Since the matter in Shajing Village was over, in the next half a month or so, Master's itinerary and I have been quite smooth, although there are one or two small ghost things on the road, but they have been easily settled by me. This way into Jiangsu Province, there are not too many things worth mentioning on the road, but because I have entered Jiangsu Province, my mood is getting more and more excited day by day. Because the ancestral court of our Maoshan faction is in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, somehow, when I enter the boundary of Jiangsu, I always have a feeling of going home.

Although my hometown is not from Jiangsu, this idea of returning to the sect makes me deeply feel that Master and I have been adrift for so long, and we can finally use the word "return" to describe our trip. When others asked me on the way, I could generously say that we were going back to the Maoshan faction, not going to such and such a place. This strong sense of dependence, as well as the incomparable sense of longing for the Maoshan faction, kept me awake at night, and I wanted to hurry as soon as possible every day.

On the contrary, Master was in a hurry, as usual, but now when I look at Master, it is getting slower and slower. In the past, it was Master who urged me to speed up my journey, but now I am urging Master. Maybe it's because I have hope in my heart, I have enough strength, my waist is not sore, my legs are not painful, and it is even worse than taking the legendary Ten Perfect Tonic!

"Two dogs! What are you panicking about? When we rush back to the Maoshan faction, it will be more than ten days later, and the front ...... Didn't you just reach the boundary of Huai'an City? Go slowly, don't be in a hurry, then the "Divine Ghost Oracle" is not so easy to get, Gu Tan wants to find the Divine Ghost Oracle, unless he dares to break into the forbidden land of the Maoshan faction! ”

The master frowned, and then said: "Actually, if you want to talk about it, although the Maoshan faction only recognizes him as the head of the sect now, but within the Maoshan faction, there are a few masters who have attained the Tao in seclusion, and those few old men, in terms of seniority, are all at the level of your master!" And the position of the old men has always been neutral, not biased towards the sutras, nor towards our tantric sects. But there is a taboo, that is, the foundation of the Maoshan faction, if anyone dares to shake the foundation of the Maoshan faction, those old men are bound to come out and walk around. Don't look at the Xianzong Sect is very majestic, but when he meets those old men, he can only be respectful! ”

"Master, if you say that, we don't have to worry about it at all!"

I grinned, but my heart was very excited, I don't know how powerful those masters are, when the master mentioned them, although his face was relaxed, it was not difficult to find that the master's words were also full of deep respect. After thinking about it, I said again: "Master, since the Maoshan Sect has a few enlightened masters guarding it, why do we have to mobilize the people so much? ”

Master glared at me and immediately reprimanded, "What do you know?!" ”

As soon as I saw Master's glare, I immediately closed my mouth.

Master paused and explained, "With what I know about Gu Tan, if he wants to accomplish something, no matter how difficult it is, he will think of a way!" Otherwise, he would not be the Sect Master and the Sect Master Gu Tan! Besides, your ancestors are all very old, they are not born easily, and they are too lazy to care about these worldly things, as long as they don't touch their bottom line, they will also let future generations do it. Gu Tan is cunning and cunning, he can come up with any trick, we have to guard against it! ”

"Oh, that's right, Gu Tan has been fighting with Master for so many years, and he has been leveling with Master, which shows that he is not in vain!"

I nodded, and then read again: "Xianzong Gu Tan, Tantric Yang Yuanshan, the north and south of the great river, who doesn't know who doesn't know?" Being able to be on par with Master is considered a bit of a skill! ”

The master glared at me angrily again, and then said, "What do you mean by having some ability?" Don't underestimate Gu Tan, even if you cultivate for another thirty years, it's hard to say whether you can reach his realm! When the teacher says this, it is not to grow the morale of others to destroy his own prestige, but to talk about things, and what should be is what it is! Gu Tan has his strengths, but he also has many shortcomings, it is precisely because he has too many shortcomings that he doesn't want to entrust the Maoshan faction to him, alas, it is precisely because of this that we have to look for the token of the ancestor all over the world......"

I understand Master's feelings, Master is bent on the Maoshan faction, and all the time, he is thinking about the future of the Maoshan faction. As an apprentice, although I can't compete with Gu Tan on behalf of my master, I sometimes have to share my worries for my master. Looking at Master's sad face, I smacked my lips, I really shouldn't have provoked these topics, knowing that Master was obsessed with this, I should talk about easy topics!

"Master, are there any places of interest in this Huai'an City? A few miles ahead, it seems to be clear water and long sky, is it the sea?! ”

I hurriedly pointed to the water and sky in the distance and exclaimed in surprise.

"What sea? Nonsense! That's Hongze Lake in Hongze County! ”

Master immediately explained to me: "This Hongze Lake is one of the five great lakes in the world, and one of the five lakes in the ancient saying "****" is the Hongze Lake in front. However, for us cultivators, the focus is not only on Hongze Lake, but also on Laozi Mountain next to Hongze Lake. Lao Tzu is a Taoist honorific title, and in Taoism, he is called Taishang Laojun! This time, maybe we can visit Laozi Mountain! ”

Speaking of Dao Ancestor, Master was obviously in a good mood.

The sun was setting, and not far ahead, I saw a few old men leaning against a haystack and chatting. There was a pile of hay in front of them, looking like an old man who had come to collect firewood nearby, and several old men were smiling and waving when they saw me and Master, and one of them was an old man who was too old, his teeth were almost gone, and he beckoned us to come over and rest in a thick Huai'an dialect.

Master can understand the words here, of course, after all, it is almost Maoshan Mountain. It's just that I can't hear clearly, so I can only ask Master about it afterwards.

Another silver-haired old man in his sixties also smiled and said, "Is the Taoist going to Laozi Mountain to pay respects?" ”

Perhaps this worship mostly refers to the meaning of good faith going up the mountain to burn incense, which is understood as the meaning of bowing to the gods. And another old man casually refuted the old man's words: "Don't you see that the person is a Taoist?" When people go to Laozi Mountain, they are visiting their ancestors! How simple is it for us to go to say goodbye once in a while? Tell me you're so old that you don't have any knowledge at all! ”

was told by this old man, and the other old man just laughed happily and stopped refuting. When the master heard this, he was in a rare good mood, and he smiled happily: "A few old birthday stars, you are talking and laughing here, so uncomfortable...... Hehe! Here is more than ten miles away from the Laozi Mountain, not to mention there are more than ten miles away, and you have to bypass Hongze Lake, you live near here, but you also know a lot about Laozi Mountain, it is really rare! ”

"Huh! The Taoist chief laughed, to say that we may not have been to other places, but that Laozi Mountain, we go to burn incense and bow every year! ”

Another chubby old man smiled lazily: "So, speaking of Laozi Mountain, the people in our area know more than anyone else......

"Uncle, it's my first time here, is there any legend about Laozi Mountain? Why is it called Laozi Mountain? ”

Such a peaceful atmosphere, I also asked with a happy smile.

The old man immediately smiled heartily, beckoned me to sit beside him, and said, "Little doll, let me tell you, there are many people who believe in Taoism and cultivation in our place, because our area is a famous and mythical place!" There are many, many myths and stories in ancient times, all of which have been produced in our area, take Laozi Mountain as an example...... The origin of Laozi Mountain, I was a child, and I ...... When I was five or six years old, before you were born, I heard my grandfather tell me this story......

After listening to the mythological stories told by the old man, although they are very different from the Taoist records, they can be regarded as their beautiful beliefs. According to their local legend, Lao Tzu is a descendant of Peng Zu and was born on the shore of Huaishui. As for Lao Tzu's mother, it is said that she was pregnant because she ate a plum floating in the water at that time, and she was conceived for 81 years! Eighty-one years later, he gave birth to a gray-haired son, so he was named Li Laozi.

also because Li Laozi has three leaks in his ears, also known as Lao Dan. Later, in order to develop the Western Regions and promote Zhou rites, the Zhou Dynasty sent Lao Tzu to the West to lobby.

One day, he rode a green ox down from heaven to a reef in the middle of the sea, and then the sea receded, and the reef became a small mountain. He cultivated and alchemized here, and treated the nearby fishermen, and later people respected him as Taishang Laojun, and called this mountain Laozi Mountain. This is the legend of the origin of Laozi Mountain by the people here, although this legend is very different from the historical records and the mythological records of Taoism, but it is enough to see the admiration and longing of the people here for the cultivators.

This old man just finished speaking, another seventy-year-old man couldn't help it, hurriedly pulled me, and had to tell me another story about the spiritual miracles of Laozi Mountain, saying that it is Laozi Mountain in Hongze, which is said to be the place where Taishang Laojun alchemy, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Taishang Laojun rode a green ox to the foot of Lupu Mountain, only to see that the mountains here are beautiful, and the Huaishui is murmuring...... So Taishang Laojun stayed and chose to refine the pill and collect medicine here.

And on the one hand, it relieved the suffering of the people, and then Taishang Laojun relieved countless people's illnesses and sufferings here, and in the end, it was naturally the merit that was completed and went away......

According to later discoveries, on the top of the Laozi Mountain, there is a cave, and in the cave, the four walls are such as cutting, the hole is deep, there are stone beds in it, and the stone table is a few stones, so it is determined that it is the cave where Lao Tzu lived in the alchemy, so it is called the "fairy cave". In addition, there is a huge stone on the west side of Zhongshan, there are traces of tripod feet on it, and the stones around are all red, so the descendants believe that it is Lao Tzu who built a furnace for alchemy here, so it is called "alchemy platform"!