Dali Temple was the highest law enforcement agency in the Song Dynasty. Its status was no less than that of the Criminal Department among the six departments. The two were in a sequential relationship.
The Ministry of Punishment has a prison, where all the country's felons are imprisoned, and the Dali Temple also has a prison, where Taoist priests and monks are currently imprisoned.
The Twelve Shrines belong to the Western sect. After settling in the Eastern Territory, they advocated unification of religions and intended to abolish Buddhism and Taoism that had been developed in the Eastern Territory for thousands of years.
The disciples of the two sects were either prone to losing their temper and converted to the Twelve Divine Palaces, or they were stubborn and ineffective and were directly killed.
The Emperor of the Song Dynasty naturally showed sincerity when he wanted to devote the whole country to the Twelve Divine Palaces. He had already arrested Taoist monks all over the country. Among them, the senior monks were imprisoned in the Dali Temple Prison. Some of these people have already walked out of the prison and are in jail.
After becoming a missionary on Xichengtai, the rest are naturally devout Taoist and Buddhist believers who would rather die than change their family.
The prison was dark and damp all year round, with even the hay spread on the floor for prisoners to sleep on wet.
There are dozens of cells in total, which are narrow and crowded. A cell that could originally hold twenty people now has at least thirty people squeezed into it. This kind of place is simply worse than a pig pen.
The people in these cages are all middle-aged and elderly people with gray hair, wearing either Taoist robes or cassocks, but they are all in tatters and full of dirt.
The unkempt monks had calm expressions on their faces. Even if they were unkempt, they looked solemn or dusty. There was no place to lie down here, so they sat casually on the haystacks. It was originally a prison cell with a harsh environment, but it seemed a bit peaceful because of their silence.
In a cell, there was the oldest Taoist priest. His beard and hair were all white, so white that they turned yellow. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he looked very old. However, while he was breathing in and out, his breath was long and steady.
He was originally the head of the Maoshan branch of the Zhengyi sect, with the Buddhist name Chongchenzi. He was a living god with golden elixir cultivation. He had practiced Taoism for 130 years and had already half-stepped into the Nascent Soul realm.
Unfortunately, a year ago, his dojo was trampled by the cavalry of the Song Dynasty. All his disciples and disciples were killed and injured on the spot, and he was dragged down by the military brothers of the generals. Finally, the national master Lu Heng made a sneak attack.
Take it.
Now that all his skills have been abolished, he has been reduced to being no different from a mortal. Even though he was the head of a branch of Taoism back then, he is now being kept here like a pig, and it takes him only three days to eat a piece of corn.
But even so, there was no trace of sadness on Chong Chenzi's old face, but he was very peaceful and calm. Perhaps the Taoists believe in nature, and there may be this calamity in the dark. Can you escape here, or will you die?
It has been decided for a long time, and he, a centenarian whose power has been crippled, is unable to change anything.
In the dark prison cell, meditating every day was regarded as a practice exercise, and I silently recited the scriptures in my heart. Sometimes the day passed quickly.
He, a senior person, thinks so, and perhaps others think so too. Those who can stay here will still retain the last peace of mind of a monk even if they are imprisoned.
At this time, at the door of the prison, a dozen people were walking towards here carrying food boxes, obviously coming to deliver meals to the prisoners.
Meals for hundreds of people only need to be put in by a dozen people with one food box in each hand. This shows how small the amount of food is. Even if one person has one woofou, it is probably not much, and it lasts three days.
Giving one can only keep them alive, and they spend most of their time in hunger.
If it weren't for the fact that these monks and Taoists were all cultivators, ordinary people would have died of hunger long ago.
When the person bringing food comes to the door, as usual, a jailer will come to check.
Sure enough, a jailer stepped forward and opened the first person's food box.
When I opened the food box, I saw a pile of yellow and pitted buns inside. Each one was less than the size of a fist. Not only was it not enough, but it also seemed unappetizing.
The jailer just glanced at it, and then immediately checked a few more food boxes. After confirming that they were correct, he wanted to let people in.
However, he suddenly noticed that among the dozen or so people sent to him, there was one person who was different.
He was an old man. Although he was old, his figure was not that of an ordinary old man. Even in his clothes, he looked quite strong.
Moreover, he has been deliberately lowering his head, as if he wants to reduce his sense of existence, which makes people very suspicious.
The prisoners in Dali Temple are very important, and their importance is directly related to the life of the jailer. Therefore, they are relatively cautious and pay attention to the people who deliver meals every day, and this old man is obviously a stranger.
"Why haven't you seen him before? Who is he!?"
The jailer asked with a frown, his hand holding the soft whip clenched slightly.
Hearing this, the leader of the food delivery team hurried over and explained with an apologetic smile on his face.
"Go back to the boss. He is the villain's old uncle. Since he had nothing to do at home, he came to the restaurant to help the villain. Today there happened to be a waiter who quit his job, so I asked him to help deliver the food!"
"uncle?"
The jailer narrowed his eyes and looked up and down at the old man in front of him with suspicion.
After a while, he spoke again.
"Why does he keep his head down, but is he doing something shady?"
"this……"
The leader was obviously stunned, and his face looked unnatural for some reason. He was about to explain, but he didn't expect that the jailer had already stabbed the old man in the face with a soft whip.
The handle of the soft whip poked the old man's face, but the latter did not move at all. I don't know if it was because of anger, but his shoulders were trembling slightly.
The jailer was naturally aware of this detail, and immediately took a step back, scanning the group of food delivery people with vigilant eyes, and raised his whip to attack.
At the critical moment, the leader hugged the jailer's arm and explained with an apologetic smile.
"Cha Ye, Cha Ye! Please calm down! The villain's uncle committed a crime when he was young. He was imprisoned and sent to the border for decades. He just came back recently. He suffered too much there and had a gold mark on his face. He has been in Bianliang City for a long time.
I can't hold my head high and be a human being, so please forgive me and give me some food!"
After finishing speaking, the leader stuffed a bag of copper coins into the pocket of the yamen servant without leaving any trace.
They are not from the government, but are outsourced restaurants from Dali Temple. They used to be responsible for delivering prison meals here every day. Recently, during the recession, it only took three days to deliver one meal of cornbread. However, this is temporary after all. Waiting for the monks inside
The Taoist priest took him to behead him, and when he was replaced by a normal prisoner, he could still do business as usual.
Therefore, the food delivery leader would never dare to ruin this business.
After getting the money, the jailer's expression softened a little. When he heard that the old man was a thief who had come back from assassination, a hint of contempt appeared on his face.
"Are you really joining the army?" he asked disdainfully.
The leader quickly pulled the old man's sleeve, and then the burly old man slowly raised his head.
This face has deep grooves, a pair of eyes that are not big, but are as powerful as tigers, two straight eyebrows that almost go into the temples, and beard and hair like swords and halberds. He looks like an iron-blooded old man who has been weathered and often fought.
The jailer looked at each other and suddenly felt sweating on his back. He also saw a gold seal tattooed on the old man's right cheek. He thought to himself that the old man's evil spirit was really strong!
Seeing the golden seal, the jailer basically believed that the old man was the auxiliary soldier who came back from the border to seek a living. However, he did not intend to just let him in, but stretched out his hand to the leader as a matter of course.
The latter understood, took some money from his body and put it in the jailer's hand, looking respectful.
The jailer nodded with satisfaction, stepped out of the way, and a dozen meal delivery men slowly walked into the Dali Temple prison.
Under the supervision of other jailers, the dozen or so people began to distribute wowotou in front of the prison. The monks and Taoists were also very indifferent and did not snatch food when they saw someone coming to deliver food. Those who were close to the cell door got the wowotou and went back.
Passing on, everything is in an orderly manner, without robbing each other. Maybe for them, this little gadget is just a life-threatening thing that allows them to continue to live. The desire for food has probably been cut off by everyone here.
.
The burly old man was also in the queue for distributing food. However, when he came in, he did not distribute food immediately. Instead, he looked inside the prison as if he was looking for someone.
After a while, he took steps towards the cell where Chong Chenzi was.
As soon as he arrived, the old man opened the food box and handed the steamed buns in. The person inside was still calm and took it and passed it inside.
When Chong Chenzi got the Wowotou, he frowned subconsciously.
Looking at the yellow and scratchy dough head in his hand, Chong Chenzi clearly noticed something strange. He gently opened the dough head, and a flash of white light flashed inside.
There is actually a spiritual stone wrapped in the wowotou.
This spiritual stone contains spiritual energy, which is the best auxiliary to assist cultivators in their practice. When the spiritual energy is exhausted today, I don’t know how many cultivators are relying on this natural spiritual stone to practice.
Why is this thing caught in the wowotou?
Chong Chenzi looked at the old man outside the cage with doubtful eyes.
The two old men looked at each other across a wooden fence. The man inside had complicated eyes, ranging from joy to worry, but the man outside just had a smile, and his big white teeth stood out in the dark prison.
"Junior Xiao Jinfeng has met Taoist Priest Chong Chenzi."
Xiao Jinfeng used his advanced martial arts to gather sound into a line, and only Chong Chenzi could hear what he said, so in the eyes of others, Xiao Jinfeng just opened his mouth and did not speak.
This old man was none other than Xiao Jinfeng, a famous martial artist in the Song Dynasty, a master of the ninth level of physical training. When a group of martial arts people went to the small dilapidated temple where Xie Changyuan lived to drink and eat meat, he was one of the leaders.
"Taoist priest doesn't need to answer me, just listen to the junior's explanation."
Xiao Jinfeng quickly spoke to Chenzi, who listened carefully, his expression slowly changed from confusion at the beginning to understanding, and even his brows relaxed a little.
During the time they were communicating, other monks and Taoists in the cell also discovered the spiritual stones hidden in the nests. Good guy, there was one for each person!
The calm atmosphere was broken. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. You looked at my wowotou, I looked at yours, and finally confirmed that this was the real spirit stone.
"Taoist Master Lao will tell the rest of the following matters. Next, I will send you spiritual stones, so I'll say goodbye."
After Xiao Jinfeng finished passing on these words, it was time to distribute meals, so he followed the crowd and left the prison.
Xiao Jinfeng and Chong Chenzi both looked like old men, but the juniors claimed that there was nothing wrong with them.
After all, Xiao Jinfeng is only in his early eighties this year, and Chong Chenzi is already over one hundred and thirty years old. Although the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is exhausted, cultivators will eventually live longer.
After Xiao Jinfeng left, Chong Chenzi held the spirit stone in his hand and was lost in thought for a moment. Then he suddenly smiled and handed the spirit stone to an old monk beside him.
He sighed, "I didn't expect this to be a variable, Xie Changyuan... Xie Changyuan, good, good, good!"