Chapter 126 Misunderstandings Should Be Cleared Up
Lian Zhuo stood there, watching the blood droplets rolling down his palm. The wound spread through him, but he still felt it wasn't enough and slowly clenched his fist.
The hand that had just been holding the girl's hand, immersed in the joy of their reunion, was now covered in blood in an instant.
All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning; thus should they be viewed.
However, his cultivation level was ultimately insufficient, so even though he was disliked, he couldn't help but silently calculate the time it would take for Huali to leave.
Thirty-seven steps, from the second-floor staircase to the steps below the hall...
"Lotus Wash!"
As footsteps approached from behind, Huali's clear voice rang out out of nowhere. The Buddhist disciple's pupils contracted sharply; for a moment, he couldn't even distinguish between reality and illusion.
He slowly turned his head and saw the girl, her lotus-colored skirt sweeping across the vermilion staircase, running towards him as she returned.
The twilight blossomed in her eyes, magnifying even the trembling of her breath.
The tranquil state of mind that had remained stagnant for a century cracked at this moment, and the roar from his heart was like the temple bell in an ancient temple deep in the mountains.
Thump—thump—
Lian Zhuo's blood-stained hand slowly, very slowly, covered her chest. This place, which should have been clear and bright like a mirror, was now heaving violently under her robe.
Huali, exhausted from running back, gasped for breath, "Renju... I've thought about it and I still feel there's some misunderstanding..."
The rest of her words were left unsaid; her wrist tightened, her eyes widened, and she was already enveloped in the swirling snow-white of the monk's robe.
"The last time." Lian Zhuo inhaled the scent of pear blossoms from the girl's body, and the chest that had been silent for a hundred years beneath his cassock began to resonate like a bell.
From infatuation comes love, and thus my illness arises.
From then on, he always ran to her.
Sensing Lian Zhuo's tense body, Hua Li's almond-shaped eyes slowly relaxed, and she gently reached out to hug Lian Zhuo back.
"Okay, this is the last time." Huali nodded in response, thinking he was referring to concealing her identity.
A crimson feather brushed against the girl's Adam's apple, causing a subtle tickle. Lian Zhuo paused for a moment before releasing the girl from his arms. "You...aren't you angry?"
Karin blinked and spoke frankly, "I feel more embarrassed than angry, you know, about the things I did..."
Thinking of those "Buddhist disciples' exclusive" books in Fufeng City, Lian Zhuo's eyes flashed with understanding. He slowly said, "Buddhist disciples have indeed read those books and also love to eat candied hawthorns."
Huali paused for a moment, then looked up and met Lianzhuo's eyes, which held a faint smile. "So, you weren't lying."
"Ah...this...I..." Huali was speechless for once, but her almond-shaped eyes also blossomed with a smile. "Alright, then I'll clarify with Tang Wanwan later that I was right!"
At the same time, the crowd in the square began to make noise as the competition rules appeared on the water mirror. Huali stepped forward, grabbed Lianzhuo's wrist, and was about to leave when she noticed that his palm was bleeding.
Huali summoned a wood-type card, "What happened to your hand? Let me heal it for you."
Lian Zhuo stopped her and shook her head, saying, "This card has taken a lot of your effort; there's no need for that."
Huali wanted to persist, but Lianzhuo's spiritual power surged, and her palm was instantly unharmed. "Alright, let's go."
Yes, Lian Zhuo is at the Nascent Soul stage, oh no, I mean the Integration stage, she's incredibly powerful.
"Hualin, I didn't mean to hide it..." Lianzhuo pursed her lips, "I..."
"It's alright, it's just a misunderstanding, it'll be fine once it's been cleared up. Only by talking it out can we know what the other person is thinking, it's pointless to guess." Huali waved her hand, "Besides, it'll just make you feel uneasy."
Lian Zhuo nodded. Such a simple truth, yet he was clinging to appearances.
"So! There's something I have to tell you," Karin's gaze suddenly turned serious.
Lian Zhuo stiffened, then heard the girl speak righteously, "Do you know that there are people in your Buddhist territory who are using your name to lend money at exorbitant interest rates?"
Lotus Wash: ""
"You really didn't know." Huali said knowingly. What goes around comes around; no one escapes the wrath of heaven. You just wait, you loan shark, she's about to rip you off!
Lian Zhuo stared at the girl as she regained her lively demeanor from when they used to be together, her fingertips brushing against the Soul-Gathering Bottle in her sleeve.
He dared not ask for the twin lotus blossoms before the Buddha, but only wished to keep her skirt hem forever untouched by dust.
*
The sun was about to set, but had not yet set.
The cloud-patterned stone ground in the east of Tianlan City has begun to glow with a faint blue fluorescence, and words are slowly emerging from the water mirror floating directly above the square.
Below the water mirror was a dense crowd, their cloaks and ribbons fluttering in the strong wind.
Hua Li and Ao Bai on her shoulder both looked towards the crowd.
A sword cultivator carrying a sword case is braiding a red rope around the sword tassel; a young man wearing a skull mask is perched on the head of a stone lion, fiddling with puppet strings; further away are a music cultivator holding a pipa and a talisman cultivator whose outer robe is covered with talismans, and all of these cultivators are, without exception, rogue cultivators.
Tang Wanwan pointed to the water mirror, "It's out."
Looking down from the rosewood tree, several rows of large characters came into view.
The selection process for independent cultivators will begin the day after tomorrow, requiring them to complete three rounds of tests within a single day. After that, they will have three days to rest before the opening of the Prelude to Dream Realm.
The first round is a flag-capturing battle, where all qualified Golden Core cultivators enter the Seven Luminaries Star Array to snatch the twenty-eight flags floating above. Only cultivators who obtain a flag are qualified to enter the next round.
The second round is the Illusion Stage, which will visualize the contestants' inner fears. Only by defeating their inner demons within the specified time can they enter the third round.
Compared to the first round, which tested the adaptability of independent cultivators in a large-scale battle, and the second round, which honed their character in an illusionary realm, this third round was quite normal: a tournament.
Only three spots will be available to enter the Dream Realm.
As independent cultivators have no sect or faction, they receive few resources. This opportunity is rare, which is why it has attracted so many people.
The scene before her eyes instantly ignited Huali's passion. Wasn't this the legendary path to becoming a protagonist, the beginning of going from an unknown extra to the male lead?
Like the Yangtze River, the new generation surpasses the old; your journey to success, Huali, begins now!
But just as he was getting excited, his rumbling stomach slapped him back onto the beach.
Sigh, we ordered a whole table full of food but didn't eat a single bite. So extravagant!
Knowing the rules, Tang Wanwan first smiled ladylike at the Buddhist monk, then grabbed Huali and said, "Alright, didn't you say you wanted to eat? Come with me, I'll take you back to the house I bought."
Hua Li's eyes lit up with emotion, just as she heard Tang Wanwan squeeze out a voice through gritted teeth: "As a reward, you have to tell me what exactly happened between you and Lian Zhuo? And that other person too."
Huali: "......"
She turned to look at Lian Zhuo, "Lian Zhuo, did you bring Buddhist cultivators from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect with you this time?"
Lian Zhuo nodded, "The Buddhist sect has settled in Wolong Temple in the city."
Knowing that Lian Zhuo couldn't escape, Hua Li breathed a sigh of relief, and now she had hope for the next Earth-type card, Little Star.
She nodded to Tang Wanwan, "If you ask me, that's fine, but that's at a different price."
Tang Wanwan didn't care at all, "Fine, fine, let's go!"
*
After parting ways with Lian Zhuo, Hua Li happily followed Tang Wanwan to a quiet courtyard. Normally, the Lingjian Sect had designated lodgings for its disciples, but for some reason, Tang Wanwan insisted on staying here herself.
Perhaps this is just the capriciousness of the wealthy.
Looking over, Huali noticed that the courtyard gate was made of simple old wood, but the wooden rings were made of bronze, and the courtyard walls were high and made of blue bricks.
This doesn't look particularly special, does it? Could there be something more to it than meets the eye?
Perhaps because the doubt on Huali's face was too obvious, Tang Wanwan rolled her eyes and said, "What are you looking at? This is the best location in Tianlan City. This little courtyard alone costs a thousand high-grade spirit stones."
One thousand? High-grade? Spirit stones?
Huali gasped. Beijing's Second Ring Road? No wonder!
The country bumpkin, who had never seen the world, dusted himself off and was about to prostrate himself in worship when a shadow suddenly appeared in the sky above him.
Without warning, the air currents swept up fallen petals from the ground.
As the wind blew up the hair by Huali's ears and the red feathers, a black-clad youth rode a celestial horse, breaking through the sea of clouds above.
The frost-colored wings of the celestial horse brushed past the top of the rosewood tree. The young man's eyes were like blades as he flew straight into the courtyard separated by a wall.
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