Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
On this day, Xie Lingya made lunch as usual. In Baoyang Temple, because Zhang Daoting was in the front yard every day to support the scene, Xie Lingya did a lot of other work himself.
Seeing that Xie Lingya was not dressed as casually as he usually did when he was not going out, Hai Guanchao asked him casually: “Where are you going?”
“Taihe Temple is holding folk cultural activities…it’s a temple fair, and there’s a Taoist lecture, just going to have a look.” Xie Lingya said. In fact, apart from him, Taihe Temple originally called and also invited Shi Changxuan, but Shi Changxuan was not interested in this kind of activity.
“Taoist lectures, do they know your virtue?” Hai Guanchao said with deep emotion.
Xie Lingya: “Brother, you can’t mock me openly and implicitly just because your seniority is not up.”
Hai Guanchao: “…I’m complimenting you, you are too sensitive.”
He thought to himself, they say you should absorb knowledge like a sponge, but this Xie Lingya is like a sponge turned into spirit, which is too much.
As a local tourist attraction, it was normal for Taihe Temple to hold activities. They even invited a song and dance troupe to perform at this temple fair.
When Xie Lingya arrived at the scene, he saw that the scene was already quite lively. Many citizens, even if they were not believers, would come with their families to have fun.
Xie Lingya walked through the crowd to go to the conference hall where the lecture was being held. Because it was a part of the temple fair, this lecture was not what Hai Guanchao thought. It was actually a relatively popular science popularization of Taoist culture and was open to the public. However, people from the Taoist Association still had to communicate in private after the meeting.
As soon as Xie Lingya left, he said hello to Taoist Master Mao Zhengqing, whom he was familiar with, and they all sat together.
“Thank you, layman,” Mao Zhengqing said with a smile, “I heard that Baoyang Temple has gained many devotees recently, congratulations.”
The reputation of Baoyang Temple was getting bigger and bigger, and even Mao Zhengqing knew about their recent activities.
Xie Lingya said a few words modestly.
Mao Zhengqing said: “Director Chen also said that when you come today, I must introduce you to him for a chat.”
“Master Chen, is he in good health?” After failing to fight with others, he just kept resting and didn’t participate in any activities.
Mao Zhengqing nodded and said: “Actually, he is still relatively weak, but there are some matters that must be handled and important guests must be received, so there is nothing we can do.”
After a while, Mao Zhengqing checked his phone and took Xie Lingya to leave early to meet Chen Sansheng.
Xie Lingya had never seen Chen Sansheng before, but there were photos of Chen Sansheng in Taihe Temple. Compared with the previous photos, he looked a lot older. He had just finished meeting the guests and was sitting on a chair drinking tea slowly.
After seeing Xie Lingya, Chen Sansheng smiled and said: “It’s Xiao Xie, you do have a bit of your uncle’s style.”
He asked Xie Lingya to sit down and said, “I think back then, I introduced people, and some people went to your uncle and asked him to be the master of a large temple. He was concerned about Baoyang Temple and declined. You are better than the old master. I heard from Taoist Master Mao that you have the ability to create talismans in a moment. You are really qualified. No wonder you and Taoist Shi are so congenial.”
In fact, everyone knew that when Mao Zhengqing described it, his movements might be based on Xie Lingya’s posture…
Xie Lingya didn’t know that Chen Sansheng and his uncle still had this past, and he was quite sad. Uncle was just so strong.
Chen Sansheng was really weak before. When he came out of seclusion these days, he immediately received many invitations to perform rituals. In fact, he had accumulated many invitations during his retreat, so he had to reply in person and decline them all. With his physical condition, he really couldn’t bear the energy consumption for a long time.
Xie Lingya felt so envious. Guests were arriving like clouds, and people were queuing up to ask for prayers. How many orders did their Taoist temple receive in just a few months?
However, this was also the result of the reputation of Taihe Temple and Chen Guanzhu over the years, and there was no comparison.
Because his health was not yet well, Chen Sansheng saw off the guests after chatting for a few words. However, Xie Lingya felt that he had a good attitude towards him and he knew his uncle, so he had a good impression of him.
When he and Mao Zhengqing walked out, they saw an old woman walking towards them. When she saw Mao Zhengqing, she took a few steps and called him: “Taoist Master Mao, I have found you.”
“Benefactor Dong, what’s going on?” Mao Zhengqing was puzzled.
The old woman said: “Last week I bought a Sanqing statue from back here. Do you remember?”
Mao Zhengqing: “Uh… it seems that there was such a thing.”
The scale of Taihe Temple was much larger than that of Baoyang Temple. They also had two large storefronts that served as logistics centers for believers to buy statues, talismans, and the like.
The old woman added: “Last week I went to stay at my daughter’s house for a few days out of town. I asked my daughter-in-law to help me change the offerings every day. When I came back, I heard that she had had diarrhea for several days.”
Mao Zhengqing heard this and quickly said: “Our statues are all standard and have been consecrated by the Taoist priest.”
He was afraid that the old lady wanted to say that their statues were wrong and belonged to evil gods, which would affect the owner’s family.
“I know,” the old woman said immediately, “Of course there is nothing wrong with the statue. It is my daughter-in-law. I gave her many instructions, but she just didn’t pay attention. I asked her to put apples, but she was lazy and put plums in the first two days…”
At this point, Xie Lingya, who was standing in a daze waiting for Mao Zhengqing, couldn’t help but look over.
There was also some particularity in placing fragrant offerings to the statues of gods. For example, flowers should be fragrant flowers such as plum blossoms, and apples were the best fruits. Eaten things should not be placed, and plums should never be offered to the Three Purities. Because Laojun’s surname was Li, it was taboo.
The old woman continued: “In the next few days, she went too far. She put the durians that she couldn’t finish eating.”
Mao Zhengqing: “……??”
Mao Zhengqing and Xie Lingya were speechless for a while. What was the operation of putting durians as offering? Even if you like to eat it, the Sanqing may not like it, and you still smoke it!
“After offering durian, she got diarrhea. I also said that she should have gastroenteritis, so why can’t she take the medicine well?” The old woman complained, “Master Mao, what do you think we should do?”
Mao Zhengqing said with sweat: “The offerings have been exchanged. Take your daughter-in-law to the Sanqing Hall to offer incense to make amends, and also bring back a peace charm. Don’t do this again in the future.” He said in a very dark tone, “Durian…”
The old woman hurriedly nodded, “Yeah, well, I’ll tell her properly.”
After the old lady left, Mao Zhengqing and Xie Lingya looked at each other helplessly. Anything can happen. Plums and durians were offered to the Three Purities. Thanks to that person, you can figure it out.
….
Xie Lingya communicated with other Taoist priests again, deepened their friendship, and then left.
There were many people at the temple fair, and Xie Lingya seemed to hear someone calling his name in the crowd. He turned around and searched for a long time in the vast sea of people before he saw a familiar face.
“Mu Shan?” Xie Lingya greeted the girl who was calling him. She was his college classmate.
Mu Shan came with her parents. Xie Lingya went over and called them uncle and aunt. Mu Shan’s parents thought for a moment.
“We haven’t seen each other for a long time. Are you so busy working as an accountant in Taoist Temple? You can’t even come out to the class reunion.” Mu Shan said with a smile, “I just made an appointment with Le Tong and Xiao Bai to play this afternoon, let’s go together.”
Many of Xie Lingya’s classmates thought he was in charge of finance at his uncle’s Taoist temple, and he didn’t explain it clearly. He was not a Taoist priest anyway, and it didn’t matter whether he was the boss or the finance person. He was doing the finance work anyway.
Because there were not many people watching Baoyang, Xie Lingya did give up on a lot of activities. Now when he was caught by his old classmate, he could only say: “Okay.”
Mu Shan just took the opportunity to say goodbye to her parents and pulled Xie Lingya away. “Wow, my parents are trying to persuade me to go on a blind date again. Fortunately, I saw you.”
Xie Lingya looked back and said, “I guess your parents will ask you if there is a chance for you and me when we get back.”
“If you have a chance, use it. Do you have to wait until you graduate from college?” Mu Shan took Xie Lingya to take the bus and then the subway. According to her, she had an appointment with some of their classmates in college today at a board game bar.
It was already five o’clock at this time, and other students had already arrived at the board game bar. Mu Shan was a few minutes late and pushed the door open. Everyone looked at the surprise behind her.
“Damn it, Xie Lingya is here too?”
“You’re finally out!”
Le Tong raised her head, her face was pale and blue, her expression was very poor, and her eyes were a little distracted.
“What’s wrong with Le Tong?” Mu Shan sat over and asked in surprise, “We haven’t seen each other for a long time. Your face is so ugly. Are you sick?”
Le Tong showed a dull smile, “It’s okay.”
Mu Shan and the others looked at each other and saw that the classmate who came first also looked confused, but no one thought it was okay. So, she asked carefully: “Le Tong, what’s wrong with you?”
Le Tong shook her head: “It’s really okay.”
“…Okay.” Mu Shan suddenly thought about whether she might be broken up in love, so she didn’t ask any more questions in front of everyone, “Then let’s have something to eat. Your face looks too bad.”
You could also order food here and eat together. So, while playing, they could also finish dinner.
Le Tong ordered something to eat casually, but Xie Lingya, who had been pulled and criticized since he came in, looked at her a few times, but always felt that something was wrong. Le Tong was usually cheerful, but today she seemed to be a different person.
Was she sick or in a bad mood?
At this moment, Le Tong suddenly raised her eyes and looked into Xie Lingya’s eyes. She seemed to be staring straight at Xie Lingya.
Xie Lingya suddenly felt a chill. Just when he was say something, he saw Le Tong stuffing food into her mouth, as if nothing had happened.
Xie Lingya was full of doubts, while his classmates asked him about his welfare at the Taoist temple.
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron or access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next