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

Lu Xiaohua's home is rather simple.

Among all the houses, her house was considered relatively low.

When Zhang Zhengdao saw her, she was coming from Binhe, carrying a full bucket of clothes, her sleeves rolled up high, her hands red from the cold.

Zhang Zhengdao knew that Lu Tongsheng often wrote couplets and letters to supplement his family's income. He never expected that Lu Xiaohua would also help with laundry to help support the family.

"Taoist Priest..."

Lu Xiaohua, with her petite frame, struggled to carry a bucket of clothes, but she stubbornly persisted, swinging the bucket on her legs for support with each step.

Walking like this is better and saves some energy, but it hurts my legs.

Seeing Zhang Zhengdao watching her from afar, she became somewhat shy and put the bucket down.

The two looked at each other from a distance.

I came to see you!

Zhang Zhengdao approached, but not too close. Judging from her appearance, her face was flushed and there were fine beads of sweat on her forehead. She was afraid that she would catch a cold if the wind blew.

Lu Xiaohua smiled and said, "Daoist Master, there's no need for you to come all this way."

"Because I drank six bowls of wine when I came back from outside, I came to see you."

Lu Xiaohua twisted the hem of her clothes with her fingers and pursed her lips.

"Master, Lady Lu is of humble appearance..."

"Lu Xiaohua is beautiful!"

Zhang Zhengdao's words, especially in ancient times and directed at a young, unmarried girl like Yunying, were somewhat frivolous. He regretted them as soon as he said them.

Lu Xiaohua smiled, clearly very happy.

"Would you like to come inside for tea, Daoist Master?"

Is Lu Rutong at home?

Lu Xiaohua pursed her lips: "Father isn't home. He's gone to write couplets for someone. The Spring Festival is coming soon..."

Zhang Zhengdao nodded: "Then there's no need to go inside, let's just have a cup of tea here!"

Zhang Zhengdao definitely couldn't enter the house with a girl like that; if word got out, it would ruin the reputation of the unmarried girl.

Lu Xiaohua entered the room and poured Zhang Zhengdao a cup of tea.

Zhang Zhengdao said, "I would like to offer you this cup of tea as a token of my gratitude for your six bowls of wine."

Lu Xiaohua poured another cup of tea, and Zhang Zhengdao raised his cup, drank it all in one gulp, and then said to Lu Xiaohua, "Thank you!"

Lu Xiaohua also raised her teacup, turned to the side, and drank it all in one gulp.

However, just as Lu Xiaohua drank the tea, Zhang Zhengdao flicked his finger, and a wisp of invisible spiritual energy fell into Lu Xiaohua's teacup.

"Farewell!"

Zhang Zhengdao smiled, turned around, and drifted away.

Lu Xiaohua stared at Zhang Zhengdao's figure for a long time without saying a word. She felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her chest, and her face was burning. It seemed that the legendary stories in the streets were about to come true and happen to her.

For Zhang Zhengdao, the Chinese New Year is a very important event.

He didn't know how people celebrated the New Year in ancient times, but he knew how to celebrate it in modern times.

According to the rules of his previous life at Fuyun Temple, he would start getting busy on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month.

On the morning of the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Zhengdao instructed Hu Yunying to start doing the accounting.

"Bring me the ledger!"

When Zhang Zhengdao was sitting in the main hall in the backyard, he reached out his hand to Hu Yunying, who was being rather solicitous.

Hu Yunying was startled, but quickly calmed down.

Her accounting was a mess; even she couldn't understand it, so she didn't believe Zhang Zhengdao could either.

Sure enough, Zhang Zhengdao casually flipped through the pages and said, "We've been busy for so long, and it's almost the end of the year. We need to have some New Year's spirit. How about this, you call everyone over."

So Hu Yunying called Guo Lanying over.

Zhang Zhengdao asked, "Where is Shu Baimei?"

"Master, you told me to call the person over, not to call the ghost over too!"

Zhang Zhengdao: "Go and call the ghost over too. Lan Ying, you go!"

Guo Lanying went to the peach grove and called over Shu Baimei, the female ghost who was burying a corpse.

"It's Chinese New Year. After a year of hard work, the Taoist temple will be closed for the holidays starting today." Zhang Zhengdao said, taking out three large red envelopes.

The three of them happily accepted it.

Shu Baimei gripped the silver tightly and reached her hand out to Zhang Zhengdao.

"Sir, I... I don't really need the money. I'm a ghost, I don't eat human food, so money is useless to me. Why don't you... take the silver back?"

Hu Yunying had just taken the silver out of the red envelope, a total of ten taels, and was overjoyed when she suddenly heard Shu Baimei say something beside her, and her heart sank immediately.

Nima!

Ghost woman!

If you want to give the master money, you can do it behind our backs. But you want to return the money so openly before we've even left?

You've already returned it; should I return it too?

I've returned it. Should I return it to my apprentice, Guo Lanying?

Suddenly, the silver in my hand didn't seem so appealing anymore.

Just as they were in a dilemma, they suddenly heard Zhang Zhengdao say, "Take it, you might need it later. You don't need to take the money back. It's almost New Year's, and we won't be able to eat much, so we can buy some nice clothes."

Shu Baimei immediately pulled her fist, which was clutching the silver, back and put it into her purse with a smile.

Hu Yunying wished she could stab her a few times.

Even though you have your wallet on you, you'll say you don't need the money. Do you think your wallet is for storing your overflowing brain?

Pooh!

Fortunately, the Taoist priest did not listen to her.

It was on the evening of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Zhang Zhengdao had Hu Yunying and Guo Lanying prepare a large meal and treated them to a meal.

Early in the morning of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Zhang Zhengdao set up an incense table in the main hall of the Taoist temple, while Hu Yunying and Guo Lanying coordinated their actions by playing the flute and striking the wooden fish. Zhang Zhengdao, dressed in a formal bright yellow Taoist robe, began chanting scriptures and leading the way, inviting the Taoist priests who had passed away to return to the temple for the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, before dawn, Zhang Zhengdao woke up the two women, and the female ghost automatically drifted to the main hall in the backyard.

This is the most important time of the year for the Taoist temple, a veritable annual grand celebration.

In his previous life, Zhang Zhengdao knew that at midnight on this day, many believers would flock to the temple to be the first to burn incense. Burning incense at midnight was of utmost importance, and all the Taoist priests in the temple had to come out on duty to maintain order.

Therefore, Zhang Zhengdao was also prepared.

I gave a lot of instructions to the two women and the ghost very early in the morning.

For example, how to deal with overcrowding and disorder, how to get believers to queue in an orderly manner and make donations in turn, and so on, were all explained in detail.

Then he ordered the meal to be served.

Eating the New Year's Eve dinner at this time is a tradition in Zhang Zhengdao's hometown.

We started cooking around 3 or 4 a.m. Then, around 5 or 6 p.m., we ate our New Year's Eve dinner while waiting for dawn.

It is said to be a custom that has been passed down from the old society.

To prevent the landlords from coming to collect debts on New Year's Day, fearing they wouldn't even have enough to eat during the holiday, they ate their New Year's Eve dinner before the debt collectors arrived.

This later became a custom.

"While it's hot—"

Zhang Zhengdao picked up a large pork hock and handed it to Guo Lanying, who was busy preparing the meat.

Guo Lanying immediately beamed with joy.

Zhang Zhengdao put another piece of fish on Hu Yunying's plate.

May you have abundance every year!

Hu Yunying immediately picked up a piece of steamed taro for Zhang Zhengdao and said with a smile, "May you have abundance every year and your business prosper day by day."

When Zhang Zhengdao was about to ask, "Who is Zhengzheng?" or "Who is Shang?", he suddenly stopped. There were some jokes that couldn't be made about women in ancient times.

Zhang Zhengdao also opened a jar of wine.

As they ate and drank, the sky gradually brightened.

After they finished eating and drinking, Guo Lanying went to open the door of the main hall of the Taoist temple, and then went to open the outer gate of the temple to prepare to welcome the worshippers.

Only two groups of worshippers came on the entire Lunar New Year's Eve.

One group consisted of the family members of Sun Zhenjian.

More than twenty people came up, burned incense and prayed for blessings, then offered thirty taels of incense money, and then led the group back in a grand procession.

The other group came from Butcher Hu's family.

Butcher Hu and his son Hu Lie came together, along with a soup-making assistant. They brought several pounds of meat and a set of braised pig offal.

Zhang Zhengdao doesn't necessarily have to accept silver or copper coins; he can accept anything as payment.

After all, not everyone has money to give.

On ordinary days, some farmers also want to pray for good fortune, and they can offer rice, vegetables, or fruits as payment.

When they saw the father and son off, they could still faintly hear Butcher Hu scolding his son as they went down the mountain.

"When will you stop gambling and drinking with those frivolous friends? Our granaries are overflowing with grain, yet you still waste it all..."

"Dad, it's not proper to lecture people during the New Year."

"If I don't teach you a lesson, who will? All the wealth I've accumulated won't be enough for you to squander. What will you eat and drink then?"

Hu Lie said angrily, "When I win money, you don't scold me?"

Butcher Hu roared, "Still not changing? He'll only be able to become a Taoist priest in the future. Look at this Taoist temple, everyone's like beggars..."

These words were carried by the wind and reached Zhang Zhengdao's ears.

His face turned dark.

During the Chinese New Year, can you two keep your bickering out of me?

He secretly made a hand gesture.

Along the way, Butcher Hu was scolding his son when he suddenly tripped and fell, tearing a piece of his new silk clothes.

Hu Lie laughed heartily, but as soon as he laughed, he slipped and crashed headfirst into the mountainside, raising a large bump on his forehead.

The father and son, feeling ashamed to face anyone as they descended the mountain, covered their faces with their sleeves. They nearly bumped into Quan Laoshi, who was coming from the opposite direction, and quickly hurried away. Unexpectedly, Quan Laoshi still recognized them, bursting into laughter, and finally felt a sense of relief.