Chapter 1373 Kitchen Team (7K)

Chapter 1373 Kitchen Team (7K)

Zhang Fang was speechless for a moment.

Su Wu looked at the old Taoist priest with the goatee and said, "Have you ever seen these strange situations with your own eyes?"

The old Taoist priest shook his head repeatedly when he heard this: "That's not true.

I also heard about these situations from others. They said that these situations mostly occur at night, in the dark. Even if you give me ten courages, I would not dare to walk around in the mountains - not to mention whether I am sneaky or not. Well, just look at the steep mountains of Huashan. If you step on the wrong foot, wouldn't you be shattered to pieces? "

"It seems that these situations have not occurred during the day?" Su Wu asked again.

"I've never seen him during the day," the old Taoist replied.

Su Wu nodded, looked at the small baggage behind the old Taoist, and said with a smile: "Did the Taoist just come back from the mountain and go to live in the Taoist temple on the mountain?

Nowadays, there is no peace in Mount Huashan. The government prohibits tourists from setting foot in Mount Huashan. In these troubled times, it would be best not to go up the mountain again. "

"Why am I going to live in the mountains?

The Taoist temple I had listed previously was the 'Purple Cloud Temple' below. Now the temple owner had complied with the government's wishes and dismissed the Taoist priests in the temple for the time being. I packed my things and prepared to go down the mountain with my senior fellow from Yunxia Temple above. "The old Taoist looked at Su Wu and his party, but there was no sign of curiosity or inquiry on his face. He said to Su Wu again, "You don't look like tourists who sneaked up the mountain. You look like you were specially invited by the government. Deal with the sneaky ones in the mountains.

——I have seen the second and third groups like you before.

Okay, I won’t disturb you, so I’ll just take the first step! "

After the old Taoist finished speaking, he carried his baggage and bowed his fists to Su Wu, then turned and left. He went up the mountain steps and indeed went to another Taoist temple built on the edge of the cliff, the Yunxia Temple.

Although there are many Taoist temples in Huashan, there are not many people who have "successfully practiced Taoism" among them.

Most of the Taoists who practice here come to break away from the worldly world and enjoy purity. Most of them have not been able to receive talismans and have never formally set foot in the Taoist practice. The so-called pure practice every day is nothing more than reading the Taoist canon and reciting a few passages of scriptures.

These Taoist priests are actually more like ‘wild Taoists’.

But unlike the wild folk, they still have ultimatums from the court.

The Taoist priests in Huashan Mountain have no cultivation experience. If there is a serious enemy here, they will not have much ability to protect themselves. It would be best to follow the government's instructions and dismiss the Taoists for the time being and go down the mountain.

Su Wu watched the old Taoist figure disappear on the mountain steps, and then began to assign tasks to Zhang Fang and others: "Zhang Fang, take a few bad guys and a few monks with you to the Thunder God Cave to investigate the situation. Regardless of whether you see any abnormality, stick this charm outside the Thunder God Cave."

As he spoke, he turned a wisp of Huangtian Daoyun into a golden talisman and handed it to Zhang Fang.

Zhang Fang hurriedly agreed, carefully put away the talismans, ordered a few bad guys and a few monks, and headed for the location of the 'Thunder God Cave'.

There is no real sneaky incident happening in Huashan today.

The words of an experienced Taoist who has not cultivated himself are actually not trustworthy. But Su Wu was idle, and now he needed to make more preparations to pin down the dragon veins in various places in Huashan, whether it was Thunder God Cave or the other places where there were rumors of sneaky rumors mentioned by the old man, he would leave a mark on them. The next 'nail', in this way, even if there is something serious going on there, the means he left behind will be able to nip it in the bud.

"Yin Zhi, you also lead a few bad guys and the remaining monks to the 'Lan Kelin'. Regardless of whether you see anything unusual, leave this mantra in the forest." Su Wu ordered again. Yin Zhi.

After he finished speaking, Yin Zhi respectfully clasped his hands and responded: "Disciple, I obey."

As soon as the young monk clasped his hands together, he saw a green sun emerging above Su Wu's head. The green sun was reflected in his mind, leaving an unspoken mantra in Yin Zhi's consciousness. He walked into death. After Ke Lin is dead, all he needs to do is to reflect on Ke Lin with his mind, and Su Wu's mantra can be left there.

All the bad guys and monks followed the order and left.

In the blink of an eye, only Suwu, Danjia and Jianzhen were left at the foot of Huashan Mountain.

Su Wu looked around, walked a few steps to a big stone, sat down on his side, then took out a brocade box, spread the paper in the box flat on the big stone, and asked Danjia and Jianzhen who were following them to look at the contents of the painting. .

The entire painting is actually a 'tablet image' rubbed on a stone tablet using pigments mixed with cinnabar and ink.

Emperor Xuanzong had previously shown Su Wu this 'tablet appearance'.

After Su Wu took over the responsibility of "exploring the weird things in Huashan", Emperor Xuanzong directly handed this stele to Su Wu so that Su Wu could use it as a reference.

At that moment, Su Wu showed the image of the stele, which had been rubbed from the 'Qianling Mausoleum Wordless Stele', in front of Jianzhen and Danjia.

"After the stele is rubbed, there will be no changes. Based on the stele at that time, the recorder deduced the changes in the ancestral temple and the secrets of the world.

However, the appearance of a stele also has different meanings in the eyes of different recorders.

This stele image previously appeared on the inscriptionless stele of the Qianling Mausoleum. It was rubbed by the recorder of the stele and presented to the capital. Here is the deduction of this stele image by the recorder of the stele.

I wonder if Master Jianzhen and Danjia saw other unusual meanings in this stele? Su Wu looked at the stele spread out on the big stone and pointed to the mountain road in the painting, "What is certain now is that the huge mountain in the stele is undoubtedly Huashan."

But what is the meaning of the woman being held under Mount Huashan, and the blood flowing from the axe that fell from the sky, from the axe blade, and from the cracks in the mountains?

Do you two have different opinions? "

Dangjia knelt beside Su Wu, quietly watching the stele on the stone, like a jade Guanyin, she was speechless for a while.

Jianzhen looked at the stele for a while, suddenly raised his eyes to look at Su Wu opposite, and asked Su Wu: "What do you think is the meaning of this stele?

Since you asked us to observe this stele as well, I think you have a different opinion on this painting than the "story of splitting the mountain to save the mother" speculated by the "stele recorder". ”

The recorder called this stele image the ‘picture of splitting the mountain to save the mother’.

The axe blade split the giant mountain, but there was blood on the mountain peak, which means that the mountain has been transformed from a dead object to a living thing, and has completely come alive. The dead object has become a living thing, and the mountain stone has become flesh and blood, which is a sign of evil.

The woman being held at the foot of the mountain has white hair and can be seen as an old woman. This old woman is regarded as the ‘Queen of Heaven’ by the recorder.

As for the huge axe falling from the sky, it represents the will of the emperor.

The meaning of the whole painting, in the view of the recorder, is that if the emperor complies with the stele image, can split the mountain to save his mother, destroy Huashan, and save the Queen of Heaven who is suppressed at the foot of the mountain, then the Tang Dynasty will prosper and a prosperous era can be expected!

“In my opinion, this stele image actually has thousands of interpretations.

But all kinds of interpretations are just a cover. It depends on who the interpretation is for and what purpose it wants to achieve.

When I look at this picture, the real feeling is that the sky is the sky, the mountain is the mountain, and the people are the people.

The power of heaven wants to destroy Huashan, because under Huashan, this "woman with gray hair" wants to appear in the world, and she has great supernatural powers, so she can attract the power of heaven to combine.

This stele picture comes from the wordless stele of Qianling.

The wordless stele was erected for the "Queen of Heaven".

From this point of view, this "woman with gray hair" is inexplicably connected with the "Queen of Heaven".

The Queen of Heaven is at the bottom of the Wild Goose Pagoda, in the "Great Vow Cloud Top Golden Palace", using the "Lu Mother's Aura" as the "Dragon Son", borrowing my power to destroy the "Dragon Son's" egg, so that the Dragon Son was born in the national destiny of the Tang Dynasty and grew the roots of the Dragon Flower Tree. And on the wordless stele she erected, this "Picture of Splitting the Mountain to Save the Mother" appeared..." Su Wu's eyes were bright, "So I guess that the Queen of Heaven may have the intention of further leveraging the momentum to help the Dragon Flower Tree grow completely.

But although there are some stories about ghosts and monsters haunting Mount Hua, Mount Hua itself does not show any evil signs. If it is really ready to go, it should not show any signs.

This makes me feel strange, so I discuss with you to see if I can get some useful speculations from you. "

After listening to Su Wu's words, Jianzhen turned his head to look at the stele map. After looking at it for a while, he said slowly: "I wonder if the dead can still guide the changes in the stele in front of their own tomb?

Or is this change in the stele completely caused by the unknown? "

Su Wu said: "I have never had a stele erected after death in the Tang Dynasty, so I can't determine the situation. But I understand the meaning of the elder's words.

- Perhaps this "splitting the mountain to save the mother" stele was originally a suspicious array set up by the Queen of Heaven to attract the attention of outsiders. The various metaphors in the stele map cannot be fully believed.

However, even if the Queen Mother tried to attract the attention of outsiders with this stele, she had to come up with some "real stuff" to really deceive those who wanted to find out the truth. Otherwise, it would only be a poor cover-up, which would often be seen through by others at a glance.

Therefore, there are indeed some valuable clues in this stele.

Especially a stele picture, which can also make people understand what the person behind the scenes who guides the changes in the stele wants others to see from the stele - from this, it can also be inferred what the person behind the scenes really wants to plan. "

Jianzhen nodded.

Now he knew that his secret reminder - "Don't be led by the nose by a stele picture" had already been guarded against in Su Wu.

The old monk looked down at the stele on the big stone and suddenly said: "The blood in the painting is more like a raging fire.

This fire did not burst out from the cracks in the rocks chopped by the axe, but came from the outside world. This kind of "blood and fire" has a source outside this stele picture.

The blood of the warriors is boiling, and the blood is flowing like fire.

Wherever the troops point, blood is flowing, and lives are suffering. Therefore, invasion is like fire.

This fire refers to "war", which seems to mean that foreign enemies invade the land and cause suffering to the people. "

Foreign enemies invaded the country, causing great suffering to the people?

Su Wu looked at the blood flowing in the painting that raged on Mount Hua, and felt that the blood flow was like a raging fire, with a violent invasion.

However, at this time, where can the Tang Dynasty have any foreign enemies that can break through the country's gates, march straight in, and come to the bank of Mount Hua?

--In the past during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, there was such a similar war.

That war happened on the bank of the Wei River flowing from the foot of Mount Hua, and because of this war, the allusion of the "Wei River Alliance" was left.

Su Wu frowned and thought.

At this time, Danjia, who had been silent, suddenly said: "Your Excellency, you see that this blood comes from outside the stele, and the source is unknown, but it is pouring down to the bottom of the mountain along the cracks carved by the axe--the woman pressed down at the bottom of the mountain seems to be the object of this blood flow'sacrifice'.

You also said before that the Dragon Flower Tree has already broken out of its shell. Is this blood flow caused by the Queen of Heaven to water her Dragon Flower Tree?

The woman at the foot of the mountain is actually not important. What is important is the Dragon Flower Tree that has never been shown in the stele diagram? "

Su Wu pondered for a moment after hearing the voice, and finally nodded and said: "It is indeed possible. Now we need to figure out what is not revealed in the stele map - where exactly is the source of this blood and fire... Master Jianzhen, please go to the bank of the Wei River, observe the Wei River, and stay there to guard it."

His mind turned, and suddenly, he had a 'whim', and had an intuition that the following matter might be connected with the 'Wei River'.

But this intuition was vague, and he couldn't be sure, so he asked Jianzhen to help guard the Wei River.

Jianzhen stood up and said: "Do you think that the source of blood and fire actually originates from the Wei River?

Under Huashan, the Wei River is indeed very conspicuous."

"I have this intuition." Su Wu said.

At their current level of practice, even a subtle premonition or intuition at a certain time and moment may become a 'prophecy' of the outbreak of a major event.

Intuition is mysterious, but it is fleeting and easily overlooked.

Su Wu immediately grasped this intuition and naturally would not let it go.

After hearing his words, Jianzhen nodded and walked slowly to the foot of the mountain - he had only walked down two or three steps when his figure was already far away, and after a few more breaths, he completely disappeared.

Danjia saw Su Wu put away the stele map, her beautiful eyes moved, and she said softly: "The so-called 'foreign invasion' may not only refer to the foreigners who knocked on the gate, but also to those who were not originally from this time and space?

For example, us. What do you think, Venerable?"

"Maybe." Su Wu said so.

He folded the stele map again and put it into the brocade box, and led Danjia to a secluded forest, and then pinched the heart lamp seal with his hand, and the blazing golden fire burst out from the pores all over his body, flooding down along his body, pouring into the dragon vein joints of Huashan, and ignited the fire on the dragon vein joints of Huashan!

The rolling fire engulfed the figures of Su Wu and Danjia.

When the flames faded, there was no trace of the two in the secluded forest.

At this time, a donkey cart had stopped in a hidden and open forest somewhere in the mountains. The tall and thin young man first took down several pottery jars and a pile of iron pots from the donkey cart.

Several young boys, girls and children had already dispersed to various places and started to clean the grass and collect firewood.

The tall and fat old man had just built three earthen stoves with stones.

The old man took a lantern, picked up a bright white flame from the lantern, and threw it on the firewood in the earthen stove. The bright white fire licked the firewood, and in an instant, the dry firewood was ignited, and the jumping flames jumped out of the stone stove.

He immediately set up an iron pot on the stove. Seeing this, the tall and thin young man who was moving the things on the donkey cart down hurriedly moved a pottery jar to the stove. He took off the wooden stopper on the pottery jar, and the oil in the jar reflected the bright morning light, emitting an inexplicable fragrance.

However, the old man in front of the stove glared at the young man when he saw him bringing the pottery jar. He knocked the side of the iron pot with the pot and spoon in his hand. He then said to the young man: "Are you also using fried oil to make breakfast?!

Bring us the oil we use, and the leftover cakes from last night!"

The tall and thin young man laughed awkwardly a few times, and hurriedly went to the donkey cart again to move down a small basket. In the basket were a stack of large cakes, several seasoning bottles and jars, a bowl of pickles, a can of sesame oil, and a piece of fat mutton wrapped in lotus leaves - the fat mutton was almost only fat, and the lean meat was only two layers of paper thin.

The old man scooped a ladle of oil with a small spoon and slid it down the side of the pot. While the oil was still hot, he picked up a knife from the basket, cut off a piece of the fat mutton, and threw it into the pot.

The young man holding the basket nearby watched the mutton meat swell up with fat in the hot oil, and it shrank and curled up in an instant. He whispered to the old man, "Master, we might encounter a fierce ghost today. It will take too much energy to catch and fry the ghost.

Cut a few more slices of meat. We will have the energy to catch ghosts after we eat them well..."

"Didn't you say that the other day?"

The fat old man squinted at the young man, but he hesitated for a moment and made up his mind. He cut a few slices of two-finger-thick fat from the four-finger-wide, forearm-long piece of fat mutton, chopped it into small pieces, and threw it into the frying pan again. The diced meat turned brown when it was put into the pan, and the bottom of the pan, which was originally only shiny and not full of oil, now gathered a spoonful of mutton fat.

Then, the old man threw in a few spices, some pickles, and wild vegetables dug on the spot, stewed them, and then poured in half a pot of water to cook a pot of "mutton oil and vegetable soup". The strong aroma of mutton oil and the smell of mutton burst out from the pot.

When the soup in the pot boiled, the old man broke the dry and hard cakes into pieces and threw them into the oil soup.

A fairly hearty breakfast was completed.

The children and teenagers who were picking up firewood in the forest also returned one after another. When they heard the old man shouting "Dinner", they hurriedly took their bowls and chopsticks and waited by the pot eagerly.

The kitchen master saw the sparkling light in the eyes of the children and teenagers, and his face was full of smiles. After sweeping his eyes over the disciples surrounding the stove, the master asked casually: "Where is Dong Qian? Is he still picking up firewood?

Let him come back to eat first."

Hearing the master's words, several children looked at each other, looking hesitant.

"What's wrong?

Did something happen to Dong Qian?" The old man frowned when he saw that several disciples looked quite unusual, and asked again.

Seeing the master's expression become serious, a disciple finally answered: "Dong Qian, Dong Junior Brother said he didn't want to stay in the kitchen anymore - he said he didn't want to live this hard life anymore. When he passed through Chang'an a few days ago, he found a job and could eat his fill.

Today he made up his mind, let us tell you, Master, that he went down the mountain..."

The old man was stunned when he heard the disciple's words.

Several disciples dared not breathe, and they all stood by the stove and dared not speak.

Only the elder’s eldest disciple, the tall and thin young man, said angrily: “Master, you saved Dong Qian from the hands of human traffickers!

Ungrateful!

You left without even saying goodbye!

I’ll catch him and ask him, where did Master treat him badly?!”

“Hey——” Seeing that the eldest disciple ‘Kang Wu’ had already reached the edge of the wild forest while he was talking, and was about to run out of the deep forest, the old man hurriedly called him and said, “Awu, come back, come back first!”

Kang Wu had to listen to Master’s words, so he turned back with a sullen look on his face.

Seeing the master take out a purse from his bosom and hand a few pieces of silver to Kang Wu, the master wiped away the sad look on his face and said to Kang Wu with a smile: "Dong Qian has found another way to make a living and doesn't want to follow me around. As a master, I am still happy!

Working in the kitchen team is actually not a good way out.

You may encounter vicious ghosts at any time, and the kitchen team will have to give up their lives. Dong Qian has found a way to make a living in Chang'an, and he can have a full stomach and gain a foothold in Chang'an - isn't this better than being in the kitchen team? I heard that there is no evil in Chang'an!

If he can live a peaceful life, it would be even better!

But he is still too young after all. Even if he finds a job and starts to live, he will still need some money to spend on a daily basis.

Ah Wu, when you catch up with Dong Qian later, give him these pieces of silver and let him save them.

There is no need to ask him anything.

They are all filial children. If he can take this step, he must really be unaccustomed to the life of the kitchen team - in fact, it is not only our "Yin Ximai Kitchen Team", but also other kitchen teams.

This situation is not a bad thing.

This kind of situation It just shows that the world is peaceful and the people are living a better life.

With a better life, people still want to live a stable life and are unwilling to take too many risks. Moreover, there are fewer and fewer orphans in today's world.

Because of this, many kitchen teams are worried about not being able to accept new disciples.

Dong Qian wants to live a stable life, which is right. As his senior brother, you should not punish him!

If we go to Chang'an in the future, maybe we can ask Dong Qian for a bowl of water!

Remember what I said? "

Facing the serious look of the master, Kang Wu had to lower his head and said, "Remember it. "

"Well, then you go.

Give the silver to Dong Qian." The master nodded, looking at the boys with flashing eyes. He hesitated for a moment, and said to the boys, "Do you want to go to Chang'an to make a living like Dong Qian?

Dong Qian hasn't gone too far yet. If you want to go with him, let the eldest brother take you to catch up with Dong Qian, so that you can have a companion.

Master, I will also leave some money for you."

As soon as he said this, five of the eight young men and women nodded cautiously.

Kang Wu, who was standing aside, saw that the five junior brothers all nodded and wanted to leave the kitchen class. He opened his mouth and felt a little indignant, but looking at the five young junior brothers, he couldn't say the words of blame. A sense of powerlessness surged in his heart, and the young man suddenly felt a sense of sadness.

In fact, as the master said, more and more kitchen class disciples left the kitchen class, there were fewer and fewer orphans in the world, and fewer and fewer people joined the kitchen class. All these situations just show that the world of the Tang Dynasty is getting better. As the world changes, it is more difficult for them to inherit wild religions. This is the truth.

When there is a big change, people's hearts are moving.

When there is a great prosperity, people's hearts are stable.

The world is always like this. It's just that the Yinxi Mai kitchen class, which has just been prosperous, will become deserted again.

Kang Wu took five junior brothers and went to look for Dong Qian who left first. Only the tall and fat old man and three disciples were left in this flat mountain forest.

The old man sighed deeply, forced a smile on his face, and said to the three children: "Hurry up and eat. When other kitchen class brothers and sisters come over later, they may come to share a bowl when they see that our food is so good. We have to eat more first."

As he spoke, he scooped a full bowl of soup noodles for each of the three disciples.

The mutton oil soup noodles were spiced and were indeed fragrant.

The three disciples picked up their bowls and kept using their chopsticks.

The master, however, had no intention of eating because of the previous incident. He sat on a tree stump with a bowl of soup noodles and looked at the direction where the disciples left. In fact, he still had some hope in his heart, hoping that Dong Qian and the others would change their minds halfway and follow the eldest disciple back.

However, this possibility was very small.

The master lowered his head and sighed softly.

At this time, a monk in a gray robe stepped into the deep forest. His goal was clear. He walked straight towards the old man sitting on the tree stump. When he approached the old man, the old monk with white eyebrows and beard put his hands together and said to the Yin Xi pulse cook: "Namo Amitabha...

Excuse me, sir. Could you please give me a bowl of rice? "

"Look!" The tall and fat old man put down his bowl and said to the three disciples helplessly, "Just after the rice is ready, someone smells the smell and comes over!"

He then looked up at the white-browed monk, pointed to the iron pot on the stove, and said, "I cooked mutton oil soup noodles. Monks can't eat meat and spicy food. I'm afraid I can't give you this rice."

"Wine and meat pass through the intestines, but the Buddha remains in the heart. It doesn't matter. "The white-browed monk said so.

Since the monk had said so, the head monk could not refuse, so he had to take the bowl that the white-browed monk took out from his sleeve and filled a bowl of mutton oil soup cake for the white-browed old monk.

The white-browed old monk put the rosary on his wrist, thanked Yin Ximai head monk, said some auspicious words, then picked up the bowl, picked up the chopsticks, and really ate and drank with big mouthfuls.

He ate the whole bowl of mutton oil soup cake, went to the stream not far away to wash the bowl and chopsticks, and then came back and sat on the stone next to Yin Ximai head monk, lowered his eyes, and sat cross-legged. Sit down.

The old monk just closed his eyes, and after a few breaths, a thunderous snoring sounded from his nose.

In just a moment, he fell into a deep sleep!

The kitchen master saw that the old monk did not leave after eating, but sat on the tree stump next to him and fell asleep. He did not understand the current situation. He was hesitating whether to wake up the old monk, talk to him, and ask him about his purpose. At this time, some noisy voices and donkeys and mules sounded outside the wild forest.

Before those sounds approached the forest, a tall young man and a woman in red and green skirt walked into the forest and walked into the sight of Yin Ximai Kitchen Master.