Strange Stories

Chapter 534 You Lost This Time

Unconsciously, the road starting from Hongye Temple has been connected to the suspended pavilion deep in Fengshan Mountain. The storage pavilion on the cliff was repaired first, and with the help of Pumei, the suspended corridor was also quickly built. Now, on this cliff, in addition to the cloud pavilion and ancient pine trees, there is also a winding suspended corridor plank road connected to it. At first glance, it really doesn't look like something that can be built by humans.

When the setting sun dyes the cliffs golden, the eaves of each pavilion and palace cast clear shadow boundaries, the air is filled with fairy air, and egrets fly gracefully. Anyone who sees it will be amazed.

The supervisor climbed the eaves and walls, touched the tiles of the storage room with his claws, shook the railing of the plank corridor, turned around and jumped back lightly, turned around in the air, flew down with the wind, and landed on the newly built mountain road in the forest in the distance, looking up at the panoramic view.

Fuyao was very satisfied.

Not far away, there were scholars and poets who were looking for immortals and Taoism. However, they could not see the palaces and pavilions on the cliffs in the distance, nor could they see the newly built road. They only felt that it was a dense forest. They walked with difficulty in the forest, supporting each other, talking in low voices, enjoying the scenery of the mountains, and looking for the immortals in their hearts.

The fox glanced at them, his eyes like glass, but quickly retracted his gaze and continued his inspection.

And there are even more tourists along the Huizhou River.

Lin Jue sat cross-legged on the grass, brewing tea while pondering the mystery of "dispersion and reunion", when a voice kept coming from his side:

"Master, do you think my son will be able to enter high school this year?"

Then there was a female Taoist's voice:
"How should I know..."

Just this one sentence is much more direct than that of ninety-nine percent of Taoists in the world today.

"Look!"

“How can I watch…”

"Don't all of you who practice Taoism know how to read it?"

"I can't..."

This kind of conversation is also a common occurrence when living by the river and flying down the mountain.

Lin Jue found it funny and turned to look.

She was a woman in simple clothes, and standing next to her was a shy young scholar.

The junior sister frowned, looking embarrassed.

Think about it, she is a Taoist priest who has never been to a school. She knows the Four Books and Five Classics less than ordinary scholars and knows nothing about the imperial examination. She is not learning spirit writing in the mountains but a laborer. How could she know this?
Seeing her like this, the woman wondered if she realized that "this Taoist priest can't tell fortunes", but she seemed to have figured out another point -

This Taoist priest won't charge any money.

"Then what can you do, Taoist priest? Can you perform rituals?" the woman asked again.

"That's right." The junior sister replied.

"I heard that there is a man in red clothes in the capital. Anyone who takes the imperial examination can pass the exam as long as he looks at them and nods. The Taoist priest is an expert. Since he can perform rituals to invite gods, can you ask him to nod to my son when he takes the exam? Oh, I would like to thank the Taoist priest..."

"This……"

The junior sister was suddenly in a more difficult situation and didn't even know what to say for a moment.

I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw my senior brother laughing beside me.

The junior sister's expression suddenly became serious.

"I am still a low-level Taoist, so I don't have the ability to do that, and I can't help the believers."

After a pause, he raised his hand and pointed to the side:
"But my senior brother has profound cultivation and high attainments. You can tell by his long beard. If you ask him, he will definitely know."

"..."

The woman made a judgment in her heart.

This female Taoist priest is really no good and has no special abilities.

Then he turned around and took his shy son to the Taoist priest with a long beard who was leisurely making tea.

"Master! Please take a look!"

Lin Jue turned around speechlessly and looked at that junior sister Fang.

The junior sister looked serious and looked at him.

Although there was little expression on her face, her eyes that shifted slightly from side to side betrayed the hidden feelings in her heart at the moment.

"Ugh……"

Lin Jue withdrew his gaze, sighed and shook his head.

The woman was shocked: "Why is the Taoist sighing?"

The shy scholar also became nervous.

"No, no." Lin Jue said quickly, "The believer has put the cart before the horse."

"How, what do you say?"

"There is indeed a man in red in the capital. Candidates who get his nod often pass the exam that year. But it's not because he nods that the candidates can pass the exam. It's because the man in red likes poetry and essays. He often can't wait to enter the examination room during the imperial examination to read the best essays of the year first. He will nod when he sees good essays, and these good essays will naturally pass the exam." Lin Jue said helplessly, "So the candidates who pass the exam are because they wrote beautiful essays, not because of the man in red's nod. Even the God of Literature in the sky doesn't have this ability, let alone a man in red."

"This……"

"what……"

Both the woman and the scholar found it strange.

It seems that the story of the man in red in the capital has spread here, or has spread to the present day, and has become "you can get into college if you get the nod from the man in red", and this is the first time they have heard such a saying.

"then what should we do?"

The woman said to Lin Jue anxiously.

Lin Jue glanced at his junior sister again and saw that she was still secretly staring at this direction, which really made her very angry.

But he could also understand the woman's feelings.

In those days, the imperial examination was the biggest and perhaps the only chance for children from ordinary families to change their destiny. Therefore, every year when the imperial examination was held, there would always be people who would desperately try all kinds of methods, running around the surrounding countryside to visit every efficacious and inefficacious temple to pray to the gods, just to add a little comfort and possibility.

So Lin Jue thought about it and said, "Of course there is a way."

"any solution?"

"There are roads in the mountain of books, and hard work is the path; there is no limit to the sea of ​​learning, and hard work is the boat."

"..."

The shy scholar behind him listened and nodded repeatedly.

The woman was a little angry.

Hard work is a path that everyone knows and everyone can follow. Do you need to tell me about it? She went through so much trouble to come here to find a Taoist priest. Did she do it to get you to help her persuade her to study?
This was neither the reason why she came here nor the result she wanted to achieve.

This Taoist priest is no good either! He has no ability!

Glancing down from the corner of my eye——

Even the book I was reading was blank, without a single word! I couldn't even make tea!

These three are most likely a group of fake Taoists.

The woman grumbled and turned away.

Instead, the shy scholar bowed to them and saluted, then hurriedly caught up with his mother, repeatedly urging her to slow down and not to fall on the path.

"Brother is still good at speaking." The younger sister came over and said to him, "I am ashamed of myself."

"Hahaha you..."

Lin Jue pointed at her and smiled, then poured her another cup of tea.

Before I knew it, I had been waiting here for more than two years.

Over the past two years, there has been no strange phenomena on the Feilai Mountain behind them. They don’t know if it is really fate or what, but the opportunity they have been waiting for has never appeared.

Fortunately, I am just practicing asceticism, so it is not a long wait.

Every two or three months, there would be some rumors about some noble official, some scholar or drunkard who encountered something strange here, or even saw waterfalls and giant snakes in the mountains. At first, the three of them thought it might be true, that fate had come to them and not to them, but after careful examination, they realized that it was all fake.

Even the giant snake and the waterfall were fabricated based on the words of previous generations.

However, as they lived here longer and longer, more and more people knew that there were three Taoists here. Often, like today, someone would come to talk to them, or someone would come to ask them for help.

Also, because this place was originally Huizhou, a place of worship for Emperor Yujian, Taoist Jiang lived nearby and often came to see them. Even Lord Yili came along once. Lord Yili had a connection with both Lin Jue and the little junior sister. When Lin Jue became an immortal, he was taken care of by Lord Yili. Therefore, they treated him well as a senior.

As I was brewing tea, the sky slowly darkened.

The sky changes gradually, like a dream, and is reflected in the river ahead along with the shadows of the mountains, bamboos, reeds on the shore, and the ferry. A fisherman wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, carrying a cormorant on his shoulder, walks across the stone bridge. The smoke from the cooking in the distance adds a touch of dreaminess to the scene.

Another huge mountain moon rose from the other side.

Just then, a ripple suddenly appeared on the water surface.

The reflection of the sky light shook and shattered.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a white fox, taking steps in the air, leaving traces on the water, and running straight towards this direction.

A sparrow behind me flapped its wings.

Lin Jue frowned, put down the teacup and stood up.

The first reaction was that a spirit had gone to the mountain to cause trouble.

However, the fox came running and stopped beside him, but raised his head and said only one sentence:
"long time no see!"

Gently and carefully filled with joy.

The Taoist's expression relaxed a little.

"Long time no see." Lin Jue touched the fox's head, "Why did you come here suddenly? Without even telling me."

"I came to find you! Let me tell you! Xu Yi has repaired the corridor on the cliff, and Pu Mei has also repaired the house on the cliff!" The fox said to Lin Jue.

The sparrow also flapped its wings quickly and flew over, landed on the junior sister's shoulder, tilted its head smoothly, and rubbed its head against her face.

However, Sparrow told Junior Sister:

"Ziyun also..."

"Ziyun has also repaired the road!" said the fox again.

"So that's it." Lin Jue breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the mountain behind him. "Is it worth it for you to come here in person? Can't you just let Chen Niu bring a message?"

"Chen Niu doesn't like to carry letters. He only likes to show people the way and let them carry the letters themselves..."

The fox said seriously, then rolled his eyes and immediately stared at the sparrow on the shoulder of the junior sister next to him:

"And Xiaohua misses her junior sister so much!!"

Foxes are indeed born liars.

But this couldn't fool Lin Jue.

So Lin Jue smiled slightly and patted its head: "In this case, it is indeed worth the trip."

He was just about to call his junior sister to take the fox and the cat away from here to meet up in the nearby mountains or in the city, but he had just taken a step when he suddenly felt something was wrong.

I heard the sound of flowing water from somewhere.

Although there is a river ahead, it is a quiet river with clear water flowing quietly and without any sound.

Looking back——

At some point, the mountain behind me seemed to have grown taller, towering into the clouds. Even the huge mountain moon that had clearly risen to the top of the mountain was only halfway up the mountain, partially blocked by the mountain's edges. There was also a thin waterfall on the top of the mountain, as if it was hanging in the sky, sprinkling down a stream of silk, and the water splashed and shattered the moonlight.

(End of this chapter)