Chapter 254

Cheng Xinzhan flew out of White Dragon Flag Mountain, thinking about Daoist Tanbai's appearance in his heart—this was something he was extremely good at. Of course, if he knew his real name or used his hair, armor, clothes, etc., as a talisman, divination would be even easier and clearer.

He operated the Dharma Eye Spirit Pupil, and then used the Qi observation method recorded in "Waiting for Wind Bird Divination" to look. He pinched a formula in his hand and chanted in his mouth,

"Heavenly wind as a guide, earth Qi as a voucher,

Reveal what I think, occupy the bird to appear.

The return date can be measured, the shape and trace can be presented,

West and East can be distinguished, good and bad luck can be clear.

Heavenly opportunity appears, do not cover! Do not violate!"

As the spell fell, Dharma light lit up in his pupils. The next moment, he saw the originally formless and imageless biting autumn wind gradually showing a pale golden color. The strong wind also became traceable in Cheng Xinzhan's eyes:

That wind trace actually vaguely presented the shape of a bird!

That was clearly the appearance of a green falcon, and at the position of the green falcon's mouth, there happened to be a branch blown up by the wind. The wind bird's feet were tightly together and backward, as if entangled by something, unable to break free. The claws were pointing to the west at this moment.

At this time, the wind changed and the bird moved. The green falcon turned left three times and then right once, then suddenly turned east, flying toward the direction where Cheng Xinzhan was. It flapped its wings seven times in total, then disappeared, and everything was as usual.

The whole process was just a blink of an eye, like a hallucination.

Cheng Xinzhan put away the magic, fell into deep thought, and began to solve this wind-phase bird shape, muttering to himself,

"Golden wind and green bird, reverse three and forward one, mainly the friend is trapped in war, but the branch in the mouth shows that the vitality is not hindered, and he will eventually escape.

"The feet together means that this danger is caused by being implicated by others. The pointing of the claws is that he is in the west at this moment. When returning to the nest, he flaps his wings seven times, which is returning after seven days.

"I can only see so much for now, and I don't know if there is any misinterpretation. Let's wait and see. I hope these few can return safely. Let's take a look again after seven days."

Cheng Xinzhan thought this way, left this place, and flew toward his own cave.

————

Seven days passed in a flash. Cheng Xinzhan was afraid that he would be disappointed if he went early and didn't see anyone, so he specifically waited until the sun set before going to Daoist Tanbai's cave.

"Is Tanbai here today?"

Daoist Tanbai's cave was not chiseled into the mountain wall, but built with green bamboo in a courtyard on a gentle slope. Cheng Xinzhan was standing outside the courtyard gate calling out at this moment.

"Here."

Daoist Tanbai's voice came from inside, but it sounded a bit weak.

A stone in Cheng Xinzhan's heart finally fell. Fortunately, he returned safely. Similarly, this also matched the safe return mentioned in the bird divination seven days ago.

"The courtyard gate is not locked, Yunlai, come in; I am in the study."

Cheng Xinzhan pushed open the courtyard gate upon hearing this and walked in.

Cheng Xinzhan often came to Daoist Tanbai's study, so he found his way there easily.

"Are you injured?"

Cheng Xinzhan saw that Daoist Tanbai's complexion was not very good, so he asked with concern.

"Just a small injury, it doesn't matter."

Daoist Tanbai pulled the corners of his mouth to smile with effort.

Cheng Xinzhan sat down opposite Daoist Tanbai. Although he was proficient in medical skills, it was not good to take the initiative to talk about pulse-taking. After all, they didn't know each other's roots. After all, people with profound medical skills, when their hands are on the pulse, can even number the Zhou Tian Qi operation diagram.

"Where are you injured, and what are the symptoms? I also know a little about medicine; perhaps I can prescribe a prescription to regulate it."

Cheng Xinzhan said.

"Thank you Yunlai for your concern, but there is no need to trouble yourself. It is indeed a small injury. I will be fine after regulating my Qi for a period of time."

Daoist Tanbai said.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded and didn't force it, but changed the subject and asked,

"When did you come back? I haven't seen you for a long time. I came to find you several times, but I didn't see you. I only saw you today."

"You came just in time; I only came back this afternoon."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded; the date was accurate. He asked again,

"Where did you go? Seeking secrets? How did you get injured?"

Daoist Tanbai shook his head with a bitter smile upon hearing this,

"I am a pedant. If I had this spare time, I would rather go to Yunlai to compile books. Why would I want to seek secrets? This kind of thing, only Master Huqing is willing to do."

Cheng Xinzhan showed curiosity,

"I was just about to ask. You are not here, and Mingding and Master Huqing are also not here. I only have three friends in the mountain. Previously, Mingding said he wanted to introduce new friends to me, but I pushed it off because I wanted to compile books with Tanbai. But recently, Tanbai is always not seen, and Mingding and Master Huqing are the same. It seems you all suddenly got busy. Are you going out for the same thing?"

Hearing this, Tanbai showed a look of shame and arched his hands repeatedly to apologize,

"Yes, we invited Yunlai to enter the mountain, but after Yunlai entered the mountain, we were entangled by worldly affairs, which neglected Yunlai."

Cheng Xinzhan stopped him repeatedly and said,

"How can this be called neglect? It's just that Tanbai knows my temperament. I just like to drink wine and read books. Having three or five close friends is enough. I don't want to go out and make new friends, so when the three of you got busy, I felt a bit uncomfortable."

"Yes, yes, I understand."

Daoist Tanbai nodded repeatedly, because he himself was such a person. And at this moment, he also felt ashamed in his heart. Yunlai was invited by the three of them to stay in Yanhuai Mountain, but not long after this person moved in, the three of them played disappearing acts. This was indeed impolite and indeed shouldn't have happened.

"I just don't know how long you, Tanbai, will be busy, and if the matter is urgent. If you encounter enemies causing trouble, just say it. Let Tanbai know that I can not only write books but also lift a sword. We met late, so if there is anything I can help with, don't be an outsider."

After Daoist Tanbai heard this, the shame on his face became even heavier,

"Yunlai is chivalrous, with a jade pen and a green blade. Naturally, there is no second word. However, Yunlai is a carefree person who just entered the hermit mountain. We are trapped by worldly affairs and grievances, so it is really not good to drag you in."

And Tanbai also understood in his heart that if he really took advantage of the situation and asked Yunlai to do things, it would really look like the three of them had ulterior motives when inviting him to the mountain.

Cheng Xinzhan pretended to be unhappy upon hearing this,

"The three of you left the mountain at the same time, and you returned with injuries. It is definitely not a small matter. How can I, as a friend, ignore it? Besides, if you have any shortcomings, won't my "Banana Leaf Collection" be late? If this is not a secret private matter, and I can add a meager effort, just tell me. Whether to go or not, I have my own decision."

Daoist Tanbai smiled bitterly upon hearing this, but was moved by Cheng Xinzhan's true feelings. After pondering for a moment, he explained,

"Alas, it's not a secret private matter. The matter is like this: we say we are Daoists, but we didn't jump out of a stone. Our magic power always has a source.

"We are not loose cultivators who accidentally came into contact with immortal fate. We are actually from a sect, but many years ago, we left the sect because of some changes and returned to the mountains and forests. We have never asked about the sect's worldly affairs again.

"But recently, the juniors of the sect received an edict to eliminate demons in the Nujiang area of Kangxi. We, as elders, and also in Kangxi, seeing the juniors of the sect fighting with demons, blood flowing into rivers, really couldn't sit idly by!"

After explaining clearly, the three Tanbai said immediately,

"So this is really our lack of hermit heart, dragged down by worldly affairs. This has nothing to do with Yunlai. Yunlai, don't be disturbed by us. Once this demon tide passes, we will return to the mountains and forests and drink wine and write books with Yunlai again."

Cheng Xinzhan shook the duster, thinking that his previous guess was correct. These people were definitely not from loose cultivators, and there must be a large sect behind them.

And after hearing this explanation, it all matched the "implicated by others", "located in the west", and "trapped in war" calculated by the bird divination seven days ago.

Not a bit off!

As expected of an immortal classic, it is truly magical!

Cheng Xinzhan pressed down the shock in his heart and asked again,

"Forgive me for being talkative. Does the junior Tanbai mentioned include the three of Daoist Tuo Yan, Daoist Zhouyue, and Daoist Zhan Tao?"

Daoist Tanbai looked over in surprise.

Cheng Xinzhan looked at Daoist Tanbai's expression and said,

"Then it seems I guessed right. When we first met, I saw that these three were quite respectful to you three in their words and deeds. They should be juniors, not friends across generations.

"And, since the first meeting two months ago, I have never seen those three enter the mountain to drink wine. If they were really loose hermits who love wine, how could they not come for a long time?"

Cheng Xinzhan smiled again,

"Besides, these three are all young Golden Cores, heroes and talents. Loose cultivators in this world are ultimately rootless duckweed. Where would so many Golden Cores gather together all of a sudden?

"If a loose cultivator really cultivates to the Golden Core, eight out of ten will go to a large sect to be a guest elder, and one out of ten will be self-important and occupy a mountain to call himself an ancestor, opening a sect. They are used to being hermits. Once they finally formed a core and had a voice, how would they still be willing to continue being hermits?"

Daoist Tanbai was stunned when he heard Cheng Xinzhan say this, and after reacting, he laughed loudly, coughing incessantly, and only after a long while did he recover,

"Yes, cough, cough, Yunlai is absolutely right. However, Yunlai, where did you learn this skill? You are now also a Golden Core, and you are so young, why do you also want to be a hermit?"

Daoist Tanbai looked at Cheng Xinzhan with a smile.

Cheng Xinzhan smiled lightly, shaking the duster,

"Can't I be the remaining one out of ten?"

Daoist Tanbai laughed loudly upon hearing this,

"Haha, Yunlai can hide it from others, but not from me. I believe you when you say your cultivation and sword technique were taught by loose cultivators. After all, there are so many strange people in the world, and it is not that there are no loose cultivators who cultivated to ascension.

"However, I have been compiling books with Yunlai for two months. Yunlai quotes classics at his fingertips, has hills and valleys in his chest, and has a universe in his abdomen. Such knowledge is absolutely not something that loose cultivators can teach."

Cheng Xinzhan was exposed, but he didn't panic at all, just smiled and didn't speak.

Daoist Tanbai didn't mind either. Everyone has their own private matters, and it is impossible to be honest with everyone. Isn't he also hiding something? So the most important thing is not whether there is concealment, but whether this person's character has problems and whether it is worth interacting with.

So he said,

"However, this doesn't matter. You and I interact as wine friends and book friends in the hermit mountain, and we didn't meet as sect disciples."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded with a smile, following the topic,

"That's it. You and I are wine friends and book friends, but you now want to abandon me alone in the mountain and go out to kill demons for fun. What is the meaning of this?"

"Besides, that day Zhan Tao invited me to fight swords, but I drank too much and pushed it off. I should take this opportunity to find him and complete this beautiful thing."

Daoist Tanbai was very surprised upon hearing this, and said,

"You want to go to Nujiang with us?"

Cheng Xinzhan nodded,

The three Tanbai looked at Cheng Xinzhan, unable to figure out his true intention, so they advised,

"Yunlai, that is not a fun place. Righteous and demonic forces clash, and even a Golden Core cannot guarantee that they will definitely survive. You really don't need to take this risk."

However, after hearing what Daoist Tanbai had done, Cheng Xinzhan made up his mind that he must go.

There are many reasons for this. For example, he can kill demons, understand what kind of demons the ancient Western Buddhism has evolved into, and observe the enemy-fighting style of Xuanmen disciples at close range.

But it cannot be denied that the most important reason is that he is really a bit worried about this Daoist friend, wine friend, and book friend.

Although they have only been together for two months, this person's selfless and cost-no-object search for records and legends for him, just for the book to be completed, this alone is enough to make him run this trip.

He thought this way in his heart, but his mouth said,

"Tanbai forgot that my Earth Book is to write about the universe. If I don't go west to see, how can the Xikang chapter be completed, and how can the Tubo chapter begin? Since you said that the demon tide is surging there, it is a bit dangerous for me to travel alone. Following you, it will be safer.

"Say one more thing, slaying demons, righteous people are duty-bound. This does not distinguish between sects and loose cultivators, nor does it distinguish between East and West."

Daoist Tanbai was moved after hearing this, pondered for a long while, and then nodded,

"Alright."

Cheng Xinzhan smiled upon hearing this, saying,

"That's right."

(End of chapter)