Longzhou has many mountains and many wonders. It is a good place for meditation and practice. People who are cultivating immortality and seeking knowledge often come here to pursue the supreme realm. There are also people who establish sects and recruit disciples.
Taoism is prevalent here, and there are many Taoist temples in the prefectures and counties. Among the seven Taoist sects, Xuanming Taoism is the most famous. There are also two Taoist sects in Longbei. Unfortunately, You Ziji went straight to Zijun and took a speedboat. It took more than half a day to travel more than 140 miles until he reached the border of Longnan and missed many interesting places.
And this place is where Tianyu Temple, one of the seven families, is located.
You Ziji was on his way along the official road. The county where this place is located is called Chong. It is the home of a large number of fairy birds in Longzhou. Hundreds of various species of birds live here. The people raise and train birds as a profession and support their families. In life, the Tianyu Temple here is also famous for its magic weapons made from fairy bird feathers.
You Ziji was finally able to see the elegance of the top Taoist sects in this city.
There are soldiers guarding the city at the gate to maintain order and check the identities and luggage of passing travelers. Crowds were led to the small gate on the side to enter the city, while the city gate remained spacious and clean.
Is this because the city of Chongjun is not peaceful, so why is martial law so strict?
You Ziji looked at the long queue and quickly stepped in without hesitation. In the blink of an eye, there were seven or eight more people behind him.
This Chong County is no better than Zi County. The government orders are unified and everyone is united. There are many experts in the city, and no one dares to cause trouble. The procession entering the city seems very dull, with only the sound of scattered footsteps ringing in the ears.
Occasionally there were some disputes, which became much more restrained next to the soldiers standing with guns in hand.
"Next."
After a long while, You Ziji finally came to the front of the row. He walked to the front as instructed and handed the package on his body to the soldier. The soldier only glanced at it briefly before returning it.
The little official who spoke had a pen in one hand and paper in the other, and asked, "Where are you from and where are you going? Do you have a pass?"
Pass vouchers were a system invented during the war to control population movement. Now that the world is peaceful, no one would prepare such a thing.
Seeing that the interrogation at the city entrance was quite serious, You Ziji was afraid of bringing trouble to shopkeeper Hu, and did not want to use her pre-arranged identity as a spy from the Lihua Division.
"I came from Zijun and passed through Chongjun, but I didn't have a pass."
The clerk was not polite, pointed to the city wall with a swipe of his pen and said: "Without proof, you have no identity. Go and stay there, and we will enter the city together before sunset in the evening."
You Ziji had already seen that most of the people had gone under the wall. Even if they bribed them with money, it would not be possible. Only some familiar faces could enter the city at this time. He knew that he could not enter the city in advance, and it was just a process, so he decisively turned around and came to the wall.
The young official raised his eyes to see You Ziji off. He saw that You Ziji had an extraordinary temperament and was either noble or well-educated. He was originally worried that You Ziji would cause trouble and lead to a fight because he was too arrogant or had too much ambition. The thought of being so easy to talk to made him secretly relieved.
Unexpectedly, after You Ziji turned around, he revealed the red feather fan pinned to his lower back. He himself didn't realize anything was wrong, but the clerk and the soldiers stared wide-eyed.
Little did he know that this young man was actually an expert in Tianyu Temple, and he almost offended him.
"Young hero, walk slowly. I made a mistake just now. You can enter the city directly. You should go this way."
"Are you talking about me, sir?" You Ziji pointed at himself with a confused look on his face.
"Young hero Zisha is a young man, but he can't be called an adult. I just didn't know Taishan. I offended you, so please forgive me."
You Ziji was particularly puzzled as he watched the young official in front of him bow his head to the end, exposing the back of his head.
He looked at the soldiers around him again, and saw someone looking at his waist. He instantly understood, must this magic weapon be passed down by some powerful person? He didn't dare to say more for fear of creating complications, so he said directly:
"Okay, I'll go over there."
"You walk slowly."
As soon as You Ziji lifted his feet and left, someone beside him became unhappy.
"Hey, this guy just went to the corner. Why did he change in the blink of an eye? He can enter the city, why can't we?"
"This has nothing to do with you. Just wait aside. If you continue to make noise, I will let you wait outside the city for the night."
"..."
You Ziji passed through the small gate and finally entered the city. As for the small commotion caused by his entry into the city, he couldn't care about it. He was only anxious in his heart.
The red feather fan Chang Yunbai gave him was very hot.
Mr. Hong was killed by the Chang Yun White Formation Sword, and he, You Ziji, also had a hand in killing people and grabbing treasures. He also took other people's things and pretended to be a tiger and entered the city. There was no guarantee that he would not attract enemies.
Wandering Ziji didn't have time to appreciate the prosperity of the city. He ran around and found a cloth shop and rushed in immediately.
When the man working in front of the counter saw a young man entering the store, wearing ordinary clothes, he knew it was not a big deal, so he was in a low mood and said lazily:
“See what you want to buy for yourself.”
You Ziji looked around and picked the cheapest linen cloth, "Give me three feet of cloth."
"Accept the favor of three hundred coins."
Without saying a word, You Ziji took out his wallet and counted it. His heart sank. It wasn't that he didn't have enough money to buy cloth, but that he didn't have enough money to stay in the inn at night.
But the package was too small to fit the red feather fan, so he bought it and wrapped the red feather fan behind him to prevent others from recognizing it, and then he went out with confidence.
As soon as I took a step forward, I heard the roar of gongs and drums on the street, and I didn't know what excitement was happening.
After covering the red feather fan, You Ziji felt at ease and became interested in going to see the excitement.
As we got closer, we saw flags fluttering and a guard of honor clearing the way. The tall horse headed by the flag carried an elegant old man, who seemed to be in a coma, swaying as the horse moved, and could not open his eyes.
Among the people who greeted him were the local governors, magistrates and other public officials, as well as prestigious squire families, as well as representatives of various sects in the city.
You Ziji listened to the comments from people around him and found out that the old man should be a senior official sent to Zijun City by the Longzhou Prefecture. His surname was He. His official title was Sima, and he was the third-ranking figure under the governor of the state city.
Since the rebellion in Zijuncheng has been resolved, Tianfu will no longer send imperial envoys here, but will leave full power to the state government to resolve the issue on its own.
Unexpectedly, this matter has spread so far. It seems that it is this old man who decides the fate of Governor Zhou. It's just that this person's ostentation was too grand, and the people all said that it was He Sima's arrival, which had a great impact on Chongjun's entry and exit. People could only enter the city at two times in the morning and evening.
This He Sima's official position is not small, but it is not enough in front of some forces, and there are also people who he cannot shout out. Those are the two largest forces in Chong County, namely the temple owner of Tianyu Temple and the director of Luoyanmen branch, and they still need him to visit in person.
As for the order of visits, He Sima had already made a plan.
Although Luoyanmen and Xuanmingdao are both one of the six major sects, they are only branches in this city, and are far from Tianyu Temple in terms of strength and influence.
This Longzhou Sima naturally wanted to pay a visit to Tianyu Temple first. You Ziji followed the crowd and stayed behind the official team, hoping to gain some knowledge.
The city was noisy and it was difficult to enter the Taoist temple, so the gate of Tianyu Temple was built on Heshan Mountain outside the city. Only the elders of the temple were left to stay in the temple all year round. Their main responsibility was to contact the county governor and report any urgent matters.
After all, I am a practitioner and I don’t have the time to deal with worldly matters.
I saw the old man waiting in front of the temple wearing a Taoist robe, holding a feather fan in his hand and swaying gently, waiting for He Sima's arrival.
The shape of the feather fan is similar to that of You Ziji's waist, but the feathers used are different. It was of the same origin at that time. As the representative of Tianyu Temple in the city, the old man must be a Xuanjing monk at least, and the magic weapon in his hand must be even more powerful.
Seeing this person, You Ziji suddenly understood why the clerk at the door let him in. He probably misunderstood that he was a disciple of Tianyu Temple.
In this way, You Ziji had to be more careful, thinking that Mr. Hong, a zombie-refining sect, would never be able to get in touch with Tianyu Temple. There is a high probability that he killed the disciples of Tianyu Temple and took the red feather fan as his own.
Now that this magic weapon is in the hands of You Ziji, there is no guarantee that his brothers will not regard him as an enemy, so he should stay away from them.
The two old guys complimented each other in front of the temple, but You Ziji no longer joined in the fun. It was getting late, and You Ziji was anxious to find a place to rest, but he didn't seem to have enough copper coins in his hand. He also needed to choose a wealthy family to sell some talismans in exchange for money.
Unexpectedly, You Ziji worked hard into the evening and still didn't sell his talisman.
But Chang Yunbai couldn't blame him for this. He would never have thought that You Ziji would be selling talismans near Tianyu Temple.
But who can be so free to buy this kind of thing? It is so easy to go directly to Tianyu Temple to find Taoist masters to make talismans, and it can also be a blessing. Compared with the image of a Taoist priest in the temple, the young appearance of You Ziji is really not competitive.
"Shopkeeper, do you have a cheaper room here for lodging and rest?"
The middle-aged shopkeeper saw You Ziji's appearance and knew that this kid was short of money. "I have a Datong shop here. A dozen people can sleep in a room. If you don't mind, just pay."
You Ziji was overjoyed when he heard this, and finally found a place to rest.
"Just this Datong Shop. How much does it cost?"
"Twenty coppers."
You Ziji counted the money he had left, and with a bitter look on his face, he asked shamelessly: "Shopkeeper, can you make it cheaper?"
The shopkeeper's eyes widened, "Where did this poor guy come from to beg for food? Do you want to entertain me?"
You Ziji said quickly: "No, no, I don't have enough money, it's a bit short."
"Let me see how much money you have?"
The shopkeeper looked at You Ziji's open palm. He was an old shopkeeper for many years. He could tell at a glance that it was 16 copper coins. He smiled and said, "You want to live in a hotel with this little money. I think you'd better live in a stable. It only costs five coins." I'll give you four copper coins and give you the rest for four steamed buns and a bowl of noodle soup, which is just enough."
Youziji was thinking about how to live in the stable, but when he saw that the shopkeeper was about to leave, he quickly said: "I just live in the stable. I don't want the noodle soup and steamed buns. I have prepared dry food myself."
The shopkeeper secretly cursed a poor man and threw the 11 copper coins in his hand on the table.
Before he could say something sarcastic, he saw You Ziji reaching out to fish it out and easily picking up the scattered copper coins in his hand. He was obviously a practicing master, so he had no choice but to hold it back.
