Chapter 128 Master
Chapter 128 Master
The attendants of nobles, the doormen of the prime minister, the retainers of the royal palace, and the eunuch beside the emperor... these are all troublesome people whose status seems not very high but who can have huge influence.
A hundred years ago, the Taoist Master was hailed as the leader of Taoism and the number one person in the world.
At that time, there were countless people in the Taoist sect who wanted to become his disciples, but for some reason the Taoist master had never been interested in this regard. Even though this matter caused him many helpless troubles and he was seriously persuaded by many of his peers, he still did not change his mind.
At the end of the discussion, both sides took a step back, and the Taoist master still refused to accept a disciple.
But there was a little Taoist boy in front of his door.
This little Taoist boy was also involved in a not-so-small turmoil - at that time, many big figures from various Taoist sects were quite interested in this position and hoped that the Taoist master would choose the right person. The purpose was self-evident.
The Taoist master did not follow this idea, but chose a Taoist boy for himself based on his own wishes.
This decision made many people dissatisfied, but no one dared to express their dissatisfaction to the Taoist priest, and no one dared to show any malice towards the little Taoist boy. Everything was done according to the rules.
The problem is that the so-called rules themselves are the most torturous thing.
Therefore, the little Taoist boy’s life in Xuandu was not very good.
The Taoist master practiced in seclusion all year round and ignored worldly affairs, so they would not pay attention to him. After he became a Taoist child, all his past relationships were severed, or could no longer be maintained.
As for the rest of his peers, because he occupied the position, even though they could not show any hostility openly, it was not difficult to treat them with indifference and alienation.
Loneliness becomes a matter of course.
Fortunately, the little Taoist boy soon discovered that the Taoist master really didn't care about him, so he gradually found his own unique fun in the mountains.
Chat with monkeys and patrol the mountains with white geese.
If you can't calm down, go fishing in the water. If you can't concentrate, sleep with the mountain breeze.
Xuandu is isolated from the world, but the good weather is still there, and the four seasons are naturally distinct, each with its own fun.
The little Taoist boy lived a very happy life, enjoying himself and never getting bored.
Until one day four years later, someone came to disturb the Taoist master's meditation and saw him snoring in a chair.
This incident once again brought up the controversy over recruiting disciples that happened back then.
Xuandu held several meetings in succession for this purpose.
Although no one was angry with the little Taoist boy because it was not worth it, he still couldn't sleep or eat well during those days and felt that he must pack up and roll down the mountain.
The facts were exactly as he thought.
But it happened three years later.
During these long three years, I went from the initial panic to numb acceptance, to hoping for luck but no longer having fun, to calming down... only to find that I couldn't do anything. The mental journey during that period was really complicated.
Even tonight, more than a hundred years later, when the old man thinks back on it again, he still sighs in his heart.
Finally, the day before he went down the mountain, the Taoist master had a talk with him.
This was the first conversation between the two.
When starting a conversation, the first thing you should do is introduce yourself.
The little Taoist boy said his name a little stiffly.
——Lu Mingcheng.
……
……
In the evening, the little Taoist boy knelt upright on the cushion.
The Taoist master was sitting opposite him, nodded and said he had written down his name.
There were no lights on in the Taoist temple, and the light was dim.
Only the afterglow of the setting sun that spread over the windowsill submerged the lower bodies of the two people like water, bringing some warmth to this conversation.
"How have you been these years?"
The Taoist master's voice was very calm, and no emotion could be heard, but the little Taoist boy always felt that there was a hint of fatigue in it.
After hesitating for a moment, the little Taoist boy answered the question very firmly, and the answer was quite good.
Then the Taoist master asked him to be more specific and give some examples.
When the little Taoist boy heard these words, his eyes gradually brightened, like the rising sun.
Over the years, because he didn't have even one friend in Xuandu, he had no one to share the wonderful things he had. He couldn't help but sigh and regret in the middle of the night. He even wrote a diary for himself because he was afraid of forgetting those happy things.
The Taoist master saw the little Taoist boy climb up from the cushion, run back and get the diary which was almost like a daily record, and recount every interesting thing that happened in the past.
The notes taken by the Sky Patrol when interrogating prisoners are not necessarily so detailed.
It was not until late at night that the little Taoist boy happily recounted his experiences over the years, and the Taoist master was listening all the time.
It was a very pleasant conversation.
Unfortunately, everything has an end.
The Taoist master finally handed the little Taoist boy a jade pendant, said four words, and let him go down the mountain.
Those four words are "take care of yourself".
That’s all that happened during those seven years.
……
……
"This is the second time I have talked about my past with others. The last time was a hundred years ago."
In the carriage, Taoist Yingxu was still looking at the horizon, and said slowly: "For me, those carefree days were really rare. Since then, I have gradually had a lot of troubles and obsessions that I can't let go of."
Perhaps due to his injury, the old man's voice sounded a little hoarse at this moment.
However, when this hoarse voice recounted the past, set against the dim and flickering light, there was an added feeling of nostalgia and melancholy that is unique to the setting sun.
A little warmth, more regrets.
After a moment of silence, Gu Zhuo said softly, "It's really nice to have a wonderful childhood."
The old man no longer looked into the sky, but let the curtain drop, and the dim light filled the carriage.
He said: "People always say that the shadows of childhood need to be made up for in one's lifetime, but I did the opposite. I spent my whole life chasing after the beauty and questions I had in my childhood."
Gu Zhuo asked: "Those four words?"
The old man looked at him, his mood becoming tense, and he nodded and said, "Yes."
Gu Zhuo said calmly: "I think that is a very simple literal meaning."
After hearing this, the old man was silent for a long time. There was no confusion in his cloudy eyes that were no longer bright. Instead, there was relief and happiness after guessing the answer.
"Why don't you just say take care of yourself?" He asked curiously, "Wouldn't that convey a more accurate meaning?"
Gu Zhuo looked at him and said, "Five characters have one more character than four characters."
The old man was speechless, thinking that this made sense, but wasn't it just nonsense?
Gu Zhuo said: "I still don't understand."
This is the true word.
He said: "I only met you once in seven years, I never sheltered you from the wind and rain for a moment, and you spent a childhood that was both beautiful and lonely. How can the four words "take care of yourself" be enough for you to devote the rest of your life to it?"
"That's enough for me..."
The old man paused, smiled and said, "I think you will not be satisfied with this answer, because my reason is indeed not this."
Gu Zhuo looked at his gradually cloudy eyes and said, "Please speak."
The old man said seriously: "The real reason lies in that jade pendant."
Gu Zhuo remained silent.
"The jade pendant contains the Yuanshi Dao Canon, the highest inheritance of the Tiandao Sect."
The old man's tone became complicated: "When I left Xuandu and discovered this secret from the jade pendant, I couldn't sleep for a whole six months because I really couldn't figure out what was going on."
Gu Zhuo thought this seemed a little weird.
Taoist Yingxu continued, "If the Taoist master wanted to accept me as his disciple, given his status and position at that time, why would he need to act so tactfully? As long as he made the decision, no one in the entire Taoist sect would oppose him, let alone dare to stop him."
Then the old man laughed and added: "This is what I think now."
Gu Zhuo asked: "What were you thinking at that time?"
The old man sighed and said, "I thought that because of my matter, the Taoist master was under heavy pressure from the entire Taoist sect and was eventually forced to resort to this desperate measure. He had no choice but to do this."
Gu Zhuo objectively described it: "You think too much."
"Yes, I overthink it."
Taoist Yingxu laughed at himself and said, "It's a pity that I didn't understand this truth until I entered the stage of immortality. The opinions of others and the pressure of inheritance are all trivial matters to the Taoist master. It's a pity that I didn't understand it until many years later."
The old man continued, "At that time, I only knew that since I left, he had never had a Taoist child, let alone an apprentice. This fact made it difficult for me not to have an illusion and was deeply moved by it."
Gu Zhuo thought that this was indeed a reasonable mental process, and said, "So you were deeply motivated by this and tried your best to prove that you made the right choice, right?"
"Yes."
The old man said: "In the end, he died before I could do it. So I can only find a way to bring him back to life."
When he said this, a smile inexplicably appeared on the old man's face, showing a bit of pride and happiness.
Gu Zhuo said nothing.
The conversation stopped here.
The carriage also happened to stop.
The two men left the carriage. The driver was already waiting there, holding out a large black umbrella.
The morning light has arrived, but the autumn rain has not stopped.
The rain wet the withered yellow leaves on the stone steps, filling the air with a chill that gradually turned into a thin mist.
The sky was half light, half dark, and the greyness was very depressing.
The old man took out a cloak and put it on, then went up the stairs with Gu Zhuo.
Gu Zhuo turned his head and looked, his sight passing through the dense branches and leaves, vaguely seeing the small town on the shore and the ancient Yunmeng Lake.
This place is no longer within the territory of the Qin Dynasty, but of the Southern Qi Dynasty.
At the end of the mountain path stands an ancient temple. There is a bell in front of the temple, but no one rings it, leaving it to be wetted by the autumn rain.
"I remember you wanted to talk to me about something." The old man tightened his cloak and whispered, "Please go ahead."
Gu Zhuo shook his head and said, "I already know everything I want to know."
The old man thought for a moment and said, "Then let me tell you what's going on."
Gu Zhuo remained noncommittal.
In his opinion, everything that really needed to be said had been said.
In those old memories.
The rest are trivial matters.
The old man looked at him seriously and said, "After today, not only the Sky Patrol, but the entire Qin will doubt you, because I was with you for the last period of time before my death, and more importantly, I did not die when I should have."
Gu Zhuo said calmly: "I have always been suspected."
The old man said, “But it is different after all.”
Gu Zhuo did not deny it.
"Based on the style that the lady has shown in recent years, she will give you more vigilance, but Qing Xiaoyue was seriously injured by me and will be unable to move for at least three years, so there won't be any big problems in this regard for the time being."
The old man looked solemn and said in a deep voice: "The real problem is that dilapidated Taoist temple. Everyone is curious about what is hidden there and why I would fight for it at all costs. This is a fact that must be hidden."
Gu Zhuo said: "Don't worry too much."
The reason why he turned around and left, taking the huge risk of being discovered and entering the Taoist temple ahead of time, was to deal with this problem.
The old man understood what he meant, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "That's good."
At this time, neither of them knew that Yu Sheng, in his extremely bad mood, used someone else's knife to chop the Taoist temple into ruins.
Gu Zhuo suddenly asked, "How does Tianming teach you to prepare?"
The old man's expression did not change because of this, and he replied: "I will leave a suicide note and try my best to arrange things properly. As for what happens after that... that is not up to me."
Gu Zhuo asked: "Who are you going to give your seat to?"
The old man thought about it seriously, shook his head and said, "No one will give it, because no one can convince the public. If they insist on taking that position, it will only lead to division in the end."
Gu Zhuo thought about it and said directly: "Then I will do it."
Taoist Yingxu was stunned.
He suddenly turned around and looked at Gu Zhuo, looking at the calm face without any smile, he was sure that this sentence was serious and not a joke to amuse him.
So he really didn't know what to say.
From the beginning of the conversation until now, he had never thought about the existence of this possibility. This was not a subconscious avoidance of the question, but a firm belief in his heart that this was something that would never happen.
Time is so precious, why waste it on meaningless things?
Gu Zhuo seemed not to notice the old man's shock and surprise, and continued: "I once heard a saying that when others suspect that you have a certain identity, you'd better really have that identity."
This is still his true feelings.
Taoist Yingxu remained silent, at a loss for words.
Gu Zhuo looked at him and said, "But there will be a lot of trouble, because I am not someone who can convince others, and civil strife is inevitable."
The old man came to his senses, his eyes brightened again, and he said word by word: "I will do my best to avoid internal strife."
Gu Zhuo said thank you.
At this point, the two of them had already walked through the not-so-long mountain path and arrived in front of the ancient temple.
Push the door and enter the hall.
There are people in the hall.
Taoist Changyu, whose arm was broken, looked pale as he sat on the cold wooden floor. He struggled to stand up when he saw the old man coming.
Gu Zhuo looked at this scene without stopping and said, "You guys chat."
After saying this, he walked deeper into the hall and disappeared.
Taoist Chang Yu asked in a low voice: "Master, who is this person?"
"The Destiny Church after my death..."
The old man paused, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, and he said solemnly: "Master."
Taoist Changyu was stunned.
The old man didn't wait for him to come to his senses and continued, "I have a lot to tell you. You must remember every word that comes next and do your best to get it done."
Taoist Changyu had some guesses in his mind when he heard this. After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't help but ask those three words, because he totally couldn't understand the old man's decision.
"why?"
“Because it’s the best option.”
The old man smiled sincerely and said, "There will never be anything more beautiful and happy in this world."
……
……
Gu Zhuo walked to the terrace behind the palace.
The scenery here is very beautiful.
The autumn rain never stops, and there is a misty fog over the Yunmeng Lake in the distance.
The skylight swirls and flows in the fog, adding a dreamlike beauty.
As he looked at the scene and thought about the impending separation, his mood became calmer.
At this moment, a voice fell into his heart.
There was a lot of apology in those voices.
“I’m sorry we didn’t accomplish anything in the end.”
Gu Zhuo was quiet for a while, then he laughed, shook his head and said, "It's okay, I didn't do anything, did I?"
Just as what he said, when he heard the three words "Lu Mingcheng" last night, he realized that the affairs of Yunmengze would be completely out of his control and might very well lead to a situation he did not want to see.
He did a lot for this, but in the end it was of no avail.
The world fell silent.
The cold autumn wind was inexplicably gentle when it reached this place, and together with the autumn rain it wet his cheeks, bringing a little comfort.
Gu Zhuo quietly felt all this, without thinking about what to do next. He said to himself, "I thought I could relax a little in this life and only have to worry about one thing. I never thought it would go against my wishes."
He never spoke again.
This is just a sigh. If I say more, it will inevitably become meaningless self-pity.
Not long after, Taoist Yingxu came to the terrace.
The old man looked at the scenery in Gu Zhuo's eyes, thinking about his own life which was about to end, and said: "Everything has been arranged for you."
Gu Zhuo said: "Thank you for your hard work."
The old man shook his head and said, "This is what I should do."
Because this is what I couldn't do back then.
"I remembered a sentence I read in my previous life."
Gu Zhuo whispered: "When I wake up from my dream, I see the drizzle in the human world. The mountains and rivers are still as gentle as before."
The old man was a little surprised and wondered why he had never heard such a sentence before.
"Is there anything else you want to ask?"
Gu Zhuo took the initiative to speak.
"Honestly, there are many more."
The old man said with regret: "It's a pity that this is no longer the same as it used to be."
He looked at the empty autumn sky, and the shadow of the little Taoist boy from that year slowly emerged in his eyes.
Have fun and be friends with all creatures.
He talked incessantly and told all the interesting things in the mountains.
That was the best time of his life.
The cold autumn rain fell on the old face.
"I have one last question."
The old man retracted his gaze and looked into Gu Zhuo's eyes. His voice trembled unconsciously as he asked earnestly, "What should I call you?"
This was the question he had always wanted to ask but was afraid to ask for fear of getting a bad answer.
"Master."
Gu Zhuo's answer was calm and clear.
Without a moment's hesitation.
Hearing these two words, the old man slowly closed his eyes, an indescribable complex expression revealed on his face, as if he was both crying and laughing.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and took a few steps back. With his crippled body, he bowed earnestly to Gu Zhuo and uttered the two words: "Master."
"Ah."
Gu Zhuo thought about it and felt that this might be a bit cold, so he said, "Hello."
The old man smiled with tears in his eyes and finally said, "Hello."
As soon as he finished speaking, the autumn wind arrived.
The terrace behind the palace was quiet.
The old man has turned to ashes and scattered all over the world.
Gu Zhuo stretched out his hand, wanting to pick up one of the pieces with his fingers, but it was like the sand between his fingers, disappearing in an instant.
Can't keep it.
This chapter has 5,000 words, and there will be no next chapter today.
Then I will be traveling far away tomorrow and will try to keep updated. That’s it.
(End of this chapter)