Dayun 1452, Zhelong Mansion, Gaoliu County.

squeak~

Glancing at the messy Datong Shop behind him, Li Yuan pushed the door open and went out without waiting for the last one to leave the room.

The fog in the early morning of late autumn has not completely dispersed, but wisps of smoke are already rising in Gaoliu County, and some faint voices can be heard.

What came into view was a small courtyard, with six or seven boys about the same size as him, dressed in sackcloth and about fifteen or sixteen years old, busy with themselves.

Wash, chop wood, fetch water, light a fire, make rice...

"call!"

Tightening his thin gray linen clothes, Li Yuan took a deep breath and joined in the shouts of several apprentices.

A day as an apprentice in the 'Forging Shop' begins with chopping wood and fetching water.

"It's only one month and three days, how can you survive twelve years? This is too difficult... It was not easy to learn something in my previous life, but it is even harder in this life!"

Li Yuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart as his hands and feet were busy.

In his previous life, he learned from his wild Taoist master how to build mountains and erect graves, conduct Buddhist rituals, and assist in difficult births. He only spent two or three years there.

It actually takes twelve years to become an apprentice in this armory!

Three years of doing odd jobs, two years of helping, and seven years of service!

Li Yuan cursed in his heart, but he didn't dare to slow down even a little bit. He could only sigh that he had "awakened" too late. As soon as he woke up, he had "sold himself" to the "Forging Shop".

He was not assigned to the front yard because he was too thin...

"boom!"

Suddenly, there was a muffled sound from the kitchen.

The fat man holding a big spoon kicked a gray-clothed apprentice to the ground, and his face shook:

"You son of a bitch, I've had to endure a lot of hardships to learn how to cook with a spoon, and you dare to learn it secretly?!"

"Sun Zhangshao, I was wrong. I don't dare to do it anymore, I don't dare to do it anymore..."

The apprentice held his head and wailed, but he did not dare to escape and endured the beating.

All the apprentices in the small courtyard were silent. Li Yuan lowered his head and looked dull.

If an apprentice makes a mistake, the masters are naturally free to beat and scold them at will. This is written in the 'Deed of Sale'.

"Apprentice, apprentice, slave for three years", these words are not just words.

Fatty Sun, who was the boss, was considered half a master. He was in charge of their dozen apprentices and the food and drink of the 100 or so people in the blacksmith shop. He had a bad temper and beating and scolding apprentices was a common occurrence.

When he first came here a month ago, Li Yuan almost got his head knocked open by that rice spoon...

"Be more agile with your hands and feet. The masters in the front yard are getting up soon. If you delay them from eating, it won't be a matter of getting kicked a few times!"

Fatty Sun weighed his spoon and cursed.

The apprentices did not dare to raise their heads, but their hands and feet became faster and faster.

It wasn't until the fat man returned to the kitchen that the beaten apprentice got up without saying a word. Even though his whole body was in severe pain, he did not dare to delay his work.

Li Yuan looked dull.

The blacksmith shop is one of the largest blacksmith shops in Gaoliu County, with a staff of 180 guards, masters, helpers, and apprentices.

Apprentices, naturally, have the lowest status. They are paid less and eat less, and are often beaten and scolded. If they want to be treated better, they must at least become a helper or even a master.

"Twelve years..."

When the four-wheeled sun rose among the sea of ​​clouds, the food was finally ready, and the busy apprentices also had smiles on their faces.

Apart from meal time, the apprentices really don't have much free time all day long.

Chopping firewood, carrying water, preparing charcoal, carrying various iron ingots, wiping weapons, cleaning...

But even so, there is no shortage of people coming to the blacksmith shop every time it recruits apprentices.

There is no other reason. The treatment offered by the blacksmith shop is the best among all the apprentices recruited in Gaoliu County.

Not only do you get 30 copper coins a month as wages, but the food is also much better than in a medicinal shop or a carpenter's shop.

Blacksmithing is a very hard job, and you can't do it if you don't have enough money.

Of course, apprentices don't have this kind of treatment. They can only see some work every seven days. With this, an apprentice is very satisfied.

In the neighboring houses, you can only see a little meat and fish on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. What's more, you can't see any oil or water all year round...

At three o'clock in the morning, when the tinkling sound of iron could be heard faintly in the front yard, a group of apprentices had just had breakfast and had a moment to rest.

"It takes three years to become a helper..."

The apprentices were squatting in twos and threes in the corner. Li Yuan was squatting in a corner with his rice bowl in hand, holding the steamed bun in his arms with soreness, and he couldn't help but feel a little sour in his heart.

In his previous life, although he was a wild Taoist priest who was neither registered nor registered as a Taoist, he still had a lot of money to make by following his master in the countryside. Even at the worst time, he was not so miserable.

At this moment, he couldn't help but miss his previous life.

Beer, drinks, small barbecue, air-conditioning, TV, sofa, mobile phone... Even my own master who never forgets to be registered as a Taoist before he dies.

"Why did I travel through time?! Can I still go back?!"

After swallowing the rice soup, Li Yuan raised his head and looked at the sky, one large and three small, with four red suns, and almost shed tears.

Why did you travel through time?

In the past month or so, Li Yuan has thought about this problem more than once, recalling his memories before time travel over and over again.

As an unofficial Taoist priest, after his master left, he could hardly make money from weddings and funerals in the countryside. He had no choice but to change his profession and opened a small supermarket in his hometown town. Although he had no money, he was quiet.

"That day I was sitting on the sofa playing with my phone, and then...wait a minute, the enshrinement ceremony!"

As if lightning broke through the fog, Li Yuan trembled all over and almost spilled half a bowl of rice soup on the ground!

"Yes, the burial ceremony!"

Suppressing the throbbing in his heart, Li Yuan squatted back again, without attracting the attention of others, but his thoughts could not be suppressed.

In his previous life, his master, who was still unable to be compiled until his death, left him half a volume of Taoism.

He had read that book a few times, but he was not very interested in it. He also didn't take it seriously at all, as his master had always dreamed of "receiving a nun and becoming an immortal".

Until the day before the time travel, he somehow remembered the ritual recorded in the book.

then……

"Is it because of the ceremony?"

After pouring half the steamed bun and half the bowl of rice soup into his stomach, Li Yuan was still thinking in his heart.

He didn't think that the enshrinement ceremony could lead to him traveling through time, but other than this, he really couldn't think of any other possibility.

"Shou, the sky accepts..."

Li Yuan murmured in his heart.

Naturally, he is no stranger to receiving punishment.

Taoists believe that talismans are formed naturally by heaven and earth, copied by gods and passed down to the world.

Taoist priests can only control the talisman after receiving the talisman, being named Tiancao, and attaining the rank of Taoist priest. With this, they can possess incredible Taoist magical powers such as summoning ghosts and gods, calming the five directions, subduing demons, curing diseases, and eliminating disasters.

"The old man has always been obsessed with 'receiving a nun and becoming an immortal' all his life. Is it true?"

Li Yuan murmured in his heart.

He originally didn't believe in the old man's obsession. How old is he, but he still believes in the idea of ​​being a monk.

In his previous life, he also knew several Taoists who had been tortured, but none of them had any Taoist magical powers.

In particular, what is recorded in the half volume of Taoist books is not the orthodox receiving ceremony.

You must know that the orthodox ceremony of receiving the urn not only involves the conferring of the urn, but also includes the sutras, precepts, and the transmission of the urn. It also requires the overseer of the urn altar, the urn transmitter, the recommender, etc.

And the so-called 'God's teaching' in the book is actually simple, even crude...

But now...

"I've traveled through time, what else is impossible? Although, but... but what if?"

Li Yuan's mind wandered.

Reason told him that this was unlikely, but he still felt lucky in his heart.

What if?

"What if I, no, Master Tao, I really have the chance to be immortalized?"

The more he thought about it, the more uncontrollable the throbbing in Li Yuan's heart became. If he hadn't known that the time was wrong, he would have wanted to hold the ceremony right away.

What the hell apprentice, helper, master, shopkeeper?

Master Tao is going home!
Chapter completed!