“Thank you.”
After He Xiuyuan was led to the guest room and everything was arranged, he immediately thanked Yun Xuzi.
Watching He Xiuyuan settle into his room, Yun Xuzi smiled at him, then turned and left with the Disciple he had just taken in.
He still needed to introduce this Disciple to his other Senior Brothers.
Seeing Yun Xuzi leave, He Xiuyuan meditated in his room for a moment, then went out, wanting to tour Qiyun Temple.
There were quite a few Disciples in Qiyun Temple. After He Xiuyuan left his room, he could see some Qiyun Temple Disciples along the way.
Although these Disciples found He Xiuyuan unfamiliar when they saw him, they all offered a polite smile.
He Xiuyuan spent some time wandering around Qiyun Temple, then arrived in front of the right side hall of Qiyun Temple. This side hall was built at a corner of the mountain peak.
A little further to the right was a cliff, shrouded in mist below, so deep that one couldn't see the bottom.
He Xiuyuan stopped in front of it, then looked at the scattered Disciples within Qiyun Temple, feeling a bit strange.
He had walked all this way and hadn't seen any of the older Daoists in Qiyun Temple, meaning Yun Xuzi's Master and Junior Martial Uncles. This was odd.
Logically speaking, for such an important Heaven Worship Ceremony, their Master and Junior Martial Uncles should definitely be present. However, not only had he not seen the elders of their sect before, but it also seemed that the Heaven Worship Ceremony was being presided over by Songfeng Daoist.
He Xiuyuan thought about it now and felt a hint of something amiss.
Logically, shouldn't the Heaven Worship Ceremony be presided over by their Master or Junior Martial Uncle?
As He Xiuyuan pondered this, he fell into deep thought.
“Fellow Daoist, what do you think of my Qiyun Temple?”
Just as He Xiuyuan was lost in thought, Yun Xuzi approached from not far away, a smile on his face.
At this moment, Yun Xuzi had changed into a clean and tidy Qiyun Temple Daoist robe, looking very neat and clean.
He Xiuyuan saw it was Yun Xuzi and nodded in response, “Hmm, this Qiyun Temple is situated on Lianyun Mountain, surrounded by clouds and mist, making one feel as if it's a place of immortals. It's very good.”
He Xiuyuan did not 吝嗇 his praise.
Yun Xuzi's face lit up upon hearing this, and he nodded repeatedly, “Indeed, when I was young and first came to Qiyun Temple, I felt as if I had arrived in a land of immortals. From then on, I regarded this place as my home.”
He Xiuyuan was slightly startled, his expression surprised.
“Then where are Fellow Daoist’s family members?”
“Family members?”
Yun Xuzi paused upon hearing this, then seemed to fall into a memory. After a long while, he came back to his senses and let out a bitter laugh.
“How could this poor Daoist still have family in this world? When this poor Daoist was young, our hometown suffered a continuous drought for three years. Over those three years, the crops in the fields yielded nothing. My parents, out of desperation, could only sell off their fertile land to survive. However, with no harvest for three years, even after selling all the land, it wasn't enough to get by.”
“Coupled with the continuous drought, there were too many Common People selling their land. The gentry who bought land naturally wouldn't pay much. Eventually, my family could only become displaced people, wandering around begging for food.”
Yun Xuzi said this with a hint of helplessness and regret, “During the escape, I followed my parents all the way to Yong Prefecture and coincidentally met Master, who was treating the sick and saving people. But my parents had been hungry for too long; they ultimately couldn't make it and passed away.”
“I encountered some good fortune and became a Disciple of Qiyun Temple.”
Yun Xuzi recalled everything he had experienced in his youth, his eyes filled with regret and emotion.
However, this trace of regret and emotion soon disappeared, replaced by a hint of anger.
“Later, Master told me that the reason our area suffered a continuous drought for three years was entirely due to evil spirits at play. To increase their Dao cultivation, these evil spirits needed to devour young boys and girls. However, with no illness or disaster, a sudden disappearance of a large number of young boys and girls would inevitably arouse suspicion. Therefore, the evil spirit set up a formation, causing the area to suffer years of drought and the Common People to become displaced.”
“This way, the evil spirit only needed to follow behind the displaced people and secretly abduct young boys and girls when needed, without anyone suspecting.”
“Even if someone woke up and found their child missing, they would only assume they were abducted and eaten by others, not easily suspecting an evil spirit.”
At this point, Yun Xuzi's face trembled, then turned somewhat pale, “I suppose that evil creature must have been watching me many times when I was fleeing with my parents.”
“If it weren't for Master, I would have already died.”
As Yun Xuzi spoke, the expression on his face changed erratically.
He Xiuyuan, listening beside him, couldn't help but frown. He hadn't expected such hidden circumstances here.
“Then, most of the Fellow Daoists in Qiyun Temple share a similar background to Fellow Daoist?”
He Xiuyuan said, glancing at the Fellow Daoists not far away.
He hadn't performed a divination, so he didn't know if it was true.
Yun Xuzi nodded in response, “Many of the Senior Brothers who came to Qiyun Temple are indeed similar to me. But Fellow Daoist, rest assured, although they experienced these things in their youth, it is precisely because of these experiences that my Senior Brothers are more clearly aware of the importance of eliminating demons and defending the Dao.”
He Xiuyuan quickly waved his hand, “I naturally have no such thoughts. The Fellow Daoists I saw earlier are all single-mindedly devoted to the Dao.”
Speaking of this, He Xiuyuan paused slightly, somewhat puzzled, “Speaking of this, I haven't seen Fellow Daoist’s Master in Qiyun Temple. Why is that?”
Yun Xuzi was startled, then a bitter smile appeared on his face. After thinking for a moment, he didn't hide anything, “Fellow Daoist is unaware, but my Master and Junior Martial Uncles went to seek methods to repair the Heavenly Dao some time ago. After vaguely finding some clues, they disappeared without a trace.”
“Before they went missing, they specifically instructed a Senior Brother to return early, to avoid all of them encountering misfortune together.”
“Now, with the Heaven and Earth Ceremony approaching and Master and Junior Martial Uncles not having returned, it's likely they met a tragic end.”
At this point, Yun Xuzi's face flashed with a hint of sadness and a trace of indignation.
For him, if Master hadn't saved him that day, he would have already died. In his heart, he had long regarded the other party as his father. Now that Master had met with misfortune, he was naturally filled with grief and indignation.
“There's more to this?”
He Xiuyuan frowned upon hearing this. He had just been wondering why he hadn't seen their Master; it turned out they had gone to search for clues to repair the Heavenly Dao.
If that was the case, was there something secretly obstructing them?
