Qi Xuansu left Taiqing Square and walked all the way back to Haichanfang. As soon as he entered Beifang Gate, he met his neighbor Cui Daogu.
Qi Xuansu put away his thoughts and put on a smile: "Aunt Cui."
"Xiao Qi." Taoist Cui was startled when she saw Qi Xuansu, "Just in time, someone from Fangsi came to see you just now and said that someone sent you something and asked you to pick it up. You happened to be not at home, so you asked me
Send a message."
Qi Xuansu was a little surprised: "Aunt Cui is here for me."
"You're welcome, we're all neighbors." Taoist Cui didn't show too much politeness to Qi Xuansu. She hailed an ox cart and hurried away.
Qi Xuansu changed direction and walked towards Fangsi.
Yujing City has a city-by-city pattern, but it does not implement a city-by-city system. There is no curfew or access control. Furthermore, the twenty-four lanes in Yujing are huge, equivalent to the 108 lanes in an ancient city.
The Taoist sect has twenty-four divisions in each of the twenty-four divisions. Their functions are somewhat similar to the five-city army division in the imperial capital. They are responsible for patrolling the streets and keeping vigil, clearing streets and ditches, and enforcing fire bans.
As the development progressed, Fangsi's powers and responsibilities became larger and larger. Neighbor conflicts, mediation of disputes, issuance of certificates, etc. were also the responsibility of Fangsi. At the same time, Fangsi also had some functions of a post station. All letters and packages would be sent to Daomen.
The letter from the customer is sent to the corresponding office, and the office will send someone to notify you to pick it up.
Qi Xuansu came to Fangsi. It was a courtyard with two entrances. After passing the concierge, the first room was where the package was received. It was divided into two rooms, inside and outside. There was a table and a chair in the outside room, and a female crown was sitting behind the table.
, was holding a storybook with colorful illustrations and was so absorbed in reading it that he didn't notice Qi Xuansu coming in.
Qi Xuansu glanced at it. The illustration in the book showed a handsome young man and a rich lady, with willows and streams murmuring. They must be talented and beautiful.
Qi Xuansu waited for a while, but when he saw that the female crown had no intention of coming back to her senses, he had no choice but to reach out and tap on the table.
Only then did Nu Guan come back to her senses. After looking up and seeing Qi Xuansu, she quickly put the bookmark away, then closed the storybook in her hand and asked: "This fellow Taoist..."
Qi Xuansu said: "Get the object, Qi Xuansu."
"Wait a minute." Nu Guan got up and went to the inner room. After a while, she brought a package the size of a jewelry box, wrapped in oil paper and sealed with fire paint.
The so-called fire paint is to first melt the paint stick solidified on a copper stick on the fire, seal it with paste, and then stamp it to indicate that the recipient will open it.
Nu Guan put the package on the table and said, "Please show me the ultimatum, fellow Taoist, to prevent anyone from claiming it."
Qi Xuansu followed his instructions and took out his own ultimatum and handed it to Nv Guan. After checking that it was correct, Nv Guan handed the ultimatum and the package to Qi Xuansu.
Qi Xuansu thanked him and left Fangsi with the package.
The female crown didn't pay attention to this small episode and continued to sink into the world of the storybook.
After Qi Xuansu returned home, he went straight to the study and took a look at the name on the paint. There was only the word "Ah Qi" and he couldn't help laughing.
He had thought about it before and concluded that the only person who would mail the package to him was Qiniang, and the word "Ah Qi" confirmed his guess.
It's just that the name "Ah Qi" has a very girlish temperament, which made Qi Xuansu sigh that time is not forgiving, and Ah Qi eventually became Qiniang.
Qi Xuansu tore off the oil paper from the package, and there was really a jewelry box inside, with a small lock on it.
This kind of lock has no key and looks like a horizontal cylinder. It is divided into four parts. Each part can be rotated up and down. It has nine characters, a total of thirty-six characters. You must guess all four characters correctly.
The lock must be unlocked. If you miss three times, the mechanism of the box will be triggered and the contents in the box will be destroyed.
Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment, and based on his understanding of Qiniang, he turned out the four characters "Tian", "Xia", "Tai" and "Ping" in sequence, which were exactly the words engraved on the Taiping coin.
A soft sound and no movement, which means that the first opportunity has been used.
Qi Xuansu was slightly surprised, and then turned out the four words "Cheng", "Ping", "Wu" and "Worry", which were the engravings of Wuyou Qian.
Still not right.
Qi Xuansu became a little nervous. After thinking for a long time, he slowly turned out the four words "ping", "an", "ru" and "yi", which were the inscriptions on the Ruyi money.
Just a "click" sound was heard and the lock opened.
The lid of the box opened by itself, and the box was divided into two layers. A letter was placed on the first layer. The envelope was written in regular script: "Tian Yuan personally opened it" and was signed "Qiniang".
Qi Xuansu picked up the envelope and found that the seal was not sealed with wax, so he took out more than ten pages of letterhead.
A handsome stroke of regular script makes people easily think of a girl with eyes like autumn water and cold stars, rather than the murderous Qiniang.
Qiniang mainly said three things in the letter. The first thing was the follow-up in Fengtai County. After Qiniang reported the matter to the Qingping Association, the Qingping Association decided to convert Qi Xuansu from a peripheral member to a full member. Cipai
His name is still "Jincuo Dao", he has 600 meritorious deeds, and he uses the pseudonym Wei Wugui.
The other two incidents are related to Qi Xuansu's permanent job.
The first is the issue of remuneration after becoming a full-time official. The "child-mother talisman" is issued once a year instead of once a month. There is also ten yuan of worry-free money every month.
One Blood Dragon Pill and one Ziyang Pill will be officially distributed starting in September.
Then Qi Xuansu also has the qualification to participate in the second-level assembly of Qingpinghui. According to Qiniang’s introduction, the Qingpinghui is not as hierarchical as the Taoist sect. There are only four levels: A, B, C and D. Ding is the peripheral member, C is the formal member, and B is the official member.
They are elite members, and Class A is the core member.
Now Qi Xuansu is in the C class, but Qiniang is in the B class. Qi Xuansu is classified under Qiniang's name and can participate in B class gatherings.
Only then did Qi Xuansu know that there were two types of members within the Qingping Society, one was an independent member who voluntarily joined the Qingping Society, and the other was a vassal member who was forced to join the Qingping Society for various reasons.
Independent members can only enjoy the treatment corresponding to their own level, but they can make their own decisions in everything. Qi Xuansu is a vassal member, subordinate to Qiniang. The advantage is that he can enjoy some of Qiniang's treatment, such as participating in B-level gatherings, and Qiniang will also deal with his aftermath.
, and does not charge any fees. The disadvantage is that you lose some of your autonomy. For example, when you choose errands, Qiniang has full decision-making power.
Qi Xuansu had no objection to this. He had been here for so many years and there was nothing wrong with it.
As for how to participate in the gathering, a ritual spell needs to be prepared. Qiniang specially sent the materials needed for the spell, related usage and bill details. The fee was deducted from the coffin book that Qi Xuansu kept with Qiniang. Now there is less than one left.
Worry-free money.
Qi Xuansu put down the letter and opened the second layer of the box.
The second layer is several times deeper than the first layer. There are two candles, a box of incense, a small vermilion gourd, a stack of blank talisman paper, a box of cinnabar, a vermilion pen, and a fish talisman.
The fish talisman is Qi Xuansu's identity certificate. It was made by the Qingping Association using a secret method. It is unique. According to different colors, it is divided into "jade white", "golden purple", "silver scarlet" and "bronze green". Qi Xuansu's fish talisman is
It's silver in color, with the words "gold staggered knife" engraved on it.
In addition, the fish charm also has two uses, one is the "key" to enter the gathering, and the other is used as a sumeru object.
The so-called Sumeru object can be taken out of thin air by containing Sumeru in mustard seeds. The size of the universe contained in it varies depending on the appearance. The hidden universe of this silver scarlet fish talisman is extremely small, probably the same as the one sent by Qiniang.
Jewelry boxes are similar and can only be used to store materials used in ritual spells.
As for how to enter the gathering, you have to go through ritual spells.
Qi Xuansu waited patiently until midnight, and then began to prepare the spell according to the method given by Qiniang in the letter.
First, pour a cup of imitation candle dragon blood from the vermilion gourd. The candle dragon is the ancient mountain god and is regarded as day.
Silence means night, blow it means winter, and call it summer, its blood naturally has extremely magical effects. However, Zhulong has long since disappeared from the world, and its blood is nowhere to be found. Later, Taoism developed an imitation of Zhulong's blood, although its effectiveness is only
10% of the original product, but the price is still extremely expensive, equivalent to gold on the black market.
Qi Xuansu drew a picture of Pisces on the ground by imitating candle dragon blood, then placed black and white candles at the two points of the Pisces and lit them.
These two candles are not ordinary. The black candle is made from the blood fat of Lili, and the white candle is made from the blood fat of Philip.
Lili looks like a pig, has chicken feet on its feet, and barks like a dog. It is good at escaping from the ground, causing the ground to undulate wherever it passes.
Feifei looks like a raccoon dog, with mane hair and a white tail. Raising it can relieve people's worries.
Both are rare and exotic beasts.
There are also incense sticks, which are equally good, and are the famous "returning incense". Legend has it that there is a rejuvenating tree in Kunlun Wonderland, which looks like a maple, cypress, or flower. Its leaves are fragrant and can be smelled for hundreds of miles. Its roots are picked and boiled in a cauldron to extract the juice.
, refined like lacquer, it is the soul-returning fragrance. The fragrance can be smelled for hundreds of miles, and the dead body is on the ground, and it is alive after smelling the breath, so it is called "returning the soul".
The "soul-returning incense" that Qiniang sent to Qi Xuansu did not have such medicinal power. It could only warm and nourish the soul, but it was also extremely expensive. A stick of incense cost a worry-free money.
Hundreds of years ago, these three were extremely rare things that were marketable and priceless. However, a big change happened hundreds of years ago, and many exotic medicinal materials that had been extinct reappeared in the world along with the ancient immortals.
The Taoist sect has implemented controls on this. Strictly speaking, these materials can only be produced by the Taoist sect, but now they appear in the hands of the Qingpinghui. Zhang Yuelu said that behind many secret societies there are secret supports from Taoist sect big shots, which is absolutely true.
Qi Xuansu placed the fish talisman in the center of the Pisces formation, and then used a red pen dipped in cinnabar to draw the talisman on the blank talisman paper according to the pattern given by Qiniang.
The ink pen is worth five worry-free coins. The pen holder is made of mottled bamboo with stars and black spots in the green. The tip of the pen is red and translucent. It is made of the tail hair of a weathered weasel. It is used to draw talismans and get twice the result with half the effort.
Qi Xuansu finished the painting in one go and painted two pictures in a row.
Finally, Qi Xuansu took the incense burner, lit a stick of incense, and burned the two drawn talisman papers on the black and white candles respectively.
After doing all this, Qi Xuansu sat quietly with his eyes closed. After a while, he felt an overwhelming fatigue coming over him.
The candle was suddenly extinguished, and the blood stains on the ground gradually faded away, leaving only the diffuse smoke and the red dots of the incense head flickering in the darkness.
Qi Xuansu kept sitting cross-legged, with a calm face, steady breathing, and fell into a deep sleep.