Next to the wing room in the backyard of Jiuli Temple, in a somewhat simple courtyard, there are piles of white powder piled in the shape of hills on the ground. Under the scorching sun at noon, they emit bursts of burnt aroma.
Under a shack not far away, a middle-aged man in a short coat was sleeping soundly with his hands on his pillow.
This man is in his thirties and does not look strong in stature. His square face has slightly sunken cheeks and a pair of large, eye-catching ears.
On a house not far away, the chimney was emitting streams of white smoke, as if something was cooking inside.
At this moment, a fat old man wearing a red robe stepped into the entrance of the hospital. He looked around the hospital and coughed without continuing.
His cough immediately caused the square-faced middle-aged man who was sleeping soundly in the shack to tremble and wake up.
When the middle-aged man saw the visitor clearly with a somewhat anxious look, he suddenly woke up completely and said with a smile on his face: "I have seen the abbot. Why did you come here today? The cypress tree leaves that are being dried are a little messy."
, If I had known earlier, I would have cleaned it up."
The fat old man glanced meaningfully at Wu Sang sideways from the corner of his eyes, and then said: "Wusang, you can make incense and sleep at the same time. It's quite comfortable, isn't it?"
"Don't worry if you make the abbot laugh. I dare not say anything else, but I have been making incense since I was a child. I can actually make it with my eyes closed." Wu Sang said with a smile as before.
"Hmph! Look at your careless look. If it weren't for the sake of your fathers, how could I allow you to stay here and provide you with food and drink?" The fat old man snorted and said angrily.
"Don't I still owe a lot of incense to the temple? I live in the temple and make incense under your nose to pay off the debt. Don't you feel more at ease!" Wu Sang scratched his head and said with some embarrassment.
"It's good that you remember it, kid! There's only half a month left for the annual Hound Tooth God Sacrifice. I remind you not to let me off the hook at this time. During this time, make good incense for me. You can't leave here without my permission.
Half a step from the yard." The fat old man changed the topic and said.
"Ah, this... Abbot, I will definitely measure this incense to ensure that it will not affect the sacrifices, but it is too unethical to be banned here! In the past six months, I have handed over many incense offerings.
." Wu Sang shouted.
"What's the fuss about? To tell you the truth, someone is looking for you in the temple right now. I've hired someone to hide it for you. I don't care how many debts you owed outside before. If you bring trouble into the temple, don't do it.
Blame me for being ungrateful!" the fat old man said sternly.
"What, has my trace been exposed? This is impossible!" Wusang jumped up all of a sudden.
"Young man, take care of yourself!" After leaving these words, the fat old man threw away his sleeves.
"Bah! What the old man said is nice, but he is interested in my incense making skills. He is taking advantage of the disappearance of my shop in Tiehu Town to raise the price of incense! I am also obsessed with it. If you hadn't secretly colluded with Lard Residue back then,
, I followed the path he recommended to escape, how could I be caught by you?" When the fat old man walked away, Wu Sang pointed to the outside of the courtyard and yelled in a low voice.
After cursing a few words, Wusang yawned and walked to the shack with his splayed posture, ready to go back to sleep.
As a result, before he lay down, there was another light cough from behind.
"What's wrong with you, old man..." Wusang was suddenly startled, and secretly cried out in his heart, worried that the fat old man might have heard the curse he just said.
As a result, when he looked back, he saw a handsome young man under twenty years old wearing a green robe appearing in the yard at some point, looking at him with a smile but not a smile.
"You... who sent you here? What are you going to do! Let me tell you, this is the Jiuli Temple. As long as I call, someone will come right away!" Wu Sang's head was spinning rapidly, combined with the words of the fat old man before.
, something immediately came to mind.
"Usang, right? Don't be nervous. You and I have never met before. I'm not here to collect debts." Yuan Ming explained with a kind face.
"You are from the Central Plains, right? I don't know you, and I have never owed money to anyone from the Central Plains. Then what is your purpose of coming here, and how did you know that I am here?" Wu Sang looked at Yuan Ming again with a wary look on his face.
After a few glances, my heart felt slightly relaxed.
"I heard the name of Mr. Wusang in Tiehu Town and knew that you are good at making incense, so I came here to look for you. As for your whereabouts, as long as you are still in this temple, I will find out in my own way. You can think of it as the guidance of the Inu God.
." Yuan Ming smiled.
"The only person who knew I was here in Tiehu Town was probably the lard residue from Shanhe Gambling House. Did you find out about it from him?" Wu Sang asked.
"Yeah, I really spent a lot of effort to get your news from him." Yuan Ming said with a smile.
"Do you really want to learn how to make incense? It seems like you are not short of money. Although incense is a little more expensive these days, it is not hard to buy." Wu Sang looked at Yuan Ming with incredulous eyes, still a little unbelievable.
"Since Yuan asked for your advice, I should make it clear that I am studying incense making and want to make a string incense similar to this one." Yuan Ming pondered for a while, took out the last black incense stick and handed it over.
Wu Sang took the black incense stick, looked at it carefully, put it under his nose and sniffed it gently.
"There is nothing special about this incense, and the smell is not much different from ordinary incense. It should not be difficult to imitate." He looked up at Yuan Ming and said.
After hearing this, Yuan Ming was not happy, but rather disappointed.
This black incense must be unusual, otherwise it wouldn't be necessary to trigger the incense burner's magic. You know, he has tried hundreds of incense during this time, and even dozens of them are almost identical in appearance.
Planted.
"I would also like to ask you to take a closer look and see if you can identify the materials used to make this black incense?" Yuan Ming was somewhat unwilling and continued to ask.
"The fragrances in southern Xinjiang are mostly based on cypress wood, supplemented by spices such as spicy wood and donkey kwai. The colors are mainly yellow and red. Such black fragrances are rare. In my experience, there is only Tali in the entire southern Xinjiang.
There is this kind of black incense in the area, where did you buy this?" Wu Sang frowned when he heard this, looked at it carefully for a moment, then raised his head and asked.
"I got this thing from an incense burner in a dilapidated ancient temple that I found by chance. I can't find the same thing anymore." Yuan Ming smiled bitterly.
"Then do you still remember what the incense burner looks like? What kind of statues are enshrined in the temple? From this, you may be able to know which ethnic group worships it, and then infer some clues." Usang seemed a little disappointed and asked.
Yuan Ming glanced at Wu Sang and briefly described the shape of the incense burner. There was no need for him to hide this.
As for the Tai Chi pattern and other patterns on the incense burner, they are omitted.
"I still can't analyze anything from the situation you mentioned. It seems that I have to start with this incense and study it carefully. This will take a lot of effort. The sacrifice of the Dog Tooth God will be held in half a month. I have been a little nervous recently.
Busy." Wu Sang frowned and said with some embarrassment.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Wu Sang, but it's just a petty thing and disrespectful." Yuan Ming took out a small cloth bag and stuffed it into Wu Sang's arms.
The bag made a crisp sound when it moved, which was the sound of the collision of copper coins and silver coins.
Wu Sang took the bag and looked at it, a little surprised, then smiled and said:
"Our family has been fond of studying for generations, otherwise it would not have been possible to become a famous family of fragrance makers for hundreds of years! Although I am busy, I still can't slack off, especially this special black fragrance, which piqued my interest. But here's the ugly thing
There are countless incense sticks in the world, but my ability cannot reach the heavens. If you cannot imitate this black incense in the end, please don’t be surprised."
"With Mr. Wu Sang's talent, if I try my best, I believe there will be a breakthrough. If you can really imitate the black fragrance I want, I will also express my gratitude." Yuan Ming smiled slightly and said.
"My dear friend, you are so cheerful! Don't worry, I will do my best." Wusang laughed heartily and said with high spirits.
"Also, can you give me some advice on how to make incense?" Yuan Ming asked again with a smile on his face.
"That's a trivial matter. I'll take the time to teach you a thing or two tomorrow. It's just that making incense is complicated and it takes years and years to learn it. My little friend, you'd better live in the temple so that I can teach you the way of incense." Wu Sang said.
"It's all according to what Mr. Wu Sang said." Yuan Ming naturally had no objection and nodded.
"I want to take a little of that black incense stick and study its ingredients." Before leaving, Wu Sang said.
"sure."
As a result, after he agreed, he suddenly discovered that this seemingly ordinary black fragrance did not move at all under his force and could not be broken at all.
He had to go out and use his magic power in a deserted place to finally get a small piece of black incense. He was reluctant to part with it if it was too long, and he was worried that it would be too small to analyze if it was too short.
He carefully wrapped it in white paper, returned to the courtyard, and handed it to Wu Sang.
After Yuan Ming said goodbye to Wu Sang, he came to a row of wing rooms on the east side, which is where the temple's residents live. After asking, he found that there were still a few empty rooms.
He rented a room, sat on the bed in the wing, and looked out the window.
Although it took a lot of time, I have gained some insights into the matter of searching for incense.
Although Wu Sang is not very reliable, it is better than running around like a headless fly. At the worst, he can first learn the incense making technology that his family is proud of, and start from the source to explore it in a more targeted manner.
He made a plan in his mind and sat cross-legged directly, executing the Nine Elements Technique.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the secular world is much thinner than that in Biluo Cave, but it can still be practiced, and he is not willing to waste any time.
On the morning of the next day, Wu Sang arrived as promised, holding a few shabby books in his arms.
Since he knew that Yuan Ming was not a debt collector, he naturally found a way to lift his ban.
"These are some books about incense. You can read more when you have time and have a general understanding of incense making. I want to sell these books for ten copper coins each," Wusang said.
"Okay, I bought them all. Is there any progress about the black fragrance?" Yuan Ming gave the money and took the book and asked.