The old man said: The great road is invisible, giving birth to the heaven and the earth; the great road is ruthless, moving the sun and the moon; the great road is nameless, nourishing all things; I don't know its name, so I call it Tao.
"Master, are you thirsty? Drink some water first." A three- or four-year-old boy was carrying a black clay pot. Water splashed out of the clay pot all the way and spread on the road. After being burned by the scorching sun,
Watermarks of different sizes were left on the gray-white dirt road, and then slowly dissipated.
"Chang Xing! Slow down, Master is not thirsty, Master is not thirsty. Have you finished your homework?" Seeing the boy walking over with difficulty carrying water, the white-haired Taoist smiled on his face and quickly put down the hoe.
He walked quickly towards the boy. The old Taoist's name was Zhang Taijin, and he was the Taoist priest of the Ancestral Temple in Fengmeizhai.
"It's done. It's been done a long time ago. Master, why do I draw the Pure Heart Talisman every day but not the Exorcist Talisman? The Pure Heart Talisman cannot catch ghosts." Chang Xing asked.
"Spells, spells, and talismans are all small ways. Master doesn't want you to practice the small way and miss the big way. The Tao can be Tao, but it is not the Tao. Read the scriptures and understand the Tao, which is the real Tao. Magic talismans are only small ways after all. Disciple, remember this.
?" Zhang Taijin said kindly.
"Remember. Then why do you let me stand every day but not let me learn boxing?" Chang Xing asked again.
"The purpose of training is to strengthen the body, not to compete for strength. In this case, why bother to learn boxing?" Zhang Taijin laughed and stroked Chang Xing's head with his hand.
"But when the children from Xianji Bridge besieged me, I couldn't win because I didn't know how to box. I was chased everywhere by a group of them every time." Chang Xing said dissatisfied.
"So you practice martial arts just to bully children? Then I can't teach you boxing." Zhang Taijin said with a smile. In fact, Zhang Taijin knew that Chang Xing had an honest heart and would never bully other children. But Zhang Taijin
I was worried that when Chang Xing would grow up in the future, he would be young and energetic, and he would have martial arts skills, so he would easily get into trouble. So he simply did not teach his boxing skills to Chang Xing. However, Chang Xing did not fall behind in his basic skills at all.
"What if someone bullies me?" Chang Xing asked.
"Others are not crazy, why are they bullying you?" Zhang Taijin laughed.
"Master, we are Taoist priests, why do we have to chant sutras every day? We are not monks." Chang Xing had endless questions in his mind about why.
"What we do is not called reciting sutras, studying the Taoism. The Dharma is not passed down lightly, it is passed down orally, and no written words are memorized. Have you memorized the Qingjing Sutra?" Zhang Taijin asked.
"Remember! I remembered it after just a few glances." Chang Xing pouted his mouth and said proudly.
"Then recite it to me." Zhang Taijin laughed loudly, his kindness beyond words.
"The old man said: The great road is invisible, giving birth to the heaven and the earth; the great road is ruthless, moving the sun and the moon; the great road is nameless, nourishing all things; I don't know its name, so I call it Tao..."
After just reading a paragraph, Zhang Taijin quickly interrupted with a frown: "Stop, stop, stop, what are you memorizing?"
"Master, did Xing'er recite it correctly?" Chang Xing's eyes suddenly filled with tears, which kept spinning in his eyes.
"You can recite it word for word, but it's not like the Qing Jing Sutra at all. Why don't you memorize the words of the Miao Dharma? It's because the secret of the Miao Dharma lies not in the words, but in the oral transmission. The Qing Jing Sutra we sent is the ancestor of the Qing Jing Sutra.
The secret passed down by the master lies in this word." Zhang Taijin was originally going to scold Chang Xing severely, but when he saw the tears in Chang Xing's eyes, his heart immediately softened, and his voice became much softer.
.
"Xing'er knows." Chang Xing sobbed a few times, and the tears in his eyes were already flowing down his cheeks.
"Xing'er, don't cry. Be good. Master will prepare delicious food for Xing'er when you go back." Zhang Taijin said.
"Xing'er wants to eat chicken legs."
"Yes, yes. Eat chicken legs. When we get back, master will kill the old hen and feed Xing'er chicken legs." Zhang Taijin picked up the hoe, held Chang Xing under his arm with one hand, and strode back.
Chang Xing hugged the black clay pot in his hand tightly, but water flowed out of the mouth of the clay pot.
"Master, you can't kill the old hens. If you kill them, there won't be any hens to lay eggs for Xing'er to eat." Chang Xing was so greedy for chicken legs, but thinking about having a poached egg every day, he was a little reluctant to part with it.
"What should we do? My family wants to eat chicken legs, but there is only one old hen in our temple. How can we get chicken legs without killing the old hen?" Zhang Taijin asked.
"Master, there are so many pheasants in the mountains. Don't you know if you go to the mountains and catch one, you will have chicken legs to eat!" Chang Xing blinked and quickly figured out a way.
"Don't shoot birds in spring. Birds are in the nest looking for their mothers to return. But there is no other way. I want to eat chicken drumsticks, so I will say a few words to the mountain god. I will make an exception for the mountain god, and I will catch a male.
The pheasant has come back to satisfy my thirst." Zhang Taijin said with a smile.
This is still the best time for pheasants to lay eggs and breed in spring. If you kill the female pheasant at this time, you will lose the pheasant breed. This is a taboo for hunting in the mountains.
Zhang Taijin's hunting is different from that of hunters in the mountains. Hunting is a particularly particular matter for Zhang Taijin's group.
So after returning to the ancestral temple, Zhang Taijin wore a black cloth turban on his head and stuck a she knife on his back. Zhang Taijin's ancestral temple is different from ordinary temples. It worships an inverted wooden statue about five inches high. The god rests his hands on the ground.
With his feet in the air, that is Zhang Wulang, the founder of Zhang Taijin's sect.
In the middle of the shrine, there is a big inscription "Heaven and Earth, National Patriarch", on the left is "Ancestral Master of All Past Dynasties", and on the right is "Meicheng Helps the Righteous God". Zhang Taijin lit candles and incense on the square table in front of the shrine, filled three bowls of rice wine,
The owner of the altar burned money and paper, bowed and recited a mantra: "The ritual of surrendering one's heart and soul: I invite the Patriarch. The Patriarch descends to the altar, wearing a powerful hat that covers the sky, and his eyes are bright and clear. He comes to the Jade Emperor's Golden Palace.
The Seven Stars and the Beidou Chen travel at dusk. Mortals come to ask for help, and urgently lead troops to the altar. Disciples come to pay homage sincerely, hoping that the ancestor will come. "
After inviting the Patriarch, Zhang Taijin called over to Chang Xing: "Xing'er, please stay in the temple while Master goes to beat you up."
Chang Xing refused: "Master, I'm scared to be alone in the temple. What if a beggar comes and abducts me and sells me."
Usually, when Chang Xing was disobedient, Zhang Taijin would use beggars to scare Chang Xing: If you disobey, the beggars will come and kidnap you and sell you.
Unexpectedly, Chang Xing used this as an excuse to ask Zhang Taijin to take him into the mountains.
Zhang Taijin is in a bit of a dilemma. The mountains are no joke. The woods are dense and the mountains are steep, making it extremely difficult for adults to walk. This is the second most dangerous thing. There are venomous snakes and beasts everywhere, and you may be attacked if you are not careful.
.Zhang Taijin can protect himself well, but bringing Chang Xing with him will give him a big headache.
"Where did the beggar come from in this deep mountain and old forest? Be good and be obedient. It only takes a while and I will come back with the chicken drumsticks." Zhang Taijin racked his brains to coax Chang Xing, but Chang Xing had made up his mind to go into the mountains with Zhang Taijin.
.No matter how Zhang Taijin tried to persuade him, Chang Xing did not let go.
Zhang Taijin tried to coax him for a long time but to no avail. He became furious and said fiercely: "If you don't obey me again, I'll beat your ass!"
"Wow! If I had a biological father and mother, they wouldn't be so cruel to me!" Chang Xing burst into tears. It really made the listeners cry and the listeners sad.
Seeing Chang Xing crying, Zhang Taijin's heart suddenly softened, and he hugged Chang Xing quickly: "Don't cry, don't cry, master will take you into the mountain! You are my nemesis!"