The wind and snow stopped.
Hearing the calm voice, Fan Xian's pupils constricted. He looked warily at the heaven-like wooden door in front of him. He didn't know what kind of monster would run out from inside.
After a long time, the Temple in the depths of the snowy mountain remained silent. After the voice in the Temple answered Fan Xian's unconscious angry question, it seemed to have sunk into some complicated thought process and sank into silence.
Immediately after, the strangely large door in front of the Temple silently opened a crack. When such a heavy door opened, it didn't make a single sound. It made one shiver even though it wasn't cold. The temple door opened at a 15-degree angle. From the front, one couldn't see the scenery inside. However, this silent opening seemed to indicate some kind of invitation from the person in the Temple.
Fan Xian's heart began to thump and then he forced it to calm down. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the shadow of the temple door. There was not a trace of expression on his face. Unexpectedly, he slowly sat down on the shallow white snow on the stone platform.
He had thought that it would be like decades ago. When Master Ku He was about to open the temple door, a black shadow would come out like lightning and give them a powerful blow. However, when the temple door opened, there was not a trace of movement. Could it be that the person in the Temple also felt lonely, lonely, and cold? Did the person in the Temple hope to see them come?
The mountain of treasures was in front, hell was in front, heaven was in front, and the scene of flowers and snow was in front. It was only a short distance away, yet Fan Xian sat down. A slightly bitter smile hung from the corners of his lips. He closed his eyes and began to meditate endlessly.
Haitang and Thirteenth Wang did not understand the conversation between the voice in the Temple and Fan Xian. After all, there were no museums in this world. They also did not understand why Fan Xian would sit down in front of the Temple door. They stared in a daze at the open door of the Temple. Nervously, they walked to Fan Xian's side, took out the weapons at their side, and began to stand guard for him.
Haitang's weapon was still the soft sword at her waist. Thirteenth Wang had found a wooden stick from somewhere. Like a hunter, his eyes stared sharply at the temple door that had opened a crack.
The three of them stood silently in front of the temple gate.
The yuanqi in the surroundings was very thick. Fan Xian acutely sensed this, which was why he had closed his eyes and sat down. Before entering the Temple, he had to at least ensure that he could move without hindrance. If he had to run wildly in a moment, he would at least not burden Haitang and Thirteenth Wang. Since the temple was right in front of them and the temple doors were already open, they had waited for tens of thousands of years. Why was there a need to rush at this moment?
After an indeterminable amount of time, Fan Xian slowly opened his eyes. The 36,000 pores on his body greedily absorbed enough yuanqi to repair a great deal of the wounds in his Meridians. The zhenqi accumulated at the back of his waist could finally try to slowly flow. His spirit was much better and he was ready to enter the temple.
Fan Xian's eyes landed on the door of the temple. Thirteenth Wang was also staring nervously at it. With two crisp chirps, a little bird walked out childishly from the door of the Temple and chirped at the three people outside.
The bird's body was green and beautiful. It gave off a sense of purity. Outside the Temple, the three people looked at the bird's arrival and couldn't help but start. They hadn't thought that the person coming to the Temple to welcome guests would not be some demonic immortal general, but a bird.
The green bird was attentively watching.
"Let's go." Haitang looked at the beautiful green bird and her heart trembled slightly. She unconsciously said this and helped Fan Xian up from the snowy ground.
Fan Xian's spirit was much better. He thought for a moment and then said, "Let's go in."
…
…
One temple, one world. Behind the door was another world. However, what was different from what people imagined was that behind the gate of the temple was not a beautiful fairyland. It was also different from what Haitang imagined. That green bird flew away with a chirp, and there were no more cute creatures that came to welcome the hard-working traveler.
Inside the Temple was a square, a very large square. There were some large buildings scattered around the square. Although these buildings were tall, they were all blocked by the black stone wall outside. The people under the snowy mountain would not be able to see them.
The materials and style of these buildings, as well as their height and breadth, were not at a level that the world people lived in could reach. On the walls on either side of the path, there were traces of extremely dilapidated murals. One could still faintly see a thread of lines and some very dim colors.
Fan Xian and the other two walked along the path inside the Temple. Raising their heads, they saw a snowy sky. Lowering their heads, they saw a snowy ground. They only felt that the world was still so quiet. The legendary scenes and scenery around them did not seem to exist in reality.
The three of them were like three little black dots walking silently along the path. The voice in the Temple did not ring out again. It was as if the people in the Temple did not care where they came from and couldn't be bothered to guide them where they were going.
Thus, Fan Xian and the other two only walked silently and casually along the path inside the Temple. Their eyes calmly observed the eaves and large stone platforms of the buildings that passed by them. They appeared normal and casual, but waves of shock had long risen in their hearts. After all, this was the interior of the Temple. No one in this world had probably ever entered. The land of legend and myth had finally appeared in front of them. What kind of complicated emotions were Haitang Duoduo and Thirteenth Wang suppressing under their outward calmness?
Back then, Ku He and Xiao En had only been outside the Temple's door when they met the black shadow and little fairy. Fan Xian and the other two had actually walked into the Temple.
Fan Xian had to be calmer. He had already faintly guessed the history of the Temple from the voice in the Temple's reply. His gaze stopped on the remnants of the wall paintings on the two sides of the path. The paint had peeled off badly. It was impossible to see clearly what was depicted on them. The secret of history seemed to be hidden in these paintings. However, Fan Xian easily found familiar traces in the remaining lines.
Just like how the architectural style of the Temple had influenced the dark green Royal Palace in Shangjing, the style of the wall paintings in the Temple and the paintings in the Qing Temple and even the restaurants in Yishi Tavern all seemed to come from the same source. It looked like the Temple had stood in the world for thousands of years. Although it did not enter the world, it always had a faint influence on it.
The wind and snow in the Temple were much lighter than outside the walls. At this moment, the wind and snow had stopped long ago. There was only a thin layer of powdery snow on the path. Fan Xian and the other two's footprints were clearly imprinted on it, turning into a lonely line that went straight into the depths of the Temple.
Along the way, they only saw some broken buildings on the verge of collapse and a cold and uninhabited wasteland. This place was not a fairyland or the realm of the gods. Just as the Emperor and Uncle Wu Zhu had said, it was just a broken place.
Fan Xian pulled back his gaze from the footprints in the snow and thought for a moment. He then continued to lead Haitang and Thirteenth Wang forward. After entering the snowy plains, he had become the leader of the three of them. Although his injuries had not recovered and his illness had worsened, Haitang and Thirteenth Wang faintly sensed that Fan Xian had more knowledge in certain areas than most people in the world.
In front of them, the small, agile, and beautiful green bird was still chirping. Appearing and disappearing, it led the three young warriors who had come to worship the Temple through the thin snow. Accompanied by loneliness and silence, they walked forward.
They roughly confirmed the range of the buildings inside the Temple. It was a flat square. Without realizing it, the three of them had already walked to the center of the Temple.
In the center of the Temple was a platform. Behind the platform was the most well-preserved building. Although many scars from time could still be seen on the outside of the building, the gradually eroding stone edges bore witness to the ruthlessness of heaven and earth. In the end, this building had not collapsed.
Walking all the way here, they did not see a single person or the legendary emissary of the Temple. There was only the green bird flying and landing on the stone platform covered in thin snow.
Fan Xian furrowed his brows slightly. He found that the green bird had landed on the thin snow but did not leave any footprints. The Temple emissary did not appear. The silence of the voice confirmed another fact for him.
Perhaps it was a mysterious reaction, but the three of them stopped in front of the stone platform. Looking at the green bird on the snowy platform, they were silent. It was as if they wanted to see it become a flower or bring back a flower with its mouth.
After waiting for an indeterminable amount of time, the oppressive silence in the Temple did not change at all. Fan Xian's movements also did not change at all. His body was slightly trembling, but his heart was trembling slightly. Along the way, the traces of the buildings they had passed actually made him nervous. He faintly felt that these buildings were the remains of a civilization left behind countless years ago. Perhaps there was some connection between them and the world in his previous life.
"There is no danger in the Temple. Those emissaries of the Temple should have all died." Fan Xian's raspy voice suddenly broke the silence that had been maintained for countless years inside the Temple. The green bird on the platform turned its head and glanced at him.
Fan Xian's sudden words startled Haitang and Thirteenth Wang beside him. Ever since they had entered the Temple, Haitang and Thirteenth Wang's emotions had been shaken by the never-before-seen and never-before-heard enormous building remains and the little green bird that seemed to be able to communicate. They had long lost the calm judgment they had in the world and were perplexed.
"All dead?" Haitang and Thirteenth Wang had purely and unconsciously repeated Fan Xian's words. It was impossible for them to agree with his judgment. There was no danger in the Temple? An illusory place that only existed in myths and legends had suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. Who could be like Fan Xian and forcefully say such a judgment?
Haitang looked at the green bird on the platform. Her face was slightly pale. In a trembling voice, she said, "Even if it is a broken fairyland, it is still a fairyland. Heaven and man walk different paths. One must have a heart of respect."
The naive children of Tianyi Dao worshiped the Temple deeply in their bones. Among the disciples of Qing Mountain, no one had ever inherited Master Ku He's valiant spirit, including Haitang. When people faced the Temple and entered it, they all unconsciously felt that they were much weaker.
"What is there to fear?" Fan Xian did not say this out loud. He thought viciously in his heart. Uncle Wu Zhu had said that there were not many people left in the family. One had died in the alley outside the manor. When his mother died, one had also died in the Temple. Seeing that he had entered this place safely and still no emissary from the Temple had appeared, he could be sure that this rundown Temple was just a wasteland.
The Temple was not a fairyland. It was just a ruin. After confirming this reality, Fan Xian no longer had any fear in his heart. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the green bird on the platform. Suddenly, he said, "It looks like … the emissary is dead. The immortals in the Temple have long left, leaving only this fairy bird. Let's stroll around. Let's go back."
Haitang and Thirteenth Wang turned their heads to look at Fan Xian in disbelief. Their emotions were unsettled. They did not hear Fan Xian's lie. Of course, this was also because of the faint disappointment and sorrow that could not be wiped away on Fan Xian's pale face. His acting was too brilliant.
"Blind …" Haitang was going to say that if the Temple was truly so barren and broken down, if there was truly no supreme existence beyond the six directions, why didn't they try to find Wu Zhu's whereabouts and instead return without any success? Thirteenth Wang's muscles were tense. He didn't know how to face this spacious and desolate temple. After experiencing so many hardships, they had finally passed through the snowy plains to reach this place. How could he be willing to return?
Fan Xian coughed hurriedly and stopped Haitang's question. He only stared fixedly at the green bird on the platform. Everything in the world needed a reason. Since the Temple was only the ruins of a civilization and a museum, then the voice in the temple had invited the three of them into the temple. Naturally, there was something he needed to do.
Things developed as Fan Xian expected. The green bird on the snowy platform suddenly chirped a few times and flapped its wings toward the misty sky. It only flew about 100 feet high before it suddenly turned into countless spots of light and disappeared into the air.
Haitang and Thirteenth Wang's bodies trembled. Using their fastest speed, they moved closer to Fan Xian and protected his entire body. They were terrified that the change in the Temple would cause Fan Xian, the weakest person, to die.
Fan Xian was not afraid at all. He only narrowed his eyes and looked coldly at the slowly descending spots of light. The spots of light fell into the air above the platform and began to coalesce together like countless fireflies in the summer night sky. For some mysterious reason, they had arranged themselves into a certain shape.
The spots of light gradually grew brighter and dimmer, revealing a gradually clearer figure in the air. The lines grew clearer. They could see clearly the flowing clouds at the corners of the sleeves, the black gold and jade belt at the waist, and the upturned shoes at the feet.
An elder in a wide-sleeved ancient robe appeared in midair. It was impossible to see his features clearly, but it was possible to clearly see his existence. His feet were not standing on the platform. Instead, he was floating in the air. He was clearly there, but Haitang and Thirteenth Wang could not feel a trace of his breathing or heartbeat. They didn't even feel his existence.
Standing in the air, it was as if he wanted to go with the wind. His wide sleeves danced gently on the platform. A faint light enveloped the elder's entire body.
Such a scene stunned the hearts of the three people in front of the platform. To be able to dance in the air and emit golden light, what level of cultivation was this? No, this was no cultivation. This was clearly a celestial technique. Other than the immortals in the Temple, who else could appear in front of the people in such a way that made people want to kneel and worship?
Haitang and Thirteenth Wang opened their dazed eyes and looked at the scene in front of them that they could not understand no matter what. Naturally, they connected the existence formed by the green bird to the legendary immortals in the Temple. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably. Naturally, they knelt down and sincerely knelt toward the snowy ground.
Fan Xian also knelt down. His knees sank into the thin, soft snow. His body began to tremble like a mortal who had sunk into excitement and could not free himself.
No one could explain the scene in front of them. Even the civilization of Fan Xian's previous life could not create such a miraculous phenomenon. The immortal standing in the air, glowing with a bright light, appeared very real. He was truly like a god.
However, most of Fan Xian's excitement and fear were still faked. He forced himself to calm down. His mind spun quickly as he analyzed the immortal who had appeared in front of him. If this Temple was a museum and, as the people in the Temple said, a military museum, then how could there be immortals?
Since it was not an immortal, then what was it? Fan Xian had lived two lives and had never squeezed out his brain cells like he did today. His head was slightly lowered as he thought furiously. Was it the holographic image he had heard of in his previous life?
Fan Xian didn't throw a handful of snow over to see if it would pass through the immortal's body. Once he made up his mind, his fear naturally lessened a great deal. Like Haitang and Thirteenth Wang, he knelt sincerely in front of the snowy platform.
"Northern Qi's Tianyi Dao, Haitang, greets immortals." Haitang Duoduo thought that the immortal in the Temple would certainly know of the Qing Mountain branch, the Tianyi Dao school that worshipped the Temple and spread the Temple's benevolent ideals.
"Dongyi's Sword Hut, Thirteenth Wang." Thirteenth Wang's voice was a bit strange. This brave young man was probably finally confused by the mental blow.
"Qing Kingdom's Fan Xian." Fan Xian did not hide his true name. The last Temple emissary had died at Uncle Wu Zhu's hands because of the Emperor's ruthless methods. Presumably, the Temple did not know of his connection to Ye Qingmei.
He was only thinking about what the Temple wanted to do by opening its doors wide to the three of them. If the Temple had pretended to be immortals in this world's myths and legends for countless years, then, presumably, they would continue acting today. To pretend to be immortals, they had to be extremely pretentious and put on airs. Only then would they be able to scare people like Haitang and Thirteenth Wang. If they didn't speak first, the Temple would probably not have any reaction.
"The three of us came from the south …" Fan Xian recounted the hardships on the snowy plains in a raspy voice to prove their determination and their worship and yearning for the Temple. Haitang and Thirteenth Wang finally came to their senses and knew that Fan Xian was lying. They couldn't help but feel shocked. They thought that immortals could tell if they were loyal or not with a single thought. To lie in front of an immortal, Fan Xian was being too daring.
"You are the creatures of the world, the people the mighty Temple looks upon with pity. The icy and snowy road proves your determination. If you have any doubts, you need the guidance of light, and the light is right in front of you."
The immortal that the green bird had transformed into finally spoke. There was not a trace of emotion in his voice. Strangely, it was not icy cold. On the contrary, it had a sense of warmth and intimacy.
The immortal's voice echoed through the empty and silent Temple, buzzing. No one knew whether the voice came from the immortal's lips or from all directions in the world.
The miraculous appearance of these words made Haitang and Thirteenth Wang once again confirm their judgment that the other party was an immortal. However, Fan Xian smiled coldly in his heart. It was nothing more than an upgraded version of a loud cough.
The light was right in front. Did they need guidance? The people of the world were miserable. If they had any doubts, they could ask the immortals in the Temple for help. Thus, Fan Xian opened his mouth.
"Most noble immortal, we want to know who we are, where we came from, and where we are going."
They had come from the south and had already reached the Temple. Who knew where they were going? The green bird led them to the stone platform but was unable to tell them this philosophical awkward-sounding question. After the immortal heard Fan Xian's three questions, he immediately fell silent. His clothes fluttering in the cold air immediately became stiff and did not tremble at all.
Haitang and Thirteenth Wang did not understand why Fan Xian would ask these three questions. Fan Xian had already slowly stood up. His eyes were unusually calm and cold as he looked at the immortal who had sunk into silence. Through careful observation, he finally confirmed his judgment.
"You are you. You came from where you came from, and you are going to where you are going."
The immortal's clothes fluttered. His voice was still warm, and his reply was mysterious. This reply fell into Haitang's and Thirteenth Wang's ears. If it fell into anyone's ears, it would seem particularly beautiful.
However, this was the reply Fan Xian wanted. He looked calmly at the glowing figure floating in the air and thought to himself that it had taken such a long time to search through the database. It looked like the Temple's energy was about to run out.
It was clear that the immortal was not angry at Fan Xian for standing up straight and looking at him rudely. Amidst the light, he gazed warmly at Fan Xian.
"That is not the answer I want," Fan Xian said.
"An answer is just an answer. Whether or not you need it is actually just a question of your heart." The immortal's reply was still full of the air of a quack.
Fan Xian was silent for a moment and then said, "I want to know the Temple's past."
The immortal once again fell silent. The light enveloping his clothes immediately dimmed. Fan Xian stared unblinkingly at the patch of light and silently begged in his heart. If you are truly a holographic image, if you are truly just a guide for this museum, complete your mission and narrate this already lost history.
If someone could actually enter the legendary Temple, perhaps they would want the Golden Touch, the art of immortality, or those incomparably miraculous martial secrets. Fan Xian was different. What he wanted to know the most was the history of the Temple. Outside the door of the Temple, he had once blurted out the words "museum." It was clear that the person in the Temple had not guessed because of those three people that there was a soul faintly connected to him in Fan Xian's body.
The immortal's clothes froze for a long time. The light dimmed a great deal. Perhaps the thoughts of the people dancing in the spots of light were weighing some kind of permission to enter.
…
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