Please call me Huanxian

Chapter 222: Stopping the Road and Asking about Beauty and Ugliness

Xu Yuanchang pretended to be calm and straightened his robes. He cupped his fists towards the giant turtle that was taller than a five-story building, and tried to put on a natural and polite smile on his face. He said, "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

He wanted to ask the question in an elegant and proper way, but the blankness in his mind took up all the ink.

His tone was dry, copying the rabbit's original demonstration words.

Song Shuqian and his companions all smiled. Facing a giant turtle that could not be cooked in a pot, they had to maintain due respect.

A monk can be tough but he must be smart, and reading people's expressions is a basic survival skill.

The giant turtle stopped two miles away, and the ubiquitous oppression disappeared. The lake breeze was blowing, the water was surging, and the two black-sailed boats rose and fell with the water, but the barrier was still there.

The few of them suddenly felt comfortable and relaxed, and looked at the giant turtle with more awe.

"I want to ask you, am I ugly or pretty?"

The giant turtle's voice was deep and old, and he spoke slowly and clearly.

Those turtle eyes showed indifference as if they had seen through everything in the world. They seemed to be looking at the tiny people below, or as if they were observing the sky through the water. They were unfathomable.

However, the questions asked were so naive that several people found them very difficult and they didn't know how to answer them.

Meng Caiqin first cast a gag spell on her little niece. Children speak without restraint and will not beat around the bush. She was worried that Meng Yiyi would blurt out the truth and anger the mysterious giant turtle, causing the entire ship to capsize and be destroyed.

Xu Yuanchang couldn't grasp the true intentions of the moody giant monster, so he had to ask the Rabbit God who was thinking silently in the ring space for advice. This was simply a life-threatening question.

"That old guy's name is 'Yuan Zhu'. I remember he went to the upper realm a long time ago."

Li Dan's eyes looked very serious, and he said: "Yuan Zhu has fallen into the trouble of 'no self'. I don't know which old bald man lied to him. This question is about asking the heart to seek the truth, which is a very complicated method. One must first forget the past and then forget oneself. I don't know which step he has fallen into?
“In fact, talking about beauty or ugliness, good or evil, are all partialities of the Tao.

"The Confucians call the Great Way 'hidden', which contains the essence of not being seen or heard; the Buddhists call it 'that', which contains the truth of neither good nor evil; the Taoists call it 'the mysterious gate', which contains the secret of not being thought or worried.

"Perhaps Yuan Zhu's cultivation level has been improving, but he couldn't find a breakthrough, so he sought advice from a great monk, trying to find relief in other ways. I don't know what magical power he used to escape from the upper realm. You can reply to him from the perspective of 'inaction' and 'nature'. It has nothing to do with right or wrong, but you can't be perfunctory. He is not fully awake at this time, and he is judging entirely by instinct."

This is the most troublesome part.

Li Dan couldn't give an answer that he knew of, fearing that he might end up making things worse.

The giant tortoise is the most unpredictable in its current state.

Xu Yuanchang's mind was working quickly. Since Fellow Daoist Li had given him a direction, he would not answer irrelevant questions.

Otherwise, if the giant turtle takes a nap and cannot be awakened, a hundred years may pass. Do they have to stay in the barrier for another hundred years?

No matter how easy a demon is to talk to, it is still a life-threatening threat.

What's more, the giant turtle in front of him didn't look so kind.

Nan Baolin tentatively replied: "Senior, you have a majestic appearance, with bones as high as mountains. You are not simply 'good-looking', but you are unforgettable and leave a deep impression on people."

The giant turtle felt heavy eyelids and empty, as if drowsy after hearing the tame compliment.

Meng Caiqin gritted her teeth and said, "Senior, your appearance does not meet the standard of being good-looking in our human eyes."

She couldn't say the word "ugly" no matter what, although everyone understood what she meant.

How can we force everyone to say "it looks good" against their conscience?

The giant turtle slowly sank into the water, obviously dissatisfied with the answer.

Liu Xianfeng was too timid to look directly at the giant turtle, so she looked towards the young master, hoping that he could turn the tide as always.

Xu Yuanchang had already sorted out his thoughts and said loudly: "Senior, swans don't need to bathe every day to be white, and crows don't need to paint every day to be black. Black and white are like appearance, which are innate, and there is no need to distinguish between beauty and ugliness. In the world of crows, swans are guilty because they are different in black and white. Beauty, ugliness, black and white, let it be, don't worry about it."

The giant turtle opened his eyelids, looked at the first human who greeted him, and said, "So, do you think I am ugly or beautiful?"

He still dwells on this issue.

Xu Yuanchang felt his back tingling and his whole body was uncomfortable. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "In my opinion, you are ugly and have nothing to do with beauty."

The rabbit told him to answer according to his heart, which was direct enough.

After telling the truth, Xu Yuanchang felt even more cautious, as if he was sitting on pins and needles, and his days were like years.

The giant turtle looked up at the sky and said in a barely audible voice: "In other people's world, I am ugly."

The invisible barrier that enveloped everyone disappeared.

The giant turtle continued to sink and asked, "Are you going to the other side of the lake?"

Xu Yuanchang clasped his fists and said, "Yes!"

He didn't know whether his answer satisfied the giant turtle, he only knew that they were out of trouble and had to leave as soon as possible.

Getting along with someone with a huge difference in strength is so stressful that I can hardly stand. It's really a test of my state of mind.

The three-legged turtle sank into the lake along with the small island and trees on its back, stirring up a huge whirlpool. Circles of waves spread out, shaking the two sailed boats together so violently that they almost fell apart.

"Hold on!"

"Paddle to the left to avoid the waves."

"Meng Yiyi, you guys stay in the cabin and don't come out and cause trouble."

Everyone was busy for a while, and when they rowed the boat away and stabilized it, they were surprised to see the mountains and lakeshore in the distance.

"That... that's 'Huilongdu'. We are on the other side of the lake."

Meng Caiqin recognized the unique stone mountain standing by the lake that looked like a dragon turning its head, and exclaimed in surprise.

It’s amazing! After a journey of a thousand miles, they only made the first step and already reached the other side.

It shouldn't be considered cheating, because they met a master.
Of course, it is better not to encounter such a terrifying opportunity.

Rabbit listened to the discussion of the crowd, but did not comment. This little thing was just a piece of cake for Yuan Zhu, who was good at water magic. He asked, "Did Yuan Zhu give you any benefit?"

The answer given by Daoyou Xu, which uses objects to represent meaning, is desirable and can arouse Yuan Zhu's thinking.

It's only right for Yuan Zhu to give some benefits.

Xu Yuanchang replied: "No."

He looked slightly stunned, listened carefully for a moment, and added: "I don't know what magical power Senior Yuan Zhu used to transmit a message to me just now. It didn't sound like telepathy, but a voice from the bottom of my heart, saying, 'Recite my real name, and you can get rid of your troubles once.'"

"That's called 'heart language', a higher level magical power than voice transmission."

The rabbit then asked, "Did Yuan Zhu tell you his real name? What was it? He was very generous this time. Next time, if you encounter a provocation from a fifth-floor guy, or if you don't like someone, just call Yuan Zhu by his real name. Don't waste your chance on a fourth-floor guy. It's not worth it."

Xu Yuanchang didn't know what was going on, so he was unwilling to easily reveal Yuan Zhu's real name. He said, "Daoyou Li, if I let you out and call Senior Yuan Zhu over, then we can both be even and let each other go, and be free."

"Haha, it's such a good thing. Please let me out. Thank you in advance."

The rabbit clapped its front paws on the ground and laughed exaggeratedly.

Xu Yuanchang immediately understood that Yuan Zhu’s promise of “solving the problem once” might not involve fighting and killing.

Instead, it is "resolved" by other magical means, rather than being "solved" fundamentally and thoroughly.

There was a huge gap between him and the top masters, and their ways of thinking were completely different. The rabbit deliberately misled his thoughts, making it difficult to tell the difference between true and false. He said, "I'm just kidding you."

He would not let the rabbit out of the ring space until he found a foolproof solution.

The cunning Evil Beast is different from Zeng Wanglou and Chang Wuhui. He has tried all kinds of overt and covert tests, but he cannot find the common interests between him and Rabbit, or he cannot find out Rabbit's position. This is the most terrifying thing.

The rabbit ignored Fellow Daoist Xu's cold joke and muttered, "Strange, how could he get to the lower world? There was no thunder from the sky, so what method did he use..." He seemed to be very confused about this problem and couldn't figure it out.

Xu Yuanchang didn't talk much to the rabbit, as he didn't need to row the boat anymore.

Song Shuqian and Nan Baolin used long oars to row the boat high into the air. They couldn't wait to get ashore as the lake was too unsafe.

Meng Yiyi used her hands and feet to get out of the cabin, pulled her aunt, pointed at her own mouth and cried anxiously. She was gagged and couldn't speak. Liu Xianfeng laughed and interrupted her deliberately.

By the time Meng Caiqin smiled and lifted the spell, the boat had already rushed onto the beach like flying.

Meng Yiyi yelled, "Aunt Liu, you bad guy, stop!"

Jumped onto the beach to chase Liu Xianfeng.

It was not yet noon, and after resting for half an hour in Huilongdu, monks could be seen flying overhead from time to time.

The group continued on their journey, passing through two hundred miles of forest and mountains, walking out of the endless mountain area, and looking for a place to camp and rest for the night.

In the afternoon of the next day, the group arrived at Donglaifang Market, fifty miles north of Donglai City in Jianshan Kingdom.

Unlike the Daning Dynasty, the Jianshan Kingdom strictly prohibits independent cultivators from living in the same city with ordinary people.

Outside each county city there are markets of varying sizes. Independent cultivators can enter the city, but they are not allowed to disturb mortals. There are many rules and restrictions. Sect cultivators can serve as city supervisors of mortal cities, etc.

Nan Baolin and Meng Caiqin had traveled to Jianshan Kingdom and were familiar with Donglai Market.

The group walked up to the mountaintop market, along the ancient bluestone streets, and came to an ancient building with a plaque that read "Fangwu Pavilion".

They met Manager Hu from the Fangwu Pavilion, a slick fat man in his forties. After a conversation, Manager Hu collected the pass documents from everyone, wrote out a receipt, and said with a smile that he would hand it over to Pavilion Master Ling to have it stamped as soon as possible. He asked everyone to wait in the market for a day or two.

Nan Baolin took us to find an inn and rent a guesthouse to stay in.

"That fat guy is smiling but hiding a knife behind his smile. I'm afraid things won't go smoothly. They don't dare to blatantly prevent other dynasties' monks from taking the hard way, but they often create some obstacles, calling it "sharpening". It's normal to delay for ten days or half a month."

"Let's take a day off. Tomorrow, Brother Xu and I will go and urge them. If they raise any problems, we should deal with them face to face. We can't waste too much time here. Once we get the customs clearance documents, we can walk through the border of Jianshan Country without worrying about being stopped and checked."

"This is the only way. If we need to replenish any supplies, we will take turns going out to buy them. Caiqin, you keep an eye on Yiyi first. Don't let her and the other two kids go out. They are too conspicuous."

"Understood. I'll keep an eye on her."

After a while of discussion, Xu Yuanchang and Nan Baolin walked out of the guest house first and went to stroll on the street in Fangshi.

Liu Xianfeng was not comfortable showing up in public, so she hid in a bamboo box behind the young master. She liked the hustle and bustle.

Walking into a large old shop, Xu Yuanchang asked the waiter who came up to him, "Do you have any third-level fantasy stones or Taihe stones for sale?"

With his third-level cultivation, he can go anywhere in Dingzhou except when he has to avoid bumping into fourth-level masters.

Don't worry about the group of Qi Induction Realm and Qi Consolidation Realm cultivators in the shop who are secretly watching you.

There is no need to hide your identity, status, what you say, and what you do.

The clerk bowed and smiled, "Senior, our shop doesn't have third-level fantasy stones and Taihe stones for sale. Treasures like these are exchanged for treasures at special small markets in the capital. Why don't you look for something else?"

Nan Baolin transmitted his voice, "Brother Xu, the third-level Fantasy Stone and the Taihe Stone are both rare treasures. If you have similar treasures, I will ask the sect to help you keep an eye out for news from Fengxian City."

Xu Yuanchang sent a message to Nan Baolin to explain that he was just asking casually and there was no need to send a special message back.

The rabbit in the ring looked down on them: "What a bullshit treasure! When the third-level fantasy stone and Taihe stone fell to the ground, I was too lazy to bend down to pick them up. Under the Wuya Lake, there is an ancient road used by the Wuya Sect to set up the formation. There are many third-level fantasy stones inlaid as pebbles."

Xu Yuanchang ignored the rabbit's attempt to tempt him to search for treasure at the bottom of Wuya Lake.

He would never take risks for treasures. So what if he didn't have a third-level phantom stone? Wouldn't he just go through the hard work?
I wandered around the shop and then walked out.

After wandering around for more than half an hour, he bought dry food, dried vegetables, clothes, shoes and other items for Zeng Shanlang in the grocery store. The casual cultivators living in the market town cannot practice fasting, and they have to eat ordinary food every day.

Nan Baolin went back to the guest house first, replacing Meng Caiqin and Song Shuqian to go out and buy things.

Xu Yuanchang walked alone into a restaurant on the street with a plaque that read "Jiyue Tower". It was not yet time for dinner, and there were two waiters chatting in the hall. When they saw a customer coming in, they hurriedly stood up and went forward to greet him.

"Please tell Shopkeeper Jiang that the demon hunter from Daning wants to see you."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

One of the guys agreed and hurried to the backyard.

Xu Yuanchang did not sit down, but looked around at this place where the monster hunters were stationed.

Before setting out from Bailin Valley, he messaged Heixiayi about his journey through the bitter path. Thinking that Heixiayi had a wide circle of friends, he asked him if he knew any monster catcher in Donglaifang Market of Jianshan Country.

Hei Xiayi has been the shopkeeper of a monster catcher for more than 20 years. He has traveled to many places and actually knows quite a few monster catchers from Jianshan Kingdom and Shanyang Kingdom.

She played the role of a good host and entertained fellow monster hunters who had traveled to Daning. She still kept in touch with some of them and sent them their names and places. Jiang Quan, the shopkeeper of Jiyue Tower in Donglaifang City, was one of them.

All monster hunters in the world are one family.

It is still very useful when you are out.

In less than a cup of tea, Jiang Quan led the two to the front hall, introduced themselves to Xu Yuanchang, and looked at their identity cards.

Hearing that it was Hei Xiayi who introduced him, Jiang Quan laughed and said, "Of course, the brother of Hei Zhanggui is Jiang's brother. Let's go upstairs to the elegant room to talk."

He also introduced two monster catchers from the Sanzhan Tower to Xu Yuanchang.

The group went upstairs, and the table was set.

The four of them were drinking and chatting when they heard Xu Yuanchang taking the child along the Kuxin Road and passing by the Donglai Market. Jiang Quan immediately understood what he meant and said that he would ask Pavilion Master Ling of the Fangwu Pavilion to have tea in the evening. It would be a piece of cake for him to be flexible.

He also readily wrote a document, saying that he was asking Xu Yuanchang to assist the demon hunters in Donglai County in investigating a case and that he would take care of him when he was out. He also stamped it with a seal, indicating that this was a temporary identity with a time limit.

The banquet was a great pleasure for both the guests and the hosts.

The next morning, Xu Yuanchang and Nan Baolin came to Fangwu Pavilion and met Manager Hu again.

Manager Hu took out four passes with stamps and signatures, took back the issued slips, and enthusiastically escorted the two men out the door.

Nan Baolin returned to the guest house and was still muttering, "The sun is rising from the west. They must have felt guilty, or their heads were caught in the door. They let us go without any 'hardening'. It's really weird."

The other two passes were handed to Meng Caiqin and Song Shuqian.

Meng Caiqin glanced at Xu Yuanchang, who was smiling but not saying anything, and let Nan Baolin be suspicious.

She traveled with Xu Daoyou all the way and witnessed many miraculous things that Xu Daoyou did.

Fellow Daoist Xu stayed outside alone yesterday until dark before returning. He must have gone to meet the local monster catcher.

However, she had not expected that Fellow Daoist Xu was so influential that the Fangwu Pavilion did not add any difficulty and directly let them pass. No wonder Nan Baolin suspected that there was something fishy going on.

"Knock knock knock", there was a knock on the door outside the guest house.

There is a protective formation set up by Meng Caiqin in the courtyard, which can block outside prying eyes without affecting the external investigation from inside.

After several people used their spiritual sense to check, they looked at each other and shook their heads.

The person who came was a monk from the Third Floor. He was wearing a black Taoist robe and had an unfamiliar face.

"Da Ning Chao Zhuang is also a joke. I am sorry to disturb you fellow Taoists by coming to visit me."

……

(End of this chapter)