I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 287 Solar Eclipse in Chang'an
I bathed and burned incense for several days.

The first day of the tenth lunar month is the Beginning of Winter.

On the high platform, Xing Hepu was fiddling with dozens of bamboo abacuses.

Beside him were officials from the Bureau of Astronomy, who were in charge of astronomy and calendar, Taoist priests from the Taiqing Palace, and Luo Gongyuan, who was also teaching at the Chongxuan Hall.

On the other side, Gao Lishi, along with other eunuchs, personally supervised the operation.

Xing Hepu held bamboo tally sticks in one hand and a pen in the other, calculating on paper.

Faced with this scene, he ignored the officials and eunuchs around him, completely absorbed in his work, and wrote more than a dozen pages in less than two hours.

A palace servant carefully picked up the two pages of paper and presented them to Gao Lishi.

Gao Lishi stared at the messy handwriting for a long time before handing it to the Imperial Historian beside him.

He asked in a low voice:
What does it say on this?

The Imperial Historian took it and examined it carefully, but he still couldn't understand what Xing Hepu had written.

There wasn't a single Chinese character; it was all strange and chaotic characters.

He stroked his beard.

"Xing Hepu has his own methods of divination. I can only see that it is a prediction of lifespan. As for anything more, I can't see it."

Do I even need the Imperial Historian to say that?
Gao Lishi himself knew that he was calculating lifespan; that was what the sage had instructed him to do.

He glanced at the Imperial Historian and knew that this man, like him, couldn't understand it.

Xing Hepu remained focused on the calculations, repeatedly working out the bamboo tally.

The crowd was dazzled by what they saw. They were all officials in the court or the emperor's favorites, but now they knelt on both sides, waiting for a reply.

I don't know how much time had passed, but then I heard the distant sound of bells outside.

The young Taoist's legs were a little sore and numb from kneeling, so he didn't dare to make a sound. He quietly lifted his buttocks from behind to make himself kneel a little forward.

His calves felt tingly and numb, almost without any sensation. Fortunately, the teachers were all focused on their calculations and no one noticed his little movements.

The sunlight shone on his back; the sun was bright and cold.

The first day of the tenth lunar month marks the beginning of early winter.

As the yang energy begins to recede, the yin energy gradually increases.

The Book of Rites records the month of Mengdong (early winter).

"The emperor wore black clothes, rode in a black chariot, pulled by iron steeds, carried a black banner, and ate millet and pork..."

They also cook millet rice and pork at the Taiqing Palace.

The young Taoist priest swallowed hard, wondering when the calculation would finally be finished.

I thought about it for a long time with my heart pounding, and finally I heard voices.

The young Taoist priest quickly looked up to see.

Perhaps due to excessive mental exertion, Mr. Xing Hepu was pale and said to the powerful eunuch:
"This person has no lifespan."

"How could this be?" Gao Lishi asked in surprise.

Gao Lishi then asked:
"Mr. Xing is swaying; has he figured something out?"

Seeing Xing Hepu hesitate, Gao Lishi asked him several times, humbly seeking his advice. He mentioned the emperor's request and the horrifying sight of Xing Hepu knocking out his teeth and surviving poison. He and several other palace servants persuaded him until Xing Hepu finally spoke.

The sound was extremely faint.

The young Taoist priest watched as Mr. Xing's mouth opened and closed, straining his ears to listen, but he couldn't hear what he was saying.

When he saw the high-ranking official, his expression changed drastically.

What exactly did they hear that made them feel so terrified?
The young Taoist priest became curious. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully, trying to make out the indistinct voices. Finally, he heard a few sentences of conversation between the two.

Gao Lishi: "...Immortal, could you tell me, what is his origin...?"

Xing Hepu: "The origins of immortals cannot be found by human effort."

Gao Lishi: "The sage has been seeking immortality for a long time."

Xing Hepu sighed.

"This matter is difficult to handle, and the consequences may be severe."

What the young Taoist priest didn't know was...

At this moment, Gao Lishi remembered hearing about Xing Hepu vomiting blood midway through his divination for the Taoist master Guanyan. He promised the imperial physician and the best medicines from the palace.

He only heard one sentence.

"Mr. Xing is free to do so."

The young Taoist priest had no idea what they were up to; he only saw Mr. Xing sigh.

At the front, the expressions of the Taiqing Palace masters became even more solemn, with some Taoist priests even murmuring scriptures in low voices. Furthermore, unfamiliar officials from the Imperial Observatory gave orders, and the surrounding divination site quickly became even more grand.

The Grand Diviner from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was invited over.

Other disciples were reciting unfamiliar prayers aloud.

Extreme caution is required.

What could be so important?

The young Taoist priest was at the very back and overheard a few words.

"May I ask the divine spirits: show me the omens and tell me their origins. If the omens are yang, then I am a celestial being. If the omens are yin, then I am an earth deity..."

Incense was burned and a memorial was presented.

Play Ming Yuzhang.

Xing Hepu's face was bloodless, and the Grand Diviner behind him asked respectfully.

"teacher?"

Xing Hepu looked up at the sky.

The sky is filled with swirling clouds and the vast blue sky stretches for thousands of miles.

A winter sun shines brightly, creating a myriad of scenes.

It is noon now, a time when yang energy rises and the sun's fire is at its peak.

"let's start."

Xing Hepu took a deep breath, solemnly knelt down, and took out the bamboo tally again.

Behind him, the diviner was burning the tortoise shell.

The young Taoist priest was at the very back. His legs were so numb that he could barely stand it. He glanced around cautiously and then changed to sitting cross-legged.

He peered around curiously for a while.

As the incense and white smoke rose into the sky, the Taoist priests of Taiqing Palace all looked solemn.

The young Taoist priest watched for a while, then his eyes started to sting, his stomach rumbled, and he felt terribly cold.

He quietly breathed warm air into his palm.

The young Taoist looked up at the sky, wondering what time it was.

The solar eclipse occurred at this time.

The sky gradually darkened, the sun seemed to be slowly swallowed up, and the world became dim, making the chanted scriptures blurry.

From the distant neighborhood came panicked screams.

The young Taoist priest immediately prostrated himself on the ground.

Everywhere was shrouded in darkness, and the sunlight became extremely faint, as if time had come to an end.

Someone nearby said, "Heaven has taken its anger out on us!"

The young Taoist priest had lived for over ten years and had witnessed a solar eclipse once or twice. At that time, a treacherous official in the imperial court was impeached and removed from office, and the crowd banged gongs and drums, trying to scare away the celestial dog that was devouring the sun.

This time is exceptionally different.

They now stand on the high platform used specifically for divination of gods and immortals, as if they were closer to the sun, and therefore even more fearful and uneasy.

Some people lay prostrate on the ground, waiting for the decree of Heaven to be withdrawn.

Gao Lishi forced himself to remain calm and ordered the Imperial Guards guarding the vicinity to raise their voices and shout their bugles.

He ordered his men to beat the large drum, and the deep sound echoed outwards in layers.

One breath, two breaths.

Several dozen more breaths passed.

The darkness gradually receded, and the dim sunlight slowly shone on the high platform, illuminating each of them. Although it was not clear, the entire world was illuminated.

Xing Hepu knelt on the ground, looking up at the gradually disappearing solar eclipse.

Even when tears streamed down my face from the glare, I didn't stop.

He witnessed the divination results firsthand, and they came true. He was filled with apprehension and didn't know what to do. He could only weep in the face of the blinding sun.

The Grand Diviner helped him up.

"teacher?"

【Ask for monthly ticket】

(End of this chapter)