In the next half month, Qi Xuansu was afraid of "encountering" Zhang Yuelu when he went out again, so he stayed at home. In addition to reading the newspaper, he followed Sanren's methods to improve his cultivation. However, he was still far away from the Jade Cauldron realm, so it was inevitably boring.
.
The only good news is that his injuries have basically recovered and he no longer needs to drink soup.
In a blink of an eye, it’s the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th.
In the secular world at the foot of the mountain, this is an important festival second only to the New Year Festival, but Taoism does not pay much attention to the Mid-Autumn Festival.
There are three major festivals in Taoism, namely: the Shangyuan Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the birthday of Tianguan; the Zhongyuan Festival, the 15th day of July, the birthday of the local official; and the Xianyuan Festival, the birthday of Shuiguan on the 15th day of October.
These three days are the days of worshiping and worshiping heaven. Da Zhen and other real people must fast and bathe, and bow to heaven. It is very solemn.
August 15th happens to be between July 15th and October 15th, which is inevitably a bit awkward.
In addition, most of the Taoist sects are orphans without fathers and mothers, so on this day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is not much festive atmosphere in Yujing City.
Qi Xuansu went out and bought a jar of wine, several cooked dishes, a small bundle of ordinary incense sticks, and a stack of paper money, and walked out of the city.
Outside the city, the wind and snow were still howling, and the ice was bone-chilling.
Yuxu Peak occupies a huge area. Yujing City is located on the sunny side of Yuxu Peak. There is a huge cemetery on the shady side twenty miles below Yujing City. After Qiniang helped Qi Xuansu retrieve the master's body,
He was buried here.
The mountain road was originally difficult to navigate, but Daomen used manpower to dig out a relatively flat brick road that could be used by two horses to walk side by side. It used iron ropes as railings and led directly to the cemetery, so the twenty-mile journey was not too long.
Qi Xuansu braved the wind and snow to go to the cemetery and found his master's grave.
The tombstone in front of the grave simply says "Qi Haoran's Tomb" without any inscription. The font is elegant and is Qiniang's handwriting.
As Qi Xuansu himself said, when his master died, he was still very young and did not know his personal dealings or connections. He only knew that his lineage originally belonged to the Quanzhen Tao, but he did not know why he was later
After returning to Zhengyi Dao, he also became a disciple of Zhengyi Dao.
Qi Xuansu had neither a senior brother nor a junior wife. During the days when he was accepted as a disciple by his master, they were actually just master and disciple relying on each other.
In Qi Xuansu's impression, Master is not a righteous hero, nor a rigid gentleman, nor a free and easy knight, but an ordinary person with an easy-going temperament, just like most ordinary people in middle age.
Men are like men, they have all kinds of troubles, and they have lost the impulsiveness and spirit of youth. They are neither free and easy nor happy.
So Qi Xuansu remembered very clearly that Master liked to drink.
<
br> Master is not an alcoholic, he just likes the feeling of being drunk. In his own words, he can forget many troubles.
One drink can solve a thousand worries.
Moreover, Master's wine is very good. When he is drunk, he just stares at the sky and murmurs something in a low voice that no one can hear.
Qi Xuansu was still very young and didn't quite understand this mentality. He just remembered that his master looked very different from usual before he died. He was covered in blood, his expression was like a diamond's angry eyes, and his voice was like rolling thunder.
The last word "go" still echoes in Qi Xuansu's ears.
Maybe Qi Xuansu will never forget it in this life.
Qi Xuansu first placed the cooked food in front of the grave, and then placed the jar of fine wine that cost him a peace of gold in the middle. He didn't know exactly how to do it, but after opening the mud seal, the smell of wine was very strong.
In the past few years, Qi Xuansu has never had the opportunity to come because he mainly makes a living in the hinterland of the Central Plains. He takes the land route to Kunlun. The round trip takes at least two months. Although taking a flying boat is fast, it is too expensive, costing 100 Taiping each way.
Qi Xuansu couldn't afford the money.
Qi Xuansu lit the incense stick, placed it in front of the grave, and added some soil to the grave.
Then he sat in front of the grave, looked at the incense sticks, and said to himself: "Master, I have avenged you. People say that a gentleman takes revenge. It is never too late in ten years. It only took me ten months."
.”
"It's not that your apprentice is capable, but that I was lucky enough to meet Qiniang, and you were the one who helped bury her. Speaking of which, Qiniang is really the benefactor of our master and apprentice."
"Actually, I once had an idea, but I never dared to say it in front of Qiniang. If Master, you are not dead, then I think you and Qiniang are quite a match. If you marry her, you will repay your kindness.
It is said in the storybook, there is no way to repay a great kindness, you can only promise it with your own body. If you marry Qiniang, the kindness we owe you will be repaid. After all, we are all one family."
"It's just a joke, Master, don't be upset. Since Master can't pay back, then naturally I, the disciple, will pay back. As for how to pay back, Master, you will never guess. There is a plot about selling one's body to bury one's father in the storybook.
Today I can be considered as selling myself to bury my father. By selling myself to someone else, I not only bury you, Master, but also get my revenge. Do you think this deal is a good deal?"
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Today is August 15th. They say that people with a full moon are rounder and it is a day of reunion. We haven't celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in several years. Today we celebrate the festival and drink together."
It's windy on the mountain, even if
More than ten incense sticks were tied into a bunch and burned out quickly.
Qi Xuansu stood up, poured the wine in the wine jar on the ground, then rubbed three fingers together and lit the paper money that he had prepared.
The paper money burned out and turned into black ash and flew away in the wind.
Qi Xuansu got up and left the cemetery, walking towards Yujing City along the way he came.
When Qi Xuansu returned to Yujing City, it was almost dusk. By the time he returned to his residence in Haichanfang, the lanterns were already on.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, which Daxuan had been looking forward to for forty-one years, passed like this.
Qi Xuansu did not attend the dream meeting or meditate, but took a nap.
The next day is August 16th.
Qi Xuansu got up very early, changed into the attire of a seventh-grade Taoist priest, crane cloak, square-headed cloud shoes, Xiaoyao scarf, took the certificate Sun Yongfeng gave him, and left the house at Yinshi, came out of Haichanfang, and walked along the north-south "Shanghai"
"Qingdao" and walked towards Xuandu.
Yujing, the capital of Xuandu, is where the Taoist ancestral court is located, also known as the White Jade Capital in the Sky.
People in Taoism like to call the outer city Yujing and the inner city Xuandu.
Jiutang is located in Xuandu.
As for the Purple Mansion, it is the residence of the Grand Master, similar to a palace, and no one below the fourth-grade Taoist priest is allowed to enter without permission.
At about nine o'clock, Qi Xuansu arrived in front of the Xuanmen city gate.
Xuandu is the residence of Jiutang and some high-grade Taoist priests, and the access control is very strict. Generally speaking, low-grade Taoist priests will not come to Xuandu if they have nothing to do.
Qi Xuansu walked to the city gate with the sparse crowd. In front of him was a tall man carrying a three-foot broadsword. The so-called broadsword was probably the shape of the Yanyue sword, but the handle was changed from a long handle to a short one.
handle.
You must know that the most commonly used weapons among people in Taoism are various swords. Qi Xuansu's weapon is a dagger with a spiritual appearance. There are also knives, but most of them are Huanshou Dao, Hengdao, and Yanling Dao.
Lord, this kind of broad-bladed sword is extremely rare.
The tall man took out the ultimatum and handed it to the armored gatekeeper.
The so-called spiritual official is a protector of the Taoist sect. He also has the same rank as a Taoist priest, but is under the control of a Taoist priest of the same level. Within a Taoist sect, he is generally regarded as a lower-level Taoist priest.
These city guarding spiritual officers are all of the sixth grade, equivalent to the seventh grade Taoist priests, and are under the jurisdiction of the sixth grade Taoist priests.
The highest level of Lingguan is under the control of the first-level innocent Taoist priest, which is equivalent to the second-level Taiyi Taoist priest, and is not qualified to become a great leader.
After the gatekeeper inspected the ultimatum, he glanced at the broad-bladed sword carried by the man and pointed the spear in his hand.
The tall man didn't waste any time. He drew the sword out of its sheath. The cold light shone brightly. The blade was as clear as water, reflecting his face. There was a thin layer of frost on the blade.
The gatekeeper looked at it carefully for a moment, and then a slightly distorted voice came out from under his mask: "Put it away."
The tall man showed a bit of displeasure on his face, and slowly put the big knife into its leather sheath.
The guarding spiritual officer waved his hand, and it could be seen that the entire palm was wrapped in a gauntlet, indicating that the tall man could enter the city.
The tall man looked deeply at the gatekeeper and walked towards Xuandu.
When it was Qi Xuansu's turn, he handed over his ultimatum and took off the dagger from his waist.
The gatekeeper had checked the ultimatum, but had no intention of checking the dagger, and signaled to Qi Xuansu that he could enter the city.
Qi Xuansu smiled slightly, put away his dagger and walked into the city.
In fact, weapons are not strictly controlled within Xuandu. It is a matter of choice, which gives the gatekeepers room to flexibly control. Not everyone can see the restrained murderous aura in Qi Xuansu like Zhang Yuelu. At first glance,
Qi Xuansu is more like a harmless "flower garden Taoist", but the tall man in front of him is sharp and has a domineering air. He is not a good person at first glance.
This is the reason for the differential treatment.
The tall man who had walked out for a while just turned around and saw this scene, and couldn't help but snorted.
This was Qi Xuansu's first time to Xuandu. Compared with Yujing's chessboard-like structure of squares and cities, Xuandu's zigzag structure is more similar to today's imperial capital. Newcomers can easily get lost.
Fortunately, Tiangang Hall is famous and not difficult to find.
Qi Xuansu went north along the main road in the city, turned left after passing Nanhua Gate, passed Yangmiao, and exited Daodemen to Gushen Square. The building on the left side of the square is Tiangang Hall.
There is a hall master in Tiangang Hall, also known as Zhangtang Zhenren, who is held by the second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, Shenzhi Jinque Shanshi Zhenren.
There are nine deputy hall masters. The chief deputy hall master is also a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, but he is not qualified to participate in the discussions of Jinque. The other deputy hall masters have the same positions and different grades. Most of them are third-grade Youyi Taoist priests, and the lowest is
Zhang Yuelu, who has just been promoted to the deputy head of the hall, is only a fourth-grade Taoist priest who offers sacrifices to wine. She is at the same level as many of the principals. However, considering her age and being appointed by the rotating deputy headmaster Da Zhenren, she is even more senior than many third-grade Youyi Taoist priests.
Eye-catching.
Under normal circumstances, if there is no major event, the master of the hall and the chief deputy hall master will not sit in the hall of Tiangang Hall. Instead, several deputy hall masters who stayed in Yujing will take turns to be on duty. Today it is Zhang Yuelu who is on duty.