Chapter 0018 – Can’t Marry
“My name is Li Shao, that day when my benefactor saved my little boy……” Li Shao spoke with fear, he did not know if he should fear telling Ning Cheng his identity, but he was also very grateful that Ning Cheng saved his son.
Ning Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, Li Shao had taken his carriage along with them through increasingly remote roads, and no one had pursued them.
“Brother Li, let the horses rest. You brought us here while risking your life, there should no longer be any problem.” Ning Cheng saw that the horses were tired and volunteered his help.
Li Shao also knew that the two yellow horses that he was tirelessly driving were also in distress, so after listening to Ning Cheng’s words, he stopped the carriage. At the same time, he took out some dried rations and gave them to Ning Cheng and An Yi and said, “Benefactor, you do not need to worry, I will send you in a single trip, you can bypass the Dean Town Relay Station. Then I can go directly to Haicheng City, there are also many adventurers from the Mingot Sea there, I can earn more silver coins there in a single trip than before.”
An Yi, who had never spoken till now said, “Brother Li, I know some of the routes here, you can directly go to the Haicheng City, I can take Ning Cheng and walk out here by myself.”
Seeing that Li Shao was going to reply, Ning Cheng simply said, “All right, Brother Li you helped us bypass the Dean Town. It is time that we separate, Brother Li Shao you can go to the Haicheng City.”
An Yi had no idea what was going on, but now that Ning Cheng had said this, of course she would have no objections with it.
Ning Cheng rested for the entire day, since he was a cultivator of the Qi Gathering 3rd Level, plus he also had the help of An Yi who knew the art of healing, his injuries healed at a very fast rate.
The three people, after the horses had a good rest, continued on their way. The next morning, Ning Cheng and An Yi separated from Li Shao.
An Yi did not speak nonsense this time, she really knew the way. Although they walked all the way along the mountain paths, they never went astray. And after they walked for two days, Ning Cheng entered a lush green forest. After entering the forest, An Yi directly took Ning Cheng’s hand and said, “Here there is an Array Formation, it would be better if you followed closely behind me, otherwise you will definitely get lost.”
Ning Cheng did not come to this world one or two days ago, of course he was aware of Array Formations. It seemed that the ancient civilisations of China also had some resemblance, like the orientation and layout of the things, it was very mysterious. Anyways, he knew nothing in this case.
Following An Yi and taking seven or eight turns, they were finally out of the forest, in front of Ning Cheng appeared hill that was not high. At the foot of the hill there were several acres of fields, with some of them having small vegetables and the likes growing. Halfway up the hill contained a nunnery of a dusty colour, with three words on the nunnery that Ning Cheng could distinguish, Blue Heart Temple.
“The Blue Heart Temple is the place where you live?” Ning Cheng asked.
An Yi released Ning Cheng’s hands, and with a happy smile on her face she said, “Yes, I grew up here, although I went out for a few days, I would always remember it, now I am finally back. I want you to meet my master, you come with me……”
As An Yi spoke, she quickly accelerated her pace as she rushed towards the Blue Heart Temple on the hillside.
With Ning Cheng behind An Yi, he felt some worry in his heart. An Yi was a cultivator of the Qi Gathering 3rd Level. So An Yi’s master’s cultivation would also not be too bad, but if An Yi’s master had an eccentric disposition, then what would he do? This was not Earth; he did not have any kind of reason to stay here.
“Come in.” A slightly hoarse voice entered Ning Cheng’s ears, Ning Cheng knew that this was An Yi’s master, An Yi’s master knew that he was coming.
Ning Cheng walked in through the mottled doors, immediately he was able to smell a faint smell of sandalwood.
This made Ning Cheng think that an accident happened, An Yi said that her master was going to die, but there was not even the slightest breath of a person dying, there was only the scent of the sandalwood.
The master that An Yi depended on was a middle aged woman who did not look her age, she was wearing a grey robe and sitting in the centre of the main temple. She did not seem to be old, but her complexion was very pale. Ning Cheng could feel that her body was emitting a death like chill, An Yi had said that her master was going to die, now looking at her, it was clearly true.
What made Ning Cheng surprised was not how old she looked, or that she was going to die nor her cultivation which he could not see. But the fact that An Yi’s master was clearly not a nun, because she had long hair, even when she was surrounded by death Qi, her hair was still black, but had a bit less gloss.
“An Yi has always been at her master’s side, but the fact is I cannot teach her anything. Surely you can see that I am about to die, An Yi is pure hearted, but still do not know how to handle personal affairs. If you can, I hope that you can take An Yi with you, until she is able to live by her own.” The grey robed woman looked at Ning Cheng and said in a calm voice.
She did not ask about how Ning Cheng and An Yi met, nor did she ask about Ning Cheng’s origins, much less ask about his injuries, but said those words in a straightforward manner.
An Yi was suddenly frightened, “Master, I am not going to leave you. I am going to stay in the central temple. How can I go ahead with Ning Cheng? Ning Cheng was just passing through here.”
Ning Cheng also quickly replied, “Senior, I am going to the Mingot Sea. I heard that it is very dangerous, and one can be killed off at any time, plus I got a few enemies of my own, An Yi would be a lot safer here than accompanying me.”
These words, Ning Cheng said weren’t said without thinking, he was still worried about An Yi. An Yi was simple and pure, similar to a piece of blank paper, but now that he had arrived at the temple, Ning Cheng did not worry. There were lot of Defensive Array Formations here, an ordinary person simply couldn’t enter.
An Yi’s master sighed, pulling An Yi’s hands gently, said, “I eventually have to go, you also need not consider me as your master, this place seems to be safe but it is in fact, extremely dangerous. Once I’m gone, if you stay alone at this place, you undoubtedly will be unable to live.
After that, she no longer tried to persuade An Yi, but rather, looked towards Ning Cheng and said, “People will eventually die, you also have seemed to see it. Regardless of how you came to know An Yi, I believe you are not a treacherous person, so I want to ask you if you are perhaps engaged or married……”
Ning Cheng, hearing these words, immediately thought, was An Yi’s master was thinking of letting him marry An Yi? How could he take a nun as his wife? Even if An Yi wasn’t a nun, he couldn’t take her to be his wife.
After clearly understanding this, Ning Cheng said, “I have a girlfriend, although recently some small conflict broke us up, I still want to get back to her.”
Ning Cheng, saying till here, his heart became gloomy. He knew that Tian Mu Wan’s decisive attitude at that time made him incapable of getting her back. Even if Tian Mu Wan changed her mind, could he see her again?
Thinking that, Ning Cheng again added, “I still have a fiancée, she has only left temporarily……”
Ning Cheng didn’t say anymore after that, because he himself knew that he and Ji Luo Fei couldn’t be back together again. As for whether he could reach the Hua Continent, even if he could, Ji Luo Fei and he were a thing of the past. He was really grateful to Ji Luo Fei but as to really liking her, he didn’t feel the same way.
What Ning Cheng didn’t expect was, the middle aged woman wearing the grey gown on hearing what he said, contrary to what he expected, nodded and said, “That makes me feel relieved, you need to remember, An Yi can be together with you but she absolutely cannot get married. Also you should absolutely not have any emotional disputes with another person, otherwise …….”
She hadn’t even finished speaking, when a faint line of blood flowed out from the corner of her mouth. An Yi, quickly hugged the middle aged woman wearing the grey gown, wept and shouted, “Master, what’s going on with you?”
Ning Cheng never imagined that this grey robed woman asked him if he was married or was engaged, was to remind him not to have any ideas on playing with An Yi, he was mistaken. An Yi, according to this person, could not marry, no wonder she was a little nun, though he did not know the reason why. But then he saw the grey robed woman’s expression become even more sluggish, Ning Cheng also dared not to say anything else.
The grey robed woman waved her hand and beckoned An Yi to come closer, she took out the piece of pear yellow jade and hung it on An Yi’s neck, and also took out a brown coloured bag that was hanging on her waist, and said, “An Yi, when I found you, this jade was on your side, it was presumably left by your parents. This bag is the Storage Bag that I have used for many years, remember never take it out for others to see it…… Also, you must remember that you cannot marry……”
With that, she stared at Ning Cheng and said, “You must take care of An Yi in the future, An Yi’s future is not ‘ordinary’, she will not treat you unjustly……”
Ning Cheng cupped his fists and said, “My life was saved by An Yi, senior please be assured that as long as this Ning Cheng draws breath, he would never let An Yi get hurt.”
“An Yi, it is time for me to go away, you must live well, don’t be sad. The past will always be the past, as long as you keep walking forward. The path for you is very long, take good care of yourself.”
After the grey robed woman finished speaking, she looked up at the sky outside the temple, sighing slightly, her eyes were filled with a little loneliness, as she slowly closed them.
An Yi was a cultivator at the Qi Gathering 3rd Level, she immediately knew that her master had passed away as her life force dissipated, she suddenly began to cry. Even though she had known that this day would eventually arrive, she still wasn’t able to accept this fact that her master had passed away,
Ning Cheng knew that the grey robed woman had known that he would look after An Yi, otherwise she would have not said that. He came up and patted An Yi’s shoulder and said, “An Yi, illness and death, it is only human. You don’t need to be too sad, we will have to step into the future together, it rather just arrived sooner than later.”
As Ning Cheng spoke, he also sighed, he knew that when he ‘died’, he didn’t even get to say goodbye to his sister Ruo Lan.
An Yi’s master’s cultivation was clearly dozens of times stronger than him, even so, she could not escape the shackles of heaven.
An Yi knew that Ning Cheng’s persuasive words had a valid reason, but she was still unable to contain her grief. Over the past decade, she had always followed her master and they had lived and depended on each other. Now that her master suddenly had passed away, she didn’t know what to do.
Ning Cheng looking at An Yi, knew that he was the only one who must deal with these things.
With Ning Cheng’s persuasion, An Yi gradually eased up her sadness. Then, together with Ning Cheng, they buried her master in the field of orchids behind the Blue Heart Temple.
After accompanying An Yi in guarding the orchids behind the Temple for three days, Ning Cheng and An Yi left together, continuing their journey towards the Mingot Sea.
After three days’ time, with the help of An Yi, the injuries sustained by Ning Cheng were completely healed. The mood of An Yi also became more depressed, she was already introverted and shy with people. Now after what happened with her master, An Yi spoke even less.
Although Ning Cheng was anxious to see what was in the bag An Yi received, but he was rather ashamed and embarrassed to speak about it.