Chapter 580: A Better Place

"Many thanks to the Ji Xianren for your help."

"Many thanks to the Ji Xianren."

"Sir, you are welcome. Although this is our first meeting, we have known each other for a long time. Speaking of which, I also have something to thank you for." Lin Jue said and paused. "Besides, I only helped the two of you get through the current disaster. The Heavenly Emperor's obsession with purging demons is very deep. Although the Buddhist Dharma is high, it is ultimately not as powerful as the gods under the Heavenly Emperor. This is only the second purge of demons. There will be a third and a fourth. What do the two of you plan to do?"

"This..."

The two looked at each other, very embarrassed.

It was clear that they had discussed this long ago.

Finally, the woman said:

"Reporting to the Ji Xianren, the Zi Emperor's purge of demons happens once every sixty years. The next time should be fifty years from now. My husband is a mortal with limited lifespan. Since we have no other worries in the human world, we have decided to go to the ends of the earth, find a deep mountain and quiet place to live in seclusion, take playing chess as a pleasure, and spend this life together."

"Hmm..."

Lin Jue nodded.

This is a way, but not a good way.

"But Mr. Gu is not a person who practices the Dao. If you go to the ends of the earth, you will suffer the hardship of traveling. If you live in seclusion in the deep mountains, eating wild food all day and breaking off contact with people, even if the two of you are elegant people and can play chess to pass the time, it will be extremely boring. Besides, the lady is pregnant. What will you do after giving birth?"

"But what can be done?" Mr. Gu was helpless and bitter. "The Ji Xianren can protect us once, but you cannot protect us for a lifetime. We are mortals, how can we resist the divine power of the heavenly law?"

"If you and your wife stay in the human world, I really cannot protect you for a lifetime. However, I have a Daoist temple and a piece of deep mountain. Originally, if you really have nowhere to go, you can live in seclusion with me. Unless one day I am also purged by the Zi Emperor, no monks or Daoists will ever fight to my place."

Lin Jue said and paused, smiling slightly. Although his face was young, he already had the bearing of an immortal:

"However, I have found a better place for the two of you."

"What place?"

Both husband and wife looked at him.

"It is this place."

Lin Jue turned around and pointed behind him. At this time, the sky had cleared, but Flying Mountain was still surrounded by faint mountain mist, and because it had rained, it looked even cleaner and fresher:

"There is an immortal in this mountain, who can be considered half an old friend of yours. If the two of you really have no worries in this human world, why not go into this mountain and play a few games of chess with him."

"Half an old friend?"

"Hahaha, you have replayed and analyzed the chess game with me seventeen times in your dreams. Isn't that equivalent to playing seventeen games with him? Since you are people who love chess, you have known each other through chess from a distance. How can you not be considered half an old friend?"

When the two heard this, they understood who he was talking about:

"That Heavenly Lord!"

"He was once a Heavenly Lord and is also a person who loves chess. He just needs someone to play chess with to relieve his boredom." Lin Jue said. "If Mr. Gu comes, I think he will be more to his taste than me."

When Mr. Gu heard this, his expression changed immediately.

There are often legends of "some chess master playing against heaven" in the human world. Regardless of whether these legends are true or false, whether human mortals can really play against heaven, it is at least the highest yearning of chess players. Besides, he had seen the chess game between this immortal and the Heavenly Lord seventeen times in his dreams, and had long known about the Heavenly Lord's chess skills. He only hated that the person playing chess wasn't himself, and could only watch from the sidelines, unable to comprehend it personally, so his hands had long been itchy.

It's just...

"Does me playing a few games of chess with the Heavenly Lord mean the Zi Emperor will let my wife go?"

"Hahaha, just go, sir. After playing a few games of chess, when you come out, maybe the Zi Emperor's purge of demons will be over." Lin Jue said. "By then, if I am still here, I will personally come to pick you and your wife up, and the two of you can return to Yang-zhou City, continue to have children, and enjoy the happiness of family life."

The husband and wife thought about it and understood.

It was probably the truth of "one day in heaven, one year on earth" that this immortal had mentioned in a dream more than ten years ago.

"Hoo..."

The Daoist waved his sleeves, and a hole appeared in front of him.

"The Heavenly Lord is already waiting for the two of you inside."

The two looked at each other and looked into the hole.

I saw inside a steep high mountain, with a white silk hanging on the mountain, and countless immortal trees growing in the mountain, swallowing clouds and mist, emitting brilliant light. There were strange beasts appearing in the forest, and rare birds flying across the sky. It was exactly the world-beyond-the-world immortal realm in secular legends, which made them look a bit dazed.

Neither of them hesitated anymore and stepped forward.

"Ji Xianren, let Mr. Gu play that two-hundred-move bet for me." Lin Jue shouted inside. "I will come to take the Imperial Snake next year."

Silently, the hole disappeared.

The fox jumped down from the cloud, became smaller in front of him, its divine light restrained, clever and agile.

Ji Xianren bells and elegant music, white cranes flying together, Nine Heavens clouds and mist opening the palace, the Zi Emperor wearing a crown.

"Your Majesty, Bodhisattva Ciyun sent a report, saying that she obeyed your order to purge demons in the south, and encountered a demon invading the human world, even having intercourse with humans, which is a violation of the heavenly law. Just as she was about to remove it, she was blocked and shielded by Lin Zhenren from the lower realm, and even fought with her."

A majestic voice came from behind the bead curtain:

"Lin Zhenren?"

"It is the Lin Zhenren who achieved the Dao at the end of the previous dynasty, an old friend of the founding Taizu of the human world."

"I know."

"I don't know..."

"Hmm..."

The Zi Emperor pondered for a moment before speaking:

"This person is upright and benevolent, and has great merit and prestige in the human world. The destruction of the previous dynasty and the creation of this dynasty may not have been without his credit. Originally, if he shielded an ordinary demon, with his merit, we could give him some face for the time being. However, I remember that the fox beside him is related to Lady Lady Yao Hua..."

"Exactly!"

"In that case..."

"..."

"Forget it..."

The bead curtain swayed slightly as the Zi Emperor waved his sleeves: "It's not time yet. Let him be for a few decades."

The time in the Yuanqiu Ji Xianren Realm passes quickly, but how can the long human world not be the same?

On the land of the Central Plains, the old medical immortal leaning on a cane was exhausted. Even after eating immortal fruit and having his own cultivation, he was nearly two hundred years old. On the side of an ordinary road, under an ordinary tree, followed by no one knows how many disciples, his medicine box, gourd, and immobilization staff were placed aside. It seemed to be an ordinary day, on the way to treat patients, resting in the shade in the afternoon...

Suddenly a sentence:

"After I leave, don't be sad. Give the gourd to your senior brother, the medicine box to your junior brother, and the immobilization staff to you. Just dig a hole and bury the body."

The disciple was puzzled and went to look at the master, but the master had already closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

His vitality passed away quickly, but his soul left his body.

The old Daoist had not yet become an immortal, but after he went down the mountain, he first experienced the change of dynasty, then several chaotic times, several natural disasters, and countless plagues and wars. On this land, in the hearts of countless people, he had long left the name of medical immortal and medicine god, and his merit was boundless.

Just incense is enough to become a god.

Almost no difference of two years—

Mingxia County roadside Daoist temple.

A Daoist is still young and elegant, having fun with people.

There is rubbing grass into fireflies, and scattering wheat into butterflies. When fireflies and butterflies dance, there are beautiful and graceful women playing music behind the bead curtain, and singing and dancing girls twisting their bodies to pour wine for the guests.

Someone just boasted, showing off that his drinking capacity had grown. The Daoist laughed and pointed, making the wine in his cup endless, and he drank until he waved his hands repeatedly.

Everyone around was booing, and someone called the Daoist to come again. The Daoist didn't refuse, and took the love letter he had hidden in his arms for a long time with a wave of his hand, laughed and said it was warm, and then read it aloud to everyone while standing on the table, making the person blush, and making the guests in the room laugh until their stomachs hurt.

It just so happened that everyone present was generous. With the wine, no one was angry, and no one felt it was inappropriate, just having fun in drunkenness, very happy.

Someone at the table was flushed, patting the table, and shouting loudly in the song:

"Happy! Really happy! There has been sorrow in the world for a long time, only here at the Daoist's place is the immortal place far from sorrow! Hahahaha!"

Others echoed: "Yes, I haven't come to play at the Daoist's place for several years. Every time I pass by here, I want to visit the Daoist, but the Daoist temple is closed. I thought the Daoist had already become an immortal and left, hahahaha..."

As soon as this was said, everyone laughed non-stop.

"Hahahaha..."

The Daoist wearing plain clothes also laughed, and then stood on the table again, stepping on the edge of the table. Everyone knew him and was not afraid of him falling.

They thought he was going to perform something again, but he just lowered his head and looked at everyone at the table with a smile:

"How do you know? Is today the day I become an immortal and leave?"

"Hahahaha..."

Everyone continued to laugh when they heard this.

Some said "the Daoist has long been an immortal," some said "the Daoist is so happy all day, what kind of immortal is he," and the Daoist laughed with them.

Suddenly the singing stopped, and the dancing stopped.

I don't know when, and I don't know how, those singing girls and dancing girls disappeared without a trace, as if they had never appeared.

Everyone suddenly became quiet.

The Daoist on the table suddenly flew up, slowly rising into the sky, with a smile, and became an immortal and left.

Leaving only one sentence:

"This time I came back to say goodbye to you. You won't be able to find me when you come again in the future. Haha, see you again!"

About the same time—

Pugilistic world yellow sand road, inn horse hoof sound.

A Daoist dressed casually brought a woman in red and walked in, ordered a plate of mutton and a pot of fine wine. Just as he was drinking, he suddenly felt something and looked up at the sky.

"What's wrong?"

The woman beside him asked him.

"Nothing." The Daoist shook his head. "It's just that I'm about to become an immortal."

"Why are you melancholy?"

"Melancholy is because this is the last pot of wine for this mortal body. After achieving the Dao, I don't know if I can still drink so much nectar, and if I can still have the taste of hearty drunkenness..."

"I'll drink with you today."

The woman in red beside him smiled at him.

She twisted the cup with her plain hands, her wrists were slender and snow-white, pouring wine for him, and raised her sleeves to block the yellow sand outside the door. All the pugilistic heroes were extremely envious.