TaiHao

Qinglin Town is a remote town in Chu State, where the Taixu Taoist Sect is the most respected religious belief. The Taixu Taoist Temple next to the town has all the functions of medical treatment, land belief, divination of bad luck, auspicious times and death days, etc. After all, the land god here was also canonized by the Taixu Taoist Sect. Even the ancestral temple of the land god exists in the Taoist temple. It is considered one of the exclusive gods of faith in the Taixu Taoist Temple in this small town, and will protect Taixu on weekdays. Taoist temple security.

Li Jian took Jiang Yuanchen and Li Wen directly to Taixu Taoist Temple to pay homage to the temple's owner. Don't underestimate these temple masters. If they are temple masters who come from the outer gate and have never passed on their status as temple masters to others, then their age alone is not too young.

In the past thirty years, Taixu Dao Sect's outer disciples have not yet released a generation of disciples. In other words, this Temple Master Zheng also came here as the Temple Master before the original demon tribulation. More than fifty years have passed since the demonic calamity, and it is absolutely impossible for him to live such a long life in the realm of nourishing qi. This means that he must have successfully built the foundation during the decades he was out.

As a member of the inner sect, Li Jian had some admiration for the foundation-building monks who had practiced hard after being released from the outside world, but that was all. What potential does a 113-year-old foundation-building monk have? If they don't get help from Dao Zong in the future, they will just get better treatment than those who are casual cultivators.

Zheng Xingfeng was counting today's incense and oil money in the temple when he suddenly felt a Taixu purple energy wandering outside. He immediately realized that someone from the Taixu Taoist Sect had arrived, and he quickly brought a few Taoist priests out to greet him.

"It turns out to be Senior Brother Li!" Zheng Xingfeng said in surprise after seeing Li Jian. It can be said that the two of them are the same batch of disciples who entered the outer sect, but it is a pity that their subsequent situations are very different. One entered the inner sect to practice immortality and attained immortality, while the other was released to the Taoist temple and wasted his time.

"Junior Brother Zheng." Li Jian had heard Jiang Yuanchen talk about it a long time ago, and he also said: "Junior Brother has been guarding one side for decades. Now that he has successfully built the foundation and entered the Immortal Sect, it is gratifying."

Zheng Xingfeng looked away: "My little brother was about to expire more than ten years ago, so he begged two low-grade foundation-building pills from his master. He used them to build a foundation and extend his life just to survive. I really don't dare to think about cultivating the Tao in the future."

Foundation building is known as the first level of immortality. After building the foundation, you can extend your life span. Although using low-grade foundation building pills will also reduce part of your life span, the increase is enough to give Zheng Xingfeng some hope. At least let him survive for a few decades.

Li Jian smiled and let Jiang Yuanchen out behind him. Even if I can't continue to cultivate immortality, I can't help but think there is a way to make progress based on the good relationship I had at the beginning.

"It's actually you?" Zheng Xingfeng saw Jiang Yuanchen behind Li Jian and said clearly, "Come back to see your parents?"

"Exactly." Jiang Yuanchen came out from behind Li Jian and saluted Zheng Xingfeng: "Thank you to Mr. Zheng for taking care of my disciple's family members these years, so that my disciple has less worries and can concentrate on the immortal path."

Disciples like Jiang Yuanchen who enter the outer sect to practice will have their parents and family members taken good care of by the surrounding Taixu Taoist temple. This is one of the reasons why Taixu Taoist sect spreads its mortal forces so widely. After all, the Immortal Way is not as ruthless and righteous as the Demonic Way. Each Immortal Way monk has his own relatives. Instead of going to the karma alone to settle the relatives, he might as well entrust the sect to take care of it, which can also enhance the cohesion of the entire sect. .

Looking carefully at the young man in the light blue shirt in front of him, Zheng Xingfeng secretly sighed: He is indeed a talent for cultivating immortals. Only eight years can match his previous decades of cultivation. I'm afraid he came back this time to see his parents and relatives, and then concentrate on building a foundation to seek immortality, right?

With a thought in his heart, Zheng Xingfeng also figured out the implication of Li Jian's words. That's right, if Jiang Yuanchen succeeds in his practice in the future, he can help himself even if he can't advance on the immortal path. Even if he can't advance on the path of immortality, he can help him get a priesthood and protect his soul with the body of the earth god.

"It doesn't matter, Pindao is just taking care of the disciples' relatives in accordance with the sect's rules. Your parents have their own livelihood, and your brother has fulfilled his filial piety on your behalf, so you should rest assured." Zheng Xingfeng said and welcomed the three of them. Go in.

Generally speaking, the family members of outer sect disciples can only protect three places. In addition to the blood relatives of their parents, they also have a brother and sister who perform filial piety on their behalf.

Although the Taixu Taoist Temple in Qinglin Town is not larger than the outer gate, its main hall is solemn and solemn, and has its own incense and aura. After the three people entered, they looked at the three solemn statues of gods in the center of the main hall, and respectfully invited three pillars of fragrance to worship the three statues.

The three statues of gods enshrined in each Taixu Taoist temple are different. Except that the one in the center is Tianyang Immortal Lord, the ancestor of the Immortal Dao inheritance of Taixu Dao Sect. The one on the left is Ziyang Zhenren, the founder of the Taixu Taoist Sect, and the one on the right is a sacrifice to the surrounding earth gods according to the situation of each Taoist temple. On the Qinglin Town side, there is Ronggong, the land god here.

After Jiang Yuanchen respectfully worshiped the three statues one by one, he said to Li Jian and Zheng Xingfeng, "I want to go back first to check on the situation at home. Please forgive me."

"Go. It just so happens that Pindao also wants to ask Senior Brother Li Jian about the inner sect."

Li Jian's eyelids twitched, and he understood that this man had something to say, so he also said to Li Wen: "Li Wen, you and your senior brother should go outside and take a look."

…

Li Wen looked around Qinglin Town curiously. This Qinglin Town was very different from Luojiang City where he grew up. Qinglin Town is simple and simple, vaguely revealing a sense of ancient vicissitudes.

"It is worthy of being a small town that has existed for hundreds of years. It has not experienced wars because of its remote location. It is not as prosperous as those big towns, nor as simple as small villages and villages. In terms of history, this small town has a longer history than the founding of Chu State. It's still early." Li Wen looked around and saw many shops that were only available in big towns, such as Rouge, Silver House, and Pawn Shop.

"Remember that senior brother's family has a bookstore, right?"

A bookstore is a business that makes a living by selling books. From time to time, it also sells pens, inks, paper, inkstones and other stationery, and sometimes also rents books. Although Qinglin Town is not big, it is enough to support their family of five.

"Yeah." After walking on this bluestone road for several years, Jiang Yuanchen felt quite complicated. Before I fell asleep with butterflies when I was young, I used to play happily with many friends on this path. But now, a few years have passed, and those people must have gotten married, right?

Jiang Yuanchen followed the path in his memory and went directly to his original bookstore. Suddenly, for a moment, the originally cold bookstore was replaced by a makeup shop, with many ladies and girls coming in and out.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Yuanchen went to the rice shop nearby to inquire about the situation, and then he realized that the bookstore had already moved to the south of the town.

Sure enough, things are different and people are different!

"That's all, let's just go home and have a look." Since Mr. Zheng didn't deliberately inform him of the move, the original house must still be there, right?

After Jiang Yuanchen left, a young man in the rice shop looked at Jiang Yuanchen's back thoughtfully: This man looks very familiar, as if he has seen him somewhere?

"What's the matter, Erlang?" A young woman walked out from the rouge shop nearby and put her arm around the man.

"It's nothing, I just think the person who asked for directions just now looks familiar. The Jiang Family Bookshop moved to Nanshi a few years ago, but I didn't expect that someone would still ask about his home." Wang Yuan smiled at his wife. , and turned to forget about Jiang Yuanchen.

The couple picked up the rouge and rice they bought and returned home.

…

"Senior brother, do you know that person just now?"

"Well, he is a playmate of the youth, I guess." Jiang Yuanchen responded casually, but it was a pity that time passed by and the former childhood playmates did not know each other when they met.

Jiang Yuanchen took Li Wen through the streets and alleys to a residential area according to his memory. This place is not like the book store that has been renovated. Although it looks a bit more shabby, Jiang Yuanchen can still vaguely see the original style based on his own memory.

Coming from a well-off family of five, Jiang Yuanchen couldn't help but hesitate a little when he came to his door. I knocked the door knocker lightly, but after waiting for a while, no one came out to open the door. Listening carefully to the movement inside, there was no sign of human activity.

"I think my uncle and aunt are all out?" Li Wen said, "Should we just go in and take a look?"

Nodding, Jiang Yuanchen cast a "wall-penetrating spell" and entered first, and then Li Wen also cast a spell and walked in.

Jiang Yuanchen is the second son. He has an older brother and a younger brother. Because their family is considered well-off, there is also their own exclusive room in the house. However, when Jiang Yuanchen came in, except for the main house which remained the same, there were now only two of the three side-by-side huts on the left. The big one and the small one seemed to have merged their original house into the big brother's. in the room.

Jiang Yuanchen's eyes narrowed, then he opened the door and walked into his eldest brother's room to take a look.

"Double happiness quilt, mandarin duck pillow. That's right, the eldest brother has already reached his prime, how can he not marry a wife?" After looking at his eldest brother's residence, Jiang Yuanchen murmured: "The eldest brother did not move out, but in order to marry a wife It's okay to merge my room together when I have a baby." Even so, Jiang Yuanchen was still disappointed.

Later, Jiang Yuanchen entered his brother's cabin again.

Jiang Yuanchen's younger brother is three years younger than him. When Jiang Yuanchen became a member of the Taixu Taoist Sect at the age of ten, his little brother cried a lot. The relationship between the two was not bad.

When I walked in and took a look, some traces of the original furnishings could be seen. Picking up a written article from the table and reading it, Jiang Yuanchen was amused: "It turns out that this guy is planning to become an official from literature, but borrowing history to reflect the present cannot be so simple."

He casually picked up a brush on the table and annotated the article before placing it under the inkstone.

"Senior brother, this looks like your handiwork, right?" Li Wen took a wood carving from the bedside and saw the word "chen" under the wood carving.

Taking the wooden tiger over and touching the notch on it, Jiang Yuanchen sighed with emotion: "It was a toy I carved myself. I gave it to my little brother before I left. I didn't want him to still keep it."

After putting the wood carving back, the two entered the main house to see the living conditions of Jiang Yuanchen's parents.

"It's not bad. The house is clean, the bedding is neat, and there are a lot of clothes. Most of them are clean clothes without patches. Mother's jewelry is also much more than before. I guess the life of the two elders is not bad." Jiang Yuanchen walked around and went to the right Check out the living conditions at home in the kitchen on the side.

"There is plenty of firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, and there are also a lot of fresh vegetables. You must have just bought them this morning, right? It seems that the family is doing well even after the eldest brother got married."

"Of course, even the silver coins you send back every year, senior brother, are enough for them." Li Wen said with a smile. Jiang Yuanchen and others would go down the mountain to perform rituals at the beginning of every year, and even went to the palace to host national sacrifices to the gods. Jiang Yuanchen was also given a hundred taels of silver by the leader of the Chu Kingdom. Because Jiang Yuanchen devoted himself to cultivating Taoism, most of his money had been sent back to his hometown, so his family could maintain their own food and clothing even if they did nothing.

"Well, since we can't see each other today, then-" Jiang Yuanchen had some thoughts in his mind, and suddenly heard the sound of unlocking from the door.

Then two women walked in together. Although the young woman was not pretty, she was pretty good-looking. Her gradually bulging belly and the middle-aged woman calling her mother to others also explained her identity.

"Is it possible that I'm going to be an uncle soon?" Jiang Yuanchen laughed at himself and stared at the middle-aged woman beside him.

My mother is getting older. She has a lot more gray hair on her head than she did eight years ago, and her face is a bit more aged than before. Jiang Yuanchen looked at his mother carefully and thought to himself.

The two women walked into the main house with a smile, without even looking at Jiang Yuanchen and Li Wen standing in the courtyard.

"Senior brother?" Li Wen saw that his senior brother instantly cast an illusion to cover up their bodies, so he asked in a low voice, "Senior brother, why don't you go up to meet us?"

"That's it! After all, there is a gap between immortals and mortals. After meeting this time, I don't know when the next time will be, so why bother thinking about the old lady." Jiang Yuanchen said to himself: "Speaking of which, my mother is already forty this year. She is now 40 years old, and her birthday is coming soon."

Using the wall-penetrating technique again, Jiang Yuanchen came to his brother's cabin, picked up the brush and a new piece of rice paper on the table, and drew a picture of a fairy boy congratulating him on his birthday. A fair and plump fairy boy is holding a big pink peach, with the word "Shou" written in ancient seal script in the center of the peach.

After the word "longevity" was written, the whole painting became more lively, and an inexplicable mysterious energy filled the picture of birthday greetings. After leaving a blessing charm on the longevity picture, Jiang Yuanchen took out another piece of paper and left a note of his visit before leaving the hut again.

Putting away his clothes, Jiang Yuanchen respectfully kowtowed to his mother three times in the courtyard before turning around and leaving with Li Wen.

While Jiang Yuanchen was kowtowing, the middle-aged woman in the main room looked towards the empty courtyard as if she was feeling something.

"Mom? What's wrong?" The young woman on the side saw her mother-in-law looking at the courtyard in a daze and asked hurriedly.

"It's nothing, I just felt a little sad suddenly -" the middle-aged woman came back to her senses: "Speaking of which, you are also a twin, so you should take care of your baby at home during this period. If anything happens, just shout loudly, Aunt Wang next door is also an old neighbor of ours, and she won’t ignore it when she hears something goes wrong..."

Then, the two Mrs. Jiang started talking about how to take care of the baby and keep in good health.