Chapter 70
Yu Wuxia was busy concocting medicine, while Immortal Jiaheng distributed the medicine soup to the villagers. After ensuring everyone had taken their dose, the master and disciple finally took a short rest.
Immortal Jiaheng sat on a large rock in the forest, one hand folded across his chest, eyes closed in meditation. Moonlight outlined faint contours where his neck and back merged into one.
Yu Wuxia sat beside him, occasionally stealing glances at Immortal Jiaheng. His recitation of scriptures was intermittent and fragmented.
Before long, Immortal Jiaheng couldn’t help but open his eyes and admonish, “Wuxia, do not lose focus while reciting scriptures.”
“Yes,” Yu Wuxia obediently replied, then kept his eyes open, displaying a keen desire to learn. “Master, when I recite scriptures, I intend to do it earnestly, but my mind is often distracted by worldly matters beyond my control.”
Immortal Jiaheng asked, “What worldly matters trouble your mind?”
Yu Wuxia sighed deeply. “Earlier, when I was saving the villagers, I saw a husband give his last half of a bread bun to his wife, who then split it and gave the larger half back to him. I wondered about the nature of their love. What kind of charm allows them to sacrifice for each other like that?”
Immortal Jiaheng had never been asked about matters of love before. Disciples of the Thirty-Three Heavens were supposed to have transcended worldly affections and never asked him about such matters, much less be troubled by them.
Immortal Jiaheng’s gaze darkened as he looked at Yu Wuxia, who met his gaze calmly as if his previous words were just casual inquiries without deeper meaning.
Immortal Jiaheng withdrew his gaze, thinking he might have overthought the situation. With a stern expression, he said, “Wuxia, we disciples of the Immortal have long transcended worldly love. You should not harbor curiosity about it.”
“Master, forgive me. I was simply thinking—if one has never tasted meat, how can one claim not to like it? Similarly, if we have never experienced worldly love, how can we truly say we have transcended it?”
Immortal Jiaheng had never heard such audacious words questioning the path before. He stared sharply at Yu Wuxia. “Wuxia, your mind is not yet settled. After this charitable act, you must cultivate your mind.”
“Master,” Yu Wuxia saw his master’s displeasure and continued, “I wish to remain in the mortal realm. I can continue charitable acts here while cultivating my mind.”
Immortal Jiaheng pondered for a moment. Knowing Yu Wuxia was inherently virtuous and had never been entangled by love even after becoming a Immortal, he believed his curiosity about worldly love might stem from prolonged seclusion in the Thirty-Three Heavens.
Perhaps exposure would dispel this curiosity.
“Very well, you may stay in the mortal realm to practice.”
With that, Immortal Jiaheng closed his eyes and resumed his chanting.
Inside the barrier, Si Lan heard that Immortal Jiaheng agreed to let Yu Wuxia stay in the mortal realm for cultivation. He couldn’t help but lament. The fox demon had mentioned meeting Yu Wuxia while he was in the mortal realm. It seemed this experience marked the irreversible path Yu Wuxia had chosen.
Si Lan wanted to break the barrier, to tell Immortal Jiaheng not to leave Yu Wuxia alone in the mortal realm.
But if the barrier were broken, history would change, albeit temporarily. Ultimately, it would correct itself and lead to the current situation.
Si Lan walked slowly until he reached Immortal Jiaheng. Comparing their appearances, Immortal Jiaheng seemed younger than Yu Wuxia in terms of facial features—his eyes clear and handsome, lips full and red, exuding a gentle aura.
In mundane terms, this gentle aura carried the essence of a “virtuous wife and loving mother.”
Si Lan never expected someone as intelligent and close to demons as Yu Wuxia to appreciate such qualities.
At dawn, after seeing that the plague in the mortal realm had been resolved, Immortal Jiaheng prepared to return to the Thirty-Three Heavens. Before leaving, he instructed Yu Wuxia not to waver in his Buddhist path while practicing in the mortal realm. If he encountered matters of love, he was only to observe and understand, without violating his vows.
After speaking, Immortal Jiaheng’s expression turned slightly uncomfortable.
He had never before admonished a disciple in such matters.
Yu Wuxia replied, “Yes, Master,” bowing his head humbly. Immortal Jiaheng, seeing his disciple’s docile demeanor, felt reassured and turned to leave.
Yu Wuxia stood up and watched as Immortal Jiaheng departed. Once out of sight, his expression gradually darkened, his ink-black eyes shimmering with a faint glow, his features no longer displaying their previous docility.
He sensed several areas in the mortal realm teeming with demonic energy. Presumably, there were demons causing trouble, so he headed toward those places.
Si Lan and Haowei followed Yu Wuxia silently until they arrived at a dilapidated temple. Seeing Yu Wuxia enter, he first bowed respectfully to the central Immortal statue, then picked up a cloth and gently wiped the dust off the Immortal’s body.
Starting from the feet, he meticulously cleaned upwards. Although he couldn’t cast spells on mortals, cleaning the Immortal statue was certainly not prohibited; yet he insisted on doing it himself.
Only after he had wiped away all the dust from the Immortal’s face did Si Lan understand the reason.
The Immortal statue in this temple was Immortal Jiaheng himself. No wonder Yu Wuxia was so painstakingly thorough.
After finishing cleaning, Yu Wuxia stood before the Immortal statue, gazing intently at its features. After a long while, he sat down in meditation and silently recited Buddhist scriptures.
Si Lan felt that Yu Wuxia was now deeply entangled. When he recited scriptures, his brow was tightly furrowed, even more conflicted than when Immortal Jiaheng accompanied him yesterday.
“From the beginning, there was a mistake between Yu Wuxia and Immortal Jiaheng,” Haowei, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
He didn’t understand why Yu Wuxia fell in love with Immortal Jiaheng. He speculated that upon their first meeting, Yu Wuxia might have misunderstood, thinking that the person he saw during his spiritual travels across the Nine Provinces was different from who he truly was.
But in reality, that person was only deeply bound to him.
This bond encompassed not only love but also hatred.
If Yu Wuxia knew that he and Immortal Jiaheng were like the tiger and disciple in Buddhist texts, perhaps this distorted affection would never have arisen.
“Ah, now I only hope to discover Yu Wuxia’s weakness and prevent him from causing the apocalypse,” Si Lan sighed.
For Yu Wuxia, perhaps what he hated wasn’t the moral norms of this world. If these norms restricted him and Immortal Jiaheng, then in their next lives, they could reincarnate without blood or societal ties and continue their fated relationship.
But Yu Wuxia knew that no matter how many times he reincarnated, they would never continue their fate because Immortal Jiaheng didn’t love him. So, what he hated should be Immortal Jiaheng’s lack of love.
Thinking of this, Si Lan seemed to understand something. Immortal Jiaheng’s lack of love formed an impenetrable barrier in Yu Wuxia’s heart. But what if Immortal Jiaheng did love him?
As he pondered this, the scene before him changed.
A wisp of black smoke drifted in from the door and attached itself behind Yu Wuxia, transforming into a graceful woman. Her figure was slender and charming, her demeanor coquettish. Her black nails lightly touched Yu Wuxia’s face, gliding slowly.
“What a handsome little monk you are…”
This woman was the fox demon that Si Lan and Haowei had rescued from Linglong Mountain.
As the fox demon’s hand slid down, passing over Yu Wuxia’s slightly protruding Adam’s apple and then his collarbone, she giggled softly, intending to continue downwards. Suddenly, Yu Wuxia opened his eyes and grabbed the fox demon’s neck.
The fox demon stared in fear, “How… how weren’t you enchanted?”
She had originally released some bewitching black smoke, assuming Yu Wuxia had already been mesmerized.
Yu Wuxia was about to crush the fox demon’s neck with his hand. Just then, a ray of moonlight shone through a cracked window, illuminating the fox demon’s face.
The fox demon had delicate and exquisite features, almond eyes filled with affection, somewhat resembling Immortal Jiaheng.
The strength in Yu Wuxia’s hand gradually weakened, and he released the fox demon, silently staring at her eyes and brows.
The fox demon, relieved and regaining her composure, saw that there was no hostility from him. She smiled coyly and delicately leaned into Yu Wuxia’s embrace.
“Little monk, are you here to beg for alms down the mountain? It’s so desolate here, with nothing good to eat.”
Seeing no response from him, the fox demon became bold, teasingly touching the back of Yu Wuxia’s hand with her fingertips, then gently stroking his palm.
After a few strokes, the fox demon realized that he remained unmoved, gazing at her with eyes as clear and unfeeling as glass, his breath steady, showing no signs of being affected.
Feeling frustrated, the fox demon plucked up her courage and let her palm run along Yu Wuxia’s abdomen, moving downwards.
Not knowing what she touched, the fox demon’s eyes flickered, “Little monk, you are quite honest here.”
T/N: Hey there! There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
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If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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