Chapter 420: Strange Mist Reappears

Tie Feng stood there pondering for a long time. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he remembered an elegant gentleman with a black jade hairpin in his hair bun.

In that brief moment, when Tie Feng looked again, the old gentleman was gone. With pilgrims constantly coming and going at Daliang Temple, he would not be easy to find again.

"Feng'er, why are you standing there gawking? Come in quickly!"

His mother's voice reached him, and Tie Feng, temporarily unable to concern himself with anything else, replied, "Coming," and entered the Foying Mingwang Hall.

Inside the hall, the solemn and dignified statue of the Mingwang, with its hand forming a mudra, and its gilded body, appeared hazy yet not dazzling under the illumination of the outdoor sunlight and the indoor long-burning lamps. Merely gazing upon it inspired reverence.

Like all pilgrims, Tie Feng, along with his mother and the maid Huanhuan, took incense, bowed in reverence, and then did not forget to drop a considerable amount of money into the donation box.

The inner courtyard of Daliang Temple was open to pilgrims only to a limited extent, and on a day like this, only a very small number of people were permitted to enter.

However, Old Dragon did not appear before the monks at the inner courtyard entrances at all; he simply walked past them unnoticed. Even some monks well-versed in Buddhist teachings were completely unaware of his presence.

Old Dragon's purpose was crystal clear; he passed through courtyards and gates, guided by intuition, until he reached the depths of the back courtyard. From there, he could already glimpse a lush, verdant tree.

"Hey, that must be it!"

Chuckling, Old Dragon quickened his pace towards that courtyard. While still some distance away, he noticed arrangements resembling array formations or restrictions. However, from his perspective, they were quite crude, and it was naturally impossible for them to restrict a true dragon like him.

Old Dragon passed through the restriction as if unconcerned, not even causing a ripple, and stepped into what was known as the forbidden area of Daliang Temple.

Upon entering the courtyard, Old Dragon's gaze sharpened, and he saw three monks beneath the tree. Two appeared old, and one young, though he knew the 'young' one was still quite advanced in years by human reckoning.

These three were indeed Huitong and two other elder monks from the temple. At this moment, they sat cross-legged on their meditation cushions, meditating intently beneath the tree where the eminent master had once discussed the Dao.

The eminent monks of Daliang Temple now understood that cultivating beneath this tree fostered wisdom during meditation. Not only was the spiritual energy abundant, but their comprehension of Buddhist teachings also became more effective. If fortunate enough to possess a root of wisdom, one might even glimpse a subtle anomaly. Thus, monks would practice here almost daily.

However, there were also risks associated with practicing here. It wasn't that anomalies caused inner demons, but rather that some monks would lose track of time once they entered meditation, often requiring outsiders to rouse them. The last time, the abbot of Daliang Temple meditated for over half a month; had Huitong not sensed something amiss and woken him, the abbot might have literally starved to death.

After that incident, the abbot of Daliang Temple, having consumed half a pot of thick porridge with pickles, established a rule: anyone cultivating in the forbidden area must pre-set a time for someone to wake them; otherwise, entry would be denied.

Such cultivation can sometimes be profoundly subjective. This isn't to say it's detached from the material world, but rather that one often instinctively knows how long a particular stage of practice requires. If outsiders were to dictate the timing, it would be difficult to say whether it might interrupt a crucial part of the cultivation, and it could easily breed disharmony. It was best to set one's own time.

At this moment, Old Dragon saw the three monks sitting upright beneath the tree. He chose not to disturb them, instead slowly walking under the tree himself. He carefully observed the large tree, then looked at another spot beneath it, which must have been where Ji Yuan and the old Foying monk had sat, as the essence of the Dao still lingered there, unscattered.

These three monks were indeed extremely respectful, not daring to move their meditation cushions to that particular spot, even while cultivating beneath the tree. In Old Dragon's view, this demonstrated both reverence and wisdom. Anyone with insufficient cultivation who dared to sit there would surely find themselves in great discomfort; it wouldn't be fatal, but it would be utterly unpleasant.

Over a quarter of an hour passed, and the three monks beneath the tree remained motionless in their meditation. Old Dragon, meanwhile, had meticulously observed the area, inside and out, for a long time, his initial interest now shifting to a look of serious contemplation.

The discussion between Ji Yuan and the old Foying monk was far more profound than Old Dragon had imagined. Ji Yuan's remark, "I gained much, and my heart is greatly pleased," seemed to have been no idle boast.

Old Dragon walked back under the tree and looked at a stone tablet behind the three monks, which was clearly a recent addition.

The stone tablet was carved with words painted in gold lacquer. The text read: "Under the Bodhi Tree."

"Under the Bodhi Tree… what a beautiful sentiment. The monks of Daliang Temple are indeed rather interesting!"

Old Dragon naturally recognized that the tree was actually a Banyan-Mulberry, but given that eminent figures like Ji Yuan and the old Foying monk had discussed the Dao there for so long, what harm was there in changing the tree's name?

After deep consideration, Old Dragon opened his mouth.

"Ho-ha..."

With a barely audible exhalation, a dense, peculiar mist spurted from Old Dragon's mouth. This vapor emerged with extreme speed, quickly forming a mist that permeated the surroundings and rapidly spread further afield.

Having made a special trip to Daliang Temple, Old Dragon naturally had no intention of merely glimpsing something superficial; if he was going to examine it, he wanted to see it thoroughly. This, of course, required employing certain methods.

The mist spread wider and wider, its speed accelerating. After drifting over several surrounding small courtyards, it no longer merely expanded outwards but seemed to influence weather conditions over a large area. The entire region outside the western part of Tongqiu Prefecture City slowly became enveloped in a mist that continued to expand.

In just over a dozen breaths, this sudden mist had enveloped the entire Tongqiu Prefecture City, as well as a large area outside its walls.

The mist was neither vast nor overly dense, yet it arrived suddenly and miraculously, making people feel that their surroundings had subtly grown hazy without them noticing.

At this time, during the New Year, conditions within the prefecture city were acceptable, but the local populace around Daliang Temple became noticeably more excited, many claiming it was a mist of heavenly dew.

For the vast majority of common folk and pilgrims, aside from initial surprise and novelty, the mist had little actual impact. However, for those with keen intuition, it was a different matter entirely.

Beneath the tree in Daliang Temple's forbidden area, Old Dragon's gaze swept around, as if he saw Ji Yuan and the old Foying monk once again seated there. One pointed to the sky, and instantly the mist surged into a vast sea, with waves sweeping like a black tide.

"Woooooosh..."

A tremendous shriek "resounded" amidst the ocean waves.

"Boom..."

The great sea exploded, and an immensely colossal fish, carrying billions of gallons of seawater, shot skyward, dancing amidst the waves and commanding the wind and clouds in the air.

"Creaaaak..." "Rumble..."

Amidst flashes of lightning and thunder, the immensely colossal fish bathed in electric light and stormy winds, transforming into an equally gigantic Peng bird.

"When the Peng travels to the Southern Ocean, it strikes the water for three thousand li, and ascends ninety thousand li on a whirlwind..."

Ji Yuan's voice echoed amidst these boundless ocean waves.

"Excellent, the heavens and earth are boundless, the Heavenly Dao is boundless, and so am I..."

An ancient voice resounded, and an immensely colossal golden hand suddenly appeared above the giant Peng soaring skyward, as if a heavenly canopy were descending. It was unclear whether it sought to capture the Peng or merely to touch it.

"Boom..."

Golden fragments filled the sky, transforming into a river of iridescent glass, and the great Peng soared directly upwards...

Old Dragon watched, slightly awestruck, the anomaly that had manifested in the mist and was amplified within his own mind. Ji Yuan and the old Foying monk truly possessed remarkable insight!

Meanwhile, the three monks beneath the tree were frequently frowning, clearly sensing the changes even within their deep meditation, and were becoming restless.

Simultaneously, within Daliang Temple, individuals more perceptive than the average person gradually began to sense something extraordinary.

A small boy, holding his mother's hand and a half-eaten candied hawthorn skewer, was about to take another bite when he noticed the bamboo stick in his hand beginning to turn emerald green. The candied hawthorns on it also began to sprout, quickly growing into small seedlings and even blooming tiny flowers.

"Oh! Mommy, mommy, my candied hawthorns are blooming!"

The child excitedly called out to his mother, but the woman merely glanced at him without a word.

"Mommy!"

The child vigorously shook his mother's hand, only to receive a light tap on the head. He could only clutch his forehead and rub it, and when he looked at the candied hawthorns again, the flowers and leaves were gone.

A young woman came to the temple to pray for the safety of her beloved, and also to inquire if he shared her feelings. After shaking the container of divination sticks, what emerged was a single, vibrant red thread.

This dancing red thread was beautiful and exquisite, swirling around the woman. At times it hovered above her head, at others it circled her like a delicate ribbon. The young woman watched, filled with both curiosity and wonder. In her daze, she reached out and grasped it, even feeling the sensation of the fine thread in her hand, but then the entire vision vanished.

She looked down at the bamboo stick on the ground, which a monk had already picked up for her.

"Excellent, female patron, this is a very auspicious divination stick!"

Meanwhile, Tie Feng, seeing his mother still chatting with an old monk inside, walked out of the Foying Mingwang Hall himself. From the slightly elevated ground, he gazed around; as far as his eyes could see, white mist enveloped everything, rendering houses and buildings hazy.

"How strange, how did a mist suddenly appear at this time?"

Suddenly, Tie Feng's eyes widened. On the western side of his vision, a gigantic hand appeared, accompanied by wide sleeves and a white robe, its fingertips grasping a brilliantly gleaming black jade hairpin.

The gigantic hand, holding the hairpin, casually swiped it, and a towering river appeared in the distance, truly connecting heaven and earth, with rolling waves and vast white mist within it.

Then, suddenly, another equally gigantic golden hand appeared. It scooped water from the towering river and sprinkled it, transforming it into a massive ship with a glittering golden character "Du" (meaning "to ferry" or "to cross") on its sail.

Tie Feng rubbed his eyes, and when he looked again, the distant mist was simply mist. The towering river, the gigantic hands, and the massive ship had all vanished.