Chapter 231

"Bang!"

As soon as the two finished speaking, they heard the sound of wind hitting the wooden gate. The dog in the next yard startled a nest of birds, setting off a series of bird chirps and dog barks. Xu Gongming and Tian Zhongqing were both chilled to the bone by this movement, looking at each other in fear. Xu Gongming gritted his teeth and whispered:

"I spoke out of turn."

Tian Zhongqing's face was also slightly pale. He nodded with difficulty to calm himself down, exchanged a few pleasantries, but no longer had the heart to talk. He personally sent Xu Gongming out of the courtyard and watched him ride away. Only then did he stomp his feet in annoyance, regretting:

"A slip of the tongue has brought an unnecessary disaster!"

Returning to the room on his own, Tian Zhongqing drank two large gulps of tea and thought to himself:

"It should be fine, it should be fine. The main family has not yet had any examples of punishing people for speaking too much."

The dog next door barked again in a low voice. Tian Zhongqing was disturbed by this sound and said in a deep voice:

"Someone come!"

"My lord."

The steward servant hurried up. Tian Zhongqing waved his sleeves and whispered:

"Take that dog and send it to a family further away. Don't let it be noisy again."

"Yes."

The servant answered hurriedly. The subsequent dog barking gradually faded away, but Tian Zhongqing's heart was still boiling, as if a heavy stone was pressing down on it.

He sat back at the desk, weighing whether that movement was a coincidence or a spy from the main family. Tian Zhongqing sipped his tea silently and thought to himself:

"If Young Master Yuanxiu were in charge, this would most likely be a movement made by a spy. But now that the family head is in charge and is lenient, it seems like an unintentional coincidence."

After thinking about it, Tian Zhongqing finally blamed his own mouth and secretly regretted:

Xu Gongming rode his horse in a daze, his heart full of regret and shame. Before Master Xu passed away, he repeatedly urged him not to associate with the Wang surname and not to talk too much with the Wang surname, but he had unknowingly broken all the taboos. Infinite regret surged into his heart. Xu Gongming rode his horse in the forest for a few laps, but he couldn't think of any way to make up for it.

"The master has already passed away, and no one can give me advice anymore."

Xu Gongming traveled several miles, carefully recalling the master's words before he died. He found a flat place in the fields and stared blankly at the rain and dew dripping down.

————

Li Tongya watched for a while and drank a few cups of wine at the lower table. Seeing that he was silent and that the Zifu cultivators were watching from above, the people beside him drank a few cups of spirit wine to build up their courage and slowly began to chat.

The atmosphere in the arena became lively. A group of cultivators toasted each other and laughed, making a noisy mess. The cultivators around him saw that Li Tongya did not pay attention to them, so they gradually let go of their inhibitions and began to brag and chat.

The white-haired cultivator on Li Tongya's left raised his cup and asked with a smile:

"Brother, which county are you from? Which immortal mountain or spiritual vein do you cultivate in?"

The cultivator on the other side cupped his hands and replied:

"I am from the Xiuyue Sect's territory in Yuebei County, cultivating in a small temple on a hilltop. How can it be called an immortal mountain or spiritual vein? It's just a small hill."

"Fellow Daoist is too modest."

The white-haired old cultivator chuckled, looking quite envious, and sighed:

"I am a few years older than you and know more about the affairs of the Yue State. Life under the Xiuyue Immortal Sect in this Yue State is the most comfortable. Fellow Daoist truly has good fortune. You must be living the life of an immortal, free as a wild crane."

"Eh!"

The young cultivator gave a bitter smile, shook his head repeatedly, took a sip of wine, and whispered:

"What kind of immortal life is there to live! The human world is just a mess. The competition for interests between Daoist temples and small temples is exhausting, not to mention that Yuebei County is close to the Xu State, and people from the Buddhist sect appear from time to time, taking the people north. How can it be as easy as you say... Don't mortals always envy cultivators for coming and going, thinking that once they become immortals, they have no worries? But those of us in it know the taste!"

The white-haired old cultivator chuckled and nodded approvingly, but he had a different view and spoke again:

"You take it too lightly. The struggle under your Xiuyue Sect is just a struggle for power and profit. If you lose, you just roll up your Daoist tradition and get out. Unless it's a life-and-death struggle, how could it take a person's life? Turn your head and look at the other sects."

He paused slightly, his voice much lower, and whispered:

"I won't even mention the Qingchi Immortal Sect. Just look at the Tangjin Gate. How many families and Daoist temples do they destroy every year?"

The young cultivator nodded lightly and replied:

"Don't even mention the Yue State. Aren't the Wu State and the Xu State the same? Without a Zifu cultivator to guard them, they are just toys and tools, slaughtered at will. Once a sect has a Zifu cultivator, everyone offers congratulations, and only then do they treat your disciples as human beings!"

The white-haired old cultivator had experienced much and was deeply moved by these words. The young cultivator also had a wealth of experience. His words made even Li Tongya nod slightly. After the two finished speaking, they felt that the current scene was not suitable for talking about this, so they hurriedly changed the subject.

"You said that people from the Buddhist sect often appear in Yuebei County?"

The old cultivator changed the subject and asked with great surprise:

"When I was young, I went to the Xu State. I didn't even see the shadow of a Buddhist person in the far north. How could it come to this?"

"Sigh!"

The young cultivator sighed and said with some indignation:

"The Xu State's spiritual veins are shallow, its national strength is weak, its territory is narrow, and there are no major sects or famous mountains. There are only a few sects guarding the Xu State. How can they guard it? I heard from the master in the temple that a hundred years ago, these people couldn't be seen, and they have only become numerous in the last fifty years."

The old cultivator was silent for a while and replied:

"Those Zifu True Persons, Golden Core Immortals... could it be that they just let... the Xu State fall like this?"

The young cultivator paused slightly and whispered:

"There have been fights... The Buddhist sect also has powerful figures who have taken action, such as Lianmin and Jinlian Mohe. I heard that they fought until the birds and beasts on seven whole mountains changed to eating vegetarian food, starving a whole area of fierce birds and beasts to death. The various rumors about this make people's hearts tremble with fear."

The old cultivator sighed repeatedly, his face full of memories, and whispered:

"I have also seen Buddhist cultivators. It was a Dharma master who saw his own nature clearly and had great wisdom. I once thought about converting, but the Dharma master insisted on hitting me with a Zen staff, which was too painful, so I had to give up."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone had a strange expression, wanting to laugh but embarrassed to make a sound. Only the young cultivator laughed and replied:

"Senior, we cultivate for this life, while they cultivate for the next life. The two conflict. Your enlightenment is not enough, so naturally, you feel pain."

The old cultivator didn't mind, so the group of cultivators chuckled, and the atmosphere became much more harmonious.

Li Tongya listened with great interest. His family had risen too quickly and had a weak foundation, so he knew little about this news. Therefore, he remained silent and listened carefully, feeling that his eyes were opened. He heard the old cultivator say:

"There are many paths in the world. Cultivating Zifu and Golden Core is fine, and cultivating Jinlian Mohe Dharma images is also fine. There are also curse techniques that harm enemies, and different furnaces in the same mansion that leave no trace. Whichever path works, just go down that path!"

These words stirred up a thousand waves. The cultivators spoke up one after another, either praising or disdaining.

"Fellow Daoist, your words are wrong. If you lose your original heart while cultivating, and I am no longer myself, what is the point?"

"The different furnace in the same mansion is the path of demonic cultivation. Fellow Daoist, your words are too much..."

Consequently, it was noisy, making Li Tongya frown slightly and lose interest, so he had to drink wine alone. Unexpectedly, a middle-aged man wearing animal skins walked up from the front, stepped forward, and smiled:

"Senior, you are drinking alone. Is there something worrying you?"

I had a fever again today. I managed to come back and write a chapter in a daze. After this period passes, I will definitely write it back for everyone.

Thanks to the big boss Chunfeng ヾ^_^ for the reward. Woo woo, he supported me a lot. Thank you!

(End of this chapter)