In the spring of the second year of the return of the Tang Dynasty, the reception courtyard at the foot of Kongtong Mountain was particularly lively.

The annual Taoist selection meeting is approaching, so that the children waiting to become monks in the reception home are both nervous and very excited.

Since Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty, he suppressed Buddhism and Taoism, respected Laozi as the ancestor of the Li family, and posthumously named Emperor Xuanyuan, and Taoism flourished.

In March of the first year of Tianbao, Li Longji, the son of heaven, drove to the Kite Gorge of Kongtong Mountain, worshiped the Xuanyuan Emperor Laozi in the Zixiao Heavenly Palace, and enshrined the Zixiao Heavenly Palace and other six palaces as the orthodoxy of the three Qing Dynasty in Kongtong Mountain, which was enshrined by the imperial court.

Since then, the Zixiao Heavenly Palace of Kongtong Mountain and its subordinate two palaces and three views have eaten the emperor's food, have sufficient food and clothing, no longer worry about survival, and do not stand with other wild roads, standing proudly.

This year is different from previous years, the Anshi Rebellion that has raged for many years is coming to an end, and seeing that the world is quiet, Zixiao Heavenly Palace announced that it will expand the number of places to choose the road, so that the children in the reception house are more looking forward to it.

The more than 300 children in the reception institute are mainly from Longyou, Hexi and Guanzhong, most of them are seven or eight years old, there are poor families who want to enter the Taoist gate to eat a bowl of rice, and there are also children of wealthy families who are dedicated to the Tao and devote themselves to praying for the family under the Sanqing Gate.

There are dozens of Taoist temples in Kongtong Mountain, and it is not difficult to become a monk, but everyone wants to enter the Zixiao Heavenly Palace and its subordinate two palaces and three temples, just like the people of later generations want to squeeze into the institutions and institutions when they break their heads.

Every spring, the two palaces and three views under the Zixiao Heavenly Palace will come to the courtyard to choose the road once, which is a big day for Kongtong Mountain.

As the night wore on, the more than 100 children in the second dormitory were still excited and sleepless, whispering about tomorrow's election meeting.

"I heard that tomorrow we will choose sixty people to go up the mountain, and twelve people will be selected for each of the two palaces and three views."

"Then according to what conditions?"

"Stupid, of course, it is selected according to the qualification of martial arts, the stronger the body, the better, which year is not like this?"

"Isn't that 'mowing' finished again this year?"

"That's what he deserves, he grows so tall, but he can't help the wind, he faints at every turn, even the Wild Taoist Temple won't want him, he should have gone back to Lingzhou a long time ago, he has been here for three years, and his skin is thick enough."

"I heard that his family does not allow him to go back, and if he can't be elected today, he can only go to beg for food."

"The last time he was punched by Zhang Hu'er, his nose was broken, and he was faint for three days, as if he became an idiot after waking up."

"Ouch! Now he can't even call Hanako. The children laughed gloatingly.

At this time, an angry roar came from the door, "Shut up for me, don't sleep again, and see what you choose tomorrow?" ”

There was a sudden silence in the dormitory.

In the innermost corner was a child huddled in the innermost corner, who seemed to be longer than the others, covered only with a thin tattered blanket, sleeping in his clothes on the wooden floor, and shivering in the early spring of February, when it was still warm and cold, and the night was very cold.

This child is what other people call 'mowing grass', his surname is Guo, because his body is thin like a grass, everyone calls him Guo Cao, and the homonym is 'mowing grass'.

His full name is Guo Song, eight years old this year, he is the blessing child of the Guo family in Lingzhou who sent him to Kongtong Mountain to become a monk, his parents died, and he was helpless, so the Guo family naturally chose him.

He has been in the Receiving Institute for three years, and the Receiving Courtyard only provides one meal a day, and he is penniless, he has been in a state of hunger and cold for a long time, of course, he is thin and weak, don't say that Zixiao Heavenly Palace looks down on him, even other wild Taoist temples don't want him, and the wild Taoist temples themselves have a difficult life, who will add a burden?

According to the rules of the Reception Academy, if he can't be elected for three years, he must leave, but the Guo family does not allow him to go back, if he can't be elected again this year, he can really only go to the street to beg.

Ten days ago, Zhang Huer, who had the strongest strength, forcibly pulled him to be a sparring partner, and was punched by Zhang Huer and broke his nose, fainted on the spot, and lay down for three days before waking up.

But when he woke up, he seemed to be a different person, he became unusually silent, often looking at the sky in a daze, standing for a day, and everyone said that he was beaten into an idiot.

But no one could have imagined that when this bullied child woke up, he had been replaced by another soul that had been in the hunt for thousands of years.

………….

It's been seven days, and Guo Song hasn't recovered from the endless grief that has passed through thousands of years.

In his previous life, he was an ordinary clerk in a bank at the age of 35, and he was extremely tired from a month of high-intensity overtime, and when he came home and lay on the sofa, he fell into endless darkness.

The moment his soul left his body, the anxious cries of his wife and daughter echoed in his ears, "Husband, don't scare me, wake up!" ”

"Dad, wake up soon!"

But after waking up, he appeared in the Tang Dynasty 1,300 years ago, thinking that he would never be able to see his beloved wife and young daughter again, a huge sadness hit him instantly, and Guo Song couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Guo Song, you're crying again!"

Behind him, another child, Han Xiaowu, gently patted him on the shoulder and comforted him in a low voice: "Don't cry, I really can't choose, let's go to be a monk, and it's also a place to go." ”

Guo Song hurriedly wiped away his tears and said in a low voice: "I'm fine, Xiao Wu, go to bed early!" ”

"Hmmm! Slept. Han Xiaowu muttered vaguely, and soon let out a low snoring sound.

Guo Song couldn't sleep, he forced himself to forget his sadness for a while, but another emotion quietly welled up, that is, deep confusion.

When Guo Song woke up from the Taoist boy of the same name seven days ago, he quickly discovered that the world was very different from what he had learned about the Tang Dynasty in the history books.

The Anshi Rebellion is coming to an end, but it was not Tang Suzong Li Heng who quelled the Anshi Rebellion, but Li Longji, who was unwilling to be the emperor and launched a successful rebellion to seize the door.

There is no Yang Guifei in this Tang Dynasty, Li Longji just favors a Xiao Guifei unusually, which led to the abandonment of the government and the decline of national strength, which led to the Anshi Rebellion.

I don't know where history went wrong, or if there are pioneers who have already come? Or is this just a parallel world of Datang?

The Tang Dynasty in Guo Song's memory became shattered and became unfamiliar.

The Hexi Corridor has been occupied by foreign races two years ago by taking advantage of the lack of troops in the Tang Dynasty, but it is not Tubo who occupies the Hexi Corridor, but the Shatuo people who rose more than a hundred years later, and it is not Tubo that gradually began to harass Longyou, but Tuyuhun who is about to decline in history.

Their suzerains, the Hui and Tibetans, fought for the territory of the Western Regions, and a great war broke out between the two countries in Tochar.

Guo Song's heart was full of confusion and worry, he didn't know where he should go?

………….

As soon as the morning dawned, the children drank a bowl of porridge with wild vegetable batter, and then ran impatiently to the courtyard to wait, but Guo Song still stayed in the dormitory.

In fact, he also wanted to be chosen, although it was not his intention to become a monk, but at least he could have a place to live and shelter before he became an adult.

Otherwise, with his thin body, in this troubled world without antibiotics and chaos everywhere, I am afraid it will be difficult to live to adulthood, and a small pneumonia can take his life.

But why was he chosen, he doesn't know martial arts, he doesn't have the potential to practice martial arts, and his physique is even more unbearable.

The only thing that Guo Song can get his hands on is his literary talent, he has insight that is not available in this era, he has read a lot of books, and he can also write a beautiful small letter.

But after experiencing the tragic Anshi Rebellion, this world has changed, literary talent is no longer valued, and martial arts training has become the consensus of the entire Tang society.

Only those who are strong in martial arts will be valued by the family and will get various opportunities.

'Useless is a scholar! ’

This was a sentence that Han Xiaowu told him, which deeply hurt Guo Song's self-esteem.

Guo Song sighed, he took a piece of paper and pen and ink from the room next door where the miscellaneous items were stacked, which he stole from the account room and hid in the utility room.

Anyway, he wanted to try his luck.

He dipped himself in ink, took a deep breath, and wrote:

The Tao is the way, the very way; The name is famous, and the name is not very famous.

Nameless, the beginning of heaven and earth, famous, the mother of all things.

………..

Guo Song doesn't know much about Taoism, the only thing he can memorize is the Tao Te Ching, today he wants to try his luck, I don't know if the people of Zixiao Heavenly Palace can see the "Tao Te Ching" he wrote silently.

When he was about to finish writing, he suddenly felt that there was someone next to him, and when he turned around, he saw a tall old Taoist priest standing aside with a smile and watching him write.

The old Taoist priest had white hair, his face was covered with vicissitudes, he wore a patched Taoist robe, and a wooden sword on his back.

Although Guo Song had never met this old Taoist priest, after all, his predecessor had stayed in the Reception Institute for three years, and some of the knowledge of his predecessor was also left to him.

Guo Song naturally knew how this old Taoist priest could appear here.

This is a wild Taoist priest, in Kongtong Mountain, all other Taoist temples other than the Zixiao Heavenly Palace and its attached two palaces and three views are called wild Taoists.

The wild Taoist priests have no imperial grain guarantee, they can only rely on themselves to plant a few acres of barren land, or forage around in the mountains, and the life is extremely hard, just look at the robe of this old Taoist priest, at least 20 years of wear, large and small patches are not less than two hundred.

The so-called malleable talents are the strong young men who can work to support them.

Therefore, at the annual Dao Selection Meeting, they will also secretly appear, wanting to pick up the leak from the hands of Zixiao Heavenly Palace.

"Little one, the handwriting is very good!"

As soon as Guo Song put down the pen, the old Taoist priest gave him a thumbs up and praised him, "It's the first time I've seen you be able to read and write at such a young age, and you have actually practiced calligraphy, it's rare!" What is your name? ”

"Guo Song, Song of Song Xianggong, a native of Lingzhou."

The old Taoist priest pointed to the words written by Guo Song, and asked with a smile: "Do you want to be selected with this today?" ”

"Yes!" Guo Song replied affirmatively.

"I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, those old and small miscellaneous hairs in the two palaces and three views have never only looked at martial arts, not literature, you write to them, it's like playing the piano to the cow, why don't you go with me!"