A small boat crossed the broad river. It went through the mist as its occupants admired the scene. Lin Jiufeng, however, continued to chat with the old boatman.
The old man was talkative. He had a thick Jiangnan accent and he spoke in its dialect mixed with the official language of the Yuhua God Dynasty.
He sounded strange to Lin Jiufeng, but the latter knew and understood that it was due to the dialect.
Along the way, he told Lin Jiufeng about the many geniuses in the martial temples.
The geniuses nurtured by the martial temples had all made a breakthrough into the Human God Realm before the age of 30. What was more astounding was that the most talented one among them was already a general of the Yuhua God Dynasty despite the young age.
The two recruitment sessions of the martial temples that happened every year had already become some sort of a festival. It was now considered to be one of the liveliest events in the world.
The old man even said proudly. “Both of my grandsons are students of a martial temple. Although they are not that outstanding, I am already very satisfied with their results. Once they’ve graduated from the martial temple, I will ask them to go and serve the country for His Majesty—Emperor De. I want them to punish the evil and spread good deeds.”
Lin Jiufeng smiled and gave the old man a big thumbs up.
“Old man, have you heard of the Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower?”
Lin Jiufeng suddenly asked.
The old man was taken aback. “Young Master, why are you asking about those evil monks?”
“Evil monks?” Lin Jiufeng looked at the old man quizzically.
“The Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower is that tall tower in the middle of the West Lake!”
“The moment they appeared, they annexed both the Shaolin and Xuankong Temple. Moreover, over the years, many commoners who lived close to the Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower have been saying that every night, there would be strange wailings inside the Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower…” The old man wore a solemn look.
Lin Jiufeng raised his brows. What?
“Why would there be wailing?” Lin Jiufeng asked curiously.
“Who knows?”
“But I heard that someone saw terrifying phantoms in the waters of the West Lake every night of the full moon. Some say that those ghastly figures are the fossils of archaic monsters, but they also seemed to be extremely terrifying ghosts… Don’t you think that it’s strange for a Buddhist sect to have so many weird things right in their backyard?” The old man asked.
“That is indeed quite strange.” Lin Jiufeng nodded in agreement.
“That is why not many people have gone to the West Lake recently. I’ll advise the same. If you can help it, don’t visit that place often.” The old man reminded Lin Jiufeng.
“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.” Lin Jiufeng nodded seriously.
Talking about the Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower seemed to have greatly dampened the old man’s mood, he focused on pushing the boat and steering it with the flow of the river.
Lin Jiufeng didn’t say anything anymore.
He closed his eyes and carefully observed the Jiangnan Hundred Ghosts Portrait.
The Jiangnan Hundred Ghosts Portrait was an immortal artifact, but its might had been greatly reduced.
To recover its true power, the only way to do so was to complete the Jiangnan Hundred Ghosts Portrait.
That was why Lin Jiufeng said that the Jiangnan area was luring him over.
He couldn’t resist the temptation.
He wanted the immortal artifact.
Thus, he started to study on how to complete the Jiangnan Hundred Ghosts Portrait.
‘There are so many black spots! And each of them is supposed to represent a ghost or an evil spirit. But it doesn’t matter, they’ll all die the same anyway…’ Lin Jiufeng thought to himself.
Everything was bound to be difficult at the very beginning.
It wasn’t easy to complete the Jiangnan Hundred Ghosts Portrait either.
The first step was to think carefully.
After studying the portrait, Lin Jiufeng finally placed his gaze on a Buddhist sect.
It wasn’t the Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower, but the Dalin Temple.
In the past, there were three Buddhist sects in the Jiangnan area.
They were of the same lineage, but due to their differences in ideals, they became distant from each other.
Shaolin Temple, Xuankong Temple, and Dalin Temple.
Among them, Shaolin Temple and Xuankong Temple were the more well-known Buddhist sects.
They had a lot of believers to the point that they could build their temples with donations alone.
Shaolin Temple and Xuankong Temple seemed to be competing with each other back then as they speedily constructed their temples
Only the monks in Dalin Temple guarded their own territory and abided by their duties as monks—to live in peace and quiet.
Both Shaolin and Xuankong Temple were very high profile in their actions.
But at their peak, they were suppressed by Lin Jiufeng’s paintings without being able to resist at all. They declined until the Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower appeared. The latter annexed both temples and they had completely lost their previous identities.
The two once glorious Buddhist sacred lands were no more.
On the other hand, the low-key Dalin Temple continued to persist.
After observing the Jiangnan Hundred Ghosts Portrait for a long time, Lin Jiufeng finally decided on his first step in the Jiangnan area.
He shall go to Dalin Temple!
‘I still remember it. There’s a demon’s den in Dalin Temple…’ Lin Jiufeng recalled.
Decades ago, Miss Hong wanted to repay Lin Jiufeng’s kindness.
She got Monk Qingyun from the Jiangnan area to come and look for Lin Jiufeng.
At that time, Monk Qingyun said that there was a demon’s den in the back mountain of the Dalin Temple. The seniors of the Dalin Temple chose to construct a mountain gate there in order to suppress the demons in the demon’s den.
During the recovery of the world’s spiritual energy, the Dalin Temple was on the verge of losing its control over the demon’s den. The pack of demons back then had almost succeeded in causing chaos in Jiangnan.
Fortunately, Miss Hong appeared at the critical moment. At that time, she suppressed the demon’s den and set up a huge array to put an end to the struggle.
When Miss Hong left, she casually gave Monk Qingyun a few pointers and he made a breakthrough into the Human God Realm with the help of the former’s words.
One thing led to another and Miss Hong ended up using her paper cranes to summon powerhouses that she ordered to look for the dethroned crown prince, Lin Jiufeng.
Lin Jiufeng had long placed this part of his past in the deep recesses of his mind,
If it weren’t for the black spots, the ghosts, and evil spirits in the Jiangnan Hundred Ghosts Portrait, the Dalin Temple would have remained hidden in Lin Jiufeng’s mind.
“There are problems with both the Dalin Temple and the Ten Thousand Buddha Sacred Tower in the Jiangnan area, but the problem at the Dalin Temple should be easier to solve.”
This was the reason why Lin Jiufeng chose the Dalin Temple.
Of course, the demon’s den there was also part of the reason.
Lin Jiufeng was curious if the demon’s den at the Dalin Temple was the same as the demon’s den beneath the Cold Palace.
“Boatman, go to the Dalin Temple,” Lin Jiufeng said.
The old man agreed.
Following the river, the scenery along the way became better and better.
When noon came, the morning fog dissipated.
The thousands of miles of river water and its placid waves were laid bare.
In the village by the shore, smoke curled up from the chimneys of the houses there.
The chickens and dogs seemed to be playing with each other, and the aroma of good organic food seemed to be constantly in the air, reassuring the ordinary families living by the shore that they would never run out of food with the grace of nature.
Both Lin Jiufeng and the white cat observed the scene.
The scene matched the scenery in Jiangnan.
It was not dramatic at all.
Instead, seeing the lives of the ordinary people made Lin Jiufeng feel comfortable.
Just looking at their smiles could cleanse one’s soul.
The old man constantly steered and controlled the boat along the river. It was only when they arrived close to a huge mountain filled with greenery in the late afternoon did the old man stop holding the boat paddle.
“Young Master, we’ve arrived at the closest pier to the Dalin Temple. Move along this pier. The Dalin Temple is still 100 miles away. The temple is very famous, but they only receive a limited number of believers every day. You might not be able to enter the Dalin Temple today.”
The old boatman kindly reminded.
Lin Jiufeng took out some silver and handed it over to the old boatman.
“Thank you for your reminder, little brother.”
Lin Jiufeng smiled lightly and turned around to leave.
‘What young master?’
‘What young man?’
‘I’m 40 years older than you!’
Lin Jiufeng left coolly, leaving behind a dumbfounded old man supporting the boat.
He was baffled by Lin Jiufeng’s parting words.
…
Mount Daqing.
Dalin Temple.
In the past, this Buddhist sect of the Jiangnan region had always kept a low profile.
Even now, it was still keeping a low profile.
Even though both Shaolin and Xuankong Temple were no more.
Dalin Temple still maintained its own leisurely pace.
It still ignored the changes of the outside world.
During this period of time, Dalin Temple announced that they would no longer receive any believers.
They didn’t explain why.
The Dalin Temple didn’t reveal anything to the public.
Under such circumstances, Lin Jiufeng still visited the temple on a boat.
