This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 232 How to make the immortal cultivators believe in us?
The meeting of the Bureau of Investigation continued, but when Xiong Xuguang mentioned the name Taiji Yin Yang Temple, the focus of the discussion shifted significantly.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the Security Conference Room of the Bureau of Investigation, Zhuang Lin and others were also holding a small meeting.

Zhou Xianglin was very excited as he explained his views and planned how to do his part well in the upcoming scenes.

Liu Hongyu listened intently, while Wuming seemed to be absent. Xi Miao, resting her chin on her hand, listened with great interest to Zhuang Lin, though she noticed he appeared slightly lost in thought when she looked at him.

Zhuang Lin was lost in thought as he looked at the lively scene in the conference room of the Bureau of Extraordinary Investigations.

"Master Zhuang, what do you think of what I just said?"

Now that Zhou Xianglin understood the wonders of immortal techniques, he was no longer worried about their presence and conversation being discovered, and he spoke in a louder voice.

"Oh, Director Zhou's idea is excellent, but I think we should perhaps try a different approach."

"A different approach? Tell me quickly!"

Zhou Xianglin wasn't upset at all about being rejected. He knew from the time he and Zhuang Lin discussed life in Hidden Immortal Valley that Zhuang Lin must have some brilliant ideas at this point.

Zhuang Lin thought for a moment and looked around the meeting room. The discussion among the contemporary officials was very intense, with both rational and emotional elements. The difference between them and ordinary people was that the level of rationality was higher.

"We don't actually need to keep proving ourselves, lest we fall into the self-proving trap. We can let them break the deadlock, or at least let them think that's how it is!"

Zhou Xianglin's mind worked exceptionally fast, even beyond Zhuang Lin's expectations.

"I understand. You mean the plot is still about finding a trace of immortality, but making the officials think that the immortal cultivators don't actually trust the official forces. Yes, that's right."

Liu Hongyu's eyes lit up, but he quickly frowned again.

"But is this a good idea? Won't it backfire? Won't it be inappropriate?"

"No, no!"

Zhou Xianglin almost instantly rewrote the script in his mind.

"Actually, upon closer examination, this makes sense. Throughout history, although the imperial court has had contact with the immortal sects, it has mostly dealt with the lesser sects. The orthodox immortal sects have mostly avoided contact with the imperial court; this is the norm."

"From the perspective of modern official rationality, they will first remain cautious and careful. After understanding the current situation, they will quickly figure out the reasons and may even consider things more thoroughly than we have. After that, they will try to get closer to the immortal sects or try to ease the relationship between the immortal sects and the government."

Liu Hongyu understood immediately with just a few words.

"Now, it's the imperial court that needs to prove itself! Brilliant! And trust is being built up in the process. Once the imperial court successfully proves itself, trust will naturally be established!"

Zhuang Lin smiled and said.

"Moreover, this trust will be more solid, at least at the official level, since it is hard-won!"

Xi Miao looked at the three of them, her expression quite interesting.

"You guys... actually, you're all quite suited to learning illusion magic. Some of you are exceptionally talented, but the way you design and plan this is really..."

As Xi Miao finished speaking, Duan Kang had already made a decision at the meeting of the Bureau of Investigation.

"Then let the comrades in Jingzhou search for this Taiji Yin Yang Temple. If they can find it, regardless of whether there are any legendary immortal cultivators inside, they must not be disturbed! Does anyone have anything to add?"

Someone immediately spoke up.

"I think the dean is absolutely right, and I believe it's best not to reveal our official identities; we should just present ourselves as ordinary tourists or pilgrims."

"I agree!"

"I second that! If the immortal cultivation lineage hasn't been severed, but we haven't discovered it for so long, it must be because they don't want us to find it. We shouldn't be too presumptuous!"

In the corner, Zhuang Lin and the others exchanged glances; wasn't this exactly what they had just thought?
-
It didn't take long. With the current authority and efficiency of the Bureau of Investigation, all the Taoist temples and monasteries that had been legally registered in JZ City were identified by the afternoon of the same day the meeting ended.

That same afternoon, Xiong Xuguang and several of the younger members of the Investigation Bureau boarded a plane to Jingzhou.

The next morning, Xiong Xuguang, who had been having nightmares all night due to slight mental confusion, was woken up by his alarm clock. After a quick breakfast, he went to the first destination with his colleagues.

They didn't bring many people; including Xiong Xuguang, there were only three of them.

There was no special pomp and circumstance whatsoever; it was just an old car, and even the license plate number was specially chosen to keep everything as ordinary as possible. Before them, no government personnel had appeared near any intended destination.

While the vehicle was in motion, his colleague in the back seat was still repeating the information, even though he knew that the two people in the car must have seen it many times before.

"There are three Taoist temples in Jingzhou that might meet the requirements, but none of them are called Taiji Yin Yang Temple. The one on Liuyun Mountain is called Taiji Temple, and it should have a relatively long history. It is said that the temple's founding date can be traced back to at least 700 years ago. The other two are less than 100 years old, but it cannot be ruled out that they were built later by relevant parties. In any case, let's go to Taiji Temple first."

Although there is a lot of information, there isn't even a single photo of the Tai Chi Temple in the area. Its exact location in the mountains is left entirely to imagination.

"Alright, alright, you're practically reciting a memorized text. If you're nervous, just stay in the car. Xiong Ge and I will go up!"

The man driving was smoking while holding the steering wheel, but the roads were remote and in poor condition, and he felt increasingly uneasy as he drove deeper into the mountains.

"Who said I'm nervous? I'm just worried you'll forget what's on the agenda!"

Xiong Xuguang looked around.

"Actually, it's good that we forgot. We were just tourists who stumbled upon this place anyway!"

"Yes, I think the same way as Brother Xiong. Remembering things too clearly would seem deliberate and might inadvertently reveal something."

Upon hearing this, the person in the back seat immediately fell silent and put down the documents in their hand.

"Oh dear, there's no road ahead. Did we go the wrong way?"

"There's a small shop up ahead, should we go ask there?"

The person in the back seat pointed out the window, and the car turned onto a cement road belonging to a nearby village, then stopped at the location of the small shop. This shop sold food and drinks, newspapers, and also offered phone calls for a fee; it was the very place where the special investigation team from the Liu Group had visited.

The vehicle stopped, and the driver called out to the convenience store outside the window.

"Excuse me, can I ask for directions? Is there a Tai Chi Temple nearby?"

The shop owner sat inside, smoking and reading a newspaper, only glancing outside once before remaining completely silent.

"Do you sell cigarettes? I'd like a pack of Da Xi!"

"Twenty dollars."

"Huh? Isn't the big celebration on the fifteenth?"

"Twenty yuan!"

"Okay, okay, twenty it is." The driver got out of the car, handed over the money to buy cigarettes, and then asked, "Boss, is there a Tai Chi Temple around here? I heard it's quite effective, let's take a look."

The boss offered the driver a cigarette and glanced at him.

"Yes, that's the way to Taiji Temple, but there's no path, you have to climb the mountain. The Taoist priests there are really good; several villages nearby use them for religious ceremonies."

The road the boss pointed to was the one just before the car turned the corner.

"Oh, boss, do you have the phone number for Tai Chi Temple?"

Upon hearing this, the driver quickly asked another question, and the boss took a puff of his cigarette before exhaling before answering.

"Telephone? Even the Taoist priests at Taiji Temple have to come here to make a call. Do you think there's a telephone over there? There's not even a wire! Oh, by the way, if you want to go up the mountain, you can buy some incense and paper money. Do you want some? I have some here. The old ladies in the village use them for chanting sutras. I'll give you a discount. Thirty yuan for a bunch of incense and a bag of paper money!"

The shopkeeper pointed to a corner inside the store, where there were piles of snakeskin bags, presumably containing the gold ingots he was talking about.

The driver outside was speechless. "There's a Taoist temple up there. You're probably just reciting Buddhist scriptures with that gold ingot."

"No need for the gold ingot, give me some incense instead."

A short while later, the driver spent five yuan to buy a stick of incense, handed it to his colleague in the back seat, and then the vehicle returned to the road it had been on, driving all the way to the end before stopping.

Liuyun Mountain is not high, but the mountain path is somewhat complicated. It took the three of them almost two hours to find the location of Taiji Temple after wandering around the mountain several times.

I thought that Taiji Temple, if not a celestial abode, would at least be quaint and elegant, but it is clearly not like that in the present world.

"That's it?"

Xiong Xuguang and others saw the Tai Chi Temple on the opposite hillside.

Although it was still far away, it was not difficult to see. It was a very ordinary earthen wall, an old courtyard, a few tiled houses with exposed red bricks, and a small wooden hall full of dust and no paint.

"Since we're already here, let's go take a look!"

The chances were clearly slim, but the three of them still had to go and take a look.

It took another ten minutes or so for the three of them to finally arrive near the Taiji Temple. By then, they were all sweating from exhaustion in the dead of winter and had taken off their coats.

However, after passing a certain spot, Xiong Xuguang suddenly paused, as if a cool breeze had brushed against his body.

It's a feeling I can't quite put my finger on, but there's a strange sense of familiarity about it.

Although Xiong Xuguang's spirituality was not apparent, he had experienced several profound dreams, and then he would relive similar dreams every night afterward. Even though he did not feel any spiritual energy, he had remembered some of the spiritual feeling in the dreams, and the feeling in the dreams was actually created based on reality.

The other two didn't notice anything and continued walking forward, though they seemed to feel less hot.

"Phew, we're finally here!"

Inside the Tai Chi Temple, it seemed very quiet at the moment. After the three of them passed the courtyard wall, they saw an old Taoist priest practicing Tai Chi with his eyes closed, seemingly unaware that anyone was coming.

Although the three of them wanted to maintain their natural selves as ordinary people, they subconsciously dared not disturb others. Moreover, the old Taoist priest's Tai Chi was exceptionally beautiful, and they were unconsciously drawn to it.

After a long while, the old Taoist priest withdrew his fist, opened his eyes, and looked at the newcomer.

"I told you we had guests arriving. May I ask what brings you three here?"

The three of them realized what was happening, and the other two subconsciously looked at Xiong Xuguang, but the latter seemed to be attracted by something else, staring blankly at the peach tree peeking out from the corner behind the ancient hall.

Now, in the depths of winter before the end of the first lunar month, the peach blossoms are blooming exceptionally brightly, and under the peach trees, there are several Taoist priests meditating with their eyes closed.

"Master, are the peach blossoms in this temple blooming so early?"

Xiong Xuguang's words were clearly irrelevant to the question. The old Taoist priest stroked his beard, looked at Xiong Xuguang, and then glanced at the peach tree.

"These are not flowers, nor are they trees. The climate of different places in the forests is different, so their flowering seasons will naturally vary. The three of you have not yet said what brings you here!"

"Oh, we came to the mountains for fun, and we heard that there's a Tai Chi temple that's very effective, so we came to check it out!"

"Yes, yes, we also bought incense at the foot of the mountain!"

The other two noticed that Xiong Xuguang was not in a good mood and quickly answered the questions.

The old Taoist priest nodded with a smile.

"So you're a believer. Alright, come with me!"

(End of this chapter)