From the Carp that Brings Children to the Celestial Officials

Chapter 24 I think you are so bold!
"Today, Baoer turns one year old. May the stars of fortune shine upon him, may the gods bless him with intelligence and wisdom, and may the earth protect him with safety and health!"

"One gift for each year, one inch of joy, the first week of the lunar calendar determines the future, and the boy is on the verge of great fortune!"

The elder of the Chen family in Dachenzhuang grinned with his yellow teeth showing that they were leaking everywhere, and was muttering to himself while shaking his head.

There was joy in the Chen family's house. Mr. Chen was holding the baby and smiling, as if he was ten years younger.

Soon, the servants set out the utensils for the "Zhuazhou" ceremony.

The tools for the one-year-old ceremony, such as brushes, gold ingots, seals, short swords, spoons, Buddhist scriptures, etc., are all neatly arranged.

"Gold, silver, and treasures are endless to choose from, and intelligence and literary talent are all available; let's see whether the treasure will become a scholar or a warrior, rich and noble, or a talented person in the future."

The elders of the clan have long been familiar with this kind of thing. After all, they rely on this thing to make a living.

In fact, the old man also has his own ideas about the "Zhuazhou" ceremony. What can children understand? As long as they are guided by appropriate words, they will naturally focus their attention on the objects that adults want to catch.

The little baby, wearing a red bellyband, crawled all over the table, looking at everything curiously.

"You have great literary talent and are destined to be a pillar of society in the future!"

For example, in this situation, seeing the baby crawling next to the brush, he suddenly started muttering something to draw the child's attention to the brush.

Catching the brush means that you have a good level of study and it is a good omen.

But the baby didn't even look at the brush, and continued to crawl forward until he came to the ingot.

"May your family be filled with wealth, your finances flow in, your business flourish, and you live a life without worries!"

The elder quickly added another sentence, but the baby continued to crawl forward.

"A bright career ahead, a meteoric rise..."

"Brave and decisive, protecting the country and the people..."

The baby grinned and kept crawling forward, but the elders became a little anxious.

If you don't take the brush, ingot, seal, and dagger, the prizes for the following items won't be so good.

Although the "Zhuazhou" ceremony is just a formality to liven things up, it will always look better if you get a good one.

The little baby crawled to the end, grabbed a Taoist scripture in his hand, and then giggled.

"With a pure mind and deep-seated good karma, this child is extremely kind and virtuous. He deserves to be a disciple of my Dao sect."

When the elder was thinking about how to start speaking, he suddenly heard a clear voice coming from the crowd, and saw an old Taoist with white hair and beard standing not far away.

The old Taoist was wearing a neat Taoist robe, cloud shoes on his feet, and holding a jade ruyi in one hand, looking like an immortal.

In this world, although the concept of gods and immortals is very far away from ordinary people, the culture of worshipping the mysterious and respecting Taoism is still very strong.

When everyone saw a Taoist priest who looked like an old immortal, they all greeted him.

"Mr. Chen, this boy is extremely talented. Why not let him become my disciple? If he becomes an immortal in the future, he can also bring blessings to our family."

The old Taoist took a step forward, and the road under his feet kept shrinking, and in the blink of an eye he was next to the baby.

He reached out and held the baby, and used a little of his magic power to tease the baby, and the baby giggled.

When everyone saw the old Taoist's ability, they were amazed. Mr. Chen also believed that the old Taoist was a man of great ability. However, he was reluctant to leave his grandson. After all, if he left home at such a young age, how could he survive without anyone to take care of him?

"This child will practice Taoism with me for sixteen years. After sixteen years, I will let him return to serve his parents. Only when his worldly ties are over will he return to the mountain gate."

The old Taoist stroked his beard and laughed.

After saying that, he walked out with his sleeves fluttering in the wind, as if he were an immortal.

But just as he reached the door, his steps suddenly stopped. Unseen by mortals, a line of ghost messengers, dressed in black robes and holding iron chains, flails, and water and fire clubs, stood in formation. In the sky, several wandering spirits, dressed in green official uniforms and with wings on their black gauze hats that resembled balls of ghostly fire, floated.

There was also a colorful carp floating in front of the crowd.

"That's the guy who came to Changning County to kidnap children!"

The carp spoke in human language and shouted with a malicious look in its eyes.

"I am..."

The old Taoist's heart skipped a beat. He didn't expect the local gods to arrive so quickly. He was already making the most of his time.

"Your mother, there's no point in talking about chivalry with this monster. Fight shoulder to shoulder!"

You Ming's face turned cold, and he immediately protected everyone in front of him.

What he hated most in his life was kidnappers. Now that someone was in his hands, he definitely couldn't let him go.

"no……"

The old Taoist wanted to explain, but a group of ghost messengers and wandering gods had already rushed over.

According to the rules agreed upon by Shinto and Xiandao, Xiandao can select talented and beautiful people from mortals, but they must register with Shinto, and all children must grow up under their parents' knees until they are eight years old before they can enter the mountains.

Otherwise, the child will be brought into the immortal world as soon as he is born. He will grow up in that cold environment and will not have any feelings for his earthly parents. This kind of thing is too inhumane and will not be tolerated by the gods.

Such acts of directly showing off in public and taking away children are all considered kidnapping.

The old Taoist's eyes turned cold. He had intended to communicate with these Shinto lackeys, but he didn't expect that they wouldn't even give him a chance to speak.

"Hoohoohoo."

A group of ghost messengers rushed over first. There were nearly fifty of them. There were gusts of cold wind under their feet, and they were waving the water and fire sticks in their hands with great force, smashing towards the old Taoist.

"Humph."

The old Taoist just waved his hand, and a brilliant mysterious light flew up, covering the sky and pressing down on the group of ghost messengers.

He is a third-level [Xuan Guang] master. To some extent, he is on par with a seventh-rank Shinto official. Unless the City God of Changning County comes, he will not be allowed to stay.

But he also knew that the Shinto was in trouble, so he didn't want to fight any longer. After blocking a group of ghost messengers, he wanted to fly away.

"boom."

But suddenly, a column of water appeared out of nowhere, fast and fast, and arrived in front of him in an instant.

The old Taoist was startled and was about to dodge, but two water columns appeared on both sides. He could only stretch out his hand and point, and a mysterious light appeared like a candle flame, ready to withstand the water column.

But when the three water jets approached him, they suddenly swam like pythons and wrapped directly around his body.

The exquisite control of this magic trick made him feel amazed.

However, he still covered his body with mysterious light.

"Om."

The three water columns suddenly contracted inwards, and the enormous force even shook his mysterious light.

"How can it be!"

The old Taoist could clearly see that this water column was just an ordinary magic trick. It was not easy to use it so skillfully. How could its power compete with the mysterious light?

Just as he was stunned, the ghost officials also surrounded him, swung the chains and wrapped them around the old Taoist's limbs, and then pulled him back. Several other ghost officials raised the flails high, trying to arrest the old Taoist.

(End of this chapter)