An hour later, they came to Wutai Peak, Wutai Peak is composed of five peaks in the east, west, south, north and south, and is also the core area of Kongtong Mountain, it is about a thousand meters above sea level, but there are neat and wide stone steps to walk on Wutai Peak from Kongtong Town under the mountain, which is also the first year of Tianbao, Tang Xuanzong came to Zixiao Heavenly Palace to worship Lao Tzu when he repaired.

Therefore, most of the Taoist temples are built near Wutai Peak, in order to get a little convenience of going up the stone steps, and the Taoist temples built in Xiangshan are currently only Qingxu Palace and Jingle Palace.

Zixiao Heavenly Palace is located in the middle platform, and the rest of the Red Ape Palace, Xuanhu Palace, Qingniu Temple, White Sheep Temple and Yellow Crane Temple are located on the four platforms in the east, west, south and north respectively.

They came to the West Terrace, where the Xuanhu Palace sits on the central flat ground of the West Terrace, and there are also several wild Taoist temples nearby.

From afar, Guo Song saw the tall black tiles and yellow walls and the cornices and arches covered with gold leaf, shining with golden light in the sun, which was completely different from their dilapidated Qingxu Palace.

Ganyu pointed to a magnificent building in the distance and said, "Little junior brother, that is the Heavenly Hall of Zixiao Heavenly Palace, it is the most spectacular building in the entire Longyou. ”

Guo Song also saw that in the middle of Wutai stands a tall and magnificent hall, at least 20 stories high, spectacular, it is said that it is the special approval of Li Longji, the son of heaven, imitating the Lin De Hall of Daming Palace.

This kind of palace is the symbol of Zixiao Heavenly Palace, called the Temple of Heaven, and it is also the most sacred place in Kongtong Mountain.

But they didn't go to Zixiao Heavenly Palace today, but to Xuanhu Palace in Xitai.

Xuanhu Palace covers an area of about 30 acres, the ancient trees in the palace are towering to the sky, the square is wide, there are many houses, there are more than 1,000 Taoist priests practicing here, it is the third avenue view of the six orthodox Taoist temples, second only to the Zixiao Heavenly Palace and the Red Ape Palace.

Guo Song followed Ganyu to the wall, and heard neat shouts coming from inside, feeling like he was practicing martial arts.

Ganyu said stupidly: "They eat the imperial grain, of course, they don't have to work hard to forage for food, in addition to eating and sleeping every day, they practice martial arts, and get together at night to recite scriptures." ”

The two of them came to a very small door with a sign on it that read the words 'Chai Yuan'.

Ganyu knocked on the door, and a middle-aged Taoist priest came out in a moment, wearing a red fine linen robe, he glanced at Ganyu, frowned, and said, "Why didn't you send it without drying it?" ”

Ganyu said respectfully: "Hongyuan Fangshi, the fog is heavy in spring, it is difficult to dry, we try to send pine firewood, please understand!" ”

The middle-aged Taoist priest said arrogantly: "It's okay to accept it, and deduct two percent according to the rules, do you have any objections?" ”

"No objections!"

The middle-aged Taoist priest took out a few iron plaques from his arms, picked one and handed it to Ganyu, "You can go to pay money or mix salt and oil, and send firewood in!" ”

Ganyu said to Guo Song: "Senior brother, help!" ”

The two carried firewood into the yard, only to see that the firewood in the yard was piled up, all wet firewood, how could there be any dry firewood, Guo Song then understood that the other party was finding fault and bargaining the price, and then reducing it by two percent was estimated to be a kickback.

The two put down the firewood, Ganyu took Guo Song into the Taoist Palace through another door, and met many Taoist priests along the way, and when he saw the two of them, his eyes were on the top of his head, and he disdained them.

However, Guo Song found that the colors of their robes were different, so he pulled Ganyu's sleeve and asked, "Senior brother, why are the colors of their robes different?" ”

Ganyu pouted and said: "This is their rank, black, blue, red, yellow, purple five colors of Taoist robes, respectively representing the Taoist Tong, Taoist Chief, Fangshi, Zhenren and Heavenly Master, many wild Taoist temples also learn from them, and make the hierarchy strict, our small Taoist temples don't pay attention to these, they are all the same." ”

Guo Song looked at his robe, it was a shabby gray robe, which was worn by Ganyu for ten years and passed on to him, it had been washed white, with more than 20 patches on the front and back, and the old cloth shoes he wore were also torn, and the thumbs on both sides poked their heads out.

Ganyu's robe is not much better, it was passed on to him by the third senior brother.

Guo Song's previous vulgar clothes had only been worn for three years, and they were new clothes with great value, which had been cut into countless small squares and turned into alternate patches.

Guo Song understood a little, everyone was wearing the same tattered robes, and they couldn't pay attention to it if they wanted to.

Guo Song scratched his head, "But isn't Master also a real person?" ”

Ganyu snorted coldly, "Master, that's self-humility, you know who Master was before he became a monk, and he scared them to death when he said it." ”

"Who was Master before he became a monk?" Guo Song asked curiously.

Ganyu knew that he was speechless, and said in a little panic: "I can't say this, you will naturally know in the future." ”

Guo Song rolled his eyes, but his heart was full of doubts, could it be that Master is a celebrity in the Tang Dynasty?

Walking through a round gate, they came to the main courtyard of the Dao Palace, where the terrain is open, surrounded by ancient trees, in the middle is a high platform made of granite stones, there are railings around, the granite high platform covers an area of at least five acres in size, very spacious, this should be the main square of the Dao Palace.

The front of the main square is a magnificent hall, there are five or six zhang high, the eaves and beams, the gold painting is colorful, a large plaque with silver edge and black background is written with three big characters of golden light: Sanqing Palace.

I saw sixty black-robed Taoist children practicing swords in the granite square, each of them wearing a new fine linen robe, wearing new thick-soled boots, with ruddy faces and bright eyes, holding a long sword in their hands, followed by a red-robed monk waving the sword and dancing, with fluttering steps and uniform movements.

Guo Song was stunned, weren't these little Taoist children the children who were in the reception house with him? The highest Taoist boy in the middle is Zhang Hu'er, who almost beat his predecessor to death.

Ganyu said with a smile: "This is the new Taoist child recruited this year, first concentrate on the Xuanhu Palace to train for three months, and then go back to their respective Taoist temples, you should know them all!" ”

Guo Song nodded silently, and Ganyu patted him on the shoulder, "Let's go!" Master used to say that the flowers in the conservatory will bloom brightly, but the trees in the conservatory will not grow much. ”

……….

Ganyu went to the kitchen to mix salt, and outside the kitchen door, Guo Song leaned against a big tree, waiting boredly.

He only now had a general understanding of the operation of the various Taoist temples in Kongtong Mountain, the Zixiao Heavenly Palace and the five affiliated Taoist temples were high above, they had the imperial food supplied by the imperial court, and all kinds of sufficient resources.

In order to survive, other wild Taoist temples also had to provide firewood, mountain goods and various labor services to Zixiao Heavenly Palace in exchange for necessities of life.

However, Guo Song didn't understand a little, they could go to Pingliang County with firewood or mountain goods on their backs, and believed that the price would be much fairer than Zixiao Heavenly Palace, and they could also buy some fabrics, shoes and socks.

Is there anything else that can't be agreed upon?

While he was thinking wildly, a cold voice suddenly came from behind him, "Sure enough, it's this stinky shit!" ”

As soon as Guo Song turned around, he saw more than a dozen black-robed Taoist children behind him, all holding long swords, it was the group of children who often bullied him in the Receiving Courtyard, the first Taoist boy was tall and big, with a face full of meat, and a trace of a cruel smile on the corner of his mouth, it was Zhang Hu'er who almost killed his predecessor.

Zhang Hu'er looked Guo Song up and down, grinned back and smiled at everyone: "This kid is really going to be called Huazi!" ”

Everyone burst into laughter, and someone shouted strangely: "It seems that you have gained a little weight, is it too much swill?" ”

"Guo Cao, kowtow to Dao Ye three times, and Dao Ye will reward you with chicken bones later."

"Hah! Ha! Ha! ”

The laughter of more than a dozen Taoist children became even more unscrupulous, as if they had returned to the time when they bullied Guo Song at will in the reception courtyard.

Guo Song couldn't bear it anymore, and scolded in a low voice with great hatred: "A group of mad dogs! ”

"What did you say?"

Zhang Hu'er's face immediately turned cold, and he pushed Guo Song hard, "Little bastard, are you impatient!" ”

"Senior brother, hit him! Break his nose! The Taoist children shouted on the side.

The hatred in Guo Song's heart suddenly burned, although Zhang Hu'er beat his predecessor, but the painful pain in his memory made him unforgettable.

Zhang Hu'er has been practicing martial arts for a month, and he can't bear it anymore in his heart, since the 'sparring partner' is sent to the door, he can only blame himself for deserving it.

He sneered, clenched his fists, and slammed a punch at Guo Song's face, this punch was extremely strong, if he was hit, the bridge of his nose would have to be shattered.

The surrounding Dao Tong exclaimed, and everyone's eyes became excited, and they were extremely looking forward to the repetition of that scene more than a month ago.

Guo Song instinctively flashed backwards, this is the footwork that Ganyu taught him, just like he stepped back and prepared to chop wood, the movement was extremely fast, Zhang Hu'er punched the air, and before he could react, Guo Song's fist had already arrived in front of him.

'Bang! ’

This punch hit Zhang Hu'er's nose firmly, as if Guo Song had accurately slashed Chai He on the ground with a knife, and the punch was extremely fast.

Zhang Hu'er screamed, covered his nose and fell to the ground on his back, nosebleeds spurting out.