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

Chapter 8 Merit: Three Coins! [Please Add to Favorites]

"I don't need the knife. You can take it with you after you've had your fun with it. It'll be a good opportunity to earn some military merit."

After speaking, Zhou Yi took the gold knife, which was over a foot long and had a scabbard inlaid with colorful gems, with great interest. Before he could examine it closely, he noticed that the gems on the scabbard had visibly dimmed.

Then, the scabbard made of animal hide quickly cracked, the paint on the surface began to peel off, and the fibers in the animal hide were exposed. The metal wrapped at both ends of the scabbard and the handle lost their luster in just a few breaths.

In just a few seconds, the knife seemed to have gone through thousands of years in an instant, transforming from the original Yiwu-style "Made last week" into a genuine "Made in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties".

Chen Tang glanced at the Book of Changes, then at the knife, and swallowed hard.

"Sir, it turned out like this with just one touch. Are you perhaps a legendary immortal?"

To prevent Zhou Yi from refusing again, he gently poked the scabbard with his finger:
"This knife can no longer be handed over to the court for reporting, so it can only be given to you for your collection... Strange, the lighter you gave me is unchanged, but how come the golden knife I gave you has become a broken knife?"

Zhou Yi was also somewhat puzzled. He carefully placed the rickety golden knife on the coffee table:
"There is a two-thousand-year time gap between us. What you give me may need to be factored in by two thousand years... It seems I need to be more careful when accepting things from you in the future."

Zhou Yi was at a loss when he suddenly received a first-class cultural relic. He could only hide it in a box and deal with it later.

Chen Tang sat down, about to continue shoveling noodles into his mouth, when he suddenly realized:

"Us? Is there anyone else who can come here?"

Zhou Yi nodded:

"The future empress of the Tang Dynasty just visited yesterday... That was more than 600 years after you. The Tang Dynasty, like the Han Dynasty, was a pinnacle in Chinese history."

He gave a brief account of Tang Dynasty history, mentioning many famous generals, which Chen Tang found very enjoyable.
"Sir, could you bring that Wang Xuance over here? I want to have a chat with this kid. He single-handedly destroyed a country, he's even more formidable than me. Truly, the younger generation is to be feared!"

Zhou Yi wasn't sure if it was possible, so he could only vaguely say for now:
"When the time is right, you will have the opportunity to share a drink and have a good time together."

Grandpa once said that when faced with something uncertain, you should attribute it to something vague and ethereal like fate or destiny. Superstitious people love to hear this.

Zhou Yi never expected that his first use of this kind of rhetoric would be to fool Chen Tang, who had traveled to modern society.

From a superstitious point of view, this is not superstitious at all.

Chen Tang quickly finished the noodles in the bowl. Twenty pieces of braised noodles could make at least six large bowls in a braised noodle shop, but he ate every last bite... Maybe he should just change his name to Chen Tong (Chen Bucket).

Zhou Yi tidied up the dishes and asked Chen Tang, who was playing with a lighter:
"When you first appeared at the Taoist temple, which hall were you in?"

Chen Tang pointed in the direction of the gate:
"In that doorway with the four statues, I walked around for a while, but there was no one there. I wanted to go back, but someone in my mind said that I needed Master Yiyuan's permission to return to the Great Han World... This Master Yiyuan must be you, right? You're amazing, even more powerful than the legendary Xu Fu."

Doorway?

Is it related to the Four Heavenly Kings?

If Wu Zetian came out of the Mahavira Hall because of her devotion to Buddhism, then what does Chen Tang mean by this?

He was an envoy, while the Four Heavenly Kings were gatekeepers—the exact opposite of the definition of an envoy.

However, thinking of the saying "the best defense is a good offense," Zhou Yi suddenly realized that a truly great envoy is one who ignites war on enemy territory to protect his homeland!
I don't know if this inference is correct. We'll be able to verify it when another ancient person comes out of the doorway.

Chen Tang was eager to show off his lighter when he got back, so he didn't stay long. He took his armor and weapons out of the bathroom, and then carefully stuffed two lighters, ten bottles of chilled drinks, and two packets of salt into a cloth bag. He then followed Zhou Yi toward the front door.

As he passed the kitchen, he reached out and picked up the wood-chopping knife hanging on the wall.
"Sir, this precious sword, as well as this set of clothes and shoes for going shirtless, are borrowed by me. I will return them to you next time I come."

Zhou Yi straightened the Zhuangzi headscarf on his head and said:
"No need, you can have it. I didn't prepare enough. I'll buy some more useful things for you tomorrow."

The flashlight was given to Wu Zetian, and we haven't had time to buy a new one yet. We need to hurry up and buy some supplies that people in ancient times could use... As an angel investor, I need to be more practical and not just talk the talk.

As soon as he stepped through the doorway, Chen Tang said:
"That voice has sounded again. You cannot return to the Great Han World for the time being without Master Yiyuan's permission!"

This time, Zhou Yi was experienced. He casually made up a Taiqing incantation commonly used in Taoist rituals and loudly proclaimed into the doorway:
"I grant Chen Tang permission to freely travel to and from the Great Han world!" Soon, a look of joy appeared on Chen Tang's face:
"Okay, I can come back in five days and bring you two live sheep. We'll slaughter them and eat them... The people of Kangju are very hospitable. If we don't accept the sheep they offer, we'll threaten to commit suicide."

Kangju was a small state that supported Zhizhi Chanyu in building his capital. When Chen Tang led his army to attack, they immediately switched sides and joined the Han Dynasty, even volunteering to be their guides.

Although they were very sensible, Chen Tang still decided to teach them a lesson... It's not that easy to forgive them just by saying sorry.

When the sheep were mentioned, Zhou Yi asked:

"Did you divide up all the spoils of war to motivate your soldiers?"

Chen Tang nodded:

"Having crossed snow-capped mountains and traversed thousands of miles, and given that they are all elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, we can't leave them without giving them a reward."

"When you return to the Han territory, remember to hand over some of the tribute, and make sure the battle report is written nicely, then you can get away with this."

In the past, Chen Tang would never have agreed, but after seeing lighters and other such items today, he no longer found Zhizhi Chanyu's meager possessions appealing.
“I will hand over my share entirely, and I will absolutely not give the treacherous officials any excuse.”

After saying that, he waved his hand, stepped into the doorway, and disappeared into thin air.

After seeing off the last famous general of the Western Han Dynasty, Zhou Yi returned to his room. He carefully put Zhizhi Chanyu's golden sword into the rosewood box, then picked up the black notebook, silently recited the "Heart-Cleansing Mantra" twice to clear his mind, and then began to read it.

As I flipped through the pages, I finally found the text on the last few pages.

His eyes were fixed on the blank page, and soon Chen Tang's profile appeared:

[Visitor's Name: Chen Tang]

[Time of Appearance: Early summer of the year Yi Si]

[Timeline: 3rd year of Jianzhao (36 BC)]

[Account redemption progress: 0/365]

[Merit: 2.35 jin]

Hmm? Wu Zetian stayed for a few hours yesterday and gained a day's worth of progress. Chen Tang stayed in the world for quite a while too, so why didn't he gain anything?
Could it be related to the sunset?
However, Chen Tang's merit is quite interesting, as it is actually measured by weight.

He scrolled back to Wu Zetian's page and found that the future empress's page still didn't have a merit section, while his own merit section had actually broken through zero:

[Merit Donation: Three Coins]

It was less than half an ounce; it felt like helping an old lady cross the street.

But considering that Chen Tang fought such a great battle and only gained a little over two jin of merit, three qian doesn't seem like a particularly small amount.

Zhou Yi thought back carefully. He didn't seem to have done anything good these past two days, except for having Wu Meiniang deliver some medicine to Li Mingda... Wait, could it be that those medicines saved Xiao Sizi's life?

If Xiao Sizi hadn't died, Li Shimin wouldn't have been so quick to anger and recklessly launched his eastern expedition against Goguryeo. After all, his trusted confidante was still around and would listen to advice.

This series of reactions was enormous and could even influence the future course of history of the Tang Dynasty... This is probably where the concept of "three coins of merit" originated.

Closing the black notebook, Zhou Yi felt as if all his energy had been drained.

He sat in his computer chair for a while, feeling that these good deeds would be of great use in the future... but he wasn't in a hurry about the future; he was more worried about the present.

I only have nine yuan left, and I'm starting to panic!

How about... we go to the half-finished God of Wealth Temple and try drawing a fortune stick?
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New week, please bookmark this, guys!
(End of this chapter)