Chapter 21
With nothing to do, Heng Yu rummaged through her storage ring, selecting some decorations to place around her study. The room was a little too bare, furnished only with the essentials. Having decided to enjoy life, her living space shouldn’t be so plain and austere.
After tidying up, Heng Yu noticed the basket of Bodhi cakes she had left in the corner. She sighed resignedly, carried the basket to the courtyard, took out her tea set, brewed some tea, and started eating the Bodhi cakes while sipping her tea.
“After finishing these three Bodhi cakes, I’m going on a vegetarian cleanse for a month! No more green on my plate!”
Heng Yu grumbled, forcing down a mouthful of Bodhi cake.
—Her mouth was full of the taste of grass!
Making a Buddha-son cook for her was satisfying, mentally.
But physically, not so much.
Over the next few days, heavy rain poured down on Hua City. The downpour destroyed mud houses in the poorer districts and flooded many homes. The monks of Qingyun Temple were busy providing disaster relief and medical treatment, and Liaowu and Liaonian naturally joined them.
Heng Yu tactfully avoided disturbing Liaowu while he was busy. She spent her days practicing calligraphy in her study and reading storybooks on the soft bed when she grew tired.
One day, after practicing calligraphy, Heng Yu was organizing the books in her storage ring. As she sorted through them, she found a “Hehuan Sect Female Cultivator’s Handbook.”
“…Could Master have put this book in my storage ring?”
She had never seen this book before.
Well, who put it there wasn’t important.
What was important was that the Hehuan Sect was impressive, even writing handbooks.
Intrigued, Heng Yu put aside the task of organizing her storage ring. She sat down and casually flipped through the handbook, finding it filled with short stories about pursuing someone, each followed by a summary and a tip.
Heng Yu read with relish.
She turned the page.
This page contained a story titled “The Goddess Asks Buddha.”
[The Goddess asked Buddha: Why do you seek the Buddhist path? Buddha replied: Because the Buddhist path is there.]
Two short sentences, yet they made Heng Yu thoughtful.
This was like asking why humans climb mountains, why cultivators absorb spiritual energy and seek immortality.
Because the mountains are there, because the path to immortality is there.
[The Goddess wasted her youth, waiting and waiting under the Hehuan tree, but Buddha never came to find her.
She sought him out again and asked: How does Buddha fall in love?
Buddha replied: Buddha delivers all sentient beings, and all beings are equal in Buddha’s eyes.
The Goddess returned heartbroken.
Hundreds of years later, Buddha achieved enlightenment, and the Goddess’ hair turned white overnight.]
This story wasn’t followed by any tips.
Only a simple line:
How can one who is moved by emotions achieve enlightenment? — Dong Shuanghan
The name Dong Shuanghan seemed familiar.
Heng Yu flipped through the “Continental Records” and found the name: Dong Shuanghan, founder of the Hehuan Sect.
“Could the founder of the Hehuan Sect be the Goddess in the story?” Heng Yu murmured, tapping the page with her finger.
It seemed that the founder of the Hehuan Sect, a brilliant and talented cultivator, had fallen in love with a Buddhist cultivator and her hair turned white overnight because of him.
Thinking of her own inner sect mission, Heng Yu rubbed her forehead.
She felt that something was amiss with this story. — For example, everyone knew that Buddha delivered all sentient beings, but before achieving enlightenment, he was also just one of these sentient beings.
During that time, who delivered Buddha?
Delivered Buddha…
If Wu Mei or Mu Huan had taken this inner sect mission, they would have tried to pursue Liaowu and destroy his Buddhist path.
But what she wanted… was to help him achieve enlightenment.
Thinking this, Heng Yu had a clearer idea of her approach.
She rolled up her right sleeve, picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote a note under the story “The Goddess Asks Buddha” — [Help him achieve enlightenment, make his path intertwined with mine.]
This way, if Buddha looked back at his path, he would also be looking back at her.
After writing this, Heng Yu took a deep breath and a clean sheet of paper, writing down the Buddhist story she had told Liaowu earlier.
After finishing, she thought for a moment and wrote down another Buddhist story.
When the ink dried, Heng Yu folded the paper into a paper crane, infused it with spiritual energy, and sent it to Liaowu.
Liaowu wore a bamboo hat.
He stood on a wooden ladder, leaning towards the roof, replacing the tiles for a family.
After finishing, he climbed down the ladder.
Since he hadn’t used spiritual energy to protect himself, his gray robes were completely soaked.
The wet robes clung to his body. A cold autumn wind blew, and Liaowu frowned slightly.
“Senior Brother, this is the ginger tea the old man just made.”
Liaonian ran over with a steaming bowl of ginger tea.
Liaowu’s expression softened. He reached out to steady Liaonian. “Don’t run so fast. The ground is slippery in the rain.”
After Liaonian steadied himself, he took the ginger tea and slowly drank it.
After finishing, he handed the bowl back to Liaonian.
He looked towards the door, where an elderly man with a limp stood under the eaves, smiling at him.
Liaowu joined his hands together and bowed in thanks.
After returning the bowl, Liaonian ran back to Liaowu. “Senior Brother, this family’s roof is fixed. Let’s go check on the next house.”
Liaowu nodded. Just as he was about to leave, he sensed a familiar fluctuation of spiritual energy. The next moment, a chubby paper crane appeared before him.
Protected by spiritual energy, the paper crane wasn’t wet at all.
Liaowu took the crane and was about to unfold it when he remembered that he was drenched. Unfolding the crane would wet the paper.
To avoid smudging the ink, Liaowu walked under the eaves, used his spiritual energy to dry his sleeves, and then carefully unfolded the crane into a sheet of paper.
Bold black characters filled the page.
Two Buddhist stories were written on it.
He had already seen the first one. The second story was about “Master Bodhidharma Crossing the River on a Reed.”
Although it was a familiar tale, Heng Yu’s retelling added a layer of interest and prompted deeper reflection.
Liaowu smiled faintly, folded the paper back into a crane, and carefully stored it in his storage ring.
He adjusted his bamboo hat. “Let’s go fix the roofs of other houses.”
Heng Yu waited for Liaowu’s reply while reading the “Hehuan Sect Female Cultivator’s Handbook” in her study.
However, she finished the book without receiving a reply.
Heng Yu folded another piece of paper into a crane, infused it with spiritual energy, and sent it to find Liaowu.
Soon, Liaowu, walking in the rain, sensed the familiar aura again.
He casually cast a barrier to block the rain and unfolded the crane — but it was blank.
Liaowu was stunned, unsure of Heng Yu’s intention.
He put the paper away and continued on his way.
But halfway there, he suddenly realized — perhaps Lord Luo was reminding him to reply?
A quarter of an hour later, the white paper crane hit the barrier around Heng Yu’s courtyard.
Sensing the fluctuation, Heng Yu beckoned the crane into her hand.
She unfolded it and found it was also blank.
Staring at the blank paper, Heng Yu knew what it meant to be impervious to persuasion.
She wanted a reply, so he gave her one.
But he was being difficult, sending a blank reply.
“…Why learn the bad habits, not the good ones?”
Heng Yu wrote this on the paper crane and sent it back to Liaowu.
Liaowu received the crane after returning to the temple. He had just finished bathing and was still slightly damp.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he saw Heng Yu’s message and smiled faintly — it seemed Lord Luo had some self-awareness.
Liaowu got off the bed, ground the ink, spread out a sheet of paper, and began writing to Heng Yu.
He had nothing specific to say, so to fill the page, he casually picked up a scripture and started copying it. Neat and beautiful Sanskrit characters filled the page. Liaowu stopped writing and waited for the ink to dry.
He carefully folded the paper into a crane and sent it to Heng Yu.
Receiving the crane and seeing the dense characters on it, Heng Yu was surprised at first.
But when she saw the content, Heng Yu: “…”
So that was how he played it?
She put the crane away and was about to continue practicing calligraphy when she sensed someone touching the barrier around her courtyard. The person’s aura was powerful, their spiritual energy pressing down on the courtyard with undisguised hostility.
Heng Yu grabbed her sword, quickly left the study, and opened her oil-paper umbrella.
Walking to the courtyard gate, she pulled open the bolt, opened the door, and met the gaze of the middle-aged Daoist priest standing outside with an umbrella.
The Daoist priest wore proper Daoist robes, his hair tied in a topknot, his eyes sharp and bright. His stern features and the aura he exuded made him an imposing figure.
The Undying Sect’s territory was mainly for Buddhist cultivators. It was rare to see a Daoist priest here.
Unless they came here intentionally.
Heng Yu narrowed her eyes and said his name slowly, “Xiaoyaozi.”
Only Xiaoyaozi, Fan Changping’s master, would intentionally enter the Undying Sect’s territory and come to this small town of Hua City.
Moreover, this middle-aged man was at the early stage of Nascent Soul, matching Xiaoyaozi’s cultivation level.
The Daoist priest was indeed Xiaoyaozi.
He straightened his robes and bowed to Heng Yu, appearing polite and refined.
But his words were filled with killing intent.
“You have karmic ties with my disciple. I’ll kill you first, then go to the magistrate’s residence and kill that other person.”
His words sounded domineering.
But… Xiaoyaozi probably didn’t know her identity before coming to kill her.
Naturally, he wouldn’t know about the barrier around her courtyard. With his early Nascent Soul cultivation, unless he attacked continuously for twelve hours, he couldn’t break through her barrier.
Heng Yu gestured invitingly. “Before you kill me, please break through my barrier first.”
Xiaoyaozi had only sensed Heng Yu’s cultivation level outside the courtyard, realizing she was only at the peak of Foundation Establishment, and had boldly declared his intention to kill her.
Now, seeing her calm and confident reaction, he was stunned.