Chapter 78: Chapter Seventy-Five: Temple

1316? Su Qing stared, then his expression shifted; this is awesome, he directly arrived at the early 14th century.

What's wrong? Sit down!

Seeing Su Qing standing there dazed, Yao frowned and said.

Ah, okay.

Snapping back to his senses, Su Qing sat down by the small table.

With the fire pit's flickering flames, Yao started the pot to cook lunch; a piece of stiff dried meat was chopped into fine bits, then all of it was put into the hanging pot to sauté fragrant, after which snow water was added; while waiting for the pot to boil, she took out some unknown vegetables, pinched them off, and threw them in.

Watching Yao earnestly cooking, Su Qing swallowed; he could now be 100% certain that the beautiful girl before him was the future renowned Supreme Master Gu Yi.

After all, he was in Kamar-Taj and had Gu Yi's face; there was no need to think further.

Just that the current Gu Yi—no, should say Yao—is still very young, looking about eighteen or nineteen; in both looks and figure she utterly outshines her future self.

Su Qing nodded inwardly, his eyes flickering; he didn't claim to fully understand Marvel, but he still grasped the basic setting and most of the plot.

He knew that Marvel's Ancient One had two versions: a male comic version and a female film version.

The male comic version of the Ancient One looks like a white-bearded old man; he was born in the extremely hidden Kamar-Taj village within the Himalayas, a kind-hearted farmer; his good friend Karru discovered the secret of magic, and shared the magical knowledge with the Ancient One, after which both became very accomplished mages.

The female film version of the Ancient One is portrayed by a very famous actress; as for her background and how it differs from the comic version, Su Qing doesn't know, but he supposes any deviation wouldn't be large.

And now, he is clearly in the film version's world.

As Su Qing was recalling information about Gu Yi, a bowl was placed before him, and then Yao's voice sounded.

Don't space out, it's time to eat.

Okay, thanks. Su Qing quickly gathered his thoughts, lifted the bowl and started eating.

How to put it? The food's taste was unexpectedly good; he ate three bowls in a row before setting down his utensils.

After finishing the meal, Yao cleared the table; Su Qing sat by the fire pit warming himself and curiously asked, 'Yao, where are your family?'

They're all dead.

Sorry.

Nothing.

……

He had wanted to change the topic, but as soon as he spoke he hit a sore spot; Su Qing was also quite speechless, so he stopped talking and just sat by the fire.

Thus, until Yao finished washing the dishes, he then found a chance to ask: 'Yao, do you have any temple-like buildings around here?'

Of course! Yao gave him a strange look and said, 'There's a temple in the very center of the village, where a few martial monks reside.'

Saying this, she thought of something and said, 'I've already become a martial disciple of the temple yesterday; I'll be going to the temple later, you stay inside and don't go out if you have nothing to do.'

Hearing her, Su Qing's eyes lit up and he stepped forward to ask, 'Can I follow you to the temple to have a look?'

Hmm... Yao frowned, thought for a moment, then nodded and said, 'Alright, you can come with me, but you need to change your clothes.'

Upon saying that, Su Qing lowered his head and realized he was still wearing a suit, which in this era was extremely out of place and eye-catching.

Next, Yao went back inside to rummage for a while, then came out with several pieces of Tibetan-style clothing, saying, 'These are my father's; I think our builds are similar, so they should fit you.'

Thank you. Su Qing thanked her, took the clothes and returned to the earlier side room to finish changing.

In this era and place, there are no mirrors or such; Su Qing also doesn't know whether his appearance after changing is ugly or handsome.

But seeing Yao nod repeatedly, it's likely he's handsome!

Let's go! After changing clothes, Yao didn't waste any time, said that and left the door; Su Qing hurriedly followed.

Walking on the small village paths of Kamar-Taj, they occasionally encountered villagers; upon seeing Yao with a man beside her, they pointed and whispered.

Unfortunately, Su Qing couldn't understand a word.

Right, in this half day Su Qing, through checking Yao's information skill, learned that the language here is called Celtic.

Speaking of this language, he isn't very clear; from memory he knows it's one branch of the Indo-European language family, once widely distributed across central, northern, and western Europe.

Later, as Latin gradually replaced some of those languages, its range greatly shrank, surviving only in sparsely populated areas of the British Isles and the Brittany peninsula in northwestern France.

As for the rest, he isn't very clear.

To communicate better with Yao, he had already started downloading.

Yao's Celtic is proficient, so after downloading for two or three hours the progress is only at twenty-three percent; he still needs some time to finish.

Topic resumes.

Su Qing couldn't understand the villagers' words, but from their looks he guessed it wasn't anything pleasant.

He glanced at Yao with some worry, but saw she appeared very composed, as if she hadn't heard, walking with steady steps, an air of calm ease.

Watching this, Su Qing inwardly nodded, 'At such a young age to handle things without panic—no wonder her future achievements are so high.'

Afterwards he also calmed his mind and followed Yao along the village path; on foot for over ten minutes they finally arrived outside the temple.

Dong dong dong……

Yao stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Then came the sound of heavy footsteps.

Soon after, the temple doors were opened.

The one who opened the door was a man with long hair, looking about forty or fifty, wearing coarse cloth, possessing a distinctive aura.

The middle-aged man glanced lightly at Su Qing, stepped aside, and said, 'Come in!'

Okay, Martial Zen Grand Master. Yao replied respectfully, stepping in first; Su Qing followed closely.

Entering the gate, what came into view was a training field; at that moment, three or four men and women sat cross‑legged with eyes closed, seemingly engaged in some practice.

Following Yao lightly on foot across the training field, Su Qing entered a room.

The room's furnishings were simple: an offering table bearing a statue of an unnamed deity.

Under the table were three futons; at present two people sat with eyes closed.

The two were a bald old man with white brows, and a middle‑aged woman with a cold, piercing gaze.

As soon as the three entered the room, the middle-aged woman with her eyes closed opened them.

Upon seeing Yao Shi, her expression softened, but when she saw Su Qing beside him, she involuntarily furrowed her brows.

"Master Yunwu, he's my friend." Yao obviously noticed the middle-aged woman's change and voluntarily spoke up to explain.

"Hmm!" Master Yunwu nodded, saying nothing else.

After that, Yao was taken by the middle-aged woman for training; what kind of training it was, Su Qing did not know.

On the pretext of coming to visit, he was taken to the main hall to see the Buddha statue.