Chapter 108: Teach the Heavenly Master a Principle
Damn——
In the soup noodle shop in the early morning, people were coming and going and the aroma of thick soup was lingering, but Zhao Duan just wanted to curse.
He was so frightening, so scary. Unprepared, he was subconsciously startled when he saw this "Tianshifu official" again.
"Why you again?" Zhao Duan couldn't help but complain, but in his heart he was surprised by the other party's methods.
He had just been reborn and his six senses were becoming more sensitive. Logically, he should have noticed that the acquaintance he had met once, who was also a sorcerer, had entered the soup and noodle shop.
But the fact is, he only realized it slowly until he sat opposite Zhang Yan.
This old Deng is a master... Zhao Duan became more and more certain of this judgment.
The old Taoist priest, with a ruddy face and narrow eyes, looked down gently, still dressed as an old man. In front of him was a half-eaten mutton soup and a pancake. He smiled and said:
"Because my friend has a connection with my Tianshi Mansion."
"..." Zhao Duan was speechless and asked doubtfully:
"Old sir, as far as I know, this place is quite a distance away from the Tianshi Mansion. Don't tell me you came all this way early in the morning just to eat this pancake."
He was a little skeptical.
He highly suspected that the other party must have found out that he was staying in the palace, so he came to block him early in the morning.
It was not difficult for the "casual officials" of the Tianshi Mansion to know this little thing.
The old Taoist priest with long eyebrows and beard smiled:
"As far as I know, this place is still quite a distance away from Zhao Xiaoyou's home. Did you come out of the palace?"
You are such a cunning fellow, you even found out where my home is... Zhao Duan complained in his heart and said unhappily:
"Yes, I performed meritorious service yesterday and was rewarded by the Saint. I stayed in the palace overnight and worked hard all night before coming out."
A clever lie is one where every word is true, but when put together they become false.
To outsiders, this sentence sounded as if he was sleeping with the empress.
Zhao Duan said this to implicitly indicate that he had a close relationship with the empress, so old man, please stop wasting your time.
It is impossible to change jobs. The only way to maintain life is to live on gigolos.
Secondly, he was implying that he was the empress's favorite and was not afraid of you, a mere official.
Zhang Yanyi smiled and didn't fall for it. He looked him up and down and said:
"The I Ching cleanses your marrow, transforming you completely... It seems His Majesty has truly cultivated you."
"Oh, old man, you have a good eye," Zhao Duan said with a smile:
"So, don't waste your energy. I'm really not interested in joining the Tianshi Mansion."
At this time, the owner of the soup and noodle shop presented a large bowl of hot soup and five soft and steaming hot pancakes.
Zhao Duan drank a mouthful of soup, took a bite of the pancake, and after eating the hot food, his mood became even better.
Well, it’s a pity that this soup has no seasoning. It is urgent to make seasoning to improve the diet.
Zhang Yan shook his head and said:
"Practicing Taoism requires a sense of destiny. Since you are unwilling, I will not force you. I came here today for two reasons."
"You say." Zhao Duan concentrated on eating the cake and said vaguely.
"The first thing is that last time, young friend orally narrated the theory of Heaven. It was profound and profound, and I liked it very much. After returning, I copied it down for the younger generation to read, and I came here specially to tell you." The old Taoist priest said slowly.
Zhao Duan then remembered that he had made up a few lines from the original text of the "Tao Te Ching" when he was drunk last time.
Unexpectedly, the old man liked it, but he didn't care much. After all, he was just a porter between the two worlds. The key point was that the Dayu Dynasty had no copyright law.
He couldn't collect royalties, and if others copied his works, he couldn't do anything about it.
Well, how come, in my past life, I read novels about plagiarism on Qidian.com, and the opening background introduction always said that the protagonist traveled to another world with perfect copyright laws...
But this old man is not honest. He took the sentences I copied for free and didn't even give me some gifts... Zhao Duan said nothing and waited for what happened next.
"The second thing is that I have some knowledge of deducing celestial phenomena and fortune-telling. Yesterday, on a whim, I predicted that you will have a bloody disaster in the near future, so I came to remind you." The old Taoist priest continued.
"puff!"
Zhao Duan almost choked on his mouthful of mutton offal soup. He looked up in shock, his eyes filled with the words "you cursed me".
Then, he thought about this world again. It was not the same as his previous life. There were gods in this world, and the other party was a Taoist priest from the Tianshi Mansion.
It wasn't surprising that he was good at calculating. He immediately became serious and put down the bowl of soup.
"Don't deceive me, old man."
Zhang Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and gently stroked his beard:
"Why would I do this? If you don't believe me, you can just think I'm a charlatan."
Zhao Duan's expression became serious and he cupped his hands.
"My words just now offended me. I hope you can explain more carefully."
Zhang Yanyi smiled and shook his head:
"The secrets of heaven are unpredictable, and nothing in the world is absolute. Heaven and earth are benevolent, but the blessings and misfortunes they bestow are not constant. How can one predict them in detail?"
Haha, since you are talking about this, I want to talk to you about quantum physics... Zhao Duan frowned.
He didn't think that a powerful figure from the Tianshi Mansion would be so bored as to scare him.
And the bloody disaster...means that there may be danger in the near future, which is also logical.
The capture of Tiechiguan and the other two meant that the Kuangfu Society's intelligence network in the capital had suffered a huge shock.
Ordinary people may not know the key role Zhao Duan played in this case.
But the rebels definitely know.
It would only be natural for revenge to be directed against oneself.
Of course, potential enemies include not only the rebels, but also the "Li Party" that he has offended one after another, including the Huaishui Pei family, Prince Jing's Mansion, Princess Yunyang...
"Hehe, I have indeed become stronger, but my enemies have also increased, and the number is increasing exponentially." Zhao Duan laughed at himself.
There's no guarantee that some petty-minded enemy will come to assassinate him and then put the blame on the rebels.
"Thank you for your advice, old man." Zhao Duan sighed, "I will pay attention to it."
That being said, he couldn't think of any good way to protect himself.
You can't just hide in the palace or the governor's hall all day long, seeking protection from the powerful.
Or whenever he goes out, the entire Lihua Hall must be fully armed to protect him, right?
As for asking the old supervisor for a bodyguard, that is not realistic either.
It is possible to hire someone temporarily to handle the case, but it is impossible to send an expert to protect him closely all year round.
Zhao Duan's identity does not allow him to do so. Even if he could, he would not be happy about it. He would lose his privacy if people kept watching him all day long.
After all... a blacksmith must be strong himself. After Zhao Duan was "reborn", he felt the powerful energy surging through his meridians, as well as the "Golden Crow Flying Knife" in his sleeve.
It is also supplemented by "Body Protective Rays" and "Galaxy Upside Down", two royal martial arts, one for attack and one for defense.
I felt eager to try it out.
He suddenly realized that this might be what Emperor Taizu called the "spirit" of a warrior.
However, given his character, although he was not afraid of the assassin, he also had the courage to fight him to the death.
But if you can defeat the enemy without doing it yourself, only a fool would do it yourself.
Lord Xiao Zhao is a noble porcelain, how can he collide with a cheap earthenware jar?
"Although I cannot tell you the details, I do have something to give you."
When Zhang Yan heard this, he suddenly shook out a piece of silver talisman paper from his sleeve.
Press it with your fingers and push it over the table.
Zhao Duan looked at the talisman paper in surprise. There was the emblem of "Tianshi Mansion" on the front of the silver talisman.
In the center, a Taoist decree is depicted with azure cinnabar in a flamboyant manner.
Looking closely, the sky-blue cinnabar does not seem to be a physical entity, but rather a stream of clear air flowing slowly.
"The divine talisman!" He was surprised and recognized the origin of the object.
In Beijing, the signs of Tianshi Mansion and Shenlong Temple are different.
Shenlong Temple excels in pharmacology, and the medicines it sells are top-notch. Warriors use medicine bags produced by Shenlong Temple to strengthen their bodies, and they consider them to be top-quality.
The medicine is sold throughout Dayu, and there are medicine shops under the Shenlong Temple in all major cities.
The Tianshi Mansion excels in the fields of alchemy and talismans, but its output is scarce.
But each furnace of pills and each talisman were of astonishing value, and usually only the wealthy and powerful families and high-ranking officials could afford them.
Silver divine talisman, when torn, can summon a god to help in battle.
The origin and strength of the deity are determined by the quality of the talisman.
It is a valuable item that is in short supply and can save your life at critical moments.
"Old sir, this thing is valuable and I can't accept it." Zhao Duan put his hand on the talisman paper with a serious expression.
"..." When Zhang Yan saw the boy's hands clenched tightly and showing no intention of loosening, he had a new understanding of the boy's thick skin.
"Haha, take it. This is your reward for copying my insights into the Way of Heaven without permission." The old Taoist priest was calm and composed, acting like a master.
Zhao Duan's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself, is the Tao Te Ching so valuable? He pondered for a moment and said:
“I actually have many more insights…”
Zhang Yan smiled and said, "My friend, that's not what you said last time. You said you only understood those few sentences."
The problem is, you just gave me a bowl of hangover soup last time... Zhao Duan said seriously:
"Oh, this is a new realization I had these past two days."
"..." Zhang Yan smiled and said nonchalantly:
"Oh? Then tell me about it."
With his level of attainment, he wouldn't really not understand the meaning of those words from the other world.
But whether the same principle can be expressed in sufficiently concise and exquisite sentences is another matter.
The Heavenly Book of the Tianshi Mansion had been cultivated for thousands of years, and Zhang Yan believed that it was perfect and not a single word could be added or deleted.
But what Zhao Duan said casually was even more refined than the words pondered by the great monks of all generations in the heavenly book, and it pointed directly to the great way of heaven and earth.
However, just as poetry and prose are naturally formed and accidentally created by a master's hand, Zhang Yanyi was very skeptical that what Zhao Duan had said before was already the best.
The subsequent additions, even if they are still good, are not enough to replace the words in the heavenly book.
On the other side, Zhao Duan was also thinking about which sentence was more valuable. He thought for a moment and said:
"Just now the old gentleman said that Heaven and Earth are benevolent and provide enlightenment. I have a different opinion."
"oh?"
Zhao Duan talked freely:
"Heaven and earth are unkind, treating all things like straw dogs; sages are unkind, treating the common people like straw dogs. Is the universe like a bellows? Empty but unyielding, moving and releasing more. To hear too much and know too much is not as good as to keep to the middle."
After a pause, he said, "This is the inhumanity of heaven and earth."
Under the awning of the soup and noodle shop, Zhang Yan was stunned.
Thanks to Zhizhuzaiwu for the 500-coin reward and Wuweiwuyuwuqiu for the 150-coin reward.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
