Chapter 31: Stealing Baopuyuan
"A-choo~" Zhang Dadao suddenly sneezed. In the dead of night, this sneeze seemed particularly loud, even with a feeling of echo. Then the sound of dogs barking "Woof woof woof~" echoed in the deep mountains. Zhang Dadao's face turned ugly instantly, and his pair of dead fish eyes rolled up to the sky. Zhang Dadao, who had not slept all night, had a pair of dark circles under his eyes, which made him look even more extraordinary.
"Although this is on a mountain, it's right by the West Lake, so it should be considered an urban area, right? Aren't large dogs not allowed in urban areas? The noise doesn't sound like a Chihuahua!" Zhang Dadao muttered in frustration, listened carefully for a while, and then nodded with satisfaction: "I said there are no Taoists in the world who don't eat dog meat. This Baopu Taoist Temple really doesn't have dogs. It really makes our Taoist sect proud!"
This Geling is right beside the West Lake, the scenery is beautiful and quiet in the bustling city, and there are quite a few small villas built on the mountain. Most of the dog barking comes from those places!
After confirming that the Taoist temple didn't have a dog, Zhang Dadao took out his phone to check the time and started running towards the Baopu Taoist Temple. Although Zhang Dadao was not afraid of dogs, he was always afraid of the consequences. Anyone would be terrified if they met a dog in the wilderness in the middle of the night.
It was only about 2 o'clock, almost 3 o'clock, when people were most sleepy. Except for the excited dogs, the whole Geling was so quiet that even the rustling sound of the drizzle could be heard clearly. After running all night, Zhang Dadao ran out of the Seventh Hospital at around 9 o'clock. Although the distance he ran in these six hours was not far, he consumed a lot of energy.
Now, Zhang Dadao was suffering from hunger, cold and lack of sleep. He could not bear it. He slowed down and took a few breaths. He felt a buzzing in his ears and a dizzy feeling in his head.
After taking a few deep breaths, Zhang Dadao rubbed his stomach and carefully crouched to the side wall of Baopu Taoist Temple. It was also because there were too many scenic spots around West Lake, especially those Buddhist temples were famous one after another. Although Baopu Taoist Temple has a long history and has a great god, it is a pity that our Taoist sect is not good at hype, whether it is reputation or traffic. This Baopu Taoist Temple is much better than Lingyin Temple at the foot of the mountain, not to mention Yuewang Temple at the foot of the mountain.
Of course, Zhang Dadao still respected Grandpa Yue very much, but he was a little upset to see that the scale of Baopu Taoist Temple was inferior to that of Hujiao. However, compared with that little bit of dissatisfaction, this difference in popularity also has its advantages. All the temples around West Lake require tickets to enter, but Baopu Taoist Temple is isolated from the world. Although it also sells tickets, the management is not strict and the walls are much shorter.
This made it easier for Zhang Dadao to sneak in. With a flip, Zhang Dadao stepped on the rockery outside the wall and climbed into the yard. Although he was locked up in the hospital, Zhang Dadao's skills were indeed quite impressive. After climbing over the wall, Zhang Dadao looked around and wondered where the kitchen was.
Baopu Taoist Temple belongs to Quanzhen, and it is not the same system as the Longhushan Zhengyi Sect that Zhang Dadao thinks he belongs to. However, the structure of most Taoist temples is similar. Although the people in the Seventh Temple think that Zhang Dadao is a mental patient, things in the world are so unclear. He may really be a mental patient, but he still walked straight to the kitchen of Baopu Taoist Temple smoothly. The kitchen is in a corner of the Taoist temple. Zhang Dadao climbed in through the open window and found a big white radish in the dark and ate it.
Although his stomach was full, he was still a little unhappy. He kept thinking to himself, "Damn, this place isn't full of fake Taoists? They even have meat. I remember that the Quanzhen Taoist precepts are stricter than our Zhengyi Taoist precepts."
After Zhang Dadao finished eating the radish, he followed his memory and crouched under a row of eaves. He carefully pulled down a few pieces of clothes from the clothesline between two pillars, and then he stripped himself naked on the spot and put on the Taoist robe.
There were quite a few clothes drying here, some of them were gorgeous apricot yellow robes that were only worn for rituals, but Zhang Dadao wore the simplest casual clothes, which were the slanting collared clothes that evolved from the pleated Hanfu. He was still wearing hospital pants and hiking shoes, which was quite a mix-and-match style.
After changing into clothes, Zhang Dadao was in a better mood. As he walked forward, he used the safety scissors to cut off a clothesline without clothes hanging on it, and tied the straw rope around his waist as a belt. After tying the rope, the clothes fit better, but the ordinary dark blue Taoist robe looked even lower. Fortunately, the material of the Taoist robe was also a blend of cotton and linen. Although it was weird and awkward to wear it like this, it was also a bit free and unrestrained.
Zhang Dadao wandered around until he arrived in front of the hall dedicated to Ge Hong. The door of the hall was ajar, and there was no light inside. Zhang Dadao couldn't help but feel even more disdainful, thinking to himself: "This unfortunate place must have few serious Taoist disciples. Even the eternal lamp in front of the statue of the founder has gone out! In this case, there is no need to give them face!"
After thinking about it this way, Zhang Dadao comforted himself and pushed open the door and went in. After wandering around the hall, he came out with a futon under his arm and a tube of bamboo sticks stuffed in his arms. Even the pair of horn hairpins were stolen by him.
"What a great harvest! You must have earned more by cheating the cheaters! With these things, wouldn't we have a way to make a living? It's a pity that I didn't get cinnabar and paper and pen, so I can't use the most powerful talismans of the Zhengyi sect!" Zhang Dadao found a place with a low wall with a sly look, and climbed out of the Baopu Taoist Temple. He carefully took out half a carrot and ate it, then threw the hospital gown he had changed into the bushes, turned around and bowed, and finally smiled.
After all the eating and stealing in the Taoist temple, the sky was already dawning. Zhang Dadao's appearance had also changed drastically. He wore a pair of wooden frame glasses without lenses. He was wearing a dark blue Taoist robe tied with a hemp rope around his waist, and a white hospital gown with hiking shoes. His hair was tied up in a bun and a brown bamboo stick was inserted into it. The bamboo stick had a few small words faintly written below the arrow-like end: "O Wood O Fire Earth."
Zhang Dadao looked like this now. Apart from the doctors and nurses he was most familiar with, no one else would recognize him. Especially here on Geling Mountain, anyone who saw him would think he was a little Taoist priest who was a little eccentric. Zhang Dadao knew that as long as he didn't go to the Seventh Hospital to commit suicide, the possibility of being caught would be greatly reduced, and he smiled with relief. Although he still didn't know what to do, he didn't have the pressure of escaping as before.
After this relaxation, he walked down the mountain while chewing a carrot, and began to chant: "Three people cultivate their nature, and the origin can coexist. If the fruit is in accordance with the heart, everything will come naturally!"
He jumped down the mountain, and the stick tube inserted diagonally on his chest with the tip exposed also shook and made a "swish" sound. With the light rain and breeze, under the dim sky, between the green stone and green road, a sense of tranquility and nature suddenly emerged.
Zhang Dadao hummed a song in sync with the sound of the lottery tube shaking: "Xiyangyang, Meiyangyang, Big Big Wolf...", completely destroying the atmosphere.
From then on, the Taoist priest went down the mountain.
