Myriad Paths

The center of the world, Chang'an.

It's as prosperous as ever.

It was already morning, and there were ripples on the great promenade in the middle of Chang'an. The boats were rowing continuously, the sound of the rudders and oars hitting the water was endless, and the oars shattered the light and shadow of the rising sun reflected on the Bian River.

On each tributary of the crossing river, there are various types of passenger, cargo, water and ferry boats, and the planks of the boats are intertwined.

Looking back at the street, there is the noisy sound of the city, people are crowding around, vehicles are wandering around, a thousand-foot long rainbow flies over the high-rise buildings, willow silk blows in the water, towering pavilions, surrounded by trees, people gather in colorful sheds, thousands of cars are rushing away like the wind, and thousands of drums are like Thunder suddenly passed by.

Tang Guo's business has formed a huge network, and has been fully supervised by cardinals from all walks of life. However, thousands of wells are noisy, and countless people have already gotten up and started to complete their day's work, entertainment, and life.

Various markets have also been opened. Hundreds of businesses, especially vegetable markets, have opened their doors to welcome the crowds of people every morning along with the flood of citizens rushing to the morning market.

The same is naturally true for the Liu family, and generally speaking, they get up extremely early.

After Li Qi and Liu Shenzhi woke up, Liu Junyi had already prepared breakfast, and even knocked on the door to call Liu Shenzhi and Li Qi to get up and have dinner.

Both Li Qi and Liu Shenzhi were accustomed to this. After all, Li Qi rested here not once or twice.

Li Qi knew very well that the Liu family had no servants, and Liu Donghe didn't like to boss around others. There were only three people living in this house, namely the Liu family's father and son, and Liu Junyi, who lived here.

Anyway, there are magic tricks. You don’t need to do anything to remove dust. You just need to hit a few dust-free talismans. In fact, the only household chores you have to do are washing and cooking.

None of the three of us knew much about laundry, so we outsourced it to a laundry lady. The laundry lady would come to the house regularly to collect the clothes and send them back after washing.

As for cooking...

Liu Donghe is obviously the kind who can't cook, and Liu Shenzhi is a lazy guy, so naturally Liu Junyi can only come.

Fortunately, Liu Junyi is good at craftsmanship.

This elegant and modest gentleman is not the kind of person who keeps his fingers crossed. In fact, there is no such person in the Liu family. Liu Donghe’s family tradition is still very good. Even Liu Donghe himself often repairs furniture. , gardening and other tasks.

It’s just that this celebrity’s cooking skills are... hard to describe in words.

Li Qi sat at the Liu family's dining table as usual.

The breakfast on the table in front of you is the red bean curd mixed with vegetables that the Liu family likes to eat.

After the tofu is fermented, it is soaked in red oil and preserved. When eating, it is scooped out and steamed several times to make the inside crispy, and then the skin is peeled to enhance the taste.

Then prepare vegetables such as lotus root, bamboo shoots, fern, and puree, steam them until they are soft and rotten, and then dot the red fermented bean curd on top.

The staple food is cake bait, which is just plain cooked white flour.

However, there is also a dish of meat sauce to accompany the meal. Take the pork, stew it until it is mashed, use peeled walnuts, and mash them in a pot. When the walnut oil penetrates, use spices, old wine, soy sauce, a little brown sugar and other ingredients, and add it to the original juice. Just store it, heat it up when eating, then scoop it out and spread it on the cake to eat, it is very delicious.

The raw materials are all common ingredients, and no spiritual animals, such as dragon liver, phoenix gallbladder, etc. are used. This is not in line with the simple style of the Liu family, but the taste is definitely not bad.

Sitting at the dining table, Li Qi praised Liu Junyi: "Brother Liu's craftsmanship is really amazing. The taste is even better than in the canteen."

It is comparable to the canteen, which is the highest praise.

You know, the chef in Taixue's canteen is Guo Penghai, a chef who has practiced cooking to the fourth level.

Liu Junyi smiled and said: "The sage said, you never tire of fine food, and you never tire of delicate food. Although it doesn't have the delicacies of mountains and seas, home-cooked food is just like reading, and it requires attention."

"If you don't care about daily life and eating, how can you care about reading?"

Liu Junyi said this and glanced at Liu Shenzhi who was eating.

Liu Shenzhi rolled his eyes.

Li Qi only thought it was funny, but his expression was still well controlled and he couldn't laugh in front of his face.

Liu Shenzhi is used to being lazy. Like most people who don't do housework, her family always wants to find an opportunity to educate her. After all, Liu Shenzhi sometimes doesn't even bother to clean his own room.

Obviously he only needs a dust-removing charm, but he doesn't think it is necessary, so he often forgets it and just puts it somewhere, which makes his father and brother feel that he is very incompetent.

At this time, Liu Donghe, who was sitting in the main seat, was heard saying: "What your elder brother said makes sense. If you don't sweep one house, how can you sweep the world? If you don't care about the things around you, then what else is worth caring about?" "

Liu Shenzhi sighed silently and began to pretend to be dead without arguing.

According to the past, he should be silent. Anyway, a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water. He likes to talk, "Master, what should I do?"

However, he suddenly thought of what he was going to say next, so he straightened his back, picked up the bowl, and said respectfully: "What my father said is that I am also thinking of correcting myself. After removing the bowl today, I will wash it." ”

As soon as these words came out, Li Qi, Liu Junyi, and Liu Donghe were all shocked. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at Liu Shenzhi with surprise on their faces.

Liu Shenzhi's expression did not change and she said: "Li Qi persuaded me yesterday. Coupled with the daily advice from my father and eldest brother, I also feel ashamed, so I want to change my past lazy temper starting from today."

When Liu Donghe heard this, he was immediately relieved. No matter how strict a father is, he would be so happy when he sees his son suddenly awakening.

He looked Liu Shenzhi up and down: "This is very good, very good."

As he said that, he looked at Li Qi again.

Then, Liu Donghe said to Li Qi: "Although a person has a beautiful nature and a discerning mind, he will definitely seek out virtuous teachers and serve him, choose good friends and make friends with them. Then he will see those who behave with loyalty, respect and surrender, and his body will make progress day by day. Benevolence and righteousness, the heart is improving day by day with self-discipline.”

"The ability of a good friend is to supervise them to read extensively, show them success or failure, make them observe the past to understand the past, observe others to know this, drive them on the straight path, gather them in the inspection and calculation, and be confused as if they are following. Traveling ten thousand miles, Li Ran is like running on ice, so he can regret his stinginess and make him chaste and lucky."

"I'm so lucky to have such a good friend."

To be honest, it was a little difficult for Li Qi to listen to such polite words.

Moreover, these words are allusions, and there is an ancient story behind each sentence. Even Li Qi's reading volume is a bit overwhelming.

But it was probably understandable. He was probably praising himself for being a good friend and taking care of Liu Shenzhi, who had been lazy in the past. He also hinted that Liu Shenzhi was also a 'good friend' and hoped that Li Qi would continue to maintain a good relationship with him.

After Li Qi heard this, he immediately said: "That's natural. I heard that a gentleman has read tens of thousands of books, and he must go to temples, see mountains and rivers, and make friends with famous people at home. Then, his views on the situation are naturally broad, and good friends ponder them. Naturally, Be diligent. Otherwise, the birds will sing and the insects will sing, and they will be complacent. Although there are advantages, the scope will be narrow. "

"Now, Brother Liu and I are just like butterflies. We work hard and learn from each other every day, and we both gain a lot."

Li Qi also said so.

Although the two did not communicate in private, they still had a tacit understanding after working together for so long. He understood what Liu Shenzhi meant.

Obviously, Liu Shenzhi was going to be a good boy and make Mr. Liu Donghe happy, so that he could write poems and essays, and he could also speak when he blew the Lingxiao flower.

Liu Donghe glanced at the two people.

To be honest, although Liu Donghe praised Li Qi, from a rational point of view, Liu Donghe didn't believe even a word of it if it really had any impact.

"Reading thousands of books, going to temples, seeing mountains and rivers, making friends with celebrities at home and abroad, understanding the situation, naturally broad, thoughtful friends, naturally diligent", this kind of words sounds nice, but Liu Donghe knows it, Li Qi This person is typically not social.

Although he seems polite and polite, this person has been in Chang'an for more than half a year. Apart from Liu Shenzhi, he has no friends and has never gone out to play. All he does every day is study and practice.

What are you talking about? Have you ever gone out to play?

but……

Liu Donghe glanced at the two of them again.

Indeed, Liu Shenzhi's cultivation has improved rapidly recently. In the past six months, he no longer went to the fireworks places in Shangyuan and concentrated on doing research at home.

Although the research is on small skills such as insect poison, it is still a craft, and it is not without the possibility of pursuing a great path.

There are still changes.

So Liu Donghe nodded: "That's right. So, do you two have anything to say?"

Li Qi showed an awkward smile.

Liu Shenzhi trembled and looked at Li Qi with a helpless expression.

Sure enough, Liu Donghe saw everything clearly, and it was impossible for the two of them to hide this from him.

But Liu Shenzhi seemed to still want to struggle. He put down his rice bowl, stood up and said, "There are some things I want to report to my father. Father, after dinner, can you go to my yard with us and see us?" results?"

"Since we started to be busy, my father only said that what we did were just small tricks and he never saw with his own eyes what we were doing. Now that we have finally achieved some results, I still hope that my father can move and see with his own eyes. Son... a seventh-grade Daoji."

Liu Shenzhi said solemnly, even saying the words "Seventh Grade Dao Ji".

In the world, nothing is more important to a person than the path.

And in the road, the foundation is the lifeblood of the life. If the foundation is damaged, it is not impossible to lose items, or to die directly.

A very important part of the heel is the Daoji.

Saying this is basically a showdown for Liu Donghe.

As a biological father, I can never refuse this request.

So, Liu Donghe nodded: "Okay, after that, I'll go take a look, sit down, and eat first."

Liu Shenzhi sat down, and Li Qi also breathed a sigh of relief.

After that, no one spoke, everyone was cooking in silence, and the breakfast ended quickly.

Then, as mentioned just now, Liu Shenzhi took the initiative to put away the dishes and wash the dishes.

It's very convenient after washing, just use the magic method.

However, Liu Shenzhi practiced philosophy, so he was not very good at these things. He still took out a magic weapon, controlled the water flow, created a whirlpool, and then threw the bowl in and washed it quickly.

The speed of the vortex is at least one hundred kilometers per hour.

After paying the price of a few broken bowls, he got these things done, and then quickly took Liu Donghe to his small courtyard.

Li Qi naturally followed, but he didn't speak.

Soon, Liu Donghe followed Liu Canzhi to the small courtyard.

But as soon as he arrived, he frowned.

Just as he thought, a bunch of bugs gathered together and gnawed on some fragments of the magic weapon.

Full of... the aura of witchcraft.

Really unpleasant.

In the eyes of traditional humanity, witchcraft is a typical evil way. The Emperor of Humanity many years ago, when it was not the Tang Dynasty, was already an "evil witch and a poisonous beast" and caused many "witchcraft disasters".

Of course, that was in the past. Today's world is much more open and there are not so many prejudices. There are also many popular sciences about witchcraft on the network of the cardinals of all realms.

However, the overall image of witchcraft is still insidious and cunning.

To be honest, Li Qi felt that it was not others' fault. Even Li Qi himself felt that the methods of witchcraft were too weird. Many of the techniques could not be described as weird, but simply weird.

Compared with the magnificence and splendor of the Taoist sect next door, the methods of witchcraft are really... not easy to put on the stage, not to mention the historical origins of humanity and witchcraft.

But Liu Donghe is not a corrupt scholar. Although he does not like the methods of witchcraft, he also knows the pursuit of the path of witchcraft itself.

Although he does not approve, he will not belittle it.

In addition, this is the foundation of Taoism recognized by his own son, so he still patiently read it and used some Confucian methods.

Confucianism is good at using rules, but there are also some auxiliary techniques.

He clapped his hands lightly and chanted in a low voice: "Open your collar to drive away the miasma, and clear your eyes to sweep away the clouds and smoke."

This is a special rhythm, plus poetry.

A wise man said: "Poetry, ritual, and music, music can stir people's blood and make people not have any small bad intentions, which is pure natural law. This is what is called 'accomplishment through music'. For example, when people take medicine, they take it all the time at the beginning, and after taking it for a long time, their ears and eyes will be sharp and they will be effective. This is the rise of poetry, the establishment of rituals, and the completion of music."

Through such poetry, people can be 'smart', that is, their ears are sensitive and their eyes are bright.

As he spoke, his eyes were a little bright, and he glanced at the witch silkworm in front of him.

Every detail was visible, and no secrets could be hidden.

So he didn't even need any 'explanation', he saw all the designs of Li Qi and others at a glance.

"Is this... your achievement?" Liu Donghe was a little surprised, and turned his head to look at Li Qi and Liu Canzhi standing next to him.

This thing is really exquisite, and it is indeed qualified to be Liu Canzhi's foundation.

With the seventh and eighth grades, they have achieved such results. They are not fooling around.

"Yes, this is the result of my brother Li and I for more than half a year. Of course, it was still far from enough. But this time, Brother Li went back to Wushen Mountain and found the solution to our long-standing problem. Just yesterday, we finally made this thing have practical value." Liu Canzhi said immediately.

"Well... well done." Liu Donghe nodded.

Li Qi also took the opportunity to come out: "Uncle, we want to sell this thing to the outside world. Can you help us... promote it?"