The two men walked on the mountain road for ten days.
At noon that day, we finally arrived at our destination - Yongning County.
"Sir, we're here!"
Ning Caijun hunched over with his luggage on his back, and pointed breathlessly at a place not far away where there was a magnificent city gate.
This place is the city of Yongning County, Yongning City.
There were several soldiers guarding the city standing at the gate, and people coming in and out were either walking alone, in pairs, or in groups of three or five.
Ox carts, horse carts, and donkey carts stopped from time to time, and after being checked and questioned by the soldiers, they were all allowed to pass.
Zhang Ling was in high spirits, but not as exhausted and weak as Ning Caijun. The two of them soon arrived at the city gate. After a brief interrogation about where they came from and where they were going, they no longer made things difficult for them and let them pass.
As soon as you enter the city, you will see a wide avenue that can accommodate about five carriages at the same time.
The road is made of white marble rocks, and walking on it feels very stable, which is completely different from the previous Yangchang Mountain Road that was winding and full of mud and rocks.
There are shops on both sides of the road, most of which have flagpoles hanging at the door, with words such as "tavern", "inn", "cloth shop", etc., which are different. These words are also clearly written on the plaques on the shops. Many customers come in and out to take a look. There are peddlers wandering on the streets, and the shouting and hawking sounds are endless.
Ning Caijun said goodbye to Zhang Ling and prepared to go to his aunt now.
My aunt and uncle opened a clinic called "Huichuntang", which was famous far and wide and enjoyed a high reputation throughout Yongning County. Business was getting better and better. Over the years, the two of them made a lot of money, expanded the clinic, set up a family business, and had servants and female family members to help manage the business.
The only drawback is that he has no children.
Zhang Ling, dressed in flowing green, held a folding fan in his right hand. He pointed to an inn and said, "I'll be staying here for a while. If you're bored, come and chat with me."
Ning Caijun expressed his thanks, and then the two said goodbye, one continued walking towards the main road, while the other walked into the nearby inn.
Zhang Ling booked a guest room, ordered some braised beef in soy sauce and a jar of peach blossom wine, and ate and drank slowly in the room.
The meat is tender and delicious, the wine is mellow and sweet, great, great!
Now he has truly stepped into the mortal world. From now on, he will be like a free and easy immortal. Before he tastes all the flavors of the world, he must naturally taste the sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty flavors first.
He felt that it was not enough, so he called the waiter and asked him to bring all the fine wine and food in the restaurant. When the waiter saw the small piece of gold nuggets that Zhang Ling gave him, his eyes almost fell out: "Oh my God! This is gold nuggets that are more valuable than gold!"
The waiter took the gold and shouted, "Okay! I'll treat you well." Then he happily walked downstairs to the kitchen and personally supervised Zhang Ling to check every dish before it came out of the pot.
For the whole afternoon until nightfall, Zhang Ling sat in the house eating and drinking to his heart's content. After he was full, he wiped his greasy mouth and lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. Soon, his snoring was as loud as thunder and could be heard all around.
If you look from the side, you would really think that the person on the bed is asleep.
In fact, at this moment, Zhang Ling separated his spiritual thoughts and hid in the clouds. He looked down at the entire Yongning County and found that the place was clear and bright, without any evil spirits. However, there was a Yin spirit roaming around.
"I am the City God of Yongning County. I wonder which immortal friend has come here!" A cloud floated over from a distance, and on it stood a square-faced middle-aged man wearing a red-sleeved robe and black brocade boots.
Zhang Ling said, "I'm Zhang Ling, temporarily holding the position of a non-rank immortal. I'm a patrolling god between good and evil, guarding on behalf of Heaven. I'm passing by here, nice to meet you!" As he spoke, he took out a purple-green token from his waist and showed it to the other party.
Upon hearing this, the Yongning County City God immediately greeted him with a smile: "Your Excellency, I apologize for not welcoming you from afar. I hope you will forgive me for not welcoming you. Why don't you stay at my City God Temple?"
Zhang Ling saw the other party smiling at him, so he didn't act pretentiously and immediately returned the greeting with a fist: "Thank you, immortal friend. I obey your command."
Although this patrolling god of good and evil is on duty on behalf of Heaven, he does not bow when he meets an immortal, does not yield when he meets a god, and does not grovel when he meets a saint. However, when he really meets a real immortal official, he still has to treat him with courtesy and be polite.
We can't really stick to the rules dogmatically, otherwise when the selection and assessment is over, how many immortal officials will we have offended by going through this process?
The two went to the City God Temple together and had a very pleasant conversation.
The City God is a deity who protects the city. He is divided into "Yang Official" and "Yin Official". The Yang in the mortal world and the Yin in the underworld complement each other and share the same duties.
The origin of the word "Chenghuang" is quite profound. The reason why Chenghuang is said to be the immortal god guarding the city is because the city walls are made of earth and stone. There are trenches and moats around the city walls to protect the city. Of course, some cities also have moats. The one with water to protect the city is called "Chi", and the one without water but only a moat to protect the city is called "Huang".
The Yangguan City God has great power, especially the City God of a county, who is registered as a seventh-rank immortal official and is a very famous patron saint of the mortal world. Every year on certain festivals, every household will go to the City God Temple to burn incense, make offerings, pray and kneel down to worship.
Even new officials who came to take office from the mortal world were required to go to the City God Temple to eat vegetarian food, stay overnight, burn incense and offer sacrifices, and ask the City God to assist in local governance.
All of these things are very particular.
But after the two arrived at the City God Temple, Zhang Ling saw a couplet written at the door.
On the left is: "Officials try their best, and gods bless them with their spirits."
On the right is: "Everyone should perform his duties and live up to the people's expectations."
"Greetings, Your Excellency!"
A group of City God's subordinates came out, including civil and military judges, leaders of immortals, generals of the underworld gods, and patrolling gods.
Today, Zhang Ling is patrolling on behalf of the Heaven, and he can be regarded as holding a "golden medal" and being an "imperial envoy". Although it is an unranked immortal position, it is of extremely high standard and extremely important. It is the only one of its kind in the heaven and on earth, and it is by no means an embroidered pillow that is all talk and no action and looks good but is useless.
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