Jing Jiu's mood was as real as his own, and it was hard to tell what he was feeling.
He was used to being expressionless, and he didn't have any hobbies. He would play with the sand in the ceramic plate once in a while, and it didn't mean anything when he didn't play with it.
However, Zhao Layue was aware that he was in a bad mood. She had developed this ability after living with him for many years, and it was also a talent.
On New Year's Eve, they left Scenery Garden after having a hotpot dinner. Zhuo Rusui, Gu Qing, and Yuan Qu continued their Cultivation as if it were a normal day.
Zhao Layue knelt before Jing Jiu and hugged him, as she had done in the past.
Jing Jiu patted her back gently.
Zhao Layue said, "I started reading the Daoist Canon when I was six years old, and I knew that there would always be farewells in life. I thought I had gotten used to it, but I was still touched by it."
She was referring to the matter between the middle-aged scholar and his mortal wife.
Jing Jiu said, "It's a good thing to get used to it, but it's hard to get used to the bad things. It's just that you are numb to it, and then you don't want to think about it anymore."
Zhao Layue looked at Jing Jiu with her black and white eyes wide open, asking seriously, "Is that the only thing you can do?"
Jing Jiu said, "I had a very good friend when I was young. I saw him grow old, get sick, and enter the grave with my own eyes, but I couldn't do anything about it."
Zhao Layue pressed, "And then?"
"The story itself is meaningless, because he is already dead."
Jing Jiu said, "What I want to say is that this matter has made me think every day about how to stay together."
One wouldn't think about it if they were numb to it. As long as they thought about it, they wouldn't be numb, even though it would be very painful.
Zhao Layue said, "So you saw that pair of master and disciple, and read those medical records."
Jing Jiu said, "I hope everyone in the world can live a few more years."
Life and death were the true farewells.
Liu Ci had left.
That person in Zhaoge City would leave soon.
Yuan Qijing would leave in a few years.
Those idiots outside Scenery Garden and those idiots in Scenery Garden would leave one day.
Jing Jiu didn't like crowds, but he hated parting even more.
Zhao Layue looked into his eyes and said very seriously, "I don't want to leave you either."
"Promise me …"
Jing Jiu looked at her and said, "Cultivate well. Live for at least another few thousand years, and then strive to live for tens of thousands of years. As long as you can live, live forever."
If this was a conversation between lovers, the second half of the sentence should be: Please don't leave me, but he would not say that.
No matter how strong their relationship was, when the boss left one after the other, even if they left together, they would still be separated.
Only when they were alive would they not be truly separated.
Even if they were at opposite ends of the universe, separated by a distance that could never be crossed, as long as they knew that the other was still alive, they would be together.
That middle-aged scholar and his wife probably wanted to do the same.
The stars in the sky shone on the courtyard, the eaves, the running water, and Zhao Layue's eyes, making them sparkle.
She looked at Jing Jiu and said earnestly, "I will."
Ada landed under the eaves under the starlight. Seeing the strange atmosphere between the couple, he walked to Jing Jiu and crouched on his knees after a moment of hesitation.
Jing Jiu rubbed his back and said, "You can live for many more years. Don't be afraid."
Ada sighed, thinking that even if he could live for another few thousand years, it would be nothing but a fleeting wave in comparison to eternity; it would be meaningless.
(Note)
…
…
Zhao Layue knew that Jing Jiu was in a bad mood, and she also knew why he was in a bad mood; but the other three people in Scenery Garden didn't know. Zhuo Rusui stopped thinking about it after a short while, but Gu Qing and Yuan Qu discussed with each other for a long time and came up with some ideas, so they sent the news to the outside of Scenery Garden.
In their eyes, Jing Jiu left Aoyama for peace and quiet, but now Cloudy Town was full of people and Cultivation practitioners were everywhere in the mountains and fields outside the fog. Some Cultivation practitioners kept kowtowing, dyeing the stream red; some Cultivation practitioners kept playing with their swords, scaring away the birds in the forest. How could Jing Jiu be happy?
Soon, the Cultivation world learned that the master and his disciple, the only ones who had ever entered Scenery Garden, had returned to the Mysterious Heaven Sect. It was said that the remaining deviant sects had set their eyes on this small sect, but they were wiped out before they could do anything. And it was not the Aoyama Sect that did it, but another mysterious deviant sect.
After that, the Mysterious Heaven Sect began to seal their mountains. It was obvious that they needed time to digest the benefits they had gained in Scenery Garden, which stimulated the Cultivation world again.
As the spring deepened, more and more Cultivation practitioners came to Cloudy Town.
Gu Qing and Yuan Qu became more and more worried about Jing Jiu's mood, so they sent the news to the outside of Scenery Garden for the second time.
It was the most beautiful day of spring. Thousands of flowers were in full bloom, and the fog flowed away like clouds. The scenery outside Cloudy Town was breathtaking.
Suddenly, snow fell from the sky.
The snow was not heavy, and it did not feel particularly cold. It was not even the coldness of late spring. The ordinary residents of the town did not feel bitter, but found it interesting. However, those Cultivation practitioners found something wrong. The snowflakes that ordinary people were not afraid of were as scary as ice blades when they fell on them. Even though they used Taoist magic to protect themselves, their clothes were still cut by the snowflakes, and the coldness went straight into their meridians.
Some Cultivation practitioners wanted to take the opportunity to show their perseverance and create a scene similar to the snow outside Scenery Gate, but they were almost frozen to death by the overnight snow.
It was not until then that someone figured out what was going on.
It was not the salt-like spring snow, but the wrath of the Sword Justice of Aoyama!
How many people in the Cultivation world could withstand the wrath of Yuan Qijing? The Cultivation practitioners immediately scattered like birds and beasts. Most of them returned to their hometowns, not daring to step into Cloudy Town again. There were a dozen Cultivation practitioners who were very brave, but they only dared to stay in Cloudy Town, not daring to take a look at the fog again.
Scenery Garden finally quieted down.
The disciples of Liangwang Peak didn't have to patrol around all day long to hunt down the evil demons of the deviant sects, so they had some leisure time.
…
…
Like Gu Han and the other disciples of Liangwang Peak, some elders of Aoyama also had some resentment about this matter, and some were even more resentful. So did the sects such as the Kunlun Sect.
The Cultivation practitioners of small sects and individual practitioners went to Cloudy Town to worship the so-called Scenery Garden, which made them very angry.
It was a sword devil who lived there, not the Immortal Jingyang!
In the end, their resentment and anger had turned into dissatisfaction toward the Guocheng Temple.
If Zen Master hadn't stepped forward during the Grand Ceremony of Aoyama, Jing Jiu would have died on the spot. Even if Yuan Qijing forgave Jing Jiu and allowed him to leave Aoyama, he could only hide in Chaotian like a stray dog and evade the pursuit. It was impossible for him to act so arrogantly and cause so much trouble. … …
In the late spring, the Guocheng Temple welcomed a distinguished guest.
The Scripture Preaching Master brewed the tea himself and left after bringing the tea into the room, leaving the meditation room to Zen Master and the distinguished guest.
The old man in gray clothing had an ordinary appearance and a dull temperament. The only special feature was that his forehead was very broad, as if it could contain the ocean or even heaven and earth.
"Is the Immortal here to denounce me?"
Zen Master said this to the old man in gray clothing with a smile, his two bare feet under his buttocks moving slightly.
Both his smile and his restless thumbs indicated that he was a bit nervous at the moment.
How many people in Chaotian could make the Young Zen Master feel nervous, or in other words, so cautious?
"Zen Master, don't mention it. I just came back from Penglai and passed by the East Ocean, so I came here to chat with you. How is the Chief Monk doing lately?"
The old man in gray clothing spoke slowly, and his tone was not obvious. Yet, he gave off a trustworthy feeling.
Zen Master stopped smiling, and said sadly, "It's difficult for the Chief Monk to come out from behind closed doors. All I hope is that he can have a peaceful escape in the end."
After a moment of silence, the old man in gray clothing said, "The Old Chief Monk has a profound understanding of the Buddhist methods; I'm sure he will leave in a good mood."
Zen Master raised his teacup and said, "Thank you for your kind words."
The old man in gray clothing continued, "I've been behind closed doors since the turmoil in the Fiend Prison. It's indeed inappropriate for the Unicorn to come out of the mountains and make a scene in the Guocheng Temple. However, he is the divine guardian animal, and no sect rules can control him. Besides, his spiritual body has suffered a serious injury, so it's better to let it go."
Zen Master put down the teacup, a faint smile on the corners of his mouth as he said, "The Immortal Tan's way of letting it go is rather gentle."
It turned out that this old man in gray clothing was the Immortal Tan, the sect master of the Zhongzhou School.
It was said that Bai Zhenren was the actual manager of the Zhongzhou School, but she was not the sect master.
After Liu Ci's departure, the Immortal Tan was the number one swordsman in Chaotian in name only.
It was the same in all aspects, including his Cultivation state and status.
Of course, the person in Scenery Garden was not included.
Zen Master continued, "A third of the back temple was destroyed. It was repaired after half of the gold in the palace treasury was transferred from Zhaoge City. The gold was quite heavy."
The Immortal Tan said, "It should be the fault of Taiping Zhenren of the Aoyama Sect."
Zen Master waved his hand to indicate that it was no longer necessary to mention this matter, asking, "Immortal, why do you want to see me?"
The Immortal Tan said honestly, "I want to hear the truth from you: whether he is the Senior Jingyang or that devil sword."
In their Cultivation state, many details and so-called evidence were meaningless.
Zen Master stared at his eyes in Silence, saying, "As long as he has inherited all the karma of the Immortal Jingyang, he is the Immortal Jingyang."
Jing Jiu had said on the top of Tianguang Peak that he was the direction of all his karma.
What Zen Master said was not the same as what Tong Yan had said, but they were somehow related. They were the same as the snow on the high mountain and the water in Ōzawa.
If Zen Master knew the conversation between Yuan Qijing and the Dead Dog in the Sword Jail, he would find that the two of them had the same opinion.
After some thought, the Immortal Tan said, "I'm how I want the world to view me; the person in the mirror is the outsider."
Zen Master couldn't help praising him.
The Immortal Tan continued, "But Taiping Zhenren won't let him return to Aoyama, and Yuan Qijing won't live forever."
The day Yuan Qijing died was the day Jing Jiu would die.
Zen Master said, "It's not easy to kill him."
The Immortal Tan said, "When the heavenly sword becomes a devil, he will have a lot of advantages in the early stage of Cultivation; but it's extremely difficult for him to reach the Heavenly Arrival State, because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is not enough."
In the current Cultivation circle, the person who understood Jing Jiu's Cultivation the best was not Zhao Layue, because her Cultivation state was not high enough; it was Ada.
Ada had seen Jing Jiu guiding the heavenly thunders for Cultivation a few times, and he had expressed his concern at the time.
The Immortal Tan hadn't even seen Jing Jiu before, but he had pointed out Jing Jiu's biggest concern.
Zen Master fell silent, because he knew that what the Immortal Tan said was probably correct.
Scenery Garden outside Cloudy Town seemed to be on the verge of becoming a holy land for the Cultivation circle; but what if Yuan Qijing died?
Would Fang Jingtian let him go?
By then, Jing Jiu and those around him would have no choice but to die.
Or, they would have to leave Aoyama for real.
Zen Master asked, "What's the point of telling me all this, Immortal?"
The Immortal Tan said, "I'd like to ask Zen Master to write a letter for me."
The expression on Zen Master's face changed slightly, as he asked, "A letter?"
The Immortal Tan said, "I'd like to go to Cloudy Town in person, but I'm worried that I won't be able to win that person's trust. As such, I have no choice but to get a letter from you first."
…
…
(Note: When I wrote about Ada lamenting the waves, I thought of a sentence that Ye Liuyun once said in the Qing Yu year. My earliest idea should have come from Matsuo Basho's words, but I have long forgotten it. That sentence was: The waves only bloom for a while, but it is no different from a thousand-year stone. It is the same for Liuyun. They are both talking about the waves, but the meaning expressed in the two books, separated by 12 years, is the opposite. Now it does not seem too artistic and ignores life and death, but it is actually a problem of logic. The life of the waves and the thousand-year stone are both limited. In the long river of time, they are actually both waves.) As for the question of Jing Jiu's true identity, this large part of the plot temporarily stopped here. This was one of the three points that I wanted to write about when I wrote about the Chaotian Dao. I was very happy to write about it, and I was also looking forward to the world after my ascension. As for Jing Jiu's true identity? Whether it's Jingyang or All in One, I naturally have my own answer. However, based on the current plot, there's actually no way to prove it. We can only rely on your own judgment. However, I've always been honest when I write books. I'll write a definite answer for everyone as soon as possible.)
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