Chapter 1 Searching for Dragons
Although Yongzhou is far away, it has been home to many hidden dragons and crouching tigers since ancient times.
According to "Tang Shi·Yongzhou Zhi", Yongzhou "has strange mountains and turbulent waters, and many strange people and scholars."
Unofficial history says: Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people.
Yongzhou, Fengyuan County, Ye County.
Ye County is backed by Min Mountain and faces Tonghe River. Steep mountains divide this small county. Although the mountains are not high, they are extremely steep. Some villages are only a few dozen miles apart, and the villagers rarely have any contact in their lifetime because of the mountains in the middle.
Two figures appeared on the winding mountain road, one was a young scholar and the other was a book boy, who looked about twelve or thirteen years old. Although the scholar's scholar robe was clean, it had faded a little after washing, and there was a patch secretly on the inconspicuous place. Although he looked a little down and out, he was born with a handsome and fair complexion, with a straight back and waist, and he had the pride of a scholar.
The master and the servant seemed to be strolling leisurely, and the scholar would occasionally stop to look around, as if he was enjoying the scenery. However, the two seemed to be walking slowly, but they were actually walking fast. In a short while, they had walked from halfway up the mountain to the top of the mountain, leaving behind the several miles of mountain road that usually took more than half an hour to
walk. Standing on the top of the mountain, you can naturally see the surrounding dozens of miles. The scholar looked around at the rolling mountains, and then at the small valley at the foot of the mountain, and said with emotion: "If I hadn't come here in person, how would I know that the wind and clouds have gathered here? I originally planned to search for dragons for ten years, but I didn't expect to get something in the first year."
The book boy was also looking at the surrounding mountains and wondered: "This place is remote, with shallow water and bare mountains. It's a big deal if a little luck comes out. How can there be a real dragon?"
The scholar pointed to the small valley in front and said: "That's the Dragon Pond. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would find it hard to believe it."
"In such a small dragon pond, how big can a real dragon be?"
The scholar said calmly, "Others seek dragons mostly to follow them and to gain the merit of supporting them; the masters try to turn dragons into dragons. I am different. I just use this dragon and throw it away after use. The size does not matter."
The scholar pointed to the town in the valley and said, "Now is just the beginning of the gathering of wind and clouds, far from the time when the secrets of heaven emerge, so the dragon energy must be hidden very deeply. It will take some effort to find it. Let's go to the town first."
The scholar took a step and suddenly reached several feet away. In a moment, he had gone down the mountain and walked on the road leading to the town.
Less than two miles away from the town, there was a large house surrounded by bluestone walls, about ten feet high. At the corner, there was a tall corner tower with servants holding sticks standing on it. The scholar and the boy passed by the gate of the house and saw a man in housekeeper's clothes leading several servants, giving rewards to passers-by.
When the housekeeper saw the scholar, his eyes lit up and he bowed, "Where are you from, sir? What's your name?"
The scholar replied, "I am Zhang Sheng. I am traveling around the world and want to learn something.
I happened to pass by your house. Is there any happy event in your house?" The housekeeper said, "My master's surname is Wei. Everyone in the county knows that Wei is a wealthy and kind man. Today, my fourth wife is about to give birth, and the master asked me to give some rewards to passers-by to share in the good fortune. Sir, you are just in time, come in!"
The servant next to him brought a plate of copper coins, and the housekeeper pushed the servant away and said, "Don't you see that you are a scholar?"
The housekeeper waved and called another servant, who brought a lacquer plate with a pen, ink and a money bag on it. The housekeeper picked up the money bag and handed it over. The scholar weighed it in his hand and found that the money bag was filled with loose silver, enough for one or two taels.
"Why is that?" Zhang Sheng did not take the money bag. He had just seen clearly that the rewards distributed by the housekeeper to others were all a few copper coins.
The housekeeper said, "My master respects scholars the most. You are a man of great talent, so the thank you gift will be different. Please give the child a name, a boy and a girl."
The housekeeper was thin and looked a little mean, but he spoke elegantly, as if he had some knowledge.
Zhang Sheng looked at the house, and a clear light flashed in the depths of his eyes. Then he took the paper and pen and wrote the word "Yuan" on the paper, saying, "This means 'there is a dragon in the abyss'. The young master has a deep blessing and deserves this word."
The housekeeper looked at the word "Yuan" written in a flamboyant style and felt that it was good, but he didn't know what was good about it. He looked left and right, but couldn't figure it out. At this time, Zhang Sheng put down his pen and left with the boy.
The housekeeper hurriedly called out, "Sir, wait a minute, we still need a girl's name!"
Zhang Sheng didn't turn around, but just said, "Master Wei has done good deeds and accumulated virtues, so he must be a young master." Before
the housekeeper could say anything, the people around him who were asking for rewards couldn't wait any longer and surrounded him. The housekeeper looked at Zhang Sheng's back and for some reason he dared not say any more. So he asked the servants to deal with the people who wanted the reward, and he carefully carried the calligraphy into the house.
In the back courtyard of the Wei family mansion, a chubby old man with long eyebrows and fine eyes was pacing back and forth, with beads of sweat on his forehead. In the wing room, there were constant cries of pain from a woman, and she was about to give birth.
The housekeeper came over holding the calligraphy and said, "Master, a scholar passing by outside the door named the young master 'Yuan', saying that it means 'there is a dragon in the abyss'. I thought the calligraphy was really good, so I quickly took it."
"Just a name?"
"He said that the master has been doing good deeds and accumulating virtue, so this time it must be a son."
The master immediately smiled and said repeatedly, "You are worthy of being a scholar, your mouth is so sweet!"
He took the calligraphy with the ink not yet dry from the housekeeper, and looked at it carefully, and praised, "Good calligraphy!"
The housekeeper whispered, "Master, you took it upside down."
Master Wei said silently, turned the paper over, and this time it was much better.
He stared at the huge characters that seemed to be flying into the sky, and muttered to himself, "Yuan, there is a dragon in Yuan, Wei Yuan... That's right, it should be Wei Yuan."
The master suddenly looked at the butler suspiciously and asked, "You can recognize such a complicated character?"
The butler smiled and said, "I looked at what the gentleman wrote, so I naturally know the ups and downs."
At this time, Zhang Sheng and the boy walked towards the town slowly. After walking for a while, the boy couldn't help but said, "Giving him a word is actually equivalent to giving him luck. They only gave him one or two taels of silver, which is too cheap for them!"
Zhang Sheng weighed the purse in his hand and said with a smile, "Don't underestimate this mere one or two taels of silver. It can solve thousands of worries in the world."
The boy was still a little angry: "If you ask me, I can just use a little magic to make the master happy. Why waste your luck?"
Zhang Sheng said, "I happened to be here, and the child happened to be born. This is the fate of Zhang Sheng. Besides, ordinary luck is actually useless. It's nothing more than early enlightenment and stronger physique. There is no need to worry about it. Times are different, and luck is worthless."
The boy didn't dare to say more, but his little face was still unhappy.
Zhang Sheng suddenly felt moved and raised his left hand. The skin of that hand was as white as jade, dazzlingly white, and the slender five fingers stretched out one by one, like a night lily blooming, so soft and beautiful that it was somewhat inconsistent with the face. A cloud of gas appeared in his palm, rolling and drifting in one direction.
Zhang Sheng's eyebrows relaxed and he said, "We found the water eye of the Dragon Pond!"
The cloud in his palm pointed not to the town, but to the back of the Wei residence that he had just passed. At this moment, looking from afar, he could see an ancient tree behind the Wei residence that was so big that several people could hug it. The
shade of the tree was like a canopy, covering half of the Wei family's backyard. Zhang Sheng put away the cloud in his palm, and appeared under the ancient tree a few steps later.
He looked up at the ancient tree and nodded, "Water and wood are born together, this is it." He walked around the ancient tree, looked at the location of the Wei residence, frowned slightly, and said, "It is still somewhat related to this house. If I draw away the dragon energy, this family will be affected to some extent. So, you go catch a pheasant, and after I get the dragon energy, I will add some good fortune to this family, and make the master happy by the way."
The boy agreed, ran away, and came back with a golden pheasant in his arms in a few moments.
Zhang Sheng had already chosen the position of the formation, picked up a few stones to build the formation platform, and inserted branches in specific positions around it, saying: "In the art of formation, if you can understand the fundamental principles, you can change it as you like. This water-combined light formation can gather the surrounding heavenly luck. It originally required a lot of precious materials, but I placed it on the water eye, and many positions only need one thing to occupy it. Speaking of which, this can also be considered as deceiving the world."
Zhang Sheng took out a jade plate and placed it on the formation platform. The jade plate was of excellent quality, with countless patterns engraved on it, and a faint light was flowing. After placing the jade plate, Zhang Sheng said to the boy: "Now that the matter here is over, our fate is over. In the past year, I have passed on the introductory things to you. With this foundation, you can find a sect you like and join to practice well in the future."
The boy's eyes immediately turned red, and he knelt on the ground and shouted: "No, I don't want to go anywhere else, I want to follow you! I only recognize you as my master!"
However, Zhang Sheng was unmoved and said indifferently: "You and I are not destined to be master and apprentice, don't call me master. You don't have enough opportunity, and it's useless to force it."
The boy didn't dare to say more, but knelt down and wiped his tears.
Zhang Sheng said: "I am going to set up the formation. This is your last lesson. You should watch carefully. It will be difficult to see this formation again in the future."
The boy wiped away his tears and hurried to watch carefully.
Zhang Sheng raised his index finger to his forehead, closed his eyes slightly, and suddenly seven points of light flew out of his body and fell into the formation plate one by one. All the patterns on the jade plate lit up and gathered into a vortex. The center of the vortex was bottomless and no one knew where it led to.
Zhang Sheng said, "The formation is complete. Wait, this formation will naturally pull out the little dragon."
Before Zhang Sheng finished speaking, a black gas spurted out from the vortex and swirled above the formation.
The boy immediately opened his eyes wide. He didn't expect that this small place really had good luck, but it didn't look like dragon energy. There was something in the black gas, but he couldn't see it clearly because of his low level of cultivation.
But Zhang Sheng could see clearly that a strange big bird was slowly flying in the black gas. It had three long tail feathers, colorful colors, and a human face on its head.
Seeing this big bird, Zhang Sheng's face changed slightly, and he thought to himself, "Fortunately, it's just a breath, not even a soul."
He waved his hand to let the black gas dissipate, and said, "Wait a little longer."
In a blink of an eye, two shadows spit out from the vortex of the formation and swirled around. Zhang Sheng looked intently and saw two giant beasts. Just by looking at their ferocious appearance and soaring arrogance, he knew that it was definitely not a good sign.
"Why is it either a disaster star or a traitor?" Zhang Sheng looked strange and waved away the two shadows.
After a while, the magic circle kept running, but there was no movement in the vortex. Zhang Sheng frowned and said coldly: "It's just a little dragon. No matter how deep it hides, I can dig it out for you!"
He raised his hand and pointed, and several points of light from his fingertips sank into the magic circle. The magic circle suddenly became brighter, and the vortex center spun!
In an instant, several groups of luck continuously spurted out from the magic circle, making the surroundings darker.
Zhang Sheng looked at them one by one, and saw the boundless blood pool, the collapsed mountain, the blood-stained royal flag, the broken magic weapon, and the huge tripod on the mountain of corpses. At this time, he didn't know what to say. But there was another group of luck that was very strange. It was a thin and long iron pipe wrapped in wood, with a long sharp blade in front, inserted diagonally on the scorched earth, and there were broken walls and ruins in the distance.
Even though Zhang Sheng was always calm, his face was ugly at this time. This place was not a meeting of the wind and clouds, but a gathering of murderous intent from heaven and earth!
Before he could figure out whether he should continue to extract the dragon energy, a cold, vast, and primitive feeling suddenly came from the vortex. A huge object appeared on the other side of the vortex and was trying to pass through. However, the vortex of the magic array was too small, and it could only barely pass a breath. When this breath appeared, the scenery around the magic array began to distort!
Zhang Sheng made a prompt decision and waved his hand to drain the power of the magic array. With a snap, the jade plate exploded, and the passage for the huge object to come through was also interrupted.
The huge group of luck was extremely angry and roared, but still had to disappear with the vortex of the magic array.
The array plate exploded, and the condensed luck also dissipated, and everything around returned to normal. Zhang Sheng then realized that he had been sweating unknowingly. He didn't know what the huge luck was, but he knew that he must not let it come. Once it appeared in this world, it would not be as simple as a landslide.
When he was about to leave, Zhang Sheng looked at the Wei residence. In his eyes, there was a gray-black air above the Wei residence, which had not been there before. He sighed secretly. The magic circle did affect the feng shui luck of this family. He couldn't just leave it alone.
Zhang Sheng pondered for a moment, and a small firebird floated in his palm. This was a wisp of phoenix energy obtained from him. It was quite precious and more than enough to replenish the luck of Wei's house. He asked the boy to throw the golden pheasant to Wei's house, raised his hand and pointed, and the small firebird disappeared into the golden pheasant. This is to use objects to cast spells and steal the secrets of heaven. It is a common method to change fate and luck.
After receiving this technique, the golden pheasant will turn into a phoenix in an instant, replenishing the damaged luck of Wei's house, and there will be surplus. The great man Wei will not only be rich and die well, but also leave some benefits for future generations.
The golden pheasant was free and flew high immediately. At this moment, a black halo suddenly appeared on its body, and it instantly turned into a big bird with black feathers and three heads!
Zhang Sheng was also stunned. Even he couldn't tell the origin of this giant bird with three heads, but it definitely had nothing to do with the phoenix.
At this moment, a loud cry of a baby was heard in the courtyard. The child was born.
The three-headed giant bird came to life at this moment. Two heads looked down, and the other head turned around. Three dark golden eyes stared at Zhang Sheng at the same time!
In an instant, Zhang Sheng felt like he was falling into an ice cave, facing the abyss, and about to die!
The three eyes of the giant bird actually gave him three different shocks!
Zhang Sheng's mind was blank for a moment. All his magical powers, Taoist magic, and subtle teachings seemed to have been wiped out, and he couldn't remember a single word.
A corner of his face suddenly collapsed, and another face appeared faintly. Although only one eye was exposed, the curved eyebrows that were like the moon and the sword, and the eyes that were as bright as stars, as deep as ink, and slightly painful, as long as you look at them, you will never forget them.
The three-headed giant bird glanced at Zhang Sheng, then lowered its head and looked down again, then flew around the courtyard, flapped its wings, and disappeared beyond the nine-day clouds in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Sheng was silent for a moment, then said, "There are too many rebels here, it is not advisable to stay for long."
After that, he left with the boy. The old tree behind him was still tall and majestic.
In the third year of the Longwu reign of the Tang Dynasty, Wei Yuan was born in Ye County, Yongzhou. When he was born, Zhang Sheng prayed for the law, and auspicious signs fell from the sky.
(End of this chapter)