When Chen Ergou met Zhang Sanqian at the door, the top of Wushan Mountain in Zhejiang was bathed in the golden glow of sunset, with a million rays of light shining down. A man and a woman walked up the steps together, finally arriving in front of a secluded temple. This unassuming temple was far from having the grandeur of "majestic eaves and deep ridges", as if it would be destroyed by wind and rain at any moment. In front of the temple, there was a small empty space, an old pine tree, a wooden table, and two chairs made of ordinary materials, which no one would bother to move down the mountain even if they were given away. The view was excellent, with a panoramic view of West Lake, because this temple was not famous, and its location was in a remote and deep part of Wushan Mountain, where hardly any tourists came. A majestic man stood under the pine tree, feeling carefree and saying: "With an army of a hundred thousand on West Lake, I stand at the top of Wushan Mountain. The poem by Jin master Wanyan Liang has the style of Li Taibai, and in this generation, only Mao Taizu has such a heroic spirit."
The woman wore thick glasses, covering half of her face, and had a long braid down to her waist. She was dressed in a simple, dark blue outfit made of hemp fabric, without any patterns or embellishments. Her white socks and black cloth shoes were spotless, and she stood quietly behind the man, like a Bodhi lotus flower, seemingly elegant and refined, yet unassuming. The man seemed accustomed to her silence and turned to walk towards the temple gate, which was about to be pushed open. Suddenly, it swung open, and in an instant, the man continued on his way, strolling leisurely through the courtyard. However, the woman with the braid had already rushed ahead of him, and a young man was inexplicably knocked to the ground, flying backward like an arrow shot from a bowstring. The young man who had been beaten up without reason got up, rubbing his buttocks, seemingly unharmed. He carefully observed the woman's appearance and demeanor, which were quite extraordinary, yet her actions were extremely strange and eerie. He clicked his tongue in amazement, leaving the man behind, and the woman with the braid allowed this young temple guardian to observe and scrutinize her without restraint. She simply gazed up at the stone statue of Mahākāla on the right side of the ?ākyamuni Buddha image, a rare and unusual three-statue arrangement. As she admired it, the man beside her also took notice of the statue with a sense of spiritual connection. This man, who wore gold-rimmed glasses, had an exceptionally robust build, but his aura was unusually feminine, surpassing that of Wei Gong from Nanjing by more than one degree. He resembled a solar eclipse. He said slowly, "The main statue of Mahākāla is the wrathful manifestation of Vairocana Buddha when he subdued the evil spirits. Its face appears fierce, with its chest bare and belly protruding, trampling a female demon underfoot, holding two human skulls in its hands, flanked by the attendants Ma?ju?rī and Samantabhadra riding lions and elephants. Indeed, it seems to have a connection with me."
"Fated, ill-fated?"
The young man curled his lip in disdain, but suddenly his face changed dramatically, narrowing his eyes to stare fixedly at the unexpected visitor, and asked cautiously: "Are you Chen Longxiang?"
"Was the previous temple guardian your master or your father?" The man didn't give an answer, apparently not one to take others' affairs seriously.
"At most, he can be considered half a master. He died inexplicably, and it's unknown whether it was due to excessive drinking or ascension to immortality. Anyway, apart from this broken temple, he didn't leave me anything of value." The young man sighed sorrowfully, but not painfully. This person was neither frivolous nor serious, and his body didn't carry any hint of the temple's sacred aura.
"He won't be able to drink the half pot of Longjing tea he owed, and this debt will last for over 40 years, only to end up being a futile effort." The man sighed and turned around to leave.
"My half-baked master, even if he's not dead, or his master is not dead, the tea isn't for you to drink." The young man sat on the threshold of the temple, shouting at the disappearing couple.
The man stopped in his tracks, walked back a few steps and smiled: "What did you say?"
"My master mentioned it when he was on his deathbed. His master, who is also my half-ancestor, owed your Chen family a debt of half a pot of Tiger Run Dragon Well tea. However, at that time, the two old men agreed that if that arrogant and conceited Chen Banshan couldn't drink it, they would leave it for his grandson to drink - Chen Longxiang. Listen carefully, it was for his grandson, not his son." The young man smiled, with an air of being above life and death.
"Huh?" The man slightly furrowed his brow, taking a good look at the young man for the first time.
"Don't look at me like that, it's useless to scare me. Whether you want to kill or skin me is up to you, Chen Long. Even if you're the best in the world, you're still just a person. You can't make me go back and forth in the oil cauldron of the 18 levels of hell for hundreds of rounds. At worst, I'll just die once and be done with it. And after 18 years, I'll be a good man again." The young man shouted.
"I won't starve to death if I don't eat grains for a day, who dares to claim to be the best in the world? I also won't kill you, killing is against the law. Besides, how can Wang Xuance, the number one scholar, die so easily? You wouldn't want to die either, would you? Don't pretend to be stupid with me, your tricks may work on Huang Baobei's daughter from Yunnan, but they won't work everywhere." The man laughed and said. Although he looked down on fortune-telling and geomancy, and despised the shady business of digging up graves, he had a certain admiration for this young man who became one of Hong Kong's top rich men in his 30s. He believed that as long as a cat can catch mice, it's a good cat, regardless of whether it's black or white. It was because of Deng Gong's words that he rose to prominence in the gold rush in Hainan and Shenzhen. His impression of Wang Xuance, who was notorious for his ruthless tactics, was more positive than negative, although not yet admiring. He never got involved with unrelated people or matters, and did things cleanly without leaving any mess behind. If it weren't for the last sentence "giving to a grandson is not the same as giving to a son" that stopped him, he would have already left for Tianjin to discuss a business deal on his private plane from Xiaoshan Airport.
"That little thing back then I've also heard a bit about it, what's going on with your whole family?" Wang Xuance asked curiously.
The man just smiled and didn't mean to answer.
The discontented Wang Xuan Ce glanced at the mysterious woman behind him, whose age was indistinguishable, perhaps 24 or even 34 years old. Her face was as calm and serene as a Bodhisattva's, with no desire, no sorrow, no surprise, and no joy. This reminded Wang Xuan Ce of a painting of the Queen of Loulan that he had obtained from a tomb in Loulan, which also had an otherworldly aura about it. He couldn't help but ask: "Your head is so valuable, yet you only bring one woman with you? Aren't you afraid that someone might take it off your shoulders by accident? I've heard that the Northeast's Tianzi Number One giant, Nalan Jingwei, and the King of Inner Mongolia, Sun Man Gong, have both offered a price for your head."
"If Nalan Wangye and Sun Lao Hu join hands, I will definitely send a few more men." The man smiled and turned to leave.
The woman in the side-slit dress and cloth shoes also turned around.
Wang Xuance's face suddenly changed, just like 9 years ago when he and 5 companions successfully snuck into the Qin Gong Mausoleum in Fengxiang, Shaanxi. According to their profession's old rules, they lit a large red candle at the southeast corner. However, the candle suddenly went out, and only Wang Xuance gritted his teeth and retreated from the tomb. The other 4 people refused to give up on the gold, silver, and jewels in the tomb. As a result, when Wang Xuance returned to the surface, the tomb collapsed without warning, burying the 4 people alive. At that moment, Wang Xuance was covered in cold sweat, just like now.
Wang Xuance was not discovering that the woman beside the man was a demon, he just happened to discover a small detail: when walking, the woman always tiptoed, no matter how Chen Longxiang's pace was in Wang Xuance's mind, she could always maintain an identical distance without any difference.
Wait patiently until she walks far away.
Wang Xuance tried to go down the mountain, tiptoeing on his heels, but by the 9th minute, he was in excruciating pain. If it were going up the mountain, he probably wouldn't have lasted even 5 minutes. Exhausted, Wang Xuance sat on the stone steps, lost in thought. Except for a few exceptions like Nalan Wangye and Sun Laohu, who were notorious for their own combat abilities, big shots usually had one or two trusted and skilled fighters by their side. This was the rule. For example, Old Buddha's confidant was Yao Weiba, a cripple with exceptional fighting skills, while Shanghai's Zhu Yeqing had Guangtou Damingchong, a master of disguise. Similarly, Yun Nan's local tyrant, Hong Canghai, had a European top-notch gunsmith hiding in his ranks. Wang Xuance had encountered many of these legendary figures, and most were famous in their own right, but the woman behind Chen Da Bosatsu seemed to have never made an appearance, nor was there any legend or rumor about her on the Taoist path.
Yao person
No matter how hard he tried, Wang Xuance could only describe the mysterious woman with unknown name and origin as such.
As night fell, Wang Xuance lay on the stone steps, muttering to himself: "Rumor has it that this great Bodhisattva also had a biological son who never showed his face, I wonder if he's fierce or not."
A majestic man walked down Wushan, got into a Maybach 62 parked at the foot of the mountain with a woman, and drove straight to Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport. The driver was a refined middle-aged man who respectfully said: "Chairman, there is news that Young Master Li has arrived in Nanjing."
The man nodded.
The woman hesitated for a moment and calmly said: "Do you want me to go to Nanjing?"
The man shook his head and said, "This time he's gone mad, I went to no avail. The key is still up to him. For a woman, he's lost his soul, even if he's brave and resourceful, it's the fate of Chu Bawang. Tell the people in Nanjing that he wants to make trouble, but let him clean up the mess himself. If he dares to take back Cao's wife, I'll still have some admiration for him, after all, that's what his father would do."
The woman sighed and said: "Chao Fu has long regarded you as his father."
The man sneered and said, "That's his business. Moreover, how much of it is true intention and how much is ulterior motive, only he himself is clear."
The driver was as silent as a cicada in winter, forcing himself not to pay attention to the conversation between the couple. As a core member of the Li family, he knew better than anyone else about the ruthless and unmatched cruelty of this outsider patriarch.
The woman pushed her glasses up and said softly: "Wealth and nobility are like one half of you, while fleeting life is like the other half."
A majestic man with an expressionless face said, "Chen Fugui is like my own kind. As for that other sickly guy, I'd rather he be a useless good-for-nothing, content to live as a commoner."
The woman suddenly smiled slightly and said, "Longxiang, if I'm not mistaken, Old Man Chen once told Mr. Li that 'two Chen Longxiangs are not as good as one Chen Fusheng'."
Chen Longxiang burst out laughing, his heroic spirit soaring as he gazed out the window and sneered: "Two Chen Longxiangs could swallow Nalan Jingyu and Sun Man Gong in one breath. Isn't that equivalent to saying that a useless good-for-nothing like him can become China's number one?"
