier reported that a baboon was seen in Lanruo Temple at midnight last night. The monster searched the temple for a long time but found nothing. It left at about 3 p.m."

The news that the tree demon grandma and the Rakshasa woman had been beheaded had indeed reached the ears of Black Mountain Lord.

Chapter 88 Shurangama Sutra

The mandrill looks like a ghost, with flashing eyes, a huge mouth like a basin, sparse teeth about three inches long, and a moving tongue and a roaring throat, making a sound that can be heard on all four walls.

In the mountains and forests, even wolves, tigers and leopards are no match for it. If it cultivates into a demon, it can even transform into a human form, pretending to be a beautiful woman to seduce travelers in the mountains and wilderness, eat their flesh, drink their blood, and after a night, chew up all the bones and swallow them.

When ordinary people travel around the world, they are most afraid of mountain spirits and wild ghosts. Mountain spirits in a narrow sense refer to mandrills.

In the past, there were tree monsters that transformed into human forms lurking in Lanruo Temple, and other monsters basically would not approach this area. In addition, recently the ghost soldiers from the City God Temple in Guobei County have been patrolling outside the city at night, and the frequency of eliminating evil spirits and monsters has been increasing.

Any evil spirit with a normal mind would avoid it and would never dare to show up easily.

Only the demons and monsters who have joined the army of Lord Black Mountain would risk their lives to sneak into Lanruo Temple under the cover of night to inquire about the situation. They would not retreat until they had searched the entire Lanruo Temple and found nothing.

It seems that it shouldn't be long before Lord Heishan learned the news that the tree demon grandma and the Rakshasa woman who were entrenched in Lanruo Temple had been killed.

Who knows, it might have happened even after Su Su killed the Ghost King's clone outside Yangzhou City.

"After the mandrill left, were there any unusual movements in Guobei County?" Su Su asked again.

Judge Wen thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There is no unusual movement in Guobei County. It's just that five days ago, a ghost messenger passed by the charity cemetery on the outskirts of the city and took away many wronged souls to the underworld."

Five days ago, a ghost passed by the charity cemetery on the outskirts of the city and took away many wronged souls of those who had died unjustly in Lanruo Temple. This was probably done by the servants of Guyuan.

The news that the tree demon grandma and the Rakshasa woman were beheaded should have been spread by the souls of these wronged people when Heishan Jun learned about it.

After all, when Su Fu and Jinse met in Geigu Garden, the other party said something like "The City Goddess of Guobei County has great magical powers. She killed the transformed tree monster that had been causing trouble in Lanruo Temple for a long time in the blink of an eye." This matter spread in Geigu Garden, and it was too normal for it to reach the ears of Heishan Jun.

"I'm aware of this matter. You must be extra careful when you go out of the city on patrol in the near future. Do not act rashly when you encounter evil spirits. Report them in time. Take precautions first after confirming that they are not the monsters under the command of Lord Black Mountain. Do not fall into the trap and get caught in one fell swoop." Su Su solemnly reminded the civil and military judges in the City God Temple and a group of ghost soldiers who had not yet appeared.

Since Lord Heishan had already received the news that the tree demon grandma and the Rakshasa woman had been beheaded, he sent his mandrills to Lanruo Temple to inquire about the situation. The corresponding revenge was most likely on the way.

There are only dozens of ghost soldiers and civil and military judges in the City God Temple of Guobei County. There is no need for Black Mountain Lord to use his clone to descend to the world of the living. Just sending out the monsters under his command from the world of the living is enough to wipe them out.

"We will pay extra attention."

Upon hearing the seriousness of the situation, the civil and military judges responded in unison.

"Oh, right."

After Su Fu reminded them to be careful about the revenge of the Lord of Black Mountain, he ordered: "Arrange people to build a Yama Temple as soon as possible. The size and shape can be simplified as much as possible. Most importantly, remember to leave the eyes of the Yama statue blank. It would be best if it can be completed in three to five days."

"I will obey the orders of the City God."

After receiving the order, the civil and military judges set out immediately to prepare for the construction of the Yama Temple.

The simplified Yama Temple is similar to the land temples in the countryside, with only the decoration and the statues of gods enshrined there being different. As long as there are enough people, it can be built in two or three days. However, the clay statues were deliberately told to leave blank spaces at the eyes, so a skilled bricklayer was needed to do this.

With people under you, you can just give orders with your mouth and get things done without having to do everything yourself.

"The number of underworld soldiers and judges under the jurisdiction of the City God Temple is very small. I am the only one who provides divine power, so I don't have to worry about them pretending to obey me but actually disobeying me. But if the jurisdiction becomes larger and larger, like the underworld, there will be 72 departments, and the underworld soldiers under their command are countless, and the judges, department heads and various assistants are too numerous to mention. There are also a lot of Yama under their command. It will be difficult to command them as one."

Su Su secretly complained about the mess that King Yama had to face, and felt that the future of Shintoism would become more and more difficult. Except for those innate gods who were born sacred and could last forever, the gods such as land gods, city gods, and Yama could be prominent for a while, but they were replaced by many people like crucian carp crossing the river.

It is said that the throne of God is permanent, but the gods are ever-changing.

It is no wonder that the gods, ghosts, and deities of heaven and earth are ranked below the human immortals who are hard to be erased from the books of the dead.

He walked out of the main hall of the City God Temple with a lot of thoughts in his mind, and brought Chang'e and the woman surnamed Sun to the land temple carved out of bluestone outside the door, and walked straight in.

A courtyard with white walls, green tiles, carved beams and painted buildings comes into view.

"Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was in the Jetavana Monastery in Sravasti. He was with a great assembly of monks, numbering 1,250. All of them were great Arhats without outflows, the Buddha's children and the abbots, who were adept at transcending all existences; they were able to establish majesty in the land; they followed the Buddha in turning the wheel of Dharma, and were worthy of his will; they strictly observed the Vinaya and spread the teachings in the three realms; they manifested themselves in countless forms to save sentient beings; they saved the future and transcended all dust burdens."

As soon as I walked into the courtyard, I heard the sound of chanting scriptures. After a closer look, I found that it was Nie Xiaoqian sitting in the courtyard, chanting scriptures softly.

Seeing Su Su's figure appear, Nie Xiaoqian quickly put down the scripture in her hand, stood up and greeted her, "Hello, young lady."

Then he turned to Chang'e who was standing next to Su Su, not knowing what to address her.

After struggling for a while, I remembered that Chang'e once said that she was betrothed to Su Su by her mother.

He greeted her: "Meet the Madam."

"..."

Su Fu suddenly felt that his generation was inexplicably lower, and he felt a little tired. He pretended not to hear Nie Xiaoqian addressing Chang'e, and asked, "Why did you suddenly start reciting scriptures?"

"After I learned to read during my lifetime, I often recited the Shurangama Sutra with my elders at home. After my death, I was driven by the tree demon and committed many sins. I wanted to pick up this sutra and recite it from time to time to atone for my sins." Nie Xiaoqian answered truthfully.

It is rumored that the Shurangama Sutra has the power to subdue demons and eliminate people's karma. Although Su Su does not know whether the rumor is true, he recalls that there are many monks with extraordinary abilities in the stories recorded in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Even the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara appears in front of people in the article "Mr. Tang".

Especially, there is a demon monk named Pudu Cihang in the court who is causing chaos. So even though Chang'e said that Sakyamuni Tathagata had already passed away, there should still be many Bodhisattvas and Arhats who enjoy great worship. Therefore, it is very likely that the Shurangama Sutra has magical powers.

"So that's it."

Su Su nodded slightly and looked up and down at Nie Xiaoqian, who was dressed in white. He saw that her illusory ghost body was more solid, and was not much inferior to the ghost soldiers blessed by the power of exorcism in the City God Temple. She seemed to be on the path to becoming a ghost fairy.

It can be seen that reciting the Shurangama Sutra frequently is not a bad thing.

Chapter 89 Si Niang

Nie Xiaoqian had cleaned up the courtyard of the land temple. The dozen or so gold ingots neatly stacked in the yard showed no signs of having been touched. She lived in a side room on the left side of the yard and simply put up a few wooden boards to lay out her bedding.

The main room was also cleaned spotlessly, but it looked empty because there was no furniture. The same was true for the bedrooms, study and other rooms that followed.

It seems that during the days when Su Shu and Chang'e were away, Nie Xiaoqian was busy cleaning the courtyard most of the time. When she was free, she recited the Shurangama Sutra. Compared to being forced by the tree monster in Lanruo Temple and having to lure passers-by to serve as blood food for the tree monster, these days seemed much more fulfilling.

Su Su retracted his gaze, looked at Nie Xiaoqian and asked, "You have been staying in the land temple these days, and you haven't been out much?"

"I am afraid of the revenge of Lord Black Mountain, so I dare not stay out too long."

Nie Xiaoqian's reason was so shocking.

"Besides, I don't know what the young lady likes, so I dare not change the furnishings in the courtyard. I hope the young lady will make the final decision on everything."

Before Su Su left Guobei County, he only asked her to clean up the courtyard of the land temple. He did not leave any message saying how to arrange the furnishings. Nie Xiaoqian, who regarded herself as a maid, naturally had no say in this.

"It's no use for you to look at me. How would I know how to decorate a house?"

If you ask yourself honestly, during the time that Su Su was entangled with Chang'e, he had everything he wanted, even his underwear had to be put on by Chang'e. He was almost turned into a complete useless person.

and many more......

Su Su was aware of this and became alert. He realized the other party's hidden sinister intentions, "She is so cruel. Has she been trying to control me since the day she took me to the inn to change clothes?"

"Since you don't know how to decorate it, let me arrange it."

Following Su Shu's gaze, Chang'e proposed as the hostess.

This action further confirmed Su Su's guess.

If you want to completely control a person, you just need to control her life. Once she can no longer live without you, you'll be done.

Such a deliberate plan is really frightening.

But what else could Su Su do?

She is also desperate!

You can't always go against the other party.

If he did this, Su Su estimated that the outcome would be even worse.

"This is bad, this is bad. I know she did this with bad intentions and she has some hidden agenda, but I didn't even have the urge to resist. On the contrary, I kind of enjoyed it. I don't want this kind of thing to happen!"

Su Su felt extremely desperate.

Before Su Shu could recover from the shock, he saw Chang'e and Nie Xiaoqian turning around and leaving, as if they were going to decorate the courtyard. The voice of the woman named Sun also slowly came.

"Now that your affairs are settled, how are you going to place me?"

Previously in Yishui, Su Su had promised to let her settle down temporarily in Guobei County, and take a small clerical position to conceal her identity, and wait for Sun Simiao to survive the disaster before making any plans.

Now everything has been arranged, except for her.

Su Su had to restrain his thoughts and glanced at the words floating on the cloth in front of him.

"The City God is supposed to observe the good and evil of the people and decide whether they are blessed or cursed, so that the living and the dead are not spared. The position of the land god in three townships and one town in Guobei County is vacant. If this continues, it will surely lead to disaster."

The original land gods of the three townships and one town in Guobei County died or disappeared, which was indeed easy to cause trouble when evil spirits were rampant and harming people. But now that it is the turn of Black Mountain Lord to take revenge on the way, rashly assigning corresponding divine positions will only give the demons and monsters under Black Mountain Lord the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

However, the woman named Sun, who was originally a fairy, was an exception. From her performance on the journey to the underworld, Su Su knew that she was really qualified to not regard Black Mountain Lord as a threat.

Even if she couldn't win in a head-on confrontation, no one could stop her if she wanted to escape.

So Su Su really has a priest position suitable for her.

His mind moved slightly, and new words continued to appear on the cloth according to Su Su's thoughts.

'According to the appointment of the City God of Guobei County, Sun Siniang, a native of Jinling, is now temporarily taking over the post of Sun Wandering God under the City God of Guobei County, Jichuan Prefecture.'

As soon as the words appeared on the cloth, a very long wooden sign with the words "日巡" written on it appeared out of thin air in the hand of the woman surnamed Sun.

"Sun Si Niang..."

Looking at the name of the woman surnamed Sun that appeared on the cloth, Su Su's eyebrows raised, but he was not surprised.

After all, chapters in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio such as "Lin Si Niang", "Xin Shisi Niang" and "Gongsun Jiu Niang" show that girls' names at that time were so casual, and most of them had to wait until they reached the age of 15 to be given a nickname. But she did not expect that Sun Simiao, the medicine king with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would be a difficult person to name.

"You run pretty fast, so you can be a day-wandering god in Guobei County, patrolling the area during the day to monitor good and evil. Guobei County has three townships and one town under its jurisdiction, so it won't take much effort to monitor it." Su Su said.

Guobei County is a small city with few people. Even if the three townships and one town under its jurisdiction are counted, there are only two to three thousand households in total. The day and night parade of gods is dispensable to Guobei County, and it also has to share the already pitiful amount of incense and vows.

Hearing this, Sun Si Niang looked at the extremely long wooden sign with the words "日巡" written on it in her hand, turned it with her backhand, and the sign disappeared.

"This is a simple matter. I plan to open a pharmacy in Guobei County to hide my identity, and then patrol the area three times a day, morning, noon and night, to keep a close eye on the movements of Black Mountain Lord for you. I cannot do much in the world of the living, so you have to deal with Black Mountain Lord's revenge by yourself. But when you go down to the underworld to fight him, I will lend you a helping hand to repay my kindness today."

"It's time for you, girl!"

Although she knew her name, Su Su did not dare to make it public. From what she saw, the dragons in Kunming Lake would most likely be able to find her hiding place through her name.

It's better to be careful in everything.

But she still couldn't understand Sun Si Niang's plan to open a pharmacy in the city and hide in the busy city, so she tentatively said, "By the way, this yard is not small, you can live here, there is no need to open a pharmacy in the city to hide your identity, showing up in public will only lead to hidden dangers."

"forget it."

In response to Su Su's lack of self-awareness, Sun Si Niang could only roll her eyes and say, "I don't want to be caught between the two of you and have no peace. I'd better find another place to find peace."

After saying this, he turned around and walked out of the yard.

Su Su's face flushed, and he thought speechlessly: "Can you blame me for this? I'm also a victim!"

As soon as he thought of this, Chang'e, the perpetrator, walked back into the yard.

"You were busy decorating the yard, why are you back?"

Su Su asked with some surprise.

"Decoration is easy. I will give the order and you can just use the power of the Yang God to build it. I just went out to ask your maid to go to the inn and get my belongings."

Walking straight to Su Su, Chang'e said with an ambiguous smile: "Your maid calls you Miss and me Madam, doesn't that make you look younger than you are?"

"What are you going to do?" Su Su was extremely alert.

"Come on, call me by my name properly."

Chapter 90: The Ghost Market Reappears

Su Su certainly knew what Chang'e meant by calling her nicely.

Faced with such an outrageous request, which concerned her personal dignity, there was no reason for her to agree.