286: Chapter 286 Dream Mist, Awakening

The man wore a bamboo hat, clad in a dark robe, his long black hair dancing in the wind.

The figure stood in the white mist, just three or four steps from the eaves. It was unclear when or how he had entered, as if he had simply appeared from the mist in the blink of an eye.

Huiming opened his mouth, but before he could make a sound, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.

The sensation came silently, his consciousness slowly sinking into a deep place, as if trapped in a soft dream, everything becoming blurred.

He still had time for a moment of confusion in his heart.

"This mist... is no ordinary mist...!"

Then he collapsed, leaning against the corridor pillar, and fell into a deep sleep.

The others under the corridor went limp silently at almost the same instant.

The other Disciples on night watch in the courtyard also fell silent one after another, and even the two Disciples guarding the gate slid down along the door pillars, leaning there with steady breathing and peaceful expressions.

In just a short moment, the entire courtyard returned to calm.

Chen Ran stood in the center of the courtyard, slightly raised his bamboo hat, and swept his gaze around with calm eyes.

Twenty-three auras had all sunk into the dreamscape.

He walked to the corridor, glanced at the Disciples, and casually helped a small Disciple who was leaning unsteadily to sit upright against the pillar, so he wouldn't slide down and get hurt.

Then he stood up, closed his eyes, and pushed his [Heavenly Net] perception deeper.

Who in this courtyard had stayed the longest, and who had seen the most?

He didn't need a young Disciple; he wanted someone with seniority, preferably one who understood the case of Master Xuandu from back then.

Chen Ran's perception swept through the courtyard and soon detected a robust aura in the deepest part.

Chen Ran opened his eyes, took a step, and walked toward that place.

...

Jingyan was the Elder leading the team this time, over sixty years old, having practiced at the Bodhi Zen Monastery for nearly forty years.

When he was young, he had a fiery temper, intolerable of even a speck of sand in his eyes, and had defeated all his peers in the Zen Monastery without an equal.

Later, as his age and Realm grew, that fiery temper was smoothed out. He spoke less and less, just sitting, meditating, chanting scriptures, and occasionally guiding Disciples, his days quiet to the point of being almost otherworldly.

Tonight, he was sitting cross-legged in his room as usual.

The mat was spread on the wooden couch, he sat cross-legged, eyes slightly closed, breathing long and even.

The courtyard had long since quieted down.

The Disciples had rested for the night. Jingyan sensed the surroundings slightly, found nothing unusual, and withdrew his perception, continuing to dwell in Zen meditation.

Suddenly, he stopped his movements.

A very subtle feeling, as if something had lightly sliced through the peace of the night from a great distance. It was unclear where it was or what it was.

"Something is wrong."

Forty years of practice gave him an almost instinctive intuition.

Jingyan slowly opened his eyes.

He didn't rush to move, first expanding his perception outward, but suddenly discovered that the entire courtyard was silent, and then his perception came to an abrupt halt.

Jingyan's brow tightened sharply, his palm pressed against his knee as he rose from the mat.

He walked to the window and pushed open the window sash.

White mist rushed toward his face.

Thick strands of white mist wound around the corridor pillars, flowed over the bluestone path in the courtyard, drowning the entire courtyard in a gray, hazy blur, leaving even the old locust tree in the center of the courtyard as nothing more than a vague outline.

Jingyan stared at the mist for a moment, his brow slowly furrowing deeper.

Why would there be such a thick fog in the capital in late autumn?

He probed the mist with his perception, and his expression changed slightly.

So that was where his perception had disappeared earlier. This white mist could actually sever his probing. What on earth was this?!

Jingyan's expression sank completely, and he turned to retrieve the Zen staff from the rack.

Just then, something seemed to move within the white mist.

Clatter.

A large amount of mist surged.

A figure walked out from the misty color.

Jingyan stood by the window, his fingers already hooked onto the Zen staff, his gaze locked tightly on the approaching silhouette.

The man had a straight posture, silent footsteps, wore a dark robe, and had a sword hanging at his waist with a black scabbard.

A bamboo hat pressed down on his head, its rim slightly lowered, shrouding the upper half of his face in shadow. Only a lock of long hair falling beside the hat's tie was gently blown by the night wind.

The hair was pitch black, swaying beside a fair neck, setting off a jawline that was cold and sharp. That half of his face alone was enough to show that the visitor was an exceptionally outstanding young man.

Jingyan did not recognize this person.

He quietly probed the other person with his perception.

The perception fell upon the other person like a stone sinking into the ocean, unable to detect even a shred of aura, just like the mist.

To be able to achieve all this, either this person's concealment Cultivation Technique was profound, or his Realm was crushing his own.

Neither was good news.

Jingyan exerted force, gripped the Zen staff tightly, his face as heavy as iron.

He couldn't probe the slightest detail of this person's background.

Jingyan spoke, his voice kept extremely low: "Who is Your Excellency?"

The figure stopped five or six steps from the window.

Jingyan's brow furrowed even tighter.

"Trespassing on the Bodhi Zen Monastery's residence at night, what is Your Excellency's intention?"

The man raised his head slightly, the shadow of the bamboo hat shifted gently with the movement, and those eyes flashed by in the shadow.

Then the man spoke.

"The people in the courtyard are fine; they will wake up after a sleep."

Jingyan's expression sank: "What have you done to the Disciples of this monastery?"

The other party did not answer, just watching him quietly.

Jingyan said in a deep voice, speaking again, his tone already carrying a hint of severity: "Who exactly is Your Excellency?"

While speaking, a layer of faint golden light had already enveloped Jingyan, wrapping around his whole body.

Jingyan's eyes turned cold, True Qi began to circulate quietly around his body, the golden light turning into streams of golden rays that shrouded the courtyard, finally locking onto that silhouette.

Jingyan's expression was serious, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

Because the other party had no panic at all, just tilting his head slightly at the moment he used his power, as if he didn't care.

The more this was the case, the more Jingyan felt the person in front of him was unfathomable.

He had traveled north and south and experienced many events, but this was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre situation.

Suddenly, the man in the bamboo hat in the distance spoke softly:

"Do you know Master Xuandu?"

As the voice fell, the entire courtyard went silent.

Jingyan, standing by the window with his usually stern face, stiffened suddenly.

He quickly suppressed that bit of abnormality, his expression regaining its composure, his eyes becoming unreadable again.

However, Chen Ran had seen that moment.

There was a chance.

Chen Ran's eyes brightened slightly at that instant.

This person knew Master Xuandu.

Since he knew him, it would be easy to handle. He had been afraid that the forces from the Zen Monastery didn't know about the Master Xuandu case; that would have been troublesome.

Chen Ran slowly tucked this thought into the bottom of his heart, not revealing a single bit on his face, just watching Jingyan calmly, waiting for his reply.

When Jingyan spoke again, his voice was deeper and steadier than before.

"Who is Master Xuandu? Where did you get this name?"

"Heard it by chance."

Jingyan stared at Chen Ran, seeing that the other party still didn't tell the truth,

his eyes were grave, his expression slightly angry.

"Your Excellency had better not toy with this old man!"

"Arhat's Shackles!"

The golden light around Jingyan trembled violently, evolving into golden Buddhist light arms, resembling eighteen Arhats.

The Buddhist light cut through the air, pressing toward the man in the bamboo hat in the center of the field, preparing to control him.

But just at the moment when the golden light gathered and condensed, about to pin him down,

the right hand of the man in the bamboo hat fell from his sleeve.

His five fingers slowly unfolded, grasping the hilt of the sword at his waist.

The next moment,

only a hum was heard.

The pitch-black long blade Soul Emerged like a moonbeam, and in an instant, the golden light filling the sky turned into bubbles.

Boom!

At the same time, an astonishing aura erupted from the blade, blasting a cloud of mist all around.

Moonlight fell obliquely from the rim of the bamboo hat, hitting that length of the blade, rippling out a line of deep light.

Chen Ran raised his head, looked at Jingyan through the white mist, his tone indifferent:

"Then I will have to trouble the Elder to come with me."