Chapter 355: Night Lodging, Miraculous Encounter

"I observed that most of those Daoist priests during the day possessed an upright aura; they are mostly righteous men. Among them, there was even one who faintly radiated divine light—they are likely not ordinary either."

The middle-aged man sat opposite Lin Jue, separated by a night-watch lamp, chatting as if at leisure.

Although there were yaoguai in the north, Lin Jue could catch up to the people ahead. Now that it was night and raining outside, there was no use in rushing, so he simply chatted with him with composure.

"For you to be able to see all this at a glance, it seems you are not ordinary yourself."

"Haha, you young Daoist, didn't you see that I was not ordinary at first glance? Why bother testing me only now?" The middle-aged man laughed. "You, a Daoist, carrying a fox, with two stone horses following you with a rumble in the middle of the night, and heading north where yaoguai just caused trouble—could you be considered ordinary?"

"That makes sense." Lin Jue nodded, feeling it was true. "I have yet to ask for your honorable name."

"In life, my surname was Chen, and my given name was Xiangli."

"Then that would be Lord Chen." Lin Jue said. "What else can Lord Chen see?"

"I can also see that your five-element Qi is considered pure, but you have too many thoughts. This is reflected in your water and earth Qi: both are pure, yet each has a distinct hue, indicating that you have a side of intelligence and wisdom as well as honesty and sincerity, yet you have not done well enough." This person called Chen Xiangli truly did not hold back, speaking his mind. "And at this moment, your heart holds both deliberation and calculation."

"Hm?"

Lin Jue frowned and sat up slightly straighter.

On one hand, it was because he knew that for anyone who could see a person's five-element Qi—whether yaoguai or divine being—the primary prerequisite was that their own five-element Qi must be relatively pure.

On the other hand, it was because this person was right.

His own deliberation was likely the choice between the northwest and the northeast, and the calculation he mentioned should refer to how, upon seeing him, Lin Jue immediately realized he was extraordinary and wanted to ask him about the two yaoguai kings in the north.

Knowing in his heart, this person was likely not some evil yaoguai.

And at this very moment, this scene—staying the night in a village temple to avoid the rain, an unusual chance encounter—reminded him of that night several years ago at the Wang Family Ancestral Hall in Heng Village, the first time he saw the extraordinary.

Counting the years that have passed, both the world and himself had undergone earth-shattering changes.

And he had never seen that yaoguai again.

Just like this village and the temple within it tonight, this unknown "Lord Chen" he had met, and most of the yaoguai he had encountered along his journey, there were only brief meetings and karmic connections.

He heard the person in front of him laugh again:

"Haha, but it is only human nature! You are neither a dead man nor a sage; who does not have deliberations in their heart, and who does not have their own ideas? It is perfectly normal."

"Lord Chen has insight."

"I wouldn't say that, I wouldn't say that; I have just lived a long time." Lord Chen shook his head and waved his hands repeatedly, appearing like an ordinary person. "Having lived a long time, one talks more. Having stayed alone for a long time, one gets bored. Therefore, whenever I meet someone who comes here to stay the night, as long as they are an interesting person, I must come out to talk with them. I hope you will not take offense at my talkativeness."

"Then do I count as an interesting person?"

"How could you not?" Lord Chen said, then glanced at the fox beside him. "Your five-element Qi is pure, your Daoist cultivation is profound, you travel riding a white egret, with stone horses following behind, and the fox you carry is also not ordinary. Traveling in a hurry from the capital toward the north, you must be going to eliminate yaoguai, and the deliberations in your heart are likely related to the matter of eliminating yaoguai. If even you cannot be called an interesting person, then the world is full of mediocre people."

"..."

Lin Jue was silent for a moment before shaking his head: "Lord Chen truly has extraordinary insight; every sentence was correct."

"I just happen to have this ability."

"Does Lord Chen have any guidance?"

"Eh? That is absolutely out of the question!" Lord Chen cupped his hands. "I have just lived a bit longer and seen a bit more, but in truth, my vision is also limited, and I am not a person of great wisdom."

Lin Jue could not help but become a little interested:

"What is great wisdom?"

"I do not know either, just as I said, I do not have it." Lord Chen laughed. "But I know that since ancient times, those who are clever and have many deliberations regarding major matters often achieve accomplishments, but rarely achieve great things. Those who achieve great things often have few but firm ideas in their hearts. They have their own philosophy in their hearts, often making choices based on this simplicity, and once made, they remain unswerving. As for the subsequent difficulties and minor details, these are the things that should be solved with clever wisdom."

Lord Chen paused, his face smiling, his eyes revealing contemplation, as if he himself found it interesting:

"In my opinion, it is probably just like strategy: anything that sounds amazing and makes people exclaim in admiration, reflecting astonishing wisdom and calculation, is only small-scale planning. Anything that is truly a grand plan or grand strategy often sounds very ordinary, does not sound exciting, and might even be summarized in a single sentence."

"Does Lord Chen mean that the Great Dao is simple, and great wisdom appears as foolishness?"

"Eh! That is exactly it!" Lord Chen laughed and slapped his thigh. "It is a pity there is no wine or meat today, otherwise I would certainly talk with you for half the night!"

"Who says there isn't?"

Lin Jue smiled slightly, opened his cloth bag, and took out a pot of yellow wine and some dried meat and jerky.

Thus, the two gathered the firewood left by Daoist Jiang and his group during the day, lit a bonfire, heated the yellow wine, roasted the dried meat and jerky, chatted happily, and fully enjoyed this brief karmic connection.

Only after this chat did they discover that the two were quite compatible.

This Lord Chen appeared as a middle-aged man, yet said he had lived a long time. His vision was indeed not broad, but very profound. Just as he could judge Daoist Jiang's group and Lin Jue at a glance, he had his own insights into world history or current people and events, and such insights were often incisive.

And the elderly always have things to leave for the descendants.

Unexpectedly for Lin Jue, he had originally wanted to learn about the Leopard King and the Jun Niangniang Mother of the West from him, but did not get it in the end. However, chatting with him made the thoughts in his heart more firm.

Asking about the Leopard King and the Jun Niangniang Mother of the West again, judging which was more worth going to, which was more dangerous, and which was easier, seemed unnecessary.

Thinking about it, he also felt it was interesting—

He passed through Qingyan County and went to ask that "Jun Niangniang Yao Hua" for advice; the starting point was good, and that "Jun Niangniang Yao Hua" giving him a reminder was also well-intentioned. And he originally would not have thought so much, and originally was not a person who loved to deliberate, but because of that reminder, he had many thoughts for no reason—both worrying about the reversal of fortune and fearing the wrong choice of safety, which he thought was somewhat funny.

Unknowingly, they chatted for the whole night. The wine was finished, the meat was eaten, and the fox was also lying beside him, squinting its eyes and sleeping.

A hint of fish-belly white appeared on the horizon.

That person stood up and said to him:

"I should go."

Lin Jue also stood up to bid him farewell.

Saying they would meet again if fate allowed, but in his heart, he knew that in all likelihood, this lifetime would only have this one encounter.

He saw that person walk out the door, and when he reached the ceremonial gate of the village temple, a rooster crowed in the village, and that person immediately stood still, as if frozen.

Lin Jue went over to look and saw a statue standing in place, with a middle-aged face, black clothes, and oil stains and wine scent on his lips and cuffs. Only then did he know that it was originally a judge statue in this village temple.

"No wonder..."

No wonder his insight was sharp and his views unique.

The sky outside was already bright, and it had cleared up.

Please... collect_ (!)

Lin Jue went back to clean up the remains of the bonfire in the temple, woke up the fox, and picked up his small bag.

"I am leaving too, Lord Chen."

Lin Jue bid him farewell and walked out of the temple.

This was an interesting encounter, but the karmic connection ended here.

"Ah~~"

With a cry of a white egret, the Daoist rode the wind and left.

Halfway through the morning, on the official road near Qinglian County, someone was galloping on horseback.

The rumbling sound of hooves shattered the mud puddles.

The person in the lead was riding a tall horse, with a silver spear and a long saber hanging on the horse. As he galloped, he looked up and saw a white egret flapping its wings and flying slowly through the clouds.

The white egret landed on a tree branch, and the horse team also stopped on the road.

Lord Luo walked in the front, followed by Wan Xinrong, Lord Pan, Daoist Tao, and others, and further behind were some strange people and martial artists carrying sabers and swords.

Wan Xinrong and the others saw the white egret and raised their hands to salute.

"True Man Lin."

The strange people and martial artists behind did not know why they had stopped, and seeing this scene, they all showed confusion, but they also followed suit and raised their hands to salute the tree.

Yet they never expected that the voice of True Man Lin would actually come from the back of the white egret on the treetop:

"Thank you all for following me to eliminate yaoguai."

When the crowd heard this, they looked at each other, feeling even more strange.

Immediately, someone stretched their neck to look at the back of the white egret, and others cupped their hands and looked up, asking loudly:

"I heard from True Man Lin's guardian that True Man Lin seems to plan to go to the northwest first to eliminate the Jin Hua King. Is this true?"

"Naturally."

The voice came down from the crane's back, calm.

Below, someone immediately showed disappointment.

Some had heard of the ferocity and cruelty of the Leopard King in the northwest, and had heard of the losses of the strange people at the Ju Xian Fu before, feeling it was dangerous. Some felt that the Changsheng Sect of the Jun Niangniang Mother of the West was recruiting talent in Yunmeng County, and that following True Man Lin might allow them to get a "Changsheng Order." Some felt that there were already enough strange people going to the northwest, enough to confront the Leopard King, and that they were not needed, while relatively fewer people were going to the northeast, so they should go to the northeast.

These were all normal thoughts.

"If you are unwilling, you may leave." The voice came from the back of the white egret. "I do not know when that Leopard King will come out of the mountains again and plunder the people again, so I will not travel with you and will go ahead first. If you are willing to follow me to find that Leopard King, I will wait for you at the Leopard Forest."

As the voice fell, the white egret kicked the treetop lightly, spread its wings and flapped, the treetop shook, and the white egret was already in the sky.

The crowd below discussed heatedly.

Some said they saw True Man Lin sitting on the back of the white egret, some discussed the safety of going to the northwest, and some discussed which side to go to.

"Che!"

Lord Luo's precious horse galloped again immediately.

Behind him, Wan Xinrong, Daoist Tao, Lord Pan, and others followed without hesitation, including those martial artists, who also followed Lord Luo.

"Forget it! What is there to fear! True Man Lin is alone and dares to go to the Leopard Forest first to scout the way for us, what else do we have to fear?"

"I heard that True Man Lin is indifferent to fame and wealth, and whenever the imperial court gives rewards, he mostly distributes them to others! Those martial artists also said that the guardian following True Man Lin can get most of the treasure every time. Is this not better than that Changsheng Order of the Jun Niangniang Mother of the West that might not be obtained?"

"Makes sense!"

A group of strange people, eight or nine out of ten, also followed.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 356 =====