Chapter 384

Chapter 384: Even the Abbot Does Not Know the Mystery?
Fang Cheng Lang said with a bow: “What happened today was my fault. I was rude. I apologize to Fellow Daoist Long…”

Long Fei Fei snapped: “I do not accept your apology!”

Fang Cheng Lang had only just started speaking when Long Fei Fei cut him off.

She did not want his apology at all.

[What use is an apology?]

Fang Cheng Lang paused, then took out a crystal-clear short sword from his storage space and said: “I will give this Bluewater Sword to Fellow Daoist Long as my compensation.”

Long Fei Fei still had her chin raised, her face full of disdain. In her heart, she scoffed: [It is just a lousy sword. What is so great about it?]

She was about to refuse. Then the corner of her eye swept over it, and her gaze suddenly froze.

She had always wanted a short sword she could carry on her person that would not get in the way when she moved, but she had never found one she liked.

The Bluewater Sword Fang Cheng Lang had prepared matched all of her requirements perfectly.

She snorted and said: “Fine. Since you are so sincere, I will forgive you this time.”

She swept it with her divine sense and stuffed the Bluewater Sword into her storage space, and when she looked at Fang Cheng Lang again, she found him a bit more pleasing to the eye.

She asked: “We can count this as getting to know each other through a fight. Which sect are you from?”

When Fang Cheng Lang heard Long Fei Fei’s words, his eyes went slightly blank.

Back then, when he and Long Fei Fei first met, she had said almost the same thing.

He repeated the answer from his memories word for word: “I am a disciple of the Five Elements Dao Sect, Fang Cheng Lang.”

“Five Elements Dao Sect?”

Long Fei Fei’s eyes lit up. Wasn’t that Yu Zhao’s sect?

But when she thought a bit more, she remembered that Fang Cheng Lang was that damn Master Qing Yan’s disciple.

She flew into a rage and shouted: “So you are Yu Zhao’s hateful First Senior Brother! I really did not misjudge you! Pah! I do not want your stuff! So disgusting!”

Long Fei Fei flung the Bluewater Sword at Fang Cheng Lang’s face and stomped off in anger.

If she did not leave now, she was afraid Fang Cheng Lang might attack her.

Right now she did not have the strength to deal with him.

She would wait until she recovered a bit before going to fight.

When Long Fei Fei hurled the Bluewater Sword at him, Fang Cheng Lang could have dodged.

But he did not move. He let the Bluewater Sword smack into his face, leaving a sword mark two fingers wide.

The Bluewater Sword was made entirely from cold jade and was icy to the touch.

Fang Cheng Lang held the Bluewater Sword, but he did not feel any chill at all.

His heart was colder than the sword.

Just now, he had heard Long Fei Fei mention Little Six.

He did not need to ask to guess that while he was drowning in self-pity, Little Six and Feifei had become good friends.

On the surface, Long Fei Fei’s personality seemed outgoing and careless, but in truth she was highly guarded and found it hard to trust outsiders.

Yet once she accepted someone, she would pour all of herself into protecting that person.

In his last life, the one who enjoyed that treatment was him.

In this life, it was Little Six.

Darkness flashed over Fang Cheng Lang’s vision, and he staggered forward a few steps.

“First Senior Brother!”

Su Ming and Cui Jue hurried up to support him, nervous and worried.

Fang Cheng Lang pulled away from their hands, then bowed to Bu Yan and Bu You and said: “I will never forget the life-saving grace of Clarity Sound Temple.”

Bu Yan and Bu You exchanged a glance and shook their heads at the same time.

Bu You said calmly: “All conditioned things are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning. One should see them in this way.”

Fang Cheng Lang stared in a daze.

Bu Yan and Bu You did not say anything more. They took their leave, giving the three of them space to calm down.

Su Ming opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he could not find any words.

Cui Jue also frowned, his expression complicated.

…

After leaving the reception room, Bu Yan went back to Abbot Jie Tan’s quarters. After confirming that Yu Zhao was not nearby, he knocked on the door.

The door opened at once.

Bu Yan entered, silently gave a formal bow, and then looked at Abbot Jie Tan, who was still standing by the window.

No one spoke inside the room. Only the sound of prayer beads turning could be heard.

Abbot Jie Tan said slowly: “You want to ask why I did not directly tell Yu Zhao the answer?”

Bu Yan nodded.

Abbot Jie Tan gave a deep, mysterious smile.

“The sutras say that in regard to the arising and non-arising of all dharmas, there are six unspeakable statements: that arising and non-arising cannot be said, that arising and yet not arising cannot be said, that not arising and yet arising cannot be said, that not arising and not arising cannot be said, that arising cannot be said, and that not arising cannot be said.”

Bu Yan said evenly: “So even the abbot does not know the mystery in this?”

Abbot Jie Tan’s smile froze on his face.

He had known it. Bu Yan’s time outside tempering himself had been too short.

In front of Yu Zhao, he had put on an act and tried to cover things up. But in front of the sharp-eyed Bu Yan, he no longer tried to maintain the air of a lofty expert. He said frankly: “These are the Buddha’s instructions. They are not for people like us to twist and explain as we please.”

He had only passed on to Yu Zhao the message the Buddha had given him. As for how she chose to comprehend it, that was not something he could decide.

With the doubt in his heart resolved, Bu Yan went to look for Yu Zhao.

Walking along the main path for the time it took half a stick of incense to burn, he finally found Yu Zhao under the oldest Bodhi Tree in the temple.

Yu Zhao was sitting cross-legged at the base of the tree. One hand propped up her chin, the other rested on her knee. She tilted her head back to look at the sky, her eyes unfocused.

When his gaze shifted, he saw Long Fei Fei lying ramrod straight on the other side, unusually quiet.

Bu Yan smiled slightly and walked away at a leisurely pace.

…

Chaozong Gorge lay between two cliffs. The distance between the two mountains was not very far.

No one knew whether some kind of deal had been made between the Divine Transformation cultivators and the Great Demons, or if it was a tacit agreement, but each side occupied one cliff.

Right now, Hua Tu was sprawled on the slope of the right-hand mountain. His butt was swollen high, and he kept wailing non-stop.

Several leopards beside him found him too noisy and wanted to cover his mouth. But before they could get close, he raised his voice and howled even louder.

Countless gazes focused on the group of Three-Eyed Leopards.

The Flower Leopard Beasts, usually so proud, now all wished they could bury their heads in the ground.

Hua Tu did not care what the other demonic beasts thought.

He only felt wronged.

He had not caused trouble outside. He had been the first leopard to notice the dragon roar. So why did they beat him?

And they had even picked his butt to beat on!

They were bullying leopards too much!

Quan Ye had been sitting in a corner, not wanting to cause trouble, but Hua Tu was too noisy. He held it in again and again, but finally he could not bear it anymore and gave a low growl: “You are so noisy!”

As soon as he spoke, the surroundings burst into chatter.

“Why is there something in human form over there? Who is he?”

“You came late and missed the fun. He is not an ordinary beast. He has Azure Dragon blood in his body.”

“What? He is a Bixi Dragon-Tortoise?”

“His bloodline is nowhere near a Bixi Dragon-Tortoise’s. I heard his blood comes from a cultivator and an Azure Dragon.”

“A human-demon hybrid?”

“… ”

After awakening the Azure Dragon bloodline, Quan Ye had learned the Demon Race’s language without a teacher. He could understand their conversation, and his face grew very dark.

He regretted it.

From the first day he arrived in the Demon Race’s territory, he had regretted it.

His temperament did not fit with the Demon Race at all.

He could not stand demonic beasts.

The demonic beasts could not stand him either.

He had finally escaped from the territory of the Heaven-Devouring Rat, only to be caught halfway by She Jun and Qing Kui. The two Great Demons had wanted to eat him alive on the spot.

Luckily, Master Qing Yan had appeared in time and saved him.

Quan Ye had thought he was finally saved and could return to the Five Elements Dao Sect.

But Master Qing Yan was even colder and more ruthless than he had imagined.

Not only did he refuse Quan Ye’s request to return to the Five Elements Dao Sect, he had also brought him to Chaozong Gorge and thrown him straight into the middle of the demonic beasts, ignoring whether he lived or died.

The only reason Quan Ye could now sit here in one piece was because of the protection of Bai Ling, the Clan Chief of the White Peacock Clan.