Chapter 259: Golden Collarbone Bodhisattva

It turned out that Dan Jiaojiao, following behind Zhang Gui, quietly crept up to the inn's second floor and entered the room.

The Junior Clerk who showed the way seemed to know her, and there was a hint of silent, exchanged glances between them.

But when the Shop Assistant took Zhang Gui's reward and was about to step back,

he suddenly noticed that Dan Jiaojiao still intended to stay in the room.

His heart suddenly ached, and he couldn't help shaking his head and gesturing wildly, trying to get Dan Jiaojiao to leave with him.

But Dan Jiaojiao refused to step back.

He kept waving at the Junior Clerk, indicating that he wanted to see a task done from start to finish before receiving payment, and that the clerk could leave first.

The result only made the Junior Clerk more confused, and in the end he actually confronted Dan Jiaojiao in front of the guests.

Zhang Gui naturally knew that Dan Jiaojiao had been following him into the room.

He had previously promised a generous reward to the young lady, but giving too much Lucky Money in broad daylight would only cause trouble for Dan Jiaojiao.

So he thought that when only two people remained in the room, he would hand over the money and then let Dan Jiaojiao leave.

Now, seeing the young lady being awkwardly questioned by the Shop Assistant, he could not possibly stand by.

He frowned and asked, "Miss, do you know this Shop Assistant?"

"All the inn shop assistants and proprietors on this street, as long as they've worked a full month, I know them all,"

"His surname is Song, and his family runs Xing San."

"He has also been a Shop Assistant at Xiaoyao Ju for two or three years."

"When I help other idle guests come here, I occasionally run into him."

"He occasionally joked with me a few times, and once gave me a fruit when I was exhausted."

"I was grateful and gave him Fried Lotus Root twice."

"He is a good person, but on what grounds does he control me?"

"'He just automatically fell into a delusional infatuation,' Zhang Gui thought upon hearing it."

He lectured the miss, saying:

"In the future, if you don't particularly like it, don't eat fruit given by others at random."

"Also, don't give Lotus Root to others indiscriminately."

"Why is that?"

"I've helped the idle until I'm exhausted, and I can't bear to buy food in a place like Four Sages Lane."

"He is also a child from a poor family, knowing how hard it is, so he kindly gave me a fruit."

"I gratefully ate it."

"Later, to thank his kindness, I gave him Lotus Root twice and thanked him repeatedly."

"Where did I go wrong?"

Dan Jiaojiao asked in confusion.

"'Wrong, wrong, the mistake is—' Zhang Gui opened his mouth, tongue‑tied, finally managed to say:"

"The mistake is that you thanked the wrong person."

"So if I thanked the wrong person, should I blame myself and not him?"

Zhang Gui was stunned for a while, then gave a wry smile, "It's my fault, you're not at fault; I thought incorrectly."

"Now if you still refuse to leave, I'll make him scram."

"I don't want to leave," Dan Jiaojiao said resolutely.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the words fell,

the Shop Assistant suddenly sprang up, grabbed her shoulders hard, shaking her violently while growling:

"You're such a frivolous woman, you're like this…"

Zhang Gui had already been simmering with inexplicable resentment toward this Shop Assistant, and now he could no longer hold back.

He activated the inner divine cluster 'Zongheng Ruyi' to give him a lesson.

Just then,

Dan Jiaojiao's shirt over her chest was torn by the Shop Assistant, but she broke free from his grasp.

"You really are courting death!"

He watched helplessly as the young lady who had come to the inn with him was subjected to such indecency right before his eyes.

Zhang Gui could not help but flare up in anger.

The intended lesson turned into a harsh blow, and Dan Jiaojiao, as if foreseeing it, rushed forward and grabbed him tightly,

"Sir, calm down, he was momentarily confused, he went mad."

"Later, go tell the proprietor, and a small reprimand will suffice."

"Song San, you also saw it."

"This young master rides a Flower Dragon Beast of Divine Steed Grade and is a person who leaves a hundred gold to stay at Xiaoyao Ju."

"Even though Jinling Du has now become Shou Shan Zhi Di of the Ming Song Kingdom, and the powerful bow down, few dare to act recklessly."

"But you indeed committed a mistake now, being frivolous toward me."

"He would break your leg for this, send you to the yamen for three to five years; how hard would that be for you?"

"Then get out quickly!"

The Shop Assistant, upon hearing that, seemed to wake from a dream; his angry, twisted face turned to sincere fear, and he staggered out of the guest room.

Only then did Dan Jiaojiao release Zhang Gui, hurriedly closing the guest room door.

She pulled up the already torn lapel with her hand, covering the white.

She walked back to Zhang Gui, whispering, "Sir, don't blame me; I didn't intend to oppose you."

"You don't need to apologize; I'm not very kind."

"But I also know the value of kindness and won't blame others…"

Zhang Gui's emotions gradually calmed, and he said seriously, his gaze turning to Dan Jiaojiao when something stirred in his heart.

Staring at the scene before him, the swan‑like, slender neck traced an exquisitely graceful curve downward, revealing the breathtakingly arched clavicle in the hollow, making his mouth dry.

Looking again at the fourteen‑ or fifteen‑year‑old, who originally gave an impression of a clever, lively, delicate girl, she suddenly possessed a peach‑sweet charm and a pure, pristine elegance.

It actually caused Zhang Gui to spring up like a frog.

"Young master, what's wrong? Why does your complexion turn so red all of a sudden?"

"Don't tell me you have a fever?"

Dan Jiaojiao, as if she understood nothing, showed a concerned expression, extending her icy little hand to touch Zhang Gui's forehead.

The clavicle tightened, the muscles light, presenting another exquisite posture, hovering less than half an inch before his lips.

"I, I, I, it's fine."

Zhang Gui bit his lip hard, slowly stepped back, only wanting to rid himself of this temptation that was nearly destroying his reason.

Dan Jiaojiao, seeing this, showed a hint of surprise on her face, but when Zhang Gui retreated a foot, she followed a foot.

"Young master, your forehead is getting hotter; you can't let the fire in your heart stay unrelieved."

"Let me try again."

As she said so, she hooked Zhang Gui's neck, preventing his escape, and pressed her own forehead against his.

His clavicle also pressed against Zhang Gui's lips…

The ancient Buddhist canon, Treatise on Western Heaven Fruit Realms, states:

In antiquity, Guanyin Bodhisattva, seeing the deep roots of desire in the mortal world, transformed into a pure, beautiful maiden to save all beings,

Men and women of the Human Realm who beheld her visage were all enthralled.

Contact with her caused desire to instantly wane.

Because she possessed great divine power, she could naturally dispel evil nets.

Later she died without illness, and the villagers bought a coffin for burial.

A hundred years later, a great venerable monk, upon seeing her tomb, clasped his hands in reverence and exclaimed, "How virtuous, how virtuous!"

The Bodhisattva incarnation came to guide the lustful of the world back to the righteous path, capable of attaining great merit.

The crowd, not believing his words, dug up the earth and opened the coffin, finding the skeletal remains with a lute‑shaped area shining like gold, which startled them.

Thus they erected a temple to the Golden Collar Bodhisattva, gathering its purity like a lotus, emerging from mud unstained…

Yet Zhang Gui had never heard of the title and realm of the Golden Collar Bodhisattva.

But in his mind, the Main Divine Cluster "Year God Entering Spirit", stemming from ancient god‑demon bloodlines, was densely interlinked.

It merged with his Primordial Spirit as one!

At the instant his reason was about to be utterly destroyed by rancid desire, the Primordial Spirit was restrained, and the Divine Cluster responded.

Lu Gate flung open, spewing countless black ichor, beginning to stain reality and spawn demons.

(End of chapter)