Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The overall architectural style of Jingui Pedestrian Street in Qiyang City was very unified. From the beginning of the street to the end of the street, whether it was clothing stores, handicraft stores or restaurants, they all had gray-blue exteriors. The walls, the reddish-brown signboard, and the pointed eaves were all designed in a very carefree antique style.
Next to Jingui Pedestrian Street was Liming Square. Where the two met, there was a medium-sized facade with the same style as the pedestrian street. There were three big characters on the signboard of the same style: Baoyang Temple.
In fact, if you stood farther away and looked carefully, you would find that in addition to the antique exterior walls, the faintly exposed building roof inside had a very periodic atmosphere. However, precisely because it had the same antique exterior door as the surroundings, although people passing by here to go shopping were a lot, but they didn’t show the slightest interest in theis building.
For several months, the door of Baoyang Temple had been closed. Until now, when Xie Lingya and his father unlocked the door together. They had just finished Wang Yuji’s funeral. According to Wang Yuji’s wishes during his lifetime, it was very simple.
The inside of Baoyang Temple was much bigger than it looked from the outside, mainly because there was a space at the entrance that was rented to others and converted into a small newsagent store. The front looked much narrower, but in fact it was more than fifteen meters wide, and it was still wider further in.
Different from the ancient but modern outer door, Baoyang Temple had a sense of history inside. The ground was paved with bluestone tiles. Once you entered, you would feel like you have escaped into another world.
Now, the property owner of this place was Xie Lingya. He hadn’t been here for a long time, so he was looking around curiously.
Father Xie put away Xie Lingya’s luggage. It was only Xie Lingya’s luggage. He worked in the county town and had come here on leave. He had to go back to work. So, he asked, “Has the decision been made?”
Xie Lingya glanced at his father and said, “Dad, don’t worry, I will definitely not become a monk. I also want to take the postgraduate entrance examination. But it’s convenient for me to help my uncle fulfill his wish if I live here.”
Father Xie twitched the corner of his mouth twice, inevitably feeling a little guilty, “…I’m just afraid that it will be difficult for you. Come on, your uncle’s place is deserted and it’s hard to recruit people.”
Xie Lingya said: “That’s right, now the recruitment of monks and Taoist priests is clearly marked with a minimum salary and commission, so I’ll work hard.”
After sending Father Xie away, Xie Lingya cleaned up. He went to Wang Yuji’s room and put the Three Treasure Sword in his own room. As soon as he saw it, Xie Lingya remembered his uncle’s words and felt very sad.
Xie Lingya also sorted out the notes mentioned by Wang Yuji. These were left behind by several generations of Wang Yuji’s disciples. In the future, Wang Yuji’s apprentices who had never met him would rely on these to start their studies.
Before Wang Yuji died, he also said that Xie Lingya could look at it – if he didn’t look at it, he wouldn’t be able to help Wang Yuji find a disciple.
There were a lot of notes, and there were so many predecessors, so what they had learned must be very complicated. Fortunately, Wang Yu also sorted and annotated it when he copied it.
Xie Lingya casually turned to a chapter about physiognomy, and the first sentence was: “Those who have shin bones in their chests are known as star bones.”
This sense of familiarity made Xie Lingya feel slightly trance-like.
The last time he heard the word “Star bone” was when Xie Lingya tried to commit suicide in his first year of high school. Wang Yuji accidentally said it, letting Xie Lingya know that he had a Star bone in his chest.
What was a Star bone?
Those whose shin bones were in the chest are also called as having a Star Bone. Let’s put it this way, according to Taoist theory, those who had this star bone were those whose names were listed in the immortal book and were destined to be immortal!
It may be too fantastical to say this, but hundreds of thousands of years ago, all those who were recorded as having a star bone were all outstanding people who founded a sect in the Taoist sect and led the entire sect.
Wang Yuji was too emotional at that time. He said: “My master told me that there are people in the world who practice Taoism all their lives and are trapped outside; then there are people who have meditated for decades to realize Taoism; and then there are people who have become immortals with just sixteen steps of Kungfu!”
The more you immersed in it, the more you paid attention to talent. Xiao Ya had such a talent, no wonder he was self-taught!
“No matter what he knows, he can’t understand a word of English!” Father Xie scolded and slapped Xie Lingya on the back of the head, who was very proud after listening to Wang Yuji’s words. Naturally, this was a new era, and practicing Taoism was not as good as going to college.
After a period of time, Xie Lingya was like a fairy, he met some things, and he threw himself into the sea of study and never peeked at his uncle engaging in superstitious activities again.
Xie Lingya used to have terrible grades, but the prodigal son turned around and changed his fortune. He studied hard for a year and was admitted to the local second school.
Moreover, Xie Lingya had acquired a taste for it, and had been immersed in the ocean of knowledge such that he could even get admitted to college. He couldn’t extricate himself from this sea of knowledge for a long time, let alone thinking about Star Bone and Taoism.
….
Xie Lingya came back to his senses and felt a little sad. He held the note and said to himself: Uncle, don’t worry. It may be rare in the world to have such a great talent as mine, but I will definitely help you recruit an apprentice who is as close to me as possible!
Wang Yuji’s disciples, as his successors, must be the masters of the temple. This did not conflict with Xie Lingya’s identity as the property owner. And Xie Lingya thought that if the other party was really reliable, then he would transfer the ownership to it.
But what his father said was right. Baoyang Temple was deserted, so it would probably be more difficult to recruit people.
Xie Lingya looked at the accounts and found that the income and expenditure of Baoyang Temple was very simple. In the past, his uncle occasionally had some other income, and the fixed income was only the rent of the newsstand. After excluding the expenses of water, electricity, incense, candles, food and drink, there was very little left.
Many parts of the temple needed repairs, but they had been put on hold because of limited funds.
Xie Lingya collected the official seal of the Taoist temple and thought that there was no way to expand his financial resources…
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