Nightfall Chapter 71: The Master’s Story (Part 1)
The big ship disembarked at a harbour in the south of the great river country, and the black carriage drove onto the land and left quietly. At this time, more than 70 days have passed since they left the wasteland. The Great River Country in the south has also learned the final news of the wasteland war.
After the black carriage left the wasteland, the Xiling Temple coalition forces suddenly attacked the Tang army, but Tang Jun seemed to have been prepared. The Peking Daying iron cavalry left Helan City and hit the Temple coalition forces by surprise.
The flames of war are burning on the wasteland again, but this time the war has nothing to do with the deserters. The war lasted for dozens of days. The Tang Army, who was obviously at a disadvantage in terms of the number of soldiers, finally won the victory under the personal command of His Majesty Li Zhongyi.
Because the logistics supply line is too long, and there are many powerful practitioners in the Xiling Temple, Tang Jun calmly did not continue to advance after determining the victory, and withdrew to Helan City and Tuyang City in two ways. , The iron cavalry of the northeast army should be about to reach the edge of the wasteland at this time.
What is a bit puzzling is that after the Great Tang Emperor Li Zhongyi led the Beidaying cavalry back to Helan City, he did not immediately return to Chang'an with his class, and the imperial driver stayed in Helan City.
Some people have speculated that something was happening in the Golden Tent Palace, which had been silent for too many years. More people believed that Emperor Tang just wanted to take his empress to enjoy some good time away from Chang'an City.
Although this war on the wasteland ended with the victory of the Tang army, it was a country against the world. No matter how strong the Tang Dynasty is, no matter how mighty the army is, it also paid a great price. As for the Xiling Temple coalition forces, The casualties were heavy, and it seemed that at least for a short period of time, he could no longer start a war.
The Master, who should have shocked the entire world, broke the sky because of the harshest blockade of the Xiling Temple. In addition, everyone in the world was kneeling on the ground that day, afraid to look directly at the bright and flourishing sky, and did not see the real picture. , So it was not spread too widely, at least outside of Tang. During the journey of the black carriage through the Great River Country, the master once asked Ning Que if he wanted to visit Moganshan. Now that Wang Shusheng took the Mochiyuan disciples to the wasteland to fight and has not returned, then the Moganshan Mountain is now Only Mo Shanshan is a great opportunity according to the Master's opinion.
Ning Que understands what the opportunity is that the Master said, but she doesn’t understand why the Master is becoming more and more disrespectful. She is in the car and still uses these words to tease herself, so he firmly refused. .
The black horse-drawn carriage drove out of the border of Dahe, heading to the northeast, passing through the hilly area in the southeast of the Southern Jin Dynasty, and came to a lush and beautiful country, mainly the Kingdom of Xiling.
There is a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes on the opposite side of Daodian in the small town. At this time, Weixia did not go. Even the Xiling Kingdom, which was favored by Haotian, was very hot. The business of roasted sweet potato stalls should be very bad, but I don't know why, but the stall is always open, and someone will buy it after a short while.
"While eating hot pot in the severe cold, and eating snow food with ice in the hot summer, this is certainly an excellent enjoyment in time, but sometimes, people should eat hot pot when they can’t get through the heat, sweating like rain. The picture below is a fun, chewing sweet ice in the cold winter, the picture is also a fun."
The master said: "There are a lot of people who want to try this kind of stimulus, to have fun, or to abuse themselves, so this stall has been open for more than a thousand years. You should try it."
Ning Que bought three roasted sweet potatoes back, pinched the skins with his fingers, and said, "There is a roasted sweet potato stall that can be opened for more than a thousand years? That won't make an eternal business? Teacher, don't you be cheating Us."
The master said: "More than a thousand years ago, I often came down from the mountain to eat the roasted sweet potatoes here."
This small town is in the depths of the Kingdom of Xiling, close to Taoshan. From the stone bridge outside the town, looking along the direction of the river, you can see the majestic Xiling Temple in the green hills.
The mountain mentioned in the words of Master, is it Taoshan?
Ning Que was a little surprised, and forgot to continue tearing the sweet potato skins.
The master took the sweet potato from him, peeled it quickly, revealing the yellow, red, soft and steaming potato meat, handed it to Sangsang, and said, “I’ve never seen Haotian before. I haven't dealt with it directly, so I can only guess, but now it seems that the guess is getting closer and closer to the truth. That's why I feel that I am qualified to tell you the story of Haotian, and now its story is over. Next I want to tell some stories about me, I don’t know if you two are interested in listening."
Ning Que and Sangsang are certainly interested. The world only knows that there are academies in Tang Dynasty, the master is in the academy, and the master is the tallest. However, few people know the story of the master. Master Qishan guessed that the master has lived close to two hundred years old, and Ning Que now knows that the master has lived a thousand. How old, what a wonderful story of a life of more than a thousand years?
The black horse-drawn carriage drove out of the town, drove over the stone bridge, and continued along the direction of the river. The Taoshan Mountain where the Xiling Temple is located, as the road bends, disappears from time to time in the line of sight.
After finishing the roasted sweet potatoes, the master took the wet towel that Sangsang handed over, wiped off the potato meat scraps on the corners of his lips and beard, and wiped his slightly sticky fingers clean, pointing to a place in the east outside the window. : "Many years ago, just to the east of Xiling Kingdom, there was a country called Lu Kingdom."
Ning Que said: "Why haven't I heard of it?"
The Master said, "That was a country more than a thousand years ago, and it is long gone."
Ning Que said: "It seems to be a small country, and not very famous."
The master said displeased: "That's because you have no learning and skill, and you have never read a history book. You have to ask those brothers and sisters in Houshan, who doesn't know the country of Lu back then?"
Ning Que discovered that he, who has always been the best at slacking his beard, made two consecutive mistakes today.
First of all, I forgot to clean up the food scraps on the beard for the teacher, and then I didn’t understand it. Since the teacher mentioned Lu Guo at this time, he must have a relationship with Lu Guo, so he said casually. Then, it was like a slap almost hit the teacher's face. So he quickly apologized.
The master ignored him, looked at the old country that no longer exists, and said: "I was born in Lu country...".
Ning Que thought, it is true that the feelings of the old country cannot be violated.
The master said again: "I am an ordinary morning...".
Ning Que thought, what you said is equivalent to slapping everyone in the world.
The master didn’t know that this student kept making up lines in his heart, and continued: “I was an ordinary person, so I was just like an ordinary person, studying at a young age, making sense, and then taking an exam. I worked very hard as an official. Unexpectedly, just after hearing a case, he offended the powerful and was forced to resign."
Ning Que asked curiously: "What kind of case?"
The master said a few words briefly, and looking at his expression, he was obviously still aggrieved by what happened back then.
"Just cut off that person's head directly? Do you have any evidence?" Ning Que asked cautiously.
The master said: "There is no evidence, but everyone knows that he is a villain."
Ning Que mocked and said: "If there is no evidence, judge the case. I don't know how Tang Law No.1 became the rules of the academy. I said, teacher, why did you kill that person? Did you think he was not pleasing to your eyes?" /
The master furiously said: "I said Haotian has no evidence, so why don't you want to fight against it?"
Ning Que was a little nervous and said, "That's because you don't like Haotian."
The master was stunned. After a long silence, he suddenly laughed and said: "Maybe you were wrong. I was young after all. Maybe my temper was a bit bigger."
Ning Que got an inch of bargain, so naturally I can't forget to be a good one. He laughed and said, "Teacher, you live more than a thousand years old, but in fact, your temper hasn't been much better."
The laughter stopped abruptly. Ning Que touched the big bag knocked out by the stick on his head. He felt that he was an idiot. Knowing that the teacher had a bad temper, he still said that some of them did not do anything?
The black carriage drove under Peach Mountain.
Ning Que became a little nervous, a little excited and expectant. However, what made him a little disappointed was that none of the priests and deacons of the temple had noticed the existence of the black carriage, and the Master seemed to be too There is no idea of going to Peach Mountain to cut peach blossoms, and let the carriage stop under a big tree to enjoy the cool.
"I was dismissed from office, and I had nothing to do. To manage the affairs of the family, I always felt something was wrong, and the world was chaotic at the time, so I had no choice but to live in seclusion."
"I remember that year I was in my thirties. For some reason, I suddenly became interested in Taoist classics. So I started to read books and practice, and I got acquainted and felt very smoothly.
"Pong, as I said before, I am an ordinary person. Both my comprehension and aptitude are ordinary. Like an ordinary practitioner, I step by step and step by step. When I reach the state of no confusion, I begin to stagnate."
"In the eyes of ordinary people, no matter how ordinary practitioners are, they are great, so I was not dissatisfied with my speed of practice at the time. Even if I stagnate, I still feel normal."
"The clan had a lot of opinions about my being deprived of office, but when I was able to practice, their attitude towards me changed a lot, and they sent me to Momoyama as a deacon."
The master pointed to the temple outside the window and said: "After I arrived at the temple, the principal asked me what I wanted to do. I was thinking that the clan must have spent a lot of money, so I might as well buy me an official position."
Sangsang nodded again and again, feeling sad, thinking that it would be good to buy powder.
Ning Que also felt reasonable, and even more curious about the teacher's choice back then, asked: "What did you choose?"
The master said: "I think since I like to read Taoist classics, I have a managerial role in the library."
Ning Que patted his thigh heavily and said, "Good choice!"
The master gave him a puzzled look.
Ning Que praised: "Anyone who is the strongest X and the most heaven-defying person must have been a librarian. Teacher, you think Haotian is not pleasing to your eyes, you are destined to come from then on."
(One more chapter.)