Chapter 53: Ancestral Temple
The old man and the young boy were walking farther and farther away. I was about to catch up with them when my feet suddenly felt light, as if I had fallen headfirst into a pit. Then I fell forward. I screamed instinctively, thinking that I would fall for an unknown amount of time this time. However, before I could stop screaming, the feeling of falling stopped abruptly and my body shook violently.
I steadied myself, and felt the light around me, so I quickly opened my eyes. A guy with half-white hair and a long white beard was right in front of me, staring at me. I was startled and took a few steps back.
"What the hell?"
"You're not bad, brat. You came out so quickly."
Well?
I quickly looked over and saw that it was the old man who was the head teacher. I said in annoyance, "Master, why are you here?"
I seemed to have walked into a fantasy cave and saw those illusions. Could it be that the old man, Master Uncle, also appeared in my illusions? Could it be that I have some relationship with him?
"Stop imagining that, little brat. You've already passed through the Illusionary Heart Cave."
I was startled and turned my head to look back. There was indeed a cave behind me. It was very deep and dark inside and I couldn't see what was inside. I turned back with lingering fear and only then noticed the place I was in.
Underground palace!
This was my first impression after taking a look at the place I was in. The space was spacious, the interior was gorgeous, the facilities were neatly arranged, and it was very clean and tidy, without a trace of dust. Eight huge stone pillars, each big enough for a person to hug, were erected in different positions, supporting the entire palace.
There is a circular stone platform around each stone pillar, about two meters high, surrounded by a circle of stone stairs. On the stone platform, four small stone steps surround the stone pillars, and on each stone step there is a glass bead, which is crystal clear and sparkling, illuminating the entire palace.
Right inside the palace stood a fan-shaped stone wall with dozens of steps carved on it. On each of the top ten steps were wooden tablets that looked like memorial tablets. From the top down, the number of memorial tablets on each level decreased, and there were only six memorial tablets left on the bottom row.
But what’s strange is that there are no names on these spirit tablets.
This Yushenmen, the people are strange, even the ancestral temple is strange, I don't know how long I have been walking in the Huanxin Cave. I took out my phone and looked at it, and I was stunned, it seemed like only a few minutes had passed. No, I remember today should be April 3rd, but the phone shows April 4th.
After making sure my phone was not broken, I looked at my uncle and asked, "What happened? How long have I been in the Illusion Cave?"
"About a day."
My heart twitched. The illusions I had just seen only lasted for a few dozen minutes at most. How could a whole day have passed? I pulled the corner of my mouth and asked, "Then you said I came out so quickly?"
He raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course, when Lu Xiaofeng entered that girl's house, it took him three full days to get out of the Fantasy Heart Cave."
I was stunned. Three days? Is this true? Wouldn't I starve to death if I stayed there for three days?
"But this doesn't mean anything. Staying in there for a long time doesn't mean one's aptitude is poor, nor does it mean that people in that period of time have good aptitude. The length of time one is trapped in the Illusion Heart Cave is related to one's mind and thoughts. If a person is heartless, eats well and sleeps well, then no matter how poor his aptitude is, the Illusion Heart Cave won't be able to trap him."
Damn, what does this guy mean? Is he saying that I am heartless?
"You little bastard, I haven't even finished what I'm saying yet and you're already cursing me in your mind."
The old man glared at me.
I was shocked. I almost forgot that this old man could see through other people's thoughts . Damn, he is really abnormal. I quickly shook off the thoughts in my mind and tried my best to control myself from thinking about it. I smiled and said, "Uncle Master, please continue."
He glared at me and continued, "People with optimistic personalities can also easily pass through the Illusion Cave, just like your master, who only took more than two hours to pass through the Illusion Cave."
I couldn't help but think of the old master in my mind. He looked slovenly, wearing tattered Taoist clothes, carrying a broken sword, holding up his gourd, and drinking wine in big gulps. Damn, I didn't expect that the old man was also a heartless guy, no, he was an optimistic guy.
"Okay, enough talking, follow me to meet the uncles and forefathers."
As the master uncle said this, he took the lead and walked towards the stone wall over there. I curled my lips and quickly followed him. Looking at the spirit tablets on the mountain wall without names engraved on them, I felt creepy.
"Uncle Master, these spirit tablets are all the ancestors of our Yushen Sect ?"
I asked curiously.
The uncle nodded and said, "Well, it has been passed down to me and your uncle for the nineteenth generation, and your generation is the twentieth generation."
Damn, it's amazing that an organization can be passed down for twenty generations. Thinking of Lu Xiaofeng's words, I asked again: "Uncle Master, I heard from that girl Lu Xiaofeng that our Yushen Sect has been passed down for thousands of years."
"It is impossible to find out the exact years, but the earliest recorded time is the sixth generation, more than 5,000 years ago ."
I was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Uncle Master, I am not well educated, so don't lie to me. China has a history of 5,000 years , and my math is pretty good. The sixth generation was more than 5,000 years ago, which means the next 12 generations have experienced a total of 5,000 years. If it is passed down from generation to generation, on average each generation is more than 400 years old. How is this possible? Can a person live for more than 400 years?"
The uncle didn't explain or refute, but shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "Who knows."
As we were talking, we had already reached the cliff. The cliff was more than ten meters high. We had to look up to see the top. I couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Uncle Master, why don't these tablets have names?"
"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. As the saying goes, you can't take anything with you when you die. Your name is given to you when you are born, so there is no need to take it with you when you die."
I didn't understand what the old man said, but I didn't want to understand. I just wanted to leave here quickly. Although the whole palace was shining and gorgeous, I didn't feel good standing under the stone wall full of spirit tablets. It was as if countless pairs of eyes were staring at me in the dark, and I felt uncomfortable all over.
Fortunately, the so-called meeting with the ancestor was really just burning incense and kowtowing, just like going through a procedure. After going through the procedure, I followed my uncle to leave the ancestral temple and passed through the Huanxin Cave again. The strange thing was that no illusions appeared again, and I walked out smoothly .
