The thunderous ringing of the bell passed through the thatched huts, the Daoist halls, the large clans, the small boats on the river, the godly boats on the ocean, and the snowy mountains.
Everybody could hear the ringing of the bell.
The Giant on his way home on the other side of the ocean turned his head to look in the direction of Chaotian, the corners of his mouth curling up, revealing an honest and happy smile.
Gu Qing ran to the back of the godly boat as quickly as he could and looked in the direction of the ringing of the bell, his eyes wet.
On the lonely icy peak in the deep part of the snowland, the cliff wall looked like a piece of glass. A short figure appeared there, gazing at the south; it was unclear what was on his mind.
If a line was drawn between the icy peak and Aoyama, the small temple in White Town would be on the line. It meant that the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom could see the small temple at any time when she looked at Aoyama. As such, it was understandable that Zen Master didn't sit on the lotus seat, but crouched under the incense table and played with the small wooden sticks.
"I still don't understand why you didn't go to Aoyama when the Immortal ascended today," He said while crouching on the ground.
Zen Master said, "You will fly to the highest place when you ascend. You can see it no matter where you are; why do you have to go there?"
He thought what he said was reasonable, but what could he see if he crouched under the incense table?
Sitting on the doorsill, Sensei said while looking at the south, "The Immortal must have talked about something before he ascended. It's a pity that we can't hear him."
Zen Master said in a mocking tone, "Based on his temperament, he will simply swing his sword; there's no reason to talk about it. Did you see him talk about it last time?"
Sensei said angrily, "I was only nine years old last time! Grandma didn't take me there; how would I know? "
Zen Master's fingers trembled after being rebuked, and he almost dropped the pile of wooden sticks. "All in all, that guy doesn't know how to reason with people!" he said grumpily.
Only Taiping Zhenren and he, the old friends of Jingyang, knew the origin of the phrase "kill with one sword".
He looked puzzled and said, "Back then, Zen Master, you once went to Shenmo Peak and asked the Enlightened Being. You sat across from him for a hundred days. What did the Enlightened Being talk about?"
Zen Master thought that they really were a pair of Dao companions made in heaven. He sneered, "In those 100 days, he treated me like a child. Every night, he would tell me a story to lull me to sleep. What else do you think he could tell?"
When he spoke of the past, his face was full of mockery, but his eyes were filled with deep nostalgia and reluctance.
…
…
The sound of the bell faded into the distance like the wind. What followed was Jing Jiu's voice.
His voice was as light as before, without any coldness or taste. It was still like the wind, dispersing around the Black Jade Plate.
"I was born in this world, and you are also born in this world. This is the karma between us. Today, I will leave, so I will speak with you."
Hearing what Jing Jiu said, the Cultivation practitioners of various sects sat upright with a solemn expression on their faces.
In their opinion, what the Immortal would say before his ascension must be very important and helpful to their Cultivation; so they shouldn't miss even one word. Unfortunately, they were too far away and couldn't see the expression on the Immortal's face clearly, wondering if it would have any effect on their Cultivation.
"I don't know how to talk about the principles, but I can tell some stories. I will tell three stories today."
Though Jing Jiu spoke casually, the expressions on the faces of those who had vaguely guessed what he meant had changed slightly.
Zhao Layue thought that Jing Jiu had only asked two questions, but how could he tell three stories? Cao Yuan thought that Jing Jiu was the one who would ascend; why did he tell his stories? Bu Qiuxiao thought that if the stories Jing Jiu told had something to do with him, he would still want to ascend even if Jing Jiu was the Fairy Lady … Jing Jiu would have so many disciples and disciples after his ascension; didn't he worry about it?
Under the distant big tree, the person wearing the conical hat stood up and stroked the rough bark of the tree with his palm. Looking at the blue sky, the color of the tree leaves reflected on his face; it was unclear what he was thinking.
The rest of the Cultivation practitioners didn't think too much about it.
Countless magic methods and profundities in the world were hidden in the seemingly simple stories; this was what the Zen sects were good at.
It turned out that the Immortal was going to tell the stories that day.
…
…
Jing Jiu grabbed Ada by the neck and put him in Zhao Layue's bosom. He began telling the first story after he took a glance at the large Buddha statue.
"A few hundred years ago, there were two major clans in Juye City. One of them had the family name of Shi, and the other had the family name of Cao. The two clans had been competing for benefits for many years, with some victories and defeats. It wasn't until the Cao clan had a powerful family master who married a free-traveling practitioner of the Dongyi Daoist Sect that the Cao clan had completely suppressed the Shi clan. Though the family master and his wife had a high Cultivation state, they had no hope of ascension. As their lives were about to end, they wanted to leave behind a descendant."
The beginning of the story was quite ordinary and straightforward. It was hard to discern the meaning of the story, but the crowd was listening attentively.
Guo Nanshan suddenly found that Gu Han's expression was not quite right. "What's wrong?" he asked in a low voice.
Gu Han said with a slightly pale face, "A shocking murder had taken place in Juye City back then."
The Gu clan was a major clan dependent on the Aoyama Sect, so they were well aware of the lineage of the clans in Chaotian. Yet, Guo Nanshan didn't know much about it, asking, "So what?"
Gu Han didn't talk about the murder again. He looked at the large Buddha statue in the distance and asked in a low voice, "What is the family name of the Broadsword King?"
"Is Grandmaster going to tell the story of the Broadsword King?" Guo Nanshan asked with a slightly changed expression.
As the two of them conversed, Jing Jiu was still telling the story.
The couple in charge of the Cao clan were fully aware that their methods were too forceful and cruel, especially since the Shi clan had been suppressed badly. After the two of them passed away, the Shi clan would definitely retaliate. If Madame Cao's child was a regular person who couldn't cultivate, it would be fine. Even if the Cao clan was on the decline, they could live an ordinary life. If the child was extremely talented, like someone with natural Dao quality, they could send him to the Zhongzhou School or the Aoyama Sect. The Shi clan wouldn't dare do anything to him.
For a moment, they didn't know whether the child they were expecting was a genius or a mediocre person … Madame Cao got pregnant amidst this complicated anticipation.
What puzzled them was that the child was quite ordinary, with nothing special about him. Though he had some talent, he wasn't mediocre, but he wasn't the kind of person who would make people's eyes light up.
This was the most troublesome situation.
The Zhongzhou School and the Aoyama Sect would definitely look down on this child.
But the Shi clan would pay great attention to this child because he could cultivate, and they might even want to kill him.
How could they protect this child?
…
…
"The couple used only one night to come up with a solution, which was to wipe out the Shi clan before they passed away."
Hearing Jing Jiu's words, more and more cultivators, like Gu Han, recalled the tragedy that happened in Juye City hundreds of years ago, and their expressions changed slightly.
That tragedy was too famous, because the couple was too ruthless.
The world often talked about the tragedy of a family being wiped out, but the one that the Shi clan suffered was the real one.
From the direct descendants of the Shi clan to the stewards and the entire clan, they were all killed by the Cao clan in a very short period of time. Not a single person was spared. Even the Jianghu masters who were on good terms with the Shi clan were singled out by the couple and killed. The whole of Juye City seemed to have been massacred.
In order to carry out such an evil deed, the Cao clan also paid a great price, and gradually disappeared in the long river of history. It was only today that Jing Jiu mentioned it.
"After the Cao couple finished doing these things, they went to Moqiu and paid their respects to the abbot of the Guocheng Temple, and asked him a question."
"… The two of us knew that we had committed a great sin, but did it have anything to do with this child?"
"The abbot said that the child was innocent, but what you did was really evil and stupid … You killed all the friends of the Shi clan, but friends still have friends, and relatives still have relatives. How could you kill them all? After you died, wouldn't the friends of the friends and the relatives of the relatives transfer their hatred to the child? "
The people present felt that there was something wrong when they heard the story, and now they thought that it was indeed so.
"When Madam Cao heard the words of the abbot of the Guocheng Temple, she realized that she had made a great mistake. Master Cao said to the abbot that he had killed so many people to show him."
"The abbot was puzzled and thought, What does this mean? If the world knew about this child's background, he would not live long. Master Cao was sure of this, so you would definitely hide it for him. Only then did the abbot know that the Cao couple had the idea of sending the child to the Guocheng Temple. "
Having heard this part of the story, the people had already figured out what was going on. Countless gazes with complicated emotions fell on the large Buddha.
The face of the large Buddha was full of mottled paint, devoid of any sadness or joy, showing only the vicissitudes of life.
"The abbot couldn't understand it. He said that the Cao family had declined because of your decision, and that they would be attacked after your death. Didn't you care about the lives of your relatives and subordinates? The Cao couple eyed each other and said in unison that they didn't care. Madam Cao looked at the child in her bosom affectionately, saying that it would be fine as long as he could live a peaceful life. Having said that, the Cao couple committed suicide, and the child was left in the Guocheng Temple. "
The first half of the story had been told. It was simple, but not simple at the same time.
What the Cao couple had done was exceedingly bloody and dreadful. It was unclear if their idea was correct, but at least the child had lived to this day and become the most outstanding figure in Chaotian.
Looking at the large Buddha, the people realized that the Master Broadsword King had such a strange background; they were rendered speechless for a moment.
Cao Yuan said, "This story has many inaccuracies; for instance, the part about my mother looking at me affectionately … But how do you know the expression in her eyes at the time?"
"This is what Sanyue said," Jing Jiu said.
This story was related to the secret of Cao Yuan's background and a bloody and cruel past, which would have a negative impact on his reputation, the reputation of the Guocheng Temple and the Windy-Broadsword Church.
It was because of Lian Sanyue that Jing Jiu knew this story.
Many years ago by the lake, Cao Yuan was merely a young monk who had just left the temple gate when he told this story to Lian Sanyue while wiping away his tears.
Lian Sanyue didn't like to write stories, and she didn't like to add fuel to the fire, and she was also too lazy to do so. The word "affectionate" must have been Cao Yuan's own narration; but how could a newborn baby remember the expression in his mother's eyes? This was either Cao Yuan's imagination after he grew up, or he was not a regular person from the moment he was born. However, his talent was so special that the Cao couple didn't even notice it; otherwise, it would be hard to explain how a child with ordinary talent could become so powerful in the future.
After a moment of silence, Cao Yuan said, "In fact, the Shi family is not completely wiped out. It's not an easy task for my parents to eliminate them completely."
"There are many people with the surname Shi at the Windy-Broadsword Church," said Jing Jiu.
Upon hearing this, there was an uproar in the crowd.
Many years ago, Cao Yuan left the Guocheng Temple and started to travel in the mortal world. He joined the Windy-Broadsword Church as a regular disciple, and participated in the Plum Meeting as a regular disciple. Later, to everyone's surprise, he didn't choose to return to the Guocheng Temple, but stayed at the Windy-Broadsword Church.
He led this small church to grow in the dangerous north with great difficulty until it became a hegemon of a region.
The Cultivation circle thought that he did it because he was sentimental about his old love, but after hearing this story and the conversation between Jing Jiu and Cao Yuan, they realized that there was more to it than meets the eye.
"That's right," said Cao Yuan.
"Do they know about it?" asked Jing Jiu.
"Yes," said Cao Yuan.
"Do they hate you?" pressed Jing Jiu.
"Since they can't defeat me, it's not important whether they hate me or not." Cao Yuan continued while looking at Jing Jiu, "But what do you intend to explain by telling this story of mine?"
"Not all stories have to explain something … but this one of yours can." Jing Jiu looked at the Cultivation practitioners and said while pointing to the large Buddha statue, "His parents killed thousands of people and did many evil things for his birth. As such, he thought he was a sinful person born with evil inside and out, and he couldn't wash himself clean no matter what he did. He didn't even expect to atone for his sins; all he wanted was to make the deaths of thousands of people worthwhile. As such, he hasn't left the snowland since he went there."
Guarding the wind and snow by himself was the evaluation and admiration of the world for Cao Yuan. Nobody had expected such a story.
He had done the same thing in the Underworld, and it was believed that he would keep doing it.
What he did was not atone for his sins; but when would he be freed?
"Why couldn't he ascend? It was because he thought he couldn't repay the debt. But why did he have to repay the debt owed by his parents? Why did the descendants have to bear the consequences of the predecessors? All in all, there is only one reason, "said Jing Jiu while looking at the large Buddha statue," You can't get over it. "
Cao Yuan had guarded White Town for hundreds of years. Besides what had been mentioned, there were other reasons, like Lian Sanyue; but Jing Jiu didn't want to talk about it.
This story was not about the evil karma leading to the good karma, but about the fact that one couldn't get over it.
If one couldn't get over it, why would heaven open up for him?
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