It was two o'clock in the morning, about six o'clock in the morning.

There are no clouds in the sky, the sky is clear, the morning sun has risen, and the mountains are exceptionally bright!

Guo Hong took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and felt refreshed.

In ancient times, people went to work early, generally got up at four o'clock, and started to do things at six o'clock, even if the rich people lit candles, they went to bed at eight o'clock in the evening, and they naturally got up in the morning.

The kind of all-night drinking and feasting is just a manifestation of wealth and extravagance, which generally appears in the story, and is the beautiful yearning of the Tang Dynasty scholars.

A high altar has been built in front of the main hall, and the altar has been set up on the table of "Taishang Zhongyuan Qiqi Forgiveness Cave Lingqing Xudi Emperor Equality and Benevolence Tianzun", and various offerings are displayed.

At this time, the drums sounded, the gate was wide open, and the Taoist disciples guarding the door poured in one after another, crowding the area around the first entrance hall.

The alchemists and mages put on colorful cloud crane class clothes in addition to their robes, and they ranked left and right after going to the altar.

Dao Tong hugged the long banner around the altar, and Cao Shouzhen and Wei Zhicheng were also among them.

Liu Yuanjing held the court wat (hu) in his hand, walked out of the main hall in the sound of bells and drums, and ascended to the altar, which is called "ascending the altar".

Guo Hong followed behind and saw He Deng in second place in the ranks of mages on the left.

He Qiong stood under the altar, followed by the maid Red Bean, and the two were whispering.

Cao Shouzhen held the long banner in his hand, standing next to the altar, facing He Qiong, the two eyebrows were eyebrows, and the red beans kept snickering.

At this time, Liu Yuanjing took incense and said that the words of the Wu Dynasty Branch: "Incense starts from sincerity, and smoke comes from the letter." One sincerity leads to the heavenly realm, and all truths go down to the Yao level. ”

The so-called noon dynasty is to say that the priests set up sacrifices, communicate with the heavenly court, and report the situation to the emperor as if they were in the upper court, which is naturally like the early dynasty and the noon dynasty in the world.

Then a Taoist priest started to walk around the altar, his voice was subdued, and he recited a false speech: "Barefoot to the emperor's office, the young girl set up a case; The cinnamon sticks are scattered, blessing and eliminating disasters. ”

This man is nearly fifty years old, this is Wei Zhicheng's uncle Qi Yuanyi, and he is in charge of Tike in the puja.

Gao Gong, Confession, and Tike are the three main sacrifices, Liu Yuanjing is Gao Gong, and Zhang Shoujing, who once went down the mountain to rescue Guo Hong, served as the confession.

Qi Yuanyi's recitation of "Bu Xu" is the Taoist priest in the Jiao altar to recite the melody of the words, the legend of its melody is like the immortals ethereal walking void, a song and three sighs, so it is named "Bu Xusheng".

Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty once asked Sima Chengzhen to compose music, and since then there have been creations in all dynasties, and there are more than 20 tunes that have been handed down to the late Tang Dynasty, mainly using musical instruments such as Yunxuan, Sheng, Pan, etc., mainly ethereal Qingyuan, Xu Xu Liao Liang, which is different from ordinary folk music.

The cloud is a musical instrument in which thirteen small gongs are hung on a wooden stand, and the musician holds a long handle under the wooden frame in his left hand and strikes it with a small mallet in his right hand.

Pan is an ancient ritual vessel, made of stone and copper, generally held in the left hand and struck with a mallet in the right hand. There are also up to 32 pieces hung on wooden shelves, with different timbres and can knock out complete pieces.

The words filled in for Bu Xusheng are Bu Xuci, which have been written by many literati, including Li Bai and Li Deyu.

The word plate "Xijiang Yue" in the Song Dynasty is developed from this kind of word.

The performance is a group of servants dressed as Taoist children, they are the court musicians, assigned to the Taoist temple, belonging to the lowly status, the status is lower than that of the good family, and slightly higher than the slaves of the tribe.

Guo Hong saw Zhao Zhongxian, who he hadn't seen for a few days, he was temporarily in charge of the performance of the music and bells and drums, which was equivalent to the orchestra conductor, and he had been rehearsing with the servants for the past few days, so busy that he didn't have time to go back to eat with the master every day.

This is the main reason why Zhao Zhong came to the True Palace, there are only seven Taoist priests here, and there is a serious shortage of manpower to open a large-scale festival!

This senior brother is versatile, not only is he a surgical saint, but he is also proficient in music and rhythm, and he is good at choreography and conducting.

Qi Yuanyi on the stage finished reading the empty speech, He Deng took a step forward, and shouted the name of the local official: "Taishang Zhongyuan Qiqi forgiveness of sins, the Emperor of the Cave Lingqing Xu, is equal to the good Tianzun." ”

He Deng's position is to speak, that is, the Taoist who presides over the Fa, similar to the host of the evening party in later generations, and his status is second only to the three main priests.

Liu Yuanjing "hanged" and said: "Drink water and offer flowers to fill the Yao altar to support the three officials of heaven, earth and water." The five-color auspicious clouds come to the festival, and the nine breaths descend to the world. The scrolls and sentences eliminate disasters and obstacles, and the words and deeds extinguish sins. The barefoot immortal once asked, and the merits he received were boundless. ”

Then the three priests took turns speaking on the altar for half an hour.

Guo Hong obviously saw that the three of them were a little dry, so he took the water and sent it over, and the master smiled and nodded to him.

Then all the Taoist priests prayed silently, and Liu Yuanjing announced the "Guardian Soul Mantra": "The North Pole Xuanqiong, the Ziwei Emperor's Court." Mount Tai Daiyue, the water country is cold. Gang Wei Three Realms, rule all souls. Three-yuan school membership, good and evil. Fasting and praying, no wish to obey. Eliminate disasters and confess sins, please prolong life. To the true and wonderful way, the merit of the Yuanbian. At noon, the road is carried out, and the death is recommended to ascend to heaven. The Lord of Fasting converts his life and keeps his life forever. The ministers are converted to life, and they are true to the Tao. ”

The Guardian Mantra, later known as the Welling Mantra, is a must-have for every puja.

After reciting the mantra, He Deng once again "raised" the name of the local official god, and the drums were sounded twenty-four times in the view, and Lu Chaoyang was among the several Taoist children who beat the drum.

In this way, the puja will go smoothly, chanting sutras in the morning, and performing the three rituals of confession, life and demons, and step void.

Maybe Guo Hong was still a child, so he was later assigned a task to pick flowers and scatter flowers, and he scattered twice in the morning.

After resting for an hour at noon, Guo Hong found that Wei Zhicheng left in a hurry after eating, and hurriedly gestured to Cao Shouzhen beside him, and the two got up and followed out of the Zhenzhen Palace.

Wei Zhicheng had no sense of anti-tracking at all, and kept walking towards Hejiaxifu.

Guo Hong and Cao Shouzhen followed to the wall of He's backyard, they hid behind the bushes, saw Wei Zhicheng looking around for a while, and then picked up a bush against the wall, revealing a dog hole, and struggled to get in.

The two hurried to follow, their small stature and easy follow, tiptoeing far behind.

Wei Zhicheng didn't notice it, he was familiar with this place, carefully avoided the servants and maids, and turned around three times to a remote courtyard.

It was full of firewood and grass, the axe for chopping wood was embedded in the wooden pier, and there were two firewood houses in the courtyard, Wei Zhicheng pushed open the door and dodged in.

Guo Hong and the others followed, and they heard the sound of plugging in the door, and the two slowly moved under the window and put their ears against the wall to eavesdrop.

A man and a woman whispered from inside, and they couldn't hear what they said clearly, and then they heard the panting sound like a bellows, and the woman's wave ~ scream.

Cao Shouzhen was only fifteen years old, and he didn't understand what was going on for a while, Guo Hong dragged him and whispered in his ear: "Let's go, go outside and guard." ”

The two of them returned the same way, and Senior Brother Cao finally couldn't hold back and asked, "What was the sound just now?" ”

"The guy surnamed Wei is doing that kind of thing with that woman."