A Monk Came to the Daoist Temple / A Fortuitous Encounter Came Knocking

Qing He Miao seemed to have anticipated their confusion and began explaining at his usual unhurried pace:

"Feng Shayan helps her father manage his affairs and is quite capable, and her family has money too. With her family background, experience, and resources, she should be able to handle her relationship with my parents fairly easily and with propriety.

"More importantly, she's very obedient to her father's arrangements. Feng Zhenghao is an ambitious and formidable man. As long as I show potential beyond what he expects, and there's enough to be gained, getting him to marry his daughter to me won't be difficult. On top of that, I'm decent-looking, my personality isn't bad, and I'm not a womanizer. Basically, the marriage should work out."

As long as things didn't take a melodramatic turn midway, like him "suddenly becoming a good-for-nothing" or "having the engagement called off and making a three-year pact."

Presumably, family relations after marriage would remain harmonious.

"Lu Linglong goes without saying. She's a genuine young lady from a prominent family—clever and well-mannered."

He paused and spoke of the second woman:

"Even if she and my parents differ in their habits and outlook, she has the state of mind to respect each other, stay out of each other's way, and maintain basic propriety and harmony.

"Besides, winning over her great-grandfather, Old Master Lu Jin, might be easier than pursuing her directly. Of course, pursuing her would mean courting her freely. But as I said, my own qualifications aren't bad, and with the old master's approval on my side, my chances of success aren't small if I'm sincere."

"What about the other one?"

Deng Youcai was thoroughly impressed and had become somewhat absorbed in listening. He pressed for an answer.

He was paying even closer attention than when he had listened to the analysis of his brother going abroad.

Chapter 63: A Monk Came to the Daoist Temple

"Tao Tao's situation is a little different."

When he finally came to Tao Tao, Qing He Miao's tone seemed to grow subtly different:

"She's the opposite. I'm confident I can provide everything she needs. And her cultivation of her state of mind is extremely high, enough for her to withstand all kinds of disturbances and pressure from outside the family.

"But precisely because her state of mind is so exalted and she sees things so clearly, I'd probably have only one chance to pursue her. There aren't many shortcuts. I'd have to get straight to the point. If she likes me, she likes me; if she doesn't, she doesn't. It would be hard to influence or sway her through other factors."

After hearing Qing He Miao's analysis,

The brothers Deng Youcai and Deng Youfu were speechless for a long while, feeling utterly at a loss.

"Kid, are you looking for a marriage match here, or are you boiling green plums in wine and judging the heroes of the world with me?"

In the end, Deng Youcai held it in for a long time before speaking, his mouth twitching and his teeth on edge:

"Damn it! You know all this inside out. Now I'm really starting to wonder if you've secretly learned a warlock's methods behind our backs."

Otherwise, what obscure nooks and crannies had he dug all this information out of?

Deng Youfu's eyes had been opened as well.

"Little Qing, you... I don't even know what to say about you."

But once he came to his senses, he could only shake his head with a wry smile and choose his words carefully:

"But seriously, jokes aside, if you mean it, we can tell Grandma later and ask her to help bring you together when the occasion is right."

"I already said there's no hurry."

Qing He Miao waved a hand, joking and smiling as usual, as if he hadn't been the one to make those requests just now:

"The idea is genuine, but there's no need to deliberately pursue it. Connections form and fade according to their own way. When the time comes, if there's a suitable match left, I won't be picky. But before then, if a famous flower already has an owner, there's no need for us to wreck someone else's romance. That would be too immoral.

"Believe it or not, with talent like mine, never mind the other families, if that 'mad dog' Old Master Lü Ci found out, I reckon he'd be itching to come to my door in person and kneel down to beg me to become a son-in-law of the Lü Family. I could take my pick of the younger generation, and there wouldn't be any family conflicts at all."

He took a sip of wine, clicked his tongue twice, and showed a hint of distaste:

"But their Lü Family branch has a major problem with its bloodline, and all the entanglements involved are too much of a headache. I really do... look down on them a little."

His cultivation of his state of mind still wasn't high enough!

He couldn't treat everyone equally.

"Another one of the Ten Elders. Fucking impressive!"

Deng Youcai had lost count of how many times he had been shocked into silence. All he could do was raise a thumb:

"Good thing my mom didn't give birth to the two of us as girls, or else... forget it, I won't say it. Come on, drink!"

He felt that if he kept listening, his whole view of the world would be turned upside down.

He simply raised his cup and treated those increasingly "outrageous" words as drunken boasts, draining it in one gulp.

"Drink."

"Bottoms up. Drink as much as you like."

They kept drinking until late, and only when the barbecue shop owner came over and politely reminded them that he was closing did the three leave, dizzy and still wanting more.

It was too late, and to avoid disturbing Qing He Miao's family,

The Deng brothers took him to find a clean hotel nearby.

Early the next morning, Qing He Miao still had to hurry back to school for class and catch up on sleep.

Deng Youfu and Deng Youcai slept until the sun was high in the sky, only getting up and getting ready once they were thoroughly rested.

They didn't leave the county town directly, however, but drove to the village where Qing He Miao's family lived.

They first came to the vicinity of an abandoned auditorium at the village entrance. In recent years, it had somehow gradually become a place where the village elders gathered to chat during the day.

The brothers didn't approach the auditorium.

They merely wandered around it a few times, seemingly at random, calmly studying the surrounding terrain and environment.

Afterward, they went to a shop in town.

They bought incense and candles, paper ingots, yellow joss paper, several pairs of paper golden boys and jade girls, several white horses, and several yellow oxen.

Then they returned to the vicinity of the auditorium and found a secluded corner away from prying eyes.

With solemn expressions, Deng Youfu and Deng Youcai set to work arranging everything with practiced movements.

They lit the incense and candles and burned the paper ingots and yellow joss paper, chanting under their breaths. These were secret spells specific to the Horse-Riding Immortal lineage for arranging and transforming a Spirit Domain.

All of this was completed quietly.

Once the rite was over, the brothers carefully buried the paper golden boys and jade girls, white horses, and yellow oxen in pairs at several inconspicuous spots around the auditorium.

The Deng brothers knew about Qing He Miao's Henan opera master, who was a spirit.

Qing He Miao had mentioned the matter to Guan Shihua a long time ago.

After hearing about it, Guan Shihua had sighed with feeling.

That formation was somewhat interesting, but with her cultivation, neither forcibly breaking it nor guiding the spirit to the afterlife would be difficult.

It was just that she had considered him another person with a bitter fate.

Though his obsession remained, he had committed no great evil, and his spirit wouldn't last much longer. In a few years at most, he would naturally dissipate into heaven and earth.

Besides, with Qing He Miao living in the same village, he couldn't stir up any trouble.

Therefore, none of them had intervened.

This time, the brothers' cultivation was sufficient, so they had come by on their way to leave an arrangement in place.

It would ensure that when the unfortunate spirit's soul returned, things would be handled more properly and go smoothly, without any further upheaval or suffering.

It was also a way of bringing the connection between Qing He Miao and this master to completion.

Only after doing all this did the two take the gifts they had specially bought and pay a formal visit to Qing He Miao's family.

Both sides knew of each other.

Qing He Miao's family naturally gave the Deng brothers a very warm welcome.

During the visit, they also mentioned that Deng Youfu would soon be going abroad for further studies, prompting sighs and envy.

Not long after that, word came that Deng Youfu had completed the formalities and gone abroad.

For several years afterward, he only occasionally came back once or twice during holidays and festivals.

After graduating from university, Deng Youcai unsurprisingly chose to return to his hometown.

He was a bona fide local tough.

With all his skills at his disposal, he soon made himself a fine life amid the local nightlife and revelry.

He was quite content with himself.

Qing He Miao was so envious his teeth itched.

In his previous life, as soon as he had graduated from university,

He had barely spent two days at home before beginning a life of leaving his home behind and drifting from place to place.

Even though he could now spend his entire life in his hometown without doing anything,

And was even a cultivator,

He still cared somewhat.

Comparing yourself to others could really drive you mad.

In this mood, Qing He Miao's life entered the hectic final year of high school.

During that time, things could be said to have gone smoothly.

Except that one day, in the dungeon "The Ravages of Time," a group of monks came to the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Temple.

"Masters, surely you aren't going to say that the temple here used to belong to you?"

Qing He Miao looked at the bald men with a strange expression as he spoke.

After continuously taking in displaced people and providing work in exchange for relief, the once-dilapidated little temple had long since been repaired and turned into a fully equipped Daoist temple.

Without him noticing, it had gained a reputation as a "place of kindness" among the displaced people in the surrounding area.

If he had installed divine statues and formally opened it, incense offerings would have been flourishing.

Even so, quite a few people of standing in the area had asked to make donations and enter the temple to pray for blessings.

And because the number of disaster victims seeking refuge kept growing, the existing jobs had become insufficient, so he had no choice but to begin expanding the temple outward and reclaiming land for terraced fields.

Construction couldn't stop; he had to create more jobs.

In the middle of all this activity, a group of travel-worn, bald monks in tattered robes arrived at the Daoist temple.

Chapter 64: A Fortuitous Encounter Came Knocking

"Amitabha, you jest, Temple Master."

Their leader was a rather sturdy middle-aged monk.

Although he looked tired and his monk's robes were covered in dust, his gaze was calm, and his bearing still showed signs of cultivation.