Chapter 260 You Are Indeed Ignorant
Taoist Qingxuan and Taoist Jiang invited Lin Jue and his companions to stay for a few more days. As they had not seen each other for several years, Lin Jue did not refuse.
Anyway, this temple is very large, showing the ambitions of the southern faction, but it is limited to its early stage, with only seven or eight Taoists and many vacant rooms and guest halls.
Taoist Qingxuan arranged a room for each of them.
Lin Jue returned to the room with the letter.
The letter was not sealed. When I opened it, I saw that it was filled with small calligraphy with flowers on it. The handwriting had some of the habits of ancient people, and also seemed familiar.
The content was written in front of Lin Jue, and it was nothing more than the Taoist's name, that he came from the Fuqiu Temple in Yishan, Huizhou, that he was the true inheritor of the famous mountain and one of the famous inheritances of the Lingfa School, which famous masters among the Taoists had emerged, what achievements the previous ancestors had made, and how joining the Juxian Mansion could help to exorcise demons and save the troubled times.
At the same time, he also specifically said that this person was the expert who eliminated the demon king of Runze County, and he hoped that the Ministry of Rites would pay more attention to it.
It is said that Juxianfu is now too bloated. Although there are not many capable people, the number of people is more than ever before, even more than during the You Dynasty, and the land in the capital is limited, so many officials have to spend money to rent houses outside. Even though Juxianfu has been passed down for several dynasties and has many official residences, there are still some "strange people" who have to rent their own houses.
Some of the really good ones can be assigned a small room.
Only a very small number of famous "celestial masters" and "experts" can have their own courtyard in the official residence of Juxian Mansion.
Taoist Qingxuan and Taoist Jiang knew that they had been practicing in the mountains and were used to having the whole world to themselves. If they were to live in a small house in the capital, they would definitely not be able to adapt. Therefore, they suggested that Lin Jue directly state that he was the one who killed the Alligator Dragon King to avoid a lot of trouble. Anyway, this matter had also spread in Runze County.
If he went to the Juxian Mansion and said that he had eliminated the Crocodile King, it might arouse suspicion, and it was very likely that the officials of the Ministry of Rites often heard the strange people in the Juxian Mansion say such things.
But with Master Jiang’s personal letter, things are naturally different.
This saves me a lot of effort.
Otherwise, he would have to either go find Master Yun Chan or Master Fan Tian. Between the two, Lin Jue was more inclined to the former.
The only thing is that I don't know to what extent the struggle between the nine heavenly gods in the capital and the human world has developed. Will this letter, which only mentions Taoist Jiang himself and does not mention Xuantian Temple and Zhenjian Palace in Qiyun Mountain, still be regarded as having some relationship with them?
However, Lin Jue is a Taoist from the Lingfa School, who practices freedom and ease. He does not have much intersection with the talisman school or gods. In addition, he does have some friendship with Taoist Jiang, so he does not worry about these things.
"It seems that the letter sent to Fuqiu Peak that year was indeed written by Master Jiang himself."
Lin Jue read the letter several times, muttering to himself, then folded it and put it in an envelope.
The biggest gain from this trip was learning the news about my third senior brother. A heavy stone in my heart finally fell to the ground, although it was only hanging two or three inches above the ground.
Stayed here for three days.
The other Taoists in the temple were very busy, but the two of them were free, strolling around the temple, sitting under a tree petting cats and foxes, and chatting with pilgrims who came to ask for advice. The other pilgrims could only eat vegetarian meals with little oil in the dining hall, but they cooked meat in the inner courtyard. It was quite comfortable.
Only at midnight did the little ghost quietly show up and find that they had moved to a strange place again. He was stunned for a moment, and then his face was blank again:
"It's over! I can't find the way again..."
When he stayed on the mountain before, he finally found all the roads around the mountain. Who would have thought that he would find himself in a strange place when he woke up.
It wanted to go out to find a way, but it noticed a divine light flashing from the house next door, which scared it and made it at a loss for a moment.
The Taoist priest next to him was sleeping soundly.
The fox tilted its head and looked at it.
Three days later.
Taoist Qingxuan and Taoist Jiang both came to see the three people off.
"You have received Junior Sister Jiang's letter, that's enough. With Lord Luo to lead the way, we won't take you to the official residence of the Ministry of Rites." Taoist Qingxuan said, "I won't say anything else. Anyway, this place is only a few steps away from the capital. When you are free, come and have tea, have a meal, and chat."
"Brother Dao, you don't have to see me off."
"correct--"
Taoist Qingxuan suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Lin Jue, "A strange thing happened in the Taoist temple and nearby these two days."
"what's up?"
"First, the day before yesterday, a pilgrim who stayed in the temple told me in the morning that he had a dream last night. He dreamed of a child. He didn't say anything else, but just asked him where he was and what I meant. I explained it to him according to what was written in the book. However, three pilgrims had the same dream that day, and the things were the same.
“Not only that, yesterday and today, pilgrims who live nearby also came to the temple and dreamed of the same thing.
"I discussed it with Junior Sister Jiang and we felt it must be a little ghost, but it dared to enter the temple and did not cause any punishment from the gods in the temple, so it should not be an evil demon and it has no bad intentions."
Taoist Qingxuan said as he looked at Lin Jue and Junior Sister. Seeing the obvious surprise on their faces, he was a little unsure for a moment:
"After thinking about it, I want to ask you two Taoist friends, do you carry a little ghost with you?"
Lin Jue and his junior sister looked at each other.
Luo Seng also cast a glance over.
The three knew that the little ghost would lead the way, but they didn't expect that the way it knew the way came from.
"That kid is about four or five years old, fair and tender, wearing brown clothes and a brown hat with a ball on top of his head?"
"Exactly!"
"Ha ha……"
Lin Jue laughed and bowed quickly: "It is indeed a sent spirit we encountered in the Western Regions. We didn't know it would do such a thing. We will definitely keep a close watch on it in the future."
"I don't mean that. I just want to clarify. That's all."
"But how does Brother Qingxuan interpret people's dreams?"
"This……"
A few of them laughed and said goodbye.
When you exit the Taoist temple, you can see the capital city at a glance.
It was a huge and majestic city. From this perspective, one could only see a high and wide city wall, a city gate in the middle, and a spacious official horse road leading to that direction.
There were a constant flow of vehicles and pedestrians on the road, and there were many stalls on both sides. A little further away from the official road, there were houses being built, some of which were residential homes, and some were shops. It was not as empty as one might imagine.
"Junior sister, do you want to go to the capital for a stroll?"
"miss you!"
The junior sister carried her bag and led the horse, and said without hesitation:
"I'm also going to buy some chickens and ducks to feed them."
"I really should buy some chickens and ducks to raise."
"Buy a few more. The females will lay eggs. If senior brother comes back, we will eat eggs in the morning. If senior brother is not here, we will also eat eggs at noon. I will eat the egg white, Xiaohua will eat the egg yolk, and we will keep the males for the meat."
"You just eat eggs every day without cooking, right?" Lin Jue turned his head and glanced at her.
“I’m too lazy to cook.”
The junior sister scratched her head honestly.
"I'm too lazy to talk to you." Lin Jue walked over there, "Then I'll take you around the capital for a few days." "Okay."
"If you come across puppies, you can buy two to take home and feed them." Lin Jue said, "The little black one in Fuqiu Temple was pretty good."
"Yes. I'll buy it next time. I can only buy a few chickens this time. I also want to buy sheep and pigs, but I'll buy them next time." The little sister said, "I always buy one thing every time I come to the capital."
"It's good to have a plan..."
The three of them led their horses towards the capital.
Lin Jue looked at the shops and pedestrians around him, as well as the city wall and gate in front of him. He saw a team of soldiers guarding the city and many defenders standing on the city wall. He couldn't help but glance at Luo Gong.
"no need to worry."
Luo Gong seemed to see through his thoughts:
"These guards have used their connections and spent a lot of money to come here to stand guard and earn money. They won't worry about other things, let alone cause trouble for themselves. What's more, you are Taoists with golden certificates."
"Can I bring swords in?"
"Originally it was not allowed, but even decades ago, people in the martial arts world had their own methods. The capital is so big, how could there not be swords and knives in the city? Moreover, there are people selling weapons in the city, so this rule gradually became a dead letter. Ordinary people can bring swords and knives in as long as they don't hold them in their hands, wrap them in cloth, and pay the guards a sum of money, called the 'sword tax'. However, it is okay for Taoist priests with ordination certificates to bring a sword in."
"Where is Mr. Luo's gun?"
"The tip of my gun can be removed."
"I see."
Sure enough, the three of them walked to the city gate.
The guards immediately noticed the swords they were carrying, and saw the Taoist robes that the two brothers and sisters were wearing, and then they all stared at them.
Lin Jue then took out his certificate of ordination.
Seeing that it was a folded letter instead of the usual piece of paper, the guard's expression became a little more serious.
"We are Taoists from Huizhou. We came to the capital. We heard that there is a Juxian Mansion in the capital that can accommodate extraordinary people. We think we know some magic, so we want to give it a try." Lin Jue said directly, and pointed to the warrior with a sword behind him, "This is my protector."
When the guard heard what he said, he was stunned again.
This memorial was issued by the imperial court to those who had received the true teachings of Taoism. Although it was not necessarily true that one would be able to perform magic after receiving this certificate, if one took this certificate and went to Juxian Mansion again...
The guard did not dare to delay and quickly handed it back with both hands.
But he still looked at Mr. Luo behind him.
Luo Seng simply took off his mask, revealing a thick beard underneath, making it impossible to identify his true appearance.
"Since you are a real person, please come in."
"Thank you."
Lin Jue bowed to him and entered the city.
"Is it simpler than you imagined?" Luo Seng walked calmly beside him with a knife in hand.
"Yes."
"These days, most people are just fooling around." Luo Seng said, pointing ahead, "Go this way."
"Mr. Luo looks a bit like Chen Niu."
"There are some inns over there. We can't go to Juxian Mansion today. The two Taoist priests didn't ask you to stay in Zhenjian Palace temporarily to wait for news. They probably don't want people to think that you have a close relationship with Zhenjian Palace. Therefore, we have to find an inn to settle down first, and then go to the Ministry of Rites."
"Listen to Mr. Luo."
So I went to find an inn first.
Not long after, they arrived at the Ministry of Rites.
Luo Seng naturally did not go in. He just explained the general process to them and waited outside.
The junior sister accompanied him in.
When they heard that he was a monk who came to stay in Juxian Mansion, the clerks of the Ministry of Rites did not look down on him, but did not take him too seriously either. This was probably because there were too many "strange people" in Juxian Mansion.
An officer was quickly notified and asked to come in again.
Sitting in the small office was a young official.
Lin Jue stepped forward alone and handed over the letter:
"My name is Lin Jue, and I am a Taoist priest from Fuqiu Temple on Fuqiu Peak in Yishan, Huizhou. I heard that Juxian Mansion can provide a place for extraordinary people in the world to stay, so I want to stay here."
The young official looked at the letter, then looked at him:
"Where is Yishan?"
"Huizhou, Yi County."
"Where is Fuqiu Temple?"
"On top of Mount Yi."
"I am a little ignorant..."
The young official frowned slightly, but was actually secretly glancing at Lin Jue. This was a covert tactic often used by officials in the capital to ask for gifts.
But the Taoist in front of him remained unmoved.
The young official had to kindly remind him: "Although the Juxian Mansion accepts extraordinary people from all over the world to serve the court, even if the Taoist priest does have some magic skills, he cannot make up his origins at will."
"Although Fuqiu Temple is not big, it is also an orthodox and authentic one." Lin Jue was polite, but his words were very direct. "You are an official of the Ministry of Rites, but you have never heard of Fuqiu Temple. You are indeed ignorant."
"..."
The young official frowned again, but after thinking about it, his attitude became better. He lowered his head and looked at the letter in his hand:
"What is this?"
"When I was in Huizhou, I had an old relationship with fellow Taoists from Xuantian Temple. When I arrived outside the capital this time, I stayed at Zhenjian Palace outside the city for three days." Lin Jue said truthfully, "Master Jiang Ning from the temple heard that I was going to stay at Juxian Mansion, and was afraid that people in the capital would forget Fuqiu Temple, so he wrote a personal letter."
When the young official heard this, his expression immediately became serious.
The Zhenjian Palace was very famous in the capital at that time. The people introduced to the Juxian Mansion by the Taoist priest in the temple were not the ordinary ones.
So he quickly got up and took him to see the chief officer.
Unexpectedly, the chief officer was calm and composed at first, but after reading the contents of the letter carefully, he was so shocked that he stood up.
(End of this chapter)
