Strange Stories

Chapter 578: The Immortal Playing Chess with Tianweng
Fly to the foot of the mountain, in front of the cottage.

The fox sat upright, licking its fur.

Lin Jue looked up, taking in today's bright sunshine, and also looking at the mountains and rivers in front of him which already had a hint of autumn - the temple on the opposite bank had reached the stage of laying tiles, and the craftsmen were not in a hurry. Perhaps building a temple was a rare and good job for them. They sat on the roof, laying tiles and chatting happily.

"One day in fairyland is one year on earth. In front of the old man, there is really no time."

Lin Jue couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes." Another Lin Jue walked out from beside him, stood side by side with him, and also looked into the distance, "But this may also be a way for the old Tianweng to avoid the 'disaster'."

"Where can we find a mortal master who can play chess with the heavens?"

"I'll just have to ask around."

Before they knew it, the fox sitting in the middle had stopped licking its fur. It turned its head and raised it high, staring at them strangely, then kept turning its head to look at whoever was speaking.

Even the fox was stunned by what he heard.

"Then you can ask the sage for advice."

"Then you will comprehend the great Dao of heaven and earth and the creation of the universe."

"it is good!"

A thundercloud gathered out of nowhere in front of him, flashing with lightning and accompanied by faint thunder, but it seemed that even it couldn't tell who had called it or who it should take away, so it just gathered in the open space ahead.

Lin Jue appeared later, took a step forward and stepped onto the thundercloud. With a roar, he disappeared.

There was only one Lin Jue left here, which was good for the fox's cervical spine. It turned its head and stared at Lin Jue with a serious face. After a long time, it uttered:
"naughty!"

Then continue licking the hair.

As he was licking, he got no response, but instead heard footsteps. When he looked up, he saw Lin Jue walking towards the river.

The temple indeed had its prototype.

A typical Huizhou temple, like the Sangu Temple in Shu Village and the Qingdi Temple where Lin Jue had stayed overnight, although it is a small temple, it has more than just a small house. Instead, it has a main hall, two side halls, a small courtyard with a ceremonial gate and a courtyard wall, and a fish pond and a water tank in the middle.

Except for the incomplete roof tiles, the only thing missing was some grass and wood decorations, and even the statues of gods were transported here and placed in the yard.

Some believers have already come to burn incense and offer tributes.

"Some people said that this place is not good, but I think it is a good choice! There is a ferry here, with people going up and down by water. There is also a Feilai Mountain, and so many people come here to see it. Those who can come out to play are always richer and have more free time than us who are poor. In my opinion, the temple of Grandpa Emperor will have a lot of incense!" a craftsman said loudly.

"Yes, these tourists come here to ask for directions, to get some water, to hide from the rain, to rest in the cool air, so they have to burn three incense sticks, right?" another craftsman echoed.

"Are the fruits on the other side of the mountain ripe? I saw someone offering tribute to Grandpa Emperor today, and left some fruits there. According to the old rules, should we wait until we are done with our work before taking them away and eating them?"

"Grandpa Emperor has eaten! It's our turn to eat now!"

"Haha, there's still two taels of sacrificial meat!"

"Hahaha……"

It seems that building a temple here is indeed a good job.

The emotions of these craftsmen were really contagious; they were happy and at ease. Lin Jue was influenced by them and couldn't help but smile even when he was burning incense.

I just don't know whether this "after finishing the work, take the offerings from the temple away to eat" was told to them by Nan Tianshi in a dream, or by the eccentrics in Juxian Mansion or the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

In the green smoke, Lin Jue bowed three times before inserting the grass incense into the mud.

"The five internal organs look like..."

This statue is also exquisitely made.

However, this kind of new statue is generally not spiritual. Either the gods themselves have to come, or the believers have to make sincere sacrifices and offerings for a period of time before they can communicate with the gods.

Now that we are at Lin Jue's place...

After one stick of incense burned, the statue opened its eyes and looked straight at him. However, as it was still daytime and there were craftsmen busy on the roof, it soon closed its eyes again.

Lin Jue couldn't help but smile again——

There are downsides to achieving enlightenment, such as the passing away of old friends one after another, like leaves falling in the wind, leaving you alone and inevitably lonely. But there are also upsides to achieving enlightenment, such as no matter where you go, if you find a temple, you will most likely be able to invite an old friend to come and have fun with them wherever you go.

……

Right in Jiangnan, there is a chess master.

This master was still very young, about thirty years old, but he was already famous all over the world. Even in the capital, chess masters came to him to learn from him, and chess lovers also came to visit him. Even dignitaries sent people to invite him to play chess in their houses, teach their disciples, or even worship him as their teacher.

There are countless people nearby.

Lin Jue stepped on the thundercloud and stood on the tile roof of the street outside his home. People were coming and going on the street, but no one could see him.

Suddenly there was a whistling sound behind me.

When he looked back, he realized that it was a white fox coming from the sky. It quickly reached the thundercloud and looked up at him.

"How did you come?"

"Foxes can also have clones!" the fox said. "Foxes can also have clones!"

"I see."

Lin Jue didn't say much and continued to stare down.

The chess master's surname is Gu, and those who respect him call him Mr. Gu.

Below is the Gu Mansion.

The door of Gu's house was not open, but people kept coming to visit outside, all of them were related to chess, either asking him to play chess with them or asking him for advice. The doorman had no choice but to make a bitter face and politely decline each and every one of them.

The yard was quiet, with only Mr. Gu and his wife walking hand in hand and talking about chess, as if they were very affectionate.

"So many people!" The fox stared at the door below.

"Yes."

"They all brought gifts!" The fox looked at the invitations and gift boxes in the hands of the visitors, and then looked at the empty hands of the Taoist priest beside him. "Yes."

"That woman! She's a monster!" The fox stared at Mr. Gu's wife again.

"Yes."

"You are still very advanced!!"

"She doesn't have any evil spirit. I asked around when I came here. Both husband and wife are kind-hearted and generous, and they are both obsessed with chess." Lin Jue said, "Maybe she is just a monster who is also obsessed with chess and has found a chess master in the human world to be her partner. If it were from the past, it would be a good story if it were spread to the human world."

"See no evil!"

"Huh? You're teaching me?"

"You're just a clone!"

"You too?" Lin Jue smiled. "But you do make sense. Let's stop watching."

"What should I do?"

"I'll have to use the old method and disturb him in the dead of night." Lin Jue shook his head helplessly, "I'll review the chess game between me and Lao Tianweng to him in his dream and see if he's interested."

"Ah~~"

The fox yawned and sat down, scratching his head on his hind legs.

……

Mr. Gu had a sweet dream all night.

This dream was really elegant. He often had dreams about chess games. Playing chess, calligraphy and painting are all elegant things, so such a dream is naturally an elegant dream.

But today's dream was a little special.

The special thing is that this dream is not the usual dream of me playing chess with someone or encountering a difficult chess game, but another person brought a chess game to ask me for advice. Also, this dream is particularly real and clear. Every word and expression of that person to me, all the processes of the chess game, my answers and teachings are all clear to me now.

So much so that he now feels exhausted and dizzy.

"what……"

Mr. Gu couldn't help scratching his head and sighed.

A beautiful woman in white came in immediately. When she saw him like this, she immediately said with concern:

"Officer, what's wrong?"

"It was a long dream."

"Isn't it normal for people to dream?" The woman smiled at him and reached out to stroke his brow. "Why are you frowning?"

“It was a dream about a chess game.”

"Don't you often have dreams about chess games?"

"This dream is different. In the past, when I dreamed about chess games, I would start to forget them when I woke up, and by the time I sat up, I had almost forgotten them. But I still remember the chess game in this dream clearly, and it's very strange."

"Then tell me about it!"

The woman was also obsessed with chess. When she heard that he remembered the chess game in his dream, she sat down immediately.

Mr. Gu was also not vague. He frowned in surprise and thought about it while recounting:

"The person in the dream was a Taoist priest. He looked young, about 20 years old, but he was very generous and polite. He was also very frank in the dream. He told me frankly that he was playing chess with a celestial being, but his chess skills were too poor and the celestial being despised him. He also lost to the celestial being very quickly, which made the celestial being unhappy. He heard about me, so he came to visit me, showed me the chess game again, and asked me to give him some advice."

"What did the official say?"

"Of course I was interested, so I watched his chess game."

The chess master naturally had an excellent memory. He immediately took out the chessboard and started making moves according to the chess situation.

While making the move, he narrated:
"That man was also a chess player, with good skills, considered top-notch, but he was far inferior to the 'Tian Weng' he mentioned. And because the difference was so great, it was impossible to tell the skill of 'Tian Weng'. I only explained the game to him based on this chess game, and gave him pointers, explaining different key points to him, and replayed the game with him several times.

“The dream was clearly only one night at most, but I felt it was so long.

"Later, when he was leaving, he thanked me.

"He said that he would go to play chess with this celestial being on the twenty-first day of the first lunar month every year, and that he would come to visit me again next year.

“Now it’s like I haven’t slept all night.”

The woman listened to his story while looking at the chessboard and said, "Sir, do you suspect that the dream did not come out of thin air? Is it true that there are gods and monsters who came to you in your dream to discuss the chess game?"

"You mean there's such a thing?"

"There are quite a few such things in books and stories, but how can there be so many in reality? What's more, what is Tianweng? It is said that it was the name of the Emperor of Heaven in the past. Now the Purple Emperor is worshipped in temples. Where is the 'Tianweng'? Even if there is one, who can play chess with a Tianweng?"

The woman analyzed it for him with a smile.

No matter how she analyzed it, she didn't think that it was really a spirit that came to her in her dream.

This is because she is not actually a human, but a monster, and she believes that she has a very high level of Taoism, having practiced for hundreds of years, including the man in front of her. She has been with him for three lifetimes.

She slept next to her husband's pillow last night. How could ordinary gods or monsters come to her in her dreams without her noticing?
"My dear, you must be too obsessed with the chess game, and your hands can't help it, so you had such a dream. In the dream, you made up a story and a chess game, which consumed too much of your mind and energy, so you are tired." The woman rubbed his head with her snow-white wrist, "Dreaming is tiring, I will massage your head for you, and then I will make a bowl of tea for you to drink, and you will feel better."

"Maybe……"

Mr. Gu was skeptical, but had to nod.

"On the twenty-first day of the first lunar month...

"Playing chess with Tianweng...

“Come visit again next year…”

A year is really a long time.

(End of this chapter)