Chapter Eleven: Elusive as Smoke

  Cheng Jun suddenly woke up, his eyes scanned over, the little monk was stunned, originally wanted to hit the bell, the action also stopped, two people's eyes met, their eyes collided in mid-air.

  The atmosphere in the air condensed for a moment, and then that little monk smiled and said, "Awake?"

  Cheng Jun nodded and said, "Child, come here."

  The atmosphere was once again awkward.

  The little monk's eyes widened suddenly and he burst out laughing.

  Cheng Jun's old face turned red, he had been in the grand dao illusion for a long time, and it seemed as if he had returned to his previous life. For a moment, he spoke with the tone of his past life. It wasn't until now that he reacted, realizing he had returned to his youth, and was about the same age as the little monk in front of him, making his earlier address seem strange.

  The little monk saw that he was still awkward and said again, "Amitabha, you finally woke up. You didn't wake up for a whole day and night, I was really afraid something would happen to you."

  Cheng Junqi said: "I can come out... what's wrong?"

  His gaze shifted to the large bell hanging above, and his heart stirred. He slowly got up from the floor in the center of the hall, only to find that he was no longer wearing the single garment with ghostly symbols, but a thick fur coat.

  Getting up, I only felt that the small hall was really short and shabby, with a length and width of no more than ten steps. The walls on all sides had cracked innumerable times, and the cold wind whistled through the cracks, making the temperature inside the house even lower than outside. The windowsills were frozen into strips of icicles.

  In the center of the hall, there was a large bell that was as tall as a person, hanging from the beam, only a few feet away from the ground. With such a big thing in it, the small hall seemed to be packed to the brim. Cheng Jun even felt that it was really hard for him to lie down just now.

  This place... is probably an abandoned temple or something.

  The thought flashed through his mind, and Cheng Jun's attention quickly shifted to the large bell. He walked over and ran his hand over the bell, which at first glance seemed unremarkable. However, along the rim of the bell was a string of inscriptions that circled around the body of the bell. Because they were inlaid, if not examined closely under sunlight, they would be difficult to detect. But with fingers tracing them carefully, one could feel the heavy tactile sensation and the deeper Zen meaning hidden within.

  It's indeed a mouthful of Cantonese.

  Although it's just a three-word inscription, it's equivalent to a Taoist family heirloom, but the Buddhist transmission is vast and majestic, with a deterrent effect on evil spirits. The Buddha's bell has the effect of a loud wake-up call. With this one artifact alone, it's enough to forcibly awaken Cheng Jun, who had closed off his five senses.

  Cheng Jun turned his head and asked, "Are you thinking of using this thing to wake me up?" If the bell had rung a little earlier, he would still be on the road, and could not help but be forcibly awakened. His cultivation would naturally come to an abrupt end, and that opportunity for enlightenment might not have been able to begin. Although it didn't say that things were messed up, in the end, a great chance was lost.

  The little monk saw his complexion was light, no joy or anger, but throughout his body there was a kind of unspeakable and inexplicable majesty. In his heart he only felt a sense of oppression, and with a deep "en" sound, he saw Cheng Jun slightly smile, his expression suddenly relaxed, saying: "You have a good heart, thank you." He lightly clasped his hands together.

  With a smile, Little Monk let out a breath of relief and relaxed, and actually gently patted him once, saying: "You scared me."

  Cheng Jun smiled, if it were him in the past, he would have already been suspicious of the little monk's intentions and wondered if he was trying to harm him. He used to think that people tend to think negatively, but now he has become more open-minded. Even if the little monk had hindered his cultivation, he wouldn't be angry; it wasn't about being free from emotions or having a great enlightenment, but rather just being able to see things clearly and not taking ordinary matters to heart.

  Cheng Jun smiled and said: "I am Cheng Jun, I don't know what is your Dharma name, little monk? Where is this place?"

  Little monk shook his head and said, "I dare not. This is the Ma Wei Peak of Wan Ma Mountain, I am a small Shaolin monk in this temple, because I have not been formally tonsured, nor do I have a Buddhist name. My secular surname is Cui, this name... hehe..." A hint of embarrassment flashed across his face, hesitating to say more, it seemed that his secular name was not elegant enough.

  Cheng Jun stopped asking and said, "So it was Master Cui."

  The little monk said in a low voice: "Sounds like a cook."

  Cheng Jun thought to himself: So I've arrived at Wan Ma Mountain, this is strange. Could it be that I took a wrong turn? That's right, I remember that in Wan Ma Mountain there is a stream that flows into the Lushui River. If it really is here, then most likely when I was going upstream I took a wrong turn and entered a tributary from the main stream, which is why I ended up stranded in the mountains.

  This first step has gone wrong, and Cheng Jun is also a bit worried. From here to the lower reaches of the river, returning to the upper reaches of the Ji Mountain, not to mention the long distance, this weather, the Wanma Mountain is closed, neither water nor land routes are accessible, and he doesn't have a ride or a flying sword, even the sky can't be reached, these few months may be trapped in the Wanma Mountain.

  He had planned to come to Wàn Mǎ Shān anyway, since there was a temple here with great benefits. There was one thing he had to get, so he would have to make a trip here sooner or later. However, his current cultivation was too shallow, and although he had obtained a stroke of luck and had the help of Lóng Jīng, he had barely entered the third level of the entry path and hadn't yet reached the middle stage of the Dao, also known as the Rotating Light Realm. With such little Dao power, even with his hundred tricks, he couldn't defeat the many people in Wàn Mǎ Temple.

  Forget it, he can't get out anyway. It's better to go to the Temple of Ten Thousand Horses first and gather some information before taking action. After all, the Temple of Ten Thousand Horses he knows is the one from hundreds of years later, and he still doesn't know what kind of situation it will be like now.

  Thinking of this, Cheng Jun asked: "I heard that in the Wàn Mǎ Shān, there is a temple called Wàn Mǎ Sì. Does Master Cui know where it is?"

  "Hey, you know Wan Ma Temple? This is really strange. Come on, come with me." He pulled him out while walking.

  Cheng Jun didn't understand, as he pushed open the door, a gust of cold wind hit him in the face like a small knife. When he came out of the small temple, all he saw was a vast expanse of whiteness outside, and after walking a few dozen feet forward, there was a precipice, with a large area of snow-covered forest stretching out below the cliff, visible at a glance. It turned out that this small temple was built on top of a steep mountain peak, no wonder the mountain wind was so fierce.

  "Look—" said Little Monk

  Cheng Jun gazed out at the mountain cliffs, and all he saw was a vast expanse of white snow. In the distance, mountains piled upon mountains, with layer upon layer of snowy peaks stretching as far as the eye could see. Apart from this, nothing else was visible, when suddenly he heard Little Monk say: "This way, this way."

  Jing Yun turned his head and saw that behind him, on the dilapidated and crooked small temple, a golden plaque was hung with three large characters written in bold font: "Wan Ma Temple".

  Even if Cheng Jun had been a good person for two lifetimes, his nine-hundred-year Taoist practice almost failed. He pointed at the small temple behind him and said: "This... is that damn Wan Ma Temple?"

  The little monk glared and said, "Donor, don't speak ill words. This is indeed the Wan Ma Temple, but it's not just anyone's Wan Ma Temple."

  Cheng Jun was speechless for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry." He asked, "Is this really the thousand-year-old Wan Ma Temple? Why haven't I seen the temple's abbot?"

  The little monk coughed and said, "None of the elderly are here, upstairs and downstairs in the temple, inside and out, only I am left."

  Cheng Jun was speechless, and then frowned again: "This is not right, I just saw the statue on the inner shrine, it's clearly a mountain god, why does the temple not worship Buddha but worship the mountain god?"

  The little monk looked embarrassed and said, "This... it's a long story... If you really want to know, let's just say it's not something to be proud of, so let's not talk about it in public."

  Cheng Jun smiled and said, "This is a deep mountain forest, where can you find a big crowd?" Just as he was about to follow him back, he heard someone shouting loudly in the wind: "Little monk, little monk, come down!"

  Two people looked in the direction of the sound at the same time, and saw a tiger-headed boy waving his hand at the foot of the mountain. Little monk turned to face Cheng Jun and said: "That's Xiaoshi, he was the one who found you by the stream." He then turned back and smiled down: "What are you doing down there, why don't you come up?"

  The little stone nodded and asked, "Is that person awake yet?"

  Little monk said: "Wake up. Just now was jumping around." Cheng Jun heard him say this, and smiled lightly.

  "Alright then, come down." said Xiaoshi with a wave of his hand.

  The little monk secretly found it strange that the small stone was his only friend, and he had come here many times before. He always took the initiative to go up, but this time he let himself down. However, despite feeling strange, he still said: "Then wait." Turning his head, he asked: "Can't you get down?"

  "Of course."

  "Let's go," said the little monk, nodding. He led Cheng Jun down a small path behind the mountain. The path was very steep, but for Cheng Jun it wasn't a problem, and soon they reached the foot of the mountain.

  They arrived at the foot of the mountain and came to a small stone, where Xiao He Shang smiled at Cheng Jun: "Look, this is the little stone, he lives in the back of Ma Wei Ba Village, the most kind-hearted person. The fur on your body was given by him. Look, he's even sending something over."

  Only a small stone was seen at the foot of the bed, with a carrying pole placed beside it. The inside was piled high with white flour, firewood, animal hides and even two dried meats. Little monk exclaimed: "How did you bring so many things? This is not going to turn your family's home upside down..." Just as he said this, he suddenly reacted, lifted his head and saw that the small stone's face was somewhat pale, and shouted strangely: "You stinky little boy, you dare to bully me." As he spoke, he pulled up his legs and wanted to run.

  Xiao Shi Tou's eyes were quick and his hands were fast, he grabbed onto his collar and laughed: "Don't go, there's something great happening here - my sister has arrived."