Trinity Traitor: From One Person to the Other

Chapter 264: Mount Laoshan Taiqing Palace

There are many Taoist sects on Mount Laoshan.

Just like the "Three Putuo Temples" that ambushed Bihe Ren later, there was more than one sect that monopolized Mount Laoshan.

And there are more than Putuo Temple.

Because the emperors of the Tang and Song dynasties were fond of alchemy, those who practiced Taoism have regarded Mount Laoshan as a secluded and mysterious place for seeking the truth. There are many "traces of immortality" handed down from generation to generation in the mountain. There are many Taoist temples within a radius of a hundred miles of Mount Laoshan, some of which are more than a thousand or hundreds of years old.

According to official statistics, there are nine palaces, eight temples and seventy-two nunneries in Laoshan, and all the Taoists are Quanzhen Taoists. There is a saying: "Laoshan Taoist temples are stars in the sky, and the seven true masters have descended to return to the orthodox sect. If you ask who is the leader of the temples, it is the Taiqing official under Laojun Peak."

The Taiqing Palace as referred to by the visitors is the Taoist temple with the longest history, the best land area, the largest scale, the largest number of Taoists and the most profound influence among the Taoist temples in Laoshan.

It was originally a Taoist temple built by Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty for Huagai Zhenren. Later, during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Xu Fuyang, Qiu Chuji, and Qiu Chuji's fellow disciples of the Quanzhen Sect all came here to lecture on scriptures and discuss the mysteries of Taoism. They traveled all over Laoshan, making Shangqing Palace more famous and its status more respected.

"Brother Cheng Dao, please."

Since such a sect sent someone over, the two men did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly turned around to return the greeting.

"You're welcome. You're welcome. Mr. He, you have such a great reputation along the way. It has spread all over Shandong." The Taoist who called himself Cheng Zizhen said with a smile.

"Excuse me, excuse me." He Songling said politely, "It's all Zhang Zhiwei's fault. He ran away without leaving a letter, so I had to take his fellow apprentices and search the world for him."

"If you're looking for Senior Brother Zhang, that's a coincidence." Cheng Zizhen said with a smile, "He just went down the mountain from our Taiqing Palace a few days ago. Judging from the direction, he probably went west."

According to the labor-saving circular route, Zhang Zhiwei should go north from Lianyungang, directly into Laoshan in Jiaodong, and then go west. But he went down the mountain to travel and gain experience, so he naturally didn't care about these. He traveled from southwest Shandong to northeast, and after a circle, he went back west again.

"It's all in vain." He Songling bowed and said, "Brother Cheng Dao, we'll say goodbye now and go after Zhang Zhiwei."

"Hey, two distinguished guests have come to Taiqing Palace, but we didn't entertain them, which only made our fellows laugh at us."

Cheng Zizhen stopped him and said, "My master asked me to ask you two if it is urgent to find Senior Brother Zhang. If it is urgent, you can go down the mountain and my Taiqing Palace will send people to help you find Senior Brother Zhang. If it is not urgent, you might as well stay in my Taiqing Palace for two days and then look for him. Anyway, Senior Brother Zhang can't fly to the sky."

"That makes sense." He Songling thought about it and it made sense. They had been to other famous families in Shandong, but they came to Laoshan but didn't go to Taiqing Palace. What if people thought they looked down on them? Or if it got out that the Sanyi family had chosen the whole of Shandong but was afraid of Taiqing Palace, that would not be good.

In fact, He Songling didn't care whether the Sanyi Sect was afraid of the Taiqing Palace or not. He was not the sect leader anyway, and Zuo Rutong was not someone who cared about such empty reputation.

But He Songling is full of such people.

Wouldn't it be embarrassing if his "terrifying Shandong" turned into "terrifying the whole Shandong except Taiqing Palace in Laoshan"?
"go!"

He Songling started walking, and Tian Jinzhong could only follow behind.

"Oh, my two fellow Taoists, you have had a hard journey." The headmaster of Taiqing Palace was already waiting at the gate of Taiqing Palace to greet them, giving enough face to He Songling, the "Governor of Shandong".

"How is Master Cui? I, He Songling, bow to you!" He Songling also bowed to people. "Well, due to geographical reasons, our two Taoist sects in the north and south do not have much communication and no seniority. There is no seniority or juniority. We can call ourselves Taoist friends when we discuss Taoism together." The head of Taiqing Palace was very polite and smiled as he welcomed He Songling and the others in.

"Thank you very much, Master Cui."

After He Songling and Tian Jinzhong exchanged greetings, they entered Taiqing Palace together and came to the "Quhu Temple" built by the founder Huagai Zhenren.

"Master Cui is so polite." He Songling knew at a glance that this person was holding back something. As the place where Huagai Zhenren, the founder of Taiqing Palace, lived and practiced in his early years, the status of Quhu Temple is no less than that of Fengshen Palace to Taigong Temple.

Inviting them into the main hall right away is a sign of respect; inviting them into the forbidden area is a sign of bad intentions.

"To be honest with you, Fellow Daoist He, I came here to ask for something."

"Master Cui, please speak." He Songling bowed respectfully to the headmaster of Taiqing Palace, and said in a businesslike manner: "Whatever I can do, I will do my best."

He said this with a lot of cunningness. He first limited the scope and said what he could do. If he didn't want to do it later, he could always say he couldn't do it. Then he said he would do his best, not the result-oriented approach, but only the process.

Try your best? Who knows if you have tried your best?

However, the head of Taiqing Palace had long heard of He Songling's name, and had studied this beast's character thoroughly. After all, he had something to ask for, so he had to understand the other person's pulse.

"Well, Mr. He, please don't rush to express your opinion. Let me first talk about the recent situation of Taiqing Palace."

The headmaster of Taiqing Palace stroked his beard, pointed at Cheng Zizhen and said, "You have already met this little Cheng just now. He is my second disciple, the strongest among the second generation disciples of Taiqing Palace. Even if he is stronger than me, he only lacks the last few tricks of the headmaster."

"Oh? I didn't expect Brother Cheng Dao to have such skills. I admire you so much." He Songling remained unmoved. He acted as if Zuo Rutong was possessed. He stood up and bowed to Cheng Zizheng with a kind face.

When he stood up, Tian Jinzhong also stood up and saluted to congratulate him.

"I am ashamed, ashamed. We are just a small sect. Even if we do our best, we are still far inferior to the two of you." Cheng Zizhen did not look complacent. Instead, he returned the greeting with a look of shame.

"Brother Cheng Dao is too polite. You and I are both from the Xuan Sect. What we value most is our lives and our cultivation. The length of our progress in the Dao is what we pursue as Xuan Sect members. As for the ability to be brave and aggressive, and to fight, it is not worth mentioning."

He Songling was still very polite. "Besides, Taiqing Palace is also a big sect of Quanzhen Dao. It can't be called a small sect. I am familiar with the old Heavenly Master, Zhang Zhiwei, Xiaotian and others about the mysterious Daoism of the sect. I will speak for them directly: it should be no less than the Heavenly Master Mansion of Zhengyi Dao."

"Yes, Senior Brother He is right." Most people cannot say such words, but He Songling has already obtained the permission of the old Heavenly Master himself to let Tian Jinzhong learn skills from him. In this respect, he can be regarded as half an elder of the Heavenly Master's Mansion, so it is not an overstep.

But when these words came out, Cheng Zizhen smiled bitterly: "Mr. He, you are joking. I just lost miserably to Taoist Brother Zhang Zhiwei from the Tianshi Mansion a few days ago."

"what?"

He Songling and Tian Jinzhong exclaimed at the same time.

(End of this chapter)