novelapdf Chapter 58 The Great Celestial Venerable
Chapter 58 The Great Celestial Venerable
Chapter 58 The Great Celestial Venerable
The female Taoist priest stared at the divination diagram, her still-childish soft flesh on her cheeks tightening slightly.
After a while, she freed her left hand and started tapping her right toes again, making a soft, glutinous sound as she broke the five little rice cakes.
With each movement, the purple talisman suspended in mid-air would flash, its light flickering on and off, casting a shifting glow on her delicate face.
No matter how she tried to change it, the divination result remained unchanged.
"The hexagram 'Shi' (師), with Kan (坎) below and Kun (坤) above, signifies water within the earth. The superior man, in accordance with this, provides for the people and nurtures the masses—this is an image of finding life in dire straits, etc."
Before she finished speaking, she raised her hand and made a feinting grab at Fang Shi.
But even after being grabbed, Fang Shi remained standing in the same spot.
The female Taoist priest paused for a moment, then suddenly jumped up from the table and grabbed Fang Shi's wrist with her five slender fingers.
"You are not a being subject to the seven emotions and desires."
Upon hearing this, the servants around him exchanged bewildered glances.
"The Realm of the Seven Emotions and Desires? What kind of place is that?"
"Is this the Realm of the Seven Emotions and Desires?"
"How could this fortune teller say something like that?"
Fang Shi looked down at the hand gripping his wrist.
Her fingers were fair and delicate, yet the force she exerted was as light as a petal falling on her wrist. It was far less than a restraint, and even less than the strength he had left after his serious injuries.
He could break free with just a flick of his wrist—
"Do you want to escape this illusion? If so, come with me."
Upon hearing this, he completely abandoned the idea.
"An illusion? She said this place is an illusion?"
"Get out? Where to? Where else can we go?"
"Do you intend to leave?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd fell silent.
The servants all stared at Fang Shi and the female Taoist priest, their eyes blank, empty, and lifeless.
The female Taoist priest grabbed the talisman, shoes, and socks, pushed off the table with her feet, and leaped into the air, wrapping her legs around Fang Shi's neck perfectly.
The hem of the Taoist robe suddenly fell down, burying Fang Shi's entire face in her soft belly, and a faint milky fragrance involuntarily filled his mouth and nose.
Run!
Fang Shi struggled to pull his head out of that soft mass of flesh, looked ahead, and said, "You're suffocating me."
With a twist of her legs and a burst of strength in her waist, the female Taoist priest flipped over from his front to his back, landing steadily on his shoulders.
The barefoot landed on his chest, the heel tapping him in the stomach, and said, "Enough with the nonsense, just run!"
"Run? Run where?"
"Leave? You actually want to leave this place!"
"Isn't it good here? Why leave?"
The servants gathered around as they talked.
Without saying a word, Fang Shi carried the female Taoist priest on his back and ran away.
He had only taken two steps when a sharp pain shot through his chest, and a metallic taste rose to his throat, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.
His legs suddenly gave way, and he almost fell over along with the female crown on his back.
"How can you be so useless!"
The female Taoist priest instinctively clamped her legs around his neck, her voice filled with disgust.
"You useless piece of trash—get down here."
Fang Shi gritted his teeth and said.
"Never mind, I'll have to put in more effort."
The female Taoist priest flicked the purple talisman in her hand through the air.
The silver patterns on the talisman suddenly bloomed, and a circle of purple light rippled out, causing the approaching servants to freeze in their tracks.
The female Taoist priest tapped him in the stomach with her heel and said crisply, "Why aren't you running yet!"
Fang Shi ran out of the East Market in one breath, through two narrow alleys, until he could no longer hear footsteps behind him, then stopped against an earthen wall, his legs went weak, and he almost slipped and sat down on the ground.
The female Taoist priest jumped off his back, stood on one foot, placed her bare foot on her knee, and pulled Luo...
As she pulled the socks up, her round, white toes curled slightly under the thin fabric before sliding down the cuff.
"Running so slowly has damaged my immortal foundation."
Fang Shi turned his head away, coughed up another mouthful of blood, and gasped, "If you're so capable—don't ride on my back, run away yourself!"
.
The female Taoist priest raised her head and retorted without any politeness, "If I could run on my own, would I need you? This damned Seven Emotions and Desires Realm, if I could even use half of my cultivation, would I need to ride a piece of trash like you?"
Fang Shi asked, "What are these Seven Emotions and Desires? And who are you?"
The female Taoist priest hooked the heel of her shoe, rolled her eyes, straightened up, put her hands behind her back, and raised her chin slightly.
The jade bead on the sandalwood hairpin swayed gently behind her head as it said, "I am the Supreme Heavenly Venerable of the Great Luo Heaven, in charge of divination and understanding of cause and effect in the Three Realms. All the requests of mortals are answered. Your encounter with me today is a blessing earned through nine lifetimes of cultivation."
Fang Shi looked at her expressionlessly.
She wasn't even as tall as his shoulder. Wrapped in that slightly oversized white Taoist robe, her face was clearly exquisitely beautiful, but paired with that old-fashioned and indifferent expression, she looked like a doll casually stuffed into a Taoist robe.
Seeing him staring at her and scrutinizing her, the female Taoist priest said, "Very well, since I, the Celestial Venerable, have entered the mortal realm today, I will bestow upon you a name for walking among men: call me Xuanzhu."
Fang Shi was silent for a moment, then said, "Never mind, I'll just call you Great Celestial Venerable. Great Celestial Venerable, what exactly is the Seven Emotions and Desires Realm?"
Xuanzhu said, "A blessed land is the spiritual pivot of heaven and earth. It may be hidden in famous mountains or concealed in great marshes, and only its master can enter through its gate. The Seven Emotions and Desires Realm was a blessed land created by the Water Lord of Forgetfulness, which collapsed long ago with his death and should no longer exist in the world. Its reappearance is only because her wisp of remnant spirit was awakened by the Dao of Heaven and Earth, and this old cave heaven was also brought out of the void. However, it is ultimately a blessed land that has been destroyed, existing between reality and illusion—for her, it was her old home, and for you, it is naturally an illusion."
Fang Shi asked, "And who exactly is this Lord of Forgetfulness Water?"
Xuanzhu smiled mysteriously and said, "Heavenly secrets cannot be fully revealed. Just like how I didn't ask about your birth date or your background, some things, once known, would only cause unexpected changes. Well, I thought I was going to be trapped here and unable to get out. Since you are also an outsider and have the divination of being able to escape from a desperate situation, then you should leave this place with me."
Fang Shi remained silent for a moment.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to go out?"
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I'm a little confused."
"You don't know where your safety lies, do you?"
"How did you know? Did you consult the oracle?"
"A wise strategist first observes people's hearts. Even if I called you a useless person, you wouldn't abandon me; that's just your inherent nature."
"You're really not afraid I'll turn on you?"
"Don't be afraid. As long as you want to live, you won't turn against me."
How can one escape the seven emotions and desires?
"Follow me."
Fang Shi followed Xuan Zhu along a small path into the depths of Mount Luofu.
The road winds and twists, with ancient trees towering on both sides, their canopies blocking out the sun. Occasionally, a few slivers of light leak through the gaps in the leaves and fall on the moss underfoot.
Normally, such a mountain path would not be difficult for him, but at this moment, with his meridians damaged and his body severely injured, every step he took felt like he was walking through a hell of sword leaves.
Xuanzhu walked briskly, her slightly oversized Taoist robe fluttering back and forth, the jade bead on her sandalwood hairpin bouncing behind her head like a firefly in the forest.
But the firefly didn't last long.
She suddenly stopped, turned around and sat down on a moss-covered rock by the roadside, looking up at Fang Shi.
-
"My feet hurt, I can't walk anymore, carry me."
Fang Shi leaned against the tree trunk, catching his breath for a while before saying, "Walk yourself."
"But I can't walk, my feet are killing me."
"You call yourself the Supreme Heavenly Venerable of the Great Luo Heaven, the Supreme Mysterious Pure One, and supposedly a highly accomplished Daoist. Yet you complain of foot pain after such a short journey. Is your Daoist heart made of paper?"
"I am the Great Celestial Venerable, and all things in heaven and earth are under my control. Naturally, I should use the things of heaven and earth to help me. Since you live between heaven and earth, you are a thing of heaven and earth, and you should also help me. Carrying me this way is acting on behalf of heaven."
"Since heaven and earth and all things are helping you, why not ask the wind to help you? Let the wind carry you; it's more stable than my broken body."
As soon as he finished speaking, a breeze swept through the woods.
The wind blew through the branches and leaves of the ancient trees, carrying a touch of the coolness unique to the mountains and forests. It gently brushed against Fang Shi's cheek and lifted a corner of Xuan Zhu's Taoist robe, revealing her small feet clad in moon-white cloud shoes.
But this was not a whirlwind stirred up by a cultivator's magic power, so it couldn't lift anyone up. Only a few withered leaves from the forest fell and landed on Xuanzhu's knees.
"oops."
Xuanzhu looked down at the few withered leaves on her knees, picked one up, held it up to Fang Shi and waved it, saying, "The leaf fell on my knees and hurt so much, I can't walk anymore."
Fang Shi stared expressionlessly at the light, withered leaf fluttering between her fingers and said, "A single leaf can hurt you? Do you think you're made of tofu?"
"It's made of tofu."
Xuanzhu threw the withered leaf at him with a straight face and said, "You are not me, how do you know I am not in pain? My body is delicate, I will fall if the wind blows, and I will feel pain if a leaf falls. As a creature of heaven and earth, you do not think of sharing my burdens, but instead question my feelings. You are really not qualified to be a creature of heaven and earth."
Before Fang Shi could refute, he saw Xuan Zhu kick her feet outwards again.
The two moon-white cloud-patterned shoes flew off her feet, tracing two arcs in the air before landing on the roadside slope covered with ferns.
The shoe bounced once on the slope, then rolled down and was quickly swallowed up by the bushes at the bottom.
Fang Shi watched the two shoes disappear at the bottom of the slope and remained silent for a long time.
Xuanzhu sat on the blue stone, swinging her two feet covered with silk stockings, her clear eyes full of innocence.
"Oh dear, the wind blew my shoe off! How am I supposed to walk now?"
"Is this the way to escape the seven emotions and desires? If so, tell me. No, you don't need to tell me no, you don't need to say anything."
"What nonsense are you thinking? Get rid of all those incoherent thoughts in your head. As a being of heaven and earth, the most important thing right now is to serve the Great Celestial Venerable. I can't walk anymore, you should carry me."
"You can wear socks too—"
'
Before Fang Shi finished speaking, Xuan Zhu had already pulled her feet back, hooked her fingers on the edge of her stockings, and tore off both stockings at once.
A mountain breeze happened to blow by, and the two silk stockings fluttered from her fingertips. This time, the wind had more power, and with a gust, they swept down the slope.
She stretched out her legs, her ten toes curling slightly in the afternoon light, the tips as tender as freshly peeled lotus seeds, her rounded toenails tinged with a very pale pink, like a thin glaze covering white jade.
"What did you say?"
"It's nothing —"
Fang Shi walked up to her, then squatted down with his back to her.
Xuanzhu jumped up and wrapped her legs around Fang Shi's neck again. The hem of her Taoist robe slid down, and the faint milky scent wafted over once more.
Fang Shi pulled open his Taoist robe and said, "Actually, you can hold him in your arms; you don't necessarily have to ride on his back."
Xuanzhu leaned down, her exquisitely beautiful face hanging upside down from above, a few strands of hair falling in front of Fang Shi.
She squinted, her eyebrows curved, revealing a row of snow-white, delicate teeth.
"I'm going to ride you anyway—giggle, giddy, giddy!"
As she spoke, she straightened up, grabbed Fang Shi's collar, and said crisply, "Great horse, great horse, run fast, the sound of hooves echoing deep into the forest. Green mane flying, treading on the clouds by the stream, do not let the moss slip and stop you in the shade of the mountain. My horse, my horse, you are the most loyal, you have carried me through a thousand miles of mist. If you dare to abandon me in the wild, may I turn into a stone statue and sink into oblivion forever."
She swung her toes, humming a nursery rhyme she'd somehow learned, her ten toes tapping out a rhythm with her off-key singing.
Fang Shi supported her knees as he stood up, thinking to himself: This girl who calls herself the Great Celestial Venerable seems to act recklessly, but every word she says is full of hidden meaning.
Previously, it was said that "a good strategist first observes people's hearts," and that "heavenly secrets should not be fully revealed."
Now they're using nursery rhymes to discipline him.
Such an enlightened person would naturally not do meaningless things.
Since she is unwilling to say it outright, then we should follow her lead; that is the right thing to do.
"Hey? Why aren't you leaving yet?"
"I don't know the way."
"Oh dear, what a forgetful thing I am, I completely forgot about that."
Xuanzhu grabbed his collar, stretched out a bare foot from Fang Shi's chest, pointed to a fork in the road to the left, and said, "Horses this way—giddy up!"
Fang Shi automatically filtered out her "Giddy up" and stepped onto the path to the left.
The moss underfoot grew thicker and thicker, and the branches and leaves of the ancient trees blocked out the sunlight, leaving only a few streaks of gold.
Xuanzhu's voice came from above, saying, "Remember, horse, you can't abandon me. A horse that abandons its master will be left in the wilderness and never return home."
The next step is simply to follow the path of Xuanzhu and embark on the journey.
However, the sky gradually darkened, and the ancient trees on both sides were reduced to blurry outlines, hidden in the darkness.
Xuanzhu's song stopped sometime ago, and then fell silent.
Fortunately, Fang Shi, being a cultivator, still had good eyesight despite his serious injuries. With the help of the few drops of moonlight filtering through the branches and leaves, he could barely make out the path beneath his feet.
He stopped at the fork in the road, habitually waiting for that bare foot to emerge from his waist.
But after waiting for a while, nothing happened.
"How do I get there?"
No one answered.
"The Great Celestial Venerable?"
Fang Shi asked again, gently shaking the hand supporting her knees.
Suddenly, a few strands of hair fell from above, brushing against his forehead and a head with beautiful, straight features that drooped straight down.
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