Chapter 25 of the First Part Asking the Way

  The old man's estate was a bit far from the county town, so it seemed a bit desolate, but naturally had more serene colors. The Qingqiu Lin Garden was built at the foot of the mountain by the river, and during the day it was lush and beautiful, while now it was already deep night, with the stars in the sky casting a silver glow on the two people on the veranda, an old man and a young woman, who were both fond of indulging in quiet contemplation, and this natural beauty made them feel even more delightful.

  Yi Tianxing picked up the teapot on the small red wooden round table, his left hand lightly resting on his right wrist, and carefully filled the old man's small finger cup. He asked, "The painting earlier, it seemed like you cherished it a lot, why did you destroy it?"

  The old gentleman smiled slightly, holding the delicate tea cup with his two fingers, stroking it a few times, and then brought it to his lips to take a sip. After savoring the fragrance of the tea for a moment, he said: "Do you know what scene that painting depicts?"

  "It was the Temple of Extreme Bliss in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty."

  The old man's eyebrows slightly moved, and he praised: "Jin Gang Bu Huai, still has a few wisps of the wisdom of Manjusri Bodhisattva."

  "Don't talk nonsense." Yi Tianxing joined his palms together and bowed slightly towards the west, he originally didn't believe in gods or Buddhas, but today being brainwashed by the old master, he indeed felt a bit of fear.

  "The Jing Shi Temple was reduced to ashes in the Tianqi era, and it's all thanks to Public Security Yuan Zongdao's travelogue that we know about its former glory." The old master played with the small teacup on his finger, not looking at Yi Tianxing, "No matter how beautiful it is, no matter how prosperous it is, in the end it's just a deserted autumn, and the leaves have fallen. I've been drifting in the underworld for decades, and my eyes have seen countless separations and deaths. I've long since seen through all this, but I'm still obsessed with remembering the sound behind the Temple of Return. This picture of the Extreme Bliss Temple has always been used to express my emotions, and now that I've seen you, it further proves that you are a person with great spiritual power. Then, my wife and I have hope for our desire to repay kindness. What's the use of keeping this painting?"

  Yitian Xing slightly tilted his head, a hint of an unfathomable and profound smile on his face, saying: "Actually, I don't entirely believe what you're saying."

  "I know." The old man looked at him quietly, "But the facts will prove that there are many things in this world that you can't imagine. In a small county like Gaoyang, there is a born monster like you and a postnatal demon like me. China is so vast, I don't believe there aren't other extraordinary people."

  "That's true." Yi Tianxing rubbed his nose, "China has more than 2,700 counties, by probability, we should have a few of the same kind, right? However..." He shrugged, "But I just want to live this life safely and stably. I promised to help you find that voice, but if things get scary, I might run away halfway."

  "As you wish." The old gentleman raised his tea cup in a toast.

  "Now can we get down to business?"

  ………………………………………

  The scene outside the manor suddenly became lively, with people emerging from the mountain forest in twos and threes, holding onto someone whose clothes were tattered and seemingly covered in blood.

  "Xue San'er hid in the city, so it took a bit late to catch him back." The old master said.

  Yi Tian Xing thought of Le Le who was still lying in the hospital, staring at Xue San Er who was being dragged downstairs. A hint of eerie killing intent flashed across his face, and his chest suddenly began to beat rapidly. At this moment, he suddenly remembered the words of the "Zuo Chan San Wei Jing" that he had read with his hands clasped together on a previous night. The scriptures echoed in his ears, and he closed his eyes for a long time before speaking slowly: "Trouble the old man to help me with something."

  The old man looked at him.

  "Help me break one of his legs and then drive him out of Gaoyang County." Yi Tianxing said with a smile.

  "You won't take matters into your own hands? The thrill of revenge..." The tail of the shadow behind the old master began to sway gently.

  "It's unnecessary." Yi Tianxing smiled slightly and began to recite scriptures in his mind, practicing a carefree and detached technique.

  The old man smiled and said: "You've stirred up a storm in the whole city, just for one of his legs?"

  "From the start I made it clear, all I want is one of his legs."

  The old master smiled again and gave a hand signal to the underlings downstairs, and Xue San'er was dragged out of the courtyard like a dead dog.

  Yi Tianxing looked at the scene in the courtyard, knowing what Xue San'er was waiting for, and also knew that he owed Old Man Gu a favor, so he couldn't refuse to help him find the "immortal" no matter what.

  "It's not like I'm looking for him, immortals are people from outside the world, how can they be so easy to find? Let me slowly look for him for decades, by then Old Master Gu will have become a real immortal." Yi Tianxing smiled slyly.

  "What are you thinking about?" The old man finished his business and slowly walked back.

  "What was he thinking about?" Yi Tianxing suddenly froze, looking up at the starry sky above his head, thinking about his strange life experience, thinking about his physique like a monster, thinking about what kind of trouble he would encounter in the human world from now on, and suddenly feeling a sense of frustration in his chest, he gritted his teeth and said: "I won't think about anything else, let's talk about it when things happen."

  He suddenly thought of something and asked, "If what you guessed is true, and there really are immortals in the world, then those who cultivate immortality must have a compassionate heart. But when foreign enemies come, and the people are plunged into deep water and fire, why haven't these half-immortals taken action? When the Mongols came, we didn't see them; when the Manchu people came, we didn't see them; when the Japanese came, we didn't see them; when the common people were killed by those in power, we didn't see them; and when the common people were enthusiastically killing each other, we still didn't see them. Tell me, where did all these people go?"

  The old man thought for a moment and sighed: "Perhaps cultivation is about eliminating the seven emotions and six desires?"

  Yitianxing understood, with a hint of disdain, smiled and said: "So the upper three days are really not human." When he said this, he intentionally added emphasis to the word "human", and then sighed: "If there are really gods in heaven, then there is a big pile of idiots."

  ……

  ……

  "Old grandfather, just now in the study, you didn't even give a warning before shooting at me. What if I wasn't as you imagined and was killed by one shot?" Yi Tianxing asked slowly.

  The old man had just turned around to pour tea and did not see a faint smile flash in the boy's eyes.

  "Hmm, this is a good solution. If you get killed by a single bullet, it means you're just a high school student with brute strength, not the kind of person I'm looking for who has spiritual power. In that case, your death can appease the anger of so many brothers on the road in the county, and also give Xue San'er this rascal a chance to repay his debt, what's there to regret? If you die like this, it's just your bad luck." He said this very naturally, without a hint of embarrassment on his face.

  Yi Tian Xing took a deep breath, and only then did he come back to his senses. The person in front of him was the ruthless underworld boss who killed without batting an eye, not the kindly old grandfather he had mistakenly thought he was just now.

  "Old grandpa." He smiled sweetly, "What was it that I said people called three days ago?"

  The old man replied indifferently: "You say they are not human, they are bastards."

  "You guys who are actually mixed up with the underworld are the real idiots."

  "How can you say such a thing...... Ah!"

  The old fox let out a mournful cry as if its tail had been stepped on.

  Yitianxing resentfully moved his own foot away from the old fox's foot.

  The old man clutched his chest and let out a cold gasp, waving his hand to shoo away the bodyguards who had rushed up onto the balcony. He grasped the high school student's shoulder and asked in a low voice: "Good grief, your foot is like a steel pillar! Quick, tell me, which bone did you break of mine?"

  "With the strength of this foot, the first and second metatarsal bones..." Yi Tianxing smiled like a hungry tiger that had just swallowed a fox: "Both have fissures."