Escape into another ethereal world 2
Misfortune begins in order to corrupt people's morals.
Huaiwen could easily guess that the misfortune began because the female ghost wanted her to cross the line and complete those unspeakable things in her dreams.
Everyone knows that cultivating immortality requires suppressing emotions and eliminating distracting thoughts. Even Fu Lin said to Pei Suqin that those without emotions or desires are not worthy of becoming immortals.
But that refers to those who become priests. If they are indifferent and heartless, unable to feel the suffering of the world, and unable to share joys and sorrows with the people, then they are not worthy of being gods.
Pei Suqin's desire for literature was uncontrollable, preventing him from attaining immortality.
There are so many ways in the world that can arouse people's emotions and desires, and so many things that can destroy people's ability to become immortals, yet Pei Suqin insists on using this method!
Huaiwen's heart tightened. If she couldn't regain her senses, she would likely be trapped in those acts of lustful release, unable to extricate herself. The paradox prevented her from being content; how could someone who couldn't be content attain enlightenment?
But Huaiwen also lamented and grieved, realizing that ultimately, it was all her fault. She had underestimated him from the start, allowing Pei Suqin to plant the red spider lily in her hair. She had walked into Pei Suqin's trap. It was her impure thoughts that gave Pei Suqin the opportunity to take advantage.
Huaiwen sighed, lamenting that none of this was real. Even though her senses felt so real. Her innocence and that of her master were undeniable.
With Xuan Ye —
Huaiwen stopped there. Those two passionate outbursts clearly showed that she had been able to firmly refuse the first one from the very beginning, but in the second, she was seduced and succumbed...
If not, with those wisps of reason returning, perhaps even more scenes would unfold.
She hadn't expected that even in that situation, Xuan Ye would say such comforting words. This was Xuan Ye in her illusion, bringing a new signal to her heart.
If the Spirit Butterfly hadn't disappeared and the underground river hadn't surged, she probably would have stayed here reflecting for a long time.
Huaiwen took a deep breath and readjusted her thoughts. The most important thing right now was to escape from here, remove the red spider lily that Pei Suqin had left on her, and find out the truth of the past.
Using the light flickering from the butterfly, Huaiwen followed the direction of the underground river. The underground cave was very cool. Huaiwen's inner garment was still somewhat damp, and she couldn't help but sneeze several times.
These sounds echoed ethereally here.
The further she walked, the deeper she found herself going. She followed the underground river, making a turn.
The scenery around her was completely different. She saw crystals growing on the rock walls, each a different color, shimmering in the darkness.
Further in, it wasn't just the crystals that were shimmering; the entire underground rock wall was emitting a fine shimmer. Huaiwen couldn't help but reach out and touch it. The fine shimmer landed in her palm, but quickly disappeared.
Filled with doubt and curiosity, Huaiwen took a few more steps forward, only to find a narrow crevice before her. Clearly, this meant that what lay ahead was a dead end.
However, water is flowing out from below the slit, which must mean that there is an underground river tributary behind the slit.
Just in case, Huaiwen released the spirit butterfly to slip through the gap and explore the other side. For a while, the spirit butterfly remained silent. Left with no other option, Huaiwen performed a divination and deduced that the spirit butterfly was dead.
Could there be something terrifying behind this narrow crevice?
This made Huaiwen tense and vigilant.
To test it again, Huaiwen cast a spell towards the slit. Oh no, her spell failed! She was pulled by the immense gravity, like a falling leaf, through the narrow crevice.
She slipped through the narrow crevice like a falling leaf, only to crash to the ground like a boulder. Huaiwen quickly raised his head, preparing to face the enemy.
But when Huaiwen looked up, she realized that what appeared before her was not an enemy, but a small island surrounded by an underground river.
The first thing that catches the eye is the three-meter-tall stone tablet on the island, with blue bricks at its base. Jade bridges, more than one meter above the ground, extend from both sides and the front of the island, connecting it to the surrounding area.
These jade bridges are also carved with many murals, depicting lively celebrations upon closer inspection. Huaiwen had never seen these scenes outside. In addition, four tall bronze statues stand on either side of the jade bridge in front, like guards protecting the people engraved on the stone tablets.
In front of the bronze figure are two large bronze cauldrons, with crystals growing upside down on top, and water droplets falling into the bronze cauldrons along the crystals.
Each drop of water that fell made a crisp sound in the bronze cauldron. Huaiwen curiously peered inside, but the cauldron, which should have been filled with water, was completely empty. The water droplets that fell evaporated upon impact with the cauldron.
This looks too much like a tomb.
But who would build a tomb in such a place?
To find out for herself, Huaiwen mustered her courage, prepared herself, and cautiously walked onto the jade bridge, thinking more deeply with each step she took.
Crossing the jade bridge, Huaiwen arrived at the small island where the stone tablet was located. She first stood in front of the tall stone tablet, looking up at the auspicious cloud and dragon patterns carved on it, as well as two lines of text. But Huaiwen did not recognize those characters.
As she marveled, she walked around the stone tablet to the right, and sure enough, behind the stone tablet was a small and exquisite box made of Phoebe zhennan wood, placed on a stone pillar two meters above the ground.
Logically, the wooden box should have been the coffin of the deceased, but it was too small to fit a person inside. Therefore, it can only be said that the box contained something that could serve as a substitute.
Behind the stone tablet were densely packed characters, but Huaiwen couldn't understand a single one. Although she was someone who loved spending time in the library, she had never seen this script before.
She didn't know which country's script it was.
But guessing from this, the text did not survive, for fear that the country was destroyed and not a single person was left behind.
After Huaiwen walked around the stone tablet once and returned to the front of it, her mood became increasingly heavy.
She can't tell if she's still within the territory of Fengqin Mountain, or who this stone tablet is commemorating. How can she get out?
In the moment of Huaiwen's sorrow, the crystals became even brighter, and the stone walls began to shimmer. Huaiwen looked around, trying to find out why.
"ah!"
Huaiwen couldn't help but shout out. The red spider lily on her arm suddenly shone brightly. She held her left arm and looked at the red spider lily, which emitted a beam of red light that connected with the highest point of the stone tablet.
Her soul was possessed at this moment.
Pei Suqin's memories flooded back to Huaiwen once again.
Eight hundred years ago.
People flocked to Fengqin Mountain to become his disciples. Fulin was very worried. He had given up his position as a priest because he did not want the hustle and bustle of the world. He only wanted to spend the rest of his life in peace.
But everything went against his original intention when he came to Fengqin Mountain. He originally wanted to pretend he didn't see it, but it caused chaos in the human world, killing in the demon world, and criticism in the god world.
He couldn't let the world be thrown into chaos because of him. So, from among the many people who came to seek his guidance, he selected five people who were destined to become his disciples.
Pei Suqin was one of them.
The magical arts these five disciples learned from their initial master changed under Fu Lin's tutelage. Fu Lin often had them identify problems themselves and then pose those problems for them to solve.
Cultivation is not about a group of people sitting in meditation in front of the hall every day. Instead, it is about letting them each find a place on Fengqin Mountain that best matches their spiritual energy, and then settle down to cultivate their mind and character.
This unique method of nurturing and cultivating immortality allowed these five disciples to each achieve immortality. These five are also the only group of disciples in the eight hundred years of Fengqin Mountain who entered together and all of them have attained immortality.
Of the five, Pei Suqin was the youngest. She came to Fengqin Mountain when she was only seven years old. Being young, she was pampered by everyone from a young age.
But when she was 15, she gradually noticed that her senior classmates and master were spending less and less time with her. This disparity made her very upset and unhappy.
She wanted to ask everyone why they had stopped looking for her, but unexpectedly stumbled upon Fu Lin drinking and making merry with others in the mountains. In that instant, Pei Suqin realized that Fu Lin hadn't had time for her because she was with other people.
This person was the High Priest Nanzhi, a close friend of Fulin in the divine realm. The two were always inseparable and got along well. It was said that they were once considered a perfect couple in the divine realm.
The girl's jealousy was revealed for the first time; Pei Suqin disliked Nan Zhi taking away her master's time.
Pei Suqin once asked Fulin why the immortal Nanzhi always came to Fengqin Mountain. Logically speaking, a priest should do his duty, not come here to kill time.
Fu Lin then told Pei Suqin that it was her duty to come to Fengqin Mountain from Nanzhi.
This confused Pei Suqin; she couldn't understand these sentences. Fulin, however, smiled and told her to focus on her cultivation and not be distracted.
“But Master, you don’t see us often enough, and you still have to make time to meet with Immortal Nanzhi… You don’t have any time to spend with us!”
“I see… But Ah Qin, your teacher lives with you all on Fengqin Mountain.”
Pei Suqin was speechless and could only walk away angrily. The tantrums and jealousy of a 15-year-old girl could still be attributed to childishness and immaturity.
But at twenty-five or twenty-six, jealousy is no longer just a tantrum. Love lies deep at the bottom of a lake, and when it rises, it surges like a raging torrent.
So she asked Fu Lin, "How can a person with seven emotions and six desires attain immortality?" The answer she received was exactly that: those who are without emotion and righteousness are not worthy of attaining immortality.
Love ran rampant, and Pei Suqin couldn't control it. Unable to concentrate on her cultivation, she sat by the clear pool, gazing at her reflection, her face filled with despair. She decided to soak in the pool to calm herself. Unexpectedly, staying too long made her fall ill.
After Pei Suqin fell ill, Fu Lin came to visit her.
"Master, why are you here?" Pei Suqin asked, both surprised and delighted.
Fu Lin brought in pastries and placed them on the table: "I heard you haven't been eating much these past few days. I'm not very good at cooking, so I went down the mountain to buy some of your favorite pastries for you."
Pei Suqin glanced at the pastries on the table; they were indeed her favorites. But for some reason, she felt a little sullen and didn't get up to eat them. Instead, she bowed her head and said thank you.
Seeing that she was different from usual, and remembering that she had recently asked him how to control her emotions and desires, Fu Lin sat down by her bedside.
"Aqin, do you know that the pursuit of fame and fortune and the attainment of immortality are two things that the human and demon realms have in common?" Fulin asked gently.
Pei Suqin shook his head, stroked the bamboo wick and continued, "Whether they are people who want to pursue fame and fortune or Taoist priests who want to become immortals, there are two things in common for them: time and restraint."
"Time is something that neither humans nor gods can control, so it is especially precious, and self-control is the key to their success. To succeed, one must resist external temptations, let go of all distractions, and focus on what one needs to do. A brief deviation will not have fatal consequences, but if one cannot escape during this period of deviation, one will be trapped in it and unable to escape."
"You can't escape being human; you'll be consumed by desires, and then it will be impossible to attain enlightenment again," Fu Lin earnestly advised. "You know that human lifespan is limited and short. Who knows, death might come even sooner than fame and fortune..."
“Master…” Pei Suqin interrupted Fu Lin with his head down, “Does being ruthless and devoid of love really make one an immortal?”
Fu Lin sighed deeply: "Aqin, this is not up to you or me, but rather there are other rules governing this world."
"Does becoming an immortal mean you no longer have to be heartless and loveless?"
Fu Lin paused for a moment, then sighed, "Perhaps."
After that, Pei Suqin suddenly had an epiphany, as if she had entered a monastery, and devoted all her energy to cultivation. Sure enough, the following year, she achieved immortality.
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