Chapter 138: Treasure Box

  Inside the Phoenix Temple Hall is a statue of an old Taoist priest wearing a crown and holding a feather duster. In front of him are several plates of offerings.

  "Sit down." Ziyun Dao invited Lin San to sit in a wooden chair and personally poured him a cup of tea.

  Lin San thanked him and took over the teacup, slowly taking a sip.

  Zi Yun Dao Chang looked at Lin San with a glance: "What is it that you want to ask me?"

  Lin San gently put down his teacup and smiled: "First, I'd like to know why the Taoist priest chose to live in the Phoenix Temple?"

  "This is mine, don't tell anyone." Zi Yun said calmly.

  "Alright, I'll ask the second question. In what year was this Phoenix Temple built?" Lin asked, carefully observing Ziyun Daochang's expression.

  Zi Yun Dao shook his head: "I'm not clear about this either, in any case the Phoenix Temple has existed in the world for a very long time."

  "The last question, which can also be said to be a request." Lin San hesitated for a moment: "I'd like to visit the Phoenix Temple, is it possible?"

  "This is certainly possible. The Feng Huang Temple itself is an open tourist attraction, you can visit at any time." This time, Zi Yun Dao Chang replied very quickly.

  "Then I'll thank you, Daozhang." Lin San bid farewell to Purple Cloud Daozhang and began touring the Phoenix Temple.

  Zi Yun Dao Chang picked up the family's classic book from the side table and slowly stood up.

  After visiting the hall, Lin San lifted his foot and came to the backyard.

  The backyard is not large, square and square, with two stone pillars standing in the middle. The stone pillars are engraved with a couplet, the upper one is "Pangu opens the sky and Nüwa creates humans", and the lower one is "The gods of the fairy world and the four great divine beasts".

  "Huh? This couplet is quite strangely written." Lin San walked to the front of the stone pillar, carefully read the couplet twice, and muttered to himself.

  "What's wrong? Are you very interested in this couplet?" Unbeknownst to him, Ziyun Daozhang slowly walked into the backyard.

  "Oh? I'm a bit curious." Lin San turned his head and looked at Ziyun Daochang: "Daochang, can you explain the meaning of this couplet to me?"

  Zi Yun Dao Chang nodded slightly and pointed to the upper couplet, saying: "Legend has it that a long, long time ago, heaven and earth were one body. Later, they were split apart by Pangu's heavenly axe. After a period of years, Nüwa saw that the earth was too desolate, so she used her great divine powers to create humans."

  Lin San nodded and asked, "What about the second line?"

  Zi Yun Dao stretched out his hand and stroked his chin whiskers, then said: "The meaning of the next line is that in the immortal world there are many gods with great magical powers who can live as long as heaven and earth. In the four directions of the immortal world, there are four spirits living separately, known as the four divine beasts guarding the immortal world."

  "What are the four divine beasts?" Lin San asked curiously.

  "The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise. In legend, the four great divine beasts hold a position in the immortal realm that even the Heavenly Emperor must yield to." Ziyun Daochang said slowly.

  Lin San thought for a moment: "Who wrote this couplet?"

  Zi Yun Dao Chang slightly shook his head: "I'm not clear either. When I came to the Phoenix Temple, this couplet already existed. According to my master, this couplet has been here for a long time. As for who wrote it, there's no way to investigate now."

  Lin San nodded and asked, "Dao Zhang, what do you think of the content of this couplet?"

  Zi Yun Dao Chang was taken aback for a moment and didn't understand what Lin San meant by his words.

  Seeing Ziyun Daochang's puzzled face, Lin San explained: "I'm saying, do you believe that there are immortals and the Four Great Divine Beasts in this world?"

  "This... to be honest, I don't believe it." Zi Yun Dao let out a light breath: "I think that immortals and the Four Great Divine Beasts are just figments of human imagination, probably they don't exist."

  "Oh." Lin San was not surprised at all by Ziyun Daozhang's answer. In the eyes of ordinary people, gods were indeed an illusory legend.

  After chatting for a while, Zi Yun Dao Zhang invited Lin San to have lunch in the main hall.

  The lunch was simple, four dishes and one soup, all were vegetarian, but the taste was good.

  After lunch, Zi Yun Dao Chang said goodbye to Lin San and went straight to his bedroom for a nap.

  Lin San continued to visit Feng Huang Temple.

  The sky quickly turned dark.

  Because there is no electricity on the mountain top, Feng Huang Temple can only be lit by candles.

  Zi Yun Dao Chang came out of the bedroom and saw Lin San still waiting in the Phoenix Temple without leaving. He was taken aback for a moment: "You..."

  Lin San smiled and said, "I was so busy visiting the Phoenix Temple that I didn't even notice it had gotten dark..."

  "Oh, it's more dangerous going down the mountain at night, why don't you stay here tonight and leave tomorrow?" Ziyun said with a kind heart.

  Lin San hastily thanked him.

  Dinner is a bit more sumptuous than lunch, just richer by one dish.

  After dinner, Lin San sat in the hall chatting with Zi Yun Dao Chang.

  Zi Yun Dao's vast knowledge often made Lin San have an epiphany with just one sentence.

  "Master Dao, I have a question that has been hidden in my heart for a long time, I don't know if it's right to ask." Lin San said hesitantly.

  "It doesn't matter if there's something to say." Ziyun Daochang picked up the teacup on the desktop mountain and took a light sip.

  "I'm really curious, why did Master Ziyun choose to become a monk at Feng Huang Temple? And it's been decades, don't you... feel lonely?" Lin San asked while carefully observing Master Ziyun's expression.

  Zi Yun Dao Chang was taken aback, he hadn't expected Lin San to ask him this. After a moment of silence, Zi Yun Dao Chang slowly said: "I'm an orphan, I've been brought to Feng Huang Temple by my master since childhood to cultivate. Before my master passed away, he entrusted me to take good care of Feng Huang Temple. My master is the person I respect most in this world, and his entrustment is something I must follow."

  "Your master is ruthless enough, one sentence tied you up in the Phoenix Temple, you..." Lin San pouted.

  Zi Yun Dao Zhang's face sank: "Please do not slander my master." In Zi Yun Dao Zhang's heart, his master's position was extremely high and absolutely did not allow any blasphemy.

  "Ah, hehe... Daozhang, sorry, I spoke without thinking earlier. Please don't be angry." Lin San hurriedly apologized as he saw the displeasure on Purple Cloud Daozhang's face.

  Zi Yun Dao shook his head silently and didn't say a word.

  Lin San couldn't help but blame himself for speaking too much earlier and slandering the master of the household for no reason. It was just that Zi Yun Dao Zhang had a good temper; if it were someone with a bad temper, they would have probably fought with Lin San already.

  "Daozhang, why do you hold lectures on the platform at regular intervals?" Lin San intentionally changed the subject to ease the atmosphere.

  "It's a hobby, I'd like to share what I've learned and understood with the world, and help people solve their troubles and worries." said Ziyun Daochang lightly.

  "Daozhang is truly a Bodhisattva." Lin San said sincerely.

  Zi Yun Dao Chang waved his hand: "You're overpraising me, I just did what I should have done."

  "Hoo...hooo..." Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew outside, the temple gate swung back and forth, making "creaking" sounds.

  Zi Yun Daozhang stood up and walked over to close the door. He turned his head towards Lin San: "It's getting late, you should go rest. From here, walk into the inner hall, turn left at the corner, there is a bedroom at the far east end." After finishing speaking, Zi Yun Daozhang left the main hall.

  Lin San followed the instructions of Zi Yun Dao Chang and arrived at the bedroom in the far east of the inner hall. The room was not large, but very clean, obviously regularly swept.

  A wooden bed was placed by the window in the bedroom, and a thin quilt was spread on the bed.

  Lin San leaned against the headboard, holding a smoldering cigarette in his hand, furrowing his brow slightly as he pondered: Today, he had already turned the entire Feng Huang Temple inside and out, but hadn't found anything particularly unusual. Originally, Lin San had thought that Zi Yun Dao Zhang would be eccentric, but after several attempts to probe him, Zi Yun Dao Zhang remained calm and composed, without revealing even a hint of suspiciousness.

  He let out a soft sigh and muttered to himself, "Purple Spirit Fairy, why did you bring me to the Phoenix Temple?"

  A loud crash came from inside the hall.

  Lin San was taken aback and sat up straight from bed.

  "Zi Yun Za Mao, are you going to hand over the treasure box or not?!" A sharp voice suddenly came.

  "I've said it before, there's no treasure box here at all." Zi Yun Dao Chang said calmly.

  "Damn you! I see you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin. You few, search for me!" The sharp voice yelled out loud.

  Immediately afterwards, a "ding-dong" sound of searching for things echoed in the hall.

  Lin San furrowed his brow and got out of bed, walked out of the room, and came directly to the hall.

  At this time, the hall was in a mess, with tables and chairs all over the floor. Several men like wolves were constantly searching for something.

  A short and slender young man kept pushing Ziyun Daochang: "Old mixed hair, say, where did you hide the treasure box?"

  Zi Yun Dao Chang's face turned iron-green, and he didn't say a word.

  "Damn it!" The young man seemed to have lost his patience and reached out to grab the neck of Purple Cloud Daoist: "Do you believe I'll choke you to death?"

  "Get your dirty hands off me." Lin San slowly walked out with his hands behind his back.

  "Huh?" The young man was taken aback and looked Lin San up and down: "Who are you? How did you end up here?!"

  Lin San sneered and said, "You don't need to care who I am. Now, immediately let go of Dao Zhang."

  The young man's face sank: "You said let go and I did... Ah!" He was halfway through his sentence when the young man suddenly flew into mid-air, then heavily crashed to the ground, not letting out a loud cry of pain until half a day later.

  Lin San slowly withdrew his fist, disdainfully curling his lip: "With this little skill, you dare to cause trouble at the Phoenix Temple, you're really looking for death!"

  Several men who were rummaging through the hall saw Lao Da being beaten and immediately turned red-eyed, shouting as they rushed towards Lin San.

  Lin Sanshun swiftly picked up a chair and with a light swing, knocked two men flying. He then quickly kicked out twice, sending the remaining two men clutching their legs to the ground.

  "Get out of here!" The young man saw that things were not going well and scrambled to his feet, running towards the temple entrance. His several followers also struggled to get up from the ground, stumbling and staggering as they ran out of the hall.