Chapter 8: Burning Incense on a Rainy Night

008 Burning Incense on a Rainy Night

Not long after Li Jin left, it began to drizzle outside the Ping'an Temple. Influenced by Xiang Jiannan's "driving" of the Ping'an Talisman again, more residents of Ping'an Town came to the Taoist temple.

Most of them walked in the rain to show their piety, and followed the instructions of their predecessors to burn incense when entering the temple.

There are no amulets today, but you can burn two incense sticks.

"Master, do you think our situation is very dangerous?"

At Gao Yu'an's signal, a few more bundles of agarwood were brought out. Xiang Jiannan walked over and whispered to his master.

Now that the people from the Demon-Suppressing Division are here, we have to take this matter seriously. Even if we don't trust Li Jin, we have to trust the Demon-Suppressing Division.

As a well-known department of the dynasty, the Demon-Suppressing Division represents authority and is focused on resolving various issues that undermine social stability. The people in it are more stable than each other.

“I don’t think so.”

Staring at the pilgrims with a smile on his face, Gao Yuan was only concerned about when all the agarwood would be taken away. This was already the nth wave of people coming, and if it continued it would be terrible. Everyone looked at him with great respect, and that kind of piety made the old Taoist priest extremely satisfied.

My disciple is having wild thoughts again. He has been by my side for decades, but he doesn't have this much self-control. Just stay at the temple honestly and nothing will happen.

Be fearless or just give up?

Seeing Gao Yu'an's calm response, Xiang Jiannan stopped asking questions.

He believed the former. After all, this feeling took time to form.

"Hello, young Taoist priest."

"Little Taoist priest, come to my house for dinner."

Walking out of the Taoist temple and onto the porch outside the house, Xiang Jiannan was greeted along the way. Everyone who saw him would stop and say a few polite words, and then wait until he left before moving. During this time, there were also people who took the initiative to invite him to take a closer look, but he politely declined them all.

It only took a moment for this man to stand up. In just a few days, Xiang Jiannan also stood up again. Thinking back to the days when he was scolded as a stinky Taoist priest, Xiang Jiannan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The vast world, thirty years of ups and downs.

In a flash, it was night.

After lighting the lamp and closing the wooden door, Xiang Jiannan added a few door bars according to the master's instructions. There was no place to insert them, so he could only find an angle to support them. The Ping'an Temple has been very popular these days. In order to prevent any bold people from going astray, the safety aspect still needs to be further strengthened.

Gao Yuan said this after careful consideration. Although their Taoist temple is not afraid of evil spirits, it cannot stop the desires in people's hearts.

"Everything packed?"

After dinner, Gao Yuan was busier than Xiang Jiannan, busy with bottles and jars to collect rootless water. The rain was getting heavier and there were thunders in the sky from time to time, rumbling and there was constant noise hidden behind the cumulus clouds.

"I've cleaned it up, but I ate too much for dinner."

Not knowing what the master was collecting rain water for, Xiang Jiannan held a Taoist scripture close to the lamp and discussed his own cultivation problems with the master during the day. The answer he got was still cruel.

You have to figure it out on your own. As your master, I can only lead you into the door, but I cannot guarantee that you will learn it.

Since Xiang Jiannan had experienced this a long time ago, he didn't care much when Gao Yuan asked him not to bother him.

He took out a scripture that he had only read a dozen pages of, and prepared to study hard under the lamplight in the night.

The sound of rain, thunder, and water...

This is simply impossible to watch.

Xiang Jiannan forced himself to turn a few more pages and felt a buzzing pain in his head. He knew all the words, but connecting them together greatly affected his reading experience. Logically speaking, he was the only young Taoist priest in the temple, so one-on-one teaching was not difficult. If the master would put a little more effort into deceiving him, Xiang Jiannan would be able to reach the second level of Taoist fruit by now.

The second level of Dao Fruit is a layer in the realm system of Taoists in the world. Compared with the first level, its existence gives Taoists actual lethality.

The first grade is ordinary, the second grade is proud, and when it comes to the third grade, fourth grade, and even the realm of Tao Heart, everything in the world can become a chess piece.

Xiang Jiannan is now at the first rank, but only at the early stage of the first rank.

I don’t know what the young Taoist priest was doing every day. He stopped making any progress after entering the first rank. Later, he hit his head on the door frame, leaving Xiang Jiannan with this mess.

The original young Taoist priest was taken away by the door frame. That day, he heard a cry for help from outside the temple. When he hurried out from the side, his feet slipped and he hit the door frame hard. While saving his master who was being chased, he also brought Xiang Jiannan into this world.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw an old Taoist priest hugging me and crying bitterly, with snot running down his nose, almost smearing his face, and his crying was so moving that it shook the heavens and the earth.

"My sensible and obedient disciple, how can you bear to let your master die young?"

"I have been a good person all my life, how could I end up like this when I am old!"

"Hey, they left?"

"Master, there is something I don't understand."

Closing the scripture again, Xiang Jiannan saw that his master had already started taking a bath.

The old Taoist has gained a lot of weight recently. If he wants to take a shower, why bother with so much trouble? It's raining so hard that he just takes off all his clothes and stands in the yard.

"Read the scriptures more, and you will understand those things sooner or later."

Gao Yuan was busy cleaning the dirt on his body and spoke loudly.

He was afraid that Xiang Jiannan couldn't hear it. After all, the current environment of the master and disciple was right in front of him.

There will be thunder and lightning, and the effect will be poor if the sound is low.

"Do you think there are any other ways to improve our practice in our temple?"

Bringing up the old matter again, Xiang Jiannan asked his master.

The method of reading scriptures may not work for him, but there must be other ways.

Please...you...collect_6Ⅰ9ⅠBookⅠBar (Six\\\Nine\\\Book\\\Bar!)

Transmit skills and elixir.

Or other less popular methods.

He knew that in this world, there was a saying that one could improve one's cultivation by eating human essence and blood. Although Taoism has always been serious, it is possible that there would be alternative methods.

"You want to rub my back? Wait, I'm not done yet."

Holding a wooden ladle and pouring water on himself, Gao Yuan refused loudly. Seeing that the master started to play deaf and dumb again, Xiang Jiannan obediently packed up his things and left.

Just stop here if you don’t want to listen to the master’s lecture.

"Boom boom boom."

Xiang Jiannan came to the front hall with scriptures in his hand. He listened to the sound of rain and felt refreshed. He wanted to see if the oil lamp needed refueling. Just as he walked around to the door, he heard a knock on it.

The sound was only four times, across a yard, but it felt like it was knocking directly next to my ears.

"Who is it?"

Looking at the courtyard gate through the rain, Xiang Jiannan felt a bad feeling in his heart.

A thief should be able to climb over the wall. To dare to enter through the main door so openly, he must be either a good person or a ruthless character.

His strength makes him fearless.

Are Li Jin’s words so effective?

"I'm hiding from the rain. I want to go in and burn some incense."

After a brief reply from outside the door, the visitor knocked on the door a few more times while speaking: "The rain won't stop for a while, I hope the Taoist priest can help me."

"Wait a minute, I'll be right there."

How dare he go forward to open the door? Xiang Jiannan quickly slipped back to the backyard while talking. He saw his master humming a little tune while rubbing his hands up and down. He approached and interrupted him directly: "Someone is there."

"who?"

Hearing Xiang Jiannan say that there was someone, Gao Yuan reacted very quickly. He used the ladle to cover his clothes and put on his Taoist robe before he said vigilantly:

"where?"

Looking around, there were only the master and his disciple.

"Outside the door, he said he wanted to come in and burn incense."

"Are you making fun of your teacher?"

Throwing down the wooden ladle in his hand, Gao Yuan said unhappily, "You are just a pilgrim, look how scared you are."

"Will you open the door?"

"Why not? One stick of incense costs thirty cents."

Gao Yuan picked up the wooden ladle again to continue his unfinished work. He found that Xiang Jiannan was still looking at him on the corridor with his eyes fixed on him. He just stood there without saying a word.

"How about waiting?"

Being stared at like this, the old Taoist finally remembered what Li Jin said during the day.

(End of this chapter)