The clouds were cold and scarce, while the snow was falling in waves.
The white ray of light on the young nun’s hand gradually dispersed until it disappeared completely. The wound on Xiao Xun’s body had also healed. As it saw Shen Lian, it flapped its blood-stained wings and flew over.
As Qian Mo saw Xiao Xun approaching, it appeared indifferent to it, flapped its wing as well, signaling it to go further away.
The young lady towards Shen Lian gently, her eyes lit up, filled with some degree of delighted surprise.
Shen Lian felt a bit strange, but he dared not speak much.
The teenage girl strolled towards him. She looked very young, her eyebrows were shaped like the spring willow, eyes clear as the clear stream. Song Qingyi called here Qi Xiu, and this “Xiu” was appropriately applied to her.
Song Qingyi pointed and Shen Lian and said, “Apprentice-sister Qi Xiu, this is my good friend Shen Lian, also a disciple of the Qing Xuan Daoist Sect.
Qiu Xu seemed to not hear anything, she was just staring at Shen Lian, unaware of her surroundings.
While Song Qingyi did not see anything, Shen Lian saw it crystal clear. He had never seen this young later, or rather, a young nun who would stare at him that way.
Shen Lian might consider himself good looking and would attract a few ladies, but he never expected to cause a cultivating lady have romantic thoughts at first look.
Moreover, this Miss Qi Xiu, was a nun, a pure lady of Buddhism.
Shen Lian nodded and asked, “Qingyi my friend, your apprentice-sister Qingyi’s Dao techniques, it is so vibrant, can even cure diseases and wounds. Where is she from?”
He had some guesses himself, judging from the way she made her hand sign, it looked like the “Seal of No Fear”. This hand sign was one of the five basic signs of Buddhist Sect, quite similar to the few basic talisman techniques of the Daoist sect. It showed a few of the basic Buddhist principles, although easy to learn, but with the slight difference in various sects, a similar seal would produce different results.
However, the main principle was pointed at the kind heart of Buddha who wanted to save all lives. Apparently, it could calm down all lives, and not induce fear.
Most cultivators in the world only cared for themselves. Only a few would care for the world. Even the majority of so-called high-ranking monks in the Buddhist sect would save themselves before others.
That was why there were not many who could master a hand seal like the Seal of No Dear so well
Even though the cultivation of path of Buddhism was different, but in terms of spiritual awareness, the young nun would not lose to Song Qingyi. Hence Shen Lian was curious to know who she was.
Song Qingyi casually replied, “I will tell you without you even asking. Apprentice-sister Qi Xiu was from Zi Zai Hermitage. She is the apprentice of Liu Qing Shitai, also her inheritor.
Shen Lian could not help but be shocked. He had heard of Liu Qing Shitai. He even read about her from a literature in the Taiwei Pavilion according to the records of mystical instruments. There was a very powerful instrument called the Bamboo of No Desire, which was now in the hands of Liu Qing Shitai, which meant that she must be a prominent figure just like the immortal Zhenren from the Daoist sect.
However, this was actually the first time he heard of this Zi Zai hermitage. He thought, even Liu Qing Shitai was living in this Zi Zai hermitage, it must be some special place.
Song Qingyi sensed the confusion on Shen Lian’s face, and said, “Zi Zai hermitage sits in between the Daoist and the Buddhist. Its first master in charge was my senior from the Daoist sect, who then switched to cultivate Buddism, and attained the human form of Water-Moon Guanyin, then formed this Zi Zai Hermitage. Liu Qing Shitai was very close with my teacher’s. So, teacher had asked me to take care of apprentice-sister Qi Xiu while she is out her on her cultivation journey. Actually, with her cultivation level, her techniques would be enough for her self-protection, as long as she doesn’t encounter a lunatic like you.
Song Qingyi then lets out a giggle.
Shen Lian’s reputation had spread out within the perimeter of thousand miles. Even the Master Hui Ke from Ming Wang Temple had announced in public that he must have achieved the eighth level of Huandan at least.
This was a very high appraisal.
Song Qingyi would never have thought that when he was just doing a kind act to help the weak-looking Shen Lian, who was actually a skillful Daoist master. When both of them knew of each other’s identity, he still did not feel as excited as when he found out about the origins of Shen Lian.
Now that he had improved significantly, yet still not as good as Shen Lian. He felt a hint of disappointment, hence that last sentence with a bit of sarcasm and helplessness.
Shen Lian obviously understood what Song Qingyi was thinking about, but he could not console him. Just because he was two notches better than Song Qingyi, didn’t mean that he had to humble himself to console Song Qingyi, right?
This was not something he would do, and not the kind of console Song Qingyi needed as well.
Shen Lian nodded at Qi Xiu, and said, “I see,I have heard of Liu Qing Shitai as well. I, Shen Lian thank you for saving this little thing here.”
As Qi Xiu saw that Shen Lian spoke to her, she got quite excited and blurted, “Apprentice-brother Shen need not thank me, this is what I should do. Do you not remember me?”
Song Qingyi felt quite shocked, he could not tell how Qi Xiu could be related to Shen Lian. Shen Lian was equally shaken, and still confused, where had he encountered this young lady before?
As Qi Xiu realized that Shen Lian did not seem to remember her, she said, “Do you still remember, seventeen years ago, you saved a girl from the Flying Celestial Islands before?”
After hearing this, Shen Lian searched through his memory, and the memories replayed itself as if they were happening to him. He would never imagine that he had so many fateful encounters with the Xiao family of Flying Celestial Islands. Earlier he had just killed Xiao Shiyi, now he encountered the little girl whom his ancestor master Zi Ling fairy saved when the tragedy happened at the island.
Later, Zi Ling fairy had no intentions to take her in and sent her to Liu Qing Shitai in Zi Zai hermitage.
At the level as high as his ancestor master, it was not unusual for her to know Liu Qing Shitai too.
He could connect all the dots with his quick thinking.
Then, he smiled and said, “I see, here you are, so grown up now. My master had told me briefly about you, said that you were rescued by my ancestor master, I did not expect you to be taken in by Liu Qing Shitai”.
As Qi Xiu knew that Shen Lian remembered herself, she felt quite delighted. But she had not realized that for a Daoist master like Shen Lian, to remember a petty thing like this one, he would have remembered a majority of it with the use of his mind. Moreover, Shen Lian’s soul was much stronger than that of any Daoist master at Huandan level.
She was still very young when Shen Lian saved her life. That was why she could not forget him. Even when she was practicing the Du Ren Codex of Medicine King Guan Yin, though she had a pure mind and achieved great improvement, due to her attachment to worldly ties, she still had to come out and explore the world.
Liu Qing Shitai knew well of this, so she let her go on this cultivation journey.
And Liu Qing Shitai would have predicted that without any interference, Shen Lian would encounter Qi Xiu sooner or later.
Shen Lian was unaware that he was in Liu Qing Shitai’s predictions, as he still could not understand the abstruse ways of the holy mountains and Buddhism beyond the cultivation of nine realms.
He only thought that he could encounter this little girl whom he saved before amongst the crowd of people in this whole wide world, that was quite amazing.
Qi Xiu then said, “So, Aunty Zi Ling is Apprentice-brother Shen’s ancestor master. Three years ago, she came to my master to borrow the Bamboo of No Desires, but my master did not lend her saying that she killed too much. They got into quite an argument. Eventually, before she left, aunty Zi Ling took away an old bamboo plant that master had kept for three hundred years. That made my master angry for several days”.
Song Qingyi chuckled, “You call Zi Ling Zhenren as aunty, and Zi Ling Zhenren is Shen Lian’s ancestor master. How do you identify each other’s apprentice ranks then?”
Qiu Xiu could not help blushing, “Of course I’d call him Apprentice-brother Shen”.
Song Qing Yi replied, “No that is not right. If that is the case, shouldn’t Shitai address Zi Ling Zhenren as apprentice-uncle?”
Shen Lian said casually, “As for me, rankings or whatever does not matter. Let’s just call each other anything as we see fit”.
At this moment, Qian Mo let out a big yawn, as if the conversation of the three was boring it to sleep.
Song Qingyi stared at Qian Mo, “You filthy creature. If it was not because of your master, I would have roasted you and eaten you up already”.
Qian Mo flapped its wings and rushed its claws towards Song Qing Yi.
The distance was too close and Qian Mo’s speed was too quick, Song Qingyi could not react. All thanks to the fast-acting Shen Lian who pinched Qian Mo’s calves with his two fingers, as this its beak was just inches away from Song Qingyi.
Song Qingyi had just only recollected himself and said, “I did not realize where this demonic creature was from. It came so close at such a terrifying speed. Not mentioning myself, even a Daoist master of Huan Dan level would not have reacted to it”.
Shen Lian smiled, and threw Qian Mo up in the sky, as it spread its wings and played around, to avoid another confrontation with Song Qing Yi. Xiao Xun followed and flew into the skies too, circled around with Qian Mo, flapped its wings and played with the falling snow.
Shen Lian then said casually, “I picked it up from the streets; you should not mind it too much as well. It is a very proud bird, it would have to be bothered with any ordinary man”.
Song Qingyi was shocked. Never would he imagine that Shen Lian could pick up a mystical bird such as Qian Mo with so much spiritual presence.
Shen Lian did not explain much either. After some chatter, only he understood well that Song Qingyi and Qiu Xiu were here for the dilemma between Hui Ke and Baoyue the Venerable.
Hui Ke had become more and more well known, not only because of the reputation of the Ming Wang temple.
In this few months, he had been traveling around the nation, preaching about the new Buddhist teachings. Within the radius of thousand miles, there were many branches of the Buddhist sect, with some temples of several hundred years history. Its teachings were still quite old-fashioned. The way that Hui Ke had gone around, entering wine inns, passing through butcher houses, or even wandering in the streets and killing recklessly, break all four restrictions, it had caused quite an annoyance in the eyes of the old monks. They thought that this low-ranked man had discriminated the ways of Buddhism.
Moreover, Hui Ke was promoting the ways of Daoist cultivation, putting off meditation and building old serious temples, which had really offended these ranks of monks.
Even though Hui Ke was traveling in the name of Ming Wang temple, but these actions of his were affecting the livelihood of others and shaking the foundation of these temples.
In their eyes, fooling the people, as long as they were devoted to Buddha, prayed earnestly, contributed their faith would have sufficed. If they were to light up their hearts to cultivate, where would the offering money come from, how could the nation be stable?
These Buddhist countries had a large gap between the rich and the poor. If the poor had grown some wisdom and understood the cause of their own poverty, they would not be so willing to be enslaved as they would have other ideas.
