Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 33: Thunder and Fire Statue, Wandering

In the next few days, Lu Cheng suspended his own Taoist practice and went into seclusion in the main hall. He even asked the disciples of Chixin Temple to cooperate with him in prayer and practice.

"At that time, the Heavenly Venerable Savior of Suffering filled the ten directions, constantly using his mighty power to rescue all living beings from their lost paths. Living beings were unaware of this, like a blind man seeing the sun and the moon."

Inside the main hall of Chixin Temple, Lu Cheng was chanting scriptures on a cushion at the front. Behind him were the children who had been studying scriptures and worshipping Taoism in recent years, and behind them were the extremely young priests.

Among the children who have been educated in Chixin Temple over the years, Lu Cheng will select those with the best qualifications and the most diligent studies as the future priests of the Taoist temple.

In addition to the large statue of the God of Red Heart at the very front of the main hall, there is also a small statue of the God of Red Heart carved from peach wood struck by lightning in front of the large statue.

This piece of lightning-struck peach wood was found by a traveling merchant in the deep mountains. A piece less than half a person's height was priced at 500 spirit stones. And the price could not be bargained. They said that if it was sent to the heart of the Central Plains, the price would only be higher. If it was not too valuable and the manager of the caravan was a little scared and wanted to get it as soon as possible, he would never have sold it directly in Southern Xinjiang.

After a careful inspection, Lu Cheng confirmed that the peach wood was not created by a cultivator using lightning magic, but was artificially struck by lightning. He then happily paid the bill.

Peach wood struck by lightning is more precious than jujube wood struck by lightning. Jujube wood is harder than peach wood, but peach wood has a fresh fragrance. Each has its own strengths. It’s just that old jujube trees are taller and more easily struck by lightning, while peach trees are short and very rarely struck by lightning, so peach wood struck by lightning is extremely precious.

It is not enough to be struck by thunder. The wood must be damaged and then revived. Wood that is killed directly by thunder is not considered to be struck by lightning.

After obtaining this piece of lightning-struck wood, Lu Cheng treasured it very much and personally hired and selected the best local carpenter in Ishihara County. He also required that the carpenter must have firm faith in the God of Red Heart before he could carve this wood.

Fortunately, this was the time when the local people in Ishihara County were deeply blessed by Chijun and their belief in Chijun was the strongest, so it was not difficult to find such craftsmen.

The carpenter from Ishihara Prefecture who was chosen bathed, changed his clothes, fasted for seven days, then turned down all his work and spent half a year, putting all his energy into carving this statue of the Red-Hearted God. After the carving was completed, he was so exhausted that he almost fell seriously ill.

But after this incident, he became the best carpenter in the entire Ishihara County. Every family in the county that had some extra money wanted him to make furniture for them. If he managed his reputation well, his family could pass down this industry from generation to generation.

It can also be considered as a gift from Chi Jun.

A second-grade, top-grade Shinto instrument, the statue of the God of Red Heart.

Its function is to absorb divine might and power and establish a Taoist temple. With this treasure and after being infused with enough divine power, Lu Cheng's method of heavenly soldiers and generals can exert its full power outside the Chixin Temple until the divine power of Chijun in the statue is exhausted.

The peach wood struck by lightning is a perfect match for the God's realm of thunder and fire.

During the prayer process, Lu Cheng could sense and see little red light particles flying up and merging into the statue.

If necessary, Lu Cheng could even order the entire Ishihara County to stop working and assist him in praying, but there was no need for that.

Lu Cheng originally thought that after he and Tang Shi left Chixin Temple in Shiyuan County, he could entrust Chixin Temple to the Chen brothers and sisters.

Chixin Temple is already a well-run Taoist temple. After wiping out the four families of Li, Tu, Zou and You, the temple also had a certain amount of income from gold, silver and spiritual stones. Although it was not a lot, it was more than enough to support the practice of two Qi training monks, not to mention that the Chen brothers and sisters had a deep affection for this place.

But plans never change as fast as they should.

After completing seven days of prayer in Lucheng and filling the statue of Chijun with divine power.

That day, the Chen brothers and sisters came to say goodbye to Lu Cheng. "Brother Lu has taken good care of me over the past five years. If my sister and I can achieve some success in the Tao in the future, we will thank Master Fan first and Brother Lu second."

In Lu Cheng's room, he sat on the right, while Chen Qingfeng and Chen Qingyun sat on wooden chairs on both sides of the room.

"Did Uncle Fan give an order?" Lu Cheng could only think of this one explanation for such a sudden departure.

"That's right. I suddenly received a message from Master Fan two days ago. I should have set off immediately, but I thought I had to say hello to Brother Lu no matter what, so I put it off until today."

After hearing this, Lu Cheng said nothing more.

No matter how deep the friendship between the three of them was during the past five years, it was impossible for Chen Qingfeng and Chen Qingyun not to return immediately after Uncle Fan sent out the spiritual talisman to summon them. Moreover, in Uncle Fan's eyes, the two of them had a better future than following him.

"We have a good relationship, so a letter will suffice. Yes, you can keep these paper horse talismans. When you return, you can use them alternately without stopping. You should be able to make the distance of these two days."

As he spoke, Lu Cheng took out some talismans from his body and handed them to Chen Qingfeng.

Chen Qingfeng knew that Lu Cheng was good at drawing paper horse symbols, so he accepted it without any hesitation. However, he and Chen Qingyun also handed back some items to Lu Cheng.

"Brother Lu..."

Finally, the pretty little Taoist nun Chen Qingyun looked at Lu Cheng, but she said nothing more, her eyes were full of gratitude.

During these five years of living together, she is not a stupid girl. If she couldn't understand it at once, how could she not understand it after a while?
His own brother and the big brother Lu in front of him have both been taking good care of his state of mind.

Although he cannot accept his own feelings, he has always been treated gently.

"Well, it's not like we won't see each other again in the future. It's a pity that Brother Tang is not here right now and there is no good wine, otherwise we should get drunk and let you two leave tomorrow."

That’s what they say, but it’s impossible to really let the teacher stay for long.

So after a conversation, Lu Cheng sent Chen Qingfeng and Chen Qingyun out of Chixin Temple, and watched them use talismans to summon two horses and ride away.

"Phew, now I'm the only one left. I'll be leaving soon too. I hope that after this trip, Chixin Temple won't be demolished by others when I come back."

In the absence of the Chen brothers and sisters, Lu Cheng could only hand over the management of Chixin Temple to He Lan. At the same time, he wrote a letter to Mr. Han Zhi, who was now the Shao Yin of Nanling City, asking him to influence the border troops of Zhennan Pass as much as possible to take this place into consideration.

That's the meaning of paying taxes.

If the court's taxes cannot be collected, the value of this land will become lower and lower in the eyes of the court. Abandoning a poor piece of land and abandoning a developed and rich land are completely different things in the eyes of Tang officials.

Fourteen days later, many people in Ishihara County saw a giant centipede carrying Master Lu flying into the misty sea of ​​clouds.

(End of this chapter)