Two Realms: Starting with transmitting the Taiping Jing to Zhang Jiao

Pengzhou County.

At the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), the city gates were struck by drums, and the iron-clad wooden gates creaked open, allowing the people who had been waiting outside the city to carry vegetables to enter in single file.

In the south of the county, there was a vegetable market specially set up by the government. Farmers dressed in coarse hemp carried sunflowers, leeks, and cabbage roots on their shoulders as they walked through the streets and alleys. Merchants from Sichuan set up stalls to sell cloth, and the blacksmith's shop was filled with the clanging of hammers and the clamor of voices.

Although still economically depressed, Pengzhou is several levels above Mianzhu in terms of both population density and economic level.

Almost the instant Zhang Jiao drew his nine-section staff, under the shade of a locust tree in the Pengzhou vegetable market, an old Taoist priest wearing straw sandals suddenly groaned, and a trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He looked up with his cloudy eyes at the misty Nanhua Mountain outside the city, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with some surprise.

"Strange, it happened at this time?"

Somewhat bewildered and uncertain, the Taoist priest made hand gestures and calculated for a long time, his eyes growing increasingly horrified.

"Who are you, fellow Daoist, daring to interfere and snatch my disciple?"

"And its origins are strange; it's not the real thing..."

The old Taoist priest suddenly looked up, a hint of fear in his eyes. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally sighed, packed up his fortune-telling stall, and walked into the streets and alleys of Pengzhou.

His attire was strange, but the people on the street seemed not to see him. After a while, his hunched figure gradually disappeared into the bustling city...

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After bidding farewell to Nanhua Mountain, the young scholar carrying a wooden staff and the light-footed Taoist in blue robes descended from the mountaintop, and the two slowly walked to the outskirts of Pengzhou County.

Still feeling somewhat displeased, Yi Chuan's gaze drifted intentionally or unintentionally towards the nine-section staff in Zhang Jiao's hand.

You were the one who sent me to find you. I've been searching for you for two months, but you won't come with me. Isn't that insulting?

Zhang Jiao, on the other hand, was excited, not because of the nine-section staff in his hand, but because he had finally found a suitable altar for offering sacrifices to Heaven.

As long as the relevant information is reported to the imperial court, I can return to Julu and, based on my status as a recommended scholar, I can definitely obtain an official position!

I have witnessed human suffering and truly walked through the countryside and villages of the Han Dynasty, as well as the grand halls and bustling markets. I have contracted plague and also seen immortals.

I will definitely be a good official and will truly change this court!

As Zhang Jiao thought this, the wind of the Han Dynasty blew up his tattered hemp clothes. Leaning on his wooden cane, he strode into Pengzhou with his head held high.

After asking the locals for directions to the county government office, the two hurried to the office, only to be told that the magistrate was busy with official business and they should wait a while.

After a month of trekking through mountains and streams, and having just come from Nanhua Mountain in the rain, Yi Chuan was still fine, his blue robe remaining spotless. In contrast, Zhang Jiao was disheveled and filthy. If it weren't for the Sili waist token in his hand, he might have been mistaken for a vagrant and driven out by the yamen runners.

Bored while waiting, and perhaps because there were more people in Pengzhou County, Yi Chuan's speed of using the Qi-eating technique slowed down. He walked aimlessly in the courtyard of the county government office. Yi Chuan looked up and suddenly saw a towering mountain peak to the north of Pengzhou.

The mountain was not high or dangerous, nor could it compare to the misty Nanhua Mountain south of Pengzhou, but strangely, it was covered in lush greenery.

Along the way, Yi Chuan had seen mostly bare, yellowish-brown mountains, with little vegetation. Even the mountains around Pengzhou were sparsely covered in greenery.

"What mountain is that?"

Yi Chuan looked at a yamen runner at the entrance of the county government office.

Seeing Yi Chuan and Zhang Jiao's shabby appearance, a hint of arrogance flashed in the constable's eyes.

"That's Yangping Mountain, the foremost of the twenty-four administrative regions in Sichuan!"

"Yangping Mountain?"

Yi Chuan's voice rose slightly, and Zhang Jiao, who had heard the commotion, came out, wondering why Yi Chuan was so surprised.

"That was indeed Yangping Mountain, which was also my original destination. I thought that Yangping Mountain, as the first of the twenty-four administrative regions, must be a blessed land, and perhaps a suitable place for worshipping Heaven."

After learning the reason, Zhang Jiao explained with a smile that his original plan was to visit the twenty-four administrative regions of Shu, which is why he appeared at Lutang Mountain, which is also one of the twenty-four administrative regions.

Yangping Mountain was originally Zhang Jiao's last destination, but unexpectedly, he found a suitable altar for heaven on Nanhua Mountain without any trouble.

The main problem is that Yi Chuan has never asked Zhang Jiao where he is going in the past month. Yi Chuan is also clueless about the geography of the Eastern Han Dynasty. How could he know that Zhang Jiao's destination was the same as his from the beginning?

Upon hearing this, Yi Chuan sighed, feeling a sense of the subtlety of the world, and looked at Zhang Jiao with a strange expression.

Do you remember when I told you at the foot of Mount Lutang that I was going to keep an appointment with an elder?

Zhang Jiao paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, "I remember... Could it be that the elder the Taoist priest mentioned is in Yangping Mountain?"

Seeing Yi Chuan nod, Zhang Jiao's expression became incredibly interesting.

"I don't think the magistrate will be back anytime soon. How about I accompany the Taoist priest to Yangping Mountain for our appointment?"

"That's fine then..."

Yi Chuan nodded. Since he had ended up here by chance, he wanted to pay his respects to the legendary Celestial Master.

It's not going to be possible to get the Nine-Section Staff back for now, but it would be good to get the last two chapters of the "Six Qi Food Method" first.

The two immediately left the government office. There were many buildings on both sides of the streets and alleys in Pengzhou County. Amid the hustle and bustle of the street vendors, a white cat suddenly leaped lightly onto the roof.

Look left, look right.

Licking its paws, the white cat hesitated for a moment in its amber eyes before finally running off in the direction of Yi Chuan and Zhang Jiao.

Not long after Yi Chuan and Zhang Jiao left, the magistrate of Pengzhou County suddenly rushed back to the county office, covered in dust from his journey.

After inquiring about the two men's attire and appearance, the magistrate's eyes widened immediately, and he slapped his thigh, his fat face jiggling.

"Did they really say they came from Mianzhu?"

"That's it! It's that deity!"

"I had long heard that the immortal from Mianzhu who could draw talismans to save people had descended the mountain to travel and had saved countless lives along the way. The prefect had specifically pointed out that he might pass through this area, but I never expected that he would actually come to my Pengzhou!"

Seeing the constables still bewildered, the magistrate flew into a rage: "You bunch of clueless beasts! What are you still standing there for? You're interfering with my divine destiny! I'll have your whole families conscripted into labor!"

With a kick, the magistrate shoved the bailiff out of the county office. His tiny eyes, no bigger than mung beans, were filled with ruthlessness. He immediately dispatched more men to search for the two men throughout the county. All the bailiffs were mobilized, and the whole county was in an uproar.

At this moment, Yi Chuan and Zhang Jiao had reached the foot of Yangping Mountain.

As soon as Yi Chuan arrived at the foot of the mountain, he saw the gnarled pines and shady cypresses, with clouds and mist rising from the mountainside. Although the peaks were not very high, they were still exceptionally rugged.

"Now this is what you call the spirit of Taoism!"

Yi Chuan sighed. Compared to this, Lutang Mountain, which was also one of the Twenty-Four Garrisons, looked like a yellow, rural hillside under the management of that scoundrel Zhang Xiu.

"Did you come from Lutang, Mianzhu, Taoist priest?"

As soon as they arrived at the foot of the mountain, a young Taoist priest wearing a yellow turban was already waiting on the mountain path. He glanced at the two of them and finally looked at Yi Chuan, who was wearing a blue Taoist robe.

The Taoist priest was barely twenty years old, yet he had an arrogant demeanor that greatly displeased Zhang Jiao.

Seeing Yi Chuan nod, the Taoist priest in the crown cupped his hands again and said, "I am the grandson of the Celestial Master Zhang Daoling and the son of the contemporary Master. My surname is Zhang and my given name is Lu."

"Master has been waiting for a long time. Please come with me up the mountain."