After previous testing, I knew that this Jiang Xuerou would not be able to confront me and Qin Bukong head-on, so I felt relieved to go on the road with him, at least I would not be the one who would suffer. And Jiang Xuerou seemed to be someone who had just come down from the mountain not long ago. She still had a vague understanding of many things in the world.
So after we hopped on the passenger ship from Wuchang to Luzhou, I started chatting with him. I asked him why he, a good man, had such a name. He told me that this was actually his lay name. After being caught by Qin Bukong and I, he was afraid of getting involved in the master's family, so he didn't dare to say his Dharma name. And he also explained to me the origin of this lay name, which made me laugh for a long time.
It turned out that Jiang Xuerou's father had stubbornly believed that his mother's pregnancy must be a daughter since his mother was pregnant. It is said that he specially found someone to arrange the imperial palace map and then calculated it. When the mother was about to give birth, the couple began to think of a name for the child. After thinking for a long time, they were not satisfied with the name. At that time, the new trend of thought was sweeping across China. My father believed that we must have an elegant name, but not an old-fashioned name like "Shu Zhen Fang Fang". It happened that that night, the family had a meat meal, and his father picked up a piece of meat. As soon as I put it in my mouth and chewed it, I burst into tears. When I took it out of my mouth, I saw it was a piece of ginger.
So his father looked at the ginger on the chopsticks and sighed, Brother Jiang, Brother Jiang, you are very good at learning meat, I admire you!
I guess he must be a scholar.
However, because his surname was Jiang, he thought he would have a daughter, and this incident gave him a surge of inspiration, so he named her Jiang Xuerou (肉).
I only remember that after listening to this paragraph, I lay on the railing beside the deck, facing the fierce river wind with my mouth wide open, not caring that the wind messed up my fashionable middle part, and laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. I patted Jiang Xuerou on the shoulder and said, you have a good father.
Jiang Xuerou said that in recent years, the world has been bad, and many Taoists no longer dare to say that they are Taoists. Fortunately, our Taoist temple is on a mountain, and there are relatively few people on weekdays. Thank God that no one has come to make trouble in recent years, let alone incense. Just like this, without the distraction, I can concentrate on learning Taoism and be able to save all sentient beings in the future.
He told me that he specializes in Feng Shui. He not only applies Feng Shui to rivers and mountains, but also can view the human body as a yin and yang Feng Shui layout. He can use some magic methods to achieve a balanced layout of yin and yang in the human body. Effect. For example, if someone is possessed by an evil object, although he or she may not know how to exorcise evil spirits, he or she can quickly expel those ghosts and spirits that are corroding the human body, just like we exorcise evil spirits from a possessed person.
Jiang Xuerou told me that although she has officially become a monk, her qualifications are still relatively low. I have been yearning for these Taoist cultures since I was a child, so when I was fourteen, my parents passed away for some reason, and I had no support, so I decided to get close to Taoism and become a Taoist monk. And there is only such a Taoist temple in my local area. It is far away from towns and roads are inconvenient on weekdays, so few people go to burn incense. But because I have liked these things since I was a child, I found out that someone once "became an immortal" in this Taoist temple, and a little dragon appeared there. I felt that the place was very spiritual, so I went to pay homage to the mountain gate.
The journey was boring, and what I lacked was a companion to chat with. So when I heard what Jiang Xuerou said, I immediately became interested. I asked if there were any dragons? Is this true or false? After all, I have never seen a dragon, so I am very curious.
Jiang Xuerou said proudly, yes, but that was many years ago. Under the screen wall of the courtyard of the Taoist temple, there is an old well that has been dry all year round. As a result, an old Taoist suddenly saw a burst of red light while he was meditating at night. When he went out to take a look, he found that the red light came from the bottom of the well. . But the well had been dry for many years, so the old Taoist took a closer look and found a small chilong coiled in the mud at the bottom of the well, with a red light glowing all over it.
The old Taoist immediately knelt down and worshiped the dragon. The red chiron suddenly plunged into the mud and disappeared from sight. And from that moment on, water began to emerge from the well. It is said that the red chilong drilled through the blocked well, and the water from the lake in front of the mountain gate poured in. From then on, the small lake turned half green and half red. The red is said to be The color of Chilong. The whole lake looks like a Yin and Yang Tai Chi, which is very magical.
Listening to him talk about this, I yearned for it very much. Although I have been in this industry for many years, I have spent most of my time struggling to make a living. I have heard many rumors, but have never had the opportunity to see them. I was very excited when I thought that I would be able to see these wonders when Jiang Xuerou went up the mountain to visit his master this time. Since Jiang Xuerou and I are both from Sichuan, we felt like we were old friends on this passenger ship in a foreign land, and we had a great conversation. It's fate.
On the third day of the boat trip, we temporarily docked in a small county after entering Sichuan. Jiang Xuerou told me that we would get off the boat here and drive for a long time to reach my mountain view. It was already close to the evening when we docked that day, and it would be unrealistic to continue our journey, so we decided to stay overnight in the county town and set off early the next morning.
This county is called Yunyang County and is an important terminal on the East Sichuan Waterway. The people here are tough but also simple and kind. There is the famous Zhang Fei Temple, and Panshi City, known as the mainstay of eastern Sichuan. It was a solid fortress for the Sichuan people to resist the Mongolian army in the late Song Dynasty. Its role was comparable to Diaoyu City. Although this is a small county town, it is a famous historical and cultural city and an important document site for the Shu-Han culture of the Three Kingdoms.
That night Jiang Xuerou and I randomly found a guest house to stay in the county town. We both lived in the same room. Apart from fighting off the fleas that pop up from time to time, there is not much difference between the arrival and the usual days. That night, after two days of eating and wearing the simple food, we decided to have a toothpaste, so we found a restaurant that looked good and was directly operated by the supply and marketing cooperative, and ordered a few dishes that we all liked better. We were very happy. Chatting while eating.
Since we had to travel the next day, we went to bed very early that night. The next morning, I woke up early as a habit, but when I got up, I found Jiang Xuerou's bed empty. I thought he had gone to the toilet, so I got up and got dressed. When I was getting dressed, I suddenly discovered that Jiang Xuerou’s luggage was also missing. Not only that, even the bag I placed next to the bed had been searched. It was all over and things were scattered all over the floor.
I was shocked for a moment. Before I had time to realize what was happening, I started to count the things in my bag. In fact, everything was still there, except for the incense candles I used to summon soldiers and horses, all of which were broken. Only one thing is missing, my Luban ruler.
If it were just an ordinary Luban ruler, I would be fine with it, but this Luban ruler was given to me by my master. In a sense, now that Master has passed away, it can be regarded as one of Master's relics. It not only carries my longing for my master, but also my inheritance of the craft of making talismans. If I really lose this Luban ruler, I will regret it for the rest of my life.
So at this time, I completely understood that Jiang Xuerou, a brat who pretended to be innocent and harmless along the way, had actually secretly planned to escape in the middle of the night! Not only that, but he also stole my things! I am unfamiliar with the place here, where should I go to find him?
Confused, I packed up my things angrily and quickly washed my face to wake myself up. I touched Jiang Xuerou's bed. The temperature was ice-cold. Judging from the current season, he should have secretly left not long after I fell asleep. In total, I have been walking for six or seven hours. I don’t know how far the journey has taken me. In addition, I am not a local. It has become particularly difficult to find this guy.
He obviously knew that I knew the art of war and horsemanship, so he broke my incense candle to prevent me from having any chance to find him. I originally thought about going to the street immediately to inquire about the temple where he was, but I suddenly realized at this moment that this guy never mentioned to me the name of his temple from the beginning to the end!
This is a big setback for me. It also reminded me that I should never take some seemingly innocent people lightly, otherwise I will only suffer the consequences. I began to quickly recall everything Jiang Xuerou told me in my mind. Because this person's scheming suddenly made me feel very deep, so the stories he had told may not be true. But even so, I decided to try my luck and go to the street to ask locals.
The general pattern of my questioning was whether there was any Taoist temple in this area. There was once a well where a dragon came out. However, I asked for a long time, but no one knew. In that era of lack of faith, everyone was filled with religious passion, and few people really cared about places like temples and Taoists. It was a blessing that they were not destroyed.
Just like this, I waited until noon. I inquired about the time all morning to no avail, but people do get hungry, so I needed to eat. When ordering food, I asked the waiter without any hope, where is a Taoist temple nearby where a dragon appears? The guy said that there didn't seem to be many Taoist temples in the local area, not even many temples. I wonder, comrade, are you talking about the ones in the mountains or in the city?
When I heard that, yes, I should ask about the Taoist temple on the mountain, so I quickly added that it was on the mountain. I heard that there was a lake at the entrance of the temple, half red and half green. The guy said with a cheer, "Comrade, that place is far away, it takes a long time to travel!" I said I have good physical strength and am not afraid of long distances. He also said that few locals go to that place, so why are you going there? I said I was sick and wanted to go to the mountains for some quiet time. He also said that even if you set out now, I'm afraid you can only get to the foot of the mountain! I said, Comrade, if you keep beating around the bush with me, I will beat you up, do you believe it?
So the guy told me that it was in the east of the city, called Yunsheng Palace.
After devouring the food, I started to rush towards Yunsheng Palace. On the way, I met some horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts, as well as that fancy tractor. They kindly gave me a ride, which saved me a lot of time wasted on the road. . When we got to the foot of the mountain, looking at the high mountain, I thought it would be night before I climbed up. But I didn’t hesitate and went straight up the mountain. The mountain road was difficult to navigate, and there were few houses on the road, so it was difficult for me to even ask for directions. Fortunately, the road up the mountain is mostly well-trodden, so it's actually not that difficult to find.
It was about eight o'clock in the evening, when it was completely dark, that I arrived at the entrance of Yunsheng Palace. A relatively dilapidated door was closed. I pushed it and found that the bolt was locked from the inside. So I started banging on the door hard, because my things were stolen, and the person who stole them was said to be a Taoist here, so I felt more confident at the moment. About ten minutes later, an old Taoist priest wearing a long robe and a chest-length beard opened the door. The reason why I knew he was a Taoist priest was because of the bun on his head.
An old Taoist asked me, this compassionate person came to visit me at night and I don’t know why? I said loudly, I'm looking for Jiang Xuerou, this little thief deceived my trust and stole my things! Master, please forgive me for being rude, but I will never go down the mountain until I see this thief today!
The old Taoist was stunned for a moment, then nodded to me and motioned for me to walk into the courtyard. This is a small Taoist temple. There is a patio just inside the courtyard gate. It was already dark when I went up the mountain, so I couldn't see the wonder of the half red and half green lake. When I arrived in the yard, I saw a well under the screen wall. This must be the well where the legendary dragon emerged.
The old Taoist asked me to wait in the courtyard for a while, and then he left and knocked on the door of a side room. While knocking on the door, he asked, bastard, have you stolen someone's belongings? Theft is a big warning, come out quickly!
His tone was stern and commanding. Soon, the door of the wing opened, and a thin figure came out. It was Jiang Xuerou who left without saying goodbye. I was very angry when I saw him. I was about to rush up and catch him, but was stopped by the old Taoist. The old Taoist said to me politely, "Mercy, you have something to say. If it is your fault, I, as the master, will punish you. Please be patient and allow me to ask for a clear explanation."
His words were not fast, just like Jiang Xuerou's, and seemed a bit pedantic. He pulled Jiang Xuerou to him and scolded him, "Tell me, did you take something from someone?" How could you do such a thing as your teacher taught you, Songzi!
