Chapter 91: Arrival
Qiangzi is here, so we naturally don’t need to stay at the reception point any longer. However, according to the rules, the messenger of the Snow Mountain Sect will only ask once after lunch whether to leave, which means that we must stay at the reception point for another night.
That night, things were barely peaceful. I had to use a lot of effort to persuade him not to go looking for trouble with the lamas. I hardly dared close my eyes all night for fear that he would get into trouble again.
Fortunately, even if it was barely, the night passed.
Because the messenger of the Snow Mountain lineage had been notified that they were leaving, in the afternoon near evening, the carriage for the departure came. Because there were more lamas, two such carriages came.
I had seen such a carriage in the big city before, so I wasn’t surprised, but I just endured the drowsiness and walked toward one of the carriages with my master and Qiangzi.
Since there were two carriages, the two groups naturally sat separately. What I didn’t expect was that the group of lamas, who had been very ‘restrained’ during these few days, suddenly stopped us before we got on the carriage.
Qiangzi’s temper flared up again. I took Qiangzi’s arm and said to him almost forcefully, “Listen to me.”
Qiangzi stood behind me sullenly, looking quite dissatisfied, and it looked like he was having a hard time holding back. I looked at the group of lamas and smiled, saying, “Dear friends, is it that you are reluctant to part with us after staying together for a few days, and have come to say goodbye to us in particular?
“Jiang Lichun, Chen Chengyi, we Ming people don’t speak in riddles… let’s see what attitude the Snow Mountain sect will take in the end. People must follow the general trend. The Holy Ancestor is the general trend now, and our temple will definitely rise with the Holy Ancestor… I advise you to give up this trip to Snow Mountain and quickly find a remote place to hide, and you can still save your lives. Otherwise, when the general trend is set, no force can save you.” The lama’s Chinese was very stilted and broken, even worse than the Miao people of the eighteen ancestral villages in western Hunan. It took me a lot of effort to understand what he was saying.
But I didn’t expect him to suddenly stop at this moment and then whisper in my ear, “When the time comes, what is the difference between the 18 ancestral villages and even this Snow Mountain clan?”
I had no expression on my face, but I looked at his smug face and asked him, “It seems that Yang Sheng has allied with your temple, right? From what you say, does Yang Sheng know that I have come to the Snow Mountain Line? What’s the matter, are you afraid of the Eighteen Villages of the Ancestor and don’t dare to chase and kill all the way?”
In fact, this journey has been uneventful, and that is what I find most puzzling. What am I angry about provocation? It seems that these lamas have been in the temple for a long time. Although they are fierce, they don’t seem to have any tricks up their sleeves.
As for what temple it was, I didn’t speculate. I felt it should be the temple associated with the Lu Mountain, but is it really such a coincidence?
“The Holy Ancestor would be afraid of the Eighteen Villages of Ancestral Sorcerers? Don’t make jokes… Now, the Holy Ancestor is already the trend of the times, and he can’t be bothered to chase after you little shrimps. I am a monk with a compassionate heart, if you don’t listen to my advice, then that’s fine.” Although the trumpet did not completely fall for it, it did reveal some information. It turned out that we had been safe and sound all the way because Yang Sheng’s attention was no longer on us.
I can speculate that Yang Sheng must be doing something crucial, and this matter has already been so crucial that he can’t pay attention to us… And it’s probably not a coincidence that the Snow Mountain Sect met these lamas. Maybe Yang Sheng also wants to win over the Snow Mountain Sect.
Thinking of this, I looked at the back of the lama as he left and said lightly, “Is it because you are not sure you can convince the Snow Mountain Sect that you want to persuade us to leave? What is meant by a monk being compassionate? Looking at your faces, there is nothing at all to do with compassion.”
The few lamas who had been listening to me stopped in their tracks at the same time. The lama who spoke Chinese suddenly turned around and said, “Chen Chengyi, you are very eloquent. Even if the Snow Mountain Sect still wants to stay out of trouble, it doesn’t matter. The Holy Ancestor is already the trend of the times. Let’s just wait and see.”
I didn’t waste any more time with him, but instead opened the door with a slight frown and got into the carriage.
Of course, I didn’t believe everything the lama said. If they really didn’t care about the Snow Mountain Sect, they wouldn’t have tried to dissuade me and Master from going to the Snow Mountain Sect before we got into the carriage… This shows that they not only care, but they also have no confidence.
Is this good news for me and my master? The bad news is that, judging from the words, Yang Sheng may have taken a “terrific” step, which is why they keep saying that the trend is unstoppable… But how “terrific” is this step? I don’t know, but I’m just thinking bitterly that it’s so terrific that he can’t even take care of two big stumbling blocks like my master.
“Brother, what are you talking to that lama about? Just beat him up! For enemies, killing one is one, and beating one can also suppress their arrogant arrogance.” As I was thinking, Qiangzi opened his mouth angrily.
At this time, the carriage was already moving smoothly and steadily, and my train of thought was interrupted.
The master was holding an apple in his hand and biting into it with a crunch. He heard what Qiangzi said, glanced at him sideways, and scolded him with a laugh: “Have you eaten gunpowder?”
Qiangzi didn’t dare to argue with my master, and he looked very uncomfortable. I couldn’t help but sit up straight and looked at Qiangzi, saying solemnly, “Qiangzi, I’m asking you something very seriously. Can you promise?”
“Brother, I promise.” Qiangzi looked at my serious expression, first stunned for a moment, and then also became serious.
“In the future, every time you want to fight, can you recite this mantra in your heart before making a decision?” While talking, I glanced at my master. At this time, my master had already finished eating an apple and took another orange from the small table on the car and started peeling it. He didn’t care about my appearance at all.
I understood what my master meant by acquiescence. After all, even a small mantra is related to the issue of passing on the Li family legacy, and it is impossible to pass it on to others lightly… and my master’s attitude was to pretend not to know and acquiesce to my passing it on to Qiangzi.
So, I almost didn’t hesitate to start teaching Qiangzi the mantra. Because of some pronunciation problems, the mantra was actually not as simple as memorizing it. Anyway, there was nothing to do on the way, so I just focused on teaching Qiangzi the mantra.
Qiangzi was certainly not stupid, but learning the mantra was quite laborious. At this point, I couldn’t help but think proudly that when I was a child and first started learning, it wasn’t that difficult. It seems that I really am a genius.
But I didn’t dare to show it. I thought the old man sitting across from me, who had already eaten his fourth fruit, would give me a scolding.
Qiangzi also dared not show the slightest sign of impatience in front of me… I could see that he was initially holding back his impatience and learning the meditation mantra with me.
I don’t know how long it took, but Qiangzi finally learned the mantra perfectly. I felt thirsty and wanted to eat a fruit, but I found that the big plate of fruit in the car had been eaten by the master. At this time, the old man was holding his arms in front of his chest, his feet on the stool, and snoring loudly. I was helpless for a moment, and another thought came to mind. Can this old man be trusted?
Fortunately, there was some water in the car, so I was drinking it when I heard Qiangzi say to me, “Brother, this mantra really works. I don’t know, for a long time, my heart was like a fire, and I didn’t like anything… I didn’t think so much when I was reciting this mantra.”
“Really? That’s good. You don’t have to say it out loud. You can also repeat it in your mind. Promise me that you will repeat it in your mind whenever you feel like acting impulsively in the future.” I emphasized this point to Qiangzi again, and he nodded vigorously.
There was nothing to do for the rest of the journey, and the carriage was so smooth that I finally couldn’t help but fall asleep in the carriage… When the carriage finally stopped, it was just dawn, and we were finally brought to the entrance of the snowy mountain range.
As before, there was a guide waiting for us at the entrance… But I didn’t see the group of lamas. I wasn’t surprised because this entrance was different from the one we entered with the group of people.
So I think the lamas were probably taken to another entrance to the snow mountain range.
After we got off the carriage, it turned around and left… and the last guide was also silent and didn’t say a word, and turned and led us towards this seemingly chaotic stone path.
We hurried to keep up, and by now I had long become accustomed to the way the people of the Snow Mountain Line were, quiet and seldom saying a word.
After walking in silence for half an hour, I finally saw a familiar intersection. It was a road that opened up on a cliff. From here, we would descend to the real location of the Snow Mountain Range.
I couldn’t help but feel a little excited. Could it be that we would finally meet up with everyone we had lost contact with? They should be here, right?
The messenger walking in front of me suddenly turned around at this moment, looked at me inexplicably and smiled, saying, “Chen Chengyi, I still remember you.”
What does that mean? I raised my eyebrows slightly.