Populus euphratica ferry is located in the upper reaches of the Ximin River, more than 300 miles away from Laoyaling. The ferry is named after the three Poplar euphratica trees on the riverside. The local natives call it "Three Thousand Years Old". Instead of falling down for a thousand years, it means being immortal for a thousand years."
From Populus euphratica to the north and across the Ximin River, you will reach the towering Kunlun.
July was hot and the weather turned cold. On the eighth day of the lunar month, Wei Shiqi came to Populus euphratica ferry alone, looking at the Ximin River rolling eastward with emotion.
The ferry is built along the river and is dotted with more than a dozen restaurants and inns. Wei Shiqi picked an old poplar euphratica restaurant, the most prosperous in the city, and ordered a pot of wine and three to five kilograms of beef. Looking at the river view, he slowly mixed the wine and beef. After eating, he asked the waiter to pay and asked, "Has a sloppy old man been here recently?"
The waiter smiled and said: "Yesterday, a guest asked about the sloppy old Taoist - the old Taoist lived in the Tutu Temple. He just arrived the night before yesterday. He carried a burnt yellow gourd in his hand and went to our store to drink a gourd of wine before leaving. .”
"Is he a vegetarian or a vegetarian?"
"I don't shy away from wine and meat. I come here every day to buy wine and buy beef. This is no small boast. Our store is famous for its unique beef. Some customers have traveled dozens of miles just to have a taste of it."
Wei Shiqi nodded and asked the waiter to cut another ten kilograms of beef, wrap it in oil paper, buy a small jar of good wine, tie it with hemp rope, drop a piece of silver, carry the wine jar in one hand, and the beef in the other, and left. The food shop went to the Tutu Temple.
The Tutu Temple is at the west end of Huyangdu, facing the river. It is dilapidated. Inside the temple, there are cobwebs on the hanging beams and collapsed clay statues. A slovenly old Taoist sits on the ground with his back against the altar. An empty gourd lies at his feet. There is a man standing behind him. Yue Zhilan of Zhao Mansion in Xinyang Town.
Seeing an acquaintance, Wei Shiqi nodded towards him, placed the wine and meat in front of the Taoist, crossed his hands and saluted, "Wei Shiqi has met the Taoist Master."
The sloppy old Taoist rolled his eyes. He was more white than black, and his appearance was a bit fierce. He said in a sharp voice: "Is this wine and meat your filial piety to the old Taoist?"
"Yes, please accept it, Taoist Priest."
The sloppy old man lifted the wine jar, patted off the mud seal, brought it to his mouth and drank three times. He breathed a long sigh of relief, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and praised: "Good wine!"
He narrowed his eyes and looked at the iron ring on the index finger of Wei Qiyi's right hand, and asked, "Who gave you the iron ring on your hand?"
"Taoist Master Deng of the Xiandu Sect."
"Deng Yuantong or Deng Shouyi?"
"It's Chief Deng Shou."
The sloppy old man was quite surprised, "It's a small stool again - come closer, sit down and let me take a look."
"It turns out that Deng Shouyi has such a nickname. I wonder if he means 'Little Stool' or 'Little Dengzi'." Wei Shiqi thought in his mind. He took a few steps forward and sat down neatly next to the sloppy old Taoist. He has long legs and is a head taller than the old man, making him look like a child. The old Taoist raised his head and looked at him. He didn't feel dissatisfied. Instead, he praised him: "Big man, what a skin! Come on, come on, stretch out your right hand -"
Wei Shiqi stretched out his right hand as he was told, and thought to himself: "Will he say that I think your bones are strange..."
The sloppy old Taoist grabbed his wrist and dug his dirty nails into the flesh. In an instant, vitality poured into his body, like a hot stream of heat, quickly circled along the meridians, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Wei Shiqi frowned slightly. He felt that when the vitality passed through the Beishintai acupoint, it paused for a moment and was intercepted a little, leaving it in the orifice acupoint.
The sloppy old man said "Huh" and asked with a straight face: "What skills have you practiced?"
Wei Shiqi had known that the strangeness inside his body could not be hidden from him, so he immediately took out the animal skin fragment from his arms and said: "I found a piece of animal skin in the bear den in the Black Pine Valley in Laoya Ridge, and practiced randomly according to the method on it. I don’t know if it’s right or not.”
Hearing this, Yue Zhilan couldn't help but feel regretful. If he hadn't rushed down the mountain to reply to Butler Deng when he was in Laoya Ridge, he might have shared the skills on the animal skin.
The sloppy old Taoist glanced at it a few times, but was too lazy to take it and take a closer look. He sneered and said: "It's okay not to practice this stupid technique."
Wei Shiqi put away the animal skins sarcastically, feeling a little uneasy.
The sloppy old Taoist let go of his hand, touched the goat's beard, and thought thoughtfully. He paused for a moment and said: "Although it is a stupid exercise, it is not bad for tempering the body. You are close to the five elements and have opened an acupoint. It's just so-so. For the sake of your respect for the old way of eating and drinking, just stay."
Wei Shiqi breathed a sigh of relief and stood up to salute him. The sloppy old man waved his hand and said: "Stand aside and wait. Don't stand in front of others and block other people's way."
While they were talking, another young man stepped into the temple confidently. His face was as white as jade, his clothes were as white as snow, and his equipment was majestic. He called himself so-and-so. The sloppy old man rolled his eyes and asked him where the iron ring was on his hand as usual. When he comes, ask him to come and sit down, grab his wrist, let go after a moment, take off the iron ring on his index finger, and wave him away.
As if struck by lightning, the young man knelt down at his feet, kowtowed repeatedly, and begged the immortal master for mercy and shelter. The sloppy old Taoist asked slowly: "You have closed all the acupuncture points in your body. You are an acquired filth, why should you become a disciple of Xiandu?"
Wei Shiqi's heart moved. Listening to the sloppy old Taoist's tone, it seemed that as long as he paid a sufficient price, the Xiandu Sect would also accept the acquired filth.
The young man was stunned for a moment, and suddenly his soul was filled with happiness. He said that his family had thousands of hectares of fertile land, huge wealth, and many slaves. He was willing to offer ten thousand taels of gold and ten pairs of boys and girls... The more he said, the more outrageous he became. The sloppy old man tilted his head and listened for a long time. Seeing that he couldn't get to the point, he reached out and pushed impatiently, but he didn't see any effort. The young man flew out of the temple and fell all over the ground.
Yue Zhilan sighed in his stomach, feeling quite hurt. In fact, he was also a congenital person with inoperable acupuncture points. Because Deng Zhang couldn't get out of his country for him, he felt guilty and asked Deng Shouyi for help. Deng Shouyi mentioned a few words, and Deng Zhang secretly hid dozens of acupuncture points. A piece of black iron was given to him in 1999, and he bribed the sloppy old man before he reluctantly stayed.
After that, thirteen more people came to the Earth Temple. The sloppy old Taoist accepted the three people and left ten iron rings. By midnight, no new people showed up.
The eighth day of July passed like this.
