Whispers of the Ancestral Swords Chapter 2

Oliver Xie spent two days counting the items in Baoyang Temple and found a plaque in the utility room. This was the original plaque of Baoyang Temple and it had a history of hundreds of years.

When Jingui Pedestrian Street was being renovated, all the storefronts along the entire street were decorated in a unified style. Baoyang Temple was actually located outside the main gate of the pedestrian street, but probably because they were right next to each other at the time, they were renovated together for the sake of uniformity. Anyway, the exterior walls were always renovated again and again.

Besides, the entire Baoyang Temple has an area of   less than one acre, which is a mini Taoist temple. The whole building is a small brick and wood structure. There is a circle of bamboo planted against the wall in the front yard, and there is an old water well in the shape of Bagua in the corner.

Next is the main hall, the Sanqing Hall, which is also the largest building in the entire Baoyang Temple. The Three Pure Ones are enshrined inside, with the Jade Emperor behind him and Taiyi Tianzun in the east-west room.

After passing the Sanqing Hall and entering the backyard, there is a circle of buildings. Except for the two auxiliary halls of Lingguan Hall and Wenchang Hall, all of them are places for living such as residences and kitchens. These living rooms have been renovated with cement.

There is a small plot of land in the courtyard, where some vegetables and fruits were planted, but it is now abandoned. There are also inscriptions left over from the old days, which are also hundreds of years old.

The Taoist temple as a whole has a very typical Taoist palace and temple architectural style, facing south, with a symmetrical layout and a courtyard structure. However, everything from the beams and pillars to the tiles are extremely old and even damaged, and it has not been repaired for a long time.

According to previous notes, the Taoist temple was first built in the Ming Dynasty, was once destroyed, and was rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty.

Oliver Xie still remembers his uncle telling him when he was a child that when Baoyang Temple was at its largest, there were several halls along the central axis. The main hall originally housed the Lingguan statue, the Three Pure Ones were in the back hall, and there were several side halls. Later, due to damage over the years, only one main hall and two side halls remained. The Three Pure Ones were moved to the main hall, and the Lingguan statue was relegated to the side halls.

Oliver Xie took photos one by one and ran to the Municipal Cultural Bureau. His uncle didn't care much about these things, but he thought there were some old things in the temple, so he went to inquire about them.

After asking, Oliver Xie found out that Baoyang Temple had already been registered.

In the past two years, the city has begun to pay more attention to the protection of cultural relics and historical sites. People from the Cultural Bureau went to Baoyang Temple for inspection and appraisal, but the only Taoist priest, Nathaniel Wang, was sometimes missing, so he was only registered.

As soon as Oliver Xie showed up, they said they were going to issue a nameplate to Baoyang Temple, which was uniformly made and available to all the city's historical sites and cultural relics. Oliver Xie happily accepted it and shamelessly asked if there was any protection funding he could apply for.

Unfortunately, they do have special funds, but the amount is limited. Baoyang Temple is neither the oldest nor the worst, so I don’t know when it will be their turn.

The reception staff was attracted by Oliver Xie's good looks and his constant smile, so they took a liking to him and told him that the bureau was compiling a book about local scenic spots, historical sites, cultural relics and legends, and if Baoyang Temple was interested, they could send the information to them.

...

Oliver Xie became concerned and started looking through his notes when he returned.

Not only does it cost money to repair the temple, but it is also difficult to recruit disciples in an empty temple, which will fall into a vicious cycle. He has to attract some tourists and pilgrims first. It may be difficult in the early stage, but it is necessary.

Nathaniel Wang never thought about commercializing the Taoist temple, or he didn't know how to do it. Oliver Xie thought, let's start by perfecting the legend of the Taoist temple.

The notes of the ancestors of Baoyang Temple were very rich, with footnotes added from generation to generation. At most, half of a page of notes was annotations. The story materials that Oliver Xie wanted to find were scattered in the notes. He flipped through several books and even saw his own doodles.

Oliver Xie didn’t like studying before, but he was thinking about secretly reading Nathaniel Wang’s notes.

The art of physiognomy is indeed somewhat magical. Oliver Xie has no idea what those so-called people with star bones were like in the past. Anyway, when he was uneducated and unskilled, although he didn't say something as exaggerated as "sixteen steps of kung fu to become an immortal", he did understand things very quickly.

The contents of the pages he flipped through are still fresh in his memory.

After searching for a while and reviewing some old stuff, Oliver Xie finally found some usable materials.

There are many ways to name a Taoist temple. Names of gods, legends, place names, Taoist cultural terms, etc. can all be used as temple names. Oliver Xie always thought that the name of Baoyang Temple was taken from "carrying the yin and embracing the yang".

As a result, I found the notes of one of Nathaniel Wang's masters and learned that Baoyang Temple was originally called "Baoyang Temple" because there were many sheep raised in the temple. Later, somehow, it gradually became "Baoyang".

"This is too uncool." Oliver Xie sweated and simply skipped this part. He wrote a story based on the notes of his predecessors, exaggerating and making up a legend of Baoyang Temple, with various gods descending to earth and goblins fighting.

After finishing writing about Oliver Xie, he still felt a little unsatisfied. It's not that he is exaggerating. When he was in the Cultural Bureau, he read other materials compiled by others. Wow, the most distant ones were related to Nuwa and Huangdi, and the simplest ones also involved Qianlong.

In a Taoist temple, the Three Pure Ones, the highest deity, must be worshipped. In addition, there is usually another main deity worshipped, which depends on the beliefs of the local people or the Taoists in the temple. For example, some Taoist temples worship Zhenwu Emperor, some worship Lü Dongbin, the God of Wealth, Wenquxing, and so on.

The main deity worshipped in Baoyang Temple is Wang Lingguan, who is the original deity of the Lingguan Temple statue in the side hall and is revered as the ancestor of Baoyang Temple.

Wang Lingguan is the Taoist guardian deity who is specifically responsible for guarding the Taoist mountain gate. Therefore, basically in the first hall upon entering a Taoist temple, there will be a statue of Lingguan in the mountain gate hall, who is responsible for guarding the mountain gate.

Oliver Xie roughly made up a story about how Wang Lingguan appeared in spirit and helped a former abbot of Baoyang Temple to subdue demons and save the people of Baoyang. He sent this rough story to someone from the Cultural Bureau, who sent him a few thumbs-up emojis, probably thinking that he got the gist of it.

Compared to the outside world, the environment of Baoyang Temple looks very quiet and simple, but it is not covered after all.

Behind Baoyang Temple is a vegetable market, which starts business early in the morning, and the pedestrian street is also bustling with people during the day. At night, uncles and aunts gather in Liming Square in groups, with music blaring.

Oliver Xie spent the whole day reading in this environment. The more he read, the more he felt that it would be amazing if there were believers in this environment...

He hasn't figured out how to get the funding yet, so for the time being he spends half his time reading his professional books and the other half typing in electronic form the notes of his predecessors, which has improved his typing speed.

Because the sound of square dance music was too loud at night, and his temple faced the square, Oliver Xie wore headphones to read. Oliver Xie fell asleep while reading, and woke up with a dry mouth. He didn't know what time it was. As soon as he took off his headphones, he heard a faint knock on the door.

Oliver Xie had just woken up and was dazed for a while. Then he realized that there was a corner door in the backyard that led to the vegetable market at the back. From the sound, it seemed like someone was knocking on the back door.

Oliver Xie turned on his phone and checked the time. It was 2:10 in the middle of the night. Who would knock on the door at this time?

The knocks on the door were chaotic and urgent. There were shops all around, so Oliver Xie was probably the only one who was disturbed. Oliver Xie was always bolder. He put on his slippers and walked out, holding his phone, and picked up a rolling pin.

Tonight there was a moon but no stars, the moonlight was shining quietly on the world. Oliver Xie didn't even ask who was outside, he opened the back door halfway with one hand, and suddenly asked the person knocking on the door: "What are you doing?"

...

Tyler He almost fell on the door, his upper and lower teeth chattering, fear spreading throughout his body. He had knocked on the door for three minutes but there was no response, and the darkness behind him seemed to be attached to him as if it had substance...

He was almost in despair, when the door suddenly opened.

With a creaking sound.

The moonlight poured down through the opening, illuminating a very beautiful face. The skin color seemed as cold and white as the moonlight, and the two bags under the clear eyes were originally quite cute, but from the slightly lower angle at which Tyler He was lying on the door, he seemed a bit aloof.

Tyler He was stunned for a moment, and then he was overjoyed at finally seeing a living person: "Please let me in, help!"

Oliver Xie raised his eyebrows.

Tyler He wanted to squeeze in through the crack in the door, but Oliver Xie blocked his way. He said anxiously, "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Um, just let me in and hide!"

Oliver Xie: "Buddha? Can you tell this is a Taoist temple?"

Tyler He: ...

I really don’t know… He could see the top of the building from outside late at night, and he thought it was a temple at first.

Tyler He was afraid that the other party would really lock him out, and that they might think he was hiding from his debts, so he grabbed the door and shouted, "Please, please, please, there is a ghost, help me!"

Is there a ghost? Oliver Xie paused in closing the door, held the door and looked at him twice. Under this man's expectant eyes, he slowly raised his left hand--- his ring finger and little finger were bent, and his index finger and thumb were pinching the back and front of the first horizontal line of the middle finger respectively, and the white and slender middle finger was stretched straight.

Tyler He: ...

Tyler He shuddered, then said angrily: "How can you be like this? Not only did you not listen and believe, but you also watched someone die without helping him, and you even gave me the middle finger!!"

Oliver Xie: "...?"

A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated.

Tyler He turned and left.

Oliver Xie called him from behind: "Hey, you better come in."

Tyler He walked out for only five steps. In fact, he regretted it when he took the third step. It was so scary outside. Before Oliver Xie could finish his sentence, he turned around immediately and said, "Yeah, okay!"

Oliver Xie wanted to explain: ...

...

Oliver Xie poured a cup of hot water for the stranger. He looked at him and saw that he didn't look very old, probably around 20 years old. He asked, "What happened just now?"

In fact, Tyler He felt much better just now. After drinking the hot water, he felt even more energetic and told his experience slowly.

Tyler He is a sophomore student at Yang University. He met up with friends for dinner and karaoke in the evening. After the party, he felt too sleepy and had a few drinks, so he decided to get a room in a nearby hotel to rest.

Tyler He wanted to take a shortcut and go through a small path, but as he walked, he found that he could not reach his destination and the surroundings were extremely quiet.

This is a commercial area after all, so there should be no sound even in the middle of the night. Moreover, all the lights in the buildings were off, including the street lights. Only a little strange moonlight was left, which made it even more terrifying.

The whole world suddenly lost its direction, there was no sound, no light, and Tyler He was sobered up by the drunkenness. He suddenly thought of three words: trapped in a maze.

Then, not only was he unable to get out, it seemed as if something was secretly watching him, which frightened him to the point of horror.

When Tyler He was extremely desperate, Baoyang Temple appeared in his sight, and the lights of Baoyang Temple were like the brightest stars in the night sky.

Oliver Xie also knew what happened next. Tyler He rushed over and knocked on the door. Oliver Xie was asleep and wearing headphones at the time, so Tyler He knocked for several minutes.

Tyler He saw that Oliver Xie didn't seem to disbelieve him, so he said hesitantly, "Well, actually, when you gave me the middle finger just now, I felt like there was a veil around me, and it disappeared all of a sudden, and I was back to the normal world. That was because of your... middle finger, right?"

Oliver Xie: "...It's not what you think."

Tyler He clasped his hands together and bowed to Oliver Xie, muttering: "Thank you so much, I misunderstood, I didn't expect you to save me by giving me the middle finger! Did I bump into something weird? It's the first time I've encountered it, I heard that people have to be more fierce than that thing, and sure enough, it's afraid of you! Thank you, I learned something!"

Oliver Xie was speechless and simply took Tyler He to the Lingguan Temple nearby.

Tyler He looked up and saw a statue of a god in a small side hall. The god was wearing golden armor and a red robe. It was a bit old, but his expression was majestic. He had three eyes on his forehead. He held a golden whip in one hand and made the same gesture as Oliver Xie did before with the other hand, with his middle finger raised high.

Tyler He took a deep breath: "...Are your Taoist gods so arrogant?"

Oliver Xie: ...

Oliver Xie resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said, "This is the ancestor of our Baoyang Temple, Taiyi Leishen Yinghua Tianzun, the Taoist guardian deity, Wang Lingguan. He made the Lingguan Jue, also known as the Jade Pivot Fire Finger, to exorcise evil spirits and demons. The descendants who make the Lingguan Jue can sense the ancestor and avoid evil."

---Although it looks like it, it's really not the middle finger! It's to exorcise evil spirits, exorcise evil spirits! Is it really the middle finger? No matter how diao you are, you won't be so uncultured!

As a Taoist temple dedicated to Wang Lingguan, this is basic knowledge of Baoyang Temple, and it has been carefully thought out in the notes of predecessors.

Generally, the hand seals have to be coordinated with the Gangbu and spells, and the Lingguan Seal is no exception. However, it has been simplified from generation to generation by the people of Baoyang Temple. It only requires pinching the seals, and it is considered an ancestral trick.

After hearing this, Tyler He felt even more in awe. He asked why the middle finger was so powerful. When Oliver Xie showed it to him, he felt the chillness around him was driven away.

Before tonight, he was not a staunch atheist, but he never went to temples or Taoist temples. But today, he changed his mind a little bit and immediately said respectfully: "Then I will burn some incense to thank the ancestor!"

After Tyler He finished burning incense, he asked Oliver Xie: "So, tell me, have I been affected in any way? Are there any sequelae? Why did this happen to me? What should I pay attention to? This must be the legendary ghost wall, right?"

Oliver Xie said: "I don't know."

Tyler He: "???"

In Tyler He's mind, Oliver Xie, who saved him in a critical moment, was already a master. This sentence made Tyler He's face freeze in a somewhat funny expression.

Oliver Xie said innocently: "I really don't know, I'm not a Taoist priest, I just live here."

There are Taoists who don't need to have long hair, but he really isn't one of them. Sorry, I can't pretend to be this cool.

He had no systematic theoretical knowledge at all, and his operation was so sharp, but he couldn't tell whether Tyler He was trapped in a maze or not.

Tyler He's eyes were unpredictable. He looked at Oliver Xie and said in amazement: "You are the sweeping monk here..."

...Oliver Xie looked at him with caring eyes for the mentally retarded.