Mu Jialing took a few steps toward Bai Qingwu, his figure casting a shadow in her eyes, blocking the fierce sunlight above.
Hope erupted in Bai Qingwu's gaze. She scrambled forward, clinging tightly to his legs.
"Fózǐ, I know you like Pei Xianqiao. She would never be happy following Shen Yuefu. You are truly the best choice for her!"
Mu Jialing glanced back at the retreating figure of Yao Ranran and then met Yuan Kong's astonished gaze. Turning to Bai Qingwu, he asked with puzzlement,
"Are you talking about Pei Daoyou?"
"Fózǐ, I know what you are thinking. This is between us, I will never tell a third person. Even if they overhear, it does not matter. According to the plot, your Master would have long guessed your feelings for Pei Xianqiao!"
Bai Qingwu poured out everything she knew, pinning all her hope on Mu Jialing.
Yuan Kong looked at her, completely baffled. What could she possibly know? This was the first he had heard of it.
Seeing Yuan Kong's gaze, Mu Jialing immediately realized Bai Qingwu was lying. His feelings toward Pei Xianqiao were only that of Daoyou camaraderie; there was no romantic affection as Bai Qingwu claimed.
Was she trying to defile his Buddhist heart in order to save his life?
Bai Qingwu did not know that Yao Ranran had unintentionally shifted Mu Jialing's attitude toward Pei Xianqiao.
She rambled on, attempting to stir a possessive desire in Mu Jialing, hoping to draw him onto her side. As she spoke endlessly, a cold Buddhist seal entered her mind. Bai Qingwu stared at Mu Jialing in shock.
"What was that just now?"
Mu Jialing looked at her with curiosity.
"That is a Heart-Calming Seal from the Buddhist order. Your thoughts were chaotic. Perhaps this seal will help you regain clarity."
Bai Qingwu's eyes widened.
"My body has no problems. What consequences will this seal have for me? You…"
"It will only make you calm for a while."
Mu Jialing watched as she slowly collapsed and casually formed a Buddhist seal around her.
"Master, I observe that her soul and body are not in harmony. She speaks strangely at times. Perhaps she was abandoned by the Holy Palace because she is a possession-seized person."
"Amitabha, you are correct. The female lay devotee is infused with miasma and entangled by voodoo. She must have suffered backlash from possession. The Dao cannot be defied; her corruption and current plight are a punishment from Heaven."
Yuan Kong moved his beads compassionately, slowly withdrawing his gaze from Bai Qingwu, closing his eyes.
Mu Xin looked at Yuan Kong's profile through the ship's curtain, smiling.
"You two disciples of the Master actually have some real skill."
Yuan Kong murmured Amitabha softly, offering no reply.
Mu Jialing exchanged a glance with Mu Xin across the curtain. Only when the flying boat landed did they follow Yao Ranran into Guan Fan Temple.
Returning to Guan Fan Temple, Yao Ranran felt a surge of unfamiliar emotion.
"The spirit realm's miasma has engulfed the temple. Where have the young novices gone? Are they still hidden inside?"
She extended her divine sense to sweep across the entire temple.
Mu Jialing closed his eyes with compassion.
"Amitabha, the miasma has spread, and the disciples of Guan Fan Temple have been captured by spirit realm cultivators. In such circumstances, they are likely imprisoned in fire cells.
Please, Xiānzhǔ, save these innocent disciples. Guan Fan Temple holds tens of thousands of spirit stones offered by the people. Their devotion deserves the Dao's blessing at this moment!"
Yuan Kong opened his compassionate eyes, tears glinting as he looked upon the sentient beings.
Yao Ranran gazed around in shock.
Besides the thick miasma, she could sense no living presence.
Mu Xin stared at the oppressive miasma, recalling the past.
"When the spirit realm's miasma first arose, my sect looked just like this. Until now, I may be the only survivor."
His tone was calm, almost flat.
Yet Yao Ranran and Yuan Kong sensed profound sorrow hidden beneath his words.
Yao Ranran raised her hands, cupping several elegant Azure Lotus, slowly pushing them into the miasma.
"Let them clear a path for us. Guan Fan Temple is so prosperous; it must not fall to greedy spirit realm cultivators!"
She spoke with righteous anger.
Mu Xin lowered his head beside her, muttering,
"Speaking of greed, compared to those spirit realm cultivators, you are no less…"
Yuan Kong silently agreed.
Mu Jialing defended, stunned,
"This is a righteous act!"
"Only you would think so," Mu Xin said, looking at him with sympathetic amusement.
The Fózǐ is so easily deceived, still oblivious!
Moments later, the miasma vanished as if it had never existed. Warm sunlight bathed the ground, and the golden Buddha statues smiled serenely upon the world.
Yuan Kong opened his hands, cradling two strands of sunlight.
"The sky clears over Guan Fan Temple!"
Yao Ranran shook her head.
"Not enough. I've scanned the surroundings. If we do not completely remove this miasma, it will spread again."
"What should we do? Can we sweep it all away?"
Mu Jialing looked at her seriously.
Yao Ranran turned her gaze to the four ferocious beasts and smiled.
"If my spiritual energy can disperse them, then let these four colossal beasts bring the next rain."
Mu Jialing blinked.
"What rain?"
Yao Ranran smiled faintly.
"Petal rain."
She floated above the four beasts' massive heads. Flowers sprouted from her fingertips, golden and Azure Lotus intertwining. Amid the dazzling brilliance, lotus blossoms carpeted the ground of Guan Fan Temple. The Buddha statues smiled, emitting soft golden light.
Yuan Kong stood frozen, staring at the Buddha statues' smiles in silence.
Mu Jialing suddenly knelt before the statues, his gaze fixed not on them, but on the radiant golden lotus.
Mu Xin exclaimed in awe,
"Even the power I sought for years in Black Mountain cannot compare to the bloom of a single lotus here. The Buddha statues smiling at Guan Fan Temple—this is a scene unseen for tens of thousands of years!"
Yuan Kong knelt, his expression grave as he bowed to the statues.
"Amitabha. The lower realm will not fail at our hands. The chosen girl has appeared. She will save the world, blessed by the Dao, driving away outside cultivators!"
Mu Xin stared at the blooming lotus, murmuring,
"If she had been born in the spirit realm, I would never have had to spend so much effort researching this cultivation method."
"Once, I thought the same," a wisp of azure smoke rose beside Mu Xin. An Xiaolin smiled faintly at him.
Mu Xin looked at him silently.
"Do you know how terrifying it is for a dead person to appear like this?"
An Xiaolin smiled.
"Likewise, your appearance does not frighten my obedient disciple. How could I possibly scare her?"
"So only your disciple here is human?" Mu Xin stared at him.