Chapter 166: The Gate of All Wonders

Xizhou, Yuding City, Nanfeng District, Jiejiao Town, Kanshan Village, Group 6.

A household is currently preparing for a funeral.

Although it is in the village, a concrete road has been built; a road two and a half meters wide, extending from the township road, looking like a jade ribbon under the sunlight, leading all the way to this house beside the bamboo forest, allowing their own cars to drive directly to the front door.

Today, there are even more cars coming and going than during the Lunar New Year.

Some distant relatives no longer live in the village, and some are not even in this city anymore, working in the provincial capital or even other provinces, yet they all rushed back today. Their faces feel unfamiliar to the young people responsible for receiving guests.

Perhaps for them, having come this once, they will never come again in this lifetime, so even from thousands of miles away, they must make this trip.

In a few more years, their respective descendants will also be strangers.

This is the final kinship.

The young people responsible for receiving guests try hard to identify the arriving relatives, feeling awkward as a result, but there is truly no other way; some elders are too distantly related, perhaps only seen once or twice when they were very young, so they have no choice but to follow custom, kneeling and bowing to each person who arrives, without saying anything else.

The elders stand at the front door waiting.

According to Yiguo traditional customs, holding a funeral requires inviting a Dharma Master; if one follows the Daoist path, they are invited from a nearby Daoist temple, if one believes in Buddhism, they are invited from a nearby Buddhist temple; if one believes in neither, it is usually done according to regional customs, and most people invite whichever is common in the area; in modern times, there are also many who invite no one at all.

The old gentleman held a Daoist initiation certificate, so a Daoist Dharma Master had to be invited to officiate, but there were others who had passed away nearby, and the temple was too busy to handle it.

After contacting people here and there and repeatedly requesting the temple master, they finally found a Dharma Master.

The sun is high in the sky.

At the end of the white jade-like concrete road, two figures appeared; when they walked closer, it was clear they were an old and a young Daoist; the old Daoist had a kind face, and the young Daoist was only in his early twenties, with delicate features, walking along the concrete road.

The young Daoist asked with some confusion: "Master, shouldn't we be heading back to Yujing? Why have we suddenly come here to perform a Dharma ritual?"

"Because someone requested it."

"But we have already bought our tickets."

"Remember this."

The old Daoist patiently instructed him: "We are Daoists, and Daoists should go out to perform Dharma rituals. As long as someone nearby finds us, unless we truly cannot go, we must not easily refuse."

The old Daoist looked up at the host family coming to greet them and paused: "In this world, there are very few things greater than the death of a person..."

"Oh."

"But you must remember one thing: at the site of a Dharma ritual, you will see all facets of life." The old Daoist paused, "Perhaps some descendants will be laughing and joking, perhaps some descendants will appear not to respect the Dharma ritual; this does not mean they are not sad, and even if they are truly not sad, it does not mean they are not filial, and even if they are truly not filial, do not rashly judge them. Be a silent observer, carefully experience these things, and try to think about the reasons behind them."

"Experience what?"

"I cannot tell you; you can only experience it yourself; this is your own affair. Anything you can experience is your own gain, while everything I tell you is merely my answer." The old Daoist's voice was steady and gentle, "Go and see; you are a person with a Linglong Heart; others' pointers will only become limitations to you, shrinking your sky."

"Disciple accepts the teaching."

The host family had already come up to greet them.

The young Daoist watched silently from the side, watching them exchange polite greetings, and then followed his master and the host family into that bamboo forest.

Bamboo is a good thing; it can be used to weave farm tools and kitchen utensils, it can be used as firewood, one can dig up bamboo shoots to eat, and it grows fast and requires no care; almost every household in the Xizhou countryside plants bamboo beside their house.

The Dharma Master arrived, and after some discussion, the procedure was set, and the funeral soon officially began.

Following his master's arrangements, the young Daoist first removed the residual Spirit Soul from the deceased, allowing it to return naturally to the origin of the world, and then began to chant scriptures.

This world does not have the concept of Samsara, and naturally, there is no concept of salvation; although the content of the scriptures includes the deceased's name, place of origin, birth date, and other personal information, the meaning is only to report to the Heavenly Venerable, telling him that one of his believers has passed away, so as to put the deceased's heart at ease.

In fact, the Heavenly Venerable mostly cannot hear it either.

This is just a ritual, a procedure, the final event in a person's life.

It should be made to appear solemn.

The young Daoist closed his eyes to chant while carefully sensing his surroundings.

He heard people talking, exchanging polite pleasantries.

He heard people laughing, saying it had been a long time.

He heard people crying, crying very falsely; after the guests finished offering incense, the crying stopped abruptly.

He heard a child playing a game.

He heard the young people kneeling before the mourning hall whispering.

He heard the sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo forest.

The young Daoist thought silently and carefully.

If he had heard others talk about it, or seen similar descriptions in some paper or electronic media, perhaps he would have despised these people for their lack of filial piety, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he did not think so at all.

Because the feelings of these people were more real.

These people are just ordinary people, after all.

Night fell.

The host family arranged a room for them to rest, while downstairs, several younger generations were keeping vigil; fortunately, it is summer now, so it is not cold.

The young Daoist sat cross-legged on the bed, still with his eyes closed.

There were four people keeping vigil downstairs, all young people in their twenties or thirties. Actually, one person keeping vigil would have been enough; staying up all night is not a good thing, but they insisted on keeping watch; what is interesting is that the ones who were laughing and indifferent during the day were also them.

Master was right.

Perhaps some descendants are laughing and joking, but it does not mean they are not sad; not all sadness needs to be displayed in front of the whole world.

Perhaps some descendants are truly not sad, but it does not mean they are not filial; perhaps they just view death very lightly, and regret replaces sadness.

Perhaps some descendants do not respect the Dharma ritual, but this does not mean they do not respect the old man; perhaps what they do not respect is just this cumbersome procedure, this traditional custom that insists on torturing the descendants.

Perhaps some descendants are truly not filial and do not respect the old man, but do not judge a person based on a single event.

People are very complex.

The young Daoist's heart became very calm.

This is not Daoist cultivation.

It is the cultivation of the Secret Sect.

In addition to the Daoist Cultivation System, the young Daoist also studied some Buddhist Sect theories, and furthermore, he possessed a bit of talent for the Secret Sect.

The Daoist and Buddhist sects originally shared the same source, and from ancient times to the present, they have been borrowing from each other; it is just that in ancient times, there was little borrowing, mostly limited to rough, external aspects. For example, when Daoist Cultivators began to cooperate deeply with the central imperial court, the Buddhist Sect soon followed suit. For example, when the Buddhist Sect simplified their ritual procedures by referencing feedback from pilgrims, the Daoist sect followed suit and simplified theirs as well. For example, when the Daoist sect began implementing a policy of giving away incense for free, the Buddhist Sect learned to do the same.

In modern times, the points of intersection between the two have become even more numerous.

First was the opening up of national policy, hoping that everyone would no longer hoard their knowledge; the Daoist and Buddhist sects were the first to respond, but they only handed over core cultivation concepts and some supporting introductory techniques. Decades ago, the Imperial Family stepped forward to guarantee and coordinate, selecting a few disciples from both the Buddhist and Daoist sects who met the cultivation requirements of both systems to cultivate both simultaneously; it is said that the authorities intend to spend one hundred years finding a way to combine the two systems.

The young Daoist is one of them.

As for the Secret Sect System, that was purely an accident—

He happened to possess a tiny bit of talent for the Secret Sect and was found by people from the Secret Sect, but his talent in this area was very poor.

Not to mention other esoteric requirements, just based on his personality alone, he was not cut out for the Secret Sect System.

It is said that those who practice the Secret Sect System must be indifferent and detached; he cannot do that.

Fortunately, some concepts of the Secret Sect System naturally possess the ability to coordinate and integrate the Buddhist and Daoist systems, so he was able to use this tiny bit of Secret Sect talent combined with Secret Sect theory to achieve the goal of cultivating both the Buddhist and Daoist systems.

Master says he has a Linglong Heart that perceives all things in the world.

Master always says so.

"Xuanzhen."

"Master."

"Return to Yujing alone tomorrow."

"Very well, Master."

"When are you leaving?"

"In the evening, I'll take the high-speed rail."

"Good."

Master closed his eyes again.

The young Daoist took out his Mobile Phone, changed his high-speed rail ticket, and opened an app.

Recently, this thing has become his source of joy.

Gate of All Wonders: Returning to Yujing tomorrow.

Gate of All Wonders: Want to grab a meal?

Gate of All Wonders: Amitabha, get a roast lamb leg for this poor monk and Brother Qingdeng.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: /That's a bit too much, isn't it?

Qingcai Keke: You aren't in Yujing?

Gate of All Wonders: In Xizhou.

Grandma Always Says: Why go to Xizhou?

Gate of All Wonders: Out traveling.

Qingcai Keke: When are you coming back?

Gate of All Wonders: Tomorrow night, I suppose.

Grandma Always Says: Then what the hell is the point of gathering?

Grandma Always Says: The fighting starts the day after tomorrow.

Just as the young Daoist was about to say something, he heard Master's voice from the side: "The night is deep; it is time to cultivate."

The young Daoist helplessly put down his Mobile Phone.

……

April 20th.

Chen Shu received the temporary military academy entry pass issued by the school, and also received another entry pass sent by the group owner.

Because the nature of the Military Academy is special, unlike Yujing Academy or Ling'an Academy, one cannot enter or exit as one pleases. Contestants must use this to enter and exit, and can also use this temporary entry pass to dine for free in the cafeteria.

He went out early in the morning.

Arriving at Ling'an Academy, he waited for Ning Qing while carefully reading the rules and discussing them with the silly group members.

There is a rule in the off-campus competition: in cases of necessity, one may apply to the organizers for a standard-issue weapon, but the use of one's own weapon is prohibited.

That is to say, if you are a Sword Cultivator, you can obtain a standard-issue Long Sword provided by the organizers. If you are a Martial Cultivator who habitually uses a weapon, you can also apply to the organizers for a weapon suitable for you.

But this is still a disadvantage for a Traditional Sword Cultivator.

Because a Traditional Sword Cultivator must nurture their Sword, even if their own sword is of equal quality to this one, there is a very large difference in how it is used.

Just then, a silly netizen in the group said—

Grandma Always Says: Haha, I'll tell you all a secret: the weapons provided by the National Defense Military Academy will not be taken back; you can take them away after the competition, so I suggest you all apply for one whether you need it or not, you can make some money then.

Qingcai Keke: How cheap!

He immediately submitted an application.

Not until he sensed something unusual and suddenly turned his head did he see Ning Qing standing behind him with a calm expression, having no idea how long she had been watching him.