Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Xie Lingya trying to maintain a kind expression, pried Xiao Wang’s hand off, and said, “Sir, did you not get enough rest? I even paid for your car wash last night. Attacking someone is illegal.”
Xiao Wang remembering he was right at the entrance of the Taoist temple, breathed a slight sigh of relief, and leaned against the door, saying, “You, what are you doing here…”
“Of course I’m here,” Xie Lingya said, “I own this place.”
Xiao Wang: “…”
Xiao Wang looked to the side, his eyes pleading with Hai Guanchao standing there. Although he didn’t know Hai Guanchao, the other person was inside the temple and probably knew more about it than he did.
Hai Guanchao slowly nodded: “Don’t you know? This is the person in charge of Baoyang Temple.”
Xiao Wang was completely confused, “Then what were you doing last night?”
Xie Lingya finally had a chance to clarify, “Of course we were performing a ritual! It was animal blood, we just didn’t want to scare you!”
Those moving things, were they also sacrificial offerings? Was that stiffness just a mistake? Xiao Wang looked at Xie Lingya in confusion, “Well… I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright.” Xie Lingya roughly understood why he had come to Baoyang Temple, and gave Hai Guanchao a smug look, meaning, “I really didn’t bully anyone.”
Hai Guanchao was speechless and asked him, “You went out again? Fang Zhe just said their research has made progress.”
“How much smaller has the scope been narrowed this time? I’ll tell you when I get back. I’m babysitting someone’s child.” Xie Lingya told him that he was taking a monk to buy clothes and then left.
Hai Guanchao stood there pondering for a long time, thinking that this guy had quite a wide circle of friends, teaching Taoist priests to perform rituals and taking monks to buy clothes.
When Xie Lingya returned to the pedestrian street, he saw a group of people gathered around, with passersby looking around but not daring to stop and watch. Upon closer inspection, he saw a bald head peeking out from between the shoulders of those people, resembling Tan Qing, so he went over.
There he saw Shi Changxuan protecting the little monk, confronting those people.
“What’s going on?” Xie Lingya asked as he went over.
Surrounding them were five or six young men in their twenties and thirties, all quite strong, but with a somewhat thuggish air, no wonder passersby dared not gather around.
They glanced at Xie Lingya, “What, all together? Who are you to this bald guy?”
Hearing them constantly calling him “bald guy,” Xie Lingya retorted without hesitation, “And where did you all come from, you demons and monsters?”
Shi Changxuan quickly explained to Xie Lingya that these men, riding bicycles into the pedestrian street, had bumped into Tan Qing and were about to drive away when Tan Qing, surprisingly, being quite agile, grabbed their clothes and pulling them off the bike, scraping them on the ground. They weren’t satisfied and prepared to “argue.”
Xie Lingya examined the so-called scrape; there was no physical injury, just a dirty trouser.
Tan Qing was good at Buddhist teachings, but he didn’t understand the language of the young men; so he hadn’t understood their babbling.
Shi Changxuan wasn’t one for words either, and these men thought they had gained the upper hand.
If they had acted sooner, they would probably all be down by now, by the time Xie Lingya arrived.
Xie Lingya said calmly, “You bumped into someone and didn’t even apologize. He pulled you, causing you to fall. It’s even, there’s nothing to fuss about.”
“Does it matter if I fall?” the young man said. “What, little bald guy, you’re so strong, are you a Shaolin monk?”
His friends all laughed, as if “monk” was a particularly funny joke.
Although Xie Lingya hadn’t seen what had just happened, he knew that Lian Tan had studied swordsmanship and was incredibly agile when performing the Vidyadhara Sword Immortal form. As Lian Tan’s disciple, Tan Qing, while not exceptionally powerful, would certainly not be weak.
These people were mistaken if they thought they could gain an advantage by outnumbering him.
However, Xie Lingya didn’t want to fight unless absolutely necessary.
Seeing Xie Lingya’s strange expression, the young man said, “Let me tell you, one phone call and a dozen brothers will come, believe it or not?”
Xie Lingya suddenly revealed a strange smile, making the young man’s hair stand on end.
Seeing that they were all quite young, Xie Lingya asked, “Don’t you guys think I look familiar?”
He’d rather not have said anything, but once he did, the group exchanged glances, and one of them said, “He does look familiar…”
“Who is he? Is he some kind of celebrity?” the young man snapped angrily. “Why are you listening to his nonsense! I don’t care if you look familiar or not!”
Someone tugged at him from behind. “No, bro, I remember now, I really saw him online. He seems to be the person in charge of Baoyang Temple.”
The young man exclaimed in astonishment, “Are you crazy? A Taoist temple person shopping with a monk?”
Everyone: “…”
“No, no, he seems to have worked with monks before…”
Xie Lingya interrupted them, asking, “I can get over a dozen Taoists here with just one phone call, believe it or not? And they’ll be much faster than you.”
—Baoyang Temple was right at the entrance of the pedestrian street, less than a five-minute walk away.
Everyone: “………………”
That phrase sounded too familiar. The young man’s face turned pale, then red. “You, you…”
Xie Lingya pointed at Tan Qing and said, “One more call, and dozens of his senior brothers will come too, believe it or not?”
The young man: “…………”
Calling in Taoist priests and monks for a brawl seemed unlikely, but the young man couldn’t help but shrink back when he met Xie Lingya’s gaze. Even if a fight didn’t break out, he couldn’t bear being spat on by each of them…
The young man thus gave him a few uncertain glances before reluctantly saying, “Be careful next time!”
With that, he led his men away, still feeling a bit annoyed. Why had he never heard of monks having such fiery tempers before?
Xie Lingya turned his head again and saw Shi Changxuan staring at him helplessly. He grinned and said, “I’ll scare them.”
Who could a few hooligans scare? They should be glad he had to maintain the image of Baoyang Temple.
Shi Changxuan shook his head and said nothing more.
While Xie Lingya patted Tan Qing on the shoulder, “How are you? Did you get hurt? If you are, you should tell them and ask for medical expenses.”
Tan Qing shook his head, “I’m fine. Mr. Xie, if they hadn’t backed down, would you really have called a dozen Taoist priests?”
“I used their words against them,” Xie Lingya chuckled, “Of course I… would have called the police.”
The police officers at the local station all recognized him; after all, he’d received a banner of appreciation from them.
….
The group of young men who had caused trouble for Tan Qing walked out of the street, grumbling to themselves. They each bought a drink at a beverage shop, pondering, “The more I think about it, the more I feel like that guy was just trying to scare us. Otherwise, what should we…?”
“What do you want to do?”
“We don’t know where the monk is from, but the Taoist temple is right at the street corner. People go there to fetch water every day. How about we get some cement and fill in their well? Or maybe we can put some calligraphy or paintings on the door?”
“Uh… no, I’ve heard this Taoist temple is a bit eerie. Let’s not go inside.”
As they were discussing this, they went out onto the street and crossed the road. The median was planted with flowers, trees, and shrubs, and the group, too lazy to move to the zebra crossing, simply crossed over the flowerbed.
The first person’s foot somehow got caught on a tree root, and he fell forward, landing hard in the mud. The two behind him stepped forward to help him up, but as if by some strange twist of fate, they slipped and, instead of helping him up, both of them fell on top of him. The remaining two laughed heartily, just as a tricycle sped past, brushing them aside and sending them tumbling forward before speeding away.
The five of them were left smothering in the mud, looking at each other, unsure who to blame.
Xie Lingya escorted Tan Qing back to the hotel, and Lie Cuo then told him apologetically, “We have many monks, so we can’t find him for a while. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, you don’t need to apologize. I’m asking for help. Thank you for your willingness to help investigate,” Xie Lingya quickly replied.
They had another meal together and agreed to let each other know if there was any news. Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan then returned to Baoyang Temple. As soon as they entered, they heard Fang Zhe’s device beeping. “What? How much of a scope has it narrowed down?”
“About a province… but I’m now suspecting there might be a mistake, because it keeps beeping.” Fang Zhe hurriedly turned off the device. “Even if it’s really within a province, it shouldn’t be beeping like this.”
Xie Lingya stared at his device for a while, thinking, “Could it be such a coincidence? The Son of Youdu is in Queshan Province?”
He felt a sudden tightness in his chest and thought of that mysterious Tantric master. He wondered if there was any connection between them, but the Son of Youdu should be a member of the Taoist system, born in Youdu Mountain, which was associated with Kunlun Mountain.
The thought flashed through Xie Lingya’s mind only briefly. He then offered incense to the ancestral master and his uncle, copied scriptures in the hall for a while, and finally felt a little more at ease before returning to his room to sleep.
It was a bit chilly, so Xie Lingya turned on the electric blanket to warm himself up, snuggling under the covers and thinking.
Winter vacation was just a few days away, followed by the Spring Festival. The Taoist temple would be busy again, and he needed to make things clear with Shi Changxuan’s parents; he might even have to meet them this year…
Lost in thought, Xie Lingya fell asleep.
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