The Book of Life and Death, Chapter 1: A new official takes office

In the early morning, it rained lightly, it was wet everywhere, and the wind was a little cool.

Before the rooster crowed, the entire dormitory had already gotten up and sorted out their grooming early.

It's not so much that they wake up early, but that they haven't slept all night, and this day is especially important to him.

In the future, we must change from this day, the first day of the new official's appointment.

Once sitting in front of the window, looking at the sky outside, without asking yourself, maybe you will be successful in the future, or you will be mediocre, maybe you will be a late bloomer, or you will die young...... Who knows?

"Hurry, let's go!"

The light called out the name of the dynasty in the hall.

The three of them had already changed into their plain clothes and were ready to go out.

Once he walked out of the bedroom, looking at the roommates in front of him, he felt some indescribable excitement in his heart.

"Starting today, we are going to step into our career as a yin-yang official!"

"Hmm!"

Qiguang, Qifeng, and Wei Ling patted each other's shoulders, and finally leaned in, "The four of us will have to take care of each other in the future and advance and retreat together!"

The four of them spoke righteously and reached a consensus that no matter what happens in the future, they must share blessings and difficulties!

Except for one day, the other three people all worshiped under the door of "Lan Ying" and followed him to learn Yin-Yang Taoism.

"Once, I heard that the "Black Goose" teacher's Taoist school is not in the provincial department, so you have to go to the Temple of Mercy and Grace to take classes!"

"Senior brother has explained to me! So, I can only part ways with you first and go to class by myself!"

"Although the reputation of the 'Black Goose' teacher is not as loud as that of the other 'Seven Teachers', I think you will definitely learn something from him with him!"

"Yes, yes, don't be discouraged!"

Hearing them comfort themselves so much, I didn't know whether I was envious or jealous in my heart, sour.

"I'm not discouraged! I think as long as I'm serious enough and work hard, I'll learn no worse than you!"

"Okay! With your words, we will rest assured! Then let's say goodbye, see you in the dormitory tonight!"

Once he had to leave the provincial ministry and go to the Temple of Mercy and Grace.

Starting from the dormitory, there were quasi-officers all the way. Once looking at the backs of the three roommates and other quasi-officials leaving, they were talking, laughing, and playing, but they were walking a different road alone, and there was not even a person on the road to talk to relieve their boredom.

Although I felt a little lonely, I still couldn't hold back the joy in my heart, after all, I was already a yin and yang quasi-official!

The Yin and Yang Provincial Department is located in the west of the city, and the Temple of Mercy and Grace is located in the south of the city, which is not too far away, and with the mount "Little White Dragon" given by Lin Chen, this trip to the class is not very time-consuming, but only three quarters of an hour away.

The most famous and magnificent Buddhist temple in Chang'an City, the Great Ci'en Temple, was built by royal decree.

The three people who stood at the temple gate to greet the first day had been waiting for a long time.

These three people are also students of the "Black Goose" teacher, who will be a few years older, and they are the direct brothers of the first year, and they have been in this temple of mercy and grace for several years.

They waited for a long time to see anyone coming, and began to talk about the man who was coming here today.

"What kind of person is this freshman this year?"

"I don't know, but there are only two kinds of people who dare to worship under the door of the "Black Goose"!"

"Which two?"

"One is people like us! The other is people who don't have a choice!"

"And which one does he belong to?"

"The latter!"

As they spoke, they saw a new face in a yin-yang costume walking towards the temple on horseback, and the three of them walked forward quickly.

"You're Ma Yichao?"

Once stepped off the horse.

"Exactly down there, who are you?"

"The three of us are all students of the "Black Goose" teacher, and we will be your brothers from now on!"

"We have heard that another brigadier is going to visit the door of the Black Goose teacher today, and we have been very curious about what that man looks like. Now that I've seen it, I'm really a little disappointed!"

Once a little embarrassed, politely and modestly said a few words, and did not forget to ask the senior brother to take care of himself more in the future.

"I didn't ask the names of my senior brothers......"

"Oh, it's good to say, my name is Wang Liangyi, he is my younger brother Wang Liangsi, this is our hair Xiao, Ge Daosan!"

These three senior brothers are all about the same height, and although their appearance is not very outstanding, the appearance of the three of them is very similar, and it is difficult for others to distinguish which of them is who for a while.

The senior brothers entered the temple with one day, and introduced the origin of this temple of mercy and grace as they walked.

This great temple of mercy and grace was ordered to be built by Emperor Gaozong in order to commemorate Empress Wende, pray for blessings, repay the kindness of his mother, and named it Ci'en Temple. After the completion of the temple, there are more than 300 monks to preside over religious activities, and Master Xuanzang, who returned from seeking the Dharma from the west, was invited to be the first presiding officer of the Great Ci'en Temple, and Master Xuanzang translated Buddhist scriptures here and promoted the Dharma and educated people for 11 years. ”

"So, this is still the land of Buddhism?"

"It can be said that although the "Yin and Yang Dao" belongs to the Taoist sect and advocates the theory of "Yin and Yang Two Instruments", it should be incompatible with the "Four Great Emptiness" of Buddhism! However, the "Black Goose" teacher believes that the two schools of Taoism and Buddhism must have something in common and can integrate with each other!"

"It is really because of this that the 'Black Goose' teacher will be excluded by the 'Seventh Teacher'! He can only stay in this Temple of Mercy and Grace to teach, and he is not allowed to participate in the government affairs of the Yin and Yang officials of the imperial court!"

Once he had an epiphany, after hearing what his senior brother said, he realized that this "black goose" could not be listed among the "Seven Masters", not because his Taoist cultivation was not high, but because his ideas were different from the mainstream and he was excluded.

As he walked, the "Little White Dragon" screamed and looked weird, as if it had fallen into an evil spirit!

"You, the white horse, have been nervous since the moment you entered the temple gate, it can't be that you have eaten something bad and are sick, right?"

I circled around the white horse, touched the horse's belly and horse's back, and found nothing abnormal, let alone any evil magic.

"My little white dragon is the 'queen of the white dragon'! How can it be so fragile? It was fine when I rode it this morning, why does it look so inappropriate now?

Senior Brother Dao San seemed to have heard the "White Dragon" mentioned just now, he wasn't sure if he had heard it wrong, so he asked for a while, "Senior Brother Yi, did you mention the 'White Dragon Horse'?"

"That's right, my little white dragon is the descendant of the god horse white dragon!"

Dao Sanyi clapped his hands, "That's right! I know why it's so impatient!"

Even the Wang brothers on the side were caught with curiosity, "Dao San, say it quickly!"

"Don't forget, this is the place where Master Xuanzang recites scriptures and talks about Buddhism!"

"So what?

"Oh, listen to me slowly! This white dragon horse was originally a mount that followed Master Xuanzang to the west, and during the period, it also experienced many difficulties and obstacles, and finally the master returned from the true scriptures, and it can be regarded as a complete merit! After the white horse died, it was buried next to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in our Temple of Mercy and Grace! I think this "little white dragon" must have sensed that the dead spirit of its ancestors was here, so it would be so uneasy!"

Listening to his analysis, the three of them really thought it was the reason.

In fact, this is really the case! The "Little White Dragon" is indeed more sensitive to the things in the Great Mercy and Grace Temple, not only because its ancestors are buried here, but also because it can feel the breath of Xuanzang, which makes it tremble and uneasy, and even a little afraid. But it's a horse, and it can't tell people that there's something weird and dangerous here.

After settling the "Little White Dragon", he followed his brothers to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the tallest building in Chang'an City.

"This is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and it's where you'll work with us in the future!"

"Isn't it true that I'm here to learn Yin-Yang Dao from the Black Goose teacher?

Liangyi smiled, "Ha! Don't think that we can learn any Taoist skills like the provincial department!

Confused for a moment, he turned to look at the other two senior brothers, only to see that they also nodded in agreement.

Ryoichi: "We are different from the students of the 'Seventh Division', and we can see from many places! You can see that our Taoist school is in the Temple of Mercy and Grace and not in the provincial department! We are quasi-officials, but we are under the "Black Goose" teacher outside the 'Seventh Division'! What's more, in the past ten years, the teacher has also accepted five students, and we, you, and our senior brother!"

Dao San: "You've been here for so long, why don't you see the "Black Goose" teacher? Our teacher can't teach us to learn any Yin Yang Dao techniques, and we can only do some other things and understand it ourselves!"

Liang Si: "We don't want to attack you, but we want to tell you the truth first, so that you won't know the truth later, and it will be even more uncomfortable! Don't worry about anything! Although we are not in the establishment, in the final analysis, we are also veritable Yin and Yang quasi-officials, and there must be a reason for our existence!"

Once: "That ......"

Ryoichi: "You want to ask us what exactly the work we have to do every day? Haha! You go up to the tower with us, and we will teach you, in fact, it's not a tedious thing!"

Once I went up to the tower with my brothers, I really didn't know what kind of situation I would have.

Dao San: "Once a junior brother, I will test you, do you know why this tower is called the Wild Goose Pagoda?"

At this time, he still had the heart to return to the question? He also knew that he answered very perfunctorily, and he didn't know.

Daosan: "Legend has it that a long, long time ago, there was a Theravada Buddhist temple in Magada where the monks who practiced there ate three pure foods every day. Do you know what the three pure foods are?"

Once he replied that he didn't know and sent Dao San away, but Dao San still enthusiastically told him the origin of the name of the wild goose pagoda.

One day, this group of meat-eating monks was meditating in the monastery. I sat for a long time, and the monks were all very hungry. At this moment, the sound of birds sounded overhead, and when they looked up, they realized that it was a flock of geese flying overhead. One of the monks looked at the geese and said, 'It seems that the Bodhisattva knew that we were hungry and brought us food.' As soon as these words fell, a wild goose fell from the sky and fell straight in front of the monk. Others thought that the monk had moved the Bodhisattva, and the news spread. Since then, the country of Mojieto has built a tower in the place where the geese fall, burying the geese with a grand ceremony, so it is called the wild goose pagoda!"

The ghost blows the lamp