Just as Luo Sanpang and his four companions entered the gate of Xuanqing Temple, they were blocked by more than ten people.
The leader was a Taoist priest in his thirties with three long beards. After he saw the faces of the four people clearly, his face turned gloomy.
"I was wondering who was coming so early in the morning. It turns out to be four junior brothers. I wonder where they came from?"
The four were blocked directly at the mountain gate. Except for Luo Sanpang, the other three couldn't help showing embarrassment on their faces.
Especially Qin Chengyi, he is a later disciple, and according to his cultivation level, he can be called a junior. Unlike the other three who have a deep foundation in the sect, he has an uneasy expression on his face.
"I thought it was someone else. It turned out to be Senior Brother Kong on duty. Third Master and I were just out for some business and were unable to return in time last night. Why do we need to check the token?"
Na Luo Sanpang spoke in the same lazy tone.
"Oh? Unable to get back in time? Then the sect order given by the head brother yesterday was a joke?"
The bearded Taoist priest, who was called Senior Brother Kong, saw that Luo Sanpang was so disdainful of him and even called him Third Master.
Although everyone in the Taoist temple knew that this was the man's catchphrase, and he always acted arrogantly in front of his disciples because of his profound cultivation, but he was also so unscrupulous in front of himself. He couldn't help but feel angry and stared directly at Luo Sanpang.
"Oh, the order from the head brother? It's just for those disciples. Could it really be for the nine of us who are foundation-building cultivators?"
The fat on Luo Sanpang's face trembled, and his round eyes widened.
He had not expected that Senior Brother Kong would take such a small matter so seriously, and what's more, he did it in front of the dozen Qi Condensation disciples behind him. It was clear that he did not give the four of them any face at all. This made him feel humiliated, and he couldn't help but speak in a domineering tone.
As soon as he said this, Qin Chengyi's face became even more bitter. He was the Qi Condensation Stage cultivator and was only the master's nominal disciple.
This Senior Brother Luo's words sold him out. Would it be that the three of them would be fine, but he would be in trouble? But he didn't dare to say more for a while.
As expected, when Senior Brother Kong heard this, he first glanced at Qin Chengyi and spoke lightly.
"Brother Qin, did you hear clearly what the head brother ordered yesterday?"
When Qin Chengyi heard this, he immediately cursed Luo Sanpang's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart.
You forced me to go to the market to have fun, but now I spoke without thinking and blurted out what I wanted to say.
You had a good elder in the past. Although he has passed away, he left a lot of blessings for you. Not only did the sect leader take care of you on a daily basis, but even the ancestors of the sect turned a blind eye to you. How can you compare to that
But seeing the other party asking, he had to answer.
"Oh, Senior Brother Kong, yesterday the head of the sect issued an order: 'From today on, all disciples are not allowed to go out at will. They must stay in the sect and wait for orders at any time. Those who violate the rules will be dealt with according to Articles 33, 67, and 81 of the sect rules.
All foreign monks who have come to the sect recently will be questioned and their origins and destinations will be clarified before they are allowed to enter. If they fail to do their duty, they will be punished according to Article 27 of the sect's rules.'"
As Qin Chengyi spoke, Luo Sanpang's face twitched uncontrollably. No matter which of these three rules were applied, they would not have an easy time. They would either be fined a large amount of spirit stones, or be sent to a remote place to face the wall for twenty years, or even go to the sect's law hall to receive a flogging.
He didn't expect that Kong Nantai, who was usually taciturn, was like a different person today and was talking about the temple's rules in front of the juniors.
Seeing that things were about to get out of hand, Senior Brother Liu couldn't help but frown. Originally, he didn't want to go out at the beginning of yesterday, but was dragged away by Luo Sanpang and Song Bo.
Such incidents of people not returning home overnight have happened before, and the sect did not ask about it. However, judging from the patrolling posture of these people, it seems that the sect really takes this matter very seriously.
Moreover, he was well aware of Senior Brother Kong's status in the sect. He was in charge of supervising and investigating misconduct. To be honest, they were still in the wrong.
So he spoke calmly.
"Junior Brother Kong, please don't be upset. We used to go out like this before, and we got used to it this time. We forgot the sect's order. This will not happen again. This situation will definitely not happen again."
Just as he opened his mouth, the thin-looking Song Bo hurried out to smooth things over. This matter was initiated by him and Luo Sanpang. If there really was any punishment, Senior Brother Liu and Junior Brother Song would hate them to the core.
"Senior Brother Liu is absolutely right. This matter was all our negligence. In order not to make things difficult for Senior Brother Kong, we should go and apologize to Senior Brother, the head of the sect. What do you think?"
At this time, Qin Chengyi also looked at Senior Brother Kong with an apologetic smile on his face.
When Senior Brother Kong saw that everyone was talking like this, the expression on his face relaxed. Except for Qin Chengyi, the other three people in front of him all had important backgrounds.
Especially that Senior Brother Liu, his backing is much stronger than that of Fatty Luo. I heard that he is even a distant descendant of the ancestor. The head of the sect just issued a decree yesterday, and it just so happens that he is on duty today.
He didn't want to get entangled with the four people, but as the deputy head of the sect's Discipline Hall, he had to leave no matter what when he was leading a team of disciples. However, he didn't expect that Fatty Luo still hadn't changed his playboy nature, and his direct words made him lose face.
He looked at Senior Brother Liu and his tone became much softer.
"Senior Brother Liu, after the headmaster issued the order yesterday, I was delayed by something and was unable to finish speaking.
In the evening, he summoned us foundation-building monks again. I think he sent a message to you, but in the end, he couldn't see you. The headmaster is very angry. I hope you can go over and explain it now to avoid his anger."
When Senior Brother Liu and the other three heard this, they couldn't help but look embarrassed. It was not that they didn't receive the sound transmission note, but they were having fun in the market at that time.
When they gathered together to gamble again in the evening, they realized that the time had passed. Even if they rushed back to the Taoist temple, it was too late, so they simply pretended not to see it.
Senior Brother Liu frowned even more and turned to look at Fatty Luo who still looked indifferent.
"Brother Luo, it seems that something big has really happened this time, otherwise even Brother Kong wouldn't have led the team out on patrol. When you see the head brother later, I hope you won't talk nonsense and be humble. Do you understand?"
When Senior Brother Liu finished speaking, his tone actually became stern. He was very angry about what happened today.
If it weren't for this Fatty Luo, none of these things would have happened. Just now he was still happy about winning a lot of spirit stones last night, but seeing Junior Brother Kong's attitude, he thought it would be difficult for him to pass the test of the Sect Leader, and his heart suddenly became much darker.
Luo Sanpang was a little indifferent at first, but when he saw Senior Brother Liu suddenly become stern, he couldn't help but feel confused. Although he didn't care about the people in front of him, he relied on the blessing left by his ancestors, but in front of Senior Brother Liu, he lacked confidence. He was actually related to the ancestor by blood, so he quickly put away his lazy demeanor and nodded.
The other two looked even more like they were learning a lesson. After seeing this scene, Kong Nantai nodded. Although he was a little wary of Brother Liu's identity, he was not afraid because he was the deputy head of the Supervisory Law Hall.
Upon seeing this, Senior Brother Liu and his three companions bowed to Kong Nantai and then headed straight up the mountain inside the Taoist temple.
Looking at the four people walking farther and farther away, Kong Nantai couldn't help but sigh in his heart. These four people didn't know what the leader said last night. Recently, he heard that two sects in the surrounding area had disappeared inexplicably, and it was a collective disappearance of the entire sect.
This happened so suddenly that the news did not spread, but it had already alarmed the ancestor.
The ancestor had gone out a few days ago. I heard that he had teamed up with another ancestor from the surrounding area to investigate. The ancestor sent a message back yesterday. At the same time, the sect also received a secret order from the upper sect, the Wangliang Sect.
The head brother did not specify the specific content of the message sent by the ancestor or the secret order of the Wangliang Sect.
He just roughly mentioned the disappearance of the two sects as a whole, and stated that all suspicious cultivators coming and going should be strictly checked. This was also an order from the Wuliang Sect. The specific situation would have to wait until the ancestor returned in a day before rearrangements could be made.
Just as he stood there lost in thought, the disciples behind him looked at each other, and saw that the four uncles and uncles had already walked away.
Among them, there were several disciples who had just entered the sect, and they had strange looks on their faces. After they entered the sect, they were extremely afraid of the Discipline Inspection Hall, and few of those who entered came out intact.
But those uncles and aunts just now clearly didn't seem to care much about the deputy head of the Supervision Hall in front of them, especially the fat uncle, who revealed disdain in his words.
Seeing that the senior disciple in front of him seemed to be in deep thought, a new disciple who had just joined the sect looked around. Seeing that some other people seemed to be bored waiting and began to talk in a low voice with the people around them, he couldn't help but ask in his heart the senior brother who had always taken good care of him.
"Brother, could you please tell me who Uncle Luo is, so that I don't accidentally offend him in the future and not know how I offended him."
Next to him was a cultivator who was about 27 or 28 years old. His cultivation had reached the middle tenth level of Qi Condensation. Among the disciples in the Taoist temple, his cultivation was very high.
He looked at the fellow apprentice beside him, then looked at Uncle Kong who seemed to be in deep thought in front of him, and after carefully considering his words, he spoke in a very low voice.
“This Uncle Luo has a very important background. I heard that his great-grandfather and the ancestor were both outstanding figures of the same era in the temple, and he also has a strong relationship with the ancestor.
During an outdoor trial, he helped the ancestor obtain a kind of training material that the ancestor desperately needed, but in the following experience, Uncle Luo's great-grandfather died.
Although his death had nothing to do with the ancestor, the ancestor took into consideration that the other party had helped him a lot after all, so after he achieved success in cultivation in the future, he took care of his descendants.
Therefore, Master Luo is very powerful in the Taoist temple, and even the head of the Taoist temple turns a blind eye to his daily words and deeds. "
Although his words were full of respect, the new disciple was not stupid and still detected the arrogance of Uncle Luo.
After thinking about it, the senior brother said a few more words.
"This Uncle Luo is a good person, but he often scolds the younger generation. If you want to please him, it's actually very simple. He likes to gamble.
As long as you have extra spirit stones and gamble with him a few more times, you can win his favor.
Well, if there is something that Uncle Luo dislikes, then only you and other new disciples don’t know. Did you hear him call himself ‘Third Master’ just now? ”
When he said this, he paused.
Seeing that this new disciple had a bitter face when he heard that Uncle Luo liked to gamble, he couldn't help but laugh in his heart.
Any disciple in the sect would have the desire to cling to the thighs of senior monks, but as a new disciple, how could he have the spirit stones to please Uncle Na Luo.
Two spirit stones a month were not enough for him to use for his own cultivation.
When the new disciple heard his senior brother's question, he immediately remembered what Uncle Luo had just said when he called himself "Third Master" and nodded.
“If you don’t know about this, even if you want to send spiritual stones, you probably won’t be able to do so, and you might end up in bad luck.
It is said that Uncle Luo was born on the third day of the third lunar month at the hour of Yin. His spiritual roots were awakened when he was three years old. Along the way, although he did not pay much attention to cultivation, his promotion was still smooth.
So when he grew up, he asked someone to tell his fortune, and the fortune-teller said that he had a connection with the number "three" in his life, but he didn't know whether this rumor was true or not.
But from then on, Uncle Luo really took this hexagram seriously. Many things happened in the number three, and he even gradually called himself "Third Master".
And the strangest thing is that when he was building his foundation before, he really chose March. When he finally succeeded in building his foundation, it was also on the third day of March. Although the time was not the hour of Yin, this is enough to explain the strangeness of this matter.
After this incident, Master Luo has a special liking for the number 'three'. Even when betting with others, he will only win if the number is three. If you want to give spiritual stones, if you don't associate it with the number 'three', not only will you not be able to give him spiritual stones, but he will also hate you. "
When the new disciple heard such a strange thing, his mouth opened wide.
He could never have imagined that a person would have such thoughts and rules. Ping Ping was shocked. When the disciple was about to continue asking the other people about their personalities, he suddenly heard a cold shout from the front.
"You guys are always busy talking while patrolling, you really have lost your peace of mind."
Kong Nantai was deep in thought, but was interrupted by the increasing noises around him. He couldn't help but frown and thought to himself.
"Over the years, as the old ancestor's cultivation has improved, fewer sects around him have dared to make a move, and his disciples have become a little too proud of themselves. Even the rules within this Taoist temple have become much more relaxed.
How could such random talk occur before? It seems that I really need to talk to the head brother. During this period of time, the Discipline Inspection Hall must strengthen all the sect rules in the Taoist temple."
Hearing Kong Nantai's cold shout, more than a dozen people suddenly fell silent, their faces solemn, and they perked up.
Kong Nantai shook his head, as if to shake off his speculations about the sect's affairs. After looking at the sun in the sky, he was about to continue patrolling around the mountain when another green light flew rapidly in the sky in front of the mountain gate.