Zhao Rong felt that there were gazes coming from the hollow wooden window of the attic. He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and looked around frantically. Subconsciously, he wanted to escape in a hurry regardless of the consequences. The next second, Zhao Rong gritted his teeth, pursed his lips, and forced himself to calm down.

He pulled the branches and used the leaves to hide his body. He stared through the gaps between the leaves, closely watching the dozen or so blue-robed Taoists coming out of the observatory, trying to find out from which direction they would come to catch him after leaving the observatory.

Suddenly, Zhao Rong was stunned.

The group of Taoist priests in blue turned right and deviated from the straight path leading to the outer gate of Chongxu Temple, and walked towards the Yinzu Temple inside the temple. Zhao Rong looked closely and found that they walked leisurely, and some of them even turned their heads and talked and laughed. They didn't look like they were out to catch anyone.

Zhao Rong didn't move at all, frowned slightly, and observed for a while. He saw that they walked to the back of the main hall. There was a red-painted door there that was locked when Zhao Rong observed before, but now it was wide open.

From this perspective, all you can see behind the door is a neat and wide black stone staircase.

Suddenly, a new group of Taoist priests in blue clothes walked out from behind the door. The two groups stopped when they met, bowed to each other, and then passed each other. The previous group of Taoist priests in blue clothes came in one after another, climbed the stairs, and the red-painted door was soon closed.

Some of the new group of blue-robed Taoists left the team one after another on the way, and they entered various halls in groups of three. Finally, only seven people were left and they walked into the Observatory.

Zhao Rong's brows relaxed, he let out a light breath, glanced at the attic again, and then jumped down the tree lightly.

At this time, the sound of a bell was heard from the mountain. Zhao Rong listened carefully and found that it was already the first quarter of the morning.

Zhao Rong turned around and prepared to leave, but after taking a few steps he returned, cleaned up the pancakes that had fallen into the dirt and the scattered leaves that he had knocked off the ground, and did not linger any longer.

It turned out that the group of people just came out to change guard. I have just arrived and should not have been discovered by the secret sentry on the attic. However, this place is too dangerous and I cannot stay here. The observatory is too high and the view is too wide. It can be said that the entire exterior is not suitable for hiding, so I have to move my position.

Zhao Rong hesitated for a moment before deciding to go in. He had already noted down the general terrain and conditions outside, so he didn't need to risk going up to a high place to observe unless necessary.

To be on the safe side, Zhao Rong went down the mountain first and waited at the foot of the mountain for a while. Seeing that there was indeed no movement, he went up the mountain again, tidied his clothes and walked to the outside of the mountainside. This time, he walked around for a while and went straight into the Lingguan Temple.

As we walked into the hall, we saw a large group of Taoists standing neatly in front of the statue in four rows and five lines in the center of the hall. They were doing morning prayers, sitting quietly with their eyes closed, chanting scriptures, and the leader was an old Taoist in blue clothes.

In front of the left side of the statue, there is an old Taoist priest with white hair and beard welcoming guests and interpreting divinations.

In front of the wall on both sides of the hall stood a Taoist priest in blue, and behind them were two little Taoist children in black, standing against the wall. The six of them examined everyone in the hall.

Today is a holiday, and there are many pilgrims and tourists. The flow of people in the morning is as much as on weekdays. Some come with their wives and children to pray for safety, some high-ranking officials and their wives come to pray for children, some men and women come to pray for marriage, and some come from thousands of miles away to pray for their sick relatives...

Because morning prayers were being held in the hall, it was relatively quiet. Most of the pilgrims who came in consciously quieted down, burned incense and worshipped the gods, or lined up to have their divinations interpreted and talked with the Taoist priest. In addition, there was a row of tables and benches on the right side close to the main entrance of the hall, where some kind-hearted people were already sitting and copying scriptures.

Zhao Rong glanced around and took it all in. He had an idea and walked over to the Taoist priest to line up. When he got to the front of the line, he explained that he came to copy scriptures to pray for his sick relative. After that, he paid a considerable sum of money for writing materials and was led by a little Taoist boy to the scripture building to get paper, pen and scriptures.

Zhao Rong found a table and chair near the inside and sat down. The row of tables all faced a statue in front.

There are many rules for copying scriptures.

Zhao Rong first lit three sticks of incense in front of the statue, then washed his hands with incense, held the scripture and rice paper together in both hands, and smoked three circles counterclockwise and three circles clockwise above the lit incense, and placed them beside the table. Then, he spread his hands naturally with his palms facing down, and washed his hands by rubbing them three circles counterclockwise and then three circles clockwise on the incense.

Finally, holding the scripture paper and pen in hand, one must prostrate to the holy image three times before taking a seat, bowing one's head, chanting the holy name three times, and beginning to copy the scriptures.

Zhao Rong sat cross-legged with his back straight, his eyes lowered and his expression solemn. He was copying scriptures with a pen in the corner of the hall, and was observing the situation inside the hall with his peripheral vision so that it would be difficult to be noticed.

The Thunderous Purple Gold Furnace was still on the second altar in front of the statue in the middle of the hall. At this time, Zhao Rong's sight was blocked by the group of Taoists who were doing morning prayers. He could only identify it through the drifting green smoke and the strong sensation in his mind.

Although we are so close to it now, it is almost impossible to get the divine furnace with these few steps.

This is not the kind of opportunity that is easily accessible to the protagonist of a storytelling novel. Instead, it is a treasure that requires a lot of effort and hard work to obtain bit by bit. If you are not careful, all your efforts will be wasted, and you may even put your life in danger.

However, Zhao Rong did not complain at all. Instead, he felt more down-to-earth. The things that he had to work hard to obtain step by step were what were worth pursuing. Those things that came without any effort and purely depended on luck were like castles in the air and would only dampen a man's ambition.

At four quarters past the hour of Mao, a bell rang outside the hall, and the morning lessons of many Taoist priests in the center of the hall ended. Four Taoist priests, including the old Taoist priest in blue, stayed behind, while the others all left the Lingguan Hall.

Zhao Rong was doing three things at once: copying scriptures, thinking, and observing with his peripheral vision.

The prayer scripture that was being copied was called "Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miaojing". There was a lot of text in the scripture, and one could not make any mistakes or miss any words, otherwise it would have to be burned. However, Zhao Rong was proficient in calligraphy, had perfect brushwork, and was born with an excellent memory. After copying it three times, he could recite it from memory, and he was very fast and finished it in one go.

So, although I was said to be doing three things at once, in fact the copying work at hand did not take up much of my attention at all. At most, I would stop for a while when I felt tired, rub my wrist, and then continue.

Zhao Rong tilted his head slightly and saw a little Taoist boy in front of him on the right, one of the four little Taoist boys in the hall. He lowered his head, nodded lightly, raised it from time to time, and then put it down immediately, just like a chicken pecking at rice.

Zhao Rong stopped writing, took a deep breath, put aside the eighteenth copy of "Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miaojing", put it together with the previously copied scriptures, and placed it in the upper right corner. He looked up and picked up a stack of rice paper from the front, taking the opportunity to carefully look at the sleepy Taoist boy. After one look, he drooped his eyelids and continued to copy the scriptures.

Isn't this the fat Taoist boy from yesterday morning? He was the one holding the Thunder Purple Gold Furnace.

Zhao Rong's expression changed slightly, and he quietly looked at the other Taoist children in the hall. They all looked familiar, and he guessed that they were in the team yesterday morning.

The round-faced Taoist boy next to the fat Taoist boy seemed a little sleepy just like the former. He rubbed his eyes frequently, yawned silently, and tried to fight off his sleepiness.

As for the two little Taoist boys, one tall and one short, standing in front of the wall on the left side of the hall, they did not behave like this.

The blue-robed Taoist priest in front of the two sleepy little Taoist boys turned his head inadvertently and discovered the situation behind him. He scolded the two of them in a low voice and asked them what they did last night. The two did not dare to say anything and lowered their heads to accept the scolding.

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows.

There were more and more people in the Lingguan Hall. Apart from the three blue-robed Taoist priests, four Taoist children, four black-robed Taoist priests and Zhao Rong, who were copying scriptures, all the others were wandering pilgrims.

On the surface, Zhao Rong seemed to be concentrating on copying scriptures, but in fact he had been secretly memorizing the appearance and features of the people who stayed in the hall. He carefully memorized and speculated on the rhythm of their walking steps and their subconscious habitual movements. He even knew the pattern of their going to the toilet.

The morning time passed quickly. Zhao Rong donated some silver and had a vegetarian meal in the vegetarian hall at the foot of the mountain. After the meal, he immediately returned to the Lingguan Hall to continue copying scriptures.

There were fewer people in the Lingguan Temple at noon, but the Taoists did not leave or rest. Except for four little Taoist boys who were taking a nap on round stools, the other seven Taoists were sitting cross-legged on a mat, facing the statue, and the Thunderous Purple Gold Furnace was within their sight.

At dusk, the Taoist priests who came in the morning came again to conduct evening lessons. After that, the outer temple would be closed and no outsiders would be allowed to stay inside.

Zhao Rong stood up and packed up his paper and pen, as he had to come again tomorrow, so he placed them neatly on the table in the hall. He then handed the thick manuscript of "Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miaojing", which he had copied 181 times, to the little Taoist boy who came to collect the scriptures. The latter would send them to the palace or temple for convenient storage or for packaging.

If the handwriting is neat and without any mistakes, it can be sent to a Taoist temple to be donated to the public. If it is written well, it can even be hidden in a holy statue for the public to worship and accumulate blessings.

Several good people who were copying scriptures together were curious when they saw that Zhao Rong had copied so many scriptures in one day. They went forward to take a look and saw a dense but eye-catching regular script on the rice paper. The style was vigorous and the rules were strict. There were dangers in the middle and surprises in the rules. Everyone suddenly burst into an uproar.

The little Taoist boy who collected the scriptures and the two Taoists in blue who were attracted by the excitement took a few glances and couldn't take their eyes away. They raised their heads and looked at Zhao Rong in amazement.

A few kind-hearted people came to Zhao Rong and asked for a few copies, hoping to take them back to admire and copy.

Zhao Rong responded with a smile for a few moments, then turned around and went out, down the mountain.

Zhao Rong frowned secretly on the way back. He was afraid of attracting attention, so he had tried to hide his talent. He didn't expect that they would make a fuss over his unintentional regular script with a hint of Ouyang Xun's style. It seemed that he had to take the good ones away. Also, he couldn't copy so much next time. It was tiring...

Copying scriptures for a whole day is very boring. Of course, if you put it nicely, it is called self-cultivation and piety, but Zhao Rong doesn't buy it. He decides to copy some more interesting scriptures tomorrow instead of just copying the blessing sutras.

The moon was high in the sky. Zhao Rong returned home under the stars. He pushed open the door and strode in. Suddenly, he was tripped by "something" and stumbled violently. In Zhao Rong's words, he almost fell on his handsome face and lost his handsomeness.

Bang!

"Close the door and don't turn on the light," she said.

"What are you doing? Don't come over here!" Zhao Rong was anxious, but he didn't dare to light the light because he was afraid.