Chapter 38: The Spring Water Has Spirits (asking for monthly tickets) "Junior brothers and sisters, have you gotten used to living here in the temple for two days?" the eldest brother asked them with concern. "Habit." "Habit!" "There are some odd jobs in the temple. Do you find it hard?" "No, I have to work in the village. I can't adapt to too much leisure." Lin Jue answered truthfully. "I'm not tired either." "I'm finding some things for you, my junior brothers and sisters, to do, and also to keep you busy and adapt to life in the mountains." The eldest brother said, "This is how life is in the mountains." "I understand. If you have any work to do, just let me know." "I know that, too."
"There is work to do. The water in the temple is running out. After dinner, go to the nearby spring to fetch a few buckets. Fetch a little each time and walk more often. You can get tired but don't get hurt." "understood." "I am coming too!" "Just right, Junior Brother. I'm free today, so I'll help you refine your earth and wood essence." The second Senior Brother who was sitting next to him also spoke up and said to Lin Jue, "To refine the spiritual charm of the five elements of heaven and earth, you need spiritual water. There is a holy water spring in the mountain, which gathers the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and the moon. It is most suitable for this. It's just that the journey is a bit far. Let Dahei from the temple lead the way, and you go and get a bucket first." "Ok." "The journey is long. I will give you a magic pill. Don't take it yet. Just think of it as exercise. Take it when you are exhausted and can't walk anymore, or it is too late, or you are chased by monsters. After taking it, your legs will be naturally full of strength, just like the wind. Whether you walk or run, you will be much faster." The second brother said, "Remember that the holy spring is spiritual. When you arrive in front of the spring, you must be sincere and not blasphemous. Tell us your purpose and say 'Please let the holy spring water out', and the spring water will naturally come out." "take note of it." Lin Jue got a green pill from him, which was placed in a small porcelain bottle only as big as a thumb. There isn’t much to do in the temple. This is especially true for several brothers, because they don't even do morning and evening classes, and practice and cultivate magic as they please, with only a few chores every day. They receive pilgrims, chop wood and fetch water, and go down the mountain to buy things. In addition, the world is becoming more and more chaotic now, and there are more pilgrims going up the mountain than before. Sometimes pilgrims come with requests, and at this time they often have to follow the pilgrims down the mountain to exorcise demons and evil spirits. The rest of the time is mostly spent killing time. With two younger brothers and sisters, a lot of these chores were shared. I'm afraid it will be more leisurely. Lin Jue and the other two have a little more work to do, because they have to recite scriptures every morning, and in the future they will also have to learn to practice spiritual methods and magic, and do miscellaneous work as well. Lin Jue didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Junior Sister seems to be the same. Just like fetching water today, this kind of thing has nothing to do with cultivation. Lin Jue just knows that one should not be impatient in practicing spiritual techniques. He is idle anyway, so there is nothing wrong with doing something. And as the eldest senior brother said, they have just arrived here, so it is inevitable that they feel uneasy and uncomfortable. If they are too idle, they will feel uncomfortable. It is better to do some things, which will help them slowly adapt to the mountain and the Taoist temple. However, he didn't expect that the junior sister who was not originally assigned also took the initiative to come and join him. Even when Lin Jue had to go to the holy water spring to fetch water in order to extract the essence of earth and wood, which took half a day to go back and forth, she also carried a bucket and insisted on going with him.
Lin Jue guessed that it was because he had given her the upper hand in learning magic and choosing a room, and he had also helped her with chanting sutras in the morning, so she was grateful to him and it was natural for her to want to repay him. At the same time, they were both senior brothers and sisters, and they entered the temple at the same time, both of them were the last two in the temple, and they were of similar age, so they should be closer. It was normal for her to have a better impression of me after I took care of her several times in a row. Maybe now she would feel extremely regretful when she thought about how she was wary of her good senior brother before. Lin Jue felt like laughing when he thought of this. In short, at this time, the two of them were each carrying a wooden barrel, and led by a black spaniel, they were traveling through the mountain roads and forest trails towards the holy water spring. Following behind him was a little fox that was less than the size of a palm. This little thing is just like any other cat or dog. It gets very restless and keeps barking when no one is around. It doesn't make any noise or trouble when someone is following it. Its only shortcoming is that it insists on following people. For every step Lin Jue takes, it has to take at least ten steps to catch up. I'm really afraid that it will be exhausted to death halfway. The mountain path is steep and difficult to walk on, with lush vegetation. "Senior brother..." The little girl spoke weakly and took the initiative to talk to him: "Do you know how our Taoist temple came about?" "how did it get here?" "I heard that a long time ago, the ancestor was a good man with great reputation and virtue. He always wanted to become an immortal and learn immortal arts. One day, he met an immortal on the road. He asked the immortal to teach him how to cultivate immortality and magic. The immortal couldn't refuse because he had done many good deeds, so he pointed to the hillside in front and said to him... "If you can level this mountain, I will teach you magic. "The forefather started moving the mountain, digging from morning till night every day, rain or shine, and it took him 30 years to finally move the hillside to the other side. “The immortal taught him these seven immortal arts. "Master told me yesterday!" This junior sister was taking the initiative to get closer to him. She is a teenage girl, and you can hear her emotions and personality in every word and tone of her voice. “So this is the one that moves mountains.” "That's right! Later, the immortal told the ancestor that this place was originally his, his, and it was the place where he practiced in the past..." "Dojo." "Yes! A Taoist temple! Then he was asked to come here to practice, and he built a Taoist temple here, which is our Fuqiu Temple." "So that's how it is." No wonder Taoist Yunhe likes to pick up disciples along the way. It turns out that his ancestor also inherited the legacy along the way. However, legends are always tainted by the preferences of the world, and sometimes contain untruths, flattery, and embellishment. Therefore, the words "immortals" and "immortal arts" in the story need to be interpreted in combination with the cognition of the world and the customs of the time. It is hard to say whether it is true or false as it has been so long. "What kind of spell is 'Stone Crushing'?" "Master said it's a very powerful earth magic, suitable for fighting. It can crush stones into pieces and turn other things into paste. But it's best used against stones." “That sounds amazing.” “I haven’t learned yet…”
"Junior sister, study hard. Maybe in the future, senior brother will need your protection." "I will work hard!" This sentence is very firm. From the observations over the past few days, it seems that this little girl is indeed diligent and serious, and is not afraid of hard work or fatigue. Lin Jue really believes what she says. As we chatted, we arrived at the holy water spring. Looking back, I saw that the little fox was still running behind me, jumping over the branches on the road and crossing the small holes on the ground. Its four legs were moving very fast, and it even made me feel a little sorry for it. "You little thing..." Lin Jue looked down and watched it run closer and slow down its pace as it got closer. "Did you hear today? Fourth Brother didn't find your parents in the mountains. If he still can't find them in a few days, you will have no choice but to follow me." Naturally, no response was received. When ordinary people say these kinds of things to cats and dogs, they often don't really think that they can understand. Lin Jue shook his head, unable to bear to let it continue running, so he picked it up and stuffed it into his arms, then carried the two buckets and followed the black dog forward. There is a spring there. The spring is on a stone wall, about three feet above the ground. The three characters "Holy Water Spring" are written in seal script on the stone wall. Below, there is shallow green grass and gravel on the ground, with a trace washed out. No water flows out at this time. Lin Jue walked to the spring and reported the situation truthfully according to what his second brother had told him: "Holy Spring, I am the twelfth generation disciple of Fuqiu Temple. My surname is Lin and my name is Jue. I met a spirit on the way who was thirsty for spiritual wine. I happened to have spiritual wine, so I exchanged it for a piece of earth spirit. Now I want to extract the spiritual charm from it, so I need spiritual water." Having said that, I am actually very curious. Could it be that this spring will really release water upon people's request? Thinking of this, he was startled again, wondering if this thought was disrespectful to the holy spring or blasphemous. He did not dare to gamble, fearing that gambling would also be an offense, so he had to hastily give up the idea. "Please Saint..." Before he could finish his words, he heard a "puff" sound. The sound came from the spring. Just when Lin Jue was surprised and ashamed, thinking that his previous thoughts had indeed offended the spiritual spring, he heard the sound of air and gurgling coming from the spring. After only a moment, spring water actually flowed out. It starts as a trickle, then becomes a jet in a moment. Lin Jue reacted and quickly picked up the bucket to catch it. The junior sister behind him was also very surprised. The little fox, with only its head sticking out of his arms, also opened his eyes wide. He took half of one bucket, then a little more than half of another bucket, and soon Lin Jue had finished what he wanted. "Enough is enough."
Lin Jue couldn't help but speak. Oddly enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the water level decreased. It stopped in a moment. Lin Jue couldn't help but feel stunned and confused. "Thank you for your hard work, junior sister." "It's not hard work!" So I carried the water back with my junior sister, stopping and walking along the way. I ate eggs to satisfy my hunger and picked some wild fruits I was familiar with to satisfy my cravings. It took me much longer than the previous time to finally get back to the Taoist temple. Originally, one person had to carry water in two trips to get a bucket, but with the help of my junior sister, it only took one trip. Give it to the second brother. When he came out and was about to continue fetching water, he happened to meet the Taoist priest, so he stopped and asked. The old Taoist raised his head, stroked his beard and smiled: "This mountain has a god, and the holy spring has a spirit. How can the spring not know whether you respect or disrespect it in your heart? How can it not know what your character is like? Since your heart has come, why do you need a spell to urge it?" "Since the intention is already there, why do you need to urge it with a spell..." Lin Jue couldn't help but mutter to himself, as if thinking about something. The practice of magic in this world was not what he had originally imagined, but as he experienced it, he continued to see and hear new things that updated his cognition and perfected the world in his mind. (End of this chapter)