Chapter 38:
Leaning against a soft couch, Hengyu casually flipped through the formation book, her right hand unconsciously gesturing in the air, practicing drawing formations.
It wasn’t until late at night that Hengyu put down the book to rest. Just as she was about to go back to her room, a heavy gloom suddenly filled her heart. The spiritual power flowing through her meridians stagnated, losing its previous fluidity.
Hengyu rolled over, went to the window, pushed it open, and looked up at the dark night sky. Usually, the night sky was dark with a hint of blue, and except for rainy weather, the stars and moon would always hang in the sky.
But not tonight – from Hengyu’s perspective, she could only see a thick darkness, without a trace of the moon or stars.
“What’s happening?”
“Could it be –”
“How could the demonic aura suddenly gather like this?” In his quarters at Qingyun Temple, Liaowu, who was performing evening prayers, opened his eyes. He walked out into the courtyard and performed a Daoist hand gesture. Soon, a light appeared in his palm. In the next moment, the light was gradually tainted by black mist until it was completely engulfed.
“With the demonic aura gathering, its power to bewitch people’s hearts will grow stronger, and there will only be more demons lurking in the human realm.”
Liaowu slowly withdrew his hand, his expression grave.
The next day, Hengyu went to Qingyun Temple again and asked Liaowu about last night’s events.
“It really was demonic aura.” Hengyu frowned. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Senior Brother Liaowu, if it’s convenient, could you teach me the method for detecting demonic aura?”
Anyone could learn the method for detecting demonic aura. Only Buddhist cultivators could learn the method for purifying it.
Liaowu hadn’t expected her request. However, it was a good thing for more people to learn this method.
“Alright, I will first transmit the incantation to Fellow Cultivator Luo.” He took out a blank jade slip and inscribed the incantation on it with his divine sense. After finishing, he handed the jade slip to Hengyu, asking her to memorize the incantation first.
Then, Liaowu softly recited the incantation while performing the corresponding hand gestures.
Compared to her clumsiness in the kitchen, Hengyu was extremely sharp when learning these necessary and interesting things. After practicing for a morning, she had roughly memorized the incantation and hand gestures. However, to truly master them, she would need to practice for a long time. For now, she had only learned the basics.
Liaowu sat beside her, watching her practice. Idly, he took out a tea set from his storage ring and began brewing tea. Just as the tea was ready, Liaowu received a transmission talisman. He placed his divine sense into the talisman, and his expression gradually grew serious as he listened to the message.
“What’s wrong?” Hengyu asked.
“Something has happened at the temple in Huaicheng. We might have to leave here earlier than planned.”
It would only take half a month to travel from Wuding Sect to Sword Sect using the sect’s special flying ship, so Liaowu hadn’t been in a hurry to return. But now with urgent matters to attend to, they would inevitably be delayed on the road, and thus couldn’t stay in Huacheng any longer.
“Alright, I’ll go back and pack,” Hengyu said readily. She knew Liaowu wasn’t one to speak carelessly.
She returned to pack her belongings, while Liaowu went to find the abbot of Qingyun Temple to bid farewell. The abbot was playing chess.
Upon learning of Liaowu’s intention, he sighed softly, “In that case, I wish the Buddhist Son a safe journey.”
“Thank you, Abbot.” Liaowu put his palms together and bowed.
“Trials of the heart are difficult to overcome. They require you to first experience emotions and then transcend them to comprehend the world. Now, with the sudden anomaly of the demonic aura, no one knows what will happen in the future. Be careful,” the abbot warned.
In dealing with demonic matters, only the Buddhist sect had been persistently striving and enduring. When confronting demonic aura, even the slightest flaw in one’s state of mind could easily lead to death.
But – Buddhist cultivators were also ordinary seekers of the Dao in this world, just like other cultivators struggling in this world. Most of them hadn’t attained a perfect state of mind, so every time there was a disturbance in the demonic aura, many high-cultivation Buddhist cultivators would be sacrificed.
They had been waiting for someone born with a Buddha bone for far too long.
After bidding farewell to the abbot, Liaowu walked back to his quarters. As his cloth shoes stepped on the pebbled path, he suddenly noticed a tender sprout growing in a crevice between the jagged stones.
Liaowu’s gaze fell on the sprout, and he couldn’t help but sigh.
“What are you sighing about?” a familiar voice came from behind him.
Liaowu didn’t turn around but squatted down, touching the newly emerged sprout with his fingertip: “Just contemplating some things.”
Hengyu walked to his side and bent down slightly. From her angle, Liaowu seemed to have curled up, one arm hugging his knee, the other hand touching the sprout, with a touch of childishness.
Noticing this, Hengyu’s tone softened considerably.
“Have you contemplated enough? We should leave.” She extended her hand towards Liaowu, waving it in front of him.
“Hmm?”
“To help you up. Do you want it?”
Liaowu chuckled. He was smiling more and more often now. When he first met Hengyu, his smiles were just a slight twitch of his lips, extremely faint, like the ripples created by a dragonfly skimming across the water, cold and distant. Now, his smile was like a piece of polished warm jade, something you could hold in your hand for warmth.
“Alright.” Liaowu extended his hand.
Hengyu pulled him up with some force. After steadying himself, he looked down at their clasped hands and subconsciously let go. – He realized that at some point, he had become accustomed to their physical contact.
Huaicheng was over a thousand miles away from Huacheng. This town wasn’t within the territory of the Longyuan Kingdom but belonged to another country called the “Yan Kingdom.”
Just like its name, this country had a very dry and hot climate, suffering from extreme water scarcity.
“Water scarcity?” Hengyu concluded after hearing Liaowu’s introduction, “It seems that most areas in this country would have difficulty developing agriculture.”
“Fellow Cultivator Luo is correct. The people of the Yan Kingdom live difficult lives, and its geographical location is precarious, with frequent wars breaking out in its border towns.” Liaowu smiled wryly, “Initially, the people of the Yan Kingdom were quite devout Buddhists. Almost every household was Buddhist.”
“Initially?”
“Yes…this lasted for several hundred years. But because the current emperor of the Yan Kingdom has waged numerous wars, the common people have suffered greatly. No matter how much they prayed, most of the men who went to war died, and those who returned home safely often suffered from disabilities. With years of war and heavy taxes, people began to starve to death…”
“Gradually, many anti-Buddhist and anti-Daoist sentiments emerged among the people of the Yan Kingdom.”
The Wuding Sect would help the countries within its sphere of influence develop and send disciples to appease the people. But war was caused by a complex interplay of factors, and the Wuding Sect, as a secluded Buddhist holy land, couldn’t fully interfere in the disputes of secular nations.
Hearing this, Hengyu’s heart skipped a beat. But upon further thought, she found it reasonable. In the short term, Buddhism and Daoism were indeed good methods for appeasing the people. But after hundreds of years, as the situation in the Yan Kingdom worsened and the people’s plight became more dire – they began to blame Buddhism and Daoism!
Yes, extreme faith could turn into doubt and resentment. In more severe cases, people would start to oppose Buddhism and Daoism altogether.
“So, you’re rushing to Huaicheng because of some dispute?”
“A few days ago, anti-Buddhist and anti-Daoist protestors surrounded the temple in Huaicheng and injured many young novices. I have a junior brother cultivating in that temple. He sent me a message about this, asking how to handle the dispute, so I decided to come and see for myself.”
Hengyu frowned. This matter wasn’t easy to resolve.
“Is it Senior Brother Liaohe?” Liaonian, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke. He scratched his head, “With Senior Brother Liaohe’s temperament, he indeed wouldn’t be very good at handling such disputes.”
After four days of travel, the three finally arrived at Huaicheng. At the city gate, cultivators and mortals queued together; cultivators received no special treatment.
Hengyu put away her flying carpet and queued with Liaowu and Liaonian.
In front of Hengyu stood a little boy of six or seven and an old man. Judging by their intimacy, they were likely grandfather and grandson. The little boy noticed someone queuing behind him and turned to look.
Seeing Hengyu, a sweet smile immediately appeared on his dirt-stained face. Hengyu noticed his gaze and smiled back.
The next moment, the little boy saw Liaowu behind her, and his innocent expression froze. As if seeing a man-eating monster, his face showed fear and disgust, and he quickly retreated to his grandfather’s side.
“What’s wrong?” The old man had a basket on his back, filled with miscellaneous items. He had been concentrating on queuing and hadn’t noticed his grandson’s reaction.
“Grandpa…” The little boy pointed at Liaowu and Liaonian, “Two monks.”
The old man turned sharply. After seeing Liaowu and Liaonian clearly, the disgust on his face was evident. Filled with displeasure, he hugged his grandson and took two steps forward, increasing the distance between them and Hengyu’s group.
This sudden change surprised both Hengyu and Liaowu. Although they had mentally prepared themselves on their way to Huaicheng, only when directly facing the people’s dislike and disgust could they clearly feel the intensity of the anti-Buddhist and anti-Daoist sentiment in this place.
Hengyu teased through voice transmission, “Do you suddenly suspect that you’ve become ugly?”
Liaowu was still pondering the situation in Huaicheng and was slightly taken aback by her voice transmission: “Why would I suspect that?”
Hengyu laughed, “If you weren’t hideous, why would you scare people so much?”
Liaowu chuckled in amusement.
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