Jianchen Temple is located in the center of Huilian Mountain, built on a solitary peak, near a huge waterfall.
The temple has black tiles and red walls, and is solemn and simple. Surrounded by rugged rocks and proud cedars, coupled with the snow-like waterfall, one can feel calm even without the sound of bells or chanting.
After entering the range of the central isolated peak, the effect of the Buddha array disappeared. The four people and the goose were very excited and climbed up the winding stone steps in one breath and arrived in front of the temple.
Just as everyone had speculated before, Jianchen Temple still remembered Shi Jingzhi's kindness in returning the "Wu Mu Sutra". Even though the Kushan Sect members were in a state of panic, the monks still opened the temple gate and invited the four people to enter the temple.
The leader was even an old acquaintance.
The young monk from the Ghost Tomb came to lead them. He had just finished chanting "Form is emptiness" to Shi Jingzhi when he glanced at Yin Ci. The words "emptiness is form" got stuck in his throat and he almost choked.
"You, you are the one who killed Lu Fengxi..."
"Aci is my disciple, not a bad person." Shi Jingzhi took Yin Ci behind him, "There must be a reason for this, little master, don't panic."
How could he not panic? Not to mention Lu Fengxi, the donor even wore Zheng Fengdao's white jade headband. The young monk looked at the two of them suspiciously, and felt that the Kushan Sect was even more evil than the Ling Sect.
Fortunately, after passing the three masters of greed, anger and ignorance, Yin Ci was the one who looked the most respectable. Although he had a lot of questions, the little monk didn't want to embarrass the distinguished guest, so he had to let it go.
"Amitabha. The Sutra Cleansing Meeting has just started. The seniors are all busy. Please forgive me."
The young monk bowed to the four people.
"There is a Buddhist formation outside. You all must have worked hard. I will take you to rest first... After this day's work, Master Juehui will personally receive you. There are vegetarian dishes in the temple. If you are not used to them, there are guest chefs available for you to use."
Hearing this, Shi Jingzhi almost burst into tears.
Not to mention that in the past few days, he had to make do with the food in the kitchen, or reheat cold food. In this environment, he and Yin Ci had not eaten for a month, and their mouths were so dry that a nest of birds could come out.
Seeing that Shi Jingzhi was distracted, Yin Ci understood: "We can do it ourselves."
The young monk was still a little wary of the "man in white" Yin Ci. After leading the people to the guest room, the young monk left quickly, presumably to report the matter to the Hejue Association.
However, since Jianchen Temple had no intention of seeing the meat dispute, and Kushan Sect had done him a favor, Yin Ci was not worried about the gossips of the monks. He entered the guest kitchen openly and cooked a vegetarian meal.
Shi Jingzhi fell onto the couch in the guest room. His tense nerves of the past few days finally relaxed and he was too lazy to move a finger.
Jianchen Temple is the first temple in Tianxi, and the guest rooms in the temple are quite elegant and grand.
There were four people in Kushan Sect, and the monk prepared two guest rooms for them. Everyone was gathering in the outer room, and even though it was a servant's room, the room was decorated with great care.
There are flowing water and bamboo outside, and a faint scent of sandalwood inside. The futons and bedding are made of simple materials, but they are all elegant, soft and clean. The window lattices are clean, and you can see the garden and mountain scenery from any window.
The afternoon sun shines obliquely into the room. There are no snake scales, flesh shackles, or white thorns or human headlights. Everything is warm and soft, as if a fairyland has arrived.
Yan Qing was checking his luggage by the window, and calmed down the anger in his heart. He was calmer than before. His red eyes were illuminated by the sunlight in the temple, and they looked clear and bright, without any evil spirit.
Su Si had a gloomy look on his face as he kept circling around the room, completely destroying the rare tranquility.
Shi Jingzhi was dizzy because of his spinning: "Su Si, if you have something to say, just say it."
Su Si hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Yin, come back and we'll talk about it over dinner."
It was undoubtedly a wrong decision.
The vegetarian food was served, bright in color and fragrant, making people's appetites grow. Shi Jingyi took a bite of the food with his chopsticks, and he was so happy that he almost passed away. The atmosphere of Buddhahood was floating around Master Shi, and Su Si took a long time to call his soul back.
"Master." Su Si gritted his teeth. "Did you hear what I said? Master Shi!"
After the demonic scene passed, the identity of the young master of the Chi Gou Sect was completely exposed. He no longer bothered to hide his anger, and his dissatisfaction was written all over his face. At this moment, he stared at Shi Jingzhi who was concentrating on chewing slowly, and he wanted to use chopsticks as a dagger and commit rebellion.
Shi Jingzhi slowly swallowed the tofu balls in his mouth: "Su Si, don't talk while eating and don't talk while sleeping."
Yin Ci said calmly: "Master, Su Si just said that you have a fairy gate restriction on you."
Poor Shi Jingzhi, the leader of the generation, was almost defeated by a tofu ball. Seeing that Shi Jingzhi was about to be choked to death by the ball, Yin Ci pushed a cup of warm tea.
Shi Jingzhi drank the tea in one gulp, and his mind finally returned to normal.
"Immortal Gate Restriction?"
"Yes." Su Si said in a deep voice, "Before Master Tan, you and Brother Yin... Senior Yin was so focused on the battle that it was normal that he didn't notice it. The restriction only flashed for a moment, and I caught a glimpse of it from the side."
"When I was in the Chigou Sect, I learned a little bit and saw similar formations. They were extremely vicious and controlled people's minds. Such formations are complicated and ordinary people cannot do it."
"Master, have you never offended anyone from the Immortal Sect?"
When Shi Jingzhi heard this, he was not as surprised as he was at first. His memory loss was strange and his headaches came for no reason. There was no doubt that someone had sealed his memory on purpose.
Su Si helped him rule out other possibilities. Now it seems that the person who did this is closely related to the "Immortal Sect" Mishan Sect.
Shi Jingzhi thought for a moment and changed the subject: "You are so anxious to bring it up. Do you want to borrow the help of Jianchen Temple?"
"That's right." Su Si admitted decisively, "The Buddha's Formation and the Nightmare-Breaking Method are both formations that act on the five senses of the human mind. Jianchen Temple has always been good at this kind of magic. Since we want to know the whereabouts of the empty stone and the stone sword, we might as well ask the monks for advice."
Shi Jingzhi touched his chin and said, "Very good, let's leave it at that."
Su Si exhaled, "There is one more thing. You have all seen my demonic vision. I... only speak in name, I am indeed the young leader of the Chi Gou Sect."
He put down his chopsticks and sat upright. Upon hearing this, Yan Qing also put down his bowl and chopsticks solemnly and looked at Shi Jingzhi.
The relatively relaxed atmosphere gradually became tense.
"But I don't recognize this identity, and I won't return to the sect. If the leader feels it's inappropriate, I won't take you three away by force. Recently, I..."
Su Si gritted his teeth, struggling. He was not one to bow his head, and his soft words got stuck in his throat, unable to go up or out, looking very embarrassed.
Shi Jingzhi glanced at him, his expression normal: "Oh, then, there's no need to rush. Come on, come on, let's eat. The food that Ah Ci worked so hard to prepare won't taste good if it gets cold."
Su Si was startled and held his breath on the spot. He and Yan Qing looked at each other hesitantly, thinking that a huge rock was about to fall. He couldn't eat his meal and was trembling with fear.
However, Shi Jingzhi remained calm and continued to eat seriously.
"Master Shi, don't you mind?"
After the vegetarian meal, tea and snacks were served. Seeing that Shi Jingzhi had eaten a lot and was planning to drink his tea slowly, Su Si finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"There were many troubles along the way, and I am grateful that you did not force me to ask. But it is different now - now you should know that the Chi Gou Sect will not give up tracking me. The Kushan Sect is letting me go like this, which is tantamount to openly challenging the Chi Gou Sect!"
Su Si's tone even carried a hint of subtle disappointment.
"so what?"
Shi Jingzhi held the tea bowl in both hands and replied leisurely.
"As long as we hold the two treasure map beads, we are openly challenging the entire martial arts world. Didn't I say that the Black Blood Lady doesn't like me anyway? It doesn't matter if there are too many lice and they don't bite."
"Besides, Wuxue Po will not be able to say that our young master is a traitor in a small sect. It is not legitimate, and with the character of the Chigou Sect, they will only secretly make trouble. Let's avoid going into secret places, there will always be a way."
Being let off so lightly, Su Si's eyes were complicated: "... Sect Master Shi is protecting me so much, I guess it's not just 'pure kindness'."
He no longer concealed those dark thoughts and threw them out into the open.
"Of course not. This master is a realistic person. Your martial arts skills are quite high, so they will definitely come in handy. What's more, you don't need monthly payment. Where can you find such a good thing?"
Shi Jingzhi answered confidently, but it didn't seem like he was lying.
Su Si: “…”
His worries were in vain, and all his doubts were in vain. It turned out that the immortal sect's restriction would not affect the headmaster's eating and drinking. In this person's eyes, the hatred of the world's number one demon sect was no more important than a few hundred coins of monthly salary.
In comparison, Wuxue Po's logic is more like that of a normal person.
Forget it, Su Si frowned. Anyway, he had done his best, and at worst, the madman's sect would disband, and he would just pack up his friends and run away.
Thinking of this, Su Si also became calm. The four people from Kushan Sect sat down, drinking tea and eating meals, in a peaceful and otherworldly manner.
After nightfall, the peace was broken by the visiting monk Juehui.
Monk Juehui still had that withered look of deep hatred and deep suffering. As soon as he entered the room, his eyes stayed on Yin Ci for a long time, but he slowly moved away without asking anything.
"Amitabha. You donors, regardless of the Buddha's formation, specially climbed the mountain at this time. Is there any difficulty?"
In front of outsiders, Shi Jingzhi remained completely silent. He smiled and saluted: "I came here this time to borrow Master Kongshi's stone sword for a look."
"… oh?"
Monk Juehui raised his head, and there was finally some expression on his dry face.
"Master Kongshi's remains have not been returned yet. How did you know that the Mercy Stone Sword is in the temple?"
"I got news about Master Kongshi's remains. The sword is not where he was buried. Perhaps it was found by your temple."
The sad-faced monk looked at Shi Jingzhi for a while, then smiled and said, "Amitabha. When the treasure map and the Buddhist beads came out, the heroes of the world fought for the news of Yan Budu. Who would have thought that after a hundred years, clues about Master Kongshi's great-grandfather could be found."
Shi Jingzhi: "Master Kongshi is a great man of his generation. This is also God's will."
Juehui lowered his head and said to Shi Jingzhi solemnly, "You have done a lot of favors for our temple, so your request to see the stone sword is not excessive. But Master Kongshi said that this is a matter of great importance, so I cannot make the decision. The abbot must make the final decision. You all should rest here for one night, and I will report to the abbot tomorrow."
"Thank you for your help, Master."
That night, Jianchen Temple was very peaceful and quiet. Shi Jingzhi put on his nightgown and leaned against the window of the inner room to watch the beautiful night view.
Strange disease, lust for flesh, desire, worldly ties. Everything was returning to normal, but Shi Jingzhi kept thinking about it and felt something was wrong.
As soon as he came out of the state of mind, Yin Ci behaved abnormally. Shi Jingzhi thought that he had seen the end of Kong Shi Yan Bu Du and felt something. However, a few days later, his apprentice was still as considerate as before.
Yin Ci had indeed been very nice to him in recent days. Shi Jingzhi could see that his concern was not false, and was even a little excessive, almost a kind of weird pampering.
I should be satisfied with this. But Shi Jingzhi always has a feeling that the goodness is self-willed and self-righteous.
… Just like Yin Ci took it upon himself to settle the matter, deciding that they only had to go this far.
Shi Jingzhi didn't know what he wanted, but he knew that he didn't want something of this level.
As the thought flashed through his mind, Shi Jingzhi suddenly felt like laughing - it was justice and retribution. He had initially given Yin Ci an inexplicable kindness, and now the other party returned it in the same form. He, the "cherished" person, felt uncomfortable all over and did not feel happy at all.
Is the human heart so complicated
"Ah Ci."
Shi Jingzhi suddenly spoke.
Yin Ci was maintaining the Diaoying Sword. Hearing this, he raised his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
"At first I was nice to you for no reason. Do you think this person is probably mentally ill and his behavior is inexplicable?"
"… is a bit."
"With your abilities, Ah Ci, you have probably already used all means to find out my background and situation."
Yin Ci did not answer. Shi Jingzhi's question was not a question, so it was useless for him to deny it.
Shi Jingzhi walked over with a smile, his back to the moonlight through the window, and grabbed a strand of Yin Ci's hair.
Yin Ci frowned - even with the light behind him, those eyes were very bright, so bright that it made him feel a little uncomfortable.
"Aci, listen carefully. Now I am going to do the same thing. While searching for your flesh, I will do my best to find out your background, origins, and your demons."
Oops.
Yin Ci suddenly realized his negligence. The little mute was no longer the little mute he used to be. Shi Jingzhi carefully opened his heart to him, but he did not lose his deep scheming at the same time.
He couldn't help himself and made a wrong move.
Over the past hundred years, when faced with such situations, Yin Ci would always make up some background to prevent the other party from getting to the bottom of the matter. Just like when he was in Yuanxian Village, lying was always easy for him and it was not difficult for him.
However, when a bunch of nonsense about "drinking fairy wine" came to his lips, Yin Ci swallowed it back.
He looked at those bright eyes and was silent for a long time. Shi Jingzhi said it on purpose. His master knew exactly what he was doing. Did this fox notice it
…I realized that no matter what the reason was, I could no longer give him the same excuse as before.
The other party placed a pill in his hand openly, and he could only give one answer.
"What, Master, you want to catch me? I can promise you right now, no matter what your ending is, I will definitely stay with you until the end. My love for Master is not a lie."
Yin Ci put down the Diaoying Sword and responded with a smile.
"Even if Master knew the truth, the current situation would not change."
Seeing that Yin Ci didn't make excuses anymore, Shi Jingzhi smiled even more brightly, his eyes curved.
"Why not?"
He took the initiative and played with Yin Ci's hair for a long time.
"People's hearts are multifaceted, and seeing is believing. After a month in the field, I know Yan Budu better than you do."
"Since Ah Ci has seen my vulnerable side, I want to see Ah Ci's too. I want to know what kind of person you are and why you have come to this point."
"I want to know everything."