Pawn Crossing the River

When Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu left the restaurant, they saw a man dressed as a servant walking quickly, offering a child talisman of a mother-child talisman in his hands.

Zhang Yuelu subconsciously reached out to pick it up.

But the servant slightly retracted his hand and said, "I hope you will forgive me, Miss. This is for Taoist Master Qi."

Zhang Yuelu frowned slightly and said nothing more.

Qi Xuansu took Zifu and the servant said goodbye and left.

Not long after, Qi Xuansu felt warmth coming from the talisman in his hand, turned into a deserted alley next to him, injected his true energy into the talisman in his hand, used the talisman as firewood, and burned a ball of flame. It was not scorching to the touch, but a slightly blurred upper body silhouette of a middle-aged man appeared in the firelight. It was only the size of a palm and was slightly distorted as the flames danced, as if he was watching someone through the fire.

Then a mellow voice came and got straight to the point: "I am Qing Xiao's uncle. I heard that Qing Xiao has brought a young man back. I am a little curious. If you don't mind, let's meet tomorrow."

Of course Qi Xuansu had no reason to refuse and asked: "Senior, please tell me the meeting place."

The middle-aged man smiled: "I'm at Shangqing Palace, you can come directly."

After that, the middle-aged man ended the call without giving Qi Xuansu a chance to raise objections.

Qi Xuansu looked at Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu said helplessly: "My clan uncle Zhang Kuping, a third-grade Youyi Taoist priest, serves as an assistant in the Shangqing Palace. As for his resume, I won't go into details. He will tell it in a straightforward way and has steadily climbed the ranks."

In addition to Jiutang and local Taoist palaces, the Taoist sect also has some special institutions with transcendent status, such as Dazhenrenfu, Zhenjingbeiyuan, Wanshou Chongyang Palace, Wanxiang Taoist Palace, Shangqing Palace, Qingling Palace, and Wuxu Palace.

Except for the three deputy head masters, Da Zhenren, who are in charge of Da Zhenren's Mansion, Zhenjing Villa, and Wanshou Chongyang Palace respectively, the other palaces are equivalent to Jiutang and are controlled by a real person who is called Shenzhi. The real person, the real person in charge, is responsible for assisting the deputy head master, the real person in charge of the three realms.

The assistant manager assists the real person in charge of the assistant palace in handling various affairs, which is equivalent to the deputy hall master and deputy palace master. The only difference is that the deputy hall master and deputy palace master have the first and second positions of high-ranking Taoists, who are held by the second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests, while the position of assistant manager does not have high-ranking Taoist priests, only the third-grade Youyi Taoist priest.

Qi Xuansu was a little worried.

Zhang Yuyue, Su Ying, and Zhang Yuelu's cousin Zhang Chiyue are all within the category of fourth-grade wine-sacrifice Taoist priests. As long as they have not served as the deputy hall master in a low-level position like Zhang Yuelu, they are not considered to have high authority. After all, Sun Yongfeng and Lingquanzi were also fourth-grade Taoist priests who offered sacrifices to wine. Regardless of grade and salary, they only talked about positions. They were only one level higher than Qi Xuansu, and they were somewhat middle-level.

But the Taoist Priest of the Third Grade Jijiu is different. He has already stepped into the ranks of the upper echelons of the Taoist sect, and can be regarded as a high-ranking and powerful person.

With such an incident, Zhang Yuelu was not in a hurry to go home. She happened to accompany Qi Xuansu to Yunjin Mountain. Qi Xuansu went to Shangqing Palace to meet Zhang Kuping. She happened to go to Dazhen Mansion to report about the Li family. . She was a little worried about Su Ying, so she decided to go there herself, and the Dazhen Mansion and Shangqing Palace were neighbors.

The two stayed overnight at the Taiping Inn in Shangqing County, and checked out early the next morning and left the county for Yunjin Mountain.

There are two roads from the north to the south from the top of Yunjin Mountain. One road passes through Shangqing Town, where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of Yunjin Mountain. The other road does not need to pass through Shangqing Town and is very steep, but the distance is shorter. Because the flying boat will land at Shangqing Palace, many non-Zhang Taoist priests traveling to Wuzhou will choose this route to avoid disturbing the purity of Shangqing Town.

This time Zhang Yuelu chose the second way and went up the mountain in a hanging basket.

Qi Xuansu has seen Daomen's hanging basket in Taiping Mountain and Kunlun Mountain. It can be said to be a powerful tool for going up and down the mountain. However, Yunjin Mountain's hanging basket is slightly different. It is not straight up and down, but at an angle, and it is tilted up through the noose. Downward.

The reason for this is that there was a great battle in Yunjin Mountain more than two hundred years ago. In anger, Xuan Sheng interrupted some of the ground veins of Yunjin Mountain, causing large-scale earthquakes. Many peaks collapsed directly, and even a corner of Da Zhenren's Mansion collapsed, which greatly changed the terrain of Yunjin Mountain.

Although Zhengyiyi was repaired afterwards, it still could not be completely restored to its original appearance. This resulted in the terrain of Yunjin Mountain being very complicated. When going straight up and down, it is impossible to climb to the top in one go like Taiping Mountain. It must be divided into several sections and must be reached halfway. Change to the hanging basket, and simply stretch the front straight into a hypotenuse, from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain.

Dazhen Mansion has an Antarctic Temple at the south foot of Yunjin Mountain, which is on the only way to Shangqing Town. It has a Beizhen Temple at the north foot of Yunjin Mountain, and you can take a gondola from here.

Zhang Yuelu brought Qi Xuansu to Beizhen Temple. After showing the ultimatum, he took the gondola to Yunjin Mountain.

The hanging basket went up diagonally along the steel cable. At first, I didn't notice anything. After walking for a while, the fog gradually thickened, and I could even see clouds floating around.

Qi Xuansu leaned out and looked out. He knew a little bit about the simple and basic theory of Feng Shui. The landform of Yunjin Mountain was indeed very strange. With his little knowledge from the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, he couldn't tell much about it.

Zhang Yuelu said: "The terrain here is very strange, isn't it? It has been repaired by Zhengyiyi for nearly a hundred years. This is what happens if you offend Xuan Sheng. That time, a heavenly master of the Zhang family died, and countless ordinary Zhang family members."

"Is it the Wasted Heavenly Master in the Xuansheng Card?" Qi Xuansu asked curiously.

Zhang Yuelu nodded.

After a while, the hanging basket completely entered the clouds and fog. Looking down at the bottom of the basket, the morning fog was very heavy, but it was completely white and nothing could be seen.

By the time the hanging basket reached the top of the mountain, a red sun had already jumped out of the sea of ​​clouds, illuminating the sky brightly. The sunlight came from the east and shone on a huge white marble archway. On the archway, there were four golden characters "Zhengyi Alliancewei". The golden light shines in the sunlight, which is awe-inspiring.

The two walked out of the hanging basket.

Zhang Yuelu was familiar with the roads here and led Qi Xuansu straight past the archway and towards the Shangqing Palace.

The Shangqing Palace is naturally extremely grand, far superior to the government office in Tiangang Hall.

Qi Xuansu stood in front of the three-person-high main entrance, looking up at the high-hanging plaque of "Shangqing Palace", which was said to be inscribed by the ancestor Tianshi himself.

Under the plaque is a couplet, each character is the size of a human head.

The first couplet is: The road is high, the dragon and the tiger lie down. The second line is: Virtue attaches great importance to ghosts and gods.

Zhang Yuelu said: "There is also a couplet on the main entrance of Dazhen Mansion. It is similar to this couplet, and it is also about boasting about oneself. The first couplet is: Unparalleled Land in the South. The second couplet is: The First Family in Xijiang."

Qi Xuansu sighed: "What a big tone."

Zhang Yuelu patted Qi Xuansu on the shoulder: "You can go alone. I have to go to Da Zhenren Mansion, so I won't accompany you."

Qi Xuansu nodded and walked to the main entrance of Shangqing Palace alone.

Two spiritual officers wearing black armor stretched out their arms to block Qi Xuansu's way.

Qi Xuansu said: "I have an invitation from Zhang Gaogong."

A spiritual official said in a loud voice: "Wait a moment."

After a while, a sixth-grade Taoist priest hurried over: "Are you Deacon Qi? Please follow me."

Under the leadership of this sixth-grade Taoist priest, Qi Xuansu entered the Shangqing Palace. There were twists and turns. Apart from a few main halls and living rooms, he saw the same signature rooms and confidential rooms with various signs hanging outside the doors. , showing that this is not an ordinary Taoist palace, but the highest power center of Zhengyiyi. After all, the Dazhen Palace has the functions of a residence, a cave, and a cardinal formation, so it has a greater symbolic meaning.

The relationship between Dazhen Palace and Shangqing Palace is probably similar to the relationship between the emperor's palace and the cabinet, or the relationship between Zixiao Palace and Jinque. The highest power center of the imperial court was the cabinet, not the emperor's palace. The highest power center of Taoism is in Jinque, rather than Zixiao Palace where the Grand Master lives.

The same is true for Zhenjing Bieyuan and Qingling Palace of Quanzhen Taoism, Wanshou Chongyang Palace and Wuxu Palace of Taiping Taoism.

The two walked for a quarter of an hour, passed through a long corridor, and finally arrived at Zhang Kuping's room where he was detained. The door number read "Zhengyi Liaison Department".

Qi Xuansu waited quietly, and the sixth-grade Taoist knocked gently on the door: "Assistant Manager, Deacon Qi is here."

A mellow voice that Qi Xuansu had heard before came from the door: "Please come in."

The Taoist priest pushed the door halfway and extended his other hand politely to Qi Xuansu: "Deacon Qi, please come in."

Qi Xuansu looked cheerful. Facing this very polite Taoist priest, he did not rush into the signing room. Instead, he took out a valuable jade pendant from his sleeve pocket and quietly handed it to the Taoist priest with a smile: "Thank you for showing me the way."

The Taoist priest behaved politely, but there was no expression on his face. The hand that said "Come in" gently pushed the jade pendant: "It's against the rules. I appreciate Deacon Qi's kindness. Deacon Qi, don't be polite."

Qi Xuansu's expression remained unchanged and he retracted his sleeves cheerfully: "Shangqing Palace is really different from other places."

The Taoist priest said no more, leaned forward and allowed Qi Xuansu to walk in through the half-opened door, and then gently closed the door outside.

Inside the house is Zhang Kuping's signature room, which is divided into two rooms, inside and outside. The outer room was the reception area, a small living room, but it was empty at this time, so Qi Xuansu had no choice but to walk into the inner room.

The interior is completely like a study room, with bookshelves and desks, but no chairs for receiving guests.

There are various files piled on the desk, and the covers are all stamped with the word "Top Secret" in red. The head of a middle-aged man was revealed in the space between the documents. He was writing at his desk.

There was no chair, and the owner did not greet him. Qi Xuansu could only stand there, quietly waiting for him to ask questions.

"Have you met Zhang Yuyue and Zhang Chiyue?" The man who bowed his head took the time to ask while busy.

"I've seen it before." Qi Xuansu replied.

"Do you want to know what they think of you?" The man finally stood up from a pile of documents. He was dressed in a neat Taoist suit, his half-white hair was not messy at all, and he was smiling, but there was no smile in his eyes. He is Zhang Kuping, the third-rank assistant minister of the Shangqing Palace and Zhang Yuelu's clan uncle.