The group of people walked away sighing, with the exception of Nanfeng. He walked at the end of the group, yawning all the time. He slept too late last night and didn't get enough sleep.
"This hat looks like cow shit, why are you still wearing it?" Nanfeng pulled off the hat of the handyman in front of him.
"Don't be ridiculous," the handyman turned around and grabbed the hat and put it on his head. "After we lose the election, we have to move the tables, chairs and benches, so we don't have to make another trip."
"Nanfeng, why are you so relaxed? Did you secretly find Master Tiancheng and get the news but didn't tell us?" Kong Yiming asked.
Nanfeng yawned, "Nonsense."
"If you still don't admit it, they all saw you talking to Master Tiancheng at the foot of the mountain some time ago." Kong Yiming curled his lips and said.
"He was asking me if Lingyanzi had come to provoke me again." Nanfeng responded casually.
"Why does Master Tiancheng care so much about you?" Kong Yiming asked in confusion.
"If Lingyanzi had hit you, he would also care about you." Nanfeng said.
"No," Kong Yiming shook his head repeatedly, "You must have bribed him secretly to establish friendship with him."
Everyone gets along with Nanfeng day and night. Everyone knows that he likes to treat guests and give gifts. When Kong Yiming said this, everyone agreed and asked Nanfeng to share three questions.
"I really don't know. If I know the three questions, it's Ah Huang's fault." Nanfeng swore.
Ah Huang is the watchdog of the Secular Affairs Hall. When he said this, everyone believed him and thought he was big-hearted and didn't care whether he entered the hall or not.
At three o'clock in the morning, everyone came to the foot of the mountain. Although there was still half an hour before the ceremony, the foot of the mountain was already crowded with people. Those accompanying the students were all driven out of the mountain gate. A large number of students gathered in the square, and the crowd was crowded. , rubbing shoulders and heels.
A group of Taoist priests from Lucha Hall maintained order at the scene, while Taoist priest Zhike led some volunteers from Xiahe Hall to distribute number plates to the reference students. Because there were so many people, the square was extremely noisy. Even if they were standing across from each other, they had to speak loudly to be heard clearly.
Lingxizi in the crowd noticed everyone, squeezed over from a distance, and distributed the wooden signs in his hands to everyone, "Why are you here?!"
"Isn't there still half an hour?" Nanfeng took the wooden sign handed over by Lingxizi. The wooden sign was about the size of a palm, rectangular, with Yin-Yang Tai Chi engraved on the front and a string of words engraved on the back.
Just as Nanfeng lowered his head to read the words, Kong Yiming asked, "Taoist Priest, why is our number plate a different color from others?"
"There are too many students and not enough number plates. These are temporary seals. Take the number plates and stand in line." Lingxizi squeezed towards the east.
Arriving next to Nanfeng, Lingxizi pulled Nanfeng, who was looking down at the words, and winked at him.
There were so many people that it was difficult for Nanfeng to talk, so he could only smile at Lingxizi.
"Nanfeng, give me the number plate." Kong Yiming stretched out his hand to ask for it.
"If I don't give it to you, are you going to hit me?" Nanfeng glanced at Kong Yiming.
Kong Yiming saw Nan Feng's unkind tone and hurriedly surrendered, "How dare I hit you? You were the one who hit me that day. Look at the scar on my head. You hit me with a bench. If you really didn't find someone privately, If you want to make friends, please exchange your number plate with me."
"This thing is useless." Nanfeng glanced at Kong Yiming and handed the wooden sign over.
Kong Yiming thanked him repeatedly, changed the wooden sign, and held it nervously in his hand.
Nanfeng was very dissatisfied with Kong Yiming's move, but he didn't blame Kong Yiming. Kong Yiming's family was poor, and whether he could join the temple directly determined his future and the fate of his family. He didn't blame him for being so nervous. .
After looking at the number plate in his hand, Nanfeng frowned secretly, "Ten thousand, five thousand, three hundred and four hundred and seven", there are more than 15,000 people, no wonder the number plate is not enough.
Because there were so many people that there was almost nowhere to stand, the servants of the Suwu Hall and the Taoist priests of the Xiahe Hall began to demolish the wooden houses on the east and west sides of the square to make room for the students to enter.
There were both men and women taking the examination, with men accounting for 70% and women less often. Most of the men who wanted to join the sect were poor, and most of them wanted to learn martial arts and find a future. Most of the women who want to join Taoism are rich girls. They join Taoism in order to be influenced by the Taoist atmosphere and develop a calm and elegant demeanor. When they marry into their husband's family in the future, they will also have a sense of propriety in dealing with others. If their husbands are domineering, they can also punish them. .
In fact, the motivations of these people who entered Taoism were not simple, and the Taiqing Sect also knew that these people did not enter Taoism to gain enlightenment and help the world, so even if these people were selected, they were just ordinary disciples. Top-notch mystical magic.
This practice of Taiqing Sect not only adapts to the atmosphere of the world, but also maintains the aloofness and aloofness of Taoism. It has been passed down for thousands of years, and all the rules have been refined countless times, and are detailed and comprehensive.
Even after the wooden houses on both sides were demolished, the venue was still extremely crowded. Zhike Taoist could only lead his people to drive out the followers and family members of the students. These people blocked the road into the mountain, and the officials sent by the imperial court to watch the ceremony were blocked. Outside, we had no choice but to abandon the sedan chair and squeeze in from the crowd. Each official's uniform was disheveled and their official hats were askew.
As the hour approaches, people from the outer branches of the Taiqing Sect begin to enter the ceremony. Their seats were originally located on the left and right sides of the foot of the altar. Due to too many students, the seats originally set up were replaced with benches yesterday. Today, the benches are even included. There is no more, I can only stand.
Even if they are standing, they are much better than the students in the square, at least they don't have to be crowded and tired.
Then a group of ritual and music Taoists from the Ritual and Music Hall came in. These people were half male and female, carrying various Taoist musical instruments, and were separated on the left and right of the altar.
Then the disciples of the headmaster and the imperial envoys came to the altar. Today is an important occasion. Everyone is wearing solemn robes. Master Ziqi is wearing a big purple robe with dragon patterns on his sleeves, Tai Chi on the chest and Bagua on the back. , holding a black silk whisk in hand.
There are not many direct disciples of the Headmaster who have not been promoted to the Purple Qi. Tian Chengzi and the other two are direct disciples of the Headmaster. Although they have not been promoted to the Purple Qi of the Mountain, they still have to ascend the Dharma platform. They wear dark blue robes. , with tiger patterns on both sleeves, yin and yang tai chi and purple robe are the same, also holding a wishful fly whisk.
Master Ziqi came on the stage and sat down in an inverted figure. Nanfeng watched from a distance and secretly criticized the previous headmaster for accepting too many disciples. There were dozens of direct disciples alone. With so many people gathered together, no one was a good person. Stubble, it would be strange not to have internal strife.
But then I thought about it, Taiqing Sect is so big, it’s not enough to accept too few direct disciples. When it comes time to teach ordinary disciples, there won’t be enough people. In this way, a Ziqi Zhenren has to teach more than a hundred disciples on average, which is not easy. .
"Hey, who are those two old Taoist priests sitting in front?" Nanfeng touched Kong Yiming next to him.
"I don't know." Kong Yiming shook his head and said.
Cao Meng lived in the mountain for seven or eight years and was well-informed. "Those are Zhenren Xuanqing and Zhenren Xuanjing. They are the highest generation in Taiqing Mountain."
When Nanfeng heard this, he looked intently into the distance. The two old Taoists were both over eighty years old, with white beards and hair. After taking their seats on the stage, they lowered their eyebrows and closed their eyes, expressionless.
Chenshi was about to arrive, and a group of Taoist priests from the Lucha Hall wanted to stop the crowd from making noise. They even shouted for silence, but they did not quiet down for a long time.
Just as the time was approaching, a thundering roar came from the stage, "Quiet!"
The silence was not only deafening, but also shocking. Dozens of students fainted in response to the sound. After the roar, the place was completely silent.
Nan Feng looked intently and saw that the person who spoke was none other than the short Tian Qi Zi.
Tianqizi calmed down the scene and sat down again. All the Ziqi Daoists around him were startled by him. Many of them frowned and squinted with dissatisfaction on their faces, but the two veterans sitting at the front remained unmoved.
After the venue became quiet, an old Ziqi Taoist stood up from his seat, looked around the audience, and spoke loudly, "Ensemble the Nine Heavens Yunyin, respectfully invite the master to teach..."