[Chapter 90: Going up the mountain to worship the gods and get the alchemy furnace]
In rural areas, especially the older generation, they all have faith, such as praying to gods and Buddhas.
Yang Yiyu’s grandmother is such a pious person, which is considered superstition in the eyes of today’s young people.
But Yang Yiyu doesn’t think so. He believes that praying to gods and Buddhas by his grandmother’s generation is not superstition, but a good belief.
Because this is a kind of spiritual sustenance, such as praying to the gods to bless him and his sister to enter university, bless the brothers and sisters with good health, etc. Rather
than saying it is superstition, it is better to say that it is their generation’s wish for a better life, because they often pray to gods and Buddhas with a beautiful vision of life.
It is not that if someone in the family is sick, they don’t have to take medicine or see a doctor by praying to gods and Buddhas. On the contrary, colleagues who are taking medicine and seeing a doctor go to the temple to worship gods and Buddhas, just for psychological sustenance.
So Yang Yiyu is absolutely sure that this is a good belief.
So, the next morning, grandma urged him to go to the Jiutian Niangniang Temple, which was thirty miles away, to burn incense and fulfill a vow. Grandma said that she had made a vow to Jiutian Niangniang to bless him to go to school safely. Now that he was back, he should go to the temple to burn incense.
Others might think that grandma was too superstitious and childish, but Yang Yiyu felt very warm in her heart because she knew that this was another way for grandma to care about him.
Moreover, the Jiutian Niangniang Temple is a Taoist temple located on Helong Mountain. It has a long history. It is rumored that the temple was built in the Ming Dynasty. Yang Yiyu also wanted to go and see it, just as if he was accompanying grandma to relax.
There is nothing wrong with respecting the gods in your heart as long as you are not blind. On the contrary, to a certain extent, it can play a role in soothing the soul, which is also a kind of self-spiritual sustenance.
When many people are confused, they often go to the street to find a fortune teller to tell their fortune. In this case, Yang Yiyun thinks it is better to go to the ancient temples and worship the gods and Buddhas, which can also calm the impetuous mind. Perhaps things that have been confused for a long time will suddenly become cheerful and figure out many problems after the mind is at peace.
Not only can you climb mountains for exercise, but you can also browse the ancient temple civilization and go up the mountain to see the scenery, killing two birds with one stone.
After breakfast, Yang Yiyun took his grandmother and sister to the Jiutian Shengmu Temple on Helong Mountain, thirteen miles away.
Because the temple is deep in the mountains, the car can only drive to 25 miles away, and the remaining five miles need to be walked.
At first, grandma said, “You must be pious and walk there.”
Yang Yiyun smiled bitterly and said, “Grandma, it’s thirty miles, and it takes most of the day to walk back and forth. We are all starving.” In fact, he was worried that grandma’s legs and feet were not good. She was almost seventy years old and it was too hard to walk.
Perhaps because she felt sorry for her two grandsons, grandma agreed to drive there, and the three of them walked the remaining five miles.
An hour later, the three of them finally arrived at the Niangniang Temple.
There was a Taoist priest who lived there to practice in seclusion. He also did some work for the villagers around him to interpret the hexagrams. Everyone respected the Taoist priest and would give him some money for offering incense on the first and fifteenth day of each month.
After following his grandmother to worship the Nine-Day Niangniang devoutly, his grandmother asked him to pay the incense money to the temple.
Yang Yiyun had nearly 10,000 yuan in cash on him. For his grandmother’s spiritual sustenance, he planned to donate more and leave all the 10,000 yuan in cash.
It was not appropriate to directly put incense for merit, after all, it was a large sum of money for a small temple in the countryside. After thinking about it, he thought it was better to give it directly to the Taoist priest who was in charge of the temple. Anyway, he was the one who took care of the temple all year round, and it would cost money to repair the temple.
Yang Yiyun was also familiar with the Taoist priest. He often saw him when he was a child with his grandmother. The Taoist priest would also give them some fruits for offering. After
telling his grandmother and sister, Yang Yiyun went to the side yard of the temple to find the Taoist priest.
Thick green smoke was coming out of the side room in the backyard. It seemed that the Taoist priest was cooking.
Yang Yiyun called out from a distance, “Is Taoist Master Mao here?”
“Who is it? Come in.” A loud voice came from inside the house.
Yang Yiyun walked in and saw that the 30-square-meter room was filled with smoke and a strong smell of herbs filled the entire room.
In the corner, there was a railway railing with a one-foot-high bucket-shaped thing on it that was as thick as a gourd. The smell of herbs came from it.
The old Taoist priest, who was already over 80 years old, was fanning the fire with a fan by the stove.
When he heard Yang Yiyun coming in, he turned around and said, “Are you here to burn incense and interpret the fortune?”
Yang Yiyun had been studying abroad for a few years and he might not recognize you, so he smiled and said, “Taoist Master Mao, I am Yunzi from Shangyang Village. When I was a child, Tiedan and I came to your place to steal fruits and vegetables. Do you remember?”
“Oh~ I remember now. So you are this Mao monkey, and Tiedan is that little rabbit. When you were young, you were the most naughty. In the blink of an eye, you have grown up so big.” Taoist Master Mao laughed and found a stool for Yang Yiyun to sit on.
Thinking of his childhood mischief, Yang Yiyun was too embarrassed to smile, and asked casually: “Master Mao, what are you doing…?”
“Hey, I’m old, and my waist and legs hurt recently. I went to the mountains to pick some yam and boiled some medicine for myself.” The old Taoist sighed.
“You should go to the hospital. It’s so dangerous to run to the mountains at such an old age.” Yang Yiyun said to him after sitting down. Thinking about it, this old Taoist is quite pitiful. I heard from the elders in the village that he was a Taoist who became a monk halfway through his life. When he was young, he had a family, but he encountered a major change that made him lose his wife and children, so he became a Taoist monk. He came to Jiutian Temple 30 years ago and has lived there since then and never left.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s an old illness. Medical treatment is expensive now. I always feel bad about spending the money for incense sticks from the Goddess.”
After listening to what Taoist Mao said, Yang Yiyu understood a little. The Jiutian Temple is located in the mountains. The pilgrims basically only come once on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. Even if they donate incense sticks, it is not much. Besides, people in the countryside don’t have much money. The Taoist has no money. He even uses such a jar to boil medicine. It’s a bit shabby.
Yang Yiyu took out a wad of money, put it in front of the old Taoist and said, “Master, this is a little gift from me. You can take it to see a doctor, and the rest of the money is my incense money.”
The old Taoist saw Yang Yiyu took out a thick wad of money and waved his hand, “No, no, it’s not easy for you young people to make money outside. I am an old man with half of my bones buried in the ground. There is no need to spend that money.”
“Master, please don’t refuse. I’m not short of money now. Just consider it as my tribute to the gods. As the agent of the gods, you still have to take good care of your health. You also have to keep incense at the temple and interpret the fortunes for the villagers. Take my grandmother for example, she always comes on the first and fifteenth day of the month. If you are gone, who will she ask for interpretation?”
Yang Yiyu spoke sincerely, and the old Taoist no longer refused, muttering, “Wulian Tianzun, thank you very much.”
After some politeness, the old Taoist accepted Yang Yiyu’s money. At this time, he went to fan the stove with a fan. Seeing that his legs and feet were not in good condition, Yang Yiyu walked over and said, “Master, let me help you . “
Take the fan and help him fan the stove. The stuff for boiling medicine is too thick and it seems that there is no movement. Yang Yiyu can’t help but say: “Master, please take some time to go down the mountain and buy an induction cooker. It is more convenient to boil medicine than this. This doesn’t look like a utensil for boiling medicine.”
The old Taoist coughed twice and said: “This jar is an antique. It was thrown behind the temple before. I saw that it can hold water, so I washed it and used it as a casserole. It looks like it should be an alchemy furnace. It seems to be made of bronze. It is too thick and it is difficult to boil water.”
Speaking unintentionally, listening intentionally, Yang Yiyu heard the word “alchemy furnace” and his heart moved immediately. He called out to his master in his heart, wanting his master to see if it was an alchemy furnace?
He needed to refine the elixir. In the words of his master, he could refine the elixir with the true essence fire, but he only lacked an alchemy furnace.
Then the voice of Master Yun Tianxie sounded in his mind: “Hey~ It turned out to be an ancient immortal alchemy furnace. My dear disciple, you are so lucky. With such an immortal alchemy furnace, you will be able to make alchemy with half the effort.
I didn’t expect that an ancient immortal artifact would appear in your small world. It seems that the civilization of this world is not simple. You must be more careful in the future. Maybe there are some powerful cultivators in your world. However
, this alchemy furnace is a good thing. You must get it. Such a thing can also cause a bloody storm in the world of cultivation~”
After listening to Master Yun Tianxie’s words, Yang Yiyu’s heart was also beating. He didn’t expect that there really was an immortal artifact. And from the tone of the master, this alchemy furnace used by the old Taoist to boil medicine is still a treasure. There are really not many things that can be praised by the master. The
last time, the five hundred years of ginseng was not in his eyes. This time, a black alchemy furnace appeared, but it was a treasure of immortal artifact level in his mouth.
Thinking of this, Yang Yiyun looked at the Taoist priest with trepidation and expressed his wish to buy the medicine-boiling pot. He thought that he would buy it no matter how much it cost, fearing that the Taoist priest would not agree.
Unexpectedly, the Taoist priest glared at him and said, “It’s just a medicine-boiling pot. If you don’t mind the dirtiness, take it. Boiling water is hard anyway.”
Yang Yiyun was overjoyed by these words. He didn’t expect that he would get an ancient immortal alchemy furnace when he went to the mountain to worship the gods.
(End of this chapter)
