Chapter 303: Believe In Science! Believe In Science! Believe In Science!
As Zhang Ke’s video spread, it gained very high popularity in a short time, and everyone who saw it online was shocked.
After all, Feng Shui belongs to metaphysics and is also part of traditional culture and heritage, and many times it is categorized as superstition.
As the association secretary-general, Ma Yuan’s position was quite awkward at times.
After all, he did not belong to the Daoist sect, yet he had to supervise the Daoist sect.
Crucially, given his role and stance, he could not believe in gods, and he could not talk about professional topics with those presidents and vice presidents.
But there was no help for it. Someone had to do this work, and at least basic supervision had to be done properly.
Freedom of belief was one thing, but engaging in feudal superstition and deceiving the public was another.
This boundary had to be grasped well.
This was also why there were so many bad sects in those two neighboring countries, while things here remained harmonious and focused on jointly building a harmonious socialist society.
The fact that today’s Wudang exchange meeting had been exposed via live broadcast also surprised him and even left him feeling helpless.
Previously, Wudang Qingwei Daoist Priest and Daoist Priest Li had said it was just a simple Daoist Scripture Exchange Meeting, so who would have thought that so many purple-robed daoist priests would go?
One had to know, there were many such Daoist sect exchange meetings every year, but when had there ever been such a grand lineup?
However, if it was only a Daoist Scripture Exchange Meeting, it was no big deal. After all, the Daoist sect was also one of the country’s cultural inheritances, and promoting it counted as showcasing the charm of traditional culture.
He just had not expected that news videos about purple robes gathering in Wudang to recreate a Feng Shui wonder would appear so quickly.
Feng Shui was also part of the Daoist sect’s inherited culture. Many daoist priests did Feng Shui readings for people, and doing it privately was no big deal.
But what they were doing now, was it not too big, with a rather bad impact?
This could easily be turned into promoting feudal superstition.
Most crucially, had they not agreed it was a Daoist Scripture Exchange Meeting?
He had no choice but to hurriedly call that Daoist Priest Li again.
Inside the hall of the Wudang Feng Shui Exchange Conference.
Chen Han was carefully studying the topographical maps provided by Wudang.
From the maps alone, he had to admit that Wudang was indeed one of the foremost famous and blessed mountains.
Within the country, perhaps only the Five Great Mountains could be compared to it.
Daoist Priest Xuan Shi, like an eager student, humbly brought over a topographical map to ask, “Chen Family Head, is the terrain here in Wudang a ‘Four Spirits Pattern’?”
Clearly, he had seen something from the geography and terrain, but he did not dare to be sure.
Chen Han saw it at a glance. “The geography and terrain here combined with Wudang’s buildings indeed form the four-spirits trend of Front Vermilion Bird, Back Black Tortoise, Left Azure Dragon, and Right White Tiger.”
“But looking at its location, the directions of sunrise and sunset it faces, and the Feng Shui Pattern of ‘front illumination, back support,’ this is a combined Feng Shui layout.”
It had to be said that Wudang’s various ancient buildings actually contained many Feng Shui Patterns. They were truly impressive.
Combining such buildings with the terrain itself was impossible without some Feng Shui ability.
However, for him this was all very simple, only a relatively difficult point within the knowledge of 《primary Feng Shui》.
“Thank you, Chen Family Head.” Daoist Priest Xuan Shi expressed his admiration and then returned to his seat, feeling a little annoyed.
He had clearly seen the Four Spirits Pattern, so how had he not seen the other aspect?
At this time, Qingwei Daoist Priest also brought topographical materials and several real-scene photos and humbly consulted Chen Han as well. “Chen Family Head, here several peaks encircle the summit, the peaks echo each other, and there are rivers flowing between them. Does this meet the ‘mountain and water embrace’ pattern?”
Chen Han said in surprise, “Qingwei Daoist Priest, you are not wrong. This is exactly the ‘mountain and water embrace’ pattern.”
It seemed the Wudang daoist priests had spent quite some time studying Wudang’s own geography and terrain.
If they continued to delve deeper with such a foundation, Wudang might indeed achieve something in Feng Shui.
After all, many things are like this: once there is a foundation, others build step by step on it and create profound developments.
The simplest example was scientific research.
Sometimes going from 0 to 1 is difficult. Once there is a 1, with human intelligence having a reference, it becomes easy to go from 1 to 2, then to 3…
While Chen Han and the daoist priests were studying the Wudang topographical information, the phone of association president Daoist Priest Li rang again.
Daoist Priest Li immediately signaled for everyone to quiet down, and the surroundings instantly fell silent.
He quickly picked up the call, turned on speakerphone, and having worked with this person in the association for so long, he could almost guess the call was about the exchange meeting again.
As soon as the call connected, Ma Yuan’s voice came. “President Li, we have cooperated for so long. I have treated you sincerely, right? Why are you and the daoist priests still playing tricks on me?”
Daoist Priest Li glanced at the other daoist priests and probed, “Brother Ma, what is this about? I have always treated you with sincerity. Have you forgotten? I usually don’t drink, I only drink for you, Brother Ma.”
Ma Yuan said bluntly, “Still denying it? Didn’t you say Wudang was having a Daoist Scripture Exchange Meeting? That you wanted to write Daoist scriptures? How did it become a Feng Shui Exchange Meeting? Now it is all over Douyin making a huge fuss.”
These words stunned the surrounding daoist priests.
The others had already started searching Douyin and quickly found a video about Thunder Fire Refining Golden Summit.
Sure enough, it was very popular, with very high numbers.
Chen Han saw it too. The key was that after this video went public, everyone believed the news; one only needed to look at the comment section.
“No wonder the Wudang Golden Summit is closed to the public.”
“I knew it. That live stream screen had so many purple robes.”
“So Feng Shui is real? The Golden Summit Feng Shui wonder really looks a bit like an immortal undergoing tribulation.”
“…”
This was rather awkward.
It was originally supposed to be quietly handled within the Daoist sect and then concluded, but who knew it would be blown up from the start?
This kind of thing was very sensitive; even if it was real, it was very troublesome.
The reason was the same one that made even novels reluctant to write such things in detail.
Daoist Priest Li also understood the situation from the video a nearby daoist priest handed him.
He immediately spoke indignantly into the phone, “Brother Ma, isn’t this promoting superstition? It must be handled strictly. Moreover, this has nothing to do with us. We are truly writing books.”
Seeing this daoist priest’s righteous indignation, Ma Yuan’s tone weakened a bit. “President Li, are you really only writing books? Not holding a Feng Shui Exchange Meeting? If you are, please tell me first, so I can help you manage it and eliminate negative influence.”
“Brother Ma, you are still probing and don’t believe me?” Daoist Priest Li put on an even angrier look and countered, “What era is this, still Feng Shui? We who cultivate the Dao all believe in science. How can you still not believe? Are you worthy of your own status? Be careful or I will file a complaint against you.”
“Hey, hey, hey, President Li, no such thing. I certainly believe in science. I will handle the online matter first.” Ma Yuan hurriedly said and quickly hung up.
He then took out his phone and looked at that video again, speechless. “Isn’t this making trouble? It must be handled, strictly handled. Does Douyin Video not review for feudal superstition?”
Wudang.
After Daoist Priest Li hung up, he subconsciously looked at Daoist Priest Chen.
It had to be said, this catchphrase was very useful.
Daoist Priest Chen looked completely speechless. Why was everyone stealing his catchphrase and using it even better than he did?
He only used it to deal with reporters. Look at who they were dealing with.
After that, Daoist Priest Li and the other daoist priests turned resentful gazes to Qingwei Daoist Priest, the meaning obvious: since you organized this Feng Shui Exchange Conference, could you not have done it more discreetly?
They had just finished reading Wudang’s topographical information, and the exchange meeting was already known to everyone online.
Was this a joke?
Qingwei Daoist Priest was extremely embarrassed and could only smile awkwardly. “Isn’t our Daoist sect always like this? Guarding against honorable people but not villains has always been a big problem.”
Sighs sounded, and the daoist priests did not want to argue this topic.
Instead, Celestial Master Zhang raised a question. “How do we respond about compiling Daoist scriptures? That secretary-general Ma may look like that, but he is actually not easy to deal with.”
Daoist Priest Li thought for a moment and said, “Chen Family Head has already agreed to provide 《basic Feng Shui》 for Daoist Academy students as course material. We can split this book into three parts: upper, middle, and lower. We will use the first part to handle that matter for now. After all, if it is to be a Daoist Academy textbook, we should show it to him as well. We kill two birds with one stone.”
One daoist priest frowned. “That is another problem. Right now all the noise online is because of Feng Shui. If we bring 《Feng Shui Basics》 over, isn’t that exposing ourselves?”
Daoist Priest Li immediately said, “How is that exposing ourselves? Is 《basic Feng Shui》 not a Daoist sect book? Is it not Daoist scripture? If 《basic Feng Shui》 aligns with geography and terrain, is that not Feng Shui geography? Is Feng Shui geography not geography? So tell me: is geography science or superstition?”
As he spoke, Daoist Priest Li smiled at the daoist priest and asked, “Daoist Priest Wu, you don’t believe in science? Are you saying geography is not science?”
“????” Daoist Priest Wu froze, then hurriedly said, “Daoist Priest Li, you can’t talk nonsense. How is it not science? Geography is of course science. Feng Shui is also science. We must believe in science.”
At once, the surrounding daoist priests all burst out laughing.
The matter was thereby defined.
Only Daoist Priest Chen’s mouth kept twitching. He slightly regretted not having applied for a patent.
If he had, all of them would have to pay him patent fees.
At this moment, Chen Han also understood why this Daoist Priest Li had been elected association president. His mind really was very sharp.
Judging by the wording of that association secretary-general’s call just now, one would not feel he was scheming, yet every sentence carried a test.
Change the daoist priest on this end, and maybe they could handle it for a day or two; but if it went on like that, their Dao heart might shatter.
So, Daoist Priest Li staying at the association side all this time was truly hard work.
Online, the news that Daoist sect purple robes were gathering at Wudang to restore the Thunder Fire Refining Golden Summit Feng Shui wonder had already reached a fever pitch.
Many Daoist-sect-related bloggers were reposting it.
Zhang Ke was naturally the biggest traffic beneficiary, and his account’s followers skyrocketed in a short time.
The feeling of eating up all that traffic was really wonderful.
But when he opened the backstage again to view the new stats, he was shocked to find that he had received a ban notice from the Douyin system.
The video was banned, and the account was banned as well.
Reason: promoting feudal superstition!
Ban duration: permanent.
“What the hell? Why?” Zhang Ke was dumbfounded and cursed out loud.
The pie had just fallen into his hands and was snatched away instantly. How was that reasonable?
He had his assistant check the reason with him, and they saw that the Daoist Association had released a message, a long text of about 500 words.
In short, their concise takeaway was: the daoist priests gathering in Wudang were compiling Daoist scriptures, which had nothing to do with Feng Shui. Everyone should believe in science and not be misled by people promoting superstition.
“So I became a superstition peddler?” Zhang Ke was stunned. He had only stated a fact.
What annoyed him even more was that although his account and video were banned, others who stole his video and reposted it were fine, such as the group owner who had kicked him out.
That guy just changed the title to: 《Many daoist priests gather at Wudang, perhaps to repair the Wudang Golden Summit!》
Why was that allowed?
And his own video was banned while the other’s video was doing quite well.
Most importantly, he saw several videos like that.
My god, it was unfair.
He had simply made wedding clothes for others.
Naturally, the online commotion also drew the attention of some people, since the Golden Summit was a Wudang wonder and also a marvel in the construction industry.
As an expert professor in civil engineering and geology, Yuan Xin held very high status in the field.
All this stemmed from his teacher’s guidance. He had even married his teacher’s daughter, counting as an inheritor.
Back then, his teacher’s involvement in guiding the Wudang Golden Summit project had been a great contribution.
His teacher’s thesis on 《world cultural… Wudang…………》 was now also one of the benchmarks in the field.
When he lectured on geology and thunder damage, he often used that thesis as an example. Recently he and a few friends had even thought of including it in relevant teaching materials, as a way to secure his teacher’s lasting fame.
But as the new era developed and the internet spread, many people had brought up the Wudang Golden Summit case again.
Those with low education and poor cultural quality only acted as keyboard warriors online, understood nothing, yet painted his teacher and the seniors as villains. It was outrageous.
But precisely because of this, his effort to push his teacher’s thesis into textbooks had encountered more obstacles.
Today, when he saw the news video saying that Daoist priests were gathering at Wudang to restore Feng Shui and repair the Golden Summit, he became very angry.
Leaving aside the superstition of Feng Shui, if they said they were repairing the Golden Summit, would that not imply his teacher and those seniors had been wrong and had “ruined” the Golden Summit?
This could not be allowed to be confirmed as fact. If it was, how could he push anything into teaching materials?
He contacted a familiar related leader directly and said, “Leader, Wudang is talking about repairing the Golden Summit. This cannot be messed with. Now that we finally have no thunder hazards, if many tourists come, it could easily cause problems.”
“Of course, if they truly want to work on it, it must be under professional guidance. I can invite several industry experts and form a guidance group to go there.”
After hanging up, Yuan Xin smiled.
Methods are always more than difficulties.
This was also the method his teacher had used before. If you discovered that the Golden Summit had a problem and wanted to repair it, you might not necessarily be allowed up there yourself. But if you contacted the relevant leaders and went there as a guidance group, it would be different.
After hanging up, Yuan Xin smiled broadly and pushed up his glasses.
…
Wudang.
After Daoist Priest Li finished handling Secretary-General Ma, Qingwei Daoist Priest suggested, “Since this time we invited everyone to repair the Thunder Fire Refining Golden Summit, how about all you fellow daoists go up to the Golden Summit with me?”
Naturally, this received everyone’s agreement, and they all subconsciously looked toward Chen Han.
After all, from here on, Chen Family Head was the most important.
Daoist Priest Chen was already leading people at the front, heading up the mountain from Wulong Palace. As the Golden Summit was a famous scenic spot, Wudang had long built a very long road.
And because there were too many tourists, the mountain road had been widened once. In the end, during peak tourist seasons they had no choice but to limit the number of visitors.
This also showed why guidance groups had been sent in those days: the reasons were compliant.
The key was that it had been a special era, and Wudang did not dare say “no.”
Dare to say it?
They might have “ascended” on the spot…
Chen Han and the daoist priests soon reached the Golden Summit at the peak of the mountain.
Standing there, Chen Han once again marveled at Wudang’s beautiful scenery and praised the greatness of this famous blessed land.
The Chen Clan’s place in that small mountain valley, no matter how many mysterious phenomena it had, really did seem like a mere ravine compared to such a famous mountain.
Now that the back mountain belonged to the Chen Clan’s merit industry, it was like a fig leaf.
But compared with a famous mountain like Wudang, that back mountain was truly like a small stream before the sea, especially when one gazed upon the scenery of the Seventy-two Peaks around.
Wudang’s encircling peaks, with Tianzhu Peak rising abruptly and being hailed as “a pillar supporting the sky,” formed a natural Feng Shui terrain.
The seventy-two surrounding peaks rose like overturned bells and tripods, clustered together, forming the natural Feng Shui wonder of “Seventy-two Peaks facing the Great Summit, twenty-four streams flowing long.”
Moreover, the peaks slanted toward the main peak from all directions, as if bowing to the Golden Summit, magnificent in momentum.
Such grandeur needed no words; the eye could see it directly.
This was also why that emperor, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Emperor Zhenwu, upon arriving here, wanted to gather the metaphysical power of the entire country to build up Wudang.
In his eyes, he was the reincarnation of Emperor Zhenwu, and this was to be his future temporary palace. Only such immortal mountains were worthy of the name Zhenwu.
Naturally, whether this emperor lived here after his death, nobody knew, because in reality such things do not exist.
If this were mythology and he really were Zhenwu reborn, he might stroll around here, enjoying the immortal mountain as his back garden.
If not, then perhaps he had not yet finished his punishment in hell, because impersonating Zhenwu and acting in Zhenwu’s name carried heavy karma.
After all, as a Ming emperor he was not the emperor of humanity in any divine sense. Even calling himself Son of Heaven, he was only a mortal.
Which heaven acknowledged him as its son?
Because today was overcast, even at this hour, clouds and mist surrounded the Golden Summit, making it look like a celestial pavilion floating in the sky, dreamlike and illusory, a natural “immortal gazing over the sea” pattern.
Thus, it was no accident that righteous sects chose famous mountains and developed there, enduring to this day.
Curious, Chen Han went over to inspect the Golden Summit. Online claims said the Golden Summit was cast copper with gilding; having withstood 600 years of lightning refining, it must not be ordinary copper.
But as he approached the Golden Summit to inspect it, the Feng Shui Spirit Record Stone he had placed in his pocket earlier reacted.
A game prompt appeared:
【The Feng Shui Spirit Record Stone has detected an incomplete Feng Shui formation, analyzing… lacking related supporting materials, analysis temporarily not possible…】
This prompt clearly showed that the Thunder Fire Refining Golden Summit was indeed a Feng Shui formation and that it was already damaged.
“Chen Family Head, we have already cleaned off the rust on this Golden Summit, but it is still dull and lusterless.” Qingwei Daoist Priest stepped forward with a sigh.
Just as he was about to say more, a call came in. After connecting, they heard Qingwei Daoist Priest say loudly, “What? Sending a guidance group over?”
This made the daoist priests around him gather closer, all frowning.
They had mostly encountered or heard of the term “guidance group.” To them, in the Daoist sect, having a bunch of people who did not understand cultivation or scripture meaning or anything else come and “guide” them was pure nonsense.
Given the situation now, they guessed it must be related to the Golden Summit.
Qingwei directly put the call on speaker. A voice came from the other end. “Qingwei Daoist Priest, this is because it concerns tourist safety, so having experts provide some guidance would be good.”
Qingwei Daoist Priest immediately exploded. “Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, leader, I don’t know what you are talking about. Our Wudang daoist priests have gathered only to exchange Daoist scriptures and to compose a Daoist scripture.”
“What is this about some guidance group coming to guide? Do they know how to chant scriptures? Do they understand the meaning of Daoist scriptures? Leader, you say you want to send a guidance group, yes?”
“Then I welcome them. I will immediately hold a press conference and say that you, leader, are sending a guidance group here to teach us how to chant scriptures and how to write scriptures.”
The leader on the other end was startled. If such a press conference were held, netizens would tear him apart tomorrow; the day after, he would have to consider whether to resign.
Terrified, he hurried to explain, “Qingwei Daoist Priest, listen to me, I did not mean that…”
Qingwei Daoist Priest, however, went all out. “Then what do you mean? We are exchanging Daoist scriptures, and you insist we are doing Feng Shui? We who cultivate the Dao all know Feng Shui is nonsense and that we must believe in science. You, a leader, do not believe in science?”
“Cough… cough…” The person on the other end, perhaps drinking something, obviously choked and hastily explained, “How could that be? Of course I believe in science. Well, Qingwei Daoist Priest, pretend I never made this call.”
What a joke. If an outsider teaching purple-robed daoist priests how to write Daoist scriptures blew up, it would at first be public uproar, and then trouble for him.
But being accused of not believing in science would be a major problem.
Had he known Qingwei Daoist Priest had such a temper, he would never have gotten involved.
After hanging up, Qingwei Daoist Priest snorted heavily, then looked at his junior brother Daoist Priest Chen, eyes full of satisfaction.
His junior brother’s catchphrase was truly powerful.
Did this count as an attack by words?
After all, sometimes the power of a single sentence was immense. Just look at that leader. With one phrase, he immediately claimed he had never made the call.
“…” Daoist Priest Chen was completely confused. Why did it suddenly feel as if the sect leader senior brother’s gaze at him was full of doting affection?
The other daoist priests, seeing Qingwei Daoist Priest’s dominance, all laughed. They could already guess: some people wanted to repeat their old tricks.
Unfortunately, those people seemed to have forgotten that the era had changed. In that special era, the power of speech was in the hands of certain experts and professors, and the Daoist sect had been helpless about some things.
Modern times were different. In this country there was freedom, and the Daoist sect was a recognized cultural inheritance.
If you came to “guide,” guide what exactly? We are at a Daoist Scripture Exchange Meeting, and you want to guide us in writing scriptures?
The Daoist sect also had many media accounts. The well-known daoist priests’ accounts together had countless fans.
Just at Wudang alone, the accounts they could mobilize—those with hundreds of thousands or over a million fans—could easily reach tens of millions of followers collectively. And if you included non-Daoist bloggers related to the Daoist sect, that number would be even greater.
Care to guess how many followers the entire Daoist sect community might have?
Want to see whether news about an outsider guiding us in writing scriptures ruins our reputation, or ruins yours?
You say we are not exchanging Daoist scriptures? Do we ourselves not know? You outsiders understand better than we do?
They were cultivators, not idiots. They kept up with the times, knew how to use mobile phones, how to drive cars, and how to play the game of public opinion.
On the other side, after contacting that leader, Yuan Xin did not hesitate and went on to contact members of a small group.
The guidance group could not be just him alone. He contacted the descendants and students of those seniors from back then.
With these people forming a guidance group and going to Wudang to “guide,” it would surely be remembered as a fine story.
This was called passing the torch and contributing to lightning protection work. Countless tourists should thank them.
“Professor Yuan, are you sure this will work?” asked the professor on the other end of the call, puzzled.
Yuan Xin said confidently, “Old Lin, what problem could there be? We have the answers already placed there. Copying them, how could we fail? I believe there will be news soon. What we should consider now is which flight tickets to buy.”
……
