Chapter 50 The Strange Taoist Priest
"Spring Mountain...that's a very beautiful name."
Lin Chengye and Bian Yi dismounted before entering the mountain gate and tied their horses to a thick metasequoia tree. There were no gatekeepers or any mechanisms at the Qingluan Xianzhi Temple, making it even stranger than the Shenshu Tianji Sect.
Only the layers of stone steps, quietly hidden in the mountain stream, remained. Lin Chengye and Bian Yi walked slowly side by side, neither of them wanting to say anything, as if this place should remain tranquil.
Before long, Lin Chengye felt increasingly heavy, and the chilly mountain mist almost soaked her hair and clothes. Bian Yi placed her hand on her shoulder, releasing a surge of powerful internal energy, and their clothes instantly dried again.
"Why would you use your internal energy in something like this?"
Lin Chengye felt a pang of heartache watching her. After recovering her body, she was finally able to learn the true art of forging, but after a few days, she discovered that her internal energy couldn't even support her swinging the hammer a few times before it was completely depleted.
Bian Yi gave her some pointers on controlling her internal energy. She only needed to let her internal energy flow into her palm through the meridians of her arm at the moment the hammer and iron clashed; there was no need to exert force from beginning to end.
"If not now, when?"
Bian Yi casually picked a half-green, half-red fruit from the tree, took a bite, and her face scrunched up from the sourness. She quickly threw it away. She said matter-of-factly.
"I think it would be better to use it this way: to dry clothes and keep leftover porridge warm. That way, there wouldn't be so much fighting and killing in the martial arts world."
As Chu Wuding had described, Qingluan Xianzhi Temple was indeed a rather otherworldly place, even somewhat desolate. Before she entered the martial world, she had imagined that the residences of reclusive heroes were no more than this.
However, now that she has passed through Jiangjin Alliance, Penghua City, and Shenshu Tianji Sect, this place doesn't seem so good anymore. Instead, she feels that it lacks the hustle and bustle of the human world.
Lin Chengye shook his head and said.
"No wonder no one guards the mountain gate. The mountain fog is so thick that ordinary people can't get in and would instead get lost in the mountains."
As they walked through the mist, they could only make out the blue stone steps beneath their feet; even time itself seemed to blur. They didn't know how much time had passed, but the path grew increasingly steep and narrow, until finally it was too narrow for the two of them to walk side-by-side. They could only walk one in front of the other, with towering, sheer cliffs on either side of them. Looking up, all they could see was a vast expanse of sky, the moonlight compressed into thin streaks.
After walking a few more steps, the view suddenly opened up, and finally the vermilion gate of the Azure Phoenix Carrying a Lingzhi Temple came into view. A woman in green was standing outside the gate, her eyes closed and covered by a light veil. Her soft silk sleeves fluttered in the wind, her body straight as a pine tree and slender as a willow. She held a long staff in her hand, and a red dot of vermilion was on her forehead, making her look more like a page of some deity.
"My name is Chuhe, and I await your arrival in the presence of my master."
The woman didn't open her eyes, but bowed directly in their direction, her voice calm and devoid of any emotion. She turned around and said again.
"Please come with me."
"Chu Wuding is actually here?"
Bian Yi clicked her tongue in amazement; she had never seen that person leave Ji Gongyun's side before.
Lin Chengye had intended for her to behave herself in front of other people's disciples, but unexpectedly Chu He didn't react at all, so he gave up.
Chu He remained completely silent the entire way, neither turning back nor exchanging words with them. And now, in the deep of night, with no one else to compare herself to, Lin Chengye wondered if all the disciples of the Qingluan Xianzhi Temple were like her.
"Young Master Chu, please forgive my intrusion."
Lin Chengye frowned, then suddenly spoke, breaking the eerie silence.
Why don't you open your eyes?
"It's too much trouble, and it's unnecessary."
Chu He's voice remained calm, as if she was not at all dissatisfied with Lin Chengye's intentional offense. She simply reached out and adjusted the light veil over her eyes, and said...
"The world's appearances are like flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water; the turbid dust obscures our vision and confuses our minds. What we see may not be true, and we may even fall into the tribulations of spiritual practice."
"Thank you for informing me, Young Hero."
Lin Chengye said nothing more, exchanging a helpless glance with Bian Yi. Bian Yi shrugged, clearly finding this explanation even more unorthodox.
Suddenly, Chu He stopped, bowed his head, clasped his hands, and stepped aside.
Another aged yet powerful voice broke through the mountain mist, and Chu Wuding appeared out of nowhere, already standing in front of them, still holding the same unchanging wine gourd in his hand.
"You're slower than I expected. I thought you'd arrive this morning."
"I didn't know before that the place where the jade vein was located was actually the Qingluan Xianzhi Temple. Ah Ye thanks Master Chu again."
Lin Chengye nodded slightly.
"Guan Xiaoxian thought I was giving her face. The Divine Pivot Heavenly Mystery Sect thinks too highly of itself."
Chu Wuding waved his hand. He didn't care about such formalities; it was just a small favor. It would also be good for Lin Chengye to recover his martial arts skills sooner.
"Alright, I'll be leaving now. There are too many things to do in the capital, I can't leave. I just came back today to visit and happened to arrive to say hello. As for the rest, just do as Chuhe says."
A gentle breeze wafted around Chu Wuding, and just as he was about to use his lightness skill to leave, Lin Chengye quickly stopped him.
"Master Chu, are you... at the age of fifty?"
She's had this question in her mind for days, and she's not feeling quite comfortable until she figures it out.
"This humble Taoist priest is nearing seventy years of age."
Chu Wuding shook her head and gave Lin Chengye a meaningful look. As the two brushed past each other, she spoke again in a voice only she could hear.
"...The appearance of martial arts practitioners is quite deceptive."
"Yes, you don't look like it at all."
Lin Chengye's thoughts were unreadable, his lowered eyelashes trembling slightly.
...
Chu He led the two of them into an empty courtyard. In stark contrast to the luxurious atmosphere of the Divine Pivot Heavenly Mystery Sect, the environment here could only be described as simple and shabby.
She tossed a small jade pendant to Lin Chengye, only about an inch long, with a texture similar to that of warm jade.
"You two can stay here. The jade vein is on the back of Spring Mountain. With this jade token, the gatekeepers will not stop you."
Before Lin Chengye could express his gratitude, Chu He's indifferent voice rang out again.
"It's been raining a lot in Mengshan City lately, so you two shouldn't go down the mountain. Otherwise, you might encounter a river bursting its banks and get hurt."
"The people living down the mountain..."
Lin Chengye frowned. She felt that this person's attitude was too indifferent and that he was deliberately drawing a line between himself and the world.
"This is a matter for the government, and has nothing to do with you two, nor with the Qingluan Xianzhi Temple."
Chu He interrupted her, but remained expressionless. She seemed to have done what she was supposed to do, and turned to leave without saying a word.
"...I don't really like this place."
Bian Yi watched Chu He's departing figure and murmured to himself.
"It's strange. I know Chu He is right, but I just feel a little uncomfortable."
"Me too," Lin Chengye sighed. But one can't really blame Qingluan Xianzhi Temple for this; choosing to leave the world or enter it is a choice, and there is no inherent superiority or inferiority between them.
However, she and Chu He are bound to be on different paths and cannot be friends.
Lin Chengye suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for Yu Jiang and Liu Zhenglin. This parting would last until November, and he wondered if the two of them would write a few letters.
...
On the north side of Chunshan Mountain, mist hangs in the air, and a waterfall roars out of the gorge, washing over the rocks on both sides and polishing them to a smooth, reflective surface.
But the cascading waterfall and the continuous rain did not make the place cold and gloomy; instead, a warmth flowed beneath the earth.
This is the Jade Vein. Lin Chengye has been recuperating here for half a month. The lingering Yin-Yang snake venom in her body is slowly softening, and is actually beneficial to her martial arts training.
Suddenly, a blurry shadow moved on the rock at the very bottom of the waterfall, like a person. The person slapped a palm towards the rocks in front of them, and the rain falling from the sky seemed to be stopped by some force, pausing for a moment. Then, the rocks let out a rumbling sound as they collapsed into small pieces.
Lin Chengye emerged from under the waterfall, soaked to the bone. She wiped the water from her face, clenched her fist excitedly, and felt the inner sea break through the barrier that had stood for so long.
"The third floor...!"
Before she could even feel happy, a scream suddenly came from the spot where the rocks had shattered.
"ah!"
"who!"
Lin Chengye's expression hardened; she hadn't expected there to be anyone else here. She quickly leaped onto the rocks.
A girl with pale lips fell into the water, seemingly stunned, forgetting even to wipe the blood from the stones that had cut her face. She was probably only five or six years old, as soft and fragile as a kitten.
Lin Chengye quickly knelt down and hugged the girl. He reached out to check her breathing and breathed a sigh of relief after realizing she was just unsteady from being startled.
How did this girl end up here? Where are her parents? How could they let their child run into such a dangerous mountain? If they had come any later, she would have been poisoned to death by this miasma.
"you……"
The girl was extremely thin, almost skin and bones. Lin Chengye could encircle her wrist with just two fingers. Her clothes were tattered, and she had long since lost her shoes, which were now raw and bleeding from being rubbed by tree branches.
The girl had dark skin, but her eyes were like a puppy's, moist and bright.
The moment she saw Lin Chengye, the girl suddenly grabbed his loose hair and exclaimed excitedly.
"Sister, are you a fairy? Are you the Goddess of Spring? I! I've really found her!"
"...I am not."
What Spring God? There's only a group of strange Taoist priests here.
Lin Chengye winced in pain as he freed his hair. He ruffled the girl's hair and asked...
"May I have your name?"
"...I don't have one, I don't have a name."
The little girl answered blankly, her voice barely audible. As if unwilling to give up, she repeated herself.
"I came...I...I came to find the God of Spring."
"You stay here for now, I'll take you down the mountain tomorrow."
Oh no, I wonder if she's inhaled too much miasma and gone mad. Lin Chengye didn't understand what the Spring God was; it was probably something adults made up to coax children. She sighed and patted the chubby little face of the girl in her arms.
"Don't be afraid, I'll take you down the mountain first thing tomorrow morning."
"I really came to find the Goddess of Spring! I..."
Seeing that Lin Chengye didn't seem to believe her, the girl pouted, her eyes reddened with anxiety, and large tears streamed down her face. She wiped her snot on her chest, looking utterly pitiful. The girl gestured wildly with her hands and feet.
"I've forgotten why I came to find the God of Spring, I've forgotten, I've forgotten... but it's very important, very important..."
“Mother said, Mother said, only the God of Spring can save us…”
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