"Yu'er, you are always so violent. Not everything should be done with brute force. You can't be so careless because you have great spiritual energy. Think before you act."
"Didn't the ancients say that before overwhelming strength, all schemes are useless. Old man, What can I do, I am just so strong."
Gu Yuze remembered the conversation between him and his teacher as his mind suddenly experienced an incomparably piercing pain.
He could not break the seal but Gu Yuze was sure that he had at least cupdamaged it somewhat. His entire effort had not been completely useless.
He pulled away from his sea of consciousness and groaned. Tears pricked his eyes as he held his stomach- he was starving. He had used so much of the stored energy in his body, he was overcome with hunger.
He hurriedly stood up from the bed, almost falling as he did so. 24 dollars should get him some kind of food right?
It should. Gu Yuze quickly calculated in his mind. This was December 2014—twenty-four dollars should have been enough for a meal, a drink, and some snacks.
With that thought in mind, he made his way over to the door and opened it. There was a corridor in front of him and Gu Yuze made his way to the end of the corridor before stepping outside.
It seemed to be some kind of dormitory, a bungalow painted in a blue and brown color, Not appealing at all.
There was no student around the area and Gu Yuze frowned, the lack of memory made his situation even more miserable. As he walked around, he just continued to see similar bungalows with the blue and brown paint job.
This could not be a Temple, it had to be a Sect. His stomach growled and he gritted his teeth. He had walked for more than twenty minutes and had only seen bungalows upon bungalows.
Temples were different from Sects, not only did they occupy higher position, they were quite exclusive. His temple, Jiangnan Temple, had existed for more than five thousand years and only accepted ten disciples each year. Not like these sects with so much students that he had to walk through a maze of bungalows just to find a dining area.
He struggled to find a silver lining, at least if they had this amount of students, that means that the dining area should be close by, big and full of diverse foods. He could only hope.
He walked by, looking with interest at the surroundings, trying to gleam some sort of information from the paved cobblestone path or the way the bungalow was roofed.
Gu Yuze walked for a while before he suddenly stopped. He could perceive the aroma of some kind of curry and he could hear some noise in the distance. An excited expression appeared on Gu Yuze's face.
The little red brought color to the pale face, making him look a little more human.
A cafeteria or a refectory should be quite close by. Human mind worked in the most mysterious of ways. Just the knowledge was enough for Gu Yuze's eyes to lighten and the hunger that was gnawing at his stomach to reduce somewhat.
Two Taoist student wearing the similar blue robe with a brown sash walked past him, they were laughing and joking with each other but the moment that they saw him, they stopped laughing. Disdain graced their expression and they soon hurried away.
Gu Yuze had been about to ask them a question, but when he saw their expression, he stopped. In his past life, it had been fear, in this life, it was disdain. Either way, there was something that prevented him from integrating with the rest of his age mates.
It was fine. He was quite used to it.
Besides the silence that had haunted this place since he stepped out seemed to have been slowly shattered as more voices sounded up ahead.
It was the same expression that graced the faces of the young men and women that saw him. And for those who did not look at him with disdain, there was the same indifference one would have in their gaze when they see an ant.
Gu Yuze reached the cafeteria and smiled. Before he fought the little ghost king, he had been in a closed door meditation for 30 days so just the aroma of the food was making him happy enough for to ignore the situation.
The moment he entered the Cafeteria, the noisy hall suddenly became silent, their gazes moving up to look at him before it became even noisier than before.
They were gossiping about him, Gu Yuze knew this.
It was not as if nobody had ever gossiped about him before but they never dared do it in front of him so wantonly. Some people even pointed at him before whispering to their friends.
Gu Yuze paused in his step for a few seconds before he walks down to the serving station.
There were two men and a women at the other side of the transparent glass. The mundanes in the sect were contract workers who did their shift and leave, they did not live in the sect and so so they were always unfamiliar with the sect gossips and information.
The man closest to him smiled, "You are right on time. This is the last chocolate cookie."
Gu Yuze arched his brows but did not speak—he just pushed his tray forward so the man could drop the chocolate cookie. He looked at the various assortment of food trays, some had already reached the last straw and against his desire, he soon came to the undesirable conclusion that there was no meat.
No chicken, no beef, no fish.
Gu Yuze blinked and then looked at the smiling man, "Has the chicken finished?" He waited with almost bated breath for the answer.
"This student. What are you talking about? We have never served Chicken here." He looked around guilty.
This morning, he had smuggled in some chicken for some students. He could not help it, the money that they offered was very attractive. It was a one time deal.
Fear entered his eyes and the kind gaze he used to look at Gu Yuze instantly changed.
No chicken. Great.
Just great.
The man in front of him stopped serving him so Gu Yuze helped himself. He was just too hungry to think too much about the no meat menu.
He scooped the ginger spring soup until it filled his bowl. Gu Yuze was not the kind to discriminate. As long as it was in the serving bowl, it entered his plate.
Perhaps if he was not so hungry, Gu Yuze might have careful as to not raise any flag from those that might know the little ghost king but Gu Yuze was seriously too hungry to think about them.
What was the saying again? A hungry man is a careless man? He was not sure. He heaped the grilled lemon-lime corn salad so much that it almost reached his nose. His tray was so heavy but Gu Yuze persisted and still added the bowl of peanut sauce soba with crispy tofu.
The aroma was so heavenly that his stomach responded in kind. Carefully carrying the tray, he headed toward an empty table and chair when his foot caught on something.
Gu Yuze opened his mouth to recite a chant but his spiritual energy was so depleted. He stumbled over, falling face down on his tray full of food.
"Sorry! I did not see you there." The woman's voice was falsely high laced with both a heavy dose of disdain and cruel mockery. Those around her chuckled, and it seemed to spur her own.
"You should watch where you are going, Senior Brother." The respectful greeting seemed to take an even different meaning as she drew it out.
Those around her laugh while teasingly telling her to stop.
Gu Yuze raised his face from the bowl of ginger soup. There is a sutra that Gu Yuze was punished to copy more than 50 times whenever he misbehaved.
"Buddha said, There is no peace in a restless heart. Anger clouds the mind; where does tranquility arise? Only through patience, can the flames of wrath be extinguished: Then you will find serenity and embrace true wisdom."
What a beautiful sutra! He calmly wiped his face on the ugly blue robe with a brown sash. He could see the young woman clearly, she looked around 19 years old and had a beautiful appearance. She had a smirk on her face as she looked at him.
He stood up and in the next second, Gu Yuze smiled- then pounced on the woman.