After a while, the carriage stopped in front of a small Taoist temple. It was a bit shabby, but the front door was very clean.
"Director of the trail, this is it. The door is not completely closed. There should be someone inside."
said the coachman.
Xu Ce and Ye Qian got off the carriage, raised their hands to the coachman and said:
"Thank you very much, husband, for sending me all the way. I'll say goodbye today."
"Little Taoist Priest, when you finish your work, you must come and sit at my home."
"Definitely."
The rumble of the carriage sounded again, and the coachman drove away.
"What are we doing here? Take me to eat something delicious!"
Ye Qian said.
"You just know how to eat. Don't be anxious and do your business first."
Xu Ce scratched the bridge of Ye Qian's nose and said with a smile.
"Doing business? What else can you do?"
Ye Qian didn't believe it. From the previous conversation with the coachman, this guy clearly didn't know the owner of this Taoist temple at all.
Xu Ce smiled and said:
"We encountered bandits earlier, and the person who cast the poison was very clever. If you hadn't sensed it and informed me, you would have almost hidden it from me.
Xiao Qian, aren’t you curious about who did it?”
Ye Qian looked at Xu Ce with contempt and said slightly proudly:
"Is it clever? Why don't I think so?"
"Forget it, I won't tell you this for now. Let's go see how Uncle Quan is doing."
After Xu Ce finished speaking, he knocked on the door.
"Who is it...the door is unlocked, please come in."
There was a voice coming from inside the house, a bit lazily, but no one came out to receive it.
This Taoist temple is a private Taoist temple, not a public Taoist temple in later generations. Anyone can go and offer incense, but here, one must obtain the permission of the Taoist temple owner before entering.
Xu Ce pushed the door open and entered. The Taoist temple was not big, and he walked into the main hall in a few steps.
What comes into view is that under the high beams, there are three Taoist statues of the Three Pure Ones. There is also a large stick of incense stuck on the incense table, and the smoke is lingering.
There were three people in the courtyard, an old man and two young men. Among the two young men there was a fat man. The food in the Taoist temple was good. This kind of physique could only appear in a wealthy family.
"But are you here to offer incense?"
The older man pointed at the incense next to him and said:
"The incense is nearby, you can take it yourself."
Xu Ce smiled and cupped his hands and said:
"Offering incense is the next best thing. You must be Uncle Quan. I came here this time to ask about something important."
The older man was stunned for a moment, then said:
"It's just Pindao. I didn't know you were..."
Xu Ce said:
"Xu Ce, Xiaodao, met Uncle Quan."
Uncle Quan was stunned again and called himself Xiaodao, which meant that the young man in front of him was also a member of the Taoist sect.
"I don't know who my little Taoist disciple is. What can I ask?"
"Xiao Dao comes from Renjia Town and studied under Uncle Jiu."
"Uncle Nine! Old Nine!"
A flash of light flashed in Uncle Quan's eyes, which was a touch of joy. He and Uncle Jiu were disciples of the same generation. The last time Uncle Jiu opened the 200 million Bagua Xuanguang Array, he also received the news and originally planned to go to Renjia Town.
Help, after all, Jinhe Town is not very far from Renjia Town.
However, Jinhe Town was haunted again at that time, and I couldn't escape it, so I didn't go there in the end.
After the ghost in Jinhe Town was caught, the matter in Renjia Town was settled.
"Are you Lao Jiu's disciple?"
Uncle Quan looked at Xu Ce happily, then looked at the stunning Ye Qian beside him, and said:
"Who is this girl?"
Xu Ce thought for a while, and with Ye Qian's current condition, if he said she was his maid, she would probably have to be angry with him again, so he said:
"She is my nephew's concubine, Xiao Qian. I haven't come to see Master Quan yet."
When Ye Qian heard what Xu Ce said, her head immediately buzzed, "Concubine, what nonsense is the smelly Taoist talking about? How did she become his concubine?"
However, Ye Qian did not refute, but deep down in her heart, she felt extremely happy.
Although she hates smelly Taoist priests...
"Xiao Qian has met Uncle Quan."
Ye Qian saluted Uncle Quan.
"Senior nephew Xu Ce, how good is your master Lao Jiu?"
"Reporting to Master Quan, Master is fine now. Thank you very much for your concern, Master Quan."
"By the way, you just said that you need to find Pindao again for something, but what is it?"
Xu Ce then briefly and comprehensively described what happened when he encountered the wave of bandits on the official road in the forest.
Uncle Quan frowned and muttered to himself:
"Gu masters are still very powerful Gu masters. In Jinhe Town, there seems to be no such person."
"No?"
Xu Ce asked.
Uncle Quan nodded and then said:
"At least Pindao doesn't know yet whether there is a poison master hiding in Jinhe Town, and I haven't heard of anyone who has been infected by the poison.
Well, but now that my nephew has encountered this situation, he should be more careful.
The evil skills practiced by Gu masters are difficult to guard against, so we must be more vigilant."
"That's right, my nephew means the same thing."
Xu Ce nodded.
"Abao, Xiaohai, why are you still standing there? Why don't you go and make a cup of hot tea for your senior brother?"
Uncle Quan looked at them still standing in the courtyard and said:
"Nephew Xu Ce, let's sit down and talk."
"good."
Xu Ce responded.
"Senior Brother Xu Ce, your tea."
Fei Bao held a bowl of tea and placed it on the table in front of Xu Ce, smiling:
"Thank you, Junior Brother Abao."
While speaking, Xu Ce looked at Fei Bao a few times and pretended to be confused:
"Junior Brother Abao, has anything happened recently?"
Fei Bao was stunned for a moment, scratched his head, and looked at his master, Uncle Quan, and smiled, but said nothing. After all, Xu Ce had just arrived, and even though he was from the same sect, he still didn't know him well.
.
Uncle Quan said:
"Senior nephew Xu Ce still has the art of fortune-telling? I remember that Lao Jiu is not good at these things."
Xu Ce smiled and said:
"My nephew had nothing to do. He read some books on his own. He taught himself. The master didn't teach me much."
"I see, that's no wonder, but my nephew can tell at a glance how A Bao looks these days, which is quite impressive."
"Uncle Master is so complimentary."
"Uncle Master, what happened to Abao..."
While chatting, Uncle Quan sighed and said:
"This bastard, eh, it's not all because of money. This bastard has fallen in love with the daughter of Boss Zhu who owns a restaurant in the town. She's also a child after all.
But the gift that the old guy wanted was too high.
We, the cultivators, have a pure heart and few desires. We rely on the incense in Taoist temples and occasionally helping the people in the town to do some trivial things, so we don't have any money.
It's okay to live a small life at home, but if you spend so much money at once, you won't be able to get enough unless you sell this Taoist temple."
Xu Ce suddenly realized that it was because of this. The issue of betrothal gifts was really a problem. Just like in later generations, many couples were separated because of betrothal gifts. Many true loves were tested by betrothal gifts and turned into unlovable ones.