Taihe Mountain's peaks stretched on and on, dense with trees and plants, shrouded in clouds and mist. It looked like an immortal mountain. On Heavenly Pillar Peak, the solemn and dignified Purple Heaven Palace appeared and disappeared among the clouds beneath the rising sun, like a celestial palace beyond the mortal world.
Compared with Heavenly Pillar Peak, where palaces stood in great numbers, Qixia Peak was an insignificant spot among Taihe Mountain's many peaks. Yet an ancient, unadorned Taoist temple stood there.
The temple was not large, with only a few courtyards arranged one behind another. Its grounds covered no more than a few mu.
As the sun rose, True Person Datong, the temple's abbot, was burning incense and praying for blessings in the True Warrior Great Hall. Fragrant smoke curled throughout the hall, and several divine statues took on an air of solemnity, majesty, and holiness amid the incense.
Though Xunzhen Temple stood on the same Taihe Mountain, its incense offerings were not as abundant as those of the Wudang lineage. Even so, it had been passed down for several centuries. It was said to have been built even earlier than the Wudang Taoist palaces.
Yet after centuries of transmission, the Xunzhen Temple lineage had steadily declined. Fortunately, over the past two or three decades, as the country developed and ideas grew more open, temples and Taoist monasteries across the land had reaped the benefits of the times, and the incense offerings had gradually flourished.
At Taihe Mountain, Taoism's foremost sacred site, nearly eighty percent of the main deities enshrined in its Taoist temples were the Profound Heaven Supreme Lord and True Warrior Great Emperor. Their attendant deities included the Turtle and Snake Generals, the Golden Boy and Jade Girl, and others.
Things were different nowadays, however. Visitors who came to burn incense and pray believed that more was better, and that no one would take offense at extra courtesies. The more deities a temple enshrined, the more prosperous its incense offerings would naturally become.
As a result, quite a few more golden statues of gods and Buddhas had appeared in Xunzhen Temple's side halls. These included Guan Gong, who held many divine offices: the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, the statue of Guan Gong as the Jialan God, and the statue of Guan Gong as the God of Wealth Guan. There was also a statue of Guanyin Who Sends Children, protector of one's offspring, as well as statues of the Three Star Gods of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity, the three great gods of good fortune.
It had to be said that ever since Xunzhen Temple had begun enshrining these statues, it had also benefited from the boom in modern tourism. With travel bloggers seeking out secluded scenic spots and Douyin streamers promoting the place of their own accord, Xunzhen Temple had enjoyed a modest burst of popularity. Its remote location and superb scenery had drawn visitors, and its incense offerings had grown more and more prosperous.
Behind Xunzhen Temple stood several small, relatively separate courtyards, where True Person Datong and a few of the temple's disciples lived. The temple was not very large; including its abbot, True Person Datong, it had only ten people in all.
As visitors arrived in twos and threes, drawn by the temple's growing reputation, their presence added a touch of worldly bustle to its quiet grounds.
True Person Datong and his disciples also grew busy with the visitors' arrival.
In the main hall, True Person Datong was guiding several visitors in burning incense and praying for blessings. Taking advantage of a lull, he leaned toward his disciple Chen Wei and asked quietly, "How has Xiao Jiu been these past two days? If he can't tough it out, he should go down the mountain and see a doctor at the hospital. This isn't something to just grit your teeth and bear!"
Chen Wei smiled and replied at once, "Don't worry, Master. I brought Xiao Jiu some fever medicine this morning. He seemed to be in decent spirits, so he should be fine."
As he spoke, Chen Wei handed a lit bundle of incense to a visitor and continued in a low voice, "Besides, no one can avoid this virus. Compared with the symptoms everyone was experiencing online during the first half of the year, Xiao Jiu's reaction has been mild. I'd say he'll be fine in another two or three days, once the fever breaks."
A shapely young woman, dressed rather lightly and seemingly around twenty, offered up the incense in her hands and respectfully placed it in the burner. Afterward, seemingly having overheard Chen Wei, she couldn't help laughing. "Taoist, they say the Taoists have talisman water that can cure every ailment. Looks like even that can't hold a candle to this virus!"
The woman's companion couldn't help laughing, too. But neither True Person Datong nor Chen Wei took offense. Anyone could see she was only joking offhandedly.
True Person Datong smiled and cupped his hands. "We don't have talisman water that can cure every ailment, but we do have mung bean soup to beat the summer heat!"
The young visitors couldn't help admiring True Person Datong's open-mindedness and humor. One of them, a social butterfly, immediately joked that they wanted to try the mung bean soup he had mentioned.
As for Xiao Jiu, the one True Person Datong had been thinking about, he was actually Huang Huai, the last disciple True Person Datong had taken in. He ranked ninth among the disciples and was also the youngest, so True Person Datong and his senior brothers called him Xiao Jiu.
Huang Huai lived in a courtyard of his own. For one person to have an entire courtyard to himself was certainly an exception, but Huang Huai had a special status.
Huang Huai was a distant nephew of True Person Datong. On top of that, Father Huang had come through with several million yuan in incense money, asking only that his cousin True Person Datong accept Huang Huai as a lay disciple and let him live at the temple for a few months every year to recuperate. What could even a man of True Person Datong's temperament and self-control say to that?
Though the courtyard looked quite quaint, the interior of the room was completely modern.
At that moment, Huang Huai carefully examined his clothes and appearance in the mirror before him. Only after confirming everything was in order did he fix his gaze on his reflection, as if to steel his resolve once more, and murmur, "Fortune favors the bold; the timid starve. It's an unknown world, a chance dropped from the heavens. Aren't you curious what kind of world it is?"
Having made up his mind, Huang Huai picked up the bundle on the table and slung it over his back. He reflexively felt the stab-resistant vest hidden beneath his loose clothes, as well as the sharp dagger tucked against his arm inside his sleeve. His tense nerves eased a little.
Although this would be his second time entering that world, his previous attempt had lasted only a dozen breaths or so. He had caught only a fleeting glimpse, enough to determine that it seemed to be an ancient world. Beyond that, he knew next to nothing about it.
This time, however, Huang Huai had made up his mind. Since he didn't want to miss this chance, whether it was a blessing or a curse, then unless he encountered danger, he would stay in that world as long as he could and learn more about it.
As the thought crossed his mind, an ancient-looking doorway gradually appeared in the empty space before him. It took several breaths for the doorway to emerge and solidify.
Since this wasn't the first time he had witnessed such a wondrous scene, Huang Huai remained fairly calm. But as the doorway slowly solidified, he still felt a little nervous, despite having already steeled his resolve.
Yet Huang Huai soon glanced back at everything in the room, took a deep breath, and pushed open the doorway in midair. He stepped through, and in an instant, both he and the doorway vanished without a trace, leaving behind an empty room.
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