Chapter 83: Johnny’s Guidance (Part 1)

The questions of who we are and how we are related to Jennifer are easy to answer in China, but in India, does this Johnny know the Li family? As for how we are related to Jennifer, this question is even more difficult to answer, because Jennifer appeared out of nowhere. When she appeared, I learned from Jiang that she was our protector. If we really want to say that we are related, we can only vaguely know that Jennifer seems to have some kind of story with my master.

But if I tell him the truth, will he think I’m talking nonsense?

Thinking about this, I still spoke up. My intuition told me that I couldn’t lie to Johnny. I could only tell him the truth. I could only tell him in detail: “Our identities are very complicated, but as you can see, we are mainly Taoist and Buddhist practitioners. Like us, the five people…” I pointed to Chengqing and the others and said, “In China, it is called the Old Li School. Why is it called the Old Li School? It is because of our master. Our master is called Li Yiguang, and he is known as Old Li. He founded our school, so it is called the Old Li School.”

I tried to introduce them in detail, and at the same time, I sensitively noticed that when I said the four words “Old Li’s lineage,” Johnny’s facial muscles twitched unconsciously, and his eyes changed. It was only a moment, but I saw it.

After introducing the five of us, I briefly introduced the others and then concluded, “In general, the remaining people are our partners in life and death in the Li family. We don’t know what to do in the future, but Jennifer guided us to find you.”

Johnny didn’t say anything, but his expression was somewhat uncertain. He picked up the bottle and took another big drink, then asked, “What about the relationship with Jennifer?”

“I don’t know what relationship Jennifer has with us, but whether it’s from other people’s mouths or according to her own words, she is our protector.” At this point, I looked a little sad and said in a low voice, “Our master left us for some reason. To be precise, she disappeared. The old Li lineage is left with only five young people. Jennifer is our biggest protector. She feels like our master.

After hearing my words, Johnny’s expression had returned to normal, but his eyes had become deep. No one knew what he was thinking.

There was a short silence between us, and we were waiting for Johnny to say something to us, but Johnny was sipping his wine in small sips until the bottle was empty after 7 or 8 minutes.

Even though Johnny has an amazing tolerance for alcohol, and he drank a bottle of high-proof liquor without any snacks, his dark brown face still turned red. At this moment, he seemed to have an inexplicable sense of relaxation. I didn’t understand what he had let go of at this moment.

With a loud ‘pop’, Johnny slammed the bottle down on the table, looked out the window of the tin shack, and said inexplicably, “What’s coming will always come.” After saying this, he suddenly looked at me and said, “You always have to prove to me whether you are really a descendant of Old Li.”

This is only natural. I took the string of agarwood from my hand and handed it to Johnny.

When Johnny saw the strand of agarwood, his expression changed immediately, and his eyes had a kind of pure vicissitudes of life, as if he had traveled through a time tunnel and looked back at the past.

Even so, he took the piece of agarwood on the table and looked at it carefully: “Agarwood is a precious thing, but it is not unique. If you want to make a fake, you can get a piece of agarwood. But my old friend has done a little work on it. If it is fake, it won’t fool me.”

Old friend? This piece of agarwood is from my master! He actually said that he and my master were old friends? Could it be that they were from the same era? This is obviously impossible. According to all the evidence, my master was from the Ming Dynasty, but he has been missing for a long time. I cannot accept psychologically that someone of the same age as my master is sitting in front of me. This would make me feel that the world is about to be overturned.

Johnny took the stick of agarwood, closed his eyes, and within a few seconds, he was already in a state of meditation, as if he was sensing something.

At that moment, I quietly asked Walma, “You said that he was too old. Can you tell me, according to what you know, how old is this Johnny?”

Walma looked at Johnny with a sly look and then told me proudly, “According to what I know, he is 150 years old. This is not an unacceptable age, but he looks like a middle-aged man who has experienced a lot.”

I nodded and didn’t speak to Walma again. 150 years old is an acceptable age for cultivators. Even in the current circle of cultivators, there are quite a few people who have reached this age, but they are not known to the world! Compared to Johnny, they look much older. You have to know that at their age, they arrange their lives according to strict health practices.

But this Johnny lives in a slum environment, with no ‘qi’ at all. Judging from his lifestyle, health preservation has nothing to do with him at all. He even ‘abuses alcohol’, and it is rare to find someone who can drink a bottle of high-grade liquor in half an hour without getting drunk.

In my rambling thoughts, I don’t know how long it took, maybe 5 or 6 minutes, but finally Johnny opened his eyes and handed me the agilawood beads in his hand. His expression became much kinder to us, but also a little strange.

He asked me, “Have you discovered the secret of these beads? Or have you used them?”

“Well, I discovered it not long ago and I’ve used it. Now it’s just a string of agarwood beads, with only a few of them still retaining the power of the Grand Master.” I explained it to Johnny in great detail.

Johnny heard this and was stunned for a moment, then touched his face and said, “No wonder Jenny told you to come find me. Some secrets have been revealed, and the wheel of fate has finally come to this point.”

“What do you mean?” I almost blurted out, not caring about being polite.

All along, we have been a bit confused about finding Johnny, mainly because we didn’t know what to do when we found him. But from Johnny’s words, it was clear that he knew Jenny’s purpose. How could I not be excited?

Facing my abruptness, Johnny didn’t blame me, but rubbed his face with both hands, stood up a little tired, and walked to the huge black cloth again, pulling it open a little more.

This time, we saw a new photo, still in black and white.

In the photo, Johnny himself was more mature than in the previous photo with the beautiful Western woman, but his clothes had become more ordinary. At first glance, the elegant aristocratic temperament was gone, and there was an indescribable sense of profound vicissitudes of life.

But this is not the point. The point is that this photo of Johnny is a group photo, and next to him is a person who looks very uncomfortable. He is wearing clothes from the Republic of China period, very ordinary clothes, and an ordinary face. At first glance, he looks like an old farmer, but if you look closely, you will find that this person has a strange charm. He stands there, as if he is melting into the world.

It feels like he is in the right place, no matter where he is in the world, and it doesn’t feel out of place at all!

This person… This person is my master, Old Li!

Johnny touched the photo and whispered, “He looks very uncomfortable, doesn’t he? This is a very precious photo because he resisted being photographed. This is probably the only image of him that remains in the world. It was taken at my insistence.”

Johnny was whispering, but where would our young disciples dare to sit? In the face of the only image left by our master, even if it was a group photo, we couldn’t sit down, but knelt down one by one…

“Who is he? You, as his disciples, should know. But really, there’s no need to kneel. Don’t you know that your master was most particular about these formalities in his life?” As he spoke, Johnny pulled up the black cloth, and the photo of the master and his disciple was hidden again under the black cloth.

We were a little embarrassed, but Brother Chengxin said, “Master Zong is not particular, but we dare not be careless, because the more we hear about Master Zong, the more we admire and yearn for him.”

Johnny sat back down at the table. At this point, we felt much more at ease with Johnny. After all, he was a friend of the master, and he was still able to take a group photo with us. So the relationship must be extraordinary.

At this point, I also understood why Johnny became friendly with us after proving that we were from the same lineage as Old Li.

“He is indeed a person who can be admired and yearned for.” Johnny agreed with Brother Chengxin’s statement, then looked at me and said, “As for you, just now you asked me what that sentence meant. It’s not the time to tell you in detail, but I can tell you that this piece of agarwood was a gift I gave to your master. Your master said that since it was a precious gift from a friend, it should be passed down as an important artifact that can be passed down to future generations. Then there was this piece of agarwood in your hand!”

Johnny explained to me, and I listened very carefully. I didn’t know that the agarwood beads had such a history!

While talking, Johnny smacked his lips and reached for the wine again, but when he took out a bottle of Wuliangye, he looked reluctant to part with it.

Wal-Mart saw this and acted very smartly, quickly saying, “You can drink as much as you want. I’ll provide you with as much Wuliangye as you want in the future.”

Johnny laughed, patted Wal-Mart on the shoulder, and said, “Then I won’t be polite, but after drinking your wine, we are both Taoists in India, and there is always some benefit to you.”

Wal-Mart immediately beamed, and Johnny unscrewed another bottle of wine and took a sip, then said to me, “Do you know? Only you and your master know what kind of magic weapon this bead is and how to use it! So, whether it’s a coincidence or not, you took out this bead, even if you used it, you could still leave traces of Old Li, and I can be sure that you are a descendant of Old Li. In addition…”

At this point, Johnny paused and said, “I’m afraid Jennifer asked you to come to me because of the beads.”

What?