6kv Chapter 258 I am passing by, I will not tread on the nameless evil spirits.
Chapter 258 I am passing by, I will not tread on the nameless evil spirits.
Chapter 258 I am passing by now, I will not tread on the nameless evil spirits (4200)
"Even earlier?" Zhou Heng was taken aback.
Lu Yuan didn't turn around, but simply said, "Last night we disturbed the outer altar."
"But this mountain road was tampered with by incense sticks in the past."
"These few blades of grass and this bit of incense ash are not a newly set up setup, but a resurgence of an old setup."
Lin Zhaoxuan's expression also darkened: "The resurgence of the old ways means that there are more than one instance of patronage here?"
"right."
Lu Yuan raised his eyes and looked deeper into the mountain path: "This place is not a temporary evil altar."
"It was raised slowly."
"Some people leave trails on the road, some set up altars in the valley, and some eat offerings in the deeper parts of the valley."
"What we broke through last night was only the outermost threshold."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a slight weight lift from their hearts.
Lu Yuan did not continue speaking, but instead raised his hand and took out three yellow talismans from his pocket, distributing them to Lin Zhaoxuan, Zhou Heng, and Song Qinghe.
"Take one each."
"I'll teach you a road-climbing technique."
"When you encounter such a guiding grass, a turning wind, or a fork in the road, don't rush to force your way through; first, calm your temper."
After he finished speaking, he stood still by the pine forest, his feet neither too far apart nor too far apart. He made a hand seal with his left hand and pressed down with his right hand, and began to chant: "The sky is clear, the earth is peaceful, and even ghosts and gods stop on the road to Lonely Mountain."
"Grass serves as the guide, mist as the form; the distinction between reality and illusion remains blurred."
"Stay firm to the left, remain calm to the right, keep your mind as steady as a stone and your feet as firm as nails."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands, protect your body!"
This formula is short, but extremely intricate.
The first three lines are meant to calm the mind, the last two lines are meant to calm the feet, and only after that are they meant to calm the illusory scene before one's eyes, so that one is not led astray by the evil spirits on the road.
During the Republic of China era, people who traveled at night in the mountains outside the Great Wall often heard old Taoist priests pass down this short formula.
Not to subdue demons, but to save my own life.
If you encounter mountain fog, forks in the road, or windy turns, keep people calm first before you can do anything else.
After Lu Yuan finished reading, he had the three of them stand in the same position he had just been in.
"Left palm facing inward, right three fingers together."
"Lift your breath up from the soles of your feet, don't hold it."
"Don't stare at those few blades of grass, look at the end of the road and listen to the wind."
Zhou Heng was the slowest to learn, but also the most honest. After trying to set it up for a long time, he couldn't help but mutter, "Is this thing really useful?"
Lu Yuan said calmly, "Whether it's useful or not, you have to believe in it first."
"The road scorpion is most likely to prey on hesitant people."
"If you hesitate even for a second, it will have already gained half a step."
As soon as he finished speaking, a mountain breeze suddenly swirled through the pine forest.
The whirlwind wasn't large, but it swept right over the few guide grasses, causing the grass stalks to tremble slightly and bend to the left in unison.
At the same time, the forest mist seemed to be pulled by some invisible thread, slowly flowing towards the right ravine.
If Lu Yuan hadn't warned him first, most ordinary people would have been misled by this scene.
Zhou Heng gasped, unable to help but curse, "They really know how to seduce!"
Lu Yuan didn't speak, but simply shook a small copper coin out of his sleeve, flicked it between his fingers.
The copper coin landed with a "clink" right in front of the few grass stalks.
The sound was extremely soft, yet it seemed to shatter something invisibly.
The mountain breeze paused, and the gust of wind that had been traveling along the grass stalks dissipated almost entirely in an instant.
The faint scent of incense ash near the pine forest also faded away.
Song Qinghe saw it clearly and whispered, "You broke it?"
Lu Yuan withdrew his hand: "It's just to make it visible."
"There's no need to forcefully dismantle this small situation."
"It was originally sustained by the old ways; once the wind changes, the path deviates, or the mind becomes chaotic, it becomes what it is."
"When your heart is calm, half of it will dissipate."
After saying that, he squatted down again and picked up the copper coin from the ground.
The side of the coin that landed on the ground had somehow acquired a tiny, extremely fine black speck, like dust shaken off from the ground.
Lu Yuan stared at the black speck of dust, his gaze hardening slightly.
The black flakes are very fine, like ash or bone meal.
He didn't immediately expose the truth, but instead turned the copper coin over and put it into his sleeve.
Seeing this, Zhou Heng couldn't help but ask, "What is this now?"
Lu Yuan stood up and said calmly, "Not a good person."
"But it's not something we can chase tonight."
"Make a note of this."
His words made everyone realize that this matter was not simple, but they also understood that now was not the time to delve deeper.
This mountain path was originally connected to the place where the evil god made offerings, and the small black specks of guiding grass, incense ash, and bone powder in front of us seemed to be just a small mystery.
In reality, it is very likely a trace of the evil aura leaking from deeper within.
If we continue to investigate now, we may not be able to find the root cause, and we might even alert the enemy.
Lu Yuan put aside the matter of the black dust and instead looked around at the terrain.
"There's something else along the way."
"There is more than one guiding herb."
Lin Zhaoxuan was taken aback: "You mean, there were similar schemes ahead?"
Lu Yuan nodded and said, "Mm."
"Moreover, the cloth-making technique is very traditional, not a newly learned unorthodox method."
"It's as if someone mixed together old mountain rules, road rules, and funeral rules, creating a hidden thread."
"Those who walk this road, if they don't know the ways of the mountains, can easily be led to see places they shouldn't."
Following his words, Song Qinghe looked into the distance, her brows gradually furrowing: "Does that mean the further we go in, the closer we get to the true gateway to the sustenance ground?"
Lu Yuan nodded slightly: "Most likely."
"These few blades of grass are not meant to block people, but to tell those who come after which the path leads to good fortune and which path leads to misfortune."
"The true sacred grounds are most afraid of outsiders trespassing, so they will first leave these insignificant and harmless illusions along the way."
"It looks small, but it's actually used to screen people."
"9
Upon hearing this, Zhou Heng couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement: "Then we really have to risk our lives step by step."
Lu Yuan did not deny it.
He simply looked up at the sky.
The morning mist had mostly dissipated, and the outlines of the distant mountains revealed cold, hard lines in the thin light, like layers of pressed black iron.
The wind from beyond the pass blew down from the mountain ridge, no longer carrying the damp coolness of last night, but dry, hard, and sharp, like the back of a knife scraping against the stone surface.
Lu Yuan suddenly said, "Remember this place."
"These few blades of grass, this bit of incense ash, and that clump of black dust."
"They're not coming for us, they're coming for the people behind us."
"If we can really find what's inside, and then come back here later, we might be able to follow this thread and find even deeper roots."
Lu Yuan didn't say anything more, but he memorized the location of the few guiding grasses and then led the three of them into the mountains.
Once the road enters the pine forest, the light seems to be covered by layers of old cotton wool, giving the daytime a gloomy, gray hue.
The trees on both sides are tall, their branches intertwined, making the mountain path sometimes bright and sometimes dark. The moss on the ground is slippery from the morning dew, and you can easily stumble if you are not careful.
Zhou Heng walked at the back, not daring to be careless, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Master Lu, where are we going?"
"Why does it feel like we're getting deeper and deeper into the belly of a mountain?"
Lu Yuan didn't turn around, only saying, "It's not inside the mountain."
"It's like drilling into the eye of the mountain."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Heng immediately got goosebumps on the back of his neck.
The term "mountain eye" has various interpretations among older generations; some say it's a mountain air vent, while others say it's a ley line.
Some say it's the place where yin and yang are reversed.
In short, when encountering this kind of terrain, ordinary people have to be extra careful when walking.
If you're not careful, you might be distracted by the wind, fog, road, or shadows.
Lu Yuan walked ahead, his steps not fast, but each step was extremely steady.
He would stop from time to time, squat by the roadside to look at the soil, touch the stone patterns, and pluck a drop of dew from a blade of grass. His movements were slow, but his mind was extremely calm.
Lin Zhaoxuan stared for a while, then finally couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking at?"
"Can you even see flowers in the road?"
Lu Yuan stood up, gently flicked the dust off his fingertips, and said in a low voice, "Watch the road."
"The roads in the mountains are not dead ends."
"Some people walk around a lot and absorb the human presence."
"Some people have died too many times, and they've become tainted with evil spirits."
"If there are still offerings, altars, and incense being burned, a layer of dark skin will grow under the road."
What you see as a dirt road might actually be a different road beneath your feet.
Upon hearing this, Song Qinghe's expression tightened slightly, and she immediately and subconsciously held the sealing disc even tighter.
Lu Yuan seemed to know what she was thinking and added calmly, "Don't be afraid."
"The road hasn't been completely overturned yet."
"It's just that someone has tampered with things underneath to suppress the old energy in the mountains."
After he finished speaking, he raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.
A few dozen steps ahead, there is a small ravine.
The ravine is not deep, surrounded by rocks on three sides, with only one narrow entrance.
From a distance, it looks like a clearing naturally squeezed out by the forest.
But once you get close, you'll find that the place is unusually quiet, even the chirping of insects has diminished.
Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks, his gaze darkening.
"arrive."
Zhou Pi was taken aback: "We're here already?"
"Is this the place where we are provided for?"
Lu Yuan shook his head: "Not exactly perfect."
"This is just a prelude."
""
Lin Zhaoxuan, standing to the side, frowned: "The source of the altar?"
"What do you mean?"
Lu Yuanwang looked ahead and said, "It means we should lure the people here first."
"No gods are worshipped here, no evil spirits are appeased, and no incense is lit."
"It only does one thing—retract its legs."
Lu Yuan said "blind," and lightly tapped his foot on the ground.
The impact wasn't heavy, but the ground seemed to respond with a muffled thud, as if a high-altitude cavity had been buried beneath him.
Everyone's expression changed.
Lu Yuan pointed ahead: "Look at that crevice in the rock."
The group looked in the direction he pointed and saw a broken incense stick looming high in the crevice on the left side of the entrance to Shishan Pass.
The incense sticks were burned black, covered with a thin layer of black ash, making them almost indistinguishable unless you looked closely.
At the base of the stone on the right, a yellowed piece of paper is inserted diagonally, with a faded red line faintly visible on it, resembling either a pennant or the edge of a banner.
Song Qinghe's face turned pale: "This is... something that was burned last night?"
Lu Yuan squatted down and stared at the broken incense stick for a couple of seconds: "It wasn't last night."
"It's been around for quite a few years."
"Even though the fire has completely died out, the fragrant bones still contain the old oil of the blind."
"This is foot-pressing incense."
""
Zhou Pi was completely confused: "What's 'foot-pressing incense'?"
Lu Yuan raised his hand and made a light gesture above the broken incense stick, as if avoiding something. Luo seemed to be testing the air and whispered, "An old method from the mountains."
"In some places, when people make offerings, they are afraid that passersby might accidentally wander into the area, so they will put incense, paper, ash, and burn lamp wicks at the intersection."
"The incense sticks are not lit with an open flame, and the corners of the paper are not intact. This is to tell passersby that this place is not clean and not to step in it."
"But the real secret lies elsewhere."
He paused here, then looked up into the depths of the mountain valley.
"The real key is this breath."
"Once the altar is opened, the energy will flow in on its own."
"If people don't notice it, they'll think the place is cool, quiet, and feels hollow under their feet, and then they'll unconsciously want to go around it."
"But if you go around it, you'll be right in its path."
Lin Zhaoxuan stared at the open space above, and suddenly realized: "This isn't stopping people from entering, it's stopping them from leaving?"
Lu Yuan nodded: "That's the most insidious part of this kind of scheme."
"When you come in, it's as if it's going to eat you, it just makes you feel uncomfortable."
"The moment you start to have thoughts of giving up, the path beneath your feet begins to change."
Zhou Pi gasped, "It can even change course?"
Lu Yuan pressed his hand and said, "Mountain paths are bound to change."
"It's not that the road has changed, it's that people's hearts have changed, and the way we see poetry has changed."
After he finished speaking, he took out a piece of red rope from his military green crossbody bag and casually tied it to a low branch next to him.
The red rope was tied neither too tight nor too loose, with the top hanging down, right at the entrance to the Blind Mountain Pass.
Then, Lu Yuanluo took out the copper coin he had picked up earlier from his pocket and looked at it in his palm.
Only the fine black dust on the edge of the copper coin remained, like a clump of bone powder that hadn't completely burned out embedded in dead ashes.
Lu Yuan's eyes darkened slightly. He gently ran his fingertip across the back of the copper coin, then muttered a very short incantation for the road: "Every road has its god, and every mountain has its prohibitions."
"Fragrance does not blind the eyes, and mist does not cloud the mind."
"Do not advance recklessly, nor retreat recklessly."
"As you command, Yahaya, so be it."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a nail that had fallen into the empty mountains.
As soon as he finished speaking, the faint feeling of emptiness he had felt earlier actually faded a bit.
Zhou Pi couldn't help but open his mouth: "That's it?"
Lu Yuan stood up: "Just suppress its pretense."
"To truly understand it, you have to go deeper inside."
As he said this, a wisp of smoke suddenly drifted out from the depths of the mountain valley.
It's not the smoke from firewood, nor the smoke from cooking fires, and certainly not the pungent ash smoke from burning paper money.
Instead, it is an extremely thin, straight white line, as if it is slowly emerging from the soil.
The camel seemed to emerge from an unseen fiery crater underground.
The smoke didn't dissipate; instead, it became thinner and thinner as it rose, finally folding gently in mid-air.
It was as if an unseeing hand had guided the poem deeper into the mountain valley.
Song Qinghe's expression immediately changed: "What is that?"
Lu Yuan's gaze also darkened.
"Cigarettes."
"Someone is keeping the fire going inside."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Pi immediately tensed up: "There are others?"
Lu Yuan said, "It might not be a person."
"It could also be something."
He paused for a moment, then Luo said, "That little bit of guiding grass was just to show us the illusory situation 'outside the road.'"
"This wisp of smoke is now revealing the true 'qi' within the jar to us."
"Looks like we've come to the right place."
Lin Zhaoxuan reached into his sleeve, gripped the damaged thunder token tightly, and asked in a low voice, "Should we set up an array first?"
Lu Yuan shook his head: "This place is not suitable for setting up a large formation."
"The mountains are narrow, the winds are erratic, and the earth's energy is weak. If you set up a position there, it's easy for it to take advantage of you."
"Explore first, then break through."
After he finished speaking, he pushed the three of them back half a step and walked forward alone to the entrance of the mountain pass.
He took a very thin step, his left toes touching the ground while his right heel pressed lightly down, making his whole body seem to float on the ground.
He then clasped his hands together in front of his chest, with his fingers slightly spread, thumbs facing each other, and palms not pressed firmly together, striking a very standard Taoist starting stance.
The moment that momentum was unleashed, the person's spirits completely sank.
Even a novice like Zhou Heng could tell that Lu Yuan wasn't just making random gestures.
Instead, he truly gathered all his strength, intention, and spirit into a very specific range.
Immediately after the blind man, Lu Yuan spoke, his voice low and steady, as if pushed out slowly from the depths of his throat: "Tianpeng, Tianyou, Yisheng, and Xuanwu, the four sages borrowed eyes."
"Under the Three Pure Ones, manifested from the Nine Heavens, you have subdued my form."
"It controls the seven orifices above and the two gates below."
"It keeps out the cold wind on the left and blocks the evil smoke on the right."
"When the vital energy returns to its origin, all impurities cease to exist."
.
"I will not tread upon the nameless evil spirits as I pass by."
"I now ask the question at the altar, without startling the souls hidden in the darkness."
"As you command, open."