Sword from the Immortal Mountain

Chapter 34: Taoist Priest of Xianmen, Peach Wood Talisman
Writing couplets for neighbors can make money, practice writing, win favors, and sharpen your ideas. It can be said to be a win-win situation.

So Chen Jin said, "Why not do it?"

But I didn’t expect that the “there are a lot of people” my uncle mentioned would actually mean so many.

Looking at the bustling crowd, everyone is holding a large stack of red paper in their hands. If they want to finish writing, it will take several days, right?

Why is my market situation so good?

He said that last year, there were only twelve families who came to ask the scholar to write couplets.

He coughed dryly, called Chen Abu over and asked what was going on.

After asking, I found out the reason: it was the craze caused by the "amulet" written to Chen Min.

The "accidental" death of the witch Chen led to the discovery of the hidden crimes of the Daxian Temple. The people of Chen Zexiang were outraged, and there was a lot of condemnation and anger, saying that they had been cheated.

Among them, Chen Abu also started cursing and talked about his daughter Chen Min, who was almost harmed by the so-called "dream of the immortal". Fortunately, she was blessed by the amulet and escaped.

Others were surprised and asked whose amulet it was.

Chen Abu said proudly that it was painted by Chen Jin.

Upon hearing this, most people did not believe it, and many people refuted it on the spot and sneered.

As a scholar, Chen Jin can read and write, but drawing amulets, isn't that nonsense?

However, Chen Abu argued convincingly and brought out Chen Jin's theory that "a wise and upright person can become a god."

Although he was illiterate, he had a good memory and remembered what Chen Jin said.

These theories are mysterious but well-organized. People are confused when they hear them, but if they think about it carefully, they do make some sense.

Someone else went to ask the old tutor Chen Mingcheng to see if this was really the case.

Chen Mingcheng thought for a while and replied, "There are indeed similar words and expressions in the books of sages."

In Chenze Township, the old private school teacher had been teaching for many years and had a certain prestige. His words were equivalent to endorsing Chen Jin.

At this point, the villagers began to be skeptical.

In daily life, the most favorite topics of discussion among the country folk are these mysterious stories.

Word of mouth spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. After a period of fermentation, the saying that the characters written by Chen Jin could protect the house and ward off evil spirits became a hot topic.

It’s not that everyone believes it, but they hold the psychological attitude of "it’s better to believe it than not to believe it". Anyway, you have to write couplets and the word "Fu" during the Chinese New Year, so you won’t lose out by asking Chen Jin to write them, no matter how you look at it.

So many people came at once, whether to follow the trend or to join in the fun.

Even Chen Abu was caught off guard by such a scene.

However, the more people came, the more it seemed that his nephew was popular and had face, and he was proud of it. He even wanted to take this opportunity to help Chen Jin become famous and enhance his reputation.

You know, reputation is very important to scholars.

Chen Jin: “…”

After figuring out the whole story, he did not comment and was thinking about how to write so many couplets in batches.

Then someone shouted, "The Taoist priest from Yunshan Temple has arrived in the village. Everyone, hurry up. If you are slow, you won't be able to get the talisman."

With this shout, the crowd dispersed and retreated like the tide.

The courtyard, which was originally extremely crowded, soon became deserted.

Seeing this, Chen Min couldn't help but show joy on his face, clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Okay, brother doesn't have to write so many words, and I don't have to grind so much ink."

But no matter how many people there were, Chen Jin remained calm and immediately began to write couplets for the remaining people.

At noon, my neighbor, Uncle Chen, came running over excitedly, holding something tightly in his hand. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted, "I got it. I got the talisman. Abu, why don't you go? This is a treasure."

Chen Abu glanced at Chen Jin and replied, "I'm busy right now, and I'm too lazy to join in the fun. Besides, we already have Jin's couplets and the word "Fu" at home, so there's no need to hang up the talisman." Uncle Chen held up the talisman proudly, "Spring Festival couplets and the word "Fu" are different from the talisman."

At this time, Chen Jin had already finished writing couplets for someone and was waiting for lunch. He looked up and recognized it. It turned out to be a peach charm. He frowned and said, "Is this a magic charm?"

Uncle Chen said proudly, "Yes, this is a magic talisman from Yunshan Temple. It has been blessed by a Taoist priest and hung at the door. It can keep the family safe for a year. It is very effective. I ran fast, so I got it."

"Can you show it to me?"

"Row."

Uncle Chen hesitated for a moment and handed it over.

Chen Jin took it and looked at it again. He saw only a few strokes on the front of the peach charm. The lines were random and rough.

As for the material of the peach charm, it is just a piece of ordinary peach wood.

Cut down a peach tree and use the wood from the trunk to make hundreds of those.

Has it been blessed by a Taoist priest?
It doesn't have any divine aura at all, it's just a piece of wood, ugly even if used as a decoration.

He immediately frowned and asked, "Did the Taoist priest give you this peach charm?"

"deliver?"

Uncle Chen shouted, "How is that possible? It's five hundred coins a piece. It was four hundred last year. The price has gone up this year, and it's said to go up even more next year. Even so, I managed to get it with great difficulty."

Chen Jin raised his eyebrows and turned to ask Chen Abu: "Uncle, does the Taoist priest often come to the village to sell things? Why don't I remember this?"

Chen Abu explained: "How could we afford to buy things worth a few hundred coins before? And you were not there when the Taoist priest went to the countryside. Even if you were there, you would not join in the fun since you always said 'A gentleman does not talk about strange things'."

Chen Jin suddenly understood.

Scholars in the past were indeed quite resistant to these supernatural things. Apart from going to the ancestral temple to worship their ancestral gods, they seldom participated in other activities and were only focused on reading books of sages.

When making a wish before taking the boy's test, one should go to the Confucian Temple, not any other temple.

Chen Abu introduced: "This Yunshan Temple is a great temple with a radius of 100 miles. It is built on Yunshan Mountain. The Taoist priests inside are all very powerful. They can subdue demons and monsters, fly into the sky and hide underground."

Chen Jin: "...Uncle, who did you hear that from?"

"Everyone says so. By the way, the household deity of the village head was appointed by the Taoist priest from Yunshan Temple at a great price. The Taoist priest was also invited to the banquet that night. I wonder if you saw him."

"No, I went home after I had eaten. It was Xiao Min who sent me home."

Chen Abu smacked his lips and said, "That's a pity."

"It's no pity."

Chen Jin picked up the peach charm and said, "It's just a piece of rotten wood for burning. What's the use of it?"

Chen Abu was stunned.

The buyer, Uncle Chen, was even more unconvinced and wanted to refute it.

Then a stern voice was heard outside: "Just rotten wood? What an arrogant scholar, how dare you speak nonsense and slander our immortal sect."

Following the sound, several people came in one after another.

The leader was a man of short stature. He wore a crescent crown on his head, a Bagua Taoist robe, and held a whisk in his hand, looking like a Taoist master.

He just had a fat and greasy face, which was obviously because he ate too much meat and wine and was not good at refining essence into energy.

Seeing them come in, Chen Abu's face changed drastically: A Jin said the wrong thing and offended the Taoist priest of the Immortal Sect, what should we do now?

　After 12 o'clock, the second round of PK will begin. I hope everyone can continue to support us so that this book can be passed and move forward. Go, go, go!

　　In addition, special thanks to several book friends who helped point out typos and wrong words. The author will basically correct them if he sees them so that everyone can have a better reading experience.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)