A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

Zhang Zhengdao doesn't have much money right now, so his thinking is very simple.

Make money! Make money! Make money!

Making money is the most important thing.

Whether in modern or ancient times, if you have no money, even rats will leave some droppings on your house as a sign of their contempt.

In ancient times, there were no banks, no internet, and money could not be digitized.

But looking at these clumps of silver, you get a real sense of wealth. Then, when you put them into a porcelain jar, you can hear a "thud," the sound of silver clinking together.

Holding the porcelain jar, I felt its weight and a sense of contentment.

Where does happiness come from?

The degree to which the money is convenient.

Over time, he accumulated so much silver that it almost filled a jar. Even when Zhang Zhengdao wasn't setting up the Bagua formation in the peach groves in front of and behind the Taoist temple, he would keep an eye on every dog ​​that passed by the temple gate.

I feel a little more at ease now, but I wonder if one day a powerful cultivator will pass by, smell the silver in my jar, and forcibly break the formation to take the silver away?

Alas, Buddhism has the magic of containing Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed, and Taoism has the magic of having a universe in one's sleeve and the sun and moon in one's gourd. Unfortunately, these cannot be found in the original Taoist scriptures in Taoist temples.

In my past life, when I was working within the system and reading leisurely books, I learned that the phrases "universe in a sleeve" and "sun and moon in a pot" originated from poems, essays, and novels. There were no specific Taoist methods recorded within them, which is a pity.

Otherwise, if these silver coins were hidden in a space like a mustard seed or a pot containing the sun and moon, no one could steal them.

I used to want to get a dog, but now that I have Shu Baimei, this female ghost, to guard the house, I can even save the money I would have spent on a dog.

Studying Taoist scriptures has now become a required course for Zhang Zhengdao.

Improving his cultivation level is the foundation of Zhang Zhengdao's character.

Unfortunately, while the Bagua Formation can gather spiritual energy and improve cultivation, the improvement is limited.

Time waits not for us!

At sunrise, a wisp of primordial purple energy drifted from the east, having some effect within the Bagua formation of the peach blossom forest, though not extensively. The Taoist scriptures say: "The purple energy is most concentrated at the mountain's summit." If one were to cultivate at the mountain's peak, wouldn't the Taoist master have hope of achieving sainthood?

Zhang Zhengdao is a man of action; he does what he sets out to do.

After thinking about it all night, the next day he climbed to the top of Peach Blossom Mountain, sat cross-legged on the rocky cliff, and faced the rising sun, absorbing the primordial purple energy.

A radiant glow appeared, and the primordial purple aura flashed and disappeared.

Did you inhale it, or not?

Zhang Zhengdao opened his eyes and carefully sensed it; the golden core within his body seemed to be stirring restlessly.

Originally, absorbing the Primordial Purple Qi was merely a test. Whether the Primordial Purple Qi actually existed was only mentioned briefly in Daoist scriptures, which said that when the Dao Ancestor emerged from seclusion, the purple qi traveled 30,000 li to the west.

Who is the Dao Ancestor?

In any case, the Taoist patriarch on Earth was nothing more than a thinker and a simple idealist philosopher. Not a single word mentioned that he was a saint with boundless magical power and immortality.

Taoist teachings are nothing more than philosophy.

A rudimentary form of idealism.

In fact, according to what Zhang Zhengdao learned in university, philosophy is a discipline that guides all things in life.

The most famous of these are the three philosophical questions.

who am I?

where am i from?

Where am I going?

Zhang Zhengdao now feels stuck on these three questions.

who am I?

I am Zhang Zhengdao, and I am not Zhang Zhengdao.

I am Zhang Zhengdao on Earth, and I am not Zhang Zhengdao on Earth.

I am a Taoist librarian, and I also think I am a Taoist priest at the Peach Blossom Temple.

……

where am i from?

I come from Earth, and I also come from this world?

Where can I go?

Do I want to go to Earth? Or do I want to stay in this world? Or go to another world?

……

Sitting atop the mountain, Zhang Zhengdao's mind was in a daze until Hu Yunying ran over and waved from afar.

"Sir, there's business! Old Zheng from town is dead. Apparently, he tripped and fell to his death while trying to extort gourds from Widow Tian's family at the edge of the village!"

Now, Hu Yunying has been influenced by Zhang Zhengdao and is very interested in the chickens and ducks in the town.

It brought out the gossip factor hidden deep within them.

"It's said that the gourds grown by Widow Zhang... and Widow Tian are quite magical; they produced seven, each a different color. How strange, I've never seen anything like it before. That old bastard Zheng is no good; he's had his eye on them for a while now..."

"Laywoman, aren't you a female knight-errant from the Lingying Sect of Mount Emei?"

Zhang Zhengdao asked seriously.

Hu Yunying rolled her eyes at him.

Because she is a female knight-errant of the Lingying Sect, she is almost thirty years old and still cannot find a suitable husband.

I don't like those who are too old, and I'm not interested in those who are too young. Those with high martial arts skills are all old, and those around my age are middle-aged and greasy. Those who aren't middle-aged and greasy need my protection and coaxing, which is like raising a son.

Being a woman is hard, being a woman with exceptional martial arts skills is even harder! It's comparable to being a woman on Earth who gets into graduate school.

Ugh!

Which pot is not open to mention which pot!

"So you still remember I'm a female knight-errant? I thought you'd forgotten I'm a woman!"

Hu Yunying sways her hips as she walks.

"Amitabha Buddha, please, female benefactor!"

"Anima, fake Taoist priest, real monk, pui!"

Hu Yunying cursed inwardly. "I've made it so obvious, why are you still pretending?!" she thought. "Sigh, finding a good man is so hard!"

How much it resembles a horse feeder standing before a horse, whip in hand, declaring, "There are no horses left in the world!"

I went to the Taoist temple to pack my things.

Shu Baimei stood to the side watching in a ghostly manner.

"Can I go?"

Hu Yunying retorted, "Go keep Zheng Laoxi company, you two would be a perfect match!"

"No wonder nobody wants him, he's spewing filth!"

Shu Baimei responded.

"Haha, at least I can still spew, can you even spew anything out of your mouth? Old Zheng is a ghost, you two might as well just lock each other up!"

"What the hell..."

Zhang Zhengdao has a big head.

"What's the point of arguing? Old Zheng won't become a ghost even if he dies."

Shu Baimei was smug, thinking herself the chosen one.

"Only those with a Bagua formation like mine to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and peach trees to hold their souls in place so they don't dissipate into the world, can become ghosts!"

"Thank you, sir, for killing me in the Bagua Formation and burying me under the peach tree."

Shu Baimei performed a curtsy and squatted down.

Hu Yunying:...

"You shameless simp, you'll end up with nothing! Pah! How despicable!"

"Stop talking, let's go together, but don't show up during the day to scare people!" Zhang Zhengdao made the final decision.

"Thank you, sir!"

"I called you 'sir'!" Hu Yunying retorted angrily.

"Didn't you call yourself Young Master?" Shu Baimei stuck out her tongue. "A gentleman as jade on the road, unparalleled in the world, hehe, you idiot!"

Hu Yunying swayed her hips and said coquettishly, "My lord, look at her..."

Zhang Zhengdao was completely bewildered. He picked up his eating utensils and headed down the mountain on his own.

In Linbin Town.

At Zheng Laoxi's house, a mourning hall was set up in the main room. Several filial sons and grandsons were eating melon seeds and chatting at a table next to the mourning hall. When people came to pay their respects, the filial sons knelt down and kowtowed in return.

After the ceremony and a few pleasantries, they returned to the table to chat and eat sunflower seeds.

A large group of relatives, including aunts and uncles, arrived and chatted amongst themselves in the courtyard.

At the crossroads between Linbin Town and Lingzhou, two people were acting suspiciously.

One was dressed like an old farmer, and the other was dressed like a scholar.

"Hey Lao Liao, that vixen Shu Baimei and that old hag Xiao Yiren have been in Linbin Town for so long, and there's still no sign of them. Could something have happened to them?"

The scholar said to the old farmer.

These two are two of the Five Eccentrics. The old man is the charming scholar Liao Xiaochun, and the scholar is the bloodthirsty butcher Ba Tiannong.

Liao Xiaochun: "No way! If we hadn't encountered the Four Great Masters, what could have happened? In this martial arts world, besides the Four Great Masters, only the five of us are truly invincible. Who would dare to challenge us!"

Batianong: "Yes, but something just doesn't feel right."

"You've been in the martial arts world for too long, and you're becoming more and more suspicious."

"How about... we come back tonight?"

"Okay, I'll come to town tonight!"

The two reached an agreement and disappeared into the woods by the roadside.

When Zhang Zhengdao arrived at Zheng Laoxi's house, Zheng Laoxi's son, who was in his forties, served him tea. The people in the town respected Zhang Zhengdao more and more; whether they were gentry, local tyrants, or farmers, they all gave him face.

Ordinary people, when bragging to others, all say that they are very familiar with Master Zhang.

This is about saving face, a persona built on one's own unique business.

In the evening, Zheng Laoxi's family held a feast, and Zhang Zhengdao and Hu Yunying ate with their mouths full of grease. Although this woman was supposedly called the Butterfly Fairy, she had no fairy-like demeanor whatsoever, and she was even more aggressive in grabbing chicken legs than Zhang Zhengdao.

Amidst the flattery of his tablemates, Zhang Zhengdao became slightly tipsy. After a hearty meal and a few cups of tea to aid digestion, he began to work, breaking down his tools.

The Butterfly Fairy was originally a skilled xiao player, and now she's playing the flute to provide music for Zhang Zhengdao.

As night fell, Butterfly Fairy Hu Yunying played the flute, while Zhang Zhengdao played the drum and struck the wooden fish. With these sounds, the day's work began.

At the town's crossroads, two figures flashed and quietly entered Linbin Town, landing lightly in the night sky and crouching on the roof of a house.