“Senior Brother Yu, why do you keep looking at me?” Lu Yaoyao asked seriously.
Yu Chanzhi clasped his hands together, not answering the question immediately. he possessed a pair of eyes that could see through all kinds of beings. His master had once said that he had all-seeing eyes, and yet, he couldn’t see through this little girl.
Yu Chanzhi’s visit was mainly spurred by curiosity about the junior sister mentioned by Ziwan. Years ago, he was persistently asked for divinations, and indeed only foresaw that Ziwan would have one junior brother. Yet, now a junior sister had suddenly appeared. After receiving Ziwan’s letter, filled with doubt, he divined again and got a different result, which puzzled him even more. He might be young back then, but not to the extent of miscalculating such a simple divination. And to divine the same matter at different times yet get completely opposite results was clearly abnormal.
Yu Chanzhi was confident that he hadn’t misinterpreted either divination. Thus, the only explanation for this outcome was that there was an irregularity, and this irregularity was the junior sister.
He was here today to solve this puzzle, but seeing the irregularity in person only deepened his doubts.
Yu Chanzhi didn’t answer Lu Yaoyao’s question, but Ziwan did. He had no qualms about exposing his friend in front of his junior sister, “Yaoyao, don’t be fooled by his Buddhist appearance. This guy is actually very curious by nature and will delve deep into all kinds of matters that intrigue him, not stopping until he finds an answer. He’s puzzled about why the divination doesn’t match.” Ziwan briefly recounted about the time he went to ask Yu Chanzhi for divination. Then, with an air of understanding, he added, “If you ask me, Xiao Yu just got it wrong and won’t admit it.”
Lu Yaoyao understood now. So there’s such a hidden story! She then curiously asked again, “Senior Brother Yu, can you divine about me now?” Perhaps she was an irregularity in this world. Before her arrival, according to the world’s course, her master might indeed have only had four disciples, but her arrival made her the fifth.
Yu Chanzhi nodded slightly. However, they did not delve deeper into this issue, as Yu Chanzhi brought up another topic, “My master told me about this late elder. What does your sect plan to do?”
Ziwan waved his hand dismissively, “You know what kind of person I am, don’t you? I don’t get involved in these things. Whatever the sect decides, I just go along with it.”
Ziwan was speaking the truth. With so many clever people around, there was no need for someone like him, who wasn’t even particularly outstanding among his peers, to take charge, especially since he disliked pondering complex issues. He still had a master and two senior brothers above, didn’t he? All he needed to do was to follow their leads. To him, contemplating these matters was less appealing than refining more pills.
However, Lu Yaoyao was quite interested, “Senior Brother Yu, does your Abbot know much about the old ancestor?”
The Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect also functioned as a major monastery, and its head, also Yu Chanzhi’s master, was referred to as the Abbot. He was one of the few in the Cultivation Realm who had lived for more than a thousand years, making him a contemporary of the late Elder Lu. Lu Yaoyao was curious about how the elder was viewed by people outside the sect.
“To say Master knows him would be an overstatement. My master didn’t speak much, only sighed with regret,” Yu Chanzhi replied. The disciples of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect were not gossipers; their focus was on cultivation and Buddhism, so they naturally did not indulge in mundane gossip.
Yu Chanzhi knew the elder was an extraordinary and stunning figure. If he hadn’t fallen, his achievements could have matched those of his disciple, the Dao Venerable Hengwu.
Speaking of which, perhaps the only living people who personally knew this elder were Dao Venerable Hengwu and Sect Leader Lu.
The Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect stayed out of worldly affairs, but they always stepped forward when major events shook the Cultivation Realm. With the Guiyuan Sect being a weathervane in the Cultivation Realm, any sudden event causing turmoil naturally warranted their attention.
Was this a signal of something, given that the Three Realms had been at peace for over three hundred years?
As Lu Yaoyao listened to the conversation, she felt a mix of sadness and happiness. She wondered if the elder would be comforted knowing the current state of the Cultivation Realm. His ideas weren’t accepted a thousand years ago, yet he persisted, ultimately paying a great price.
The elder, who was also her Father’s master—would he have regretted his choices if he knew that his steadfastness almost led to the destruction of the Guiyuan Sect and cost many lives?
Lu Yaoyao couldn’t find an answer; no one could.
However, she believed that if the elder had no regrets, he would be pleased to see the current state of affairs. Even after his demise, his teachings remained, and his spirits continued to influence generations. The younger generation, having only experienced minor skirmishes instead of the full terror of wars, were more open to changing their perspectives. It may not be obvious for now, but over decades, centuries, or even millennia, these shifts in thinking could gradually align with what she hoped for.
Lu Yaoyao regretted that she had never met this like-minded elder, for his early demise, and for not being born a thousand years earlier. But she was determined to carry on his legacy and vision.
“Yaoyao?” Ziwan’s call brought her back to reality. “Are you bored?” he asked, noticing she had been lost in thought.
Lu Yaoyao shook her head.
But Ziwan thought she was bored. His junior sister was still a young child after all; it’s normal that she got bored easily. So, scooping the little girl up, he said to Yu Chanzhi: “We’ve been out for a while. It’s time to go back.”
Lu Yaoyao reluctantly looked at Yu Chanzhi, not ready to leave yet, “Third Senior Brother, why don’t I go back first, and you can stay and talk more with Senior Brother Yu?”
“There will be other opportunities. Besides, Xiao Yu is like a boring gourd, speaking in enigmas. I feel sleepy talking to him. Let’s meet him another time.”
Yu Chanzhi, unfazed by being insulted to his face, simply chanted a Buddhist phrase in response.
Ziwan waved goodbye, “See you later.” Then he carried Lu Yaoyao away.
Lu Yaoyao, resting her chubby chin on Ziwan’s shoulder, looked back at Yu Chanzhi with her bright eyes. He returned her gaze; his eyes glinted wisely as if he saw through something profound.
Before she could grasp the fleeting emotion in his eyes, Yu Chanzhi disappeared from her sight.
Lu Yaoyao changed her posture to a more comfortable one, then she heard Ziwan cheerfully ask, “Yaoyao, where do you want to go?”
“I don’t want to play. Senior brother, you can go about your business, and I’ll just watch. I won’t disturb you.”
“Yaoyao is so sensible. How about Senior Brother take you to see the alchemy furnaces?”
“That sounds good…”
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