I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 250 Fruit in the Painting, Dust Beyond the World

Yuan Danqiu laughed heartily and said to Sanshui:
"Back then, I, along with Taibai and another friend, searched for immortals in the mountains."

"Now I don't know where that friend is, but the promise we made back then still stands. Whenever I travel and see something interesting, I always write to him and tell him about it."

Sanshui and Chu Yi were curious.

"Who is that friend?"

Yuan Danqiu laughed and said, "His surname is Meng, his given name is Hao, and his courtesy name is Haoran. Li Bai and I also call him Master Meng."

The two junior disciples nodded, indicating they had never heard of it.

Chu Yi asked, "Is he also a Taoist priest?"

"Yet he never entered the path."

Yuan Danqiu smiled and said, "That person is also a very talented poet. I wonder if he has any new works in recent years. We have been traveling around and have no fixed place to stay, so we have not received any letters from him."

I remembered it on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

"Didn't you and Master Yuan live in Yanzhou for three years, senior?"

How could you say that your place of residence is uncertain?

"Yes."

Yuan Danqiu also exclaimed, "Who would have thought that I could enter a meditative state for three years?"

The two seemed to understand but not quite.

Master Yuan mentioned letters. Sanshui had been down the mountain for several months when she finally remembered their master who lived on Yunmeng Mountain. She scratched her head and said to her junior brother, "Why don't we write a letter to our master too?"

The first-year student nodded as well.

“Write it down. We’ve obtained so many spiritual fruits; we need to let Master taste them later.”

"However, can the fruit be stored for that long? How will it be delivered to Luoyang?"

They thought for a while but couldn't come up with a solution, so they decided to write a letter first. They would then send the letter to the Hongdao Temple in Luoyang and have the abbot, Taihe Daoren, keep it safe for them. Their master would see the letter when he came to visit the temple.

When they write, they write long, rambling pieces.

Yuan Danqiu watched for a while, and all he said was nonsense.

They didn't get to the next part until the third page. They met Senior Jiang in Yuezhou, and a dead person had come back to life…

Halfway through writing, Sanshui scratched his head while looking at the letter, having somewhat forgotten what the fruits looked like.

She turned around and said:

"Junior brother, bring those fruits over, I'll write them down."

On the first day of the lunar new year, they went to find their belongings.

After a long while, he suddenly shouted, "Someone has stolen our fruit!"

Sanshui was shocked and rushed over to see.

Yuan Danqiu also went to join in the fun. Just as he strolled to the door, he saw Chu Yi pulling at their empty and shriveled bundle, shaking it, and there wasn't a single fruit left inside.

Only some fine powder with color was shaken off.

Chu Yi was furious. "Who took our fruit! I was planning to give some to Master to try!"

His senior sister was also angry.

Sanshui roared angrily.

"Even if they stole them, they should at least have left us two. Why did they take them all?"

The maids stuffed them with plenty of fruit, including jujubes, pears, and red fruits, as well as many others they didn't recognize. The two were even planning to ask their senior about them.

Yuan Danqiu squatted down and looked at the fine powder that had been shaken out of the bundle.

Reach out and pick up a little bit with your fingertips.

Sniffed.

Yuan Danqiu reached out and pinched it, examining it by the light of the lamp.

A colorful mark suddenly appeared on his fingertip.

Yuan Danqiu burst into laughter, his voice shaking his two remorseful disciples, who looked over. They wondered why Master Yuan had suddenly started laughing.

"Hahaha……"

"Now I know why, nobody stole your things."

He could tell that the two were puzzled.

Yuan Danqiu stretched out his hand to show them the ink on it and laughed.

"This is mineral pigment, the kind used for painting. How can you take the fruit you obtained in your paintings outside?"

"So there was only this powder in the bundle."

"It wasn't someone from the Taoist temple who stole your things."

As Yuan Danqiu spoke, he couldn't help but stroke his beard. He thought of Master Sima Chengzhen, who had aged again from his prime, and then saw these fictitious spiritual fruits. The more he thought about it, the more intrigued he became.

He returned to the courtyard and added another line to the letter, saying that it wasn't enough for Master Meng.

Yuan Danqiu even woke up Taibai, who had fallen into a deep, drunken sleep, and gave him a lecture, but unfortunately, Taibai's eyes were blurry with intoxication, and it's unclear whether he heard a thing or not. The next day.

Jiang She got up very early, waking up at Chenshi (7-9 AM), and the group bid farewell and went down the mountain.

Before leaving.

Li Bai also said, "The poem is already written and left on the table."

Sima Chengzhen smiled and thanked him. Having spent more than a month together, he understood Taibai's temperament and had his disciple bring two jars of fine wine.

Li Bai's eyes lit up.

Sima Chengzhen smiled and said, "The Taoist temple is small, with only some of our own brewed wine, which is barely enough to comfort us from the dust of our journey."

The disciple brought the wine jar, and Sima Chengzhen escorted it all the way down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, the group bowed to each other.

"The mountains are high and the rivers are long, we'll meet again someday."

Two elderly men, who seemed to ignore each other, walked over from the foot of the mountain. Sima Chengzhen, with his sharp eyes, noticed that one of them was leading a white donkey, and he immediately understood what was going on.

This might be the story of Zhang Guo, whom the emperor had been searching for an immortal to visit for several years without success.

Sima Chengzhen watched them leave until they were gone, then turned back.

The disciple helped him up by the arm and asked:

“My master gets along exceptionally well with these people.”

Sima Chengzhen laughed.

"Yes."

A Taoist priest standing nearby said with admiration, "As a Taoist master, it is truly something we cannot do that the master would disregard his age and status to personally come down the mountain to see them off."

Mount Tiantai is several hundred feet high.

The master is almost ninety years old, and going up and down the mountain is no easy task.

Sima Chengzhen smiled, looking at his disciples and the few people accompanying him from the Taoist temple, and said with a smile:
"What use is it for us Taoists to have a noble or lowly secular status? It is a blessing to be able to meet fellow Taoists with whom we can have pleasant conversations and gain enlightenment."

"not to mention……"

Sima Chengzhen turned around and looked around.

Outside the mountain path, those people could no longer be seen.

He stroked his beard and laughed, saying, "For those who live outside the world, what's the point of discussing wealth and status? Isn't that just inviting humiliation?"

The disciple didn't understand much of what he was saying.

He turned his head to look, but saw no one.

The disciple carefully supported his master and asked, "Master, are you saying that these people will not take up official positions?"

Sima Chengzhen smiled but did not reply.

It was too late that day, so they rested at the foot of the mountain for the night and didn't climb the mountain until the next day. By the time they reached the top, it was already the afternoon of the second day.

Sima Chengzhen returned and walked to the guest courtyard.

Then I saw the Taoist priests gathered in the courtyard, discussing heatedly around a table.

"What are you all looking at?" he asked with a smile.

"The Guru has returned!"

Someone pointed to the pen and ink on the table and said, "Master, take a look! This poem is exceptionally well-written, elegant and unconventional, as if I had seen a deity in person!"

Sima Chengzhen has come a long way.

His disciple, standing nearby, seemed somewhat unconcerned. He chuckled and said:
“Young Master Li drinks all day long, living a life of debauchery. In the past month or so, he has spent more time drunk than sober.”

"What good poems can you write, it's better to..."

The disciple's gaze fell on the paper that was surrounded, and he paused.

Hmm... good writing.

Being able to write beautiful characters doesn't necessarily mean you can write good poetry.

Let's see how it goes.

A young Taoist priest next to him recited it again, his voice filled with sighs and lamentations.

"Sea travelers tale of Yingzhou... Rainbows are their garments, the wind their steeds, and the cloud lords descend in droves. Tigers play the zither, phoenixes draw their chariots, and immortals stand in rows like hemp..."

"Well written! Anyone unaware of the situation would probably think that Young Master Li had met the immortals!"

"Such a masterpiece."

"This could be called a poem of divine beauty!"

The young Taoist priest looked at Li Hanguang, recalling their conversation that night, and said with a smile:
“Uncle-Master, with such a fine work readily available, you can rest easy. You no longer need to make a special trip down the mountain to visit scholars and ask them for writing materials.”

"Uncle-Master...why aren't you saying anything?"

【Ask for monthly ticket】

(End of this chapter)