Chapter Fifteen: The So-Called Gentleman

  The term "Daochang" has two meanings: one refers to the place where teachings are transmitted, which is also the sphere of influence of a Daoist temple, such as the entire Maoshan Mountain being the domain of Maoshan Temple in later times. The other refers to the range covered by the mountain gate and the Daoist sect's protective array, or specifically the protective array itself.

  The Taoist temple is different from the sect, can establish its own large-scale mountain protection array, but when the Taoist temple is built, it can be centered on the Taoist temple to establish a formation similar to the mountain protection array. However, this formation has two characteristics: one is small in scale and the other is not powerful. After all, they are still in the mortal world, so we need to pay attention to mortals. This formation can also be called a Taoist arena.

  These Taoist temples, because they were established by Taoist priests themselves, often have strong personalities and different effects. Although they are generally used for protection and warding off evil spirits, some temples have unique characteristics. For example, some temples are surrounded by lush vegetation, while others are filled with fiery energy. Some temples even have a reversed seasonal pattern, being extremely hot in the winter and cool in the summer.

  The characteristic of this Ziyun Pavilion Taoist temple is its messiness.

  In this Taoist temple, there is actually a Spirit-Repelling Array. With this array as the center, within several miles in all directions, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is in a state of utter chaos, with no order or sequence, and the true energy is blocked. Not only is it not suitable for cultivation, but even the deployment of magical techniques will be greatly affected. This Wan Yun Valley was originally an extraordinary spiritual vein, yet it has been utterly ruined.

  Isn't this ridiculous!

  A Taoist, the most important thing is to cultivate the Tao. If it's for self-protection, that's fine, but setting up a large formation in one's own Taoist temple that hinders one's own cultivation and blocks one's own progress - where is the logic in that?

  When things go wrong, there must be evil spirits at work.

  Although it's unusual and severe, since it has appeared, there must be a reason for it.

  The Purple Cloud Temple was full of strange and unexplainable things - it had inexplicably occupied the Wan Ma Temple, driving out the monks who lived there, but instead of renovating it, they still used the temple as their residence, only changing the signboard. According to Cheng Jun's knowledge of history, after a hundred years, the Purple Cloud Temple mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only the massive Wan Ma Temple. The old Daoist, Yue Hua, was a cultivator who had achieved enlightenment and wanted to marry an ordinary firewood girl, but then a mysterious woman appeared, claiming to be his original wife as a Daoist. Despite occupying such an excellent place for cultivation, they instead set up an extremely abnormal and perverse Ling array...

  Everything is abnormal, and there must be a plot. Moreover, the plot is probably not small. Cheng Jun thought carefully and made several inferences, but all of them had shortcomings. He secretly regretted that his true trump card lacked something, which couldn't be urged, otherwise he could have investigated one or two things.

  Zi Yun Temple... Wan Ma Temple... A name flashed quickly through Cheng Jun's mind, could it be related to that person from the future? If so, he might just be able to unravel a mystery...

  Suddenly, Cheng Jun's heart skipped a beat as he turned his head around, only to see a figure standing quietly in the woods behind him.

  She was an absolutely beautiful woman, wearing only a white dress that reached her ankles, with bare feet visible under the skirt. Her black hair cascaded down, and her skin shone like jade as she stood in the snow, looking as if she were made entirely of snow itself.

  The woman approached with a faint smile, her snow-white bare feet treading on the white snow, almost indistinguishable, as if floating in mid-air. Even with Cheng Jun's composure, he couldn't help but take a step forward to support her, lest the ruthless north wind blow her away and dissipate her.

  Cheng Jun's eyes narrowed slightly, his mind secretly sizing things up, but his expression remained calm and composed as he nodded in agreement.

  The woman, seeing Cheng Jun's kind intentions, also smiled and walked forward, curtsied, and said: "Young master is well." Her voice was soft and gentle, like snowflakes falling to the ground, almost inaudible.

  Cheng Jun glanced at her, his attention shifting to her eyes - although the woman was beautiful, her eyes were dull and lifeless, like a blind person who had just regained their sight but still couldn't focus. He bowed slightly and said, "I dare not, please go ahead, fellow Taoist."

  Dare to walk barefoot in the snow, and haven't frozen to the point of cutting off their feet, that's not necessary to ask, it can only be a monk.

  The woman asked in a low voice: "Are you a fellow Taoist from outside the mountain? Are you... a person of the Taoist sect?"

  Cheng Jun nodded and said: "He is indeed a person of the Taoist school, but he is not a direct descendant of the Taoist school."

  The woman heard this and remained silent for a long time. She took a step forward and said, "Although the Taoist friend is not a direct descendant of the Taoist sect, he is also an orthodox practitioner of the Taoist sect. Is that right or not?"

  Cheng Jun looked at her for a moment and nodded: "Yes."

  The woman hastily said: "Then please come this way, I have something to tell you..." Before she had even finished speaking, Cheng Jun suddenly stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and lightly jumped up. The two of them landed on the top of a large tree, hidden among the layers of leaves.

  The woman was taken aback, and then she saw Cheng Jun raise a finger to his lips, making a silencing gesture. Indeed, someone came walking out of the woods, with a gentle rustling sound.

  All that could be seen was that the man was a young scholar of over twenty years old, wearing a Taoist robe but dressed as a Confucian student, with a green shirt and a large cloak, holding a feather fan and wearing a kerchief, with a long sword and a gourd hanging from his waist. The tassel on the sword was flying in the wind, although it was very cold, he was still fanning himself with a feather fan, walking with a swaying motion, showing off his elegance.

  Cheng Jun could tell at a glance that this person was a cultivator who had just entered the Dao, with not very high cultivation. From his attire, he was a secular fire cultivator. Cheng Jun had never seen this person before, but it didn't prevent him from feeling a sense of familiarity, not towards the person, but towards the clothes on his body.

  This outfit, from the green shirt to the headscarf, and then to the feather fan, is a complete set from head to toe. It was once the most fashionable attire among the lower-level cultivators in the cultivation world. It's said that it was because a talented and handsome young man in the cultivation world dressed like this, with an otherworldly aura, looking like a celestial being, which caused a temporary craze at the time. At that time, whether they were handsome young men or burly men, everyone dressed like this, not only in terms of clothing but also in their demeanor and speech, trying to appear elegant and refined. Cheng Jun had also dressed like this before, and he could see that this person's details were not well learned, the angle of his head was not quite right, and his walking posture was not good enough - anyway, it was far inferior to how he used to be.

  At the moment when memories were triggered, Cheng Jun was a little dazed, as if he had seen his previous life. However, this memory flashed by quickly and returned to reality, with a hint of doubt floating up, muttering: "I remember that this outfit is not popular in many areas, at least it's not popular in the Northern Cultivation world, could he be from the South?"

  The young man walked for a moment, stopped in his tracks, and came to the tree where Cheng Jun was sitting. With a swish, he drew out his long sword. Cheng Jun was taken aback, and saw that the man's movements were light and agile, his sword flashing as it danced through the air, making several swift whooshing sounds, its gleam illuminating the surroundings, shaking the wind and thunder, and in an instant, cutting down several branches.

  Qing Jun felt even stranger, and saw the young man's sleeve shake, and several grayish-white things fell from his cuff to the snowy ground. Qing Jun's mouth twitched slightly, and he saw that those things were actually a few mushrooms.

  The young man picked up the mushrooms, selected two thin bamboo skewers and strung them into two strings, gathered the remaining branches together, lit a fire, and sat down in front of it with a thud. As he roasted, he hummed a little tune, the melody was very familiar, it was the "Small Opening" tune from the opera.

  Cheng Jun looked at this person for a long time and secretly came to a conclusion: This person is quite playful. At this moment, he only felt a faint airflow behind him, turned his head to look, but it was that woman. Cheng Jun was puzzled, and the woman whispered as thin as a mosquito: "This person is Yue Hua's big disciple Chong He. The one Yue Hua loves the most."

  Cheng Jun nodded, his heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself: I remember Xiao He Shang mentioning that Yue Hua Lao Dao had a disciple who could use the Palm Thunder technique. That person must be an accomplished cultivator, but this person's demeanor is different from that of a Taoist priest. If this person is also a disciple of Yue Hua Lao Dao, then that old Taoist must have several disciples. I wonder what their cultivation levels are like? If each and every one of them has the skills to enter the Tao, it might get a bit tricky.

  Just then, Cheng Jun suddenly turned his head and thought: Someone else has come.

  Down there, the stove was burning vigorously, and he didn't know that there were only two strings of mushrooms. After a while, the mushrooms were slightly better, he picked them up, blew on them gently with his mouth, and carefully took a bite, chewing with relish, and praised: "What a rare delicacy, seldom found in heaven or earth..."

  Someone suddenly spoke up and said, "Big Brother Master, you're so carefree."

  Chong and Ruan suddenly turned their heads, only to see a small Taoist priest walking out of the forest behind them, with his hands behind his back and a mocking expression on his face. Chong Jiong felt a voice piercing into his ears, "Chong Yuan has also arrived. He is the second disciple of Yue Hua, and the two of them have never gotten along." Chong Jiong nodded slightly, thinking to himself: Another one, this one is inferior to his senior brother by a notch, but he has just recently started practicing Taoism.

  He chuckled and said with a smile, "Younger brother, you've come at an inopportune time, I've already finished eating." As he spoke, he hid the steaming hot mushroom behind his back, revealing a sly grin.

  His mouth was downturned, without a hint of a smile, and he stared at the person, saying: "Senior brother, I remember that Master had an important task to entrust to you. Why didn't you go take care of it? Instead, you're causing trouble here?"

  Chong and Xiao said: "I've been there. Alas, my junior brother, you don't know the difficulties here. The Wan Ma Mountain is so vast, the weather is cold and difficult to travel, it's hard to find a person in the vast forest. I searched two mountain peaks, no trace was found, I thought he had escaped far away, that's why I'm having a hearty meal now, before going again for the second time."

  That junior brother smiled mysteriously and said, "How is it that a small Daoist who has just entered the door for two months, hasn't even practiced fetal breathing well, can make Brother Chonghe, who was praised by Master as a genius, so helpless? He's really something else."

  Chong laughed and said, "It's not that he's great, it's just that I'm hungry, which is affecting my efficiency. As the saying goes, 'Man is iron, rice is steel', if you don't eat for a meal, your heart will be anxious..."

  That junior brother suddenly shouted: "Don't try this trick, I see you're clearly being hypocritical and deceiving our master. Come here, come here, take a look at what this is..." Suddenly he pulled out his hand from behind him and threw the object in his hand forward, it rolled to the front and stopped at Chonghe's feet.

  Chong Yu's face suddenly changed as he looked down and said: "Chong Yuan, you..."

  It was originally the size of a watermelon, stained with fresh blood, with eyebrows and eyes intact, exactly a human head.