Chapter 827
Chapter 827
Chapter 827
Zhang Liuzhen watched her quietly.
Pan Jun's shoulders slumped: "Alright, I have to go to Japan for something. I'm saying I'm going to visit the grave so I can ask for leave."
Zhang Liuzhen twirled the wine glass in his hand, his expression unreadable in the moonlight: "Very well, I have something to entrust to you."
Pan Yun was immediately delighted when she heard that he wasn't trying to stop her from going out: "Senior Brother Zhang, just ask. If it's within my power, I'll do my best to help."
Zhang Liuzhen smiled and said, "It's not a difficult matter. I have two people who want to go to Japan to spread the word. How about you give them a ride?"
Pan Yun was about to agree when Xue Shao pressed her hand down and asked softly, "Master Zhang, now that the customs are open, not only do the Maritime Trade Office have official ships going to Japan and Korea, but there are also many private merchant ships. As far as I know, many monks travel by private merchant ships. Since it's a training trip, wouldn't it be better to go to sea by merchant ships like ordinary people?"
Zhang Liuzhen's gaze shifted from Pan Yun to Xue Shao's face. After looking at the other man for a while, he suddenly smiled and said, "I don't want others to know about this."
Xue Shao wanted to ask more, but Pan Yun and Zhang Liuzhen suddenly turned to look at the door.
Xue Shao stopped tacitly and turned to look outside the door, but there was nothing there.
Zhang Liuzhen remained silent for a moment before turning his gaze away and smiling at everyone, "Did you enjoy the meal tonight?"
Miao and the others, who were eating attentively, nodded repeatedly and took out handkerchiefs to wipe their mouths and hands.
Zhang Liuzhen said gently, "I hope you enjoy your meal. It's getting late, and you've all been working hard these past few days. Go home and rest early tonight."
Pan Yun nodded to Zhang Liuzhen and said with a double meaning, "Okay, I'll listen to Senior Brother Zhang."
She stood up and said, "Senior Brother Zhang, you should also get some rest."
Everyone stood up to say goodbye.
Zhang Liuzhen escorted them to the outside of the courtyard, stood at the gate and watched them walk away before turning back with the young Taoist to close the courtyard gate.
He stood by the table, glanced at the leftover food, helped the young Taoist tidy up the table, and when it was almost done, he casually picked up the bottle of wine on the table and went upstairs.
The young Taoist priest, holding the last few bowls and chopsticks, said behind him, "Young master, you are not in good health, you cannot drink too much wine!"
Zhang Liuzhen waved to him without turning her head, indicating that she understood.
Upon reaching the second floor, he pushed open the door and saw a person standing by the window.
He stood tall, the moonlight shining through the leaves outside the window onto him, making half of his body glow like jade, while the other half was hidden in darkness. The light and shadow flickered and swayed, as if the darkness would swallow the jade light at any moment.
Zhang Liuzhen, holding the wine bottle, stood quietly in front of the door for a long time before finally speaking: "Father."
Zhang Maocheng merely tilted his head slightly to look at him, his gaze not fully fixed on him before turning back to look out the window: "Fanxi Courtyard, this courtyard has always been the residence of the young masters of the Celestial Master's Mansion when they studied at the academy. The academy has only been open for more than forty years in this dynasty, but before this dynasty, the academy had a history of nearly five hundred years. However, with the change of dynasties, the academy was intermittent, sometimes there and sometimes it did not, depending on the wishes of the emperor in charge."
But regardless of whether the academy still exists, and even though the Great Shangqing Palace was destroyed by war several times, the Celestial Master's Mansion has always stood firm. Do you know why?
Zhang Liuzhen said expressionlessly, "Because only the Celestial Master's Mansion has continued its lineage uninterrupted."
“Indeed, but why has the Celestial Master’s Mansion been able to continue its lineage?” Zhang Maocheng turned to look at Zhang Liuzhen: “I know that young people are full of vigor and always want the world to operate according to their imagination. I never stop you, because after hitting a wall many times, you will eventually turn back. This is also part of cultivation!”
But I never expected that after everything we've been through, after you've grown up so much, you still wouldn't turn back.
Zhang Liuzhen looked at his father.
But he was facing away from the moonlight, his entire face hidden in darkness, so his expression was not visible.
But it doesn’t matter anymore.
Zhang Liuzhen tilted his head back and took a sip of wine. He slowly walked to the window and finally asked the question he had always wanted to ask: "My father taught me from a young age that I should take it as my responsibility to protect the world's traditions. When I was a child, I never understood why it was to protect and not to pass on the traditions."
I later finally understood that in the torrent of worldly affairs, let alone propagating the orthodox tradition, even preserving it is an extremely difficult task.
He chuckled briefly, his face gleaming with mockery in the moonlight: "Because of the spread, the first obstacle comes from my Zhang family. Selfish, self-serving, and closed-minded, Father, because of the rule of passing on the knowledge to sons but not daughters, and to the eldest legitimate son but not to illegitimate sons, my Zhang family has lost its traditions. Can you even count the number of Taoist arts we can no longer learn?"
So I want to ask my father, in your heart, which is more important: the orthodox tradition of the world, or the Zhang family's legacy?
Zhang Maocheng stared at him intently for a long time before asking, "After you were harmed and your meridians were severed, your dantian was shattered, and you became a cripple, did you still think about breaking the family rule of passing the throne to the eldest son and not to the illegitimate son?"
"By breaking this rule, the secret techniques you've learned since childhood will also be available to other disciples, and from now on, there will be many more people fighting against you."
Zhang Liuzhen: "There's quite a bit of fighting going on now."
Zhang Maocheng: "At least it's still within a controllable range."
Zhang Liuzhen slowly shook his head: "Father, you all say I am a genius, and I have seen the future in the dark."
Zhang Maocheng's eyes remained unmoved. The closer one is to the Dao of Heaven, the more one will sense it, especially those who are cultivators.
Not to mention Zhang Liuzhen, even Zhang Maocheng had glimpsed fragments of the future several times, though they were all minor things.
This is not surprising; many people have a sixth sense, or even a seventh sense, or a higher sense.
Zhang Liuzhen: "It's not a fleeting moment, but a complete future."
Zhang Maocheng then showed a surprised expression, followed by a pang of heartache.
His son was so talented, but he was wasted his life.
Zhang Liuzhen, however, did not feel anything and continued, "Father, if I do nothing, the lineage will decline in the future, the righteous gods will weaken to the point of slumber, and the world's magic will decline. Even if the Zhang family still stands strong, that is only a facade. In reality, the inheritance will be lost, and the world will no longer believe in the lineage."
If no one believes in a tradition, is it still the Way?
"What kind of chaos will the world descend into?" Zhang Liuzhen murmured softly, "The people will have nowhere to turn. One day, a struggle more terrible than war will erupt in the world. At that time, the orthodox tradition will fall, and the people will have nowhere to turn..."
Zhang Maocheng's gaze darkened slightly.
Seeing that he remained silent, Zhang Liuzhen smiled and asked in return, "So in Father's eyes, the continuation of the Zhang family is still more important?"
Zhang Maocheng: "Is what you're doing now even useful?"
“Who knows?” Zhang Liuzhen: “But if we don’t do it, it will definitely happen.”
He murmured, "We have to give it a try."
Zhang Maocheng shook his head slightly: "How can a mayfly shake the heavens and the earth? If you hadn't done those things back then, you wouldn't be like this now..." Zhang Liuzhen: "Just like you, growing up step by step, marrying and having children according to the clan's wishes, going to the capital to take up an official post when you reach a certain age, and then dying naturally according to the so-called destiny, what's the difference between that and never having lived?"
"You!" Zhang Maocheng was unusually angry. He suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Are you living a good life right now?"
"No, but at least I'm alive!"
Zhang Liuzhen tilted his head back and took a big gulp of wine. He said in a deep voice, "I don't want to die like the future I see, nor do I want to give birth to a child who will commit many atrocities. I also don't want the Zhang family's Taoist methods to become a pile of waste paper because no one will inherit them, and in the end, the Taoist traditions of the world will perish."
Zhang Maocheng's pupils contracted slightly, and after a long silence, he said with difficulty, "You sensed it too? My time is coming to an end, and you..."
"Don't worry, I will die before you," Zhang Liuzhen said with a forced smile. "If one day you die before me, we should be happy, because that means the future has changed."
Zhang Maocheng looked at his son with a complicated expression, and after a moment said, "So, you really don't agree to get married this year?"
Zhang Liuzhen responded with a "Mm".
"Even if you can only inherit the Celestial Master's Mansion safely by getting married, you still won't get married?"
Zhang Liuzhen nodded and sighed, "Why drag innocent people into this war?"
Zhang Maocheng sneered: "You're so close to Pan Yun, and she's Zhang Li's junior sister. Aren't you quite willing to let her go?"
Zhang Liuzhen said calmly, “She is a Taoist priest. She has been in the game since the moment she began her cultivation. I did not drag her in. With such talent, she is the material for a pillar of the world. If I did not bring her into the game, Heaven would not let her go.”
Zhang Maocheng noticed that his son's personality had become more peaceful and indifferent in recent years.
Back then, he would never have let his friends take any risks; he would have tried his best to avoid it if there was even the slightest possibility.
But now, he genuinely considers Pan Yun a friend and is also genuinely trying to bring her into the game.
Something flashed through Zhang Maocheng's mind, and he almost grasped it, but it flashed by too quickly. He pondered for a long time but was unable to retrieve that fleeting inspiration.
He remained silent for so long that Zhang Liuzhen grew impatient and urged, "Father, it's getting late. If you're coming tonight to persuade me to get married, then I can tell you there's no need. I will not get married."
"Then I'm leaving." As soon as Zhang Liuzhen finished speaking, Zhang Maocheng turned and left. His decisive action surprised Zhang Liuzhen.
However, the next moment, Zhang Maocheng did indeed disappear from the house.
Zhang Liuzhen chuckled softly, walked to the window, and continued drinking while leaning against it with one hand.
After leaving Fanxi Courtyard, Pan Yun and Xue Shao, walking back to Fengqi Courtyard with their backs to the moonlight, slowly fell behind the crowd and whispered to each other.
Pan Jun asked furtively, "Brother Xue, do you perhaps have some confidential information?"
Xue Shao looked at her speechlessly: "You agreed so quickly just now, I thought you didn't care."
"I agreed because of my friendship with Senior Brother Zhang. Gathering information is to have a comprehensive understanding of the situation, which is to protect others as well as myself."
Xue Shao looked around before clumsily setting up a newly learned soundproof barrier, and whispered, "I learned by chance that Master Zhang's health is failing, and I'm afraid his lifespan is limited..."
Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "He looks healthy with a rosy complexion. Is his lifespan shortened, or...?"
"It might happen in the next year or two, or even this year."
Pan Jun's mouth dropped open, and it took her a while to find her voice: "Where did you get this information?"
Xue Shao glanced at her.
"Oh, right, you're staying with Xue Taixu now... Xue Taixu is Zhang Zhenren's confidant..."
Pan Yun mumbled incoherently, still somewhat incredulous. She wiped her face and said, "I can believe that his lifespan is affected. Cultivation is about the possibility of going astray or suffering a relapse of an old injury. But to say that someone with a rosy complexion would die in a year or two... why is that?"
Pan Yun doubted himself, saying, "Could it be that all the observation and auscultation skills I've learned over the years were fake? Is my face-reading technique really that bad?"
Pan Yun was already considering whether she should find some time to visit Master Zhang and use her talent to assess his aura.
If ordinary aura-gazing techniques can't detect it, surely her own innate supernatural abilities can?
Xue Shaocai, though a Taoist practitioner, did not yet possess the awareness to observe qi, but he had his own methods of investigation: "I have examined the lifespans of the Celestial Masters of past generations, and I have found that, apart from the first few Celestial Masters who lived long lives, few of the Celestial Masters who succeeded him lived past the age of sixty, and many died young. You Taoist practitioners, with your high level of cultivation, shouldn't you have even longer lifespans?"
Xue Shao was puzzled: "Your senior brother is actually over fifty years old, but I took a good look at him this time when I spent the New Year at Sanqing Mountain. Although he has a beard and looks sloppy, he looks like he is in his forties or fifties because of his mature speech. But if you carefully observe his complexion, the corners of his eyes and his beard, you will find that he is not much different from a young man in his twenties or thirties. If he shaves his beard and doesn't open his mouth to speak, and stands next to Wang Cong, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he is his elder brother."
Pan Yun: "Master Zhang doesn't look old at all. He has a rosy complexion and a tall and straight posture. He looks like someone with abundant blood and energy who can live a long time."
"But I believe even more that my great-uncle would not speak without reason, and I also believe the data recorded in the book."
Pan Yun stroked his chin and said, "To be honest, I still don't know Zhang Zhenren's cultivation level. If he has already entered the second level of Marquis, he can live for more than a hundred years without any problems if he is healthy and free from illness."
Xue Shao: "If Master Zhang really does not live to see the end of his life, Zhang Liuzhen is asking you to take his men to Japan at this time, which is to drag you down with him."
Pan Yun waved her hand dismissively and said, "It's okay. I've already labeled myself Zhang Liuzhen. I've been struggling in the water for a long time. One more thing won't make a difference."
Xue Shao opened his mouth, then realized: "You've decided to help him."
Pan Yun: "My third senior brother and fourth senior sister are both on his ship, what other choice do I have?"
“If I were to give him up and choose someone else, what kind of person would I be?” Pan Yun said, “Although I am a pragmatic person, I am also a person with principles.”
Xue Shao couldn't help but chuckle.
Pan Yun turned her head and glared at him: "What are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong? My character is so noble..."
Xue Shao nodded repeatedly: "You're right, Master Pan has always been a person of high moral character."
The two returned to the entrance of Fengqi Courtyard while talking, and stopped together at the entrance.
Xue Shao said, "In that case, your request for leave is almost certain."
"After I leave, please take care of them, especially the two in my room. I can leave the other one alone, but the other one must not be discovered."
Xue Shao nodded: "I'll keep an eye on it."
Pan Yun nodded and waved her paw at him: "I won't see you off any further, goodnight."
(End of this chapter)