Chapter 112

The sun set, and in the blink of an eye, it was dark, and the time reached the second watch.

Li Miao climbed over the courtyard wall, entered Shaolin, and walked toward the place agreed upon with Yongjie.

After a while, he entered a courtyard, and Yongjie was standing in the courtyard, head bowed, shoulders slumped.

"Master." Li Miao greeted.

Yongjie looked up, his eyes bloodshot, and there were still undried tear stains on his face. Seeing Li Miao, he forced a smile: "My lord."

Li Miao looked him up and down and said: "Is there any misfortune with Master Xingchi?"

"Master was seriously injured and has three days to live," Yongjie said.

"Is that so... please accept my condolences."

Li Miao sighed in his heart; Xingchi was one of the few people in this Jianghu for whom he truly had respect. He had always thought that when his work was done, he must meet him.

Who knew that this first meeting would also be the last.

"My lord, I have already asked Master. Master said that now he is... dying, and he doesn't want to sleep, just wanting to talk more with people."

"I told Master about you saving the entire city of Taian, and Master said he must see you."

"I will take you to see him now," Yongjie said.

Li Miao bowed: "Thank you."

Yongjie nodded and turned to lead Li Miao toward the depths of the temple.

Walking to a small courtyard, Yongjie knocked on the door: "Master, Lord Li is here."

But a hearty old man's voice sounded from inside, saying with a smile: "Come in quickly, I've been waiting until I'm sleepy!"

Yongjie pushed open the courtyard door and saw a straw mat placed under a tree in the courtyard.

An old monk sat cross-legged on it, holding a little girl; the little girl was clutching the old monk's beard with one hand and holding the other in her mouth, being gently patted on the back by the old monk, already too sleepy to open her eyes.

Looking at the old monk, he had crane hair and a child's face, and two eyebrows a full foot long, hanging on his shoulders.

His cross-legged posture was also casual, one leg bent and one leg straight, his cassock wrapped around the little girl, and he himself only wore an inner garment. At this moment, he looked at Li Miao with a smile, not having the demeanor of a high monk at all, but rather like a hearty old man coaxing his granddaughter to sleep.

Yongjie stepped forward quickly, hugged the little girl in his arms, and apologized to the old monk: "Master, Ling'er is disturbing you again, I will definitely..."

"Hey!" The old monk waved his hand: "Yongjie, you are talking nonsense again."

"You are my disciple, Ling'er is my grand-disciple, what is disturbing or not about a grandfather coaxing his granddaughter to sleep!"

"If you say such distant words again, don't think I can't beat you just because I'm about to die!"

Li Miao couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

How could he not know that this old monk was the Shaolin Abbot, Xingchi. It was just that looking at this behavior and this way of speaking, it was really far from the image of a high monk he had imagined.

However, Li Miao could clearly feel the old monk's bones, which were as firm as a rock—"Vajra."

Although Li Miao could see that his heart pulse was damaged, his body was full of hidden injuries, and the statement that he had three days to live was not false. But he could also see that the "Vajra" on this old monk was stronger than the perfect "Vajra" he had on the Taishan sect that day.

This was even more unreasonable than Li Miao retreating from "Vajra" to practice "Sumeru" that day.

What is perfection? One more point is too much, one less point is not enough. The so-called perfection is not having more than others, but being "just right." After perfection, there is no path to go; Li Miao was absolutely certain of this.

It seems that this is Shaolin's foundation, and also the reason why Xingchi could survive under Ji Tianrui.

Li Miao stepped forward and bowed: "Junior Li Miao, meets Master Xingchi."

The old monk laughed heartily: "Lord Li, greetings!"

"I heard from my inferior disciple that you did a great good deed in Taian City!"

"Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda; with your merit, it should be the monk bowing to you!"

After saying this, Xingchi actually stood up and bowed to Li Miao.

Li Miao hurriedly stepped forward to support Xingchi's arms: "Master, no need for such courtesy; Li is eating official grain and just did his duty."

Letting a ninety-year-old, dying high monk bow to him, Li Miao was afraid of losing his lifespan.

"Hahaha, then the monk won't be polite. Lord Li, please sit!"

Xingchi didn't force it, winked at Li Miao, and invited Li Miao to sit down together.

"I didn't expect that before I die, I could still talk to a hero like Lord Li; the monk can die without regrets!"

He didn't avoid the meaning of death at all, laughing heartily as he spoke.

"Lord Li, if you have anything you want to ask, just say it! The monk will tell you everything he knows!"

Li Miao knew that Xingchi was already at the end of his rope and didn't have much time left, so he shouldn't delay him for too long. Moreover, he still had to see Zhu Zai later, so he went straight to the point.

"Master, was the person who injured you to this degree that day Ji Tianrui?"

He had never figured this point out.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard went out in full force to kill Ji Tianrui in the Miao border, and Zhu Zai led the team personally.

Yun Zelin could fake his death to escape because he was a nobody back then and didn't attract the attention of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But for a figure like Ji Tianrui, how could the Embroidered Uniform Guard not verify his identity after killing him? If he didn't die that day, how could the Embroidered Uniform Guard let it go?

Sure enough, Xingchi said lightly: "He said he was Ji Tianrui."

"His figure is similar, his martial arts are stronger, and he is also the Ming Cult leader. But whether it is the one from back then, the monk cannot be sure."

"After all, he is like Lord Li, in the realm of three returning to one, but I don't know how he avoided the 'Five Decays of Heaven and Man'."

"The monk only reached the pinnacle. Relying on the legacy of predecessors, damaging my lifespan, I could barely pass a few moves with him. For anything more, the monk was powerless to investigate."

Sure enough, Xingchi also saw through Li Miao's realm at a glance.

Martial arts cultivated to Above Pinnacle are all reaching the end of one's own path. Those who practice "Vajra" can see others' bones at a glance; those who practice "Sumeru" can see others' Qi at a glance; those who practice "Kshana" can see others' moves and mental methods at a glance.

And Xingchi's martial arts should have originally only been pinnacle. Relying on Shaolin's secret methods, he forcibly raised his realm.

He only had three days of life left, not only because of the injuries left by fighting Ji Tianrui, but more because of the price of this method.

Li Miao continued to ask: "What was the purpose of that person who claimed to be Ji Tianrui attacking Shaolin?"

Xingchi said lightly: "Yijin Sutra, Xisui Sutra, Great Return Pill."

"The monk could only try his best to protect the disciples, and these three things were taken away by that Ji Tianrui."

Before Li Miao could speak, Yongjie on the side stood up suddenly, shocked: "What!?"

"This, what should we do!?"

"What are you panicking about!" Xingchi shouted: "In heaven and on earth, only 'I' am supreme; all external things are empty. Where did your Buddhist practice go?"

"Sit down, don't wake Ling'er up."

But he didn't expect that Yongjie's movements didn't wake the little girl, but Xingchi's voice scared her, and she started crying immediately.

Xingchi hurriedly stood up, took the little girl over, patted her back gently, and coaxed her for a long time before she fell asleep again.

He lowered his voice again, turned to Yongjie and said: "A few external things, let them go if they are gone."

"Secret manuals can be rewritten, pills can be re-refined. You remember, the foundation of my Shaolin is not martial arts, but Buddhism, it is the human heart."

"'The empty flower and moon-in-water dojo, build it at every moment; if there is one person not saved, don't escape yourself.'"

"Building a dojo is to save the world; it can be built and can be let go. As long as people are alive, what is a dojo?"

"If you are obsessed with external things, you are an outsider, and don't say you are my disciple in the future!"