Chapter 383

The grand empress's palanquin procession entered the city through Anding Gate. The empress looked furious and intent on demanding answers, her carriage not even pausing.

The Imperial Guards followed behind. Along the way, Qi Zhenzhuo cautiously observed Chen Ji, unsure of what he had done to offend his master. He carefully rode forward and said, "Master, I heard that Minister Chen Lizun plans to add you to his family's genealogy after the imperial examination and then come to my Qi family to propose marriage... We'll be family soon, let's have a drink!"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Qi Zhenzhuo felt even more guilty: "Although my sister is a bit unruly, she's good at heart."

Chen Ji still said nothing!

Li Xuan gave Qi Zhenzhuo a disapproving look, signaling him to stop talking.

Ever since the Imperial Guards of the Left Swift Cavalry got drunk together last time, Chen Ji had become somewhat distant from them. Whenever there was anything to do, Chen Ji would only instruct soldiers from humble backgrounds like Lin Yanchu, no longer consulting with the others.

Even after everyone had pulled themselves together, Li Xuan could still sense Chen Ji's subtle detachment.

He looked at Chen Ji: "You whipped the Imperial Palace Supervisor today. He might lodge a complaint with His Majesty... How do you plan to handle this?"

Chen Ji said distractedly, "Let him complain!"

At this moment, the procession reached the intersection of Shuntianfu Street and Andingmen Street. As Chen Ji was about to turn his horse right with the entourage, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.

To the south of Andingmen Street, a young Daoist priest sat on the back of a green ox, holding a booklet in one hand and a writing brush in the other, diligently writing with his head bowed.

The midday street noise, the passersby, and their gazes all seemed to escape his notice.

This young Daoist priest didn't seem to be in a bustling marketplace; he appeared to be in a study, at a desk.

The writing brush in his hand seemed to have an endless supply of ink; he wrote hundreds of characters in one go without needing to dip it.

The young Daoist priest's hair was casually tied with a wooden hairpin, his forehead and the back of his neck appearing somewhat unkempt.

The green ox beneath him ambled slowly down the middle of the road, not yielding even when carriages and horses approached, forcing them to move aside.

He seemed aloof and independent, apart from the world.

Upon seeing this person, Chen Ji brightened up. He said to Li Xuan, "You all go with the procession. I have something to attend to!"

Li Xuan exclaimed, "Wait, we need to escort the empress's palanquin back to the palace first..."

Before he could finish, Chen Ji had already urged his horse out of the procession and galloped after the Daoist priest and the green ox.

Li Xuan's brows furrowed. He felt as if he had already missed something important.

On the long street, the young Daoist priest continued writing furiously, murmuring to himself: "Three beats of the drum, the Buddhist disciple's prayer beads suddenly snapped in his hand..."

"...Li Changge sighed, 'What convenient Zen Buddhism! No wonder corrupt officials flock to Buddha with thick incense smoke, it's merely borrowing your kasaya to wrap up skeletons...'"

"No, no, this line is too jarring. Those bald monks will come after me..." The young Daoist priest used his brush to cross out the sentence, and the original ink marks on the booklet vanished without a trace, leaving the page clean.

As he was about to rewrite, he heard someone call out from behind him: "Daoist Priest Zhang Li."

Zhang Li abruptly turned his head and saw Chen Ji riding through the crowd. He immediately patted the green ox's neck, urging, "Go, go quickly! Don't make me beg you."

But the green ox was stubborn; urging it was useless. It continued to walk at its slow pace.

Hearing the horse's hooves directly behind him, Zhang Li quickly put on a smiling face and turned to greet him: "Ah, Fellow Daoist Chen Ji, are you well?"

Chen Ji, sitting on his warhorse, lifted his chin: "Running, why aren't you running?"

Zhang Li laughed heartily: "Why run? Fellow Daoist Chen Ji and I are old friends at first sight. Since we've met, we should share some good wine. Why would I run?"

Chen Ji said with a smile, "Before you wrote 'The Four Dreams of Bianliang,' did you ever consult me?"

Zhang Li pondered silently. He had written 'The Four Dreams of Bianliang' while hiding in the City God Temple. When the manuscript was given to the Imperial Music Bureau, he had sent his junior apprentice brother to deliver it, and his junior apprentice brother had returned to Mount Huang Daoist Temple immediately afterward. Chen Ji shouldn't be able to catch him!

The official from the Imperial Music Bureau had also gone to Jinling to supervise rehearsals at the Southern Imperial Entertainment Bureau, so he wouldn't be caught by Chen Ji either!

"Hmm, no evidence!"

He looked up, feigning ignorance: "Ah, 'The Four Dreams of Bianliang'? What 'Four Dreams of Bianliang'?"

Seeing that he refused to admit it, Chen Ji was not in a hurry: "Daoist Priest Zhang Li, I have a question. The Daoist scriptures state, 'Act without acting, and nothing will be left undone!' Is this 'acting without acting' still an act or truly non-action? If a cultivator deliberately pursues 'non-action,' wouldn't they fall into the delusion of 'seeking nothingness'? I'm completely baffled by this and plan to visit Yuanjue Temple to discuss it with the Buddhist disciples!"

Zhang Li's expression changed drastically: "Let's talk this over, my virtuous brother Chen Ji, let's talk this over!"

Chen Ji lounged on his horse, slowly asking, "Who wrote 'The Four Dreams of Bianliang'?"

Zhang Li hurriedly said, "I wrote it."

Chen Ji asked again, "Who wrote the story of Lufeng Manor, which storytellers spread throughout the land?"

Zhang Li replied again, "I wrote it."

Chen Ji said with a beaming smile, "Wouldn't it have been better to admit it earlier? Your Daoist sect used me to suppress the reputation of Buddhism, making the Buddhists view me as an enemy. How do you plan to account for this?"

Zhang Li sighed, "What do you want, Fellow Daoist Chen Ji?"

Chen Ji seemed to have already decided: "The leaves you gave me previously to help me evade pursuit—three of them—and one Life-Feather Pill!"

Zhang Li's eyes widened: "Fellow Daoist, the Life-Feather Pill is a treasure of my Daoist sect, a true guardian of our mountain! How can I give it to you? No one with any shred of decency in this world would ask me for a Life-Feather Pill!"

Chen Ji was easily persuaded: "Then five leaves!"

Zhang Li shook his head vigorously like a rattle-drum: "No, no! I still have great use for the Blinding Leaves! These things are even harder to refine than pills. My junior apprentice brother only refines one a year, and I had to fight several people just to get two!"

Chen Ji calmly said, "What's written in the booklet in your hand, Daoist Priest Zhang Li? May I take a look?"

Zhang Li abruptly closed the booklet and let out an awkward laugh: "Haha, the booklet just contains some trivial matters from my Mount Huang Daoist Temple, nothing worth mentioning to outsiders!"

Chen Ji said casually, "Daoist Priest Zhang Li, you haven't perhaps written our second debate with the Buddhist disciples into a new storybook, have you?"

Zhang Li's expression froze: "How could that be?"

Chen Ji said, "Oh, good. Otherwise, once that storybook comes out, I'll join the Buddhist order as a lay practitioner who doesn't shave his head!"

Zhang Li was speechless!

Gritting his teeth, he pulled a wooden box from his sleeve.

He opened the box to reveal six elm leaves lying inside. Their surfaces were crystal-clear like jade, shimmering in the sunlight.

He reached out to pick up a leaf, but Chen Ji, with a quick bend, snatched the box away: "Thank you, Daoist Priest!"

Zhang Li exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, my leaves!"

Chen Ji closed the box, tucked it into his robe, and retorted, "Leaves? What leaves?"

Zhang Li rolled up the booklet in his hand and tucked it into his robe, then casually stuck his writing brush directly into his messy hair. He composed himself and said, "Fellow Daoist Chen Ji, you've probably been coveting these leaves for a long time. They're very useful, but you've forgotten that when using them, you need to dip a mouse-hair brush in my blood to write my Daoist incantations, or else they won't be effective! If you want me to write these incantations, you'll have to help me with two things!"

Chen Ji smiled, "What kind of help, Daoist Priest Zhang Li? Tell me."

One on an ox, one on a horse; one in a Daoist robe, one in armor – they drew curious glances from passersby.

Neither of them paid any attention to the stares of others.

Zhang Li crossed his legs and sat sideways on the green ox's back, facing Chen Ji: "First, I was already on my way back to Mount Huang Daoist Temple when a junior apprentice brother sent urgent news. He said that the cultivation path of 'Ten Thousand Deities Descending to the Abode' from our Mount Huang Daoist Temple has been leaked, causing a stir and bloodshed in the martial arts world. So, I had no choice but to return to the capital!"

Chen Ji asked, surprised and suspicious, "The Daoist temple's cultivation path has been leaked? Has there been a traitor among your disciples?"

Zhang Li shook his head: "Probably not. All those who practice 'Ten Thousand Deities Descending to the Abode' at Mount Huang Daoist Temple have either been with me recently or with our master. They haven't had the opportunity or the motive to leak anything! Perhaps someone in the martial arts world dug up graves or tombs and found this path in some senior's cave dwelling, then deliberately leaked it!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ji instinctively thought of Corpse Dog, one of the Zodiac figures specifically tasked by the Grand Chancellor with finding cultivation paths.

Could leaking the Daoist sect's path be the work of the Grand Chancellor?

He calmly asked, "Why are so many people at Mount Huang Daoist Temple cultivating the same path?"

Zhang Li smiled broadly: "Fellow Daoist Chen Ji, you might not know this, but our Daoist temple divides practitioners into 'Seekers of the Dao' and 'Guardians of the Dao.' Those with exceptional talent become Seekers, like my extraordinarily gifted junior apprentice brother Yan Chi, who cultivates the Daoist temple's Celestial Phenomenon Art! The rest of us, who are less brilliant—like myself, this humble Daoist—can only be Guardians, cultivating the same path to protect our mountain gate!"

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Daoist Priest Zhang Li, you're just revealing such secrets of your Daoist temple to me?"

Zhang Li waved his hand dismissively: "When have you ever seen Lu Yang, the Master of Martial Temple Mountain, conceal his cultivation path? How could a prestigious sect like ours be secretive like petty figures in the Jianghu?"

Chen Ji grew even more curious: "Then who all is cultivating this 'Ten Thousand Deities Descending to the Abode'?"

Zhang Li turned to look at him, his tone becoming serious: "Including myself, there are eleven in total. With my master, Disciple Zi, that makes twelve people!"

Chen Ji's heart jolted, and he suddenly tightened his grip on the reins: "The cultivation path of the True Master of Mount Huang Daoist Temple has been leaked?"

Strange!

He had heard that Disciple Zi was one of the Grandmasters of the Divine Path Realm in the Ning Dynasty. If so many people cultivated the same path, how did he reach the Divine Path Realm?

This didn't make sense. What secret did this official path hold?

Furthermore, the cultivation path of the Daoist Temple's Grandmaster being leaked was a monumental event. Who could have done it?

If it was the Grand Chancellor... what exactly did this Grand Chancellor intend to do?

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Li in disbelief: "Such an important cultivation path has been leaked, and Daoist Priest Zhang Li, you still have the mind to write storybooks here?"

Zhang Li spread his hands: "Well, what else can I do? There's no use in rushing. I came back halfway just because I wanted the imperial court to help my Mount Huang Daoist Temple investigate this matter!"

Chen Ji sighed helplessly. If Mount Huang Daoist Temple sought the court's help, the court would likely assign the matter to the Secret Service. But if the Secret Service itself was behind it, there would truly be no solution!

Coupled with the unreliability of this Daoist Priest Zhang Li, Mount Huang Daoist Temple would likely suffer a silent loss!

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "What about the second matter?"

Zhang Li pointed to the sky: "When my junior apprentice brother came to find me, he also mentioned something else! He said someone in the heavens gave our master a dream, saying that the 'Supreme Indifference Jade Tablet' from Eastern Kunlun had been lost. This jade tablet records the 'Treatise on Supreme Indifference,' which is an unparalleled path of our Daoist temple!"

Chen Ji felt that Zhang Li's few words were almost enough to make his head explode!

He had been in this world for several months, and the secrets of the Forty-Nine Heavens he had heard were not as significant as these few sentences. For a moment, he couldn't tell if Zhang Li was speaking the truth or joking!

How could the secrets of the Forty-Nine Heavens be heard so easily?

Chen Ji wondered, "If it was lost in the heavens, naturally one should look for it in the heavens. What's the point of looking for it in the mortal realm?"

Zhang Li said meaningfully, "This thing is useless in the Forty-Nine Heavens. The person who took it must intend to use it in the mortal realm. So, what I'm looking for is not the jade tablet itself, but the person who is cultivating with it!"

Chen Ji probed, "Is this path very powerful?"

Zhang Li smiled: "If you sever your seven emotions and six desires in the morning, you can ascend to the Forty-Nine Heavens by evening. A single moment of enlightenment grants six thousand years of liberation. Would you say it's powerful?"

"Powerful."

Chen Ji frowned: "But in this vast sea of people, how do we find them?"

Zhang Li also looked a bit troubled: "This path requires a person of utmost purity, and it can only be cultivated by severing their truest emotions. We can only start there! However, those who cultivate this path progress extremely quickly, so I imagine they will reveal themselves soon enough!"

Chen Ji was curious: "How does one sever the seven emotions and six desires? Can just anyone who cultivates this path ascend?"

Zhang Li stroked his chin thoughtfully: "Of course not! If it were just an ordinary, mediocre person, severing their seven emotions and six desires wouldn't make them an immortal! That's why we must find individuals of utmost emotion, character, purity, and truth in the world. The stronger their emotions, the more potent the severance! However, joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire must be severed one by one, and the most intense are also the most difficult to sever!"

Chen Ji mused, "This path helps one break free from emotions and attachments. Wouldn't it be extremely suitable for Buddhists cultivating the realm of 'non-self'?"

Zhang Li burst out laughing: "What are you thinking? This path merely transforms the seven emotions you sever into a higher realm. As for the emotions themselves, you have to sever them yourself! If you can't sever them, you won't be able to cultivate it!"

Chen Ji frowned: "If a person severs all seven emotions and six desires, wouldn't only their physical body remain? What else would be left?"

Zhang Li, sitting on the green ox's back, turned to look at him and said earnestly, "Forgetting emotions leads to ultimate impartiality. After becoming emotionless and desireless, naturally only selfless and unbiased fairness remains! Fellow Daoist Chen Ji, the immortals in the heavens cannot descend directly; they can only choose their pawns to act. There are few deities capable of taking this jade tablet from Eastern Kunlun, and I don't know what they intend to do. Our Daoist temple's great undertaking is not yet complete, and we cannot tolerate such a significant variable. Therefore, we must retrieve it!"

Zhang Li suddenly said meaningfully, "Fellow Daoist, we don't know whose hands this path has fallen into. If someone close to you acquires this path, do not let them have the chance to sever their seven emotions! If you find any clues, you can find me at the City God Temple in Chongnan Ward!"

"I'm off!"

With that, he rode his green ox into the crowd and gradually headed south.