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

Chapter 195 The Confucian Instruments! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

What would be the Confucian ritual implements?

Zhou Yi found it strange that although Hunyuan Palace enshrines deities from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, he had never seen any Confucian ritual implements, let alone heard of their usage.

After paying, the group pushed their shopping cart outside and loaded all the groceries they had bought into it.

Zhou Yi went to the cold drink wholesale store and bought Gongsun Da Niang some frozen treats she had been longing for, such as mini ice cream cones, mini puddings, and popsicles. Li Qingzhao bought her younger brother a new pair of skateboard shoes and Li Gefei a pair of black sneakers.

Boots in the Song Dynasty were inconvenient to wear; sneakers were much more comfortable.

After everyone finished shopping, Zhou Yi bought some staple food before driving back.

Once he reached the mountain, he marinated the ingredients he needed and prepared some lettuce leaves to accompany the fried meat. He then had the ancient people eat on the mountain at noon before going down to eat the banquet prepared by the blind man.

Wu Zetian was worried that the blind man would trick Zhou Yi:

"Immortal Master, shall I accompany you?"

"No need, you can stay on the mountain and eat meat. I'll come back after I finish eating."

The blind man is a strange person. You might think he can't see, but his eyesight is better than anyone else's. Last time in the antique street, I hid far away, but he still caught me.

It's best not to bring a group of ancient people around him, lest you upset his fragile and easily hurt feelings.

Ever since this old man appeared in Cloud Mist Town, he seems to have been constantly provoked... It's time to put into practice the fine tradition of respecting the elderly and caring for the young.

At 11 a.m., Zhou Yi drove down the mountain and arrived at the entrance of the Mountain Residence Restaurant, where he happened to see the blind man getting out of the pickup truck of project manager Lao Huang.

"Good afternoon, Master Zhou. Master Han said he had made an appointment with you for lunch, so I've come to see him off."

Zhou Yi said with a smile:

"Let's eat together."

Old Huang waved his hand:

"I need to get to the city quickly. The other part of the journey is not going smoothly. I need to go and have a meeting with them."

Highways are constructed in sections. The section in Yunwu Town was originally known as the most difficult to construct, but the construction progress has recently far exceeded expectations. On the contrary, the section north of Yiyang City has been experiencing frequent accidents recently.

The engineering department wanted Lao Huang to share his advanced experience, which left Lao Huang completely clueless. He couldn't explain why Yunwu Town had quietly accelerated its development recently, but he still decided to go and show off a little.

After Lao Huang drove away, the blind man handed Zhou Yi a long bamboo box:
"Go up and open it to check, so that no one in the neighborhood will notice."

Zhou Yi was about to say that no one would come to Cloud Mist Town, but then he realized that Dai Shengli had just been there and almost caused trouble.

Let's be careful, lest we attract unwanted good karma.

The two entered the restaurant and went to the reserved private room. Jin Anchao came over to greet them and brought a pot of cooling tea.

After he left, Zhou Yi placed the simple, long box on the table, gently opened it, and found a calligraphy brush inside.

This pen must be quite old; the handle is made of bamboo, covered with a shiny patina, and the nib looks like it's half-bald.

Zhou Yi picked up a wet wipe from the table and tried to wipe it, but found that the shiny patina couldn't be removed. Just as he was about to switch to an alcohol wipe, the blind man spoke up:

“This is not dirt, but the mark of Confucian sages. This pen is the greatest gain of our trip. It’s a pity that we have been studying it for several days but still do not know how to use it. Your little apprentice has some affinity with this pen, so I will give it to you.”

Did Li Bai have a connection with Confucian ritual implements? It seems so, after all, he was the "Poet Immortal," an unavoidable pinnacle in literature.

Zhou Yi was put into a box, and he planned to take it to the mountain to study it further. If that didn't work, he would put it in the Wenxuanwang Hall for a few days to consecrate it... As long as it was confirmed to be a ritual object, he would definitely be able to find a way to use it.

After we finished looking at the calligraphy brush, the waiter started serving the dishes.

There were only two people eating today, but the blind man ordered the most expensive private table. After a few appetizers were served, he said to the waiter:
"Bring two more hot dishes and two bowls of rice. Pack up the rest for the child to take away; we can't eat that much."

After the waiter left, Zhou Yi picked up a piece of cold bitter chrysanthemum salad and put it in his mouth:

"Just the two of you ordered so much food, how much did you actually get out of this trip?"

The blind man chuckled softly:
“Evil cultivators are all quite wealthy. We’ve gained a little something, but what about you? You killed Dai Shengli without a word. Did you get any benefits from it?”

Zhou Yi shook his head:

"Only a little bit of merit is gained."

Upon hearing this, the blind man sighed:
“Those who cultivate merit have many rules. They have to live like saints and be mindful of the limits in everything they do. Fortunately, I didn’t cultivate merit back then, otherwise I would have missed out on a lot of fun in this life.”

The Book of Changes: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Are you just being a sour grapes?
"How about I tell you about slaying the dragon that night, just to give you a little thrill?" the blind man said earnestly.

“Other cultivators absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth or the five elements to enhance themselves, but cultivating merit is different. Cultivating merit means taking the entire world as oneself, restoring order, punishing evil and promoting good, acting chivalrously, and serving the country and the people. Only when the whole world becomes normal can one be considered to have achieved great success in cultivation. It is too difficult.”

This was the first time Zhou Yi had heard this saying:
"Who told you that?"

“Your grandfather told me a lot about cultivation methods back then, emphasizing the importance of accumulating merit, and also told me to show enough respect when I meet people who cultivate merit… I waited for decades, but I never expected to meet you, kid.”

Zhouyi: "..."

So Grandpa started digging a hole for you decades ago?
If you're treated like this, then you've definitely made a profit.

The two chatted as they ate, and Zhou Yi recounted how he killed Dai Shengli. The blind man listened so intently that he forgot to eat, completely unprepared for such an unconventional method.

The method of exposing heretical practitioners through divination was particularly ingenious.

However, the blind man still offered two pieces of advice:

"Next time, don't call or go to their front desk. Always act as an outsider. If someone investigates, they might find you out."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi also felt that the previous operation could have been even more perfect.

After recounting this story, the blind man also gave a general account of the attack on Dai Shengli's elders:
"He was an old man living in a nursing home, barely surviving on oxygen all day. He was quite high-ranking, but after I pulled him into the illusion, he died quickly, leaving behind a pile of equipment."

The Book of Changes asks:

"Was it him who warned you in the group chat?"

"Yes, while other evil cultivators hide underground like mice, he actually dares to jump out and act like a big bad wolf. He's really had enough of living... When we called for people to hunt him down, a group of old friends signed up one after another, afraid of missing out on this good show."

This situation is like a group of anglers who have been out of the water for days, when suddenly a 30-pound fish jumps out of the water and provokes them... Can they tolerate this? They immediately pump out the water!
The blind man said:

“Some heretical practitioners use money obtained through swindling and deception to package themselves as superior people, and then they actually believe it… A heretical practitioner is a heretical practitioner, no matter what their identity is on the surface, righteous people must kill them!”

This battle must have been very enjoyable, otherwise the blind man wouldn't have been so passionate and enthusiastic.

After the meal, Zhou Yi carried all the food that the waiter had packed to his car, and Jin Anchao gave him two extra roast chickens and several crispy pigeons.

Zhou Yi drove the blind man to the project site and then returned to Yunwu Mountain.

As soon as he drove the car into the courtyard, Wu Meiniang came out of the restaurant to greet him. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Zhou Yi was safe and sound.

Zhou Yi opened the trunk and said:
"We didn't eat much. Most of the dishes were packed up before they were even served. You can take them to the restaurant to eat."

When Aunt Gongsun heard about the food, she quickly came to get it.

She placed boxes of packaged dishes on the table. When Li Qingzhao saw them, she went to the refrigerator and took out her own sweet drink... With so many dishes, wouldn't it be a waste not to have a couple of drinks?
Zhou Yi took the calligraphy brush back to his room. He remembered that there was a section for magical artifacts in his black notebook, but it kept showing that he did not have permission to view it. He wondered if this calligraphy brush counted.

He placed the calligraphy brush on the table, then opened the first page of the black notebook and saw a new name added to the list of magical artifacts:
[Ritual implement: Confucian scholar's brush (fragment)]

It really is a Confucian ritual implement, but what does the "broken" part on the back mean?
Zhou Yi held the brush and observed it for a while. He felt that it was referring to a brush tip that was half-broken, but how could it be made into a perfect state?

Should I find a place that sells calligraphy brushes to replace the brush head?
Zhou Yi's mind was full of questions. He had obtained a magical artifact but didn't know how to use it, which was really frustrating.

He tried to activate it using Taoist incantations, but there was no response. He then tried reciting the Analects of Confucius, but there was still no response.

After pondering for a long time without finding a solution, Zhou Yi simply decided to wash the pen thoroughly and remove the greasy layer from its surface.

He went outside and gently wiped the surface with a lazy rag dipped in soapy water. The thin layer of grease on the surface was washed away, and although the inside was still shiny, it was not grease but rather looked like white jade.

"No way, bamboo can turn into jade?"

He cleaned the brush, carefully dried the water droplets on the surface with kitchen paper, picked up the brush and wandered around the vegetable garden, shaking the brush as he walked, intending to shake off the water from the tip before taking it to the Wenxuanwang Temple to enshrine it.

I can't use it, and I can't disbelieve the old master either.

While strolling around, he recalled the scene of his grandfather forcing him to practice calligraphy when he was a child. When he first started learning, he couldn't write randomly. He had to write the character "永" (yong) again and again according to his grandfather's requirements and practice the "Eight Principles of Yong".

However, Zhou Yi was rather lazy and would often secretly write the character "永" (yong) as "水" (shui), for which he suffered a lot of corporal punishment.

Holding the brush now, Zhou Yi seemed to have returned to his childhood. He held up the bald-headed scholar's brush in his hand, used the empty space in front of him as Xuan paper, and wrote the character "water".

As soon as he finished writing, he discovered that the character "water" had actually appeared before his eyes. It was shimmering in the sunlight and was floating upwards with the breeze. When it floated over the roof, the character suddenly burst open and turned into thousands of starlight points that fell downwards.

In the blink of an eye, the starlight transformed into pools of clear water, which poured down as if the entire courtyard had experienced a super short, torrential downpour, leaving the ground flooded with ankle-deep water...

(End of this chapter)