One Qi Chaoyang

Chapter 3 3: Wuze County
Nanling Prefecture is located in the border prefecture of the Great Zhou Kingdom. It has been under the rule of the Great Zhou for only more than 20 years. The Zhou court has always sent chief officials here, but they are useless. The officials in the counties below are just a decoration.

The local custom of practicing magic is very popular. Almost every family can raise Yin and feed Gu, and knows some local curse techniques.

These are practices that do not lead to immortality. Ordinary people can kill people without being noticed after practicing them for one or two years. Disputes often arise over water sources and boundary issues of spiritual fields, and of course there are fights over spiritual objects. As for secret fights and curses, they are endless.

Wuze County, where Zhao Fuyun was going, was located deep in Nanling Prefecture and was a county located deep in the mountains.

Some time ago, the Great Zhou Dynasty sent a teacher here because of the "Daozi New Deal" to try to educate and establish the Daozi Academy, but he died not long after.

The county magistrate was fine, but he was frightened. He applied for transfer several times, but the government office would not let him go.

He thought of a way to let the local people nominate someone to be the county magistrate, and then he would report it to the magistrate to get himself out of this situation. However, no local people paid any attention to him.

Zhu Puyi was very happy about Zhao Fuyun's arrival. At least he knew that he was a disciple of Tiandu Mountain. He felt that he finally didn't have to live in fear every day and didn't have to lock the doors and windows when sleeping every day.

He vacated a residence for Zhao Fuyun overnight, but Zhao Fuyun only stayed there for one night and did not want to stay there anymore. The county magistrate had nothing to do and was always hanging around in front of him, asking questions all over, disturbing Zhao Fuyun's mind and making it impossible for him to concentrate on his practice.

Zhao Fuyun first asked the county magistrate where his predecessor lived. The county magistrate said that he lived on a hillside by the river outside the city. Fearing that he might live there, he not only said that it was unlucky because someone had died there, but also immediately offered to help Zhao Fuyun find a place to live.

Zhao Fuyun did not want to live on the hillside outside the city, because in this city he could experience the life of the locals more closely.

Moreover, he also remembered his duty as a teacher. If not to educate others, he should at least train a few people to learn how to practice.

So the county magistrate rented a small courtyard for Zhao Fuyun near the county government office. This small courtyard was actually the backyard of a large courtyard. No one lived in the front yard, and there was a door separating the front and back yards.

Zhao Fuyun lives alone, so a backyard is just right for him.

In this way, Zhao Fuyun settled down here.

He had just arrived, and apart from his daily practice, he would walk around the county to take a look.

Wuze County belongs to a basin, and the county seat is located in the middle of the basin. It may seem small, but it is very large if the mountainous areas are included.

He was observing the county, and the people in the county were naturally observing him.

Within a period of time, he witnessed three fights of magic, four fights with weapons, and one inexplicable death due to a curse. They would not seek help from the government, but would settle their grudges in some ancestral halls.

He observed everything here silently.

Because he didn't care about anything, everyone gradually got used to the new teacher. Of course, this is just the perception of ordinary people.

Everything slipped through chaos and calm.

The calm one was Zhao Fuyun. Every day he faced east in the courtyard to absorb the purple air of the morning sun, and in the evening he absorbed the dew of the yin.

This practice is a process of achieving unity between man and nature, and requires long-term effort.

For cultivators in the world, the order of practice can be divided into: feeling the yin and yang of heaven and earth, refining the nature of the five elements, conforming to the changes of the four seasons, and understanding the intentions of ghosts and gods.

This is a sequence of practice, but it is not absolute. Throughout the ages, people have delved deeply into these four points, chosen one to focus on in practice, and then combined it with the other three to form a set of practice methods.

The orthodox Xuanmen often emphasizes a gradual process, and talks about the dual cultivation of body and mind. If one's practice is biased and seeks quick success, it is often easy to make mistakes. One may have unlimited magic skills for a while, but it is difficult to achieve longevity.

He knew very well that he was just a newcomer and did not have the ability to change the customs of this place. Moreover, when he was going down the mountain, the Taoist master also told him that if things could be done, then do it, but if they could not be done, then just practice in seclusion.

Today's weather was unusually clear, so he left the county and came to the river outside the city. The river was called Jiuquwu River, which meandered into the mountains. Even when the sun came out, the river surface was still foggy.

He was standing on the embankment by the river. Next to the embankment was a hillside covered with low trees.

It so happened that there were two groups of people on the hillside who seemed to be arguing about something, and he did not get close. The two groups soon started fighting, using fists and kicks.

Although Zhao Fuyun had practiced this kind of Kung Fu, he could not be called proficient in it. However, he could see that their Kung Fu was vicious and life-threatening. He came to the river to see the river view and to find another spiritual stone to make a demon-suppressing seal.

All he had now were the fire needles, which he had obtained from a piece of fire stone during a mission. He then bought some materials and spent all his savings to ask his senior brother from the Divine Craftsmanship Hall of the sect to polish thirty-six fire needles for him.

These thirty-six fire needles have been refined by him with his magic power day and night, and have become the only magic weapon in his hand that can be used to directly kill the enemy.

The foggy river was shimmering under the sunlight. A little further away, because the fog had not yet dispersed, there were fishing boats casting nets to fish, which seemed looming and like a fairyland.

At this time, the two groups had already decided the winner, and one man fell to the ground holding his stomach.

Zhao Fuyun walked around these people and came to the hillside, where he saw a temple and walked towards it.

The temple door was locked with a bamboo stick as a latch. He pulled it out and pushed the door open.

There is a statue of the god in this temple.

The statue was a newly erected rough stone statue, with the four characters "Red Flame God" engraved on the tablet below.

Throughout the Great Zhou, this deity has the most temples, because he was enthroned by the founding emperor of the Zhou when he climbed Mount Qiyun. After the establishment of the Zhou, there was a spell called "Red Flame Divine Mantra" and "Red Flame Residency Sutra" in Mount Tiandu.

Even the Divine Fire Talisman, which is a further step from the Fire Talisman, has an additional Red Flame Talisman.

Xu Yajun, who was killed by Zhao Fuyun before, had practiced the Red Flame God's Body Retention Sutra.

This kind of practice does not require any additional resources, and of course he has practiced it before.

Among the people of the Great Zhou, the most popular deity is the 'Red Flame God', who can protect the house and drive away evil spirits.

And in these days, he did not see anyone in the city asking the 'Red Flame God' to protect their home, so the statue in this temple must have been erected and carved by his predecessor.

He looked around and found that the house was still very clean. Walking inside, there was a yard. Although it was not big, it had all the necessary facilities. It was obvious that the people who lived here at that time planned to stay for a long time.

He pushed the door open and entered the bedroom, only to see a white cat sitting on the edge of the bed. The moment the door was opened, it looked back at Zhao Fuyun, then jumped onto the wall and then onto the beam, and slipped out through the gap in the eaves.

Zhao Fuyun looked at it for a few more times, then looked at the house again. The house was quite clean and it didn't look like anyone had died there.

Obviously it had been cleaned.

He looked around and found that the furnishings here were very simple, perhaps they had not had time to buy anything. There was a wardrobe standing there, but when he opened it, there was nothing inside.

Suddenly I heard some footsteps. I came out of the bedroom and saw several people coming out of the small temple where the statue of the god stood, and looking into the house.

Zhao Fuyun recognized them at a glance. They were the people fighting on the slope in front.

He didn't say anything. In his opinion, he and others could enter the temple as well.

He just glanced at them and then continued to look at other rooms.

"My Lord, what are you doing here?"

He just turned his head and the other party actually asked him first.

These words sounded like a question, with a faint feeling of interrogation.

Zhao Fuyun stopped, just like the wind blowing into the courtyard, and when it blew on his body, it suddenly stopped.

(End of this chapter)