Chapter 257: Two Flowers on One Plant, Twin Flowers (3)
Shi Sui privately asked the palace servants about the origins of Taoist Master Xuanqing.
Everyone said that they had never heard of this person before and that he suddenly appeared in the last two years.
Everyone speculated that he was the last disciple of a certain enlightened master, and after inheriting his master's mantle, he went down the mountain to practice Taoism and accumulate virtue.
In the past, the legitimate princess was very interested in things outside the palace. In order to cater to her master's preferences, the loyal servants around her set up an "intelligence line" among the palace people, specifically searching for fresh and interesting things among the people to entertain her.
"Your Highness, I've heard all about it. I've heard that Taoist Priest Xuanqing is quite extraordinary! He once battled several senior monks in the Great Buddha Temple in Jinling City. It was a spectacular spectacle! The elder monks said they wanted to clear the sky, but Taoist Priest Xuanqing said he would summon a violent storm. So the monks chanted scriptures and burned incense, while Taoist Priest Xuanqing performed rituals, each displaying his abilities... and guess what happened? In less than a quarter of an hour, the clear blue sky was covered in dark clouds, lightning and thunder roared, and torrential rain began to fall. Even the temple abbot's wooden fish broke in two! His magical powers are truly boundless!"
The young eunuch beside her told the story vividly with gestures, trying to make the princess laugh.
As usual, the unassuming princess would have been rolling on the ground clapping her hands and laughing.
But the young eunuch didn't know that the person he was serving was not the real princess at all.
Shi Sui just curled her lips perfunctorily and threw him two silver coins as a reward.
"What else? Tell me everything you've learned."
“Uh, yes, sir…!”
The young eunuch thought the princess was acting strangely today.
He was afraid of being punished, so he racked his brains and poured out everything he knew.
There were stories about how Taoist Master Xuanqing once subdued a man-eating tiger in a mountain village with just a whisk, how he fought off the roaring sea in a seaside fishing village, and how he subdued demons in a border town.
As she listened, Shisui yawned. "Folk tales are all exaggerated. How can they be so miraculous? If that Taoist priest really had such great abilities at such a young age, would he have condescended to enter the palace to teach a mere princess? He could have just snatched my father's kingdom away!"
"...Princess!!! Shhh!! Shhhh!" The young eunuch was almost scared to death, even raising his orchid finger. "Please don't say anything nonsense! This is a serious crime that will cost you your life!!!"
"What are you shushing for?! If you want to go to the bathroom, just go and don't shush in front of me." Shi Sui waved her hand nonchalantly at the eunuch, "Go down, I need to rest."
"Yes...I obey your command!"
The young eunuch clapped his hands and asked all the palace maids to come in and help the princess go to bed.
After lighting calming incense, lowering the curtains, and extinguishing the lights, they knelt together to pay their respects.
"The servants respectfully invite the princess to rest in peace."
The young eunuch led the palace maids out of the bedroom, wiping the cold sweat from his head with his sleeves, muttering to himself.
"I'm living in such fear every day! Please, God, I hope I can keep my head safe in the months before the princess gets married!"
Inside the bedroom, Shisui lay flat on the bed with her eyes wide open, looking lost in thought.
According to the young eunuch's description, Taoist Xuanqing's footprints were all over the mountains, the seaside, the Central Plains, the border... before he finally arrived at the imperial capital, Yecheng. Moreover, he acted in a high-profile and limelight-seeking manner. It was nothing like what he said, "living in seclusion in the mountains to seek immortality and the way to Taoism", nor was he "calming the mind and cultivating the nature, refining the spirit and returning to emptiness".
It's so hypocritical to act like a sage and indifferent to worldly affairs in front of others!
Did he enter the palace for power, wealth and glory...?
According to what Shi Sui saw, Taoist Xuanqing was just an ordinary mortal, but he inherited the martial arts of the Hunyuan School of Taishang Laojun, and his body was tainted with the aura of the underworld. His identity and motives were indeed suspicious.
unless……
Shisui blinked and suddenly sat up in bed.
Unless he is possessed like the legitimate princess!
There are vast tracts of blooming red spider lilies on the Yellow Springs Road, among which countless have cultivated into spirits.
But like her, there is no one else who happened to grow up at the junction of yin and yang, absorbing the power of the human world and the underworld at the same time, not being controlled by heaven and earth, and using the source of power to possess the human world to resolve obsessions.
No... Theoretically speaking, there is actually another "person" who can do it.
"No way... Impossible..."
Shisui gently closed her eyes, and the past came to her mind.
She actually has a companion.
The flowers that bloomed from her red spider lily are twin flowers.
Two beauties on one plant, twin flowers on the same stem.
She is the bright red Lycoris radiata, and there is another one, the pure white Mandragora, whose name is Huai Qian...
When they were still in the underworld, they both bloomed at the same time, competing with each other for spiritual power and nutrients on the same flower stalk.
The cruelty of twin flowers lies in the fact that when one flower blooms, the other must wither. One must die in exchange for the survival of the other. There is no way for them to coexist.
Flowers bloom for a thousand years and fall for a thousand years.
In the end, Shi Sui became the "winner" and was able to transform into a spirit and travel through three thousand worlds.
Huaiqian, on the other hand, was declining and dying, almost on the verge of destruction.
She sobbed miserably on the flower stalk.
The originally white and beautiful petals turned yellow and shriveled, like rotten fruit peels.
Although the two sides had fought to the death, Shisui still couldn't bear to see her companions, who had once blossomed at the same time, die.
At that time, her cultivation was still insignificant, but she still used up most of her spiritual power, sealed Huai Qian's weak spirit, and left it in the underworld to be cared for by the ghost officials.
Later, Shi Sui heard that Huai Qian had broken the seal, escaped from the underworld, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then.
The King of Hell once lamented and said to Shi Sui: "Huai Qian's spirit is incomplete. The underworld is the only place where she can survive. If she leaves here, she can only survive in the human world. But within 100 years, all her energy will be exhausted and she will be reduced to ashes... Alas, if she had known this, why would she have begged you to save her..."
After hearing this, Shi Sui was silent and sighed deeply.
After finally surviving, Huai Qian chose this suicidal way to end her life. She must have been very desperate when she made this decision.
From then on, Shi Sui felt that Huai Qian had disappeared and would never appear again.
But meeting Taoist Xuanqing in this world brought back memories that had been buried for many, many years... Is there any connection between them?
Is Huaiqian still alive? !
Shi Sui must find out the true identity of Taoist Master Xuanqing.
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