Chapter 8 Entanglement

  After a stick of incense, Bai Mu and Lin Fan returned. Gu Yan had already gone back to his position and was drinking water. Ye Wu Shuang was also drinking water. Bai Mu sat down and started drinking water too. Lin Fan sat down feeling uncomfortable all over, looked around, then tore open the roasted chicken and started eating. Ye Wu Shuang said: "Lin Fan, you're so crude, can't you be more refined?"

  Lin Fan replied: "Bai Mu, you're so elegant, show me how it's done."

  He looked at the big chicken leg with a frown, the thick oil wrapped around the tender and fragrant chicken meat. He was the one who had the shortest fasting time, and food still had considerable appeal to him. When he fasted, he could only not eat coarse tea and plain rice. If there was such a roasted chicken, it's estimated that he wouldn't be able to hold on for long. The most important thing is that eating a little would not be a big problem, fasting can make the true energy pure, and eating won't make the true energy turbid. However, taking this step would lead to a second step.

  Bai Mu kicked his foot, turned around and walked out of the inn. He took a deep breath to congratulate himself on holding on, and the image of that big chicken leg appeared in his mind again, which was quite distressing.

  "Sex is also a natural instinct, aren't we saying that we should follow nature?" Lin said while eating.

  Gu Yan replied, "Although clearing one's mind and reducing desires goes against human nature, it is greatly beneficial for advancing in cultivation. The five grains circulate, turbid energy remains within the body, affecting the realm of cultivation. Yun Qing Men may not prohibit worldly marriages or meat-eating, but would you be willing to marry an ordinary woman and affect your cultivation?"

  This is indeed a big difference, the dual cultivation of the body and marrying an ordinary person as a wife have essential differences. The dual cultivation of the body has great benefits for both parties' cultivation, while marrying an ordinary person as a wife not only stops progress but may also regress. As for why, no one has studied this topic, only knowing it's a fact. Lin Fan wondered at the time if it was because ordinary women were too nagging?

  A true tragedy occurred at the Cloud Clear Gate. A disciple of the Purple Bamboo Forest fell in love with a scholar, and they got married. Later, the scholar became a county magistrate. However, as the scholar grew old, the disciple remained youthful, looking like she was still twenty years old. After the magistrate's reassignment, he introduced her to outsiders as his young concubine. With each subsequent reassignment, her status changed, eventually becoming a servant girl. Until the magistrate passed away at the age of sixty-eight, the disciple looked no more than twenty-two or three years old. Due to her lowly status, she couldn't even attend the magistrate's funeral. Having nowhere else to go, she returned to Cloud Clear Gate, but feelings of sorrow, grief, and nostalgia continued to haunt her. In the end, she secretly left the gate and took her own life beside the magistrate's grave.

  Lin Fan thought for a while: "Anyway, I definitely won't give up on my cultivation. In the past three thousand years, only a handful of people have achieved enlightenment, why should I let myself live such an uninteresting life just for something fleeting? Besides, our lifespan is relatively long." The current record holder in the cultivation world is a senior from Zhongzhou Zixiao Temple, who has lived to be 980 years old and is still alive, currently striving to reach the age of 1000. Yunqingshan's highest record is only 560 years old, generally, cultivators with achievements live between 300 to 400 years old, then they can feel their lifespan coming to an end and pass away peacefully. Lin Fan had already made up his mind to live for 400 years, if he couldn't live for 400 years without eating meat, then he wouldn't do it.

  "Each person has their own karma, each person has their own destiny. This is a phrase that our sect leader often says."

  Gu Yan nodded and stopped persuading him.

  ……

  After dinner, the sky had darkened, and the four returned to their rooms. Gu Yan, Ye Wushuang, and Bai Mu were cross-legged in meditation, while Lin Fan meditated for an hour before falling asleep.

  It was already the second watch of the night, and Gu Yan was the first to become alert. He got out of bed, pushed open the window gently, and saw a white-clad man floating in mid-air about a hundred paces outside the inn. The man looked like he was only around twenty years old, holding a fan in his hand, with no other objects on him. Gu Yan's heart was shocked - this man's cultivation was extremely high, and he was probably already a master of the Yuan Ying stage, or at least a late-stage Golden Elixir cultivator. What was his origin? Looking at his appearance, he didn't seem like an evil sect member.

  "Ximen Shuai requests an audience with the palace master." The man finished speaking and quietly waited.

  Ye Wushuang was startled awake and looked out: what a handsome man.

  Bai Mu and Lin Fan were both startled awake, pushing open the window to look outside.

  Ximen Shuai exclaimed: "I didn't expect that this small inn would have hidden dragons and crouching tigers, are these the helpers invited by the Palace Master?"

  A woman in a light dress appeared on the rooftop, sitting cross-legged on the ground with an ancient zither on her knees: "Ximen Shuai, my demonic sect doesn't need any help."

  "Ximen Shuai has met the Palace Master." Ximen Shuai bowed and said: "Palace Master, when we met in Yunhai, I was deeply moved. You were won over by me, and I also fell for you. We agreed that within seven days, if we have fate, you will put down your veil and meet with me once."

  "Hmph." The short, dark-skinned woman stood beside the palace master, scolding: "Obviously it's you who relies on your profound Taoist skills, refusing to let go of the vengeful spirits. You're being stubborn and unreasonable. The palace master was forced to use this delaying tactic in order to escape."

  "Oh, I see." Ximen nodded thoughtfully: "I'm guessing, the Palace Master must have wanted to go back to the Demon Sect for reinforcements, but unfortunately, Lan Hua's body is unwell. You sisters are deeply affectionate, and in desperation, you had no choice but to turn to Yun Qing Men for help, but unexpectedly got lost, surrounded by mountains for six days... Ah, what can be done? In the end, you thought of the 'fish eye mixed with pearl' method, hiding among ordinary people."

  Lin Fan said: This person is extremely shameless, I reckon that short-haired woman named Orchid was intentionally hurt by him, and then he surrounded the two in the mountains, and when the seven-day appointment arrived, he came up with a dead skin.

  The short brown-haired girl spoke out what Lin Fan was thinking: "Obviously intentionally hurt me, the palace master treats me like a family member, can't bear to abandon me..."

  "In the end, I gave it up."

  A short and stout woman suddenly said: "You've seen that it's not good, in the mountains set up an ambush, trapping us."

  Ximen Shuai nodded repeatedly: "Lan Hua Niang's cleverness is indeed my doing, trapping you with my formation so that you can't escape or seek help. Now that the seven days are up, I can finally see your beauty. Isn't this plan wonderful?"

  Ye Wushuang heard this and burst out laughing: "How can you be so shameless?"

  "The young lady is right, what I said is true, I just treat people with sincerity. If treating people with sincerity is also wrong, then I have nothing to say."

  Ye Wushuang was also choked by these words. No, the other party admitted that they did it themselves, but instead scolded him for being shameless... It felt like something was off somewhere.

  Lin Fan smiled and said: "This brother, my master sister just admires that you can say sinister plots and schemes in a bright and upright way, not everyone can do it."

  Ximen Shuai responded: "Thank you for the compliment, little brother. I am a dragon among men, and if the Palace Master and you are willing to take a midnight stroll with me, you will surely see that I possess both virtue and talent, and you will certainly favor me. When the time comes, we can join our bodies in dual cultivation, becoming immortal lovers, truly a legendary tale for the ages."

  "Ximen villain, go die." The short skirted woman couldn't listen anymore, silently recited the mantra, a boulder flew up and struck towards Ximen Commander.

  Ximen raised his hand and the heavy boulder felt as light as a feather, with a single swing of his arm he gently placed it on the ground: "Lan Hua girl, you've used this move too many times. Next is the Thunderbolt Technique..."

  "Thunderbolt!" Orchid was a straightforward person, she said it and did it.

  A thunderbolt struck down, and Ximen Shuai fanned it away with a single stroke of his fan. He shook his head: "The Thunderbolt Technique isn't used like that. Let me demonstrate for Miss Lanhua. Thunderbolt Technique!"

  A hundred flashes of lightning fell like raindrops, striking the ground, and the thunderous sound was endless, with an astonishing momentum. Lin sighed, this cultivation is completely a distinction between heaven and earth. The master of the Demon Sect? The water quality of the Demon Sect is quite sufficient.