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

Chapter 5: Zhou Yi's Background! [Please add to your favorites]

At dawn, Zhou Yi awoke to the pleasant chirping of birds.

After a deep night's sleep, all the fatigue was gone, replaced by a surge of energy that made me feel like I could run a full marathon without any problem.

"You were so tired last night, did a good night's sleep really help?"

He stretched his arms and legs, washed up, and took the white Taoist robe out of the wardrobe. Following the instructions his grandfather had given him, he carefully put on the robe.

Put on a Taoist robe and trousers, slip on cloud-patterned socks, and then put on ten-sided shoes that fit perfectly.

The Ten Directions Shoes are the most common footwear in Taoism. The shoes have a round opening and ten holes around the rim, representing the ten directions: east, south, west, north, southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast, up, and down.

The "Ten Directions Shoes" are usually paired with white cloud-patterned socks. Together, they symbolize traveling to all directions and helping countless people.

After putting on his shoes, Zhou Yi took out a white Zhuangzi headscarf from the cabinet and put it on his head.

There are many kinds of headdresses for Taoist priests, most of which require long hair and a topknot. For example, the lotus crown, which looks more noble, the crescent crown commonly used by the Quanzhen School, and the crescent crown commonly used by the Zhengyi School all require a topknot.

The Zhuangzi scarf is relatively more flexible; it can be worn by people with both long and short hair. It is especially cool to wear in the summer, making it a popular choice for many Taoist priests.

Zhou Yi finished tidying himself up, looked at the white-robed Taoist in the mirror, and clicked his tongue as he said:
"I managed to make an ordinary Taoist robe look fashionable. I'm so amazing. I wonder which girl will be lucky enough to wear it in the future."

After showing off for a while, he cooked millet porridge, then went out of the room and, facing the rising sun, first practiced a set of the Eight Vajra Kung Fu, which he had practiced since childhood, and then sat cross-legged for half an hour to expel the old and take in the new.

He used to run every morning, but this morning he had to organize building materials in the Taoist temple, so he didn't run to save his energy for work.

Back in his room, the millet porridge was ready. Zhou Yi drank two bowls of porridge with some pickled vegetables that his grandfather had made, ate a steamed bun, and after tidying up, he went to the front of the unfinished main hall to fix up the antique-style bricks.

These antique-style bricks are about a foot long, not too big. Zhou Yi felt that with his physical strength, he could easily sort out all the bricks for the first main hall in one morning. He could hire a construction team to do it when he had more money later.

As a result, he almost strained his back when he moved the first piece.

These seemingly ordinary antique-style bricks are surprisingly heavy, weighing at least a hundred pounds, like a stone tablet.

"Damn, is there tungsten mixed in with this brick?"

Zhou Yi gritted his teeth and carried the bricks for more than ten meters before feeling completely drained.

He put down the brick, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked on in astonishment.

Last night, I flipped through two pages of my notebook and my legs were trembling with exhaustion. Today, I carried a brick and I was completely drained.

The abandoned Taoist temple that Grandpa set up is getting more and more mysterious... Zhou Yi rested for a while and then continued moving bricks. This time, the bricks felt heavier and the distance he moved them was shorter.

It wasn't until after 10 a.m. that he had moved three bricks, but he was already sweating profusely and his whole body ached terribly.

"I can't keep going like this. If I continue, I might become the first abbot in history to die from overwork while carrying bricks... I should save up to buy machinery. In front of an excavator, all beings are equal!"

After resting for a while, Zhou Yi drank a glass of water, pushed his motorcycle out, and prepared to go down the mountain to buy ingredients.

We'll be living in the mountains for a long time from now on, so we need to buy more rice, flour, cooking oil, and other necessities. We should also buy some meat to freeze in the refrigerator so we can thaw it beforehand when we want to eat it.

As for vegetables, there's no need to buy them. The garden in the courtyard has about ten kinds of vegetables, and the pumpkins and winter melons are about to bloom. Hunyuan Palace won't have to worry about vegetables until autumn.

As Zhou Yi stepped out of the gate, he noticed that one of the Four Heavenly Kings statues inside had a spiderweb covering its head. He stopped his motorcycle, picked up a broom from behind the gate, and cleaned the spiderweb thoroughly.

“It wasn’t there yesterday, and today it’s already such a big net. If Grandpa had this much diligence, I wouldn’t have taken over this abandoned Taoist temple.”

He grumbled as he put down the broom, rode his motorcycle away from Hunyuan Palace, and went down the mountain to buy ingredients.

Today was the first time I wore a Taoist robe down the mountain, and it was a rather rare white Taoist robe. As soon as I arrived in Yunwu Town, familiar villagers greeted me:

"Xiao Yi, you've finally inherited Zhou Banxian's mantle... Are there subsidies for college students who become Taoist priests?"

Zhou Yi parked his motorcycle on the side of the road and said with a smile:

"I asked at the Religious Affairs Bureau yesterday, and they said there are no relevant policies at the moment, and told me to wait," another resident asked.
"Why is your Taoist robe white? I remember your grandfather wore a gold Taoist robe. Lin Ching-ying in the movies also wore a gold Taoist robe when he caught zombies and ghosts."

"White is the color for Taoist apprentices. I'm a junior apprentice now, so I wear this."

Although Taoism does have a rule about apprentices in white robes, Zhouyi felt that his grandfather's painstaking preparation of a white Taoist robe for himself must have had another deeper meaning.

He greeted everyone around him and went into the supermarket to start buying groceries.

Several elderly neighbors by the roadside were filled with emotion:
"If I had known that Xiao Yi was such a talented person, I would have taken him home and raised him when Zhou Banxian found him. It would have been just a matter of adding a set of chopsticks and a bowl."

Another neighbor scoffed:

"Do you think no one had this idea? There were many people who wanted to adopt him, but Zhou Bansian refused to adopt any of them, saying that the child's destiny was too high and that ordinary people could not control it. If they rashly became his parents, it would bring disaster to the family and death."

"I don't know which parents were so heartless as to throw such a good child into a ravine. Luckily, he met Zhou Bansian."

"If Xiao Yi's parents come looking for their relatives in the future, I'll definitely spit on them!"

In the supermarket, Zhou Yi pushed a shopping cart and bought a bunch of grains, oils, and seasonings. He also picked out some frozen shrimp and meatballs from the frozen food section, planning to cook a spicy hot pot for Wu Meiniang when she arrived.

As an angel investor in the Wu Zhou Dynasty, every penny invested now will bring a millionfold return in the future.

When buying frozen food, Zhou Yi saw that braised noodles were on sale for half price, so he bought two boxes, a total of twenty pieces. He put them in the freezer when he got home, and that's how he'll have staple food for the next few days.

I'm not cooking lunch today. I'm so tired I don't have any energy left. After I finish shopping, I'll just go next door and grab a big bowl of braised pork rib noodles and an ice-cold cola... After a hard morning at the Taoist temple, I deserve to enjoy myself.

After finishing lunch, Zhou Yi looked at the nine yuan left in his Alipay account and silently cheered himself up:
"Taoism regards nine as the ultimate number. Nine represents abundance and infinity, which means I will have endless wealth in the future... Hey, thinking about it this way makes me feel much better. No wonder pilgrims like to seek guidance from monks."

If you can comfort yourself like this, imagine how amazing it would be if you sought advice from experts!

After loading everything he had bought onto the motorcycle, Zhou Yi started the engine, left Yunwu Town, turned onto the road leading into the mountains, and returned to Hunyuan Palace.

Upon reaching the mountaintop, he took out his keys, opened the gate, and was about to drive his motorcycle inside when a thunderous snoring sound suddenly erupted from inside the gate.

The sound startled Zhou Yi. He put the key into the sleeve pocket of his Taoist robe and reached behind the door to grab the broom.

It's so strange that a stranger would sneak into a Taoist temple and fall fast asleep in the middle of the day.

Zhou Yi took two steps forward and found a man lying between the two statues of Guangmu Tianwang and Duowen Tianwang on the left. He was wearing armor, covered in yellow sand, and exuding a strong smell of sweat.

Upon closer inspection, there were still many dried bloodstains on the armor, as if it had just been through a major battle.

Thinking back to seeing Wu Zetian here yesterday, could this person also be from ancient times?

Fearing the other party might suddenly attack and injure someone, Zhou Yi didn't dare move forward. Instead, he pushed the motorcycle in and honked the horn at the general on the ground.
"drop--"

The TR300's speakers were already loud, and with the doorway providing a strong amplification effect, it was practically deafening.

As soon as the sound rang out, the general on the ground sprang to his feet alertly, drawing his sword from his waist and adopting a defensive stance with his back against the statue...

I have to say, their ability to handle this situation is truly impressive.

Zhou Yi released the speaker button and asked directly:

"May I ask your honorable name, General?"

The military officer sized up Zhou Yi, and upon seeing that he was dressed as a sorcerer, his expression visibly relaxed.
"I am Chen Tang, the Deputy Commandant of the Western Regions of the Great Han Dynasty... Esteemed alchemist, what place is this? I just took a look around and found that this courtyard is very large; it must be worth a lot of money, right?"

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Before you sign the contract, everyone should hurry up and invest to earn Qidian coins!

(End of this chapter)