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

Chapter 47 Even a mental illness needs a remedy! [Seeking monthly votes]

At noon, Zhou Yi changed the incense at the God of Wealth Temple and rode his bicycle down the mountain without stopping.

A stick of incense can burn for about two hours, and it takes an hour to ride a motorcycle back and forth on the mountain road. In addition, he only has about half an hour to find the problem by exchanging pleasantries and understanding the specific situation.

Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, Zhou Yi didn't go to the town. Instead, he drove along the farm road towards the edge of town, continuing until he saw large stretches of farmland. He then turned left onto the cement road and drove a few hundred meters further before arriving at Han Lao Er's house.

Han Lao Er's family lives on the outermost edge of the town. In front of their house is a pond that covers about 10 to 20 acres. A few years ago, he failed in his restaurant business, so he simply contracted the pond to raise fish. As a result, he made a lot of money and bought a house for his son in the county town. He lives a very comfortable life.

However, ever since the Spring Festival this year, he has felt uneasy at home. Nothing he does goes smoothly, and he can't even sleep peacefully, often waking up in the middle of the night.

The fish in the pond often die, especially recently. Almost every morning when I wake up, there are a few more fish swimming on their backs in the pond.

When Zhou Yi arrived on his motorcycle, Han Lao Er was rowing a small boat, scooping dead fish out of the pond.

The seven or eight-pound fish died for nothing, and Mr. and Mrs. Han were very worried, so they simply invited Zhou Yi over to see what was going on.

After parking his motorcycle, Zhou Yi went to the pond. Han Lao Er's wife handed him a red envelope and started rambling on about the recent changes.

At first, it was just some normal minor problems, such as the couple being listless during the day, unable to sleep at night, having a poor appetite, and feeling weak all over.

But as they talked, they started talking about rather superstitious things like the shadows of people floating on the water at night.

Han Lao Er then rowed the boat to the shore and whispered to Zhou Yi:
"More than 20 years ago, Sun Erfa's brother drowned here while swimming. Do you think it's possible that his brother didn't leave and is still guarding this fishpond?"

Zhou Yi felt that this was unlikely. His grandfather had moved to Yunwu Mountain twenty years ago and knew every plant and tree in the vicinity very well. How could he allow a ghost to linger here?
Furthermore, if there really were vengeful spirits, after developing for twenty years, their cultivation would be far more than simply killing a few fish.

He felt that Han Lao Er and his wife were still mentally ill, constantly suspicious and frightening themselves.

However, just to be on the safe side, and to make sure he was paid his dues, Zhou Yi took out his compass and began to survey the feng shui of the pond, looking for any signs of evil spirits or malevolent activities.

After measuring several locations, he found that the pond did indeed have some problems, such as excessive yin energy and foul-smelling water, but there were no signs of evil spirits or malevolent activities, and no evil spirits at all.

In Feng Shui, a pond in front of the house with flowing water and clean water signifies a prosperous family business and abundant wealth. The saying "A pond in front of the house brings prosperity for generations" describes this situation.

However, if the water is stagnant and smelly, it can cause health problems or family conflicts, hence the saying "If a pond is dug at the door, the family will be ruined and people will die."

The Han family clearly falls into the second category.

Zhou Yi put away the compass and asked:

"Have you cleaned the bottom of this fishpond since you started raising fish?"

Han Lao Er shook his head:

"No, we haven't really taken care of it. We just buy some fish fry in the spring, put them in, and fish them out to sell at the end of the year. We've been raising them like this for over ten years without any problems... Xiao Yi, are you sure it's not haunted?"

Zhou Yi went to his house again and confirmed that it had nothing to do with evil spirits.

"It's not haunted, it's just that this pond needs repairs... Too much silt in the pond will breed a lot of dead energy. Since this isn't flowing water, if too much dead energy accumulates, it will naturally affect the growth of the fish. If we don't take care of it, even your health will be affected."

From a scientific perspective, a large amount of decaying matter at the bottom of the pond produces methane, carbon dioxide, and other gases that are detrimental to fish growth. This reduces the dissolved oxygen level in the water, and coupled with the deterioration of water quality, the fish will indeed die.

As for the couple's inability to sleep at night, it was partly due to emotional distress, and partly because living next to a stinky pond was unpleasant and certainly not pleasant.

Han Lao Er asked:

"How should this pond be repaired? We've never done this before."

The couple has been raising fish for over ten years without ever systematically learning about scientific fishkeeping. To be honest, they're incredibly lucky.

Zhou Yi couldn't explain it either, so he simply made a phone call to Zhao Wei, who was at home eating noodles with garlic cloves:
"Come to Uncle Han's house, I've got a big business opportunity for you." Zhao Wei arrived quickly, and as soon as he heard it involved cleaning the fishpond, he immediately started making arrangements:
"I'll first dig a small pit next to it, put the fish in and raise them, drain the water from the pond, clean out all the silt, level the bottom of the pond to increase the storage capacity, and build a dam around the bank for you. If you're willing to spend the money, you can also build a concrete dam around it. I guarantee that this fishpond will not have any problems for ten years."

Han Lao Er wasn't initially planning a major overhaul, but after hearing Zhao Wei's description, he thought it sounded plausible and immediately gave his approval:
"Xiaowei, you can handle it. I'll also give you the concrete work, but you have to be quick so as not to delay the fish farming this year."

"Don't worry, Second Uncle, I'll give you a new fishpond big enough to dock an aircraft carrier in seven days at most!"

The rest was no longer related to Zhou Yi. He carried the several "backstroke fish" that Han Lao Er had just caught back up the mountain, first changed the incense in the God of Wealth Temple, then cleaned the fish and marinated them with salt and peppercorns.

In the afternoon, instead of carrying bricks, Zhou Yi sat in front of the computer and customized some essential courses for Li Bai, Gongsun Da Niang, Wu Meiniang, and Chen Tang, hoping to help them reach the level of junior high school graduation as soon as possible.

Once you've mastered the basics of modern knowledge, you can then engage in targeted learning, which will allow you to make even more waves in ancient times, and you'll reap a flood of merits.

In the following days, he worshipped the statue of Guan Gong during the day, made a series of course schedules in his spare time, and bought a lot of modern educational textbooks... In the evening, he studied the cloud seal script diligently, striving to master the talisman script.

As for the talismans used to invoke the gods, I only learned a few simple emergency ones from the Book of Changes.

Invoking deities is a Taoist priest's last resort and the source of his unbridled confidence as a successor of the Taoist school.

Other religions consider using sacred objects left behind by their ancestors as their ultimate life-saving measure, but Taoism is different. When they encounter a powerful opponent, they disregard martial ethics and summon people from the heavens.

If one isn't enough, try two; if you can't beat them, keep shaking the wheel. The stronger the opponent, the stronger the deity you shake will be.

The founders of Taoism did not find this kind of bullying of the weak shameful; on the contrary, they encouraged their disciples to do so, and when necessary, they could even personally possess their spirits.

When faced with an opponent like this, what can you do besides admit defeat?
Zhou Yi had never invoked any gods before; he always thought it was just a charade. It wasn't until Zhao Gongming and Guan Yu appeared in the Temple of the God of Wealth that his thinking gradually changed.

Unfortunately, in real life, situations requiring the invocation of deities are extremely rare, and most problems don't even require the use of talismans.

For example, Han Lao Er's fishpond problem was caused entirely by a lack of scientific knowledge, but the couple were suspicious and almost pinned the blame on someone who had been dead for more than 20 years.

For this reason, Zhou Yi believes that the skill of summoning gods is only a few life-saving techniques; one should usually focus on exorcising evil spirits and suppressing malevolent forces.

Firstly, this can make money, and secondly, it can accumulate merit. Why not do it?

A few days passed quickly. Just as Zhou Yi had finished setting up the statue of Guan Yu, Gongsun Da Niang's voice rang out in the courtyard of Hunyuan Palace:

"Master Daoist, I have some very exciting news to tell you!"

Zhou Yi quickly ran out of the Temple of the God of Wealth:

"Did you receive the letter from Li Bai?"

Aunt Gongsun waved her hand and said with a smile:

"No, it's not that. Under my guidance, a chef at the Luoyang post station learned how to stir-fry."

What's so surprising about this... Zhou Yi asked:
"That's it?"

Gongsun Da Niang continued:

"No, no, no, after that cook learned how to stir-fry, he's going to be summoned to the palace to become the imperial chef... I unknowingly changed someone's fate, isn't that amazing?"

Just as Zhou Yi was about to offer a perfunctory compliment, he suddenly remembered the black notebook:
"Whether you're powerful or not depends on whether you've earned any merit..."

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Chapter 1 is here, please vote with your monthly tickets, brothers!

(End of this chapter)