harleyscars Page 213
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"No, my senior brother told me to take you there."
Daoist Tiansong refused outright, leaving no room for negotiation, his rigid demeanor mirroring that of Daoist Tianmen.
Seeing this, Jiang Ning took a step back and said, "How about this, tomorrow I'll have Senior Brother Faxing take me to visit Mount Tai, so there's no need to trouble my Uncle Master to accompany me."
Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, Daoist Tiansong frowned, as if deep in thought.
After a long time.
"Ok."
Daoist Tiansong nodded.
"Then I'll have Faxing come to see you first thing tomorrow morning. Just tell him what you want to do, and I'll give him instructions."
Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Okay, thank you, Senior Uncle."
After escorting Jiang Ning to his residence, Daoist Tiansong departed.
Jiang Ning turned around and looked at the surroundings.
This is a detached house with no other buildings around it. It is filled with flowers and plants, and there are mountain views in the distance. However, it is dark now and the view is not very clear. You can only experience this scenery during the day.
The environment and scenery here are excellent; it seems that the Taoist Tianmen specially chose this place for him.
Jiang Ning then went back to his room to rest.
……
"Senior brother."
Several Taoist priests sat at a table to the side, looking at the Taoist priest Tianmen in the main seat.
The speaker was a Taoist priest named Tianyi, whom Jiang Ning had met during the day.
“Junior Nephew Jiang was right during the day. Yu Jizi and the others are dead. We need to be extra careful about what Tian Qi and Tian Yi might do.”
The Heavenly Daoist said with a worried expression.
Tianmen Daoist's expression didn't change much. After hearing his junior brother's words, he glanced at him and spoke calmly.
"Now that Yu Jizi and Yu Panzi are both dead, what can Tian Qi and Tian Yi do? Don't worry about it."
Seeing this, Daoist Tianyi continued to persuade him: "Senior brother, Tianqi and the others have always been at odds with our lineage. Now that Yujizi and the others are dead, do you think Tianqi and Tianyi will just sit idly by?"
The emotions in Tianmen Daoist's eyes shifted constantly before he finally said, "What can they do now? Didn't they do nothing when Yu Jizi died? They were quiet and unassuming, weren't they?"
Seeing Tianmen's stubbornness, Tianyi Daoist sighed and continued, "Senior brother, hesitation will only lead to more trouble. Just because they haven't done anything now doesn't mean they won't do something in the future. You must know that they have already sided with Zuo Lengchan, and we don't know what Zuo Lengchan will do to us next. They have more than a hundred people. What if they join forces with the Songshan Sect to attack us..."
"Then what do you want me to do? Do you want us to wipe them out completely?"
The sudden outburst from Tianmen Daoist startled several of his fellow disciples.
“I know they’ve sided with Zuo Lengchan, but there are over a hundred of them! They’re disciples of my Mount Tai Sect too! What am I supposed to do?”
Tianmen Daoist looked at his fellow disciples, his eyes reddening as if he were about to cry.
“They are not only disciples of the Mount Tai Sect, but also our nephews and nieces. We have watched them grow up since they were children. How can you expect me to do this?”
Chapter 294: Climbing Mount Tai
After hearing what Tianmen Daoist said, Tianyi and the others fell silent.
To be honest, if they were to wipe out all of Yu Jizi's lineages, they wouldn't be happy either, but what can they do now?
Those more than one hundred Taishan disciples have not only defected to the Songshan Sect, but they have also become enemies with the disciples of their lineage. This is a major hidden danger, but Tianmen Daoist is unwilling to deal with these people.
In reality, although Tianmen Daoren has a very bad temper, he is an indecisive person.
In the past, when Yu Jizi and the others relied on their seniority to unite against Tianmen, Tianmen was indecisive and unwilling to deal with these senior uncles. In the past, when these junior brothers advised Tianmen, Tianmen always said that they were all people of the Taishan Sect, all one family. Even ordinary families are not all harmonious, and it is enough to get by as long as things are generally alright.
This year, after being ambushed by assassins sent by Zuo Lengchan, Tianmen Daoren finally lost his temper and returned to kill Yu Jizi and his fellow uncles who had sided with Zuo Lengchan.
But when faced with the disciples of Yu Jizi's lineage, he couldn't bring himself to be ruthless.
“I know you are all afraid that Tianqi and his group will be detrimental to the Taishan Sect.”
Tianmen Daoist then recovered and said to his fellow disciples, "But no matter what, they are still members of the Taishan Sect. I believe they were influenced by Yu Jizi and the others before. Now that Yu Jizi and the others are dead, they shouldn't do anything detrimental to the Taishan Sect."
The Taoist Tianmen spoke these words with great sincerity, clearly speaking from the heart.
"..."
Upon hearing this, Daoist Tianyi and Daoist Tianfeng exchanged glances, then remained silent and sighed.
Before their master passed away, he asked his junior brothers to assist Tianmen Daoren in managing the Taishan Sect. However, Tianmen Daoren was very stubborn and indecisive, which led to the current situation of the Taishan Sect. The Taishan disciples of their lineage and those of Yujizi's lineage are becoming increasingly alienated, and in recent years they have almost become irreconcilable enemies.
Although they didn't say it, they all knew it was because of the Taoist Tianmen.
Their senior brother was a good person and a good elder, but he was not a qualified sect leader.
To be a qualified sect leader, one must eliminate any factors that are detrimental to the sect. In this process, there will inevitably be things that one is unwilling to do, but for the future of the sect, one must be ruthless. Only in this way can the Taishan Sect go further.
Tianmen Daoist couldn't do that, which made his fellow disciples sigh inwardly.
But it wasn't just Tianmen Daoren who was like this; their master was also soft-hearted.
The conflict between their lineage and Yu Jizi's lineage did not begin when Tianmen Daoren succeeded as sect leader; it started with their grandmaster's generation. By the time of Tianmen Daoren's master, there was also conflict with Yu Jizi's generation. At that time, their master did not deal with Yu Jizi and his group, but passed away after handing over the position of sect leader to Tianmen.
Tianmen Daoren's martial arts skills were the highest among them, but his temperament was also very similar to their master's. He was soft-hearted towards Yu Jizi and the others and couldn't bear to hurt them.
However, the Heavenly Daoist and the others understood the Heavenly Gate Daoist. After all, if they were in the Heavenly Gate Daoist's position, they probably wouldn't have the heart to harm these nephews and nieces.
"Hey."
Thinking of the Taishan Sect being like a heap of loose sand, Tianyi and the others sighed again, their eyes filled with worry.
……
The next morning.
"Junior Brother Jiang, how did you sleep last night?"
Fa Xing, the Taishan disciple who chatted with Jiang Ning yesterday, arrived at Jiang Ning's residence early this morning.
Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I'm fine."
Faxing also smiled and said, "Master asked me yesterday to take Junior Brother Jiang to visit Mount Tai today. Where would you like to go today, Junior Brother?"
Jiang Ning thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go to Jade Emperor Peak."
Jade Emperor Peak is where emperors performed the Fengshan ceremony; it would be a shame to visit Mount Tai without going there.
"Row."
Fa Xing readily agreed and then climbed to the top of Mount Tai with Jiang Ning.
Jade Emperor Peak is located at the highest point of Mount Tai, with an altitude of over 1,500 meters.
"Actually, in ancient times, the emperors did not only perform the Fengshan ceremony at the Jade Emperor Peak. At the Jade Emperor Peak, it was simply called Fengshan. This is also recorded in the Fengshan section of the Records of the Grand Historian."
As Faxing led Jiang Ning up the mountain, he explained the specifics of the Fengshan ceremony.
"The Qin Emperor built an earthen altar on the top of Mount Tai to worship Heaven and repay Heaven's favor, hence the name Feng. Then he cleared land on some small hills at the foot of Mount Tai to repay the land's favor, hence the name Chan. This is the Feng Chan ceremony."
As Fa Xing walked, he laughed and said, "After Qin Shi Huang built an altar on Jade Emperor Peak to report to Heaven, he reported to Earth on Liangfu Mountain. If you want to see it, Junior Brother, you can go to Liangfu Mountain to take a look."
Jiang Ning nodded upon hearing this.
"In fact, before the Song Dynasty, Mount Tai was controlled by the royal family and no one was allowed to go up the mountain."
Fa Xing then laughed and said, "However, after Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty performed the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, no emperor ever came here to perform the Fengshan ceremony again, and this place was abandoned."
"Speaking of which, our Taishan Sect should thank this Song Dynasty emperor. If no emperor had come here to perform the Fengshan ceremony after he did, my sect's founder would probably not have had the opportunity to establish the sect here."
Jiang Ning laughed upon hearing this.
"Junior brother, look, this is the Five Great Pine Trees, which is said to be where the Qin Emperor took shelter from the rain."
Faxing pointed to a pine tree not far away.
At this time, he and Jiang Ning also arrived at Wusong Pavilion.
Fa Xing was also telling Jiang Ning about the local history.
"It is said that after Qin Shi Huang unified the world by conquering the six states, he planned to go to Mount Tai to perform the Fengshan ceremony with his civil and military officials. Qin Shi Huang originally planned to go up the mountain by carriage, but the Confucian scholars said that they could not go by carriage. Even if they had to go by carriage, the wheels should be wrapped with cattails so as not to damage any of the plants and trees on Mount Tai. Qin Shi Huang was furious and forbade the Confucian scholars from going up the mountain with him to perform the Fengshan ceremony."
Fa Xing was just as familiar with the stories about Mount Tai's singularity as Jiang Ning was with the stories about Mount Hua, and he spoke eloquently about them.
"Later, after Qin Shi Huang performed the Fengshan ceremony at Yuhuangding, he was suddenly caught in a downpour. He thought that the mountain god of Mount Tai was angry and wanted to send down a rainstorm to wash him away, so he ran away and ran all the way to Wusongting. There he found a big pine tree, so he hid under the tree and hugged the trunk with his hands to pray for the protection of the tree god. Later, Qin Shi Huang named this tree the Wudafu Pine."
Jiang Ning nodded in agreement.
Fa Xing then laughed and said, "However, this is just a rumor. There is another rumor that when the Qin Emperor was climbing the mountain, it suddenly rained and happened to pass by here, so he took shelter from the rain. It is hard to say whether these two rumors are true or false, but the first rumor is widely circulated and many people believe it, but I am more inclined to believe the second one."
"why?"
Jiang Ning laughed.
Fa Xing also laughed and said, "Because the first one was too exaggerated."
Although subsequent dynasties after Qin did not have a good opinion of Qin Shi Huang, not everyone felt that way.
At least Fa Xing believed that Qin Shi Huang, who could unify the six kingdoms, would not panic and flee when faced with heavy rain. The first rumor was more like a smear against this first emperor in history.
After a brief stop at the Five Pine Pavilion, Jiang Ning and Fa Xing continued climbing the mountain. Not long after, they saw several Taoist priests coming down from the mountain, dressed in mourning clothes.
The Taoist priests snorted coldly when they saw Faxing beside Jiang Ning.
When Fa Xing saw these people, the smile on his face turned cold.
The atmosphere between the two sides was somewhat awkward.
Chapter 295: Jade Emperor Peak
The people coming down the mountain and those coming up the mountain looked at each other coldly.
"Humph!"
"Humph!"
Fa Xing snorted coldly and led Jiang Ning up the mountain, ignoring the people opposite him.
Several Taoist priests dressed in mourning clothes on the opposite side also snorted coldly and went down the mountain, not even glancing at Faxing and Jiang Ning.
The two just passed each other by.
"Senior brother, who are they?"
Jiang Ning glanced back at the group of people descending the mountain.
Fa Xing replied, "They are from the lineages of Grand Master Yu Ji and Grand Master Yu Yin."
Jiang Ning then took the opportunity to raise a question.
"Senior brother, what disease did Senior Yujizi and the others contract and die from?"
Fa Xing was a little embarrassed when he heard Jiang Ning's question.
"for this I……"
Jiang Ning looked at him: "Is it inconvenient to talk about it?"
"no no."
Fa Xing quickly shook his head.
"The main problem is that we don't know what illness Grand Uncle and the others have."
Seeing that he said that, Jiang Ning did not press the matter further and changed the subject.
"Senior brother, do you not get along well with those senior brothers from earlier?"
At this moment, Jiang Ning seemed unaware of the internal conflicts within the Taishan Sect.
Upon hearing Jiang Ning mention those people, Fa Xing's expression turned cold, and he blurted out...
"It's not that I have a bad relationship with them, it's that our lineage has a bad relationship with all of their lineages."
As soon as he spoke, Faxing realized his mistake and quickly shut his mouth.