Chapter 14 Looking for Books
Chapter 14 Looking for Books
A ball of fiery red cloud slowly floated out from Shouyin Mountain.
The cloud was flying all over the place, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes going up to the sky, sometimes sinking down, but fortunately there were too many clouds here and no one noticed it for a while.
Fortunately, the cloud soon stabilized and slowly descended, first passing through the Milky Sea, then through the Neon Sea, and then passing through the mountains.
Above the cloud, Yunqi held a piece of yellow talisman paper in his hand. On the talisman paper was a picture of Yunli. In the middle of the auspicious cloud pattern formed by layers of Yunli, there was a string of purple dots, forming the shape of the Big Dipper. Yunqi's thumb was placed on the handle of the Big Dipper, and as he rubbed his thumb, the fiery cloud floated along with it, which was very convenient.
This cloud-controlling talisman paper was specially given to Yunqi by Taoist Jixuan after he knew that Yunqi had not yet learned how to circulate Qi. You know, if this thing is sold alone, it will cost a lot of money!
He followed the same route he came from, passing Xianwan Mountain, Dawan Mountain, and Dujuan Valley, and returned to Xiaowan Mountain.
There are many ferries on Xiaowan Mountain. This time he did not stop at Shaoyang Ferry, which was closest to his residence, but went directly to Lanting Ferry, which was close to the top.
Landing at the ferry, he rolled up the talisman paper, and the clouds under his feet dissipated, turning into a red line that climbed onto his left chest and formed a simple yet magical red dragon pattern.
He gave this fiery cloud a new name, Dragon Chariot.
He went all the way to the mountaintop college.
Yunqi had not been in Xiaowanshan for long, but the library in the Capital Academy was the place he visited most often and he was already very familiar with it.
He came this time because of what Master Su Kongyu had said yesterday, about building a view in the mind.
He thought about it seriously and decided that things must be done well. Moreover, Master Su Kongyu had emphasized yesterday that this was related to the concentration of thoughts and the opening of the palace.
The most important things in building Taoist temples are the style of the temple and the statues enshrined in the temple.
First, the construction style of Taoist temples has a history of tens of thousands of years. Each school is different, and the masters of each generation have made innovations. It is so complicated that it is hard to describe, but there are so many buildings here that there are always traces to follow. Read more and look more to understand the underlying context, especially the style and application of basic units such as beams, columns, buckets, arches, bricks, tiles, and paint. The rest is nothing more than aesthetic attainments and the length of time.
Learning is never difficult.
The second one is the statues to be worshipped, which is a bit tricky for me.
Yunqi has always been in awe of matters concerning gods and ghosts. Although he has now barely stepped into the mountain gate, this world is still unfamiliar to him.
Yunqi didn't know whether the illustrated book he wanted was in this library. Yunqi himself didn't know whether he could concentrate on the pictures.
With thoughts racing through his mind, Yunqiren had already walked into the library.
The library of the Metropolitan Education Institute is in the shape of a U-shaped character, with a square pond in the middle, so the library is called Fangtang Library.
After entering the library, he saw the library index on a two-person-high screen. He moved forward, looked at the fly-sized calligraphy, and began to search carefully.
Soon, he found the target of his visit. After knowing the approximate location, he began to move around in the Hui-shaped building.
First he came to a place and stood still. He looked at the bookshelf in front of him that was several people tall, and began to search. His eyes locked on several locations in succession, and then he used a ladder to take down the books from the bookshelf one by one.
They are:
"The Construction Methods of Taoist Palaces and Temples"
"Southern School of Worshiping Gods and Exploring Works"
Shi's Construction Rules
"Ten Directions Forest Garden Management"
The Blessed Land of Palaces and Temples
Records of the Great Hall and Small Niches
"Specifications of Taoist Temples in Various Dynasties" in the Yongle Encyclopedia
"Viewing Wudang Mountain"
The Golden Stone Treasure
"Carpentry Examination"
He held the books in his arms and placed them on the lending desk, registering them with the jade pendant on his waist.
This type of book may be made of paper, bamboo slips, or leather, but it is just an ordinary book without any divine will. It can be bought or borrowed. If borrowed, no money is charged, and compensation is required only if it is damaged.
Yunqi had a photographic memory, so he naturally chose to borrow it without wasting money.
He temporarily left the book at the lending desk, then returned to the library and started looking for it again in the vast sea of books.
He went up to the second floor and found that there were fewer paper books and bamboo slips on the bookshelf, but more leather scrolls, silk, jade paper and gold foil.
After wandering for a long time, the cloud came to a row of bookcases, which were mostly picture albums and scrolls made of silk and gold foil. They were glowing and looked very sacred.
He scanned the books one by one and saw the titles were:
"The Complete Works of the Three Religions' Gods and Immortals - Fragment - Copy"
"The Illustrated Guide to the Great Mountains and Seas - Fragments - Copy"
"Illustrated Book of Emperor Jun and the Star God of Heaven - Fragment - Copy"
"Haotian Tianting Xingjun Picture Book - Fragment - Copy"
"A Picture of Mountains, Rivers, and States - Fragment - Copy"
"Gods on the List - Fragment - Copy"
"Eight Gods - Fragment - Copy"
"Famous Monsters of All Ages - Fragments - Copy"
"Bai Ze Tu - Fragment - Copy"
"Erlang Searching the Mountain - Fragment - Copy"
"Journey to the West - Fragment - Copy"
"The Ascension of the Eight Great Immortals of the Tang and Song Dynasties—Copy"
……
Yunqi burst out laughing, why are they all fragments and copies?
These things cannot be flipped through casually, as they carry divine will. Once opened, the divine will will slowly dissipate, and you need to spend money to buy them.
These scrolls are even more expensive. Take the thickest one, "Complete Collection of Three Religions' Gods and Immortals", for example. Even if it is a fragment or a copy from an unknown person, it still costs more than fifteen gold coins. The rest cost at least one gold coin.
The cloud bag felt shy.
He originally wanted to get more books for reference, just like when building palaces and temples, so that he would have a better idea. But at the moment, there were not many choices for the main gods to be worshipped in palaces and temples.
He became more and more careful in his search.
After a long time, his eyes lit up and he saw a scroll with a note on it. It clearly read:
"Folding Screen with Standing Figures of the Twenty-Eight Star Gods of Haotian - Fragments - Chapter on the Seven Stars of the White Tiger - Warring States Period Rubbings".
Yunqi no longer understood everything. He knew that there were twenty-eight constellations in the Haotian Heavenly Palace, which were the dojo of twenty-eight star gods. These twenty-eight star gods were all demon spirits who had attained enlightenment, and their bodies combined the five elements of yin and yang. It was indeed suitable for them to be visualized as inner gods. However, these star gods attained enlightenment during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, which was a little long time ago.
However, the twenty-eight mansions are divided into four positions, and the seven white tiger mansions fully possess the sun and moon and the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, so there are many choices. Such a complete copy only costs 150 taels, and Yunqi thinks it is more cost-effective than other fragments.
Without much hesitation, he picked up the scroll and continued searching in the area while holding it.
However, Yunqi couldn't find a more suitable one, so he chose "The Seven Stars of the White Tiger".
Yunqi was at the reading desk, watching the Taoist who was in charge of the library take out a small sword and cut his gold. A gold nugget of one and a half ounces was gone, just as skillfully as Taoist Jixuan's movements just now. Yunqi thought to himself that he had to learn this trick himself.
He calculated that the Metropolitan Academy had donated a total of five gold taels, half of which was spent on Zhiyun's purchase of books. In addition, two people from the street spent forty taels of silver on a banquet last night. This money was spent too quickly!
Here is a new book for you. Please leave more messages and comments.
(End of this chapter)