51: Chapter 51 Buddha’s heart is stained with dust

Lu Xingyun was in the neighboring province. In the old days before the spiritual energy resurgence, it would only take an hour by high-speed rail to cross the provincial border and reach Jiangcheng in Jingchu. Now, that time had been cut in half.

At the foot of the mountain, a travel-worn Lu Xingyun met Gu Xiao, who had been waiting for a long time.

"Old Gu, what is it exactly? You called me here in such a rush." Lu Xingyun stepped forward quickly, a hint of confusion between his brows.

Gu Xiao hadn't been very direct on the phone; he just told Lu Xingyun that he was a bit busy and needed Lu Xingyun to help out.

Previously, Gu Xiao and Li Xiuyuan had joined forces to help Lu Xingyun solve a major problem at Dongting Lake, so when he received the call, he hadn't hesitated for a moment and immediately bought a ticket to rush over.

"Let's go, let's go. We'll talk while we walk."

Gu Xiao looked hurried as he pulled Lu Xingyun toward the mountain path.

Along the way, Gu Xiao briefly introduced the strange situation at Phoenix Temple.

"Li Xiuyuan noticed that the old monk wasn't quite right, but neither he nor I could investigate, so we came to you."

Gu Xiao's expression appeared somewhat awkward, as if he had some unspeakable difficulty.

Lu Xingyun was very straightforward and asked, "So that's how it is. Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Gu Xiao didn't rush to the point, but instead eagerly took out a cigarette and lit it for Lu Xingyun himself. That fawning attitude made Lu Xingyun feel quite satisfied.

With the cigarette in his mouth, Lu Xingyun pointed at Gu Xiao and laughed, "Old Gu really knows how to handle things."

"That's for sure."

Gu Xiao smiled apologetically and tentatively said, "The reason I called you here is actually just to ask you to use the Soul-Dispatching Talisman to check the situation. The spiritual soul and the resentment in your Soul-Dispatching Talisman are similar, you see…"

As he listened, the smile on Lu Xingyun's face gradually froze.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared fixedly at Gu Xiao, "You mean you want me to use the Soul-Dispatching Talisman?"

"Impossible!"

Lu Xingyun's reaction was incredibly intense, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He retreated several steps, and the cigarette in his hand was thrown to the ground and quickly stubbed out.

"I knew you were acting like a woman the whole way here, waffling and refusing to speak clearly. So this is what you were planning. No way. I'm leaving. I can't help you with this; find someone else."

"Don't be like that, Lu Xingyun. In the entire Jiantian Bureau, among the practitioners of the Talismanic Dao, you're the only one who can draw the Soul-Dispatching Talisman. Please help out."

"Help with what? The spiritual soul in the Soul-Dispatching Talisman is my old man. You can't expect me to risk my old man's spiritual soul, can you? Would I even be human then!"

The reason Gu Xiao was being so humble was precisely because of the special nature of this Soul-Dispatching Talisman.

The Soul-Dispatching Talisman was a specialty of the Donghua Sect. Of the branches derived from the three major talisman sects, each had its own unique skills, and the Donghua Sect's Soul-Dispatching Talisman was one of them.

A spiritual soul is sealed within the talisman, using the soul as a guide to track, find people, or investigate objects—it never failed.

And the spiritual soul sealed in Lu Xingyun's Soul-Dispatching Talisman was his father, who had passed away many years ago.

Lu Xingyun's father was also a disciple of the Donghua Sect. Before he died, he sealed his last bit of spiritual soul into the talisman as a family heirloom for his son. Lu Xingyun kept that talisman close to his body, treasuring it more than his own life, and could never bear to use it.

After all, every time the Soul-Dispatching Talisman is used, the spiritual soul within fades significantly.

At this moment, Lu Xingyun was already walking down the mountain with a dark face. Gu Xiao chased after him but didn't dare to pull him back.

"Brother Lu, just consider it a favor. How about this: as long as this is handled, I'll take you to Xiting, and I'll pay for everything!"

Lu Xingyun's footsteps stopped abruptly. He turned his head and stared at Gu Xiao with a complex expression for three seconds. "Xiting?"

"Yes, Xiting."

"The most expensive tier?"

"The most expensive one."

"The therapists have to be young."

"All eighteen!"

Lu Xingyun was silent for a moment, then waved his hand and turned back to walk up the mountain. "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

Gu Xiao almost couldn't keep up with his pace. "Weren't you refusing to do it just a moment ago?"

"Nonsense. If you had told me about these perks earlier, I wouldn't have been dragging my feet."

Hearing about the free spa treatment, Lu Xingyun even took charge, actively urging him on. "Hurry up, hurry up."

The two arrived at the gate of Phoenix Temple, passed through the main hall, and quietly reached the backyard.

The light was still on in the meditation room where Zhi Zhen was resting. Li Xiuyuan was coiled on the roof of the main hall, mist wrapping around his form, his golden vertical pupils glowing faintly in the night.

Lu Xingyun looked up and made eye contact with Li Xiuyuan on the roof, nodding slightly to acknowledge him.

Immediately after, he took out a neatly folded yellow talisman paper from his inner pocket. The talisman paper was already very old, its edges frayed, but the cinnabar runes on it were still bright red, looking as if they had just been drawn.

He held the talisman in his palm, closed his eyes, and stood for a moment, whispering something under his breath.

Then, he tossed the talisman into the air. The talisman ignited without fire, transforming into a ball of pale golden light.

From within the light, a blurry outline of an old man appeared.

After the old man appeared, he hovered in front of Lu Xingyun, staring at him with a dignified expression.

"Old man, do me a favor."

Lu Xingyun felt a bit guilty and didn't dare to face the old man. He pinched his fingers into a spell and shouted in a low voice, "Go!"

The golden light drifted into Zhi Zhen's meditation room, suddenly dimmed, and fell into Zhi Zhen's shadow.

Lu Xingyun closed his eyes, borrowing his father's spiritual soul to dive into that darkness.

The golden light traveled through the darkness like a fish swimming into the deep sea.

Immediately after, sealed memories surged in like a tide.

He saw Phoenix Temple from many years ago. Two little novices were sitting on the threshold sharing steamed buns. The older one stuffed the bigger one to the younger one, who ate with his mouth full, smiling until his eyes curved into crescents.

The scene shifted. The old abbot was lying on the bed, on the verge of death, with his two disciples kneeling by the bed. The old abbot entrusted Phoenix Temple to the senior brother and handed a letter to the junior brother.

Subsequent scenes continued to emerge: Zhi Zhen sitting alone in the meditation room of Nanhu Temple, looking at the letters sent by his senior brother; and the senior brother visiting Zhi Zhen every year, bringing many things. Zhi Zhen would always take them with a smile and see him off with a smile.

Every time the senior brother left, Zhi Zhen's shadow would grow a bit thicker.

That was resentment.

He didn't understand why the senior brother took over Phoenix Temple, or why he was sent to Nanhu Temple. He didn't think he was any worse than his senior brother.

Resentment had been building up in his heart. Zhi Zhen's attainments in Buddhism were not low, and he could expound on scriptures very well, but the resentment had not dissipated at all.

Just then, a black shadow appeared beside Zhi Zhen. The shadow whispered behind him, the voice sounding like countless people speaking at once, overlapping.

"Your ability is not worse than his. That old monk was blind and just didn't appreciate you."

"You should hate that old monk, and you should hate your senior brother. Without them, why would you be stuck in a place like Nanhu Temple?"

"The incense at Phoenix Temple is getting more and more prosperous, so prosperous it's about to overflow. That should have been yours."

Those voices had an extreme seductive power, constantly draining away Zhi Zhen's reason.

Zhi Zhen opened his eyes suddenly, his expression ferocious, veins popping on his forehead. He clutched his head and roared, "Stop trying to bewitch people!"

"Senior brother said that Master sent me to Nanhu Temple not because he didn't appreciate me, but because he felt my temperament was impulsive and I still needed to be tempered!"

The black shadow let out a harsh, shrill sneer. "Tempered? What a joke! Can't you be tempered at Phoenix Temple? They had to send you to that broken place, Nanhu Temple. You believe such nonsense, Zhi Zhen. You are too ignorant."

"Shut up! You evil spirit!"

"Your senior brother comes to see you every time, bringing rice and flour. You think that's care? That's charity. Didn't you see the undisguised schadenfreude in his eyes every time he came over?"

Zhi Zhen slammed his palm onto the table, and the wooden table cracked with a sound. "Snap!"

He was trembling all over, his lips quivering, his eyes red. He was like a trapped beast pushed into a corner. "Senior brother is not that kind of person! You evil spirit, shut up!"

The black shadow's voice suddenly became very soft and gentle. "Whether he is that kind of person or not, you know better than I do."

Zhi Zhen fell silent. After a long while, Zhi Zhen raised his head. The pain on his face had disappeared, replaced by a chilling calmness. "Indeed, senior brother is that kind of person."

After saying this, Zhi Zhen suddenly turned his head and stared straight at the wisp of golden light hidden in the corner, his lips curling into a strange arc. "Amitabha, benefactor, have you seen enough?"

The black shadow moved abruptly, pouncing from behind Zhi Zhen, heading straight for the spiritual soul of Lu Xingyun's father.

Lu Xingyun's reaction was not slow; he retracted the spiritual soul.

At the same time, Zhi Zhen had already stood up from the meditation cushion in the room. Beneath him, those black shadows were constantly writhing, climbing up along Zhi Zhen's feet and wrapping around him.