After looking at Taiqing Mountain, Nanfeng walked to the stone pillar at the mountain gate and put down his bedding. He relied on the stone pillar to watch the group of young Taoist priests practicing their martial arts. The Taoist priests in the square were divided into three areas from west to east, with more than two hundred people in each area. Half and half are men and women.
The youngest is in the west, probably no more than ten years old. There are also some three or four-year-old children among them, some are ignorant, and they are sitting on the ground crying. Because they were too young, they could not practice any martial arts. They could only do simple movements and stretch their muscles under the care and guidance of a few middle-aged Taoist priests.
Those under the age of 14 or 5 are in the middle area. They have already begun to practice kung fu routines. They punch and kick in a neat and orderly manner, and they move forward and backward in a methodical manner.
The Taoists on the easternmost side are between fifteen, sixteen and twenty years old. What they practice is not routines, but imitation of actual combat, fighting and dismantling moves.
Nanfeng looked at the people in the field silently. Tian Yuanzi had told him some things about the Taiqing Sect before. The Taiqing Sect was the largest sect in the South, with nearly 10,000 Taoist priests. These hundreds of Taoist priests should be Taiqing Sect. The lowest generation of the Qing Dynasty.
While the Taoist priests were practicing martial arts for half an hour, Nanfeng kept watching from a distance. He actually envied these Taoist priests, but he did not expect to be one of them. The reason was very simple. Tian Yuanzi was a sinner of the Taiqing Sect. , and he is the disciple of Tian Yuanzi. He came here this time to deliver the Turtle Shell Heavenly Book and atone for his sins on behalf of his master.
At Chen time, the sun rose, and the Taoist priests in the field left the field in order of age and returned to the mountain. At this moment, a little Taoist priest about ten years old ran towards the south wind and started shouting from a distance, "There are no more disciples this year." Now, go back quickly and come back next September."
"I'm not here to be a disciple, I'm here to find someone." Nanfeng responded.
"Looking for someone? Who are you looking for?" The little Taoist stopped five steps away from Nanfeng and raised his hand to cover his mouth and nose.
"I want to find Master Xuanzhen." Nanfeng said.
The little Taoist priest's expression became very strange. He glanced at Nanfeng for a few times, then turned and ran north.
After the little Taoist priest left, Nanfeng lifted up his sleeves and smelled it. The smell on his body was indeed unpleasant. It was no wonder that the little Taoist priest covered his mouth and nose.
The young Taoist priest ran back to the square and talked to a middle-aged Taoist priest. After a brief conversation, the two walked toward Nanfeng.
The middle-aged Taoist priest must be around forty years old, and he is very kind-faced. When he came closer, he raised his hand to Nanfeng, "I am a poor Taoist priest, little good man, are you looking for Uncle Xuanzhen?"
"Yes," Nanfeng nodded heavily, "I came from the north and walked for several months to get here. I have something very important to do with Master Xuanzhen. Please take me in, Taoist Priest."
The middle-aged Taoist priest frowned and said nothing. After a moment, he asked, "I would like to ask, why did you find Uncle Xuanzhen?"
"There is something very important." Without seeing Xuan Zhenzi himself, Nanfeng did not dare to tell the true purpose of his trip.
The middle-aged Taoist priest sighed, "Hey, to be honest, Uncle Xuanzhen had already gone to Hexian half a year ago."
When Nanfeng heard this, he felt as if he was struck by lightning. He stared in shock and stood on the spot. He had worked so hard to get here. He thought he would be able to complete Tian Yuanzi's entrustment immediately, but he never expected that Xuan Zhenzi was already dead.
"Little good man, although Master Xuanzhen is gone, Taiqing Sect is still there, and the person in charge is still there. If what you are talking about is related to Taiqing, I can report it on your behalf." The middle-aged Taoist said.
Nanfeng had not yet recovered from the huge shock. Hearing the middle-aged Taoist's words, Nanfeng shook his head numbly.
"Uncle Master, let's go quickly, he smells so bad." The little Taoist priest said in a low voice.
"Don't talk nonsense." The middle-aged Taoist lowered his head and scolded him, then raised his hand to Nanfeng and pulled the little Taoist to the north.
After the two left, Nanfeng slumped on the ground. He had never thought that this would happen. When Tian Yuanzi handed the tortoise shell to him, he solemnly told him that he must hand the tortoise shell to Xuan Zhenzi himself and never let anyone else. transfer. But Xuan Zhenzi was already dead at this time. Although he rushed to Taiqing Sect, he didn't know who to give the tortoise shell to.
Shocked, Nanfeng began to consider how to deal with the matter. There were two options before him. One was to hand over the tortoise shell to the person in charge of the Taiqing Sect. No matter who he gave it to, it was all given to the Taiqing Sect, and he had completed his errand.
But the downside is that this may go against Tian Yuanzi's original intention. If it is the same no matter who he hands it to, Tian Yuanzi can just tell him to send the tortoise shell to Taiqing Sect. There is no need to emphasize that he can only give it to Xuanzi. Mako. Tian Yuanzi's actions showed that the Taiqing Sect was not harmonious, and those in high positions may have conflicts and contradictions with each other.
After thinking hard for a long time, Nan Feng was still undecided. This matter was different from other things. Other things only required weighing the pros and cons, but this matter could not weigh the pros and cons at all. It was either all right or all wrong. The most terrible thing is He has no basis for judgment yet.
After the sun rose, many pilgrims came down the mountain. There were several wing rooms at the foot of the mountain to the north of Yin Yang Square. There were Zhike Taoist people in the wing rooms. Some seemingly important pilgrims were led up the mountain by Zhike Taoist people.
Nanfeng originally thought that the Taiqing Sect was a closed place. He did not expect that they would also accept donations from the world. However, it was normal after thinking about it. The Taiqing Sect was the largest sect in the Liang State, just like the Yuqing Sect was to the Wei State, and Liang State was The real protector of the country is likely to come from the Taiqing Sect. Such a Taoist temple is full of incense, and it is reasonable for the subjects to offer incense.
At three o'clock in the morning, a Taoist Zhike came over from the north and asked Nanfeng why he came. Nanfeng could only answer with the excuse he had given before. Taoist Zhike told him that Xuan Zhenzi was already riding a crane and advised him to leave.
The south wind did not move away, so the Taoist priest asked him to go elsewhere and not stay near the mountain gate.
Nanfeng knew that the other party thought he was dirty, but he packed up his bed and went to the woods to the east and sat down at the edge of the woods.
Due to excessive blood loss, he felt extremely tired at this time, and soon fell asleep after moving to the edge of the woods.
It was noon when I woke up. At this time, there were all kinds of carriages parked outside the mountain gate. The grooms and followers who had never gone up the mountain were gathering in groups to eat.
The lunch they had was provided by Taiqingzong, with yellow rice covered with fresh sunflower vegetables.
Nanfeng hadn't eaten fresh vegetables for a long time, and deep down he hoped that the other party would give him a portion, but after observation, he found that the meals provided on the mountain were provided on a per-person basis and were not distributed randomly.
Just when he was secretly complaining that he shouldn't have extravagant hopes, he suddenly noticed that the middle-aged Taoist priest who asked him in the morning came from a distance, holding a bowl of yellow rice covered with sunflower seeds in his hand.
Seeing the middle-aged Taoist walking towards him, Nanfeng hurriedly lowered his head. There were several people not far away. If the food served by the other party was not for him, he would be embarrassed if he kept staring.
But the middle-aged Taoist didn't embarrass him. He really brought the yellow rice to him and said, "You are hungry. Let's eat with you."
"Thank you." Nanfeng thanked him and took it.
"Your accent is not as soft and waxy as the Liang people. Are you really from the north?" The middle-aged Taoist handed over the chopsticks.
Nanfeng nodded and reached out to take the pair of chopsticks.
"You came here alone?" the middle-aged Taoist asked again.
Nanfeng nodded again.
The middle-aged Taoist looked puzzled when he saw this, "You came here from the North to find Master Xuanzhen alone. What on earth did you do?"
Nanfeng held the rice bowl and looked up at the middle-aged Taoist.
Seeing that he didn't answer, the middle-aged Taoist pointed to the baggage beside him and asked, "Whose bones are these?"
Nanfeng still didn't answer.
The middle-aged Taoist saw that he remained silent, neither forcing nor asking questions, so he smiled and said, "Eat quickly, the bowls and chopsticks must be returned."
"Are you going to deliver food to me yourself, or is someone else asking you to deliver food to me?" Nanfeng asked.
"What do you want to do?" the middle-aged Taoist asked with a smile.
Nanfeng didn't answer, put down the bowl and chopsticks, reached out and took out a leg bone from the bag, poured out a piece of silver, handed it to the middle-aged Taoist, then picked up the bowl and chopsticks and gulped down the rice.
The middle-aged Taoist looked at the silver taels in his hand in surprise. This piece of silver should be about 2 taels, which could be exchanged for at least 2,000 copper coins, which could buy a thousand bowls of rice for him to eat.
"Little good man, Uncle Xuanzhen has already left with Hexian," the middle-aged Taoist said, pushing the silver tael to Nanfeng, "Take the silver tael with you and go as early as possible."
Nanfeng was eating, so he quickly ate up all the vegetables without giving up the silver, wiped out the rice, and returned the bowls and chopsticks to the middle-aged Taoist.
The middle-aged Taoist took the bowl and chopsticks, patted Nan Feng on the shoulder, stood up straight, and turned around to leave.
"Taoist Master, can I stay in Taiqing Mountain?" Nanfeng also stood up.
The middle-aged Taoist shook his head and said, "The period for accepting disciples has passed. We can only wait until next year."
"I can stay and work." Nanfeng said, the Heavenly Book does not belong to him, and he does not want to leave with the Heavenly Book. But he didn't want to hand over the Heavenly Book casually. At present, the only way was to find the person who had the best relationship with Xuan Zhenzi and hand the Heavenly Book to this person. But finding this man takes time, and he has to find a way to stay here.
The middle-aged Taoist turned around when he heard the sound and looked at him again, "You are so thin, what can you do..."