Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 108 Stumbling Block? [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang were having dinner.

In the afternoon, Wu Meiniang laid out Xuan paper and wrote several calligraphy pieces for the villagers in Sanlizhuang who had ordered a central hall. Zhou Yi, having nothing else to do, ordered a seal with the words "Peony Fairy" for her from a live-streaming seal-carving shop.

Once the goods arrive, you can stamp them and send them for framing.

During the meal, Wu Zetian seemed to be considering selling her calligraphy and asked about the price of her works.

Zhou Yi said with a smile:

“Apart from the works of a few famous calligraphers, the rest are not very valuable. Around the Spring Festival, the Provincial Calligraphy Association cooperated with a shopping mall to give away Spring Festival couplets. A pair of works by provincial calligraphers was 20 yuan, but no one bought them. There are a lot of fan paintings written by provincial calligraphers online, also 20 yuan, but the sales are very average.”

A calligrapher might spend their entire life practicing calligraphy and only earn a few dollars. However, compared to photography, calligraphy has the advantage of requiring less investment. Photography gear enthusiasts are even worse off, constantly buying lenses or on their way to buy lenses, truly embodying the saying that "photography can bankrupt three generations."

Upon hearing this, Wu Meiniang immediately abandoned the idea of ​​making a living this way.

After the meal, Wu Meiniang went to the kitchen to wash the pots and dishes, while Zhou Yi took a change of clothes to take a bath. Then, he took incense, candles, and offerings to the entrance of the main hall of Xiaopenglai, set out the offerings, lit the incense and candles, and began to worship the God of Fortune.

Other deities cannot be worshipped after sunset, but the Earth God can be worshipped anytime, day or night, rain or shine. The Earth God Temple has no gate, so that it can listen to the voices of the people at any time.

After lighting the incense and candles, Zhou Yi addressed the statue:

“I will come to offer incense and pray for you every day from now on. After a while, I will send you to the temple. Remember to protect the local people and cleanse the evil spirits from the area.”

The local earth god temple is unremarkable, but the stone statue of the God of Fortune and Virtue in front of us is quite extraordinary. It came from the Tang Dynasty and originated from Hunyuan Palace. It is the first external deity statue sent by Hunyuan Palace, so the requirements are naturally stricter than those for ordinary earth gods.

Zhou Yi recited the "Fude Zhengshen Mantra" once, and was about to return to his room to study Taoist scriptures to recharge himself when Hu Lijun suddenly called:
"Master Zhou... I think I'm... possessed by an evil spirit. My car keeps spinning in circles!"

His voice trembled, clearly showing fear and dread.

The Book of Changes is somewhat unexpected:

How did you find out?

“I returned to Xiuchuan County from the city at four o’clock this afternoon. It usually takes more than an hour to drive there, but I walked until dark and still couldn’t see the county town. Just now my son realized that we have passed five Huowangzhuang road signs. If we keep going, we should encounter more... Master Zhou, do you think I’m in a ghost wall?”

The I Ching suggests this is possible, but whether it is or not requires testing.
"Can you step on the brakes now?"

"Yes, but every time I slow down, I panic and feel inexplicably terrified, so I can only keep driving forward."

Why can't he stop? Could it be that there was a terrible car accident nearby, and he accidentally hit a vengeful spirit?
It is said that the wronged spirits of those who died tragically in the car accident will stay in the same place and harass passing vehicles until their resentment dissipates... If that's the case, then Hu Lijun is in a bit of bad luck.

Zhou Yi then asked:

"Where are you located right now?"

Perhaps because he had connected with the I Ching, Hu Lijun's tone was noticeably more relaxed:
“I’m on the provincial highway from Yiyang City to Xiuchuan County. There’s a road sign ahead. Turn left and it’s five kilometers to Laozhuang Village. It’s still about 10 or 20 kilometers to the county seat… But if I go any further, the car keeps lingering here. It feels like I’m stuck on this stretch of road.”

Laozi and Zhuangzi?

That sounds familiar.

Zhou Yi quickly returned to his room, opened the map software on his computer, and typed in the words "Lao Zhuang." Immediately, an index related to the village appeared:

Laozi and Zhuangzi's Tomb

Seeing this location, Zhou Yi had an idea:
"Turn left ahead to Lao Zhuang. Navigate to Lao Zhuang Tomb. I remember that Lao Zhuang Tomb is a small square without a gate. Just drive the car directly to the square and turn off the engine. If you don't have the energy, just sit in the car and wait for me. If you have the energy, get out of the car, go to Lao Zhuang Tomb, light a cigarette, and put it on the tombstone."

Whether it's a maze or something else, since the main road is blocked, take a side road. As long as you drive the car to Laozi and Zhuangzi's tomb, all problems will be solved.

However, relying on Hu Lijun alone would be a bit of a stretch, so Zhou Yi planned to drive over to meet him and take a walk along that road to see what was causing the trouble.

Without further ado, Zhou Yi called out to Wu Meiniang, who was clearing away the dishes:

"I'm going down the mountain. You stay here and guard the house. If any strangers break in, don't worry about the valuables here. Just leave through the main hall."

Wu Zetian nodded:
"I will take good care of myself. What is the Immortal Master going to do?"

“Someone has encountered a ghost wall, I’ll go check it out, and if possible, I might even earn some merit.”

After saying this, Zhou Yi slung his cloth bag over his shoulder, took the magic tools such as the money sword and compass, and also put a Bagua jade passed down from his grandfather around his neck.

When traveling alone, safety should be the top priority.

Once everything was ready, he drove his Wuling van down the mountain and headed straight for Laozhuang.

On the other side, Hu Lijun arrived at the intersection and encountered a red light. He turned left and drove onto the country road leading to Laozhuang.

The road was dark and uneven, a stark contrast to the bright avenue we had just passed. As soon as we turned in, Hu Lijun's wife, Wang Fengzhi, said timidly:

"Old Hu, is this road passable? We're not going to get stuck halfway, are we?"

Hu Lijun was also somewhat timid:
“Now that things have come to this, we can only give it a try. Master Zhou said that as long as we can get to Laozi’s tomb, that’s fine. You can use your phone to navigate and we can walk slowly. It’s only five kilometers away.”

He wasn't sure if Laozi's tomb would work, but with his wife and children in the car, he had no choice but to give it a try.

Hu Lijun gripped the steering wheel with both hands, turned on the headlights, and drove forward with complete concentration.

While he was driving, the car suddenly veered out of control and headed towards the ditch on the side of the road, as if someone had grabbed the steering wheel. He was so frightened that he quickly swerved the steering wheel and barely escaped a disaster.

Before he could even catch his breath, a white shadow appeared on the roadside ahead. It looked like a person, but he couldn't make out the details; it was all indistinct and vague.

Hu Lijun's hair stood on end, and he got goosebumps all over his body.

He glanced at his wife, Wang Fengzhi, and found that she looked perfectly normal, as if she hadn't seen the white shadow on the roadside... Could this unclean thing just be clinging to me?

Hu Lijun mustered his courage and drove forward. As he passed the shadow, he seemed to hear a chilling laugh.

The sound startled him so much that he trembled all over. Fortunately, he had already left the shadow far behind and didn't have to worry for the time being.

After driving for another ten minutes or so, Hu Lijun saw shimmering water ahead and could only turn left to detour, but the navigation system told him to go straight, and the navigation map also showed that there was a straight road ahead.

Hu Lijun was now at a loss as to whom to believe. He rubbed his eyes, wanting to turn left onto the road, but also afraid that the navigation was the correct one.

Just as he was in a dilemma, Zhou Yi called. As soon as Hu Lijun answered via Bluetooth, the left turn road ahead slowly disappeared and turned into a puddle, while the water ripples directly in front of him turned into the shape of a road.

This change directly broke Hu Lijun's defenses.

"Master Hu, where are you?"

“I…I’m still on my way. Where are you, Master Zhou? How far away are you? Honey, quickly send Master Zhou my real-time location on WeChat.”

Wang Fengzhi found it somewhat strange:
Why do you sound like you're about to cry?

Although she didn't understand, she still sent the real-time location to Zhou Yi, and then casually looked outside and found a white figure standing quietly not far from the car.

Wang Fengzhi was so frightened that she let out a sharp scream, like a boiling kettle, which woke up the two sleeping children in the back seat.

The scream startled Hu Lijun, who was about to slam on the gas pedal when Zhou Yi's gentle voice suddenly rang out from inside the car:
"The Supreme Star, constantly responding. Exorcising evil spirits and binding demons, protecting life and body. Wisdom is clear, mind is at peace. The three souls are eternal, the spirit is not lost. Hurry and obey the command!"

As soon as the sound faded, the white figure in the distance disappeared, and Wang Fengzhi stopped screaming, turning to look at Hu Lijun:

"Old Hu, did you see that too?"

Hu Lijun nodded heavily:

"Let's go to the village first and deal with the evil spirits by Master Zhou."

Now that things had come to this, Hu Lijun was no longer so nervous. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and drove forward with complete concentration. Inside the car, only Shen Teng's navigation voice pack was playing, which was extremely out of place with the current atmosphere.

After driving a short distance, we encountered another situation where the navigation and our vision did not match. However, this time the navigation instructed us to turn left, while our vision showed a straight road ahead.

This time, Hu Lijun did not hesitate and turned according to the navigation. As soon as he turned, a brightly lit village suddenly appeared in front of him, while the road that had been straight ahead turned into a dead end bridge.

Seeing the streetlights in the village, Hu Lijun felt as if he had finally come back to life. The road sign at the entrance of the village, "Laozhuang Village," brought tears to his eyes.

We finally arrived at Laozhuang! It was such a difficult journey!

He was extremely excited. As soon as he drove the car into the village, he saw countless white shadows following behind the car.

Hu Lijun instinctively wanted to rush forward recklessly, but in the end, he was able to restrain himself from stepping on the gas pedal thanks to his strong willpower.

At that moment, an elderly man walked towards the intersection ahead. If Hu Lijun had stepped on the gas just now, he would have hit the man.

After passing the intersection, a small square appeared ahead. The road sign for Lao Zhuang's Tomb looked both familiar and reassuring. This time, Hu Lijun didn't stop. He stepped on the gas and sped into the small square, then slammed on the brakes.

The car came to a stop. Hu Lijun rubbed his face vigorously, rummaged through the glove compartment and pulled out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes given to him by his superior. He staggered out of the car, his legs weak, and walked to Lao Zhuang's grave. He tore open the packaging, took out a cigarette, lit it with a trembling lighter, and respectfully placed it on the tombstone.

"I'm so sorry to have disturbed your rest!"

He bowed deeply, and as he stood up, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the poplar trees beside him...

(End of this chapter)