"You're welcome, Lord Zhou," Gu Xu said calmly, "As a monk of the Exorcism Department, this is my duty."
But Zhou Jiaoyu seemed not to hear what he said at all, and still said politely:
"Mr. Gu, if you need any help from me in the future, please feel free to ask me, even if it means going up mountains of swords and seas of fire."
Gu Xu smiled: "Then I will have to rely on Mr. Zhou more in the future."
While speaking, Gu Xu looked around casually and caught a glimpse of the West City Gate standing abruptly under the moonlight, the looming Yishui Granary, and the bare Xuanwu Mound.
The knowledge recorded in the books flashed through his mind.
He suddenly realized a key problem.
"Master Zhou, do you know why Yishui County School is haunted?"
"Why...why?"
"Because the feng shui here is not good."
"Bad Feng Shui?" Zhou Jiaoyu was a little surprised, "Mr. Gu still knows the art of Feng Shui?"
"Know a thing or two." Gu Xu replied with a smile.
Then he pointed to the surrounding scenery and explained:
"Master Zhou, you see, there is a city gate standing on the west side of Yishui County School, but there is nothing on the east side, causing an imbalance between the left and right; behind the County School, there are granaries squeezing it, making the rear area not spacious.
"And the gate of the county school is facing the 'Xuanwu Qiu' - you have to know that the gate is the outlet of 'qi' in Kanyuology. Its location, direction and the scenery it faces are closely related to the bad luck of the residents.
"The top of Xuanwu Hill is flat and bald, which is a sign of 'many darkness'.
"It is these factors that make the county school so full of gloom, turning the scholars' lingering thoughts into terrifying ghosts."
Zhou Jiaoyu stood there blankly, taking several minutes to barely digest the information in Gu Xu's words.
"Mr. Gu, then...what should I do?"
"To solve this problem, you need to do three things." Gu Xu held out three fingers. "First, propose to the county magistrate to move the granary to the north; second, build a 'Jinxian' building on the east side of the county school. Tower', opposite to the West City Gate, making it balanced on the left and right; third, a nine-story "Wenfeng Tower" was built on Xuanwu Qiu to suppress evil and avoid the accumulation of evil spirits.
“These things may sound troublesome, but they will solve the county school’s haunted problem once and for all.
"It can even improve the cultural context of this place to a certain extent, giving Yishui County the opportunity to have more talented literati who have won gold medals."
Zhou Jiaoyu nodded seriously and remembered Gu Xu's suggestions word for word in his mind.
Especially the last words said by Gu Xu deeply touched Zhou Jiaoyu.
You know, Yishui County has not had a civil servant for many years.
Although Yishui is just a remote small county, it is indeed not as good as big cities in terms of talent...
But it is a bit exaggerated that no one has been on the list for three consecutive autumns.
Zhou Jiaoyu has been worried about this and has trouble sleeping and eating.
After all, he is the official in charge of teaching students.
All the students he taught failed, doesn't it prove that his teaching level is not good?
Because of this, Zhou Jiaoyu has worked for Daqi for most of his life. He is still a ninth-grade Zhima official. He has never had any chance of promotion, and even occasionally had his salary withheld.
Until today, his confusion was finally solved.
"It turns out that there is a problem not with my teaching ability, but with the feng shui of this place!" Zhou Jiaoyu sighed silently in his heart.
Gu Xu had saved his life tonight.
If Gu Xu can also help him improve the cultural fortunes here, solve the problem of lack of outstanding talents, and give him the opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune, then he will be his reborn parent.
He was even willing to set up a longevity tablet for Gu Xu in the ancestral hall, burn incense and worship it every year, and pray for his longevity.
"Thank you, Mr. Gu, for your guidance!" Zhou Jiaoyu bowed his hands to the ground and said from the bottom of his heart, "You are truly a great benefactor to our scholars and officials in Yishui County!"
At the same time, Zhou Jiaoyu also proposed to invite Gu Xu to a banquet at Piaoxiang Tower on a certain date to formally express his gratitude to him.
Gu Xu simply refused.
He is still busy practicing! There is no time to waste on this boring entertainment.
I saw Gu Xuyun calmly waving his hands and saying: "Those who enjoy the benefits of the world will suffer the troubles of the world; those who live in the happiness of the world will share the worries of the world.
"As an official of the Exorcism Department, receiving a salary from the country and being respected by the people, it is natural that he should consider the safety of people's lives.
"As long as I can dispel the yin energy and prevent ghosts from causing harm, I will be satisfied.
"As for the rewards, that's not important."
Zhou Jiaoyu was in awe.
He couldn't help but sigh silently: Mr. Gu is really upright and caring about people's livelihood! Compared with him, my structure is still far behind.
…………
When Gu Xu returned to the Exorcism Department, the midnight bell had already sounded.
It was quiet inside the yamen.
Only the sound of Chen Jisheng flipping through the files was left.
In Gu Xu's eyes, his boss is a veritable workaholic - sitting in the Yamen at dawn and only willing to go back in the middle of the night, which is enough to put his subordinates who are fishing in shame.
Due to long-term and high-intensity work, Chen Jisheng is less than forty years old this year, but he looks almost fifty years old.
As usual, Gu Xu came to Chen Jisheng, took off his jade pendant, and reported the mission.
Then he received the reward of forty meritorious deeds.
"Gu Xu, your magic to create a lantern out of thin air is quite interesting. Where did you learn it?"
"Well... I came to this realization by accident."
"I guess you would say that," Chen Jisheng chuckled. "If every monk in the Daqi Dynasty could be like a freak like you, with epiphanies once every three days and breakthroughs once every five days, then the ghosts and ghosts in this world would have been around for a long time. It became extinct.”
"Master Chen, that's ridiculous." Gu Xu showed a sweet and humble smile.
"How is your recent cultivation status? I saw you redeemed a 'Spirit Gathering Pill' today. Are you planning to advance to the second level in the near future?"
Gu Xu pondered for a moment and shook his head: "My foundation is not solid enough, I need to spend more time to consolidate it."
Going from the first level [Ghost Pass] to the second level [Yellow Spring Road] is a very risky hurdle - in this process, if you are not careful, life and death will disappear and disappear.
If he is not confident enough, Gu Xu will never try to advance easily.
"How confident are you now?" Chen Jisheng asked.
"Not much...probably 90%!" Gu Xu thought for a moment and gave a relatively conservative estimate.
Hearing this, Chen Jisheng couldn't help but sigh silently: This guy's character is still as stable as ever.
If it were someone else, as long as they were 70% or 80% sure, they might be tempted by a stronger force and rush forward impatiently.
"Things like breaking through the border should really be more stable." Chen Jisheng nodded, agreeing with his choice.
Later, Gu Xu left the yamen, returned home, swallowed the Jingxin Pill, and began to practice immortality all night again.
…………
Nearing the fourth watch, Chen Jisheng finally finished his day's work.
He yawned, took a sip of hot tea, and his tense nerves finally slowly relaxed.
Unknowingly, he couldn't help but recall the two tasks Gu Xu had done during the day.
Chen Jisheng had to admit that whenever Gu Xu went out on a mission, no matter how powerful the ghosts he encountered, they would always leave a deep impression on him.
It's not just that Gu Xu's methods of fighting enemies are always flashy and endless.
Also because Gu Xu's way of thinking is always different from other people's, he can often find a way to break the situation when there is no way out.
But today, among all Gu Xu's performances, what touched Chen Jisheng the most was the words "Those who enjoy the benefits of the world".
He felt that this was the spiritual conduct that every exorcist monk should adhere to.
"It's really surprising that that brat who only thinks about practicing all day can say such penetrating words!" Chen Jisheng sighed silently.
While he was thinking this, he took out a piece of white paper from the drawer, splashed ink with a brush, and wrote this sentence "Those who enjoy the benefits of the world will suffer the world's woes; those who live in the happiness of the world will share the woes of the world." on the paper.
Chen Jisheng's block letters are light horizontally and heavy vertically, and his bones are strong. He looks just like himself, dignified, rigorous, majestic, and a little bit old-fashioned.
After writing, he waved his sleeves gently, and the writing on the paper suddenly floated into the air, turned into a framed word, and hung on the wall on the side of the lobby.
He hoped to use this to warn himself not to forget the common people in the world.
…………
(1) "Those who enjoy the benefits of the world are free of the world's troubles; those who live in the joys of the world share the worries of the world." - Su Shi's "Giving Xin Zhong Dafu Shou Shangshu Youcheng Wang Cunci to Avoid Favor and Not Accept the Edict" .
