Chapter 22: Severing All Mundane Emotions

  Qu Qingmo worried about her brother, and secretly went down the mountain. Unexpectedly, her master followed closely behind, and happened to block her at the gate of the residence.

  Qu Qing Shi was both anxious and delighted, hastily instructing Liu Yi to close all the restrictive mechanisms in the dense forest. With reverence, he bowed towards the outside of the forest and said loudly: "Mortal late-born, paying respects to the Eastern Sea Qian Shan immortals."

  Five people walked slowly into the forest, led by a middle-aged Taoist priest with a straight figure, a prominent forehead, thick eyebrows and phoenix eyes, with three long whiskers under his chin, and a precious sword slung over his back. His blue-green Taoist robe was quite old, but it was spotless after washing, and every move he made showed a noble demeanor.

  The middle-aged Taoist had three men and one woman behind him, all in their twenties, looking dignified and spirited.

  Qu Qing ran back in front of the middle-aged Taoist priest with a pouting mouth and said pitifully, "Master, I know I was wrong."

  Nanyang Zhenren burst out laughing, without any airs of a superior, and first bowed to Qu Qing, saying "I dare not" repeatedly. Then he stretched out his hand and affectionately patted Qu Qing's head, scolding: "You naughty child!"

  Qu Qing Mo exaggeratedly covered his forehead, frowned and bore it for a moment, finally bursting into laughter, and coquettishly said to his master: "Disciple knows he's wrong, Master please forgive me this time."

  Nanyang Zhenren shook his head: "You listen well to the truth here."

  As he spoke, the Nanyang True Person paused slightly before continuing: "Firstly, the matter of Suffering Mountain is strange and suspicious, it's possible that evil demons or external devils are involved. Your cultivation is still shallow, if you rush in recklessly, not only will you be unable to save anyone, but you'll also find it hard to protect yourself."

  Qu Qingmo suppressed his smile and replied seriously.

  "Secondly, Donghai Gan and Zhuli Dao are both orthodox sects of the world, so we should be watching each other's backs. However, up until now, the esteemed members of Zhuli Dao have not asked for our assistance in investigating this case. Now that someone from Donghai Gan has appeared at Suan Ni Shan, it is quite inappropriate."

  "Thirdly," Nanyang Zhenren sighed inexplicably: "Cultivating the heavens and understanding the Tao, what is most taboo is being entangled by worldly emotions. I didn't let you descend the mountain just to clear your mind. As for that spiritual lamp, since it's yours, do with it as you please, destroying it doesn't matter."

  Liáng Xīn raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

  Liu's face also showed disdain, but he too bowed his head and lowered it, so that no one except his own brothers could see his expression.

  Qu Qing Shi then bowed and said: "This matter is the fault of this junior..."

  The words had barely left his lips when Nanyang Zhenren cut him off: "This has nothing to do with you; Qingmo's understanding of the Tao must come from his own enlightenment. If we really need to assign blame, it is I, as his master, who am at fault."

  Qu Qingmo immediately knelt down: "It's the disciple's fault, Master shouldn't blame himself."

  Nanyang Zhenren shook his head and said, "So, you secretly rushed to Kunai Mountain, and you will have to accept some punishment."

  After finishing, Lao Dao stared at Qu Qing Mo, until she nodded with extreme grievance. Only then did he chuckle and say: "Don't pretend to be pitiful, you clearly know that your master won't heavily punish you."

  Qing Qing pursed her lips: "A light punishment is not as good as no punishment at all..." Anyone could see that she and the True Person of Nanyang had an extremely good master-disciple relationship, and it wouldn't be excessive to say that she was spoiled.

  The old man coughed and said lightly, "Qū Qīng Mò privately went down the mountain, violating the sect's rules. As a punishment, after returning to the mountain, you will face the wall on Méi Rì Yán for one year to reflect on your actions. Can you accept this?"

  Qu Qing Mo knelt on the ground and replied softly: "I admit defeat."

  "Two penalties, after returning to the mountain, go to Brother Zhi Lu's place to receive three lashes for being lost! Can you accept it?"

  Qu Qingmo's body trembled, and his eyes turned red. The three lashes of the "Mistaken Path" were a punishment from Donghai Qian to discipline his disciples. Not to mention how painful these three lashes were, Xiaoyu had been highly talented since childhood and was favored in the sect, also being the darling of her fellow disciples. Under her proud and arrogant heart, enduring these three lashes was an unspoken humiliation.

  As expected, a young woman behind the true person of Nanyang softly pleaded on behalf of Qu Qingmo: "Master, little sister has already known her mistake, can't we just exempt her from these three strokes of the bewildering whip?"

  The other three disciples also nodded one after another and jointly persuaded Nanyang to withdraw his punishment.

  Nanyang remained unmoved, his expression stern as he shook his head: "Silence! I'm going to crush her arrogant spirit! She's only been a disciple for a few years and dares to sneak down the mountain on her own, this child has been spoiled by all of you!"

  The four disciples pouted together, thinking in their hearts that you were the one who spoiled her the most.

  After announcing the punishment, Nanyang restored his kindness and reached out to help Qu Qingmo up. Looking at her who was still ignoring him, he couldn't help but laugh: "Those three lashes are a must, but I'll tell Zhi Lu not to make it hurt."

  Qing Mo knew that Master would never take back his punishment, and with a sniffle, she nodded: "Then it really doesn't hurt."

  Nanyang burst out laughing and scolded: "How did you end up taking in such a troublesome disciple..."

  Four senior brothers and sisters walked over, holding Qingmo's hand and comforting her in a low voice. Before long, the little girl burst into tears and laughed. Nan Yang Zhen Ren spoke again: "Qingmo, Master's punishment is just a minor warning, what worries me most is your Dao heart."

  He didn't wait for Qu Qingmo to speak again, and said directly: "Your talent is the best among the disciples of this generation, but if you can't cut off worldly emotions, it's hard to become a great instrument."

  Qu Qingmo hurried to the side of his master, originally still smiling and wanting to admit his mistake, but after seeing the stern face of Nanyang Zhenren, he was suddenly stunned.

  "Nanyang Zhenren's voice suddenly spread out, and the previous gentle and kind tone transformed into a stern and harsh one: 'If you want to attain enlightenment, you must cut off worldly thoughts; if you want to attain enlightenment, you must eradicate worldly emotions. Qingmo, do you understand?'"

  As they spoke, the True Man of Nanyang slowly rose into the air, and with a sharp, dragon-like cry, the flying sword behind him burst out of its scabbard, humming and trembling as it hovered beside its master.

  Qing Mo suddenly thought of something, her small face turned pale, her eyes filled with fear, and she knelt down on the ground again. She cried out in a panic: "Disciple knows wrong, Master, disciple really knows wrong..." While shouting in horror, she burst into loud wails!

  Liang Xin and others were all stunned on the spot, completely unaware of what had happened.

  Nanyang Zhenren remained unmoved, the true yuan circulating within him condensed into an astonishing aura, his gaze firmly fixed on Qu Qingshi.

  Qu Qingmo's face turned green with rage, she was about to vomit blood, and jumped up wanting to pounce on her brother. However, her senior sister stretched out both hands and tightly hugged her. Qu Qingmo struggled with all her might but couldn't break free, and shouted at her brother in a hoarse voice: "Run! Quickly run away! Master wants to kill you!"

  Xiu Tian Wu Dao, master-disciple inheritance, in the cultivation of Zhen Dao, there is an unwritten convention. Whenever a good seedling cannot cut off worldly emotions and delays its cultivation, the master will lend a hand to help the disciple eliminate worldly thoughts!

  In the vast world, there are many cultivators as numerous as cow hairs. Regardless of their cultivation level, once they embark on the immortal path, they no longer consider mortals to be of the same kind. This has nothing to do with temperament, nature, kindness or malice. Cultivating immortality requires forgetting emotions; in the eyes of a cultivator, there is only the Heavenly Way, not the mortal world.

  Even someone like Nan Yang Zhen Ren, a high-ranking Taoist, can be polite and courteous to ordinary people, but he won't take them seriously.

  He wants to kill Qu Qing Shi, it's just a matter of lifting his hand, creating this commotion is to warn his beloved disciple, great sorrow has reached its peak, and it's all empty in the mortal world!

  Nanyang ignored his disciple's plea, and suddenly shouted: "Qu Qingshi, you are already an old man with one foot in the grave, your days are numbered. But Qingmeng is a rare talent, the Golden Light Great Dao is right under her feet. Do you really want to mislead her into becoming an immortal?"

  Qu Qing Shi now understood that Nanyang wanted to kill him, so he slowly stood up straight, looked up at the opponent and said loudly: "Qu Qing Shi only has a few years of life left, death is not worth worrying about, but there are some things I must understand."

  Liu Yi angrily said from the side, "What's there to ask, this wicked Taoist priest has no good intentions!" As he spoke, he took down the widow who had been hanging on his back and shot three arrows into the air.

  Nanyang's single hand lightly waved, as if pinching a dragonfly, grasping three strong crossbows. His gaze remained fixed on Qu Qingshi, nodding and smiling: "What you want to ask is nothing more than how I would kill you, and afterwards, how you would face Qingmo and seek revenge against me."

  Qu Qing nodded silently, without saying a word.

  Nanyang burst out laughing, but there was no joy in his laughter, only a stern and majestic tone: "I'll help Qingmo cut off worldly emotions. At this moment, she will naturally resent me for a while, but when she understands the Tao, she will find that today's worldly feelings are nothing more than ants crawling together or insects struggling against each other, not worth mentioning. By then, she will thank me for what I did today."

  Nanyang shook his head again and continued, "You are a mortal, so you won't understand! Heaven is high above, after comprehending the Way of Heaven, even the humblest person will be elevated. With different statuses, one's perspective will also be different! Who would still bother with these mundane relationships? The mortal's narrow field of vision cannot measure the vastness of the Way of Heaven!"

  Finally, Nanyang's voice softened again, with a hint of encouragement: "Your death will greatly benefit Qingmo's cultivation. As her master, I only hope she can enlighten herself soon. How could I harm or scare her? And why would I bother to run thousands of miles just to kill someone as insignificant as you?"

  The master had to kill her relatives in front of the apprentice for the sake of the apprentice's practice, this thing that cannot be explained no matter what in the eyes of ordinary people, seems normal for cultivators.

  At this time, the little girl Qingmo who had been crying and making a fuss beside him suddenly shouted in a crisp voice: "Lü Ling, Yun Juan Yun Shu, Kun!" The white clouds floating in the sky immediately came to life with her spell, and in the blink of an eye transformed into a white longbow, rolling towards Nan Yang Zhen Ren!

  (Accompanied by white clouds, a sudden burst of thunder boomed in the vastness, and a golden recommendation ticket descended from the sky, hitting Nan Yang Zhen Ren's face squarely... Okay, I admit it, I'm bored, I want votes, let's rush to the top~~)