As soon as the sky dawned, I stepped on the morning glow and went down the mountain.

Along the way, I saw a thicker fog in the mountains, and there was indeed a feeling of a fairy holy land. It's just that there are too many steps in these seven miles, and ordinary mortals can't stand it, and the second half of the Hu San carpenter who came yesterday was also carried by He Bao. It's no wonder that the real son is also poor until he dies, and the choice of this place is simply inhumane, and there is a lack of customer psychological research.

Of course, this is just my thoughts, and when Master finishes speaking, my thoughts are as simple and ridiculous as those of a newly graduated Xiucai, which seems to be very reasonable and correct, but in fact, there are too many considerations lacking.

Last night, Master rejected my idea and said, "The higher the mountain, the more stairs there are, the more pious it is for the climbers." Do you know that there are some scenic spots where people don't feel too tired even if they walk ten miles, what is the reason?"

I opened my mouth and replied, "That's because people are in a good mood." ”

Kong Zhi smiled: "Well, then if I make the people who go up the mountain not only happy, but also have more benefits, then will they still feel tired?"

"But how?"

"This is our ability to count the doors, and you will know soon. All you need to do is investigate the situation in March City, and find out who is the richest, who is the poorest, who has the elderly, who has children, and who has talented children. How rich are you, what kind of business you have, what is your annual income, and how many members of your family are. There are a few streets and alleys, how many dogs, how many shops, bun shops, blacksmith shops, tailor shops, how many shops of the same kind, singing operas, storytellers, even if there are fortune tellers and feng shui competitors, you must figure it out, whose cake is fragrant, whose pig smells, whose rooster is domineering, don't let go of a single detail. And it would be nice to draw me a map of March City. That's why the teacher gives you seven days. ”

I nodded my head, "Yes, Master, the apprentice will definitely complete the task." ”

"Do you have a plan?"

"There is no plan in vain, everything is done at the right time!"

"Yes, it's a bit of a fool of me. In fact, any plan is not as good as improvisation, any parameter may disrupt the plan, the best plan is no plan, this is the most basic quality of the easy number of people, of course, the big game still has to plan. ”

After the master affirmed me, he then explained the matter of the steps: "Disciple, in addition to this, this step also has a wonderful use, that is, the person who climbs the mountain will be very tired no matter how much he says, and he needs to rest, and he can't just sit during the rest, he has to lie down, and lying down is not respectful to the gods, and it is not good, so he can only sit, but he is still very tired from sitting, so what should he do? Drink water, eat, and besides, a few reclining chairs are very expensive. People who are tired and anxious are not willing to go down the mountain, they will live in our place, this residence will be charged, consumables will also be charged, and the incense burned will be more, the cost of incense is very low, which is all profits, and then make a wish, ask for a sign, then make more money. ”

The master was very happy, then took a breath, and then said: "Also, the climb to find the master to tell the hexagram about the future will be tired and blindfolded, and the circle knows what it means, right? ”

"Great, the disciple is stupid, only thinking about how tired others are, but I didn't expect that there are so many benefits for Taoist temples and temples to be built on high mountains. ”

As I walked, I recalled what Master said last night, and it was really wonderful. It's still the same sentence: Kong Zhi is Kong Zhi, omniscient.

......

At this time, it is the spring season, and the flowers and plants all over the mountains and fields make you have nowhere to hide, but to enjoy the sea of fragrance, wandering your nerves and cells. Butterflies, bees, and even ugly spiders have become very cute, and ants hit by dewdrops are panicking to find their way to the past, like elves in the mythical world, enjoying the sun and rain.

When I went down the mountain, I could see March Castle from halfway up the mountain, so I naturally found it. There was an early horse-drawn carriage on the way, which seemed to be going to Lincheng to catch the market. Master said that I would sit here for three to four years, wait for the war to pass, and in three or four years I would be a handsome young man. Since I've been living here for the past three or four years, I'm really going to investigate this March City. As for whether the war that the master said can pass, he is not sure, after all, it is all the business of the great sect, the Immortal Emperor family, and even the kings of all walks of life.

The gate of the city was opened in March, it seems that it is too far away from the front line of the war, and there is no mountain bandit harassment, it is usually open like this, presumably there are also strong demon hunting envoys in the city, otherwise how could it be so. Sure enough, a few steps into the city arrived at the mansion of the demon hunting envoy, two big stone lions in front of the door, the plaque is huge, and five big characters are written on it: March demon hunting mansion. The wall of the Red Pink Courtyard is two people high, and there are runes floating on the wall, and this rune can only be seen by us monks, but not by civilians.

After the mansion is a crossroads, looking deeply, March City is really not small, crisscrossing several streets, I don't see the end at a glance, I secretly complained, it is really a little difficult to investigate clearly in the past seven days.

As soon as I walked through two streets, a boy ran around the corner, half a head taller than me, this kid was half-masked, ragged, holding two steamed buns in his hands, but his fingers were very abruptly white and tender, as if he was washing his hands frequently. He bumped into my arms, and then hurriedly picked up the steamed buns and ran away. Then I heard the owner of a breakfast shop not far away yelling, "Little rabbit, stealing my steamed buns again." ”

Haha, it's a habitual thief, but the boss just scolded twice and stopped pursuing it, and eighty percent is used to it. It is very difficult for a mortal to bump into me, unless I am willing, the scene where my master is hit on the steps of Qili Mountain may be able to bump into a mountain of gold and silver.

I turned and followed the little beggar, and the little beggar turned all the way into an abandoned house in the west of the city, and when I saw that he had closed the door, I turned over and jumped in from the wall, and I went to the back window to see what he was doing.

The furnishings of the house are very simple and dilapidated, there is a water tank that has fallen off, and only half a tank of water can be filled, and I also saw a broken well when I passed by the yard just now. A straw mat, a broken table, a worn-out bench, a tattered garment hung on the wall, a broom and a basket poked in the corner, two pairs of shoes at the door, both very light cloth shoes, and a washbasin not far from the water tank on a rotten wooden shelf.

He filled a bowl of water with a tooth-opening bowl, nibbled on steamed buns and drank cold water. After eating, he fell on the straw mat and gasped, probably because he was in a hurry just now.

He would have been frightened if I had rushed in, well, I'd better show up in a dignified manner, I cattroed to the front door, knocked lightly, and asked in my voice that was in the middle of a diacritic, "Is there anyone?"

Hearing the "fluttering" sound inside, I knew he was sitting up alertly, he listened for a while, then stood up and asked softly, "Who?"

I heard that his voice was slightly shrill and quite nice, so I said, "I am a little Taoist priest passing by, begging for a bowl of water to drink." ”

He came to the door and looked out through the crack in the door, a detail that certainly could not escape the eyes of one of my monks. After watching it for a while, he opened the door with a "squeak".

When I saw it, I saw a little beggar with unkempt hair, and except for the white hands, the whole thing was a small ball of mud, and his clothes were patched.

I said in my mouth: "Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable! The path passed through this place, and I was thirsty, and I begged for a bowl of water to drink." ”

This is all taught to me by the master, the monk recites Amitabha, and the Taoist priest recites the immeasurable celestial deity.

"Ah, it turned out to be a little Taoist priest, I have water here, but the bowl is too broken, you can just take it!" he said and handed over a broken bowl, I scooped the bowl of water, and drank it with a coo, as if I was very thirsty.

After drinking the water, I said, "I'm from Shangyunguan, this way down the mountain is more tiring than up, and there is no place to rest, donor, can you let me rest?"

He hesitated for a moment and looked at me again, and when he saw that I was not a bad person, he said, "Then let's rest." However, I haven't heard of Shangyunguan. ”

"It used to be called Qiliguan, our master Bo just sat down, and my master is now the master of the view, and his name has been changed to Shangyun Temple. ”

"Qiliguan, cough, that broken place, everyone in March City knows and everyone knows, there is a Taoist priest who has set the true son, and he has calculated the hexagram for people, but the result is not accurate, and the person is counted dead, and the reputation is very stinky, so it is right to change the name. But then again, it doesn't seem to be useful to change the name. You guys, I think it's better to set up a hexagram stall and make some money by going down the mountain as soon as possible. ”

I scratched my head in feigned embarrassment, secretly surprised, it seemed that I had come along, this little beggar was familiar with March City.

"You don't know, our master is much more powerful than that Dingzhenzi, God doesn't say it, and the Tao is mysterious, the mana is through the sky, and everything is omnipotent. ”

"You, don't blow it, you can do anything, you can still be tired enough to choke, just blow and you won't go down the mountain. ”

I was right when I thought about it, this little beggar is quite smart, it seems that he has been trained in the market for a long time, he is half a head taller than me, he should be a year or two older than me, but why are his hands so delicate?

I stared at his hand, this detail was discovered by him, and I looked at it more than once, so that he retracted his hand, and he said in a panic: "If you want to rest, hurry up and leave, I am smelly and dirty here, and I can't fit your master's apprentice." ”

I smiled slightly, took out a tael of silver from my arms, and said, "In Xia Xiaodao Yunzhongzi, Master Ding Yuanzi has always taught me not to owe people, and if you owe too much, it will damage your cultivation, so these two taels of silver are the water money for you, I hope you don't refuse." ”

When the little beggar saw that it was silver, his eyes lit up, and he stretched out his little hand to grasp the silver, and he stared at the silver, and I looked at his hand carefully, and it was as delicate as a green onion, not like a boy's hand, but like a girl's, as if pinching a handful can pinch out the tenderness of water.

I suddenly had a bad idea, and the moment he grabbed the silver, my other hand quickly grabbed his little tender hand.

"Ahh

"Scoundrels!

"Cough, I know that you are a female baby, in this era of war and chaos, women disguise themselves as men, and if they continue like this, there will be more and less luck, not to mention that over time you will expose that you are a female baby, and there is a chance that the scum will sell you to the fairy building to be a little fairy, and then you will cry and shout, and it is useless to say anything. Look at you pitiful, I can let the master take you as an apprentice, although our cloud view is just open, but the future is immeasurable, so that you can live in peace. ”

There is a reason why I am in charge this time, I have always taken care of Master's daily life, if there is a girl baby, then I will be relieved, this is my original thought.

What I'm saying is the truth, who is born to be a beggar? Sure enough, she was slightly moved when she heard this, and when I saw that there was a door, it was useless to just say it, and took out a large pile of silver ingots and gold bars from the storage bag. Her eyes lit up, and she said in a trembling voice, "Little Taoist, you ...... Why do you have so much money......"

She swallowed and said cautiously, "What if you're a liar? How do I know if what you're saying is true or not?"

When I heard this, I was secretly amused, I was indeed a liar, but I was not a bad person, and I didn't want to lie to her. It seems that she has been in the market for a long time, and she can be regarded as having some experience.

In order to better prove that I was true, I threw a tael of silver to her and said, "You can collect the water money first, and I will purchase the rest of the money." As soon as the words fell, I performed a simple light-weight technique, floated on the spot, palm-high from the ground, and said without touching the ground: "So, whether I want to kill you or arrest you, it's easy, can you see that I'm a monk?"

She immediately knelt down and said, "I believe in you, and I will go up the mountain with you." ”

My eyes rolled, and I came up with an idea again, I must achieve the goal, otherwise I will not be able to complete the task when I go down the mountain, and I will have to pick my skin with a burden and go back to the master. However, I think that many of us female Taoist priests will be easy to talk to pilgrims in the future, especially female pilgrims who have something to take care of, otherwise we are all male Taoist priests, how can we deal with the special situation of female pilgrims? If you enter the cloud temple, you don't want to enter it, my master has a rule, if you want to enter the Taoist temple, you must first make meritorious service, as long as you make meritorious service, don't say that you will be accepted, and will immediately give you the Taoist number, and pass on your mortal superior martial arts, even if you can't kill the enemy, you can protect yourself. ”

"That'...... So how can I make meritorious contributions?" her eyes widened, completely convinced of my strength. Sure enough, the treasure is moving, and the beauty is even more attractive.

I pretended to be a master and said, "I came down the mountain this time to investigate the situation in March City, tell me as much as you know, and it is best to help me draw a map, so that I can take you into the mountain gate, and from now on you will have no worries about food and clothing, and you will no longer be afraid, and I and Master and my brothers will protect you." Can you do that?"

"No problem, my parents were killed by the monsters in the mountains, I arrived in March City when I was seven years old, and now I am thirteen years old, and I can draw a map with my eyes closed for six years. ”

"Oh, so my sister is the same age as me. I was born at the beginning of the first month, but I am a senior brother in Shangyunguan, even the two junior brothers who are older than me have to call me senior brother. Since you can easily complete the task and make meritorious contributions, I will take charge of the master and accept you as the master, and you can call me senior brother in the future. ”

"Senior brother is good!" This girl is also considered to be aura, and she immediately put on it. I'm a little Taoist, and it's really not easy to arouse suspicion, so if my two stupid junior brothers are estimated to be broken.

In order to make things go more smoothly, I promised another benefit: "By the way, in the next seven days, you can choose the delicious food and drink in March City, and senior brother will treat you." What's my sister's name?"

"My name is Azhu, but my parents haven't named me yet, because my surname is Zhu, so I named myself Azhu. After entering the March City, in order to survive, I gave myself a new name Tie Dan'er. Since my senior brother has accepted me, he will call me Azhu in the future. She smiled happily.

"My name is Hua Yingchun, Dao Yun Zhongzi, you will call me senior brother in the future!"

Then again, if I had no one to rely on, and someone took me as a junior sister and a monk, then I would be extremely happy.

The first time I went down the mountain, I accepted a female apprentice for my master, which is a bit of a deception, and I can't talk about destroying my ancestors. However, the master is free and easy, and he never believes in these dog rules, as long as it is beneficial to him, he can do anything. I can think so thoroughly, Master can only praise me, and will not complain.

"Senior Sister Azhu, then tell me about this March City now. ”

She went to the water tank and poured two bowls of water, the other was not a bowl, but a broken wooden wine cup, and she leaned over the straw mat and sat down, while I sat cross-legged. The two of them met face-to-face, and they really talked about the feeling of life in a shabby little dark house. She has not only wine, but also a story, but this wine is not real wine, but replaced with water, but the story must be true.

March City is a county guarded city, which is equivalent to a prefecture-level city. Located in the Daguang Mountains, the terrain is high in the west and low in the east, a typical mountain city. It has two urban districts and four counties, with a total area of 26,000 square kilometers and a total population of 1.9 million. Because it is a mountain forest, it is rich in agricultural and sideline products, in addition, the wild animal fur business is relatively hot, and there are naturally many animal varieties such as cow hair. It also produces a mineral, which is a good source of raw materials for making iron and living utensils.

There is a post station in the city, a large storage site, more than 40 streets in the east, west, north and south. Well, Master asked me to investigate, but fortunately I met the local spirits, otherwise I would have been trapped.

Ah Zhu told the history of March City to the forefront. It used to be an important city for many ruling dynasties, but it was an important place for mountain passes, and then after the unification of the world, it became an inner city, no longer a border pass, and a river ran through the mountains, going straight to the east sea and the East China Sea, passing through the east Canghai forest and a number of plains and mountains, and the forest was the one we escaped through.

In addition to wild animals, there is a kind of shallot that is particularly delicious, as well as reeds and horn fruits.

Ah Zhu gushes endlessly, like an encyclopedia here, fortunately I am a monk and have an excellent memory, otherwise I would never have remembered it the first time.

There are two hundred and eight demon envoys here, and the main and deputy lords of the city are divided into the south and north of the city, after all, the city is large and the population is large. All walks of life are prosperous, and they have everything. There are also some well-known talents, descendants of the ministers of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China, and there is also a living Hou Ye, who can be said to be Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and a master like a cloud.

However, most of the people in March City believe in Taoism, otherwise there would not be the Qili Temple in this vicinity, and now they don't know that it has been renamed Shangyun Temple. There is also a March Lake in the city and the Erlong River are connected, the construction around the lake is the focus of the March City, there are March Towers in the lake, it is three pavilions built in the water, and the three pavilions are the entertainment places of the dignitaries and nobles, and the poor generally can't go. There are naturally pleasure boats in the lake, and singing and dancing are leveled on weekdays. The three buildings are called: "Qinghua Building, Qingcao Building and Qingmu Building." The name comes from the local specialties of blue and white porcelain, green grass porcelain and green wood porcelain, and the three attics were built by the three major local porcelain merchants.

The primary industry here is agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and sideline fishery, the secondary industry is ceramics and iron-striking crafts, and the tertiary industry is retail. Don't see through this house, it was Azhu who took care of a lonely old man here, and the old man was given to Azhu after he died. Fortunately, there are more demon envoys in March City, and the law and order is better, so no one took her real estate, and the neighbors on the left and right also knew that there was a little beggar living here, but no one found out that she was actually a girl. Therefore, Azhu is also clever, presumably after going up the mountain, it can be beneficial to the development of the Taoist temple, after all, it has been here for several years, and it is good to have many helpers who are familiar with the local area, not to mention the lack of female Taoist priests in our Taoist temple.

The gold and silver jewelry of the March City School, the Medicine Hall, the Gold and Silver Building, and the magic weapons of the Treasure Building, there is everything.

There are also some celebrities in March City, there are masters in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, among which there are five beauties in the dance and music workshop, four are good at musical instruments, one is good at singing and dancing, and the musical instruments are pipa, bamboo flute, guqin, and drums.

March City has been peaceful and safe for six years. Weddings, funerals, and festive celebrations, there are a lot of them. Azhu also often rubs some food in these folk activities, whose lord has a big birthday, whose son-in-law marries a wife, and which dignitary takes a concubine, Azhu knows everything.

She said that in the end, the spittle stars flew all over the sky, and I didn't dislike it, if I was given a chance to change my fate and just share my experience, then I would do the same.

I immediately decided to start my tour of March City the next day, and Aju was my guide.

Azhu patted his chest happily and said, "No problem, with me, you can walk around here." ”

I said: "However, for the sake of safety, I will change into a Taoist uniform for you later, and you will still pretend to be a male Taoist priest for the time being, and then return to your true body when you go up the mountain, you will show me all the important things first, and this ingot of silver will be given to you first, let's have a good meal first, and let me taste the delicacies and game here first." ”

"Okay! Senior brother is so handsome!" Azhu grabbed my arm, and she was no longer shy, she also saw that I was a little kid, not as tall as her, and very safe. But this hug, my heart jumped, she reminded me of Sister Ling'er, remembered the past years, I haven't been so close to girls for a long time, she made me feel good, she is generous, lively, ice and snow smart. But for the sake of safety, let's let him dress as a man for the time being.

I was a little shy and nervous and said, "Let's go, let's go out now." ”