On the Path to the Great Dao

Chen Shi controlled his golden core as it flew back and forth through the Red Embroidery Hall. Unknowingly, it arrived at the back courtyard. A thought stirred in his heart:

"The Hall Master went to Xingxing's place several days ago and hasn't come out.

Could the deification really be that severe?"

The golden core quietly slipped into the back courtyard. At that moment, a doll with a topknot hairstyle, wearing only a white dudou embroidered with red peonies, jumped in front of the golden core and blocked Chen Shi's golden core.

"Scholar, without the Hall Master's summons, you can't go in!"

This topknot doll was Crane Child's black aspect, ordered to guard the back courtyard and keep out idle people.

As a black aspect, it saw through this black golden core as Chen Shi's and thus blocked me.

Chen Shi withdrew his golden core. Seeing the golden core leave, Crane Child finally relaxed and returned to the porcelain doll's body.

After a moment, Chen Shi's true body hurried over and tried to barge into the back courtyard.

Crane Child hurriedly blocked me. Chen Shi laughed. "Little Crane, what relationship do I have with Xingxing? I'm Xingxing's playmate! If you block me, Xingxing will spank your butt!"

Crane Child said angrily:

"Last time you sneaked Xingxing out to play, the Hall Master really spanked my butt! If you sneak Xingxing away again this time, the Hall Master will spank my butt to pieces! Don't even think about sneaking Xingxing away again!"

Chen Shi couldn't force his way in. He lit a stick of incense and handed it over with a smile.

"Little Crane, I'm not trying to sneak Xingxing away. I'm concerned about the Hall Master.

The Hall Master has been in there for many days now. As someone who's been around for months, I'm quite worried too.

How is she doing now?"

The saying goes that one doesn't hit a smiling face. Crane Child wanted to refuse my incense, but the next moment Chen Shi offered another stick. When I hesitated again, three sticks were thrust before me.

Crane Child sighed and accepted the three sticks of incense. Reluctantly, it said:

"No next time. Don't do this again.

It hesitated, then said:

"The Hall Master's condition is a bit off.

She cultivated Xingxing's technique, and divine energy entered her body. In agitation, her mind wavered, and now she's working hard to suppress her divinity.

But it's flared up several times these past few days."

Chen Shi's heart jolted. He asked:

"In deifying, what divine embryo did the Hall Master turn into?"

I'd seen the vision of flesh and blood proliferating behind Yutian City, but I didn't know what divine embryo Yutian City would become. Still, I figured it wouldn't be an ordinary one.

Yutian City's strength was formidable, already a Divine Transformation Realm powerhouse. Once she deified, the harm would be immense!

Chen Shi had compiled the *Secret Record of Divine Embryos*, documenting all the divine embryos he'd encountered. These past few days in the Red Embroidery Hall, he'd consulted various talisman masters, adding dozens more to the record.

If the Jade Hall Master deified, she'd surely become an extraordinary divine embryo! Adding a vivid, heavily inked page to my record! Chen the Great Scholar thought to himself.

I offered a few more sticks of incense, but Crane Child was stubborn and wouldn't say more. Chen Shi had no choice but to leave it be.

On the road to Gongzhou, Li Tianqing received a letter I'd sent from Chen Shi. He opened it and read, his heart jolting:

"I've already cultivated to the four-rotation golden core stage? So fast? I wonder if it was before or after me."

Since they met, the two had secretly been competing—competing in cultivation, competing over "who Little Gold loves more," and all sorts of comparisons. Neither wanted to fall behind.

"But Little Ten said Gongzhou has bad local customs. I must be careful.

My thoughts are meticulous, and my insight is extremely sharp. In just over ten days, I arrived safely at the Gongzhou provincial border.

The Min River runs through Gongzhou Province, so taking a boat is much more convenient. Li Tianqing arrived at the dock to see a painted pleasure boat moored there, soliciting exam-taking scholars. The boatman and his daughter were familiar faces from Xinduo County.

Li Tianqing stepped forward. The boat girl saw me and smiled.

"Little brother, do you still remember me? Last time in Xinduo County, when you and your brothers went to the brothel, couldn't afford the girls, and got thrown out—that was on my boat."

Li Tianqing's face flushed red. He hung his head, utterly ashamed, and said softly:

"Miss, I didn't go. It was my brothers who...

"They even made you pay, but you had no money either. In the end, the little guy with you paid the fare!"

The boat girl spoke bluntly and teased:

"Got money for the boat this time?"

"Yes!"

Li Tianqing was full of confidence. This time returning from Quanzhou, the Li family had increased my monthly allowance.

Before, it was just ten taels of silver a month. Now it was fifty taels, plus three taels of Five Yuan Phoenix Spirit Pills and two new sets of clothes each month. When I spent money now, I had plenty of confidence.

The boat girl waited a bit longer. A few more exam-taking scholars arrived, making over ten people on board, ready to set sail. Suddenly, a young monk supporting an old monk came running over, shouting:

"Boatman, wait!"

The boatman used his bamboo pole to secure the pleasure boat and waited for the two.

The young monk and old monk jogged over. Seeing the old monk unsteady, Li Tianqing hurried forward to help. But the boat girl suddenly raised her hand and slapped mine away.

Li Tianqing froze and looked at the old monk. The old monk wore patchwork robes, aged terribly. His face was full of wrinkles stacked in folds, even his under-eye bags layered in wrinkles.

His eyes were dim and cloudy, squinted into slits. He was shrouded in decrepitude, emanating an aura of death from his body.

The boatman extended his bamboo pole. The old monk grabbed it and boarded unsteadily.

The pleasure boat sank sharply. Several scholars cried out in surprise:

"The old monk's body is so heavy!"

The young monk hurried aboard too, supporting the old monk. He said to the boat girl:

"My master is a bit heavy. I'll pay extra."

The boat girl shook her head.

"We charge per head, not by weight."

This old monk's body is so heavy—could he have forged a golden body? Over a hundred years old, yet still able to seal his acupoints, preventing life force from leaking, with Buddhist light around him so underworld messengers can't find him or hook his soul. Only a Chan master from the Great Reported Nation Temple would have such means.

The old monk, who had seemed doddering, now lifted his eyelids with both hands upon hearing this. Sharp light burst from his eyes as he swept a glance at the boat girl and boatman, then laughed.

"The lady donor guessed right. We master and disciple are indeed from the Great Reported Nation Temple.

What brings the lady donor here?"

The boat girl laughed.

"Just a ferrywoman. What else? Which Chan master from the Great Reported Nation Temple is the old monk?"

The old monk lowered his eyelids, covering his lids and eyeballs.

"This poor monk's Dharma name is Bitter Bamboo."

The young monk paid the fare and laughed.

"Has the lady donor been ferrying on the Min River long? Have you ever ferried on the River of Forgetfulness? I heard two underworld messengers went missing there.

Does the miss know?"

Li Tianqing's heart jolted, feeling uneasy.

"Oh no, this boat might not be safe!"

I knew the Great Reported Nation Temple was the most important Buddhist holy site in the Great Ming's Western Ox Divine Continent.

Legend had it that when Eunuch Sanbao went on the western voyages and entered the Dark Sea,

Great Reported Nation Temple's grand monks boarded too, carrying a golden body Bodhisattva to help the fleet fight the sea's demons.

Upon arriving at the Western Ox Divine Continent, the grand monks activated the golden body Bodhisattva, slaying demons and subduing monsters with illustrious battle merits.

Later, Emperor Chengzu rewarded them by granting the continent's highest peak, Golden Summit Snow Ridge, to the Great Reported Nation Temple.

Thus, it became the Buddhist holy site of the Western Ox Divine Continent.

Even more terrifying was the news this young monk revealed: the River of Forgetfulness and the missing underworld messengers, sparking even worse associations in Li Tianqing.

"Could this father-daughter pair originally be underworld messengers from the River of Forgetfulness?"

My heart raced up and down. I thought, "Why would River of Forgetfulness underworld messengers come to the mortal world to ferry? How did the underworld messengers go missing? Will their boat suddenly sail into the underworld?"

The boatman activated a wind talisman and water talisman. The wind talisman billowed the sails, the water talisman propelled the boat toward Gongzhou.

The boat girl laughed.

"You two must be joking. The River of Forgetfulness is an underworld river, with the Bridge of Helplessness above it. How could anyone ferry there?"

She giggled.

"Those ferrying there—could they be living people?"

The exam-taking scholars on the boat all laughed, the atmosphere cheerful.

Someone teased:

"The miss really knows how to joke. You haven't been to the underworld, have you, miss?"

Cold sweat beaded on Li Tianqing's forehead. He inwardly groaned: "These scholars still dare to joke. They have no idea how close to death they are!

These two groups—one is the old monk who escaped underworld messenger pursuit with his golden body, the other fugitive underworld messengers hunting those who should be dead but aren't. Clearly at odds!

The scholars think it's just banter, but Li Tianqing realized the danger and terror within."

The young monk laughed.

"Those ferrying on the River of Forgetfulness naturally aren't living people."

The boatman had always been silent, but now he spoke.

"I've heard the Great Reported Nation Temple's golden body Bodhisattva is extremely powerful. Back then, it slew and suppressed many demons, and even now guards Golden Summit Snow Ridge, keeping those demons from escaping.

How much of the golden body Bodhisattva's cultivation does the grand monk possess?"

The boat girl smiled faintly.

"Even with seven or eight tenths, at the grand monk's advanced age, I'm afraid he can't bring out much of it."

Bitter Bamboo the old monk chuckled.

"Why haven't the missing underworld messengers dared return to the underworld bureaucracy yet? Afraid of punishment for dereliction of duty?"

The young monk laughed.

"So, why did those two underworld messengers derelict their duty?"

The boatman gripped his bamboo pole, which creaked.

The boat girl pressed his hand, smiling radiantly at the old monk and young monk, her upper teeth biting her lower, grinning happily.

Suddenly, darkness fell around them, and the river water churned violently.

Li Tianqing paled like dirt, about to leap into the river to escape, when he saw ghostfire everywhere in the water, darting about wildly. The surrounding heaven and earth abruptly twisted into something bizarre and eerie.

This pleasure boat had clearly been dragged into the underworld!

"Can't escape!"

Despair filled my heart.

At that moment, the old monk chanted "Amitabha." Golden light blazed behind him, manifesting a thirty-three-foot-tall golden body great Buddha. Its light illuminated everything, returning the pleasure boat to the mortal world, still sailing on the Min River.

The boatman stepped forward, about to strike.

The boat girl hurriedly held him back and snapped:

"Well water doesn't offend river water!"

Bitter Bamboo the old monk, advanced in years, didn't dare push it, saying:

"Forget each other in the rivers and lakes."

The four each stepped back, maintaining peace.

Li Tianqing breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. He thought: "Little Ten has no idea how thrilling my experiences have been.

I brushed death's door."

I didn't know that these days, Chen Shi had been going in and out of death's door.

For the next two or three days, the boat girl and her father coexisted peacefully with Bitter Bamboo and his disciple. But after the old monk used his cultivation once, he seemed even more aged, coughing incessantly.

Li Tianqing even worried he'd die of old age on the boat.

Yet, each time Bitter Bamboo coughed, golden light would shine from within his body—most peculiar.

Finally, the pleasure boat delivered them safely to Gongzhou City. The boatman moored, and as Li Tianqing prepared to jump ashore, the boat girl whispered:

"The old monk won't live long. He has no life force left.

If I were you, I'd absolutely not enter the city."

Li Tianqing froze, uncomprehending.

"Greater Vehicle Realm—one already dead but clinging to life in the world. Their death is very frightening."

The boat girl reminded him.

Li Tianqing looked toward Bitter Bamboo and his disciple. The young monk was helping the old monk enter the city.

"When do you think Bitter Bamboo will die, miss? What will happen when he...

Before Li Tianqing finished, he turned back—the pleasure boat had vanished, and even the entire river surface showed no trace of it.

He stared blankly, shook his head, and headed into the city.

Just after entering Gongzhou City, someone approached and chatted me up—a kind-looking, good-hearted man.

"Little brother, here for the exams? Gongzhou City isn't safe these days. Coming from out of town, one slip and you'll be cheated... Your accent sounds like Quanzhou.

You're from Quanzhou? So am I! Fellow townsman!"

Meeting a fellow townsman delighted Li Tianqing.

Soon after, while reminiscing with the townsman at a restaurant, he sold the townsman to the restaurant owner for silver, then headed to the Provincial Education Commissioner's office to register his name.

Passing the notice wall, he saw crowds gathered around arrest warrants.

Li Tianqing glanced over, his smile freezing. The joy from profiting big off selling the townsman vanished.

There was Chen Shi's portrait and name, prominently posted.

Little Ten got in trouble again? What did he do this time?

He squeezed into the crowd and scanned up and down, soon learning the details. He thought: "Little Ten killed seventy-four people after entering the city. Less than a month—though calculating, it should be about that number...

These must have been villainous bandits. Little Ten killed them; they deserved death."

He looked up toward the prefectural yamen:

"Looks like here too, officials collude with bandits to frame Little Ten unjustly."

He went straight to the Provincial Education Commissioner's office, reported his name. The commissioner advisor directed him to rest at the eastern city post station.

Li Tianqing headed to the eastern city post station, thinking: "Little Ten must be hiding everywhere now. I wonder if he'll be able to take the exam this time? Probably not, so the little gold...

A surge of eagerness filled my heart.

"Li the Juren is naturally more promising than Scholar Chen."

Arriving at the post station, he encountered Chen Shi's classmate Hu Feifei and asked about Chen Shi's whereabouts. Hu Feifei no longer remembered Chen Shi's name.

"Who?"

"Chen Shi! Chen Shi from Wencai Academy!"

"I know!"

Hu Feifei giggled.

"We even shared a floor mat to sleep on, but what was his name again?"

"Chen... Hold on."

Li Tianqing felt dazed. He racked his brains but still couldn't recall Chen Shi's name. He cried out in shock:

"I forgot Little Ten's name. There's a divine embryo in the city!"

As he said this, a familiar voice suddenly sounded:

"Tianqing! You're here?"

Li Tianqing was both shocked and delighted. Following the voice, he saw Chen Shi rushing over with his wooden cart and Blackie Pot. He hurried to meet him.

"Tianqing, do you still remember my name?"

Chen Shi gripped his hand and asked.

Li Tianqing said guiltily:

"I just forgot...

Chen Shi whipped around and glared viciously at Blackie Pot. Blackie Pot hung its head, looking like it had done something wrong.

"Blackie Pot, read more books!"

Chen Shi instructed.

Li Tianqing suddenly sensed something and turned. He saw the young monk bringing the old monk to the post station too and froze:

"This young monk is here for the exams too?"

Night was falling. Li Tianqing settled in the post station first. Chen Shi also stayed at the post station, utterly unconcerned about being on the wanted list.

In the middle of the night, someone suddenly shouted in alarm:

"A dead man! A dead man! The old monk is dead!"