Volume One: The Empire in the Morning, Chapter 174: Life is like a title, all kinds of obsessions (Part 2)

In the Haotian South Gate Temple in late spring, green trees and thick flowers complement each other beautifully. Deep in the quiet palace, Tang Dynasty Imperial Master Li Qingshan was silent for a long time, then he saw the dirty old Taoist opposite and said: "Senior Brother,

I always thought there was something wrong with your method."

"What's the problem?" Master Yan Se looked at the teacup on the table, thinking about the teacup in Li Pavilion that day.

Li Qingshan said: "Even though Ning Que has great potential, after all, he has just come into contact with the Tao of Talisman. He is like a blank piece of paper that can be painted on. And the exquisite inheritance knowledge of the Tao of Talisman has been learned by the senior brother throughout his life. As for those dozens of

This rune book is all the essence of what my south gate has accumulated over hundreds of years. Now, senior brother, you just threw it all away and ignored it, just like pouring a basin of ink on that piece of white paper.

, in the end there will only be a piece of black paper full of ink smell, without any beautiful pictures.”

Master Yan Se was silent.

Li Qingshan said helplessly: "Ning Que is now an empty teapot. Just after a small opening was opened, senior brother, you forced a vast ocean into it. If he can't hold it, the teapot will burst and die. Could it be that you

do not worry?"

"If that boy Ning Que knew that you used something like a teapot to describe him, maybe he wouldn't need to pour out any knowledge and cry. He would be so angry that he would explode into pieces."

Master Yan Se smiled, then looked at Li Qingshan solemnly, and said slowly: "Ning Que is a white paper, but it is the largest piece of white paper I have ever seen. Drawing on such a white paper, whether it is you or me,

, I have no experience and no confidence, so I can only pour the pot of ink over and let him move around on his own. Since I can't draw with a bare pen, I just let this white paper hold the ink and draw by itself. As for what I can draw in the end

Well, after all, it still depends on his understanding and perseverance."

"As for the metaphor of the teapot... I admit that putting the essence of what I have learned throughout my life and what Nanmen has accumulated over hundreds of years into Ning Que's mind in such a short period of time may indeed embarrass him. However, junior brother, you must also do it.

Admittedly, although this method is simple and crude, it is the fastest and most effective method. As long as his little teapot does not break, tea will eventually swell out."

"But it's also the most dangerous and unreliable method."

Li Qingshan frowned and looked at Master Yan Se, and said: "What if this white paper doesn't have time to move around and is directly stuck to the floor by the ink? What if this little teapot doesn't have time to force out the pleasant tea from the mouth and breaks into pieces?"

What to do with countless pieces of money? Ning Que is not only your successor. He is the master's student on the second floor of the academy. He is also a young man who has high hopes for your majesty. I don't understand why, senior brother, you behave like this with him.

Urgent, there are obviously many more conservative and reliable methods."

"Because he is anxious, I am anxious too, and the world seems to be becoming anxious too."

Master Yan Se looked up at the sky in the north outside the South Gate Temple and said slowly: "Becoming a Talisman Master in ten years, my ambition as a student does not end there, and my ambition does not end there. Now that the world has begun to turmoil,

I think it will be difficult to leave a stable and conservative cultivation environment for Ning Que. The most important thing is that I recently discovered that my time is running out."

After saying this, Master Yan Se coughed twice.

Li Qingshan watched Master Yan Se remain silent for a long time and said sadly: "That's it."

Master Yan Se smiled, stood up from the floor with some difficulty, and walked out of the temple with the support of a charming middle-aged Taoist nun.

Li Qingshan looked at the old back of his senior brother and suddenly said: "Senior brother, you should stop playing around these days and spend more time talking with me in the temple. Speaking of which, you and I have been in the same school for decades, and we have never even played a game of chess.

Been down there.”

Master Yan Se did not look back, smiled and waved his hand, and said in a gravelly voice: "You are not a young and beautiful girl. Talking and playing chess with you is really boring. Don't worry, I will definitely come back to see you on the day I die.

Your last appearance."

Li Qingshan withdrew his gaze and looked at the small teapot on the stove beside the table that spewed out hot mist. He was silent and thought to himself, senior brother, since you are determined to be the stove for boiling tea, then I must also find a way to help that little guy.

.

After Master Yan Se left the South Gate of Haotian Dao, he went directly to Zhaozhao and came to the small courtyard he was most familiar with.

At this time, Miss Shui Zhu'er was counting the banknotes with her maid. They had made a small fortune by selling rubbings of chicken soup stickers these days. Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door and saw the dirty old man standing at the door of the courtyard.

Suddenly he stood up in surprise.

In the past, she just thought that this Taoist had a vulgar appearance and generous actions, so she waited patiently to entertain him. Now that she knew the true identity of the other party, she still dared to pretend to be Jiao Na Qiao, and hurriedly greeted him as quickly as possible.

"Master Tao is here."

Miss Shuizhu'er squatted down and bowed, looking extremely respectful. She originally thought she should be more enthusiastic, but she just thought that this Taoist was one of the legendary immortals, and she was really nervous.

Master Yan Se laughed strangely, stretched out his hand and twisted her plump waist, and said: "You know the identity of the Taoist master, so there is no need to be so nervous. After all, I still have to pay for it, so it is my turn to please you.

"

Shuizhu'er took advantage of the situation and snuggled into his arms and said shyly: "Master Dao is here to tease me again. I was thinking that Master Dao is idle in the clouds and wild cranes. Gods never stay in the mortal world for too long. I am afraid that I will never see them again. I am full of regrets."

Coming."

Master Yan Se said angrily: "The powder you have here tastes better than the ink on the talisman paper. How can I not give it up?"

…

…

After walking a few steps towards the cliff, I saw a cliff cave about tens of meters high. Above the cave entrance, birds were flying in and out quickly. On the gentle slope outside the cave, a two-story wooden structure was built.

The small building. The surface of the small building is covered with traces of wind, rain and bird droppings. I don’t know how many years it has stood silently under this cliff.

There was still some distance away from the small building, and Ning Que smelled a familiar smell. His face turned pale and he asked, "Do you smell something here?"

Chen Pipi sniffed and said in confusion: "What does it smell like?"

"You haven't smelled such a strong smell?" Ning Que stared into his eyes and said tremblingly: "The stink of Huangzhou bud paper and ink. I feel like vomiting when I smell these smells. Why do you still bring them?"

Am I here?"

Chen Pipi knew that there must be paper and ink next to the old scholar in the building, but he did not smell the smell of paper and ink that made Ning Que's face turn pale and nauseated. He reached out and fished it in front of his nose, thinking that this boy had recently studied

Fu Dao is as crazy as a devil, and he is so sensitive.

Ning Que raised his sleeves to cover his nose and followed him towards the wooden building. The closer he got to the wooden building, the stronger the smell of paper and ink became, and he became more and more uncomfortable. In the past few days, he was grinding ink and looking at paper every night but could not move.

Suddenly, I subconsciously developed a fear and disgust towards this smell.

There is an open-air stone platform below the wooden building. There is a huge desk on the platform, and a mountain of books is placed on the table.

Behind the mountain of books, an old scholar with gray hair sat. The old scholar held an old book in his left hand and a half-bald writing brush in his right hand. From time to time, he chanted a few sentences to the old book and put the pen on the paper.

He wrote a number on it, and then continued to read. Somehow he saw something wonderful, and his long eyebrows flew up in the wind, and his facial expression was so wonderful that he seemed to be dancing.

This old gentleman was reading and copying books, concentrating on nothing else. Whether it was the flock of birds flying above the cliff cave, or the approaching Chen Pipi and Ning Que, they had no impact on him, as if he just had to start reading.

, then the entire world except books disappeared in an instant.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

The old scholar found another wonderful thing in the scroll. He copied those sentences on the paper as quickly as possible, then put the half-bald brush into his lips and licked it, as if he had tasted the most wonderful taste in the world.

Danced happily.

Ning Que looked at the old scholar, looked back at Chen Pipi in astonishment, and said, "He is indeed studying, but if I watch him study, how will it help me practice Talismanism?"

"Elder brother once told us that many years ago, Master discovered that this old gentleman actually had great potential for spiritual practice, but he was directly rejected by him."

Chen Pipi looked at the old man behind the desk who was reading and copying books like crazy. He shrugged helplessly and said: "Because in this old man's opinion, the only meaningful thing in the world is reading. Cultivation and other things are really too delayed."

time."

"This old gentleman doesn't know how to do anything else but study, and he doesn't even bother to do it. Even his wife can't do anything to him. Moreover, he has a very bad temper. As long as someone disturbs his study, he will be very unhappy. At such a young age

As time goes by, no one in the back mountain pays attention to him, even the senior brother with the best temper is too lazy to deal with this person."

Ning Que looked at the old man behind the mountain of books and said sympathetically, "Is this probably because of a roundabout way of studying?"

"What you said is too polite." Chen Pipi shook his head and said, "After this old gentleman refused the master's request to take him to practice Taoism, the second senior brother once made a comment: This person has become a *** in reading."

Ning Que smiled, but the smile suddenly froze on his face. He turned back to look at Chen Pipi and asked hesitantly: "Wait a minute... You brought me to see this old man who studied as a *** today. Do you want to pass the exam?"

This example tells me that I have been studying Talisman and Tao like crazy these days, and if I continue like this, I will eventually become like this?"

"On the contrary." Chen Pipi led him towards the stone platform and said, "Although we all hate this old gentleman, sometimes we also admire him very much. I brought you to see him just to tell you.

You, you think you can be superior to your peers in terms of perseverance and hard work, but in fact there are many people in this world who can do it, and do it better than you."

Ning Que was a little confused about what he meant. As he walked towards the stone platform, he suddenly thought of something and asked: "Besides this old gentleman, are there anyone with higher seniority in the mountains behind the academy? Do we have any teachers?"

uncle?"

"There used to be a young master uncle who I heard was the most vigorous and first-rate person in the world."

Chen Pipi turned around and said, "But it's a pity that only the senior brother and the second senior brother have seen it."

…

…

After reaching the stone platform, Chen Pipi saluted the old gentleman behind the mountain of books and said with a smile: "Scholar, long time no see."

Ning Que followed him and bowed, hearing the title "scholar" and couldn't help but feel a little funny.

The scholar turned a deaf ear, as if he didn't even see the two of them coming in front of him.

Chen Pipi shouted again: "Scholar! Long time no see!"

His voice came from the side of the building into the cliff cave. After several echoes, it came back, which was particularly clear and loud. It startled the birds that were busy building nests or doing other chores above the cliff cave and flew all over the sky.

scream.

Only then did the scholar wake up. He raised his head in bewilderment and looked at the two people who had appeared in front of the desk at some time. Suddenly, his expression tightened, his eyes showed disgust, and he roared: "What are you doing again!"
To be continued...