The air in the mountains is extremely cold, and taking a deep breath has a refreshing effect.
The daily lives of Taoist priests and monks are different. Monks like to be quiet, and most of their homework is focused on Zen meditation. Taoist priests also like to be quiet, but the Taoist priest’s tranquility refers to the tranquility of the mind, not the tranquility of the body.
Wudang is based on Wudang Dao. In the early morning, before dawn, the disciples begin to practice martial arts.
Nearly a thousand people gathered together to practice Tai Chi, which was really spectacular.
Li Qing, who usually likes to sleep late, got up early every day after coming to the mountain and integrated himself wholeheartedly into the life of a Taoist priest. Sometimes he gave sermons, sometimes he gave advice to his fellow disciples, or he talked about Taoism with Zhang Tianshi, the leader of Yuzhen.
Plain but not boring, relaxing and comfortable...
One month is neither short nor long, and in a blink of an eye, it is already the twelfth lunar month.
Although Li Qing was reluctant to leave, he had to leave.
He also wanted to see Master along the way.
~
At the foot of Wudang Mountain.
"No need to send it off, just go back," Li Qing said with a smile, "It's not like I'm leaving without ever coming back. Yuzhen and Yuxuan, please go back quickly."
The two sighed softly and bowed, "Elder brother, take care!"
"You should also take care." Li Qing nodded with a smile.
Then, he looked at Zhang Yuanqing and asked, "Is Fellow Taoist going back to Longhu Mountain?"
"Fellow Daoist Li is really unreasonable." Zhang Yuanqing complained, "If I had known you were in such a hurry to leave, I wouldn't have come."
Li Qing smiled guiltily, Zhang Tianshi was very interesting. In the past month, he had done a lot of promotion for Wudang. Zhang Tianshi was an extraordinary brand. Even people who didn't believe in it were familiar with it.
In these days, not only did the number of lay people offering incense increase, but also the influence of Wudang Mountain was expanded invisibly through word of mouth.
"How about you, Daoyou Zhang, spend the New Year in the mountains before leaving?" ωＷω.ＧoＮЬ.οrＧ
"...Forget it, I'd better go back to Longhu Mountain." Zhang Yuanqing hummed, "You owe me a favor this time."
Li Qing nodded with a smile.
He does owe people favors, including getting elixirs for Zhu Jianshen and Wang Shouren last time, and going on to get elixirs for Li Hong, and going on...
In short, Li Qing took advantage of Renlonghushan.
In the officialdom, Li Qing takes money and does nothing, which is really bad, but he is only targeting the bureaucratic group. In fact, Li Qing is still very loyal and not a heartless person.
Li Qing promised: "If fellow Taoists need help in the future, as long as it does not violate the law or the conscience of heaven and earth, I will never refuse."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing felt much more comfortable.
What happened to Zhu Jianshen last time made him see how extraordinary Li Qing was, but he didn't want to or dared to point it out.
"Fellow Taoist, take care, see you soon."
Li Qing returned the favor, "See you soon!"
Farewell to Zhang Yuanqing, Li Qing rushed to the Taoist Temple...
~
At the foot of Taoist Temple Mountain, Li Qing stopped and stared.
All the past events seem like yesterday.
Time is the most ruthless way!
At this moment, all the loneliness that he had deliberately avoided came over, making Li Qing very uncomfortable.
For a long time, Li Qing climbed the mountain...
After several days of heavy snow, the road up the mountain was covered with snow, making it impossible to tell where the road was.
Li Qing is very familiar with it.
Time will fade memories, but there are always some things that will never be forgotten no matter how long it takes.
The snow was up to his ankles, and Li Qing's steps were heavy...
It took him a full two-quarters of an hour to reach the top of this small mountain.
The small Taoist temple is still the same small Taoist temple, but there are not many Taoist priests left, only a dozen or so, and the loss is extremely serious.
They were roasting sweet potatoes in the Taoist temple, bored until Li Qing came in.
"Who are you?"
After such a long time, there was no Li Qing Dharmakaya on the mountain. They couldn't remember clearly, but they just felt that Li Qing was somewhat familiar.
Li Qing asked: "Are you the only ones on the mountain? Where are the others?"
"Are you... senior brother?" A Taoist priest in his sixties looked surprised and shocked.
After his reminder, a few more people recognized Li Qing, but others who came later didn't know why.
Li Qing admitted generously and continued to ask: "You are the only ones left on the mountain now?"
"Yes, we are the only ones left." The old Taoist priest smiled bitterly, "After the senior brother left, the Taoist temple flourished for a while, and more and more people came to the mountain to become Taoist priests. In the end, we were unable to make ends meet. Within a few years, senior brother All the money left was spent.”
As he explained, he introduced the newcomers who came after him, "This is our senior brother of Wudang Dao, the direct disciple of the founder."
"Hello, senior brother."
Maybe they have been decadent for too long, and they don't even know how to bow, and they just look nondescript.
Li Qing was angry and helpless, and cursed: "Why do you behave like this?"
"Oh, we don't want to either!" the old Taoist priest said with a grimace. "Everything was fine at first, and there were many lay people who came to the mountain to offer incense. But since... Wudang Mountain started to exert its power, no one came. As time goes by, The money left by senior brother has also been spent, there is nothing we can do!"
"Yes, Senior Brother." Another Taoist priest agreed, "We were almost out of food at that time, and there were so many brothers and sisters. How could we stop people from leaving? There is a piece of land on the mountain, which is barely enough for us to be self-sufficient. Otherwise, , I’m afraid we have to leave too.”
Li Qing: "..."
Li Qing was depressed because he wanted to criticize but couldn't say it.
But this matter... I really don't blame them.
This wave was a flood that washed away the Dragon King Temple, and a fight broke out in the nest.
Although this is the birthplace of Taoism, Wudang Mountain has official background and is so majestic that it cannot be compared with this place in terms of fame and scale.
Even Emperor Zhenwu was sculpted in the image of Emperor Yongle. Are you comparing your life to that?
"Alas..." Li Qing was also convinced, but he had no place to reason, "How many lay people come up to the mountain to offer incense in a month now?"
The old Taoist priest counted on his fingers and said: "In the three seasons of spring, summer and autumn, there are only ten or eight in a month, but it is no longer possible when winter comes. From the winter solstice to now, there is not a single incense-promoting layman."
Li Qing: "..."
"How do you live?"
"There is land to grow on the mountain, so I won't be hungry." The old Taoist priest said, "When I was rich before, I had bought everything I needed to buy. I had clothes to wear, food to eat, and a quilt to cover me at night. Life was not a problem."
Li Qing: "..."
He really didn't expect that these junior disciples in Taoist Temple lived such a miserable life.
Li Qing took out an ingot of gold and said: "Go down the mountain to the town to buy some tributes, and use the remaining money to buy clothes and bedding... go ahead."
"Hey, good." The old Taoist priest nodded repeatedly, took the gold and handed it to his junior brother, saying: "Be careful of slippery roads and come back early."
"Yes, Master." The Taoist priests nodded and said to Li Qing: "Thank you, senior brother."
After that, more than ten people left happily.
Li Qing looked at the old Taoist priest and asked, "Are you the leader now?"
"There are no tigers on the mountain, and monkeys are the kings." The old Taoist priest said, "Among the people left behind, I am the eldest, uh-huh..."
"...Okay." Li Qing sighed, turned around and walked out.
"Where are you going, Senior Brother?" The old Taoist priest hurriedly followed.
"I'm going to visit Master. Don't follow me in this icy and snowy environment. If you get cold again..." Li Qing waved his hand, "Go to the Taoist temple and rest."
The old Taoist priest is not as good as Yuxuan and Yuzhen. He has become a monk halfway and has no true energy around him. It is really hard for him in this cold winter month.
There was snow on the mountain, and his old bones would break if he fell.
The old Taoist priest also had self-awareness and said: "Junior brother, I obey."
"Sigh... Is it okay for my own family to steal my own family's business?" Li Qing laughed at himself with a wry smile.
~
The snow was so thick that the bottom word on Master's tombstone was almost buried by the snow. Li Qing cleaned it up bit by bit and wiped the tombstone with his sleeves...
Li Qing knelt in front of the tomb, gently stroking the inscriptions on the tombstone. The more he looked at it, the more blurry it became. He could vaguely see the little old man's smiling and cursing look...
'You kid, why did it take you so long to come? The old man has been craving for it for years. '
"I'm sorry, Master, I'm late."
"You're so grown up, I'm not ashamed to cry even after I say a word about you." '
"No way, it's just that the wind blew up the snow and made me confused." Li Qing said firmly.
'Okay, okay, I'm kidding you. Where has the old man ever suffered? You're living a comfortable life down there, you don't have to worry about it. '
"Master, you are so powerful. I don't care about you, disciple..." Li Qing said hoarsely, "I just miss you."
'Qingzi, aren't you used to it yet? '
"I'm used to it, I'm used to it... I just can't control it sometimes." Li Qing grinned with an ugly smile.
The little old man sighed, stepped forward and held his head in his arms, gently caressed his head and said warmly:
"Don't make it difficult for yourself. Take a break when you are tired and let yourself relax. You don't owe anyone..."
"Um…"
~
"Senior Brother, Senior Brother, why are you sleeping here? Be careful of the cold, get up quickly, get up quickly..."
Li Qing opened his eyes quietly, with tears on his cheeks and a confused expression.
A gust of wind came over, blowing on his face and raising his long hair. After he calmed down, he realized that it was a dream. More sadness.
"Didn't I ask you to stay at the Taoist temple? Why did you come out?"
The old Taoist priest said worriedly: "It's been half a day. If I see that my senior brother won't go back, my junior brother is worried, so I came here to take a look. Don't get frozen in this icy and snowy environment."
"It doesn't matter, I'm very resistant to freezing." Li Qing kowtowed again and slowly stood up.
Seeing him kowtow, the old Taoist priest felt that it was unjustifiable for him not to kowtow, so he knelt down and kowtowed, and then said:
"Elder brother, let's go back first."
"Have you not bought the tribute yet?" Li Qing asked.
"It's icy and snowy, and the road is difficult," the old Taoist priest said, "but it should be soon. We can make it back before dark."
"Yes." Li Qing stared at the tombstone for a long time, then turned around and said, "Let's go back first."
"Hey," the old Taoist priest breathed a sigh of relief. He was really worried that the rich and warm-hearted senior brother was up to something, but he wanted to give some advice, but he couldn't say anything.
He said it was not appropriate to express condolences and accept the change.
He could only say: "The ancestor's merits are immeasurable. Now that he has gone to heaven, he will definitely be among the immortals. Don't worry, senior brother."
Li Qing just smiled and said nothing.
He couldn't convince himself with the old Taoist priest's words.
When the old Taoist priest saw him smiling, he immediately relaxed and changed the topic and asked, "Elder brother, after so many years, how come you... don't look old at all?"
