Seeing that Zhang Wenfeng was late, the braying donkey roared again, out of breath.
The donkey's head kept moving under the wooden trough, wildly hinting that it hadn't chewed a bite all night, you bastard.
"Okay, okay, I'll give you some food and water now. Stop barking. It's so unpleasant. You mean, you can't go to the mountain stream to find grass by yourself when you're hungry? It's not very far, so I have to Come and serve you.”
Zhang Wenfeng was in a good mood and teased the black donkey who was spinning anxiously in Da'anguo's elegant dialect.
He didn't notice the hint of human disdain hidden in the donkey's squinting eyes in the shed.
He walked to the nearby warehouse where fodder, corn stalks, and beans were loaded, cutting the ingredients and mixing them into bean cakes to give the hungry donkey extra food.
The country of Da'an where he was located was vast, with eighteen states under its jurisdiction, and each state had six to ten counties.
According to his search of memories, he learned that Da'an has been a country for more than 520 years. It advocates Taoist education, taxes and corvees are loosely adjusted according to the times, and there are occasional ghosts and thieves in the territory who cause trouble and rebel, but they were eventually suppressed.
The border is adjacent to the three countries, and every time more than ten years pass, you can always hear rumors of war.
Xianling Temple is located in Xiling County, Yuanyang County, Nanjiang Prefecture.
Xiling County is not considered a remote country and has abundant products.
The folk customs and official administration are pretty good. Although it is impossible not to pick up things on the road, bandits are not rampant and hungry people are not everywhere.
In addition to him, a closed disciple of the former temple master, the Taoist temple also has two old men called Banla who work as handymen, a lame man named Zhang Yifang who is responsible for the kitchen and cleaning outside the Taoist temple, and another hunchback who works in front and back of the mountain planting vegetables and grain. , named Zhang Wencai.
They all have the surname Zhang, and like Zhang Wenfeng, they are relatives of Qian Guan Zhuang Yi who came out of the fifth service first.
After having dinner yesterday, the two of them took leave and returned to Zhangjiazhuang, five miles away to the south. The second son of the Tuozi family was expecting a baby. The hunchback took the lame man back to help with the kitchen work. He could not return until the guests had dispersed in the afternoon the day after tomorrow.
This fairy temple is said to have been inherited for more than 500 years and can be traced back to the founding of Da'an.
Zhang Wenfeng had to dig through these old millet and rotten sesame seeds.
I poured fodder and clean water into the two wooden troughs for the donkey, and then walked to the kitchen outside the courtyard wall.
In addition to his daily practice of chanting sutras, drawing talismans and practicing medical skills, he, the master of the temple, spends half of his time working in the fields during the day.
In the words of his master, the former contemplative master: "Practitioners need to know the sufferings of the world. The real Tao is to seek enlightenment in daily life. If you pursue it deliberately, you will easily fall into 'self-grasping'. What you get on paper will eventually feel shallow. In cultivating the Tao, Things must be done carefully.”
Zhang Wenfeng was born into poverty, so he regarded his master's teachings as his guide.
His ability to go to the hall and kitchen, to draw landscapes with a brush, and to master swordsmanship in the fields was all acquired through daily practice day after day, year after year.
On the contrary, the master who taught him how to follow the Taoism and passed away has rarely gone to the fields or even cooks in his life.
He keeps his fingers off the spring water and devotes himself to understanding the magic of gods. This is what he is talking about.
Talking about the Nine Doctors of the Ten Paths, the master of Qian Guan is good at medicine, painting talismans, Feng Shui, and divination. He is also proficient in various arty arts such as piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as self-cultivation. He has a fluttering white beard, a fairy-like appearance, and rarely goes out. Doing things, let alone taking care of things like weddings and other chores that require staying up all night.
He didn't bother to compete with the Taoist priests in the countryside, but his reputation spread far and wide, reaching all the counties and counties.
Even though it is more than 20 miles away from Xiling County, before the death of the former temple owner, the Xianling Temple often had distinguished guests coming from afar to offer incense and seek medical advice. It was once a prosperous place, but it is not as shabby as it is now. Sample.
Under the influence of his ears and eyes, Zhang Wenfeng knew a little bit about everything, and he was also good at cooking.
He kneaded the dough by lighting a fire and boiling water as quickly as possible, scooped two spoons of clear oil from the oil can, and cooked pickled vegetables, bacon, and meat sauce in another iron pot, making a large bowl of noodles.
After making soup and noodles to fill his stomach that was pressed against his chest, Zhang Wenfeng burped with satisfaction. After cleaning and packing up the kitchen utensils, he walked to the shade of the trees in front of the Taoist Temple Square, walked around to eat, and sorted out his thoughts.
He rummaged through his memories and found that this body had no disease or disaster and knew some medical skills.
There were no external or internal injuries, and there were no signs of poisoning. Why did he die suddenly in bed near five o'clock in the morning?
It's really strange.
There was another thing that puzzled him. When he was in the underworld, he could understand what the soul-calling spellcaster said, but why couldn't he understand it when he spoke to him outside the outside world?
Could it be that reciting Taoist scriptures has a special function in a place like the underworld?
After turning back and forth for more than ten times, Zhang Wenfeng suddenly stopped. He turned his head slightly and looked toward the short mountain forest in the southwest. This body was practiced with the Taoist breathing technique, the breath of the Dantian in the lower abdomen was warm and nourishing, and his ears and eyes were sharp. Only then did I realize that someone seemed to be peeping there.
After searching carefully for a while, Zhang Wenfeng looked away in confusion. Could it be that he had made a mistake?
After thinking about it, he turned around and walked to the hut where he lived in the backyard of the Taoist temple. He took down the three-foot-three-inch self-defense sword hanging from the wooden pillars of the mud wall (one foot is equal to 23 centimeters in this book, according to Han Dynasty rulers), and walked around it. After passing the livestock shed, I was going to go down the mountain through the back door of the courtyard wall to see what was going on?
"Ah uh... ah... uh..."
The black donkey stuck out his head and suddenly shouted at Zhang Wenfeng, who was passing by quietly.
Zhang Wenfeng was really startled, and was immediately made smile by the long-eared donkey who had eaten and drank enough and wanted to get close to him.
Forget it, even if someone was snooping there, they should be alert and run away at this time.
He tied the sword around his left waist and patted the donkey's head gently. Zhang Wenfeng opened the wooden corridor door, walked into the shed, untied the rope from the pillar, led the black donkey out and went down the mountain, letting the man who had been imprisoned until now The black donkey is letting loose.
Ever since the big ox was frightened on the hillside and rolled down and broke its hind legs, and was sold by the old lame man and the hunchback, the heavy work of grinding flour and plowing the land on the mountain has fallen to the donkeys. It is estimated that a new calf will not be bought until next spring. The son is raising.
It is now past mid-autumn, and the cold winter days are long. It is not cost-effective to raise an extra animal to prepare materials. Both Hunchback and Lame suggest waiting to see the calf market in the coming year before making a decision.
Going down to the stream in the forest of the short mountain, Zhang Wenfeng let go of the rope and let the docile black donkey go and eat.
He searched carefully on the top of the short mountain. After a while, he stopped in front of a fallen bush. The grass nest in the depression was just in shape to accommodate a person. There were fresh signs of broken grass stems. There were a few inconspicuous ones on the nearby muddy ground. Clear and faint footprints were left, far farther apart than ordinary people.
Zhang Wenfeng's eyes showed he was thinking, the person spying on him was a good martial arts practitioner.
He intuitively suspected that this person's motives were impure, maybe it was related to the sudden death of his body?
Otherwise, if a master came to spy, the timing would be too coincidental.
The visitor is sneaky and hides his whereabouts, and dare not go up to the mountain to visit openly. He is either a traitor or a thief.
There are not many valuable items to steal from the Taoist temple on the mountain, except for the live black donkey and the fourteen-five-stone winter grains.
Even if the Taoist magic weapon is taken, it will be difficult to take action. Instead, it will leave traces for the government and the Daolu Academy. For thieves who dare to steal and harm Taoist temples, the Daolu branch has always pursued them to the end, severely punished them, and will never tolerate them.
After thinking for a long time, there were too few clues to figure it out, so Zhang Wenfeng gave up the troublesome divergent thinking. Now that he had come back to life, he was on guard again. If he was more alert at night, he would not be afraid of being framed by thieves.
The most urgent thing is to first understand what abilities and techniques you have.
If you cannot know your enemy, you must first know yourself and be prepared for any danger.
