The Beacon of Kyushu

The man said, "I used to be a servant in His Majesty's palace, and I worked there for fifteen years. Later, he became the emperor and wanted me to enter the palace as a eunuch. I was afraid of the pain and refused, so he asked me to take this donkey and leave. At first, I thought this donkey was very strong and I thought it was a treasure. But after I brought it home, it neither pulled the mill nor plowed the fields. I even refused to ride it, and it only knew how to ruin my family's food. Recently, I really couldn't stand it anymore, so I negotiated a price with the owner of the butcher shop to kill it so that I could get some money to spend."

Wan Jianfeng touched the donkey and said, "Brother, my young lady is very strong-willed. She has been very polite by not kicking you to death. As for your request for me to pay for the donkey, let's not discuss it. Otherwise, I will only need to say one word and I will make sure that my young lady will send you to see the King of Hell."

The man wanted to fight with Wan Jianfeng, but when he saw Zhang Xubai beside him, he couldn't help but said, "This... this little Taoist priest, if I'm not mistaken, is the little Taoist priest of the Zhengyi Sect? When you entered the city a month ago, I saw you from a distance. If it's really you, it's not unfair for me to lose this fight."

Zhang Xubai smiled awkwardly but politely, and bowed his head and said, "Blessings and infinite heavenly master, I am... I am Zhang Xubai."

The man nodded and said through gritted teeth: "Well, your majesty has come thousands of miles to invite you to come here to perform a ritual. I believe you must have extraordinary abilities. I dare not argue with you. Just take the donkey." After he said that, he strode back to where he came from without saying a word, without any intention of stopping.

Wan Jianfeng patted Zhang Xubai on the shoulder and said, "Alright, your reputation has been passed on to Qu Yue, and you didn't bring shame to your ancestor Tianshi! If anything happens in the future, I will rely on you to protect me!"

Zhang Xubai hurriedly shook his head and said, "Master Wan, you... just love to talk nonsense. You are still far from being a good person."

Wan Jianfeng laughed a few times, feeling very happy, and walked much faster with the donkey. Zhang Xubai, however, walked slower and slower, thinking about how to cooperate with Wan Jianfeng, and his head hurt. Unfortunately, the road will always be shorter and shorter, no matter how slowly you walk, there will always be an end. Before Zhang Xubai had completely figured out how to do the next thing, he had already walked to the small gate behind the palace.

This small door was used by palace maids and eunuchs to enter and exit on weekdays. There were no imperial soldiers guarding the door, but it was as difficult as climbing to heaven to break in through it. "Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!" Zhang Xubai gritted his teeth and knocked on the small door behind the palace, but no one responded. There was no other sound except the crisp knocking. Zhang Xubai was afraid, and when he saw that no one opened the door, he wanted to slip back and make plans.

But before he could get out, the door was slowly pushed open from the inside. Through the gap in the door, it was seen that the person who opened the door was a young palace maid. Zhang Xubai was most afraid of dealing with people, especially with strange girls. After seeing this little palace maid, he instantly forgot the lines he had rehearsed countless times in his mind, leaving only fear and shyness.

The little palace maid glanced at Zhang Xubai and said with a sweet smile, "Hey, little Taoist priest, knocking on the palace gate for no reason is a capital crime! I advise you to leave quickly, otherwise once His Majesty investigates, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"

Zhang Xubai encouraged himself in his heart for a long time before he said tremblingly: "Blessings and infinite heavenly master, I am... I am Zhang Xubai from Mount Longhu. I have... I have something to say to Lord Li. I wonder if I can..."

The little palace maid nodded and said, "You are the Little Heavenly Master Zhang Xubai. I seem to have heard the Queen mention you. Now the Majesty is preparing to summon the envoys in the main hall, so I'm afraid it's not convenient for him to meet you."

Zhang Xubai said: "Then...then can you help me convey it?"

The little maid asked in confusion: "What do you want to convey?"

Zhang Xubai said, "I was busy with the ritual a few days ago and forgot...forgot to remind Your Majesty that you cannot receive guests in the palace today." The little palace maid asked curiously, "What kind of rule is this? What's wrong with receiving guests?"

Zhang Xubai said: "That would be detrimental to the country. Rebellions would break out in various places and would never be quelled."

The young palace maid didn't quite believe what Zhang Xubai said and asked, "What do you mean? Do you have any basis for that? Please explain it clearly, otherwise I won't be able to spread it."

Zhang Xu Bai said: "One and six are of the same ancestry, with water in the north. Two and seven are on the same path, with fire in the south. Thirty and eight are friends, with wood in the east. Forty and nine are friends, with gold in the west. Fifty are on the same path, with earth in the middle. Qiankuntunmengxushoushi, Bixiaoxulutaifu. Tongrendayouqianyusui, Gulinguanxishikeben. Bofuwuwangdaxuyi, Daguokanli30bei. Xianhengdunxidazhuang, Jinjimingyijiashuai. Jianjiesunyi, Gouguicui, Shengkunjinggedingzhenji. Genjianjian Guimei Fenglu Xun, Dui Huan Jie Xi Zhongfu Zhi. Xiaoguo Jiji and Weiji, this is the lower sutra thirty-four. The three passes are deep in spirit and energy. If you want to be immortal, cultivate Kunlun. Yiguan Chonglou has twelve rings, and the five colors gather in the Qiongshi. The son of the red god stands in the middle pool, and there is a long wall and Xuanguyi below. The key to longevity is to connect in the room, abandon the world and focus on the son's spirit. An inch of land and a foot of house can manage life. The son is long and pays attention to peace. Push the ambition to travel the three strange spirits, and there is no trouble in the line. Taiyuan was first judged and Taishi was born. Taishi's In the middle there is Taiwu, in Taiwu there is Taixu, in Taixu there is Taikong, in Taikong there is Taizhi. Taizhi is the essence of the clear and turbid nature of heaven and earth. Its essence is like an egg, and its color is dark yellow. It is just one thing in the universe. Yang rises to the sky, Taiji gives birth to Yin, which descends with the yang in the dark. Yin descends to the earth, Taiji gives birth to Yang, which rises with the yin in the hazy state. One rises and one falls, Yin descends and Yang rises. Heaven and earth follow the way, and all things are created. The so-called Tao is high and supreme, leading If you look up, there is nothing higher, and you cannot see its head. The so-called Great Way is low and has no bottom. If you look down, there is no bottom, and you cannot see its base. It has no beginning, and you cannot see its front. It has no end, and you cannot see its back. In the Great Way, heaven and earth were born. Heaven and earth have the rules of high and low. In the heaven and earth, there are yin and yang, and yin and yang have the numbers of beginning and end. One up and one down, looking up and looking down, you can measure its mechanism. One beginning and one end, the degree of calculation can be deduced, and its principle can be obtained. By deducing from this, the Great Way can be known..."

Not to mention that the little palace maid didn't understand these Taoist classics, even those who knew a little would be confused by Zhang Xubai's nonsense. She interrupted him without waiting for him to finish, saying, "Alright, alright, you don't have to say any more, little Taoist priest. I won't understand a word you say. I'll go find someone to tell His Majesty, but I can't say for sure whether he will listen or not."

"Well...thank you very much." Zhang Xubai bowed his head and looked at the palace maid's back as she walked away. He thought to himself, "Blessings and Infinite Heavenly Venerable, don't say you don't understand what you are saying, even I don't understand it, because it has nothing to do with meeting guests. But since Young Master Wan asked me to confuse you on purpose, I will just pick out some sentences from the many classics and say some words that don't make sense."

Zhang Xubai waited for a long time before the little palace maid ran back, panting and saying, "Your Majesty...Your Majesty said that although he didn't understand what the Heavenly Master said, he thought that the Heavenly Master was not afraid of the long journey and deliberately turned back for a reason. Therefore, he has ordered to go to Baiding Temple to meet the envoys of Song State."

"Thank...thank you very much." Zhang Xubai bowed again and said gratefully.

The little palace maid pushed the door open completely, walked out slowly, and said, "Okay, you're welcome. I have something to do outside the palace, so I won't chat with the little Taoist priest any more. Goodbye, goodbye."

Zhang Xubai watched the young palace maid walk away, and then he quickly hid in the alley next to him, hiding for more than an hour. It was not until the sun rose to the zenith that he mustered up the courage to walk to the small door again, and knocked on it fearfully. This time he didn't knock many times, and a middle-aged eunuch opened the door in a bad mood, and scolded him with a stern face: "Knock, knock, why are you knocking! This is the imperial palace, not your vegetable garden. If you dare to knock again, I will let my personal soldiers capture you and chop off your head!"

“May you be blessed with infinite blessings!” Zhang Xubai mustered up his courage and bowed to the middle-aged eunuch, saying, “I am… Zhang Xubai from Mount Longhu, and I have… something important to report to Madam Yang. There is no time to lose!”

The middle-aged eunuch rolled his eyes in surprise and said unhappily, "Oh, who did I think it was? It turned out to be the Little Heavenly Master from Mount Longhu! I heard that you just sent someone to tell His Majesty that it was inappropriate to receive guests in the palace today. Now you said you have something to do with the Empress. Are you planning to do something bad to the Empress?"

Zhang Xubai lowered his head in embarrassment and stammered, "Sorry... I forgot to tell you that you must be accompanied by the Empress when meeting guests outside the palace."

The middle-aged eunuch said doubtfully: "Are you serious?" (End of this chapter)