When Qi Wen fetched water from the foot of the mountain, he was surprised to see Taoist Qingsong wake up. He said that he had slept for almost five days, and if he didn't wake up, he would carry his master down the mountain to find a doctor even if Mr. Ji stopped him.
Taoist Qingsong was shocked to hear this, and Ji Yuan also found it funny. Fortunately, Qi Wen still believed in himself. He estimated that the bottom line was the "three to five days" that Ji had said that day.
However, what puzzled the master and his disciple was that Taoist Qingsong had been sleeping for a few days, and apart from feeling thirsty, he was not very hungry, although he did have a good appetite at lunch that day.
. . .
Ten days later in the afternoon, Taoist Qingsong was practicing his health-preserving exercises in the Taoist temple. Ji Yuan dragged out a cushion from the main hall of the temple and sat cross-legged at the door of the hall, reading "Imperial Treatise".
Qi Wenzhe went down the mountain with a basket carrying dozens of copper coins. He was going to buy some meat from a village near the mountain, as the stock in the Taoist temple had been completely consumed.
It is mainly cured meat and pickled goods that are easy to preserve in the mountains, and of course some fresh meat. As for vegetables, there is no shortage of them, and there is even a lot of rice.
Although Ji Yuan was reading a book, he was also paying close attention to Taoist Qingsong. After seeing Qi Xuan finish a few rounds of health-preserving exercises, he looked at the incense burner outside and asked him a question with a smile.
"Master Qingsong, the incense business at your Yunshan Temple is not that good. I have been here for a few days, and apart from seeing Qi Wen lighting three incense sticks in the morning, I have not seen any pilgrims from outside."
Taoist Qingsong answered Ji Yuan only after he finished his posture to end the exercise.
"Mr. Ji, you are joking. Our Taoist temple does not have any statues. What do the common people from the mountain come to pray for? Occasionally, a wealthy family comes to ask for a name for their offspring and come here to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth. That means the Taoist temple is prosperous."
Qi Xuan added one more sentence after he finished speaking.
"Otherwise, why would I always go down the mountain to tell fortunes? Isn't it just to make some money to maintain the Taoist temple?"
"Oh... The Taoist priest has good intentions!"
Ji Yuan said "Oh" meaningfully, which made Taoist Qingsong feel a little embarrassed.
"Sometimes I feel itchy, sometimes..."
Ji Yuan did not delve into this further, but continued to discuss it seriously with Qi Xuan.
"Master, there are no statues in your temple, so it is not necessary to burn incense all the time. Who would you burn incense for? Sandalwood costs money, too."
"To whom... naturally to the Zhou Tian Xing Dou and the heaven and earth."
Taoist Qingsong thought for a moment. He had been traveling with his master like Qi Wen since he was a child. He had to burn incense in all temples and Buddhist monasteries. Some Taoist temples he encountered even enshrined statues of gods. If he had to say who should burn incense for Yunshan Temple, which had no statues of gods, it would be heaven and earth.
"But this world doesn't accept your incense."
Ji Yuan looked up. Compared to Qi Xuan’s mortal eyes, he could see the real “incense”.
"Ah? Heaven and earth won't accept it?"
Taoist Qingsong was stunned for a moment. He wanted to say something but didn't know where to start. After all, the person sitting in front of the hall was Mr. Ji. However, he was only briefly surprised.
"If you don't want to accept it, then don't accept it. Even if heaven and earth don't accept it, we can't be disrespectful!"
"The Taoist priest is right!"
Ji Yuan held the book and bowed to Taoist Qingsong, and Qi Xuan also smiled and hurriedly returned the greeting.
. . .
Qi Wen carried the basket down the mountain and walked along the mountain path that the master and disciple often walked in Yunshan. He crossed the mountain stream and walked along the mountain ridge. With his light steps, he walked out of Yunshan in just half an hour.
The nearest village at the foot of the mountain is called Yunkou Village, which is often visited by the Taoists from Yunshan Temple. Sometimes when the village has a marriage or funeral, or when they need help from fortune-tellers or magicians, they will also ask the Taoists from Yunshan Temple, and the two sides are quite familiar with each other.
As soon as he arrived at the village entrance, someone greeted Qi Wen.
"Young Taoist Priest Qi Wen, are you coming down the mountain? Taoist Priest Qingsong is not here today?"
"Yes, Master is in the mountains. I came to the village to buy some food."
"Oh... I'll ask Taoist Qingsong to calculate the fortune for my wife when she gives birth someday."
"well!"
Qi Wen greeted the man and entered the village where the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard. Some familiar old people also greeted Qi Wen. Some young people who had played with Qi Wen when they were children were also very enthusiastic.
As usual, I went to the village chief's house and a few familiar villagers' homes. I could buy a lot of things with just a few dozen coins.
At an old farmer's house, a young girl from the village came over to give Qi Wen some eggs or something, which made Qi Wen blush and feel embarrassed.
"Hahahaha... Young Taoist Priest Qi Wen, I heard that you Taoists can get married?"
The old farmer who was helping Qi Wen slaughter a chicken asked the young Taoist priest with a smile.
Qi Wen has grown up now, and his face is quite handsome. While practicing health-preserving exercises, he has been traveling around with his master all year round. He has also been beaten from time to time, and his body is very strong. He is quite popular among the country girls.
"Big, probably..."
"Hehehe, little Taoist priest, if you can return to secular life and marry into another family, with your strength and looks, there are plenty of good girls in the village!"
There were also a few girls who were secretly looking at Qi Wen and laughing outside the fence of the old farmer's house, which made Qi Wen feel a little hot.
"done!"
After plucking the feathers and cleaning the guts, the old farmer wrapped the chicken and threw it into a basket on the ground.
"Thank you, Uncle Shen. Here are the copper coins!"
Qi Wen handed over ten cents. Buying chicken in the village here is much cheaper than in the county town. Moreover, chicken, duck and the like are only considered minor meats in many places in Dazhen, while beef, mutton and pigs are major meats. Of course, unless the working ox dies of old age or an accident, beef is hard to come by.
Just as the old man took the copper coin and was about to say a few words to Qi Wen, a voice came from outside.
"Hey, hey, hey... That's it, Taoist Master Qi Wen from Yunshan Temple."
"Oh, thank you so much!"
"You're welcome!"
The sound outside attracted Qi Wen's attention, and he saw two men with four people who were obviously servants hurriedly walking into Lao Long's courtyard from outside.
Qi Wen knew one of the men. He was the one who was very angry when he asked his master to interpret the fortune that day.
"My goodness, you're here to fight me?"
Qi Wen's scalp tingled and he looked around. This was in Yunkou Village. If he were beaten, the villagers nearby would probably help him.
Fortunately, the visitor immediately stated his purpose.
"Young Taoist priest, my name is Huang Xingye, and this is my friend Li Mian. I haven't seen you setting up stalls in the county these days, so I came here to ask about the location of Yunshan Temple. It's great to see you. Is your master on the mountain? Thanks to your master's reminder that day, I was able to pass the test. I asked some vendors in front of the City God Temple, and they all said that you are Taoist priests on Yunshan Mountain, but they don't know where you are in the mountain. I came to this village at the foot of the mountain to try my luck..."
The visitor said a lot in one breath. Qi Wen breathed a sigh of relief when he heard it. He was glad that he was not here to cause trouble.
"Master is naturally in Yunshan Temple. Uh, this believer, do you need me to ask Master to come down the mountain to see you?"
"No, no, we can just go to your temple to pay a visit. Why should we trouble you to come down the mountain? I also brought some small gifts with me, so I can take them up the mountain with me!"
Only then did Qi Wen realize that the other group of people were carrying two loads of things on their shoulders. He had not noticed it because he was nervous just now.
"Then... believers, please follow me up the mountain!"
Qi Wen had no choice but to say goodbye to the villagers and then take a few people up the mountain. It was rare in Yunshan Temple to see such country gentlemen carrying things up the mountain.
On the way, the man talked to Qi Wen about the specific reasons for his visit.
It turned out that Mr. Huang was considered a wealthy man in the entire Dongle County. He had recently experienced a setback and almost lost his life, but fortunately he found Taoist Qingsong to interpret the fortune in front of the Dongle County City God Temple that day.
Although he was very angry that time, at least Taoist Qingsong succeeded in making the man more alert to the things around him, especially when the Taoist mentioned the "direction in the heart". Combined with the fortune, it at least proved the accuracy of the man's suspicion.
In addition to the seemingly perfunctory words reminding him to do good deeds to avert disaster, the man simply did a good deed after arriving in the town. He paid the missing funds for the land temple that was being renovated in the town in one go, and even personally purchased an incense burner and delivered it.
You should know that most incense burners are made of copper, and copper is money, very valuable. Two sums of money can greatly accelerate the progress of the land temple.
During that period, the man was more cautious in everything he did than before, but even so, he almost didn't survive when the disaster struck.
He didn't expect that the other party was so ruthless that he dared to set fire to his friend's house while he was staying overnight.
Strangely enough, that night when Huang Xingye and the friend who knew martial arts stayed in the same room at his friend's farm, the servant was looking after them outside. In the middle of the night, the teapot on the table in the room suddenly fell to the ground, waking up both Huang Xingye and his friend.
At that time, they could smell smoke outside. When the two rushed out, they found that the fire had already started. One of the two servants of the Huang family was unconscious outside the house, and the other was missing.
The two men woke up their friends' family members, carried away the Huang family's servants, and then found someone to put out the fire. In the end, although the fire was not put out, at least no one was hurt.
Afterwards, Huang Xingye and his friends reported the case to the police. Because they had a clear idea in mind and with the help of money at home, the county government also made great efforts to solve the case, which caused a lot of excitement from Dongle County to Maoqian Town.
After the fire, Huang Xingye didn't realize it at first, but later he felt more and more that the broken teapot was a life-saving signal. The more he thought about it, the more mysterious it seemed. His friend's family was not poor, and the floor and tables and chairs in the room were all stable. The teapot would not have fallen for no reason, so he believed that it was the help of ghosts and gods.
This just happened to be in response to the donation to the land temple.
Huang Xingye came to express his gratitude today, not because the problem has been solved. On the contrary, there are still some strange and tricky things. That's why he thought of looking for the Taoist who told his fortune that day.
Before coming here, Huang Xingye had inquired about the fortune-teller in Dongle County. In the end, he found out that although this Taoist fortune-teller was sometimes disliked and even beaten because of his fortune-telling, his predictions were really accurate. Even those who had beaten him had to admit this in the end.
What's strange is that this Taoist was beaten several times but he still enjoyed setting up the stall. This seemed a little unusual to a smart man like Huang Xingye. A capable Taoist in the mountains behaved so strangely. Isn't he a hidden master