Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Clouds Fly and Cranes Dance
Early in the morning on the first day of July, the young man who was full of thoughts on Qianniao Cliff had already woken up early.
After a while of busy work, Xingyan is now fully dressed and changed into a formal Taoist attire.After he finished tossing around, he began to rush to urge the two members of the sect to quickly put on the official Taoist uniforms that he specially brought yesterday.
After a long period of fuss, looking at the three people in the Four Seas Hall now, they have a new look: Xingyan is wearing a black Taoist cloak, a sky-high crown on his head, cloud shoes on his feet, a crown with a crown, and sleeves full of fairy wind If you hadn't come closer and looked closely, you would have thought that there was a senior with profound morals standing here.
And those two girls, now also put on plain yellow Taoist robes, put on lotus sandals on their feet, and covered their heads with snow-colored scarves.
This elegant Taoist attire did not damage the delicate appearance of the two girls at all, but made them more beautiful and exquisite.
On this day, the Sutra Lecture Meeting at the Shangqing Palace on Luofu Mountain, which started at the middle of the Mao hour, was held at Songfengping on Zhuming Peak.Now, the hall master of the Four Seas hall with fluttering robe and sleeves is taking the lead, leading all the people in the hall, taking the road to Zhu Mingfeng.
Songfengping is located in the sun of Zhuming Peak, and it is a large stone flat.This piece of stone flat has been polished to be as smooth and clean as a mirror; to the south of the stone flat, there is a cliff with towering stones.Around the stone ping, it is surrounded by grassland, and there are many Yao grass on it.
Outside the emerald green Fangping, there are many ancient pines with twisted trunks and coiled branches, like horned dragons.The crowns of these old pine trees are like covers, intertwined; The name "Songfengping" comes from this.
Among these green pine trees, you can occasionally see one or two white cranes walking among the pine trees.
On the side of Songfeng Shiping close to the south cliff, a tall square stone platform is built on the flat ground, which is called "listening platform".
Listening to the viewing platform is not a homonym for "listening to the scriptures".The name of the stage is said to have come from a blind Taoist priest in the early Han Dynasty.It is said that at that time, there was a blind Taoist in the Chongde Hall, who once built a hut on this stone platform and lived there, practicing self-cultivation.The blind Taoist was open-minded by nature and did not shy away from his blindness. He also named the thatched cottage he lived in as "Tingjing Lu".
After hundreds of years of wind and rain, the thatched cottage and Taoists have all materialized, and only the stone platform and the name of "Listening Scenery" have been handed down.
Now, Xingyan is sitting on the viewing platform together with the heads of the various halls of the Shangqing Palace.As for the other disciples from the Shangqing Palace who came to listen to the scriptures, they all sat cross-legged on the pines and stones under the stage.
The lecture is one of the few grand gatherings in the Shangqing Palace in a year, so almost all the disciples of the Shangqing attended, except for the disciples who stayed at the temple or routinely searched for the mountain, and the momentum was quite grand; As far as the eye could see from the stage, disciples of all generations had almost filled up the huge Songfengping, and there were even a lot of disciples sitting on the green ground under the pine trees beside the terrace.However, although there were a lot of people listening to the scriptures, they were in good order.
And on the high listening stage in front of everyone, although Xing Yan is only the last seat, it is considered a great honor.Because, besides him, the people sitting on the stage now are only the head of Lingxu, Lingting, Lingzhen, Qingming and Qingyun.Among the halls, there are also several elders on the listening platform, but they can only stand behind them.Therefore, when I awoke to sit down, I had to give way; even though I sat down according to the usual practice, I still felt very uncomfortable.
Behind Lingxu and Lingting people, there are a pair of Taoist boys standing there, holding swords, dust whisks and other magic weapons in their hands.
This is also the practice of the sermon that Xingyan was informed about yesterday.
This practice often caused headaches for the past hall masters of the Universal Hall.The Shangqing Secular Disciple Hall on Luofu Mountain is sparsely populated, and in recent years the hall master has been "alone".Whenever this lecture is held, it is inevitable that there will be some embarrassment.Like Xingyan's former Master Qingbai, every time before this lecture, he had to go to another hall temporarily, and temporarily borrowed two Taoist boys to act as a front.
But fortunately, the current hall master Zhang is able to avoid such embarrassment: relatively speaking, his Four Seas Hall now has a lot of people, and now he can just make up the base number of all halls to participate in the lectures. !
Therefore, the two daughters, Qiongxun and Kou Xueyi, took on the role of attendant Taoist boy.Now, Qiongxun is holding the white jade flute in his hand, while Kou Xueyi is holding on to the nameless sword, standing behind Xingyan.
Of the two "dharma artifacts" of the Four Seas Hall in their hands, the white jade flute certainly deserves its name, but the other one is a bit unsightly, but it is just a wake-up call that there is no other thing that looks more like a magic artifact. .
Today's lecture and listening session in the Shangqing Palace really opened the eyes of this young man who has just entered the Shangqing Palace.
When it was in the middle of Maoshi, the head of Lingxu shook his sleeves and left his seat, and stood in the middle of the stage, announcing in a low and clear voice that the lecture at the Shangqing Palace on Luofu Mountain had officially begun.
Then, in the Taoist Music Field on the left under the listening platform, three or four faint bells rang.When the last bell rang and the lingering rhyme was about to run out, a burst of silk and bamboo sounds could be heard leisurely, and they began to play the door-opening music "Welcome the Immortals" in unison.
The clear and melodious silk and bamboo orchestra and the mellow chime bells echo each other, making this opening song sound extraordinarily elegant and calm.
With the joy of leaving the world in peace, the disciples of the Shangqing on Songfengping seem to be a little distracted, as if they feel that in the faint morning light outside the cloudy sky in the east, there is an immortal in Yao clothes and feathers, stepping on the auspicious clouds. ...
After the song is played, the preaching of scriptures and righteousness will officially begin.
The preaching of the Four Seas Hall was arranged at the end. It is estimated that the Lingting Daoist who is in charge of arranging the lectures made a special arrangement so that the young master who participated in the lecture for the first time can have plenty of time to observe. Let’s take a look at how the previous elders preached.
The so-called "there are no men without vain reputation", the Taoist leader recommended by the Shangqing Palace, the world, is indeed not in vain.Those Shangqing elders who explained the scriptures before waking up are really eloquent, and they explain the subtle and mysterious Taoist scriptures exquisitely and thoroughly; Outward deduction, everything is said in a clear way, full of new ideas.
Among the seniors of the Qing Dynasty who gave a speech before Xingyan, it goes without saying that the Daoist Lingting, who has always been known for his meticulous study of Taoism scriptures, is naturally brilliant with brilliant teeth and continuous witty sentences.Apart from him, even Daoist Qing Yun, the master of the hall who is good at doing things all day long, performed extraordinaryly. He combined the mundane things in the hall on stage to interpret Nanhua Zhenjun's "every time you go down the road of heaven" more and more".
In Qingyun's speech, the language and examples are all plain and natural, but they are also thought-provoking.Immediately, Xingyan looked at this old man who looked like a shopkeeper with admiration.
Among these speeches, the one that impressed Xing Yan the most was the speech given by Daoist Qing Ming of the Hongfa Hall.Daoist Qingming is the "Four Sons of Shangqing" who is a candidate for the Shangqing Palace on Luofu Mountain. He is extremely skilled in Taoism. Naturally, it is similar to what Daoist Qingyun said in his own words. When it comes to reasoning, let’s take Qi Yujian as an example——
Immediately, I saw Daoist Qingming waving towards this side, and when I woke up, I saw a blue sword not far away, soaring into the sky, flying towards Daoist Qingming.
What amazes the young man is that although Daoist Qingming's flying sword dances in a very small range in the air, only flying up and down around Qingming's body, the speed of dancing is extremely fast.Rao Xingyan is not too far away, and can almost only see a blue electric light, circling and flying there.And what surprised Xingyan the most was that the swift sword light in front of him, like a swimming dragon, danced silently, without any sound of piercing through the air!
"Wonderful!"
Qingming's exquisite skill of manipulating the flying sword was admired by everyone on and off the stage.
After Xingyan praised him in his heart, he couldn't help but glance back at the sword weapon in Kou Xueyi's hand - but saw that the magic weapon of his own was still dull and dull, unlike the sword on the stage. Compared with the blue sword light that moves like a dragon and snake, it looks so listless.
"Oh~ I have to go to the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion again when I have time, or visit Brother Qingming..."
The flying sword light in front of him was so miraculous that he had to have some fantasies about his strange sword.
After about two hours, it was finally his turn to be the last lecturer.
After hearing Daoist Lingting's announcement, the master of Baoxia Peak Four Seas Hall bit the bullet, got up and came to the middle of the listening platform, ready to start his first official speech in his life.
Before walking to the middle of the listening platform, Xing Yan still felt quite confident: After these few days of surprise drills, as long as the draft in his heart is preached in a regular manner, even if it is not brilliant, it will not be very ugly.
This vague self-confidence was maintained until he reached the center of the listening platform.But when he was actually standing in the middle of the stone platform for preaching scriptures, Xingyan suddenly realized something was wrong: just now, he didn't feel anything when he was standing aside; but when he really became the focus of everyone's attention on Songfengping, he felt Even speaking is somewhat difficult.
Now, looking down from this lofty listening platform, I can see that on this vast pine wind plain, there are many disciples of different generations in the Shangqing Palace sitting there.Sweeping his gaze away, he suddenly felt that everyone was staring at him closely.Immediately, Xingyan felt dizzy for a while, let alone speaking, now even breathing has become a little difficult!
Of course, the actual situation at this time is not as bad as Xing Yan imagined.Because at this time, at least half of the young disciples were not looking at him: after Xingyan left from the seat, they could finally see Quan Kou Xueyi's graceful figure!
However, the young man standing in Taichung didn't notice such a favorable situation at all.This young man who was a small boy in the market more than four months ago is now in a state of confusion, and he can't help but sigh in his heart: "That's all! Today I know what the real public eye is..."
However, this awkward silence did not last long.After being stunned for a while on the stage, it was already a mistake to advance and retreat, and it was embarrassing.Aware of this, Xingyan started to calm down instead, thinking that this ugliness has already happened anyway, why not just fight it out?
So, when the elders on the stage began to shake their heads, Qiongxu Xueyi began to worry, and everyone in the audience began to laugh secretly, and more and more people turned their attention to the disciples of the lecturer, the new young hall master of Shangqing Palace, Finally started speaking out!
It's just that although Xingyan started to preach, he still stuttered, and the manuscript that was originally written in his heart has long been lost.If you listen carefully to the preaching that the Hall Master of the Four Seas is saying now, the words are simply disorganized and disorganized.
It's just that no one cares about Xingyan's relatively poor-quality speech at this time.The magnanimous elders on and off the stage felt relieved to see that this street boy, who became the hall master only by chance, could still say so many words in front of hundreds of disciples in the Shangqing Palace.Everyone only thought in their hearts that as long as the young hall master starts to speak and then suddenly arrives somewhere, then today's lecture will be considered as a successful conclusion.
As for the young disciples in the arena, most of the male disciples were already absent-minded, while the fairy on the stage; the few female disciples either secretly resented the brothers and sisters next to them for not paying attention to the lecture, their Taoism was not focused, or they simply didn't care. Following them, they looked at the young woman in the Four Seas Hall on the platform, and secretly compared each part of her appearance with myself...
All in all, everyone on Songfengping no longer cares about what the young man on the stage is actually saying.Basically, in the minds of almost everyone, today's lecture has come to an end.
But the teenager on the stage with sweat on his forehead didn't think so.He said the scriptures that he was most familiar with and at the same time the most obvious, but Xingyan began to think in his heart: "No, I am the last person to preach in this lecture. It ruined this whole exquisite lecture!"
In the face of major events, Xingyan finally began to regain his usual composure.
"How can I make a big difference in my messy speech?"
Xing Yan continued to be incomprehensible, but he couldn't help thinking nervously in his heart.
Suddenly, Taoist Qingming's flashing sword light an hour ago seemed to suddenly turn into a flash of light, flashing across the young man's mind!
"By the way! Why not act like this?!"
"Anyway, looking at the situation, it can't be worse. Why don't you try the skills you've learned in your daily life? Although it's only done occasionally and you're not yet proficient, you should give it a try anyway, and you might be able to bring the dead back to life!"
After this thought, Xing Yan's mind has completely settled down.
Immediately, on the Songfengping, the sound of the pine waves that was originally full of ears was suddenly overshadowed by a clear voice: "Hall Master Qingyun once explained the principle of 'everything gets worse' today, and it sounds very pleasant to wake up." Exquisite. The way of heaven is selfless, and it gets worse every time; the more you go to the low and subtle places, the more you can comprehend the mystery of the way of heaven. Brother Qingyun has already explained this thoroughly, so I won’t repeat it.”
Speaking of this, Xing Yan's suddenly clear words finally attracted everyone's attention.The little Qiongxi girl on the stage didn't feel anything, but Kou Xueyi knew that now, the young hall master, she had finally returned to her usual look.
Just listen to the Master of the Four Seas continue to say:
"I don't want to talk too much about it; today I just demonstrate it by example. Before I entered the door of Taoism, I worked as the most low-level brothel musician in the world; but it is such a low-level thing that I have experienced and confirmed some Taoists. Please allow me to rehearse a little bit for fellow Taoists to watch.”
The Master of the Four Seas Hall who donated a mountain to join the church on the stage used to be a prostitute musician who was not a "scholar, farmer, businessman", and this is well known; Xingyan's preaching did not cause much commotion.What everyone was curious about was what this young man, whose eloquence had suddenly changed, wanted to demonstrate.
"I learned some true meanings of Taoism from the flute."
Oh!It turned out to be playing the flute.All the disciples in the audience looked at the jade flute that the little girl on the stage was holding in her hands, and suddenly realized.
However, Xingyan's next move was beyond everyone's expectations, including the little Qiongxi who was about to step forward to hand the flute to his brother: I saw this young man who said he was going to perform flute art, but he didn't. Turn around to get the jade flute in the little girl's hand.Now, the young hall master raised his hands to the sides of his face, pointing his fingers out of nowhere in the void, as if holding a flute in his hands.
The people in Lingxu and Lingting who were closer to him were surprised to see this strange young man with his eyes closed, his mouth moving slightly, as if he was blowing into the non-existent flute hole.
"This Section Master Zhang who just calmed down, why..."
Just when everyone didn't understand why, they all heard it clearly. In the sound of the pine wind, there was a clear and melodious flute sound, which was leisurely playing.
"This, this is...?!"
Coincidentally, all the amazed and amazed eyes on the Songfengping all focused on the young man standing on the high platform: the melodious flute sound that floated into his ears came from between his fingers hanging in the void. , Flowing out like clouds and flowing water!
And this unhurried flute sound is like the sound of jade rings; besides the euphemism and elegance, the indescribable peace and tranquility are just like the spring rain that sneaks in with the wind, which makes the listener breathe softly unconsciously. Be calm and clear.
Xu Shi's performance before and after Xingyan was too different. Now not only the young disciples in the audience were stunned, but even many senior elders who had seen all kinds of big scenes in the field were also awakened by Xingyan's illusory flute. The sound shook.
Everyone re-evaluated the young hall master of our sect in their hearts.Looking up at Xingyan's elegant figure in the mountain wind, almost no one has the leisure to think about his female disciple.
It can be said that the effect of Xingyan's flute music played out of thin air is no less than that of the flying sword lightning before.
And the demonstration of the master of the Universal Hall seems to have not ended yet.Just when everyone was attracted by the sound of the flute, they suddenly heard a few clear chirps of cranes, and saw several white cranes with red crowns and snow feathers descending from the sky or coming out of the pine forest, and landed gracefully on the young man's bed. before.
The sound of the flute is ethereal, and the shadows of cranes are fluttering. Under the amazed eyes of all the Taoists outside the Four Seas Hall, these fairy birds from the world, invited by the sound of the flute, spread their wings and dance along with the sound of the flute. Between flute steps, there is indescribable elegance and calmness.
At this moment, the sky is high and the clouds are light; in the eyes of everyone in the audience, the young man standing on the high platform, with a tall crown and a robe with fluttering sleeves, dances around his body with immortals and birds, and the sky behind him is high and misty. Coupled with the clear and elegant sound of the empty flute, for a moment, I only felt that among all the lectures today, this last one was the most exciting-some disciples began to secretly praise the person in charge of planning the scriptures in their hearts. Master Lingting who will meet, arranged this unexpected finale with such good intentions...
Just when these people's minds were wandering and their imaginations were running wild, the young man who was the "finale" of this scene had already stopped playing in the void.
When the last lingering sound dissipated, Xingyan met all the eyes looking at him from the audience, and said calmly: "Dear friends, this is the true meaning I realized in the market: existence and non-existence, sound Comparing each other, the superior and the inferior complement each other."
"This is the end of my speech at the Four Seas Hall today; I would like to thank all fellow Taoists for your patience!"
After finishing speaking, Xingyan bowed and bowed, then fluttered his robe sleeves, greeted two flowery smiles, and settled into his seat...