For the past few days, Yuan Qi has been setting up a stall under the big locust tree on Tianshui Street. Every day, she encounters people carrying the statues of the Three Pure Ones. Every time she sees them, she secretly disrupts the array in the statues that absorbs people's faith.
However, Yuan Qi's little trick was seen by one of Kong Qing's apprentices, who then told Kong Qing about it.
Because Tianshui Street was bustling with people, Yuan Qi didn't notice it.
In an extremely secluded Taoist chamber, Kong Qing stared with a grim face at the neatly arranged dolls on the stone steps. Each doll contained a vengeful ghost, which he had painstakingly collected.
He stared at one of the puppets with a sinister look in his eyes: "She has repeatedly ruined my plans, this person cannot be allowed to live. How is the training going between the Fifth Prince and Xiangli Lin?"
The young Taoist priest replied, "She's still practicing the first level. It will take at least half a year to fully master her. Master, why don't we release a few vengeful ghosts to deal with her?"
Kong Qing glanced at the young Taoist priest with dissatisfaction: "She could easily deal with the water ghost two years ago, so what do you think a few vengeful ghosts could do to her? Let alone a few, even if she sent out hundreds or thousands of vengeful ghosts, she could wipe them all out with a single Five Thunder Talisman."
The young Taoist priest was also troubled: "Master, we can't just stand by and watch her cause trouble, can we? It would be great if we could get her to leave the capital for a while."
Kong Qing was very irritable. Recently, many things had been going wrong and things were not going well.
On the other side of the Taoist chamber, there were several tiers of steps, upon which were placed statues of deities with eerie smiles, exactly the same as those carried away by worshippers. There were many of them, at least several hundred.
Kong Qing said helplessly, "Tell the person who invited the statue that they can only go west after leaving Wuji Palace. If they go east, the gods will no longer protect them."
This way you can avoid Yuan Qi.
He has important things to do right now and doesn't want to break ties with Yuan Qi, so he can only tolerate it for the time being.
After Yuan Qi had performed three divinations, she was about to pack up her stall when she saw a man carrying a statue of the Three Pure Ones passing by, bowing every three steps. This made her feel uneasy.
Although she doesn't like to meddle in other people's business, she has one flaw: if others ignore her existence or cause trouble, it's considered provoking her.
She decided to go and take a look at Wuji Palace.
Wuji Palace is not far away, just a short walk away.
The Taoist priests all dressed similarly, in blue robes with white trim. When Yuan Qi entered the Wuji Palace, no one suspected she wasn't one of them. Some even greeted her, and she returned their greetings in a perfunctory manner, all to avoid arousing suspicion. She carried several paper figures in her bag, but she noticed the Wuji Palace was protected by a protective array; releasing the paper figures might reveal her identity.
After thinking it over, she decided to take a look around herself. After all, her Taoist robe was not much different from that of the Wuji Palace, and it was impossible to tell the difference without careful observation.
The Wuji Palace is magnificent, much more imposing than the Fusang Temple.
Looking around, several large halls were arranged in a triangular pattern, with Taoist priests wearing blue robes and topknots standing everywhere.
The Sanqing Temple was bustling with worshippers of all ages and genders, all kneeling in devout prayer and chanting incantations. Among them were many wealthy and powerful people and their families dressed in finery.
Yuan Qi secretly wondered how much money Wuji Palace could collect in incense offerings in a day, and whether the statue of the patriarch was made of pure gold.
How many Taoist priests stay here? How many rituals for offering food, woodcutting, and exorcising ghosts does Wuji Palace receive each month?
She was very curious about all of this, and even wondered how much private money the Taoist priests of Wuji Palace received each month.
After wandering around for a while, several Taoist priests greeted Yuan Qi. Yuan Qi simply assumed he was a member of the Wuji Palace, walked around the Sanqing Hall, and then headed to the back.
Besides the three larger halls, Wuji Palace also has many smaller two-story buildings with intricate and interlocking eaves and walls, showcasing a distinctive architectural style.
There were very few worshippers behind them; most of them were Taoist priests from Wuji Palace.
According to the typical layout of a Taoist temple, the management office is located on the central axis of the temple, directly facing the Sanqing Hall. This arrangement is mainly for the convenience of finding the person in charge in case of any issues.
Yuan Qi looked over there and saw several Taoist priests guarding the entrance. They seemed unapproachable. She followed them to a tree and, taking advantage of the absence of others, took out an invisibility talisman and stuck it on her body before walking over there openly.
Because it was summer and the weather was hot, the doors and windows of the palace were tightly closed as noon approached, making it inconvenient for Yuan Qi to sneak in.
Fortunately, just as she was about to cast a spell to blow the door open, someone brought her food.
She then followed him inside.
Ice blocks were placed inside the hall, and as soon as you entered, you felt a cool breeze, which was very comfortable.
Do you know how to enjoy life? Does the ancestral master know?
She didn't see the ice blocks in the Sanqing Hall just now.
There was only one middle-aged Taoist priest in the main hall, Kong Qing.
Yuan Qi immediately guessed that this person was Kong Qing. Shen Xun had seen Kong Qing before. Kong Qing had a distinctive feature: his eyebrows were very thick, his eyes were a bit small, and he was very thin.
"Master, let's eat."
Kong Qing, holding a book in her hand, didn't even look up: "Put it down."
The young Taoist priest set out the food and then left.
Yuan Qi stared at the food, wanting to add some sleeping pills, but unfortunately she didn't have the habit of carrying sleeping pills with her. This time, Kong Qing got the benefit.
Kong Qing was very perceptive; she noticed the air movement but couldn't see anyone, so she became alert.
Yuan Qi noticed the wariness in the other person's eyes and dared not be careless. He held his breath and moved slowly, no longer daring to walk around recklessly.
After observing carefully for a moment, Kong Qing did not notice anything amiss, so he put down the book in his hand and went to the table to eat.
Yuan Qi slowly walked over to look at the book and discovered that it contained content related to the concept of "living tombs".
She twitched her lips, thinking that Kong Qing was indeed no good, actually researching such evil arts, and she wondered whose lifespan, vitality, and luck he wanted to steal.
She carefully searched the room and found that everything was arranged normally, and the scriptures were all common Taoist scriptures. The only scripture that recorded harmful techniques was the one Kong Qing had just looked at.
She felt there must be something she hadn't discovered yet, so she searched the room carefully again and found something wrong with a bookshelf. There was an inkstone on the bookshelf that she couldn't move, so she thought it was a mechanism in the secret room.
At this moment, Kong Qing finished his meal and called over his young apprentice to take it away.
Kong Qing continued studying the book, muttering to herself, "Would this method work if I were to steal someone's purple aura?"
Yuan Qi didn't dare get too close. Although Kong Qing's cultivation was far inferior to hers, it was better to keep her distance just to be safe. She waited at the entrance of the secret chamber.
Kong Qing studied it for a long time but still didn't quite understand, so he walked to the door of the secret room and twisted the inkstone.
Sure enough, the bookcase next to the incense burner was moved.
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