Chapter 165

"This grand event is no small matter!"

"The opening of the Huashan cellar, the Drum King Assembly, the spirit tower competition during the Lantern Festival..."

Shopkeeper Wan's voice was somewhat excited, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Although I am a person of the Mystic Sect, I have spent my whole life making drums and refining tools, and I have made a name for myself, but I have ultimately been trapped in Xianyang and have never traveled in all four directions."

"When I was young, I also wanted to go everywhere to see, to make a name for our craft, but everything depended on you, so I didn't dare to leave..."

"Such a grand event of the Mystic Sect, I'm afraid there won't be a second time in this life. I'm not just doing this for the quota; I also want to be willful once and fight for a breath with others!"

As he spoke, he bowed deeply and cupped his hands.

"Everyone, I've troubled you..."

"Shopkeeper Wan is right!"

"That's right, if you can't fight for a steamed bun, you have to fight for a breath!"

The people in the courtyard immediately applauded and cheered.

Seeing that the momentum had risen and everyone was of one heart, Shopkeeper Wan immediately began to assign tasks.

This spirit tower competition wasn't that simple.

After building the spirit tower, it also had to be consecrated and opened. For this, Shopkeeper Wan specially invited the temple master of the Xianyang City Chenghuang Temple, Daoist Qingyangzi, to preside...

There were also rules for lifting the spirit tower.

This spirit tower was also called "playing with the spirit tower" or "playing with the grandfather frame." It had to be steady and have rhythm. If they encountered those who were unrighteous or bullied others, they had to lift the spirit tower to collide with them, break into their doors, and urge them to change their ways.

To put it plainly, there was a possibility of using fists and feet.

There were also the Huayin old opera troupe and the Xianyang Qin-Han drum orchestra, all of whom had to coordinate well with the team lifting the spirit tower and make drills for various situations.

It could be said that there were endless things to do inside and out.

Even Shopkeeper Wan, an experienced old martial artist, was so busy that his feet didn't touch the ground, his throat was smoking, and he couldn't even find time to drink water.

Fortunately, Li Yan's task was relatively simple.

When the time came, he would use the divine drums to coordinate, and at every critical node, he would use the Cloud Thunder Divine Drums to shock all directions.

He was already familiar with the ancient Qin-Han rhythm, and he just needed to practice the coordination a few times.

After assigning the tasks, Li Yan didn't stay any longer. After leaving the door, he took Zhao the Donkey and headed toward Pingkang Ward.

Zhao the Donkey didn't enter houses or restaurants, but he had already thought of a place to entertain him on the way...

Outside the city, the ruins of the Great Ming Palace.

After a heavy snow, the sky cleared up.

The palace ruins were buried in snow, with only two side halls remaining, dilapidated and barely able to shelter from the wind and rain.

At this moment, night had already fallen, the moon was bright, and the vast snow reflected the light like broad daylight. The mottled ancient ruins looked even more desolate and distant.

Outside the gate of the ruined hall, the bonfire was roaring.

"Hahaha!"

With a mouthful of old Xifeng wine down his throat, Li Yan shook his head in amusement. "Brother Zhao, if you play like this, what girl would dare to marry you?"

This Zhao the Donkey was also interesting.

He had saved enough money and originally thought about marrying a wife this year, so he entrusted a matchmaker in Xianyang City to find a suitable wife.

But his requirements were truly too strange.

First, she had to be able to endure hardship, be willing to live in the Mountain God Temple with him, and endure that kind of lonely and boring life...

Second, she had to have some martial arts skills. After all, in the future, when he went to "Bie Bao," he would take his wife with him. If she were weak and couldn't even truss a chicken, he was afraid she wouldn't survive long in the wilderness...

As for money and betrothal gifts, those were easy to talk about.

Li Yan laughed. "Money is for spending. Even if you have a lot of money, if the girl has nowhere to spend it, what's the use?"

"It's true that some girls are willing to sleep in the wilderness with you to help their families, but to also have martial arts skills—isn't that making things difficult for people?"

Zhao the Donkey scratched his head. "The matchmaker said the same thing."

"But my family's rules are like this. The incense must be continued, and the rules must not be lost. If I can't keep the rules, this lineage will be broken in less than three generations."

"The family craft can only be practiced well in the mountains. Having seen the dazzling world of the city, I'm afraid not many would still go to suffer..."

"That's true."

Li Yan sighed and expressed his agreement.

He had seen the methods of the "Bie Bao" lineage; supernatural powers, cultivation, and even knowledge were secondary; that taste of being connected to the mountains and wilderness was the foundation.

Not only that, the operation of the Heavenly Dao was also changing the environment in the mountains and wilderness. These tiny changes would all be carefully recorded by the "Bie Bao" lineage, which was also one of their methods for judging the location of heavenly spiritual treasures.

The red dust confuses people's hearts, and the dazzling world confuses people's eyes.

It was precisely because of the persistence of people like Zhao the Donkey that some ancient and special inheritances could be passed down to this day.

The two drank wine and chatted while sitting by the bonfire.

Li Yan trusted Zhao the Donkey extremely and didn't hide some things. "Brother Zhao, I have to remind you of one thing: the imperial court has come up with new firearms, and the world may change in the future."

"If you run into them, you must avoid them..."

As he spoke, he told him everything he had seen one by one.

"Gunpowder, the Li family?"

Zhao the Donkey scratched his head. "Hearing you say this, I do remember one thing, and it's related to this Li family."

"Near the Shenmu Fortress in Yulin, a coal field was suddenly enclosed by the Li family a while ago. The nearby commoners are not allowed to go out, and the surrounding mountains are guarded by garrison soldiers, forbidding anyone from approaching."

Li Yan was thoughtful. "Since that's the case, just stay far away. The Li family is currently in full swing in Shanzhou. We people in the martial world are just trying to make a living; there's no need to provoke them."

"Also, what were you doing over there? Could it be that there are heavenly spiritual treasures there?"

"Mm, I found this."

Zhao the Donkey said, taking a few things out of his bosom.

They were some black things, only the size of a thumb, oval-shaped, with a shell in the middle and layers upon layers on both sides.

This is... a trilobite?!

Li Yan was dumbfounded.

He had seen trilobite fossils in his past life, but the one before him was completely different; it looked like it had been carbonized and was only the size of a coin, looking like a black obsidian gem. He was curious and couldn't help but pick one up.

In an instant, a stream of good fortune was absorbed by his Great Luo Dharma Body.

The quantity was small, but it gave him a shock.

There were conditions for absorbing good fortune from heavenly spiritual treasures.

Heavenly spiritual treasures that had been startled wouldn't work, because they would dissipate their good fortune and become ordinary objects.

Those that had already been collected and become refining materials wouldn't work either, because the good fortune in them would quickly settle and fuse with the material.

Only heavenly spiritual treasures that were still gestating would work.

And this thing could actually be absorbed?

"What is this?"

Holding the trilobite fossil, Li Yan examined it carefully and asked.

"This thing is called coal essence."

!.

Zhao the Donkey drank a mouthful of wine, wiped his mouth, and laughed. "This kind of heavenly spiritual treasure isn't rare; it often gestates in coal mines."

"Sometimes, they will take shape from underground, their butts glowing like fireflies, wandering in the mountains at night. They are very sensitive; if a living person approaches, they will quickly drill into the ground."

"And when they dissipate their good fortune and die together, they will also explode. Some 'Bie Bao' people were blown to death by this thing, so very few common people know about it."

"As long as there is this thing, there must be a large coal field."

"This thing is numerous and not worth much money, but after being ground into powder, it can make the fire burn twice as fiercely. The thunder-fire pills of the Tai Da Xuan Orthodox Sect are mixed with this thing. When I occasionally find them, I sell them to the Tai Da Xuan Orthodox Sect."

"A while ago, there was another deal that came to me. Someone spent a lot of money to have me find this thing, as long as I told them the location."

"I had already discovered the place at Shenmu Fortress, so I sold the news to them, but not long after, those people came to me in a rage, saying the place had already been occupied by others. That was when I learned the Li family had already enclosed the land..."

After listening, Li Yan frowned. "Don't deal with those people anymore. Their origins are unknown, and this thing might be related to the formula for the new gunpowder. Once something happens, it will implicate you."

"Mm."

Zhao the Donkey nodded. "Those people are indeed a bit strange. Next time they look for me, I'll just say I didn't find anything."

Li Yan nodded, his heart stirred, and he smiled. "Brother Zhao, if you find heavenly spiritual treasures in the future, just tell me directly."

"I won't shortchange you on the money, and it will save you from dealing with outsiders and having to guard against being cheated."

"Alright."

Zhao the Donkey agreed without hesitation, but he shook his head and said, "But if Brother Li wants to find treasures, this place in Guanzhong is not easy to handle."

"Originally, near the Qin Ling dragon veins, there were quite a few heavenly spiritual treasures, but since the Qin Han dynasties, there have been a large number of Fangxian Daoists and 'Bie Bao' people active, and as soon as there was something, it was immediately taken by others."

"To this day, even finding some spiritual wood is a struggle."

"On the contrary, the 'Xun You' lineage that digs graves and excavates tombs has developed far beyond my 'Gan Shan' lineage, with many experts emerging. After all, quite a few good things are buried in underground tombs, and after many years, they become heavenly spiritual treasures."

"But doing this is truly too dangerous. I often hear about which lineage just flourished, but in the blink of an eye, they fell into a tomb, and not a single person came out..."

"Has Brother Li heard of the Lishan lineage?"

"Mm, I've dealt with them."

"They not only guard the mausoleum of the First Emperor but also have another task, which is to monitor the size of the mausoleums in Guanzhong. Once they discover the 'Xun You' lineage robbing tombs, they will take action, and the two sides often fight to the death..."

Just like last time, the two sat by the bonfire with wine and meat, accompanied by the stars, talking about those wonderful experiences.

Zhao the Donkey talked about the various experiences and legends of the "Bie Bao" people.

Li Yan was also not stingy, chatting about some things he had seen and knowledge from his past life, such as the "coal essence" they mentioned, which was actually a prehistoric fossil.

This was the reason he liked Zhao the Donkey.

This young man was reticent when he didn't know someone well and was hard to deal with, but in reality, he was honest and sincere, very much like those naturalists who spent years in the wilderness in his past life.

He "Bie Bao" only to make a living; more often, he was like a curious child, pursuing those ancient mysteries in the mountains and wilderness.

Zhao the Donkey, wasn't he also a true seeker of the Dao?

Unknowingly, the bonfire went out, and the sky began to brighten.

"Brother Li, I'm leaving."

Zhao the Donkey stood up, cupped his hands, and prepared to leave.

Li Yan was in a hurry and said, "Why are you in such a rush? Spending the New Year alone on the mountain—why not come to my place for the New Year?"

"No."

Zhao the Donkey gave an honest smile. "There are many empty Mountain God Temples on the nearby mountain peaks, and no one worships there during the New Year."

"In the past, when my 'Gan Shan' lineage was flourishing, these jobs were all done by us. Now that there are fewer and fewer people, if I don't go, no one will go..."

As he spoke, he cupped his hands. "Brother Li, Happy New Year."

"Brother Zhao, Happy New Year."

Li Yan also returned the salute solemnly, then watched Zhao the Donkey shoulder his pack and stride away, his figure gradually disappearing...

Time flowed like water, and unknowingly, it was New Year's Eve.

The shops of all sizes on the street had long since closed, pedestrians were few, and almost every household was busy, even the unruly young men in Chang'an City had to go home for a reunion dinner.

In the vast sky, the sound of firecrackers occasionally echoed.

Before the ancestral altar of the Xixuan lineage, Wang Wang Daoxuan was wearing a brand-new Daoist robe, respectfully cleansing the altar, setting up offerings, and burning incense to offer sacrifices.

Besides this, he had also set up ancestral shrines for Li Yan and Sha Hearing Sha Lifei, with small couplets written: "Three kowtows morning and evening, a stick of incense early and late."

According to custom, one usually had to get up early to offer sacrifices at the ancestral graves, but the three were guests in Chang'an, so they skipped that part.

After Li Yan finished pasting the couplets, he went to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

And Sha Hearing Sha Lifei swept the courtyard and piled up winter cypress in the courtyard.

As night fell, firecrackers sounded, and the winter cypress piles in every household were lit. Amidst the roaring flames, the three raised their glasses and drank to their hearts' content.

Looking down from high above, firelight flickered in every courtyard in Chang'an, illuminating this long, long night......

(End of chapter)