Under the tall persimmon tree, more than ten servants are resting. July 3rd—at noon. The rainy season has just ended, and the sky is shining brightly with sunshine. All the servants avoid the scorching sun and enjoy the shade under the trees. Having said that, that persimmon tree is really tall.Even if two adults spread their arms around, it is still more than enough.The branches spread out in all directions, forming a shade below.There, there are several horses laden with melon cages. This neighborhood is the main road for Yamato to go to the capital via Uji. It seems that the servants planned to carry melons and fruits from Yamato to the capital by horses.On the way, I took a break under this persimmon tree to escape the heat.

The sun is so hot that it can almost scald melons and fruits on horseback. The servants reached out their hands to take out the melons and fruits, gnawing on them with relish.The sweet aroma of melons and fruits wafts in the wind. Under the same persimmon tree, Yuan Boya sat on a foldable stool, casually watching the slaver gnaw on melons and fruits.Bamboo tubes filled with water are placed at the feet. He was planning to return to the capital from Changgu Temple. Yuan Boya escorted the "Prajna Heart Sutra" copied by the emperor to Changgu Temple. On the way home, in order to avoid the sun, he stopped driving the ox cart and hid in the shade of this tree to enjoy the cool.

Three handymen, two attendants, plus Boya, there are a total of six people in the party. The handyman walks, and the attendants ride horses.Everyone stopped, got off their horses, and rested under the shade of the trees. "Oh, really, delivering things for the emperor is not an easy task." "This is the second time." The two attendants chatted at the side, and the content of the chat reached Boya's ears. The emperor seems to have been agitated recently, busy copying the "Prajna Heart Sutra", and after finishing writing, he ordered people to send it to various temples for offering.

Many people have been ordered to take charge of this errand, and Boya himself, as the attendant said, is the second time. The first time was ten days ago, and the temple I went to was Yakushiji Temple. "There have been a lot of weird things happening in the capital recently. Did the emperor copy scriptures just for this?" "No way, before the strange incident happened, the emperor started to copy scriptures. Copying scriptures and strange incidents are two different things." "However, it is true that there are many strange things." "Well." "I heard that the daughter of Mr. Fujiwara Yorikiyo, the official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, also encountered strange things?"

"Isn't that what I told you at Hase Temple last night?" "Oh, yes, that's exactly what you said." "The most recent thing happened was that someone living in Xijing shot down a blue-glowing ball with an arrow at Yingtianmen three nights ago." "Well." The two attendants were talking about this kind of topic.Boya also heard strange things from his followers. The details of the strange incident that happened to the daughter of the Yorikiyo Fujiwara family in Minbu Province are as follows: Yoshiki Fujiwara is the clerk of the studio.He has been in charge of chores in the Zhaiyuan for many years. One day, because he violated the official regulations of the Zhaiyuan, he returned to his own territory Muban and was confined at home.

Mubata is located in the middle of the road from Beijing to Uji. Lai Qing has a servant girl who is called "Sister-in-law Canchuan" and her natal family is in the capital. Since the master Lai Qing returned to Muban, she had no work to do, so she had to return to her mother's house.About seven days ago, a servant sent by Lai Qing brought a message: "My lord, who has been staying in Mubata recently, is planning to move to another place due to urgent matters. But there is not enough manpower, can you go and take care of your lord's trivial matters?" The servant girl had a five-year-old child. Hearing what the servant said, she carried the child to the place designated by him.

When I came there, I saw that Lai Qing's wife was also in the house, and greeted the daughter intimately: "It's really hard to rush here just for you." Lai Qing's wife said that it happened that Lai Qing had gone out, and she was the only one at home, but she had a lot of things to do, and she hoped that her daughter-in-law would help her. The daughter-in-law and the mistress cleaned, dyed, washed, starched and so on at home, and two days passed in the blink of an eye. However, Lai Qing, the owner, has not come back these two days. "Your Excellency has gone back to Muban now. However, the place is almost tidied up, please come to Muban, and please move here with your lord and others."

Since the mistress said so, the daughter-in-law left the child at that house and set off to Mupan excitedly. After arriving at the master's house, not only Lai Qing was at home, but even the servants and maids who used to work together were there. Seeing the long-lost acquaintance, she didn't care about the family affairs, so the daughter-in-law conveyed the orders of the mistress to Lai Qing. Unexpectedly, Lai Qing asked in surprise, "What are you talking about?" Then he said: "I didn't move to the house you mentioned, and I don't plan to move. Now that the confinement punishment is finally lifted, I'm planning to move back to the original mansion..."

Therefore, Lai Qing recalled the maids and male servants from the past, and now everyone gathered at Mu Banner's side. "I also ordered people to look for you at your natal home, but your natal family said that someone had already sent a message, and you had gone out. I thought that someone might be more careful and inform you in advance that the punishment has been lifted, but I waited for two days. I haven't seen you coming yet, and everyone is worried. Where have you been these two days?" The servant girl was shocked when she heard what the master said, and hurriedly explained the ins and outs of the matter.

"It's so strange, my wife has been at Mubata's house all along, and she is here now." Lai Qing called out to the back room, only to see the mistress who should be in another house came out, and greeted the girl: "Hey, long time no see. You're finally here." Seeing this, the maid was even more frightened and incoherent. Could it be haunted by ghosts? The five-year-old child was still entrusted in that home. If it was a ghost who turned into the mother, then wouldn't the child be devoured by the ghost long ago? Everyone tremblingly came to the place mentioned by the servant girl and saw that there was only a deserted mansion inside the earth wall that was about to collapse, and no one could be seen.

The daughter-in-law's child was crying loudly in the weedy yard. — This happened five days ago. Someone in Xijing saw something glowing on Yingtian Gate three days ago. Someone in Xijing—a samurai. His mother has been ill for a long time and has been bedridden for many years. Three nights ago, I suddenly said that I wanted to see my brother.The so-called younger brother, of course, is not the mother's younger brother, but the samurai's younger brother—that is, the mother's second son. This time, he became a monk in the Dharma school, and he was in Mount Hiei.However, since I came to the capital for some business, I should stay at the monk's house near Sanjo Kyogoku. "Please go and call that kid over." Although it is not as far as Mount Hiei, Sanjo Kyogoku is still quite a distance from the samurai's house.Besides, it was already midnight, and the followers all went back. That's not a place to go alone. "I'll call him again tomorrow morning." "My life can't be delayed until tomorrow morning. I must see that child tonight." Hearing his mother's urgent entreaties, the samurai couldn't bear it, and replied: "Okay. If that's the case, it doesn't matter if it's midnight. I will try my best to bring my brother back." So the elder brother, the samurai, set out across the infield alone with three arrows. The slender moon should still be hanging somewhere in the sky, but heavy clouds shrouded the sky, making it almost impossible to see. It's really terrifying. Walking and walking, the warrior came between Yingtian Gate and Huichang Gate. The samurai tremblingly passed between the two gates, and finally reached the room of the master and monk. After waking up the teacher and monk, and asked where my younger brother was, the teacher and monk actually replied: "Your brother has returned to Mount Hiei this morning." Now that he has returned to Mount Hiei, the samurai has nothing to do. The samurai had to turn back to the home where the old mother was waiting for news.On the way, we came again between Yingtian Gate and Huichang Gate. It's even scarier now than before. When walking between the two gates, the samurai accidentally looked up at the roof of Yingtian Gate, and found something glowing blue on the roof. squeak! squeak! There was the sound of rats on the roof, followed by a burst of laughter descending from the roof. The samurai, holding back the terror of screaming, crossed the road. squeak! squeak! The squeak of rats followed the warrior. The samurai quickened his pace, and the sound of the mouse also quickened his pace. The samurai finally got up and ran. However, the cry followed closely behind. The samurai didn't know where he ran, and when he came back to his senses, he realized that he was near Gojo Horikawa. The other party probably gave up tracking at last, and the rat squeak could no longer be heard behind him. The warrior was about to step away with peace of mind, when the bluish-glowing thing appeared in front of him again. squeak! squeak! The sound of rats came again. "Wow!" The samurai shouted, raised his bow and shot an arrow, and hit the blue light with one arrow.At the same moment, the blue light disappeared, and then someone's laughter resounded through the night sky. It was almost early in the morning when the samurai returned home, but he developed a high fever on the spot and lay down on the bed next to his mother. Seeing the change in her son, the mother cheered up instead.Getting up and walking is still a bit of a stretch, but this time the son is sick in bed, so I heard that the mother is taking care of the son now. It was these things that the entourage chatted about. As the two said, many strange things have indeed happened in the capital recently. Boya muttered to himself: "When we go back, let's go to Qingming's house..." "No, no..." The voice came from the side. Turning his head, he saw that an extremely old man appeared out of nowhere, standing in front of the man who was eating melons and fruits, gesticulating. "Is it okay? Is it okay? Can you give me a melon or fruit?" The old man was wearing a very old linen singlet with a belt around his waist, flat clogs on his feet, and a cane in his left hand.His white hair was disheveled like weeds, the front of his clothes was opened wide, and he was holding a tattered fan in his right hand, fanning the inside of his clothes. "No, I can't give you this." A servant responded while eating melons and fruits. "It's so hot, I'm so thirsty, please give me a melon or fruit?" "This fruit is not ours. We want to share one with you, but this is something that a certain adult ordered us to send to the capital, and we cannot share it with anyone." "But, aren't you also eating melons and fruits without authorization?" "This is our reward, of course the owner of the melon and fruit understands this." The servant ignored the old man. Yamato country is rich in melons and fruits. During the peak season, there are many servants who transport melons and fruits to the capital to come and go on this avenue. "Really? If that's the case, then give me melon seeds, okay?" The old man pointed to the servant's feet.It turned out that there were countless melon seeds spit out under the servant's feet. "Of course melon seeds are fine, take them all..." "No, one pill will do." The old man bent down and picked up a melon seed from the ground. After walking a few steps, the old man stopped and used his cane to dig a hole in the ground. Boya continued to watch curiously, and saw the old man throw the melon seeds into the small hole dug by the crutches, and then cover it with the soil just dug out to fill up the small hole. The old man turned to Boya and asked, "Excuse me, can you give me some water?" Boya raised the bamboo tube under his feet and handed it to the old man. "I'm so sorry." The old man put the fan in his arms, thanked him in a low voice, and then took the water from the bamboo tube from Boya's hand, and dripped it on the filled soil. At this time, Boya's attendants and servants were all attracted by the old man's movements, and looked at the old man's hand with great interest, wanting to know what he was going to do. The old man returned the bamboo tube to Boya. "Next..." The old man smiled, closed his eyes, and muttered a spell. After reading, open your eyes, take out your fan, and fan it on the soil where the melon seeds are buried. "If you have life, come out; if you have a heart, grow up..." said the old man. result-- "Look, the soil is moving!" The dirt surface under the eyes of everyone seemed to move. "Look, it's out." After the old man finished speaking, green melon seeds sprouted out of the soil. Just when everyone yelled "ah", the old man continued: "Look, it's grown, it's grown..." The shoots grow rapidly, stretching the green stems on the ground, and the leaves gradually become lush. "Look, keep growing, keep growing. Look, it's beginning to bear fruit." In the blink of an eye, a small fruit has grown on the stem, and it gradually expands. "Grow up a little more, grow sweeter..." As the old man said, the melon and fruit swelled more and more, and finally matured, and began to emit a sweet fragrance. "It's ready to eat." The old man picked a melon and fruit and ate it with relish. "Aren't you going to eat? You can eat as much as you want." Hearing what the old man said, Boya's attendants stretched out their hands to pick the melons and fruits, and began to eat them. "This is water in return, don't you want to eat it?" the old man spoke to Boya. "No, I've already drank a lot of water." Boya replied politely. Is it really a melon?Boya looked suspiciously at the entourage and the old man who were eating melons and fruits.How could such a thing happen?He couldn't believe it in his heart. The impossible happened, but it happened.This should be an illusion, right? Just like Seimei's illusions, what everyone eats are actually melons and fruits cut from paper or other things, right? However, all the attendants had their mouths covered with sweet juice of melons and fruits, and they gorged themselves.It doesn't look like the power of illusion. "How? Do you want to eat?" The old man persuaded the people who gathered around to watch the excitement and passers-by to eat together. In a short while, the melons and fruits were all eaten. However-- One of the servants suddenly yelled: "It's broken! The melons and fruits on the horse are gone!" Boya followed the sound and found that the melons and fruits that had been carried in the cage on the horse's back had all disappeared. "Hey! The old man is gone!" Another servant shouted. Everyone present, including Boya, searched for the old man with wide eyes, but the old man had disappeared.