The two men walked in while cleaning, and soon Xu Jianguo found a secret compartment under the ruins. In the secret compartment was a transparent glass cover similar to those commonly seen in exhibition halls in later generations. Inside the glass cover was a flat octagonal object made of metal.
Xu Jianguo guessed from the color of the object that it should be made of brass. One of its sides was polished to be extremely smooth. From his angle, it looked a bit like a bronze mirror. There were eight hexagrams carved around the bronze mirror: Qian, Kun, Xun, Zhen, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui, which corresponded to heaven, earth, wind, thunder, water, fire, mountain and marsh respectively, implying that the eight trigrams encompass everything in the universe.
On the other side of the Bagua mirror, there is a Yin-Yang fish pattern on the bronze mirror, and Bagua hexagrams are also carved around the Yin-Yang fish. However, Xu Jianguo noticed that there is something similar to a compass hidden under the Yin-Yang fish. He guessed that this should be a tool used by Taoists for feng shui.
In his previous life, Xu Jianguo's real estate development company would ask his long-term Feng Shui master for advice before each new project design and construction, just to ensure smooth progress, so he knew about this thing.
The Feng Shui compass, also known as the Luojing instrument, is mainly composed of a magnetic needle located in the center of the disk and a series of concentric circles. Each circle represents the ancient people's understanding of a certain level of information in the universe.
Taoists in Longxia Kingdom believe that human aura is controlled by the aura of the universe. Harmony between man and the universe is auspicious, while disharmony between man and the universe is ominous.
Therefore, some ancient masters relied on their experience to put all the information at all levels of the universe into the compass, such as the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, all things on the earth represented by the five elements, and the heavenly stems and earthly branches.
When a Feng Shui master or Taoist priest is doing Feng Shui, he or she can use the rotation of the magnetic needle on the compass to find the direction or time that is most suitable for a specific person or thing.
Although Taoism did not mention the concept of "magnetic field" in Feng Shui, the coordination of directions, positions, and intervals between the circles on the Feng Shui compass implies the laws of "magnetic field".
The old Taoist Xuanjue came to a bluestone slab and stood still. He turned around to look at Xu Jianguo who was following behind him, then squatted down and slowly lifted the stone slab on the ground. However, when he saw the situation in the secret compartment under the stone slab, he was stunned and sat down on the ground.
"How could this happen? How could this happen?!" The old Taoist priest sat on the ground with lifeless eyes, muttering to himself.
Xu Jianguo felt sorry for the old Taoist priest as he looked so shocked and distraught, but he couldn't tell him directly. He just stood aside awkwardly for a while.
Just now, before Xuanjue was about to lift the stone slab, he put the Bagua mirror into the space, which led to his current state.
Xu Jianguo felt that his silence was too obvious, so he asked knowingly, "Master, what's wrong?"
"It's gone, the magic weapon is gone, everything is gone..." Xuanjue said, and tears began to flow as he spoke.
Xu Jianguo took a look and thought that he seemed a little impatient. It would be fine if he waited until they had finished looking and put the bluestone slab back in place before taking it away. The old Taoist priest was so old, he didn't want him to cause any trouble because of his carelessness.
Just as he was thinking about a countermeasure, the old Taoist Xuanjue said, "Boy, the magic weapon is gone, you should leave! If you have a chance, tell my niece that it was her uncle who wronged her!"
Xu Jianguo thought for a moment, then walked over to help the old Taoist priest up. He said awkwardly, "Master Taoist, I can't say this for you. You have to talk to her yourself!"
Xuanjue turned to look at Xu Jianguo, and after a while he spoke, "Well, forget it. This may be God's will. Now that the magic weapon is gone, there is nothing worth staying in this Wuwei Temple. I will go with you to see my little nephew!"
"Master, how long have you lived here?" Xu Jianguo looked at the reluctant look in the old Taoist's eyes and knew that he was lying, so he asked.
"Xuanyuan and I became my master's disciples in the same year. I was 17 and Xuanyuan was 15. We spent ten years together in Qingyun Temple cultivating the Dao. Later, my master predicted the calamity that would befall the Dao, and he brought me from Qingyun Temple to this Mihun Pond."
"Later, my master went out to travel and told me to practice and protect the magical instruments here. He was gone for forty years. It was not until two years ago that my master returned and told me about Junior Brother Xuanyuan's recent situation. That's how I learned about my two nephews."
"One night a year ago, a group of armed men suddenly broke into the Taoist temple. They forced my master and me to hand over our magical weapons. My master would rather die than surrender. He desperately protected me and helped me escape from the temple, telling me not to come back. But I was worried about my master, so I hid nearby. I watched them smash and ransack the entire temple, and only after they left did I sneak back under the cover of darkness."
"But when I came back, my master had already been killed by them. Since then, I have no news of my fellow apprentices. I never thought that he was no longer in this world. Now, my lineage only has me and my little nephew left."
Xuanjue spoke with some sadness, as if he was confiding, or talking to himself. After hearing this, Xu Jianguo couldn't help but clench his fists, and his hatred for those people became even more deep in his heart.
Xu Jianguo thought about it and decided to keep the old Taoist priest with him. Firstly, it was out of sympathy for the old Taoist priest, and secondly, it was so that he could ask him for Taoist knowledge in the future.
"Master, um... I have something to tell you!" Xu Jianguo said with some guilt.
"What's the matter?" Xuanjue looked at Xu Jianguo and asked.
Seeing the old Taoist priest with disheveled hair and tears in his eyes, he was a little afraid to tell him the truth. After thinking for a while, he said, "Come with me to the outside of the Taoist temple, and I will tell you later."
The old Taoist priest was a little puzzled, but still followed Xu Jianguo outside.
"System, can I take this Taoist temple away?"
[Ding, host, you disturbed my sleep again! ]
"I usually don't look for you in emergencies. I have plenty of time for you to sleep. Tell me now!"
[Ding, OK!]
"Okay, thanks, good night!"
【……】
The two of them came to the outside of Wuwei Temple, and Xu Jianguo finally saw the whole picture of the Taoist temple. How to describe it... The whole Taoist temple gave him the feeling of a demolition site.
"Boy, can you tell me now?" The old Taoist asked when he saw Xu Jianguo staring at the Taoist temple without saying anything.
Xu Jianguo did not answer him, but silently said "stop" in his heart. What happened next made the old Taoist priest stunned on the spot.
"I...oh shit! Where is my Taoist temple?!" The old Taoist priest was stunned for a long time before he could speak.
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