"call out!"
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
In the empty mountain before the dark night, there is no one in sight, only the tired birds returning home late flap their wings and make a rustling sound. But on a wild path going down the mountain, a whistle suddenly sounded.
The whistle was sharp and bright, spread far away, and disappeared into the dense forest leaves, returning to calm. Gu Yu put down his finger and said helplessly, "It seems that I'm really angry, ignore me."
"It's okay, I'll let Xiaoqing coax her." Xiao Zhai said with a smile.
"Coax? Are you sure it's not a fight?" He was sore.
"Fighting is also a way of relaxation, you don't understand."
As the girl said, she flicked her arm lightly, and the green snake slid down to the ground, looking at her master in puzzlement.
"You are too suffocated at home, so I will give you a day off, and I will pick you up tomorrow."
"Sizzling!"
When the green snake heard it, it was so happy that it pretended to be a dog and circled around its master. After the other party agreed, he twisted his body and swam towards the forest.
Gu Yu always thought it was amazing, and couldn't help asking: "How can it understand?"
"It doesn't understand, but it can understand what I mean. My snake control technique requires a very high spirituality of the snake, otherwise it will be just a plaything if you take it, and it won't be of much use."
Xiao Zhai continued on, and said as he walked: "My master had a white snake that accompanied her for thirty years. When she passed away, the snake was still alive, but it got into the fire by itself and died in the end."
"It's loyal and respectable."
Gu Yu sighed, thinking about something again, and asked, "By the way, where is the village you live in?"
"Under Changbai Mountain, Songjiang River."
"Changbai Mountain?"
He was startled, he thought he was near Sheng Tian, but he didn't expect to be from a neighboring province, and asked again: "Your master took only one apprentice?"
"Um."
The girl picked a leaf, played with it in her hand, and said: "She is not very old, and she has always lived alone, only accompanied by the white snake. I stayed by her side for seven years, and then returned to Shengtian. We met each other. I was even busier in high school, and I only met once before my death, which felt very sad."
"Yes, without the company of his wife and children, he will be lonely after all."
"Wife and child?"
Xiao Zhai glanced back and said with a smile, "When did I say she was a man?"
"Well… "
have to! That guy was so embarrassed that he would die, he shut his mouth honestly, and just walked on in silence.
It is said that the two of them left the thorn forest and turned halfway up the mountain, and they had already reached a safe place. Now this wild path is used by Gu Yu to pick goods up the mountain, and he is very familiar with it.
So they were not in a hurry, and walked swayingly. It just got dark and they happened to go down the mountain.
The surrounding area is still so deserted, there are no houses, only the small courtyard of the old widower standing alone on the opposite side. The two were carrying bags, with scratches on their arms and legs, and the uneven dirt road under their feet.
It is quieter here than in the mountains, the hustle and bustle of the urban area is completely covered up, and there is no trace of excitement.
As I walked, I felt that the sky was getting darker. Gu Yu raised his eyes and saw that the dome was like ink, pouring over it, and only a bright moon hung alone in the night sky.
He suddenly asked: "You said, are there immortals up there?"
"There are only stones and stone pits on it." Xiao Zhai also raised his head.
"Then what are we doing now?"
He is a little uncertain. This history has evolved over thousands of years, and science is so advanced now that a single moon landing plan will wipe out all the big myths.
"us?"
Xiao Zhai did not hesitate, and said with a smile: "Of course we are creating the future!"
…
After they went down the mountain, they found a clinic for simple treatment. Fortunately, the thorns are not poisonous, and it will be OK after applying the potion.
Gu Yu didn't book a room before, because he didn't know when it would end, so he ran to the hotel and asked for a standard room. Neither of them was very hungry, so they went upstairs directly.
He waited in the corridor for a while, Xiao Zhai went in first and changed his clothes.
White T-shirt, loose slacks, and two sandals. She is so tall, her legs are long and straight, and she has good skin, but she never shows her legs, she doesn't wear silk stockings, and she doesn't have tight leggings.
Gu Yu met several times, but none of his bottoms were short above his knees.
At this time, the two of them were sitting on the sofa. This day was safe and sound, and they were very relaxed when they returned to the world. After chatting casually for a few words, Xiao Zhai grabbed the backpack, dug out the documents, and said, "Look at it first, and then talk about it."
"What's this?"
He took a look, noticed the red pen first, and asked, "Is this the time?"
"Well, I divided it into four stages according to time."
"oh… "
He nodded, and read it carefully under the lamp.
The first manuscript, judging from the age, should be more than 2,200 years ago in the pre-Qin period. And the first sentence at the beginning of the manuscript made his heart skip a beat:
"I heard that in ancient times there was a true person who held the heaven and the earth, grasped the yin and yang, breathed the essence, guarded the spirit independently, and had the same muscles, so he could live to the sky and the earth, and there was no end. This is the way to live..."
Gu Yu couldn't help raising his head and looked at Xiao Zhai. The girl held her own white porcelain cup and drank the water one gulp at a time, turning a blind eye.
He wanted to ask, but he held back and continued.
…
It is said that what Xiao Zhai sorts out is the development of the entire Taoism system.
When we mention it now, it is Quanzhen, Zhengyi or two factions, Quanzhen cultivates inner alchemy, Zhengyi cultivates talismans, it seems that there is no other way. In fact, it is not the case. Before the Tang Dynasty, there were very few records about Neidan.
Taking the pre-Qin period as the line, Xiaozhai divided the first stage, which is called the ancient period. It also contains two parts, before the Spring and Autumn Period and after the Spring and Autumn Period.
Before the Spring and Autumn Period, there was no such thing as immortality, only humanity. Heaven walks the way of heaven, earth walks in the way of nature, and people walk in the way of humanity. Heaven and earth are born for people, and the Dao is for people to use.
There are four kinds of humanity, true, perfect, divine, and holy.
A real person transcends the three realms, can stand eternally, sit and watch the universe come and go, and later generations are called heavenly immortals.
The perfect person is within the heaven and earth, beyond the limit of life, can live forever and see forever, and later generations are called earth immortals.
The gods and humans are wonderful in form and spirit, although they may not be immune to premature death, they will live for thousands of years, and later generations will be called gods.
The sage supports the essence, nourishes the body, and can live a full life. Later generations are called human immortals.
There is another kind of special kind, the spirit of cultivating the primordial spirit does not die, can manifest in the daytime, turn things into bodies, have the realm of earth immortals, but have no body of earth immortals, and later generations call them ghost immortals.
After the Spring and Autumn Period, the immortal way rose, the human way declined, some were lost, some were hidden among the people, and then scattered into the hands of the immortal family. The two phases are mixed, thus deriving a series of Taoist methods, such as the sword fairy method, the Yin fairy method, the spirit-preserving method and so on.
During this period, cultivation still focuses on the longevity of the body and the perfection of body and spirit.
There is very little information in this part, Xiaozhai is just citing circumstantial evidence and mostly guesses, but she emphasized one point: the so-called Dao is simple, the cultivation methods of ancient monks are extremely simple, and there are absolutely no messy things.
The second stage, more than 1,700 years ago, is called the Ancient Immortal Period.
Taoism further declined, bigu and breathing became the main means of practice. There is a Taoist scripture record: "Grass eaters are good at walking but are stupid; carnivores are powerful but fierce; grain eaters are wise but not long; those who eat energy are immortal."
Another ancient book describes: "This person can hold date stones, and can last five to ten years without eating them. He can also hold his breath, keep his body unmoved, and look like a dead person, and can last for a hundred days and half a year."
To put it simply, it means not eating, but feeding on the aura of heaven and earth.
Although weaker and more complicated than ancient times, it is still orthodox. Practitioners can live for hundreds of years, look young, and rarely look old. The powerful one can be sanctified physically, soar in the daytime, and even go to heaven with chickens and dogs.
And at the same time, it was also at this stage that Wai Danshu began to emerge gradually.
Wai Dan, that is, alchemy. There are three volumes of "Taiqing Jinye Shendan Jing", which emphasizes that only by taking the golden elixir can one be in harmony with the sky and live forever.
This kind of argument is completely contrary to the humane system.
But what is even more strange is that at the end of the Han Dynasty, a guy named Wei Boyang wrote the book "Zhouyi Cantongqi", which systematically expounded the theory of inner alchemy and outer alchemy for the first time.
Not only that, but he also denounced all Taoist methods other than the inner alchemy as heresy, calling them "rebellious and lost the cardinal", and they are small methods that cannot live forever.