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

Chapter 158 Zhao Ji oversees the construction of the Yiyuan Palace—a perfect fit for his profession! [Seeking monthly votes]

Zhou Yi held a purification talisman in his hand and looked at Uncle Ming, asking:

What's the story behind Zhang Tianshi's candlestick?

Uncle Ming was kowtowing so hard he almost cried:

"That's fake news spread by your grandfather to lure evil cultivators and wicked Taoist priests into his trap. Put it on for me now, I really can't take it anymore."

Zhou Yi was skeptical, but he still picked up the purification talisman and covered up the hastily drawn woodpecker tattoo on the back of Uncle Ming's neck.

Uncle Ming's kowtowing was finally interrupted. He lay on the floor, panting heavily, and kept complaining:
"If you're just here to watch the show, even if you're just a passerby, shouldn't you offer a helping hand?"

Zhou Yi grabbed the Heavenly Canopy Ruler and tapped it against the painting on the wall:

"I thought you were fighting amongst yourselves. When did you find out about me?"

“I knew someone was here when you opened the door. I mentioned your grandfather’s name to remind you that it was time to make your move, but I didn’t expect you to be so calm.”

Zhou Yi tapped on the painting on the wall, and the two tattoo artists immediately coughed up blood. Clearly, these paintings were done with their own blood.

It was probably originally intended to be a formation or something, but it became completely useless in front of the Heavenly Canopy Ruler.

After finishing the painting, Zhou Yi continued chatting with Uncle Ming:
"I put a concealment talisman on myself when I went upstairs, and I was just reciting the 'Spirit-Soothing Mantra' repeatedly. Your head was covered, how did you know it was me?"

Uncle Ming sat up from the ground. His balding forehead was bleeding from a cut, and he looked rather pitiful. But when Zhou Yi thought about the colleagues he had cheated in the past, he couldn't help but want to post it on his WeChat Moments.

When something happy happens, of course you should write it down.

Uncle Ming stretched his arms and legs, wiped the blood from his forehead with his sleeve, and mumbled:

"I've been in this industry for decades, if I didn't have this much skill, what would be the point of staying?"

Zhou Yi knew that the old man didn't want to tell the truth, so he didn't press him further and continued to tap the painting on the wall with the Heavenly Canopy Ruler.

Each time a painting is tapped, the eerie atmosphere in the room diminishes, and the two motionless tattoo artists vomit a mouthful of blood.

To be honest, this passive way of purging heretical practitioners is quite stress-relieving.

By the time all the drawings were finished, the two tattoo artists were practically half-dead.

Uncle Ming stared at the Book of Changes for a moment, as if recalling something, or perhaps sighing with emotion:

"When you were in your second year of high school, I went to Yunwu Mountain to visit your grandfather. I even caught a glimpse of you from afar at the school gate. Do you remember?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment, and vaguely remembered something:

"That year, did you bring my grandfather ginger duck and vinegar pork, as well as snacks from Quanzhou like sesame oil, peanut brittle, roasted pork rice dumplings, and taro cakes?"

Uncle Ming nodded quickly:

"Yes, yes, I bought them all. Didn't your grandpa mention me to you back then?"

Zhou Yi shook his head:

"He said it was sent by a fool, and told me to eat less so I wouldn't pick up his foolishness..."

Uncle Ming wanted to protest, but when he saw the Heavenly Ruler in Zhou Yi's hand, he immediately gave up the idea.

Respect for the dead is paramount; let Zhou the fortune teller make up a couple of lines if he wants.

Zhou Yi checked all the rooms to make sure there were no paintings that had slipped through the net, then asked:

"Grandma Ji said you got a huge order that would allow you to retire, and then you disappeared without a trace. Is this the huge order you got?"

Mentioning this made Uncle Ming even angrier. He stood up, leaning against the wall, and kicked the bald man hard on the head.

"Don't even mention the big orders. I only received some service fees. This bastard actually tricked me, saying there was a super big order that needed my presence, and he would give me five million if I came. As soon as I left the airport, I fell into their trap. If I didn't have some means of self-defense, I would have been turned into paint by these two bastards by now."

He kicked and cursed at the same time, and in terms of force, the two evil cultivators must have broken more than five of their ribs.

Zhou Yi neither stopped him nor helped him. Instead, he took out several talismans to ward off evil spirits from his bag and placed them in the Qian and Xun positions of the room. Then, he picked up a whisk and used it to purify the yin and evil energy in the room to prevent it from harming innocent passersby.

After finishing all that, he asked Uncle Ming:
"My intelligence says that this tattoo artist hired two accomplices. Is there anyone else?"

Uncle Ming pointed to himself and said:
"It was me. The two of them used puppet talismans to stick on me, and I lost control. I walked into this shop chatting and laughing with them... Should you deal with these two or should I?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and then entrusted the matter to Uncle Ming:
"You do it yourself, I'll go check other rooms." Upon hearing this, Uncle Ming didn't stand on ceremony anymore. He took off his belt from his waist, unbuckled it, and revealed a Bagua (Eight Trigrams) shape... This belt was actually a magical artifact.

Zhou Yi thought these two tattoo artists were really sloppy in their work, actually letting Uncle Ming carry his magic weapon; no wonder he could endure so much pain.

He left the tattoo room while complaining, went to the door of the next room, first used a compass to measure, then grabbed the Heavenly Ruler in his hand, and held the red leaf given to him by Wang Lingguan in his other hand, and pushed the door open and went in.

This must be a warehouse, filled with various tattoo inks and raw materials, as well as some rather frightening-looking items, such as human hand bones, leg bones, ribs, etc. These are all prepared for people with special needs.

Zhou Yi didn't know what to do. After thinking for a while, he decided to first use a magical artifact to purify the evil spirits and demons here, and then let Uncle Ming make the decision.

As a seasoned veteran in the industry, Uncle Ming should know how to handle this situation.

While the two were going their separate ways, Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji, escorted Zhao Xu back to the palace and then traveled by carriage to visit Li Qingzhao. Upon hearing that the father and daughter were going to write a memorial to build the Yiyuan Palace, he immediately donated one of his residences in the inner city.
"As a leisurely prince, I do not know how to help my elder brother. If I can contribute to the Taoist temple of Immortal Yiyuan, it would be my honor."

He didn't stay long before running back to the palace to tell Zhao Xu about the construction of the Yiyuan Palace. The two brothers had dinner together and finalized some details of the construction.

Tomorrow morning, once Li Gefei brings it up, Zhao Xu will immediately issue an edict to begin construction, and also remind Zhao Ji to be prepared to supervise the work.

Upon receiving this news, Li Qingzhao was both amused and exasperated.

"Letting Prince Duan oversee the construction of Yiyuan Palace is a good use of his talents. He is so good at garden design, let's see how artistic Yiyuan Palace is this time."

The construction of the Yiyuan Palace did not use the national treasury; it was entirely funded by the royal family. Therefore, Zhao Xu would reduce the expenditures of the princes.

With this guarantee, Li Qingzhao was no longer worried about wasting money and resources. She wholeheartedly waited to move into Yiyuan Palace as a steward, and when she was bored, she would randomly find a treacherous official to behead, which was quite enjoyable.

Li Hang held a piece of sheepskin and carefully wiped the stains off his skateboard shoes:
"Sister, if you become a female Taoist priest, does that mean you can't get married?"

Li Qingzhao tapped the boy's head with her whisk:
"You don't need to worry about my affairs. Just study hard. If you don't listen to me, I'll find you a shrewish woman who will beat you every day."

Li Hang has high emotional intelligence:
"It doesn't matter if you hit me or beat me, as long as you respect your sister, I'll gladly accept it."

These words warmed Li Qingzhao's heart:
“My dear brother will not allow other women to bully him. You also have a black pair of shoes. Next time you go to the Immortal Master, I will ask him to buy them for you. My brother, Li Qingzhao’s brother, is dressed better than even the imperial relatives.”

At the same time, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, in a courtyard at Yumen Pass, Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou were sitting under a tree, eating peanuts and drinking Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), when the Commandant of Yumen suddenly rushed in excitedly, holding an imperial edict:

"General Yanshou, General Zigong, a new imperial edict has arrived, ordering you two to ride swiftly to Chang'an. The counties and prefectures along the way are to provide horses, provisions, lodging, and all other necessities!"

Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang exchanged a glance, knowing that the laser pointer had been delivered to the palace, and His Majesty was eager to inquire about the immortals.

With this guarantee, we will not encounter any more obstacles along the way and should be able to reach Chang'an very smoothly.

Gan Yanshou took the imperial edict, read it, and expressed his gratitude. He also poured a full cup of Red Star Erguotou for the Commandant of Yumen, saying it was a priceless celestial brew.

Yumen Commandant raised his wine cup and downed it excitedly. The strong liquor almost made him choke, but he soon grew to like the feeling of the strong liquor going down his throat.

As the sun sets and the vast desert stretches out before you, this scene is truly perfect for a shot of fiery liquor.

After the Commandant of Yumen took his leave, Chen Tang picked up a peanut and popped it into his mouth, saying:

"If Your Majesty is interested in matters of immortals, should I suggest on the spot that Wang Qiang go to Hunyuan Palace to serve the immortals, or should I bring it up later?"

Gan Yanshou had served in the central government and had a better understanding of Liu Shi's character:
"Once we've completely ruined Kuang Heng's reputation and he's been dismissed from his post as prime minister, we can bring this up. Firstly, this will prevent Kuang Heng's cronies from complaining to His Majesty and causing things to go wrong. Secondly, it will divert the court's attention. At that time, many families might want to send their daughters to Hunyuan Palace to serve the immortal master. We need to be careful and not send just any mediocre girl to the immortal master."

The two men didn't finish their drink until the sun set behind the western desert. They went back to their rooms to rest, planning to set off early the next morning. Their first stop would be Dunhuang County, and after Dunhuang County would be Jiuquan. They would then have to visit Xin Qingji, the governor of Jiuquan, to discuss the matter of guarding the Western Regions.

At the fortune-telling tattoo shop, Zhou Yi went through the entire place, upstairs and downstairs. There was no trace of evil spirit in the shop anymore; it was so clean that it felt like a place of transcendence.

The two tattoo artists had been cleaned up by Uncle Ming using a high-level corpse-dissolving talisman and flushed down the toilet into the sewer. The few young girls on the first floor had their memories erased by Uncle Ming, making them forget what had happened recently. They would leave on their own when they woke up.

Zhou Yi removed the petrified talisman from the door, opened it, and was about to lead Uncle Ming into the crowd to leave quietly when he saw an old man sitting on the steps at the door, holding a white cane.

When Uncle Ming saw him, he instinctively called out the blind man's nickname in the martial arts world:
"Golden Eagle Guest?"

Zhou Yi felt that the nickname, combined with the blind man's sunglasses, had a strangely comical quality. Just as he was about to greet him, the blind man spoke up:

“I’ll take care of the rest, no need to worry… Child, can you tell me how you broke the illusion upstairs just now? This is very important to me!”

Zhou Yi naturally wouldn't mention the red leaves, so he just made up a story:
"When I first fell into the boundless illusion, I was terrified and screamed for my grandfather to save me. Then the illusion collapsed... The whole process was that simple."

After saying that, he led Uncle Ming to bandage his wounds, leaving the blind man alone, bewildered in the wind.
"Zhou Banxian, you really are alive! You actually used your own grandson to lure people into a trap. Luckily, I didn't fall for it and dig up your grave, otherwise I would definitely have been tricked. I just don't know if others will be able to hold their temper. I really look forward to someone digging up your grave; that scene would definitely be quite a spectacle!"

(End of this chapter)