Chapter Fifty-Five: Waking Up on a Moonlit Evening

  Watching him make a vow with the wind, there was an inexplicable look on his face, and a hint of relief flashed across.

  A martial artist and a Taoist practitioner are the same, with the mind of Tao being the most fundamental. The mind of Tao is the foundation of one's cultivation; if the mind of Tao is lacking, then one's abilities will greatly decline, or in severe cases, all of one's accomplishments will be rendered useless. Therefore, making an oath with the mind of Tao is the most reliable oath in the world.

  Without seeing the wind rise, he made a solemn vow, reciting the Buddha's name, "Amitabha Buddha, I will definitely keep my promise." When he said this, his voice was sorrowful and desolate, with a hint of sadness.

  Wú cān yòu kàn le suí fēng hé yuè xī yī yǎn, shuāng shǒu hé shí, "wǒ fó cí bēi, shàn zāi shàn zāi." Yán bà, quán shēn de fó guāng téng dì yī xià liàng le qǐ lái, jiē zhe tā nèi yī shēn fó zǔ yì bān de jīn shēn yòu huǎn huǎn sàn luò, huà zuò yī piàn piàn fēi huī piāo sàn le. Fó shēn yī qù, biàn xiǎn chū le wú cān yuán běn ròu shēn de mú yàng lái.

  Looking at the old monk who had transformed back into his original benevolent self, with a face full of compassion and kindness, gazing at him. For some reason, a sigh of sorrow arose in his heart.

  His flesh had long since perished, and even his spirit had died. This was probably the last wisp of consciousness he left in the relic, which should have been able to stay in the relic for a long time, receiving the incense offerings of all ages, but it was stolen by Liang Ze and others. This wisp of consciousness dissipated, and Wu Xin was completely gone from this world.

  With palms together in front of his chest, his hair and eyebrows were all fluttering, gazing calmly at the wind, with no sorrow or joy in his heart. This child had already made a vow that all living beings under heaven would be safe and sound.

  "One flower blooms, one flower falls......" Wu Can's expression was calm and serene, but his body was gradually fading away, "Good...good..."

  His voice grew fainter and fainter, until the whole person dissipated into nothingness. From then on, the legendary monk Wú Cān broke off his last connection with this world of mortals.

  One flower blooms, one flower falls, before the wind has a chance to savor the last Zen words of Master Wúzé, this small world is turned upside down! It turns out that after Master Wúzé's passing, the Buddhist Pure Land built by human law and magic here will also collapse.

  "Month Evening, Month Evening, wake up quickly." The space around was extremely unstable, but Month Evening still hadn't woken up. Sui Feng also became somewhat anxious, and hurriedly called out to her several times.

  The moon is still in a coma at dusk, and the call of the wind has no effect.

  "Rumbling..." It was as if the entire world had reached its end, and the space beneath their feet was no longer stable. With a sudden jolt, both Su Feng and Yue Xi fell in. Darkness, endless darkness, it seemed to have no end, and there would never be light again. Yue Xi's body drifted further and further away, until she could no longer be seen. It was unknown how much time had passed when Su Feng could no longer hold on, and he fainted.

  A chill ran down his back, and his whole body shuddered involuntarily. He let out a dull hum and woke up with the wind.

  The sudden brightness in front of my eyes was a bit dazzling, and when I lowered my head to take a look, I found myself sitting across from Moon Evening. It turned out that Su Feng's consciousness had already returned to his body, and Liang Tou'er and Ling, who were in front of him, both let out a sigh of relief as soon as they saw Su Feng wake up. Ling was even more excited, and before Su Feng could fully come back to himself, he had already grasped his wrist and asked: "How is it? Did you manage to protect Moon Evening?"

  Liang Tou'er seemed to have noticed that Su Feng's complexion wasn't very good and lightly coughed.

  Ling also realized that he had been too hasty and released Su Feng's wrist. He said somewhat awkwardly, "Are you okay? Why hasn't Yuexi woken up yet?"

  She smiled with the wind, and didn't mind Ling's actions either. She slowly told them everything that had happened in Yuexi's sea of consciousness earlier, except for the part where she saw Yuexi's body.

  "If that's the case, shouldn't Yue Xi be fine by now? So why hasn't she woken up yet?" Ling furrowed her brow, her voice still cold and detached, sending a chill down one's spine.

  "Let me take Miss Yue Xi's pulse instead." Liang Tou'er didn't know what was going on, but he had just walked over and placed his fingers on Yue Xi's pale arm. Suddenly, Yue Xi let out a soft gasp and woke up.

  At the sight of this scene, the eyebrows that were just furrowed together suddenly sprang back like they had springs, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards. "Xiao Xi, take a look, do you still feel a chill running through your body?"

  "Ah..." Yue Xi responded softly, and just then, Sui Feng who was sitting across from her looked over, their eyes meeting. Yue Xi's head involuntarily lowered, thinking about how his consciousness had suddenly appeared in her body earlier, and how he had seen through her entire being, her face instantly flushing red. Her words became somewhat stuttered, "No... I'm fine."

  As the wind saw Yue Xi's reaction, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. It turned out that at that time, Yue Xi still had consciousness and was desperately resisting the Buddhist chanting filling the sky, without fainting. At this moment, Feng's consciousness burst in, instantly probing into her innermost depths. That feeling was as if some invisible and intangible part of her body had been brushed by a feather.

  Where is it the same as the wind? I thought it was just helping her resist Buddha's sound, but unexpectedly, consciousness entered into Rong Yue's body and could share all of her feelings.

  For a moment, both Feng He and Yue Xi felt a sense of unease in their hearts. The taste of youth was fleeting like the wind, lingering like the rain.

  Yuè Xī glanced at Líng and Liáng, then secretly peeked at Suí Fēng. The blush on her face deepened a bit more. "That... Yuè Xī's body has already recovered, it's just that she still feels a bit weak... so, I'll go rest in the next room first." As she spoke, Yuè Xī gently got up from the bed and walked towards the door with light steps.

  She couldn't help but steal a glance at Sui Feng when she passed by Liang Ze and Ling.

  This scene fell into the eyes of Ling and Liang Tou'er. Liang Tou'er, unlike Ling, was not so dull and saw some clues. He thought to himself: This little girl is probably in love for the first time, and Xiao Feng's lifesaving favor was not in vain. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but let out a sly laugh, while Ling only thought that Yue Xi was grateful because she had been saved by Su Feng.

  As he gazed at the moon with a hint of shyness in her eyes, he also felt a strange sensation in his heart. Why did his heart beat so fast when she looked at him? Had he ever had this feeling before with anyone else?

  Liang Ze'er suddenly let out a light cough, interrupting the drifting thoughts, "Wu Can Dashi... this name seems familiar to me." From just now until now, Liang Ze'er had been silent, thinking about the name that was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite recall it.

  "Wu Can and Shang are Xuan Deng's masters, the former abbot of Shaolin." Ling Mu saw Yue Xi walk out of the room and replied.

  After being reminded by Ling, Liang Ze suddenly remembered and continued: "I remember! Wu Can is a legendary figure in the Jianghu who cannot be underestimated."

  He came with a casual interest, but actually it wasn't necessarily interest, mainly because he had an agreement with Wu Xuan and also wanted to get to know him better.

  Liang's lively and cheerful personality made him have many friends in the Jianghu, and naturally, he wouldn't lack various news. He added flavor to what he knew about Wu Xuan and Shang's deeds, making it sound even more astonishing. Listening to this, Su Feng couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. Ling thought to himself, feeling somewhat puzzled - how did they end up drawing Wu Xuan when there were so many Buddhist towers at Shaolin Temple?

  It's been a hundred years since Wu Xing and Shang came into prominence, back in the great Sui dynasty era, he was already the abbot of Shaolin Temple. His strength was also one of the top-notch innate masters in the world, he lived all the way to the Zhen Guan era, nearly two hundred years old, his legendary life is countless.

  "What's even more astonishing is that there are two mysterious and inexplicable things about him that have attracted the attention of countless people after his time. The first is that he allegedly broke through the innate boundary of martial artists, touching a realm beyond the innate. The second is the bizarre cause of his death." Liang Zei finished speaking with a flourish, only to pause again with a sly smile, leaving two more cliffhangers hanging in the air.

  "How come you're not saying anything? Isn't the Innate Boundary the pinnacle of martial arts? And what's the cause of his death?" Following Wind also had no way to deal with Liang Ze, and could only ask in pursuit, even though he knew that Liang was intentionally showing off.

  "Hmm", Liang Tou'er smiled mischievously again, "As for whether the Innate Realm is the ultimate goal of martial arts, there have been several major debates throughout history, but no definitive conclusion has been reached. Nevertheless, most warriors still believe that martial arts can transcend the heavens and will not come to an end. Wu Zhan, on the other hand, allegedly broke through to a realm beyond the Innate Realm, possessing unbelievable strength, with rumors saying that even the combined efforts of the top Innate experts in Jianghu at the time couldn't defeat him within three moves. In his later years, he attempted to spread Buddhist teachings and wanted to travel east to Fusang, but encountered a sea disaster halfway through. His whereabouts have always been a mystery, with several different rumors circulating."

  Eastern Crossing... As soon as this word came to mind, the name of Xu Fu, a famous alchemist from the Qin Dynasty who sought immortality in the Eastern Sea, naturally followed. Thinking about it again, it's a bit amusing - they were separated by nearly a thousand years, so how could there be any connection? As he pondered, his agreement with Wu Can surfaced once more - what kind of mystery lay within?

  Turning his head to look, even Ling had a curious expression, but Suifeng also knew that this was not something he could figure out just by thinking about it here, so he let Liang Ze continue speaking.

  "One account says that the ship sank at the time, and only he escaped. However, he took a wrong turn and entered a demonic cave in the sea. Inside the cave, he encountered an extraordinary evil fetus and had a fierce battle with it. In the end, he was severely injured but managed to seal it away. Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe, and after returning to Shaolin, he passed away soon after. Another account is even more bizarre, saying that while they were sailing at sea, they encountered the legendary Immortal Island. Everyone on the ship got lost inside and never returned, but he used all his skills to finally escape, only to pass away soon after."

  Dazed for a moment as if caught something in an instant, but then suddenly felt as if nothing was caught.

  "Why are they all rumors? Didn't he himself say the truth?" Zui Feng couldn't think of it, so he had to ask his own doubts.

  Liango spread his hands, a helpless expression on his face. "Who knows about this? The bunch of bald thieves at Shaolin Temple are very tight-lipped. Even if there was some rumor that got out, think about it, these are things from twenty or thirty years ago, who knows what they've turned into by now? Even if they were true back then, they're not trustworthy now."