Ranshan Sect

Chapter 30 Ranshan School

The White Jade Capital in the sky,

Twelve towers and five cities.

The immortal stroked my head,

and I received eternal life after my hair was tied.

This is the world he came from, the four most famous lines in a long poem written by a very famous poet in ancient times.

These days, Li Wuxiang has also wondered what this world is all about. In the end, he thought that this might be a "parallel universe" or something like that - maybe it was just a deviation at a very distant time point, so the customs and culture are quite similar to where he came from, and even the words seem to be.

But this can't explain the two lines of poetry he just heard! So many words, "just happened" to be combined into these two sentences, how small is the probability? He didn't know how to calculate it, but he knew it should be so small that it was "absolutely impossible"!

Has someone been here before him? After this thought popped up, he took a few breaths, and it seemed that the shock just now had subsided a little. That's right... If he can run to this world, maybe others can come too. One of the rituals for accepting disciples in the Ranshan Sect is to recite these two sentences and comb your hair into a Taoist bun. So, could it be that the life story of the ancestor that Zhao Qi was hesitant to talk about just now is strange?

I know too little about this world. After leaving Jinshui, one of the priorities is to form a more detailed impression of this world.

The next morning, Li Wuxiang got up early. He combed his hair and washed himself, revealing his white hair, but this time he didn't use charcoal black. If this hair was touched by a cautious person like Zhao Qi and he didn't notice anything unusual, then ordinary people shouldn't be able to see it either.

Then he found two newly laid eggs in the chicken coop. I wanted to leave one for Xue Baoping, but I really didn't want to look at the blood vessels in my neck when I saw her, so I drank them all myself.

When the mist on the horizon began to be dispelled by the rising sun, Li Wuxiang arrived in front of the Chen family.

The Chen family was not as grand as he thought. There was only a tall and spacious gate, no threshold, and two black painted door panels were open. The courtyard inside the gate was very large. A dozen soldiers were harnessing cattle in the yard, probably wanting to plow the land. The courtyard was not paved with bricks and stones, but red soil, with crisscrossing wheel tracks, which looked very much like the kind of big cart inn used to entertain traveling merchants in ancient times.

Perhaps they had already known that he was coming today, so the soldiers did not stop him, but just watched him while doing things. Li Wuxiang glanced at them and found that although these soldiers were short and thin, they were full of energy and looked relaxed. I think their daily life was not bad, at least they should be able to eat enough. From this point of view, these soldiers were more like long-term workers of the Chen family who were half soldiers and half farmers, and the Chen family was more like a small landlord in the stage of prosperity, which could not be compared with the big family in Lijiawan that had ruled the local area for more than a hundred years.

He walked into the yard and saw a row of stables and wing houses where the soldiers lived on the left. On the right was an old camphor tree, with bluestone strips surrounding the bottom of the tree. I guess people usually sit there. There was a row of hedges one person tall between the camphor tree and the wing house on the right. The saplings were thin and long, with drooping leaves. They looked newly transplanted, which should be to give Zhao Qi a relatively quiet and elegant space in the yard.

Two people were watching him from a distance at the entrance of the main hall. One was a middle-aged woman with a kind but not exaggerated smile on her face. She looked dignified and generous, but her eyes looked at him very carefully. She should be Chen Xiu's mother. Chen Xiu was behind her, smiling. When she saw him, she whispered a few words to her mother, then waved to Li Wuxiang, who stopped and saluted the two.

At this time, Chen Xiu pointed to the left again. Li Wuxiang looked over and saw that there were two horses in the stable and three people were serving them. Two of them were garrison soldiers, and the other was a man who looked old. He seemed to be teaching the garrison soldiers how to chop fodder carefully. This should be Chen Xin, the head of the Chen family. When Li Wuxiang looked over, Chen Xin also turned his head to look at him, smiled at him and nodded. Li Wuxiang bowed again and was about to go over to pay his respects, but Chen Xiu's mother waved to him from a distance and pointed to the wing where Zhao Qi lived.

Li Wuxiang understood that she was asking him to pay his respects to Zhao Qi first. It seemed that she also knew that Zhao Qi had a strange temperament and was afraid that he would pick on her.

This family of three left a good impression on him. He smiled gratefully and walked towards Zhao Qi's residence.

When he walked to Zhao Qi's door, he could still feel the gaze behind him. He stopped and listened quietly first, and heard a tiny movement inside the door that ordinary people could not detect. It was the sound of clothes rubbing gently on the door panel. It should be Zhao Qi standing at the door.

So he said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft: "Master, the disciple Li Jiye is here to see you."

Zhao Qi didn't say anything, so Li Wuxiang stopped talking, stood outside with his hands hanging down and his head slightly lowered.

After a while, he heard even lighter footsteps from the door, and could almost imagine Zhao Qi's appearance - slowly raising his legs and tiptoeing back to the chair in the room and sitting down. Li Wuxiang smiled in his heart. Zhao Qi was quite interesting. It seemed that he wanted to ask him to play the trick of Cheng Men Li Xue. He must have never accepted a disciple, and was afraid that his dignity was not enough and the disciples would look down on him, so he deliberately kept silent. Thinking about it again, maybe he came to see me yesterday, and he would regret it in the middle of the night, thinking that he was too rash and impulsive...

But now that he thinks about it carefully, Zhao Qi seems to be a little anxious about accepting a disciple. Why?

Li Wuxiang stood for another quarter of an hour, and then whispered again: "Master, the disciple Li Jiye is here to see you."

There was no movement inside the door, but Li Wuxiang heard the slight sound of turning a book. It was Zhao Qi who was bored by himself and started reading. So he remained still and slowly thought about Zhao Qi in his mind. He looks to be in his thirties, much older than he is now. In this era, he can even be his own father. I thought he was cautious before, but after these few contacts, Li Wuji's evaluation of him has changed a bit.

Zhao Qi's caution does not seem to stem from rational considerations, but from his lack of confidence in himself, fear of being looked down upon, or to put it more harshly, inferiority complex and sensitivity. In his previous life, Li Wuxiang met many such people, and he was even one of them. He knew very well how to make such people feel refreshed and have a good impression of him.

So he waited quietly for a while. The sun was rising at this time, and he didn't feel hot. Instead, he was warmed by the sun, which made him feel much more comfortable than at night.

Then he heard a snapping sound behind the door, as if the pen holder fell to the ground. Zhao Qi should have accidentally knocked it off.

There was an awkward silence for a while inside and outside the door, and Li Wuxiang said for the third time: "Master, disciple Li Jiye has come to see the master."

After a sound of footsteps, Zhao Qi opened the door: "How long have you been waiting?"

"Disciple should wait as long as he wants."

Zhao Qi coughed: "Do you know why I... my teacher asked you to wait for so long?"

Li Wuxiang immediately found an excellent reason for him: "Master wants to test the disciple's patience."

Zhao Qi hummed: "Yes, you are very understanding and patient. Come in."

Li Wuxiang walked into the house and closed the door gently. The furnishings of Zhao Qi's room are very simple, with a bed, a long table by the window, a chair, a small round table and two round stools by the gable wall. The wall should be newly painted, and there is a leather backpack with diagonal buckle hanging on it, a long sword, and a whisk. The floor should also be newly paved. The floor tiles are very new and only have some dust accumulated in the gaps.

Zhao Qi sat down on the chair, and Li Wuxiang stood a step away from him with his hands down. The two were silent for a while, then Zhao Qi coughed again and said: "This is also the first time for me to accept a disciple as a teacher. As the saying goes, the master leads the door, and practice depends on the individual. Why don't you talk about it first? Do you know anything about practice? How many."

Li Wuxiang thought for a while and scratched his head: "Master, I actually don't know anything."

Zhao Qi was stunned: "What do you mean you don't know anything?"

"It's just that... apart from knowing how to meditate, other things, such as what to do in daily life, where to go, and other things... I don't know what other sects are like or who their people are."

Zhao Qi frowned: "You should know about the Eight Mysteries, right?"

"Well, I only know that there is a sect named Babu Xuanjiao."

Zhao Qi closed his eyes and opened them again, sighing: "Babu Xuanjiao is not one sect, but eight sects - why don't you even understand this?"

Li Wuxiang couldn't help but smile in his heart. This was Zhao Qi's first time recruiting a disciple, and he was already starting to feel a little impatient.

He immediately looked panicked: "Master, don't blame me, there is something really wrong... Well, Master, you see, when my family was still there, one time my family hired a new worker and he had to write a contract. After he finished writing, he was asked to put his fingerprints on it, but the person didn’t even know where to put his fingerprints. At that time, I felt that he was a little bit a bit weird. Stupid. But later I discovered that he was actually quite smart, but because it was the first time I saw something like a contract, I didn’t know what to do... Now I should be similar to that person in front of Master. Master, you are well-informed. , there are many things that Master thinks are common sense, but mortals like me have never seen them, so they really don’t know.”

Zhao Qi's expression softened, and when he heard the word "mortal", there was a hint of pride on his face, so he sighed again: "Okay. Then I will start from the beginning as a teacher and tell you a little bit. ”

He hesitated for a moment, as if he was reluctant to say what he was about to say, but he had to say it: "What I am going to tell you next is the opinion of the Eight Mysterious Sects, and at the same time, it is also the opinion of the diocese in this world. ——You know the diocese, right? Well, just listen to the opinions of the mortals in the diocese. I will tell you the opinions of my sect and other sects in the future.”

"Babu Xuanjiao is an eight sect that worships eight spiritual gods. Zhenxing Tao is dedicated to Zhenxing Emperor of the Five Sacred Mountains who governs the mountains, Xuanming Dao is dedicated to Liudu Xuanming Emperor who governs rivers, seas and lakes, and Taiyang Dao is dedicated to Qianyang. The Dongjun Sun Emperor is dedicated to the Taiyin Temple, the Taiyin Emperor is dedicated to Suyao, who governs Kunyin, the Baosheng Road is dedicated to the Keats Baosheng Emperor, who governs the biochemistry of all things, and the Five-Function Path is dedicated to the Haotian Five-Function Emperor, who governs the five elements of heaven and earth. "

"These six sects have many disciples, and the areas they govern occupy more than six states in the world. These places are what you call dioceses. They claim to be the authentic sects of Taoism in the world. They feel that they are the same as those worshiped by the Netherworld Dao and govern the underworld. The Mother of the Netherworld has controlled all the avenues in this world and will use the remaining teachings to Pai Quan regarded it as a heretic and wanted to conquer it as long as he had some spare power. Wasn't there a occult sect in Jinshui Town a few decades ago? I guess it was the cultivators of the Sun Tao who wanted to occupy Jinshui as a parish. . If you walk around the world and encounter people from the six sects I mentioned earlier, you should be careful."

Li Wuxiang frowned and thought for a while: "Master, don't I need to be careful about the Netherworld?"

"The Netherworld Dao is also one of the eight mystical sects. However, there are very few followers of the Netherworld Dao. The dojo is unknown, and they don't like to meddle in their own business. So when you encounter them, as long as you don't provoke them, there is no need to be afraid." Zhao Qichangshu In one breath, he seemed to have finished talking about all the things he was unwilling to mention, and leaned back on the chair, "Are you thinking that there are only seven of them, so where is the eighth among the eight mystical teachings? "

"Yes, the disciples are all itching to death."

Zhao Qi laughed: "Okay, listen, the eighth of these eight mystical religions is dedicated to the Emperor Taiyi of the East who governs human nature in the world. No matter how little you know, you should know that there was a man named 'Ye' a long time ago. ''s dynasty, right? Today's Kyushu is The rules, etiquette, customs and habits of today's world were also passed down from the Great Karma Period. The emperor of the Ye Dynasty, who honored his name Li Ye, achieved Zhengguo, ascended to immortality, and attained the Great Dao. Emperor Taiyi of the East."

When he said this, he paused for a moment. Li Wuxiang knew what he was thinking and immediately asked: "Which sect is this emperor worshiping?"

A smile appeared on Zhao Qi's face, looking a little sarcastic. He snorted softly: "I can't say which sect it is. If according to the Babu Xuanjiao, there are a group of people in the world who like to practice swords and claim to be living swordsmen. This group of people can be regarded as the orthodox members of the Donghuang Taiyi sect. . But actually, there are a lot of twists and turns in this matter.

"When the Ye Dynasty was still there, Taiyi was worshiped by the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, which was the state religion. Later, the six of the eight mystical religions I mentioned earlier came into conflict with Taiyi, and the battle caused turmoil in the world. Ye Chaocai died. Taiyi was defeated and dispersed. The practitioners of Taiyi were good at using swords, and their disciples became increasingly rare, so the remaining group of swordsmen were considered to have inherited the tradition of Taiyi. To this day, the six sects are still chasing those swordsmen, so they like it. Let them say they are orthodox.”

Zhao Qi shook his head slightly again and looked at Li Wuxiang: "But in fact, the original Taiyi Dao monks were not only good at using swords, but also good at turning the void into reality. Have you heard of some magical rumors? For example, It is said that some strange people drew a handful of salt on the paper, and when the paper was shaken, the salt fell down? Or maybe someone drew on the paper? After drawing a little person and blowing on it, the little person came to life? Or maybe the characters and city scenes were drawn on the scroll, and it turned out to be a lifelike little world? Let me tell you, these are all the original Taidao monks. This is the real magic, and now, this lineage of Taiyi has been passed on to our Ranshan Sect."

Li Wuxiang finally heard what he wanted. Zhao Puppet put more than a hundred people into a small hollow brick, forming a small world of its own. He said that if he wanted to "refine Taiyi", he should use the methods of the Ranshan sect that Zhao Qi said, but they might be more subtle. Zhao Qi's statement about the Ranshan Sect must have a lot of boasting elements, but if the Ranshan Sect really has anything to do with what he said, and Zhao Puppet is really the leader of the Ranshan Sect, then his original The guess is correct - to ordinary people, he is considered a big shot.

Then...did he really die so easily? Killed by Xue Baoping's bowl of chicken blood?

Zhao Qi smiled: "Why, now do you know the importance of a disciple of the Ranshan Sect like you?"

Li Wuxiang immediately came back to his senses: "Master, then... can I also practice these immortal arts in the future?"

When he said this, he originally wanted to get over the moment when he was in a daze just now, so that Zhao Qi felt that he was shocked by those magical methods. But after saying this, I found that Zhao Qi's expression was a bit strange - the corners of his mouth first pressed down slightly, his brows tightened slightly, and then the eyes he looked at him relaxed for a brief moment, and then He smiled and said: "These are all advanced methods. If you work hard, you can do it one day."

An idea popped up in Li Wuxiang's head - Zhao Qi probably couldn't use the magical methods he mentioned. Because when he mentioned those things, he showed a moment of displeasure and loss. And then the look he looked at himself was even weirder, and that look was a bit guilty. Is it because you don’t know those methods, or is it because of something else?

Zhao Qi straightened up again and raised his voice slightly: "Let me tell you about the other sects. In addition to the Eight Mysterious Sects, the others are also divided into two categories. One category is those with Dharma stickers. The sect. The dharma tie was passed down from the time of the ye dynasty - that At that time, the world was in chaos. In addition to the Eight Mysteries, there were also many casual cultivators who were constantly fighting and killing each other, causing chaos in the world. When the world gradually calmed down after the collapse of the industry, some top masters. They gathered together and held an alliance meeting.”

"In that alliance, masters from each faction jointly refined thirty-six Dharma stickers. The Dharma stickers are the invisible and intangible 'Tao Luck'. With this thing, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth can be gathered in one place. Turn the ordinary Feng Shui into a paradise and a blissful place. Since then, with the exception of the Eight Mysterious Sects, all sects with Dharma teachings can be called authentic. Although it is not possible to talk about being in the same spirit and helping each other, at least it will not be easy. Attacking each other can ensure temporary peace in the world. "

Li Wuxiang thought for a while: "Master, then our Ranshan Sect..."

Zhao Qi snorted and waved his hand: "Of course there are Dharma stickers, and they are authentic. But things in the world are ups and downs, and there will always be ups and downs, honors and disgrace. It doesn't mean that you can sit back and relax with Dharma stickers. Isn't it true that the strong are respected in this world? , it’s not like there haven’t been people with Dharma stickers in recent years. The authentic sect was killed and taken away, so I tell you, you must be careful when traveling in the world. When the time comes, let’s not fight for the name of the authentic sect of Xuanmen. Many sects cannot be called authentic without dharma seals. There are many strong people, can they be famous for a while?"

Li Wuxiang nodded obediently: "Disciple, please remember. Well, Master, our mountain enshrines the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, but what about other sects? Are they enshrining gods like the Kitchen God?"

Zhao Qi said reluctantly: "Although many spiritual gods such as Kitchen God and Siming Zhenjun attained enlightenment early, speaking of these spiritual gods, they were originally under the jurisdiction of Taiyi. Since the fall of Taiyi, the diocese has All these beliefs believed by mortals outside the sect have been denounced as evil gods and heresies by the six mystical sects. Only the unconventional sects and casual cultivators outside the thirty-six sects will worship such spiritual gods."

Li Wuxiang wanted to ask if the other thirty-five "authentic" ones were also enshrined by the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, but seeing Zhao Qi's expression, he knew there was no need to ask. When he first heard Zhao Qi mention Taiyiyi and Fatong, he felt that although he didn't know what the Ranshan Sect was like now, it actually had a great background. But now that he heard the rest of it, he felt that he completely understood what was going on——

To put it simply, during the Ye Dynasty, there were eight major sects in the world. Among them, the eighth major sect, Taiyiyi, declined, and its disciples were scattered everywhere, and internal strife broke out, all vying for the only orthodox name - this is what it should be. What Zhao Qi said before was the period of chaos after the demise of the Ye Dynasty.

This group of people fought back and forth, and finally decided that this was not an option, so they held a meeting and decided that it would be better for everyone to stop fighting. It would be better to say that our thirty-six sects have all inherited the legal system of Taiyi, and everyone is authentic. , therefore, the thirty-six authentic sects should all worship the Eastern Emperor Taiyi.

But the other seven mystical sects did not seem to agree with their views. They only said that the group of "swordsmen" Zhao Qi mentioned were the ones who truly inherited Taiyi's legal system. It is not known whether there was any real reason or to continue to instigate internal fighting.

Coupled with what Zhao Qi said before, "The world is ups and downs, there will always be ups and downs, honors and disgrace. It does not mean that you can sit back and relax with the Dharma post. Now the world is not about the strong," and some details in Chen Xiu's mouth, Li Wuxiang is basically the opposite of Ranshan sect. We have the bottom line - although they are one of the thirty-six authentic sects, these "authentic sects" seem to have had good and bad lives in the past three thousand years. For example, the high-ranking families in the early ancient times, and today, perhaps many of them are better than Not as good as those inferior sects mentioned by Zhao Qi.

As for the Ranshan Sect, their numbers should have been withered long ago. Zhao Puppet was able to become the leader of a sect before even forming an elixir. After that, he disappeared for more than ten years. His disciples were all scattered, and only Zhao Qi came to find him. It's quite pitiful to think about it this way.

This is great. At least Zhao Puppet's death will not shock the world.

The chapter explaining the setting is not particularly interesting, but I had to write it because it was necessary.

But then think about whether it would be good to combine these two chapters into one chapter of 6,000 words.