120 The Daoist Temple (1)
It was a cold and stormy night in the midst of winter.
On the lone mountain, there was only a small, dilapidated Daoist temple, its roof covered with snow.
Outside the Daoist temple, there was a sudden knock on the door.
A young monk hurriedly jogged out of the main hall. He stepped on the snow and opened the door.
The young monk was stunned when he opened the door.
In the wind and snow, a thin old monk in a plain gray robe bowed slightly with a black iron staff in his hand. “The weather is terrible tonight. May I please rest here for the night?”
It was quite strange for a Buddhist monk to come to a Daoist temple.
“Grandmaster, you’re overreacting.”
However, the young monk was only stunned for a moment before he smiled warmly and invited him in. “Of course you may stay the night. However, the mountain road is difficult to traverse at the moment, and there are already a few laymen in our temple staying the night. I do hope you can forgive us for the inconvenience.”
The old monk muttered a prayer and said with a kind face, “Thank you, I’m already very grateful to have a place to stay.”
The young monk smiled and led the old monk to the main hall, “If you don’t mind, you can rest in the main hall for a night. Some scholars have started a fire in the hall. Grandmaster, please come in to get warmth.”
“Fire for warmth?” The smile on the old monk’s face froze. He frowned slightly and said, “The main hall should be quiet and solemn. How can you make such a scene?”
The young monk’s smile did not change as he said, “Grandmaster, you must have come from a big place. Your temple may have strict rules. However, our small temple doesn’t have that many rules.”
“I suppose the gods and immortals that you worship may be very pleased to see that this hall can protect the people passing by from the bitter cold,” the old monk said before he shook his head gently. A trace of disdain flashed in his eyes. What a disgrace this Daoist temple was. No wonder it was so dilapidated.
As they spoke, the two of them entered the main hall.
There was a large fire in the middle of the hall, and several people were huddled around it.
There was a pot of soup boiling over the fire, and several other food items were ready to be served as well.
A hunter with a white beard picked up an axe and quickly sliced up the roasted meat, giving everyone a piece.
While everyone was enjoying their meal, the old hunter did not forget to raise his hand toward the old monk. “Master, do you want a piece? It’s delicious!”
“The Bodhisattva is merciful, but he also has the Vajra’s angry eyes. Almsgiver, please mind your manners!” The old monk’s voice was slightly cold. He found a corner and sat on the ground, not joining the people around the fire.
The old hunter laughed and did not take it seriously. He continued to make small talk with the others.
“When chaos shakes the world, heroes are born. Previously, there was Zhang Shan, the hero, who had killed ten Dao Masters in a row and became a Grandmaster. Later, there was a man, who called himself Anonymous, who threatened to destroy the Liang family. He must be another Grandmaster!”
“Master, who is Anonymous? Can he really destroy the Liang family?”
Beside the old hunter, a young man who seemed to be his apprentice asked, “When did such a strong martial artist appear?”
The people around him were also interested, and they all looked at the old hunter.
The old hunter took a big bite of the roast meat, and oil dripped from his lips. “You’re too young to understand. Do you know the three mysterious experts, Wu Yan, Wu Hen, and Wu Dao?”
The young man was shocked. “Of course I do. They are the three great leaders of the Nameless. They are elusive and mysterious. It is rumored that the Nameless has enough wealth to rival an empire. Their intelligence is pervasive, and even Grandmaster families have been infiltrated thanks to these three leaders.”
The old hunter laughed and said, “Anonymous is the real leader of the Nameless. He single-handedly trained those three Dao Masters. Decades ago, he was able to kill a Dao Master with one strike. Now that he’s threatening to kill a Grandmaster, it’s obvious that he’s already reached the peak of the Grandmaster realm!”
“He seems very arrogant.” The hunter’s apprentice was dumbfounded. He then said, “Grandmaster families have usually been around for hundreds of years. How can a new Grandmaster with a fairly new force provoke them?”
The others nodded in agreement, thinking that Anonymous was being too cocky.
At this moment, a thin young man, who had been silent all this while, raised his head and said, “Grandmaster families are not immortal. The immortal encounter on the Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest directly caused the fall of three of the six aristocratic families. Why can’t we lose another one now?”
The old hunter looked at the skinny man with a smile, revealing his yellow teeth. “You young people really don’t know how the world works!”
He broke off a piece of dry bread and chewed on it. The crumbs fell all over the ground. The hall gradually fell into silence. Only the crackling of the fire could be heard from time to time. A few tired people had already laid down and fallen into a deep sleep.
A moment later, there was a sudden knock on the door.
“Why are there so many people passing by tonight?” The young monk, who was dozing off, was suddenly jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes and mumbled to himself, then went to open the door.