Chapter 242: with translation of chapter title

Jiu Li gaped, her round black eyes staring fixedly at Shen Qingli!

A Li, A Li, are you serious?

Like this, your childhood husband will definitely be jealous.

"..." The crown prince had already ordered his attendant.

Luo Sha flew into a rage several times, but she had to suppress it each time.

Only after the crown prince rose and left did she explode, "Shen Qingli, you couldn't possibly have taken a liking to our crown prince, could you?"

"No, I've taken a liking to your Holy Buddha." Shen Qingli spoke truthfully.

Luo Sha exploded, "You're dreaming!"

"I'm not dreaming; he has already given me the betrothal."

"I will not allow it!" Luo Sha was practically furious, how could there be such a shameless person!

Shen Qingli was utterly bewildered, "What does this have to do with me?"

"You, you—" Luo Sha took several deep breaths before regaining composure, "I am the Buddhist maiden! The pending Ming consort! Only I am worthy of our Holy Buddha, do you understand?"

"He doesn't want you either." Shen Qingli sized up Luo Sha, "So what are you doing here? If you don't want me to marry your Holy Buddha, you shouldn't be getting me together with the regent and the crown prince."

Luo Sha: "..."

"You're not keeping fish, are you?"

Shen Qingli recalled the description Jiu Li had mentioned.

"You most want to marry the Holy Buddha, but that's unlikely, so you're keeping the crown prince and the Dharma prince on the side, hoping one of them will marry you?"

"That won't do; it's like chasing chickens and ending up with nothing."

"I haven't!" Luo Sha conceded, "Obviously you're the one playing the field! You've accepted the Holy Buddha's betrothal gifts, yet you're flirting with the crown prince and cozying up to the Dharma prince!"

"I don't want the Dharma prince; you can have him." Shen Qingli frankly said, that guy is oily and disgusting.

Luo Sha stared, "What do you mean by that?"

"I'll take another look at the crown prince, but he probably won't go for you either. As for the Dharma prince, forget it—he's revolting."

Shen Qingli still couldn't let go of her suspicion, even though she was quite sure the crown prince wasn't A Jin.

But just because it's not now doesn't mean it won't be later.

She always felt that what A Jin was doing here seemed to be assimilating the Western teaching into the Daoist court.

Di Er also told her that if the Buddhist sect's doctrine cannot be unified, A Jin will be split and backlash.

Could it be that this crown prince is the split-off A Jin?

If so, perhaps we wouldn't need to worry about the regent at all.

If the crown prince takes his place, could A Jin unify the Buddhist sect?

When the time comes.

Return to the True One.

Buddhism and Daoism united.

"All right."

Having cleared her thoughts, Shen Qingli simply didn't hear what Luo Sha was saying.

"Go have fun, I'll wander around."

Having stood up, Shen Qingli also walked out of the audience hall, heading toward the direction the crown prince had gone.

"Shen Qingli!"

Luo Sha shouted from behind, but someone said something in her ear, and she didn't pursue.

"Buddhist maiden, is the holy hall more important, or should we go back first?"

"I know! That damned Shen Qingli, you lot keep an eye on her—I need to know everything she does."

"Buddhist maiden, rest assured."

Luo Sha then stormed off angrily, but as she walked she grew calmer, realizing she had been overly influenced by Shen Qingli's words.

She had originally intended to give Shen Qingli a show of force, but instead she kept being provoked and had already lost the poise and dignity expected of a Buddhist maiden.

But it's really hard not to be angry! How could someone be so fearless, yet actually be so full of confidence?

Just now she was so angry she couldn't think straight, but now she understands, and her expression is quite complex.

"Shasha, what's wrong?"

Seeing her beloved disciple return, Jia Luo Na asked doubtfully, for it was the first time she had seen her disciple so dejected.

Luo Sha immediately paid respects to her master, then replied, "Just now in my encounter with Shen Qingli, I suffered a utter defeat, committing many faults such as jealousy, harsh speech, and false statements."

Jia Luo Na was surprised, then understood, "It's quite normal—her father now acts as head of the Shen Ting, her mother controls the military power of the four palaces, her status is noble; even within our Buddhist sect, she can actually throw her weight around."

"Is there really no way to suppress her at all?" Luo Sha exclaimed, unwilling to accept it.

Jia Luo Na shook her head, "At least before the teaching war begins, there's nothing we can do."

So she was utterly perplexed that Di Er agreed to let Shen Qingli enter the Buddhist sect.

Isn't this just inviting the esteemed ancestors back? Besides, they're weak—if anything happens, the responsibility will still fall on them.

"Keep a bit of distance from her." Jia Luo Na reminded, "Otherwise you're easily influenced in your state of mind and won't be able to advance."

Luo Sha took another deep breath, "Disciple understands, I will certainly keep it in mind."

This loss has already been suffered; indeed we shouldn't go looking for more anger.

That day, the entire Buddhist sect received orders to avoid Shen Qingli—don't provoke her!

As a result, Shen Qingli couldn't even find anyone to ask for news.

"Are there really so few people in the Buddhist sect?" Shen Qingli didn't understand.

When she first arrived, it looked like there were quite a few people.

Or are you saying the Crown Prince's side has few people?

If she weren't at fault first, Shen Qingli would have gone straight to ask the Crown Prince.

"What do you want to find out, Junior Sister?" Zhan Yuefeng asked.

"Do you have a map of the Holy See?"

"Of course." Zhan Yuefeng took a big breath, "No."

Shen Qingli looked speechless, then he laughed and said, "How could I possibly have this? But I roughly know the layout of the Holy See."

"How far is the Holy Hall from here?" Shen Qingli wasn't worried about being eavesdropped; she had already set up the forbidden formation her father gave her.

Unless the other party is also a Creation-level god, eavesdropping is impossible.

"Far." Zhan Yuefeng roughly calculated, "This area is the core of the Holy See; you can't teleport, and the Holy Hall is west, the Political Hall east—on foot, it would take a day."

"... Then they usually don't interact?"

"Rarely."

Zhan Yuefeng gave a brief explanation.

Shen Qingli then understood.

The Holy Hall is truly secluded from the world, devoted solely to cultivation.

Unless there is a major event, the Holy See does not consult the Holy Hall, and the Holy Hall also can't be bothered with trivial matters.

But because the Holy Buddha of the Holy Hall is supremely powerful, and is the faith of all the gods of the Holy See, the true ruler of the Holy See remains the Holy Buddha.

Now, the Political Hall is somewhat different mainly because the new Holy Buddha and the gods of the Political Hall haven't had much connection yet. In short, it's like the "old ministers, new ruler" of a dynastic change.

"However, according to the Holy See's doctrine, if the gods of the Political Hall want to advance further, they must believe in the Holy Buddha. So this awkwardness, logically, won't last long." Zhan Yuefeng concluded.

This is different from what Shen Qingli heard from Di Er.

But Shen Qingli has a feeling that Di Er is not lying.

Even if, it just happens to hit the truth.

"I'll go now; you guys help cover me."

Shen Qingli, to be safe, didn't bring Xiao Bai or Jiu Ying, letting them pretend to be her and Jiu Li.

She then swallowed the invisibility herb and sneaked toward the Holy Hall.

To avoid detection, she also used dark matter.

However, at the moment she activated the dark source!

A glance fell upon her.

Almost at the same time, Shen Qingli also sensed something.

"..."

She was speechless—had she been discovered?

In fact, not only that; the moment she entered the Holy See's range, she was "discovered".

But he wasn't sure at first, until this moment when she came right under his nose.

It really was her.

Yet she didn't come straight to him?

She went to,

Di Jin spread his perception, hearing all kinds of noises, the clamor making him even more annoyed.

"A Jin?"

Shen Qingli silently chanted.

However, no response?

Could this glance not be A Jin?

Shen Qingli tensed instantly, always ready to enter the space!

This is no joke; they could lock onto her in an instant, and she was doing "bad deeds", so if anything went wrong, her parents couldn't manage it.

But the next moment, she was bitten.

Her lips were directly bitten through!