Closing Up Shop

The spring rain pattered, the spring rain pattered.

The ashes of the Great Tail Venerable were quickly soaked by the spring rain.

"This old wolf was probably also planted with a thought."

Nie Yannian stepped forward and kicked the ashes, cursing, "There's not even a sarira, which shows he was a demon monk, not a high monk!"

"Master Nie, within the borders of the country, only Yun Province has a Buddhist heritage. This Great Tail Venerable seems to have truly studied Buddhism, but why did he come here to spread it?" Meng Yuan was truly curious.

"These bald donkeys and scabby heads cause the most trouble!" Nie Yannian crossed his arms, one hand stroking his chin, and said, "Monks are similar to those pedantic Confucians. Pedantic Confucians think they need to enlighten ignorant fools, but they are actually condescending; these bald donkeys want to deliver suffering beings, but they can't even deliver themselves."

As he spoke, Nie Yannian pointed to the pile of ashes and said, "These bald donkeys are all sick. They love to make grand vows for no reason. If they just look at you on the road, they'll say they have a karmic connection with you, and they're very troublesome! There are too few high monks in the world, and too many of these bald donkeys!"

Meng Yuan asked again, "What is the Sudden Enlightenment school that Master Nie mentioned earlier?"

"The Sudden Enlightenment school is not a sect, but a school of thought. Just like Confucianism and Daoism, there are various branches. Buddhism has a distinction between the Sudden Enlightenment school and the Gradual Cultivation school. This is due to their different philosophies and belongs to internal factions," Nie Yannian explained.

"Then how did Master Nie distinguish that the Great Tail Venerable was from the Sudden Enlightenment school?" Meng Yuan was curious.

"I just bluffed casually, I didn't think too much," Nie Yannian smiled, "Actually, I couldn't tell at all whether he was from the Sudden Enlightenment school or the Gradual Cultivation school."

Meng Yuan smiled and said, "Then what do we do next? This is no longer within the scope of the Royal Residence guards."

"If it were just a few small sprites causing trouble, this matter would be over," Nie Yannian became much more serious, "However, this old wolf is too deeply involved, and there's some Guru behind him, which is probably very mysterious. You don't need to worry about going back, the people from the Demon Suppression Division will have to take over."

"Master Nie, did you used to work in the Demon Suppression Division?" The Great Tail Venerable said that Nie Yannian was from the Demon Suppression Division, and Nie Yannian also directly admitted it.

"Yes, I used to specialize in killing demons," Nie Yannian held his saber, and he, who was usually not serious, had a hint of weariness.

Seeing that Nie Yannian didn't want to talk much, Meng Yuan didn't ask any more questions, but he made up his mind to go back to the Drunken Moon Pavilion and talk to Master Nie's beloved daughter.

"Master Nie, when can I learn Blossoming Spring Thunder?" Meng Yuan was ambitious and had long coveted the skill that could summon the spring thunder phenomenon.

"You haven't been weaned yet and you want to find a woman?" Nie Yannian scoffed, pointing a finger at Meng Yuan, and said, "You're ruthless with your hands, but not with your heart! Not only did you deliberately let the yellow fur go, but you also kindly instructed it! Everyone else looks for fox spirits, but you, good for you, found a weasel spirit, how promising of you!"

Meng Yuan was seen by Nie Yannian letting Xiang Ling go, and he didn't argue, only asking, "Master Nie, after sprites transform, can they have babies with humans?"

"Yes!" Nie Yannian smiled, "Should I arrange one for you?"

"Didn't Master Nie arrange one for himself?" Meng Yuan also smiled.

"I did, it was very smooth!" Nie Yannian chuckled.

Both of them laughed.

After a while, the spring rain continued, and Ren Debiao finally returned.

He was in tatters, his arm bleeding, but he returned alone, without Wolf Two.

"Ran away?" Nie Yannian frowned.

"This subordinate is incompetent." Ren Debiao saw Wolf One's corpse, glanced at Meng Yuan, and lowered his head to admit his mistake.

"You've been in the ranks for two years, and your acupoints are almost fully opened, why are you not even as good as a beginner? Scholar Meng killed a demon and even had time to sleep with a weasel spirit again, look at you!" Nie Yannian never spoke tactfully.

What does it have to do with me? Why compare me? Meng Yuan was an honest person and didn't do things that would offend people, so he said tactfully, "I was also lucky. The road was slippery, Wolf One fell, and I shot it with two arrows. Its Monk's Saber was also not easy to use, so I was lucky to kill it. Even so, I almost died outside."

"Only you know how to behave!" Nie Yannian glared at Meng Yuan, and then said to Ren Debiao, "If you don't have a good background and still want to achieve something, you can only work hard, child!"

"Yes." Ren Debiao clenched his fists and lowered his head in response.

Nie Yannian didn't say any more and walked to the bluestone where the Great Tail Venerable had preached, raising his chin towards Meng Yuan.

I have to do all the dirty and tiring work, right? Meng Yuan honestly stepped forward, lifted the bluestone, and saw a tunnel.

The tunnel was only about a zhang deep, and he could see the end at a glance.

There was nothing inside, only two dead dogs, a few sacks of herbs, and a worn-out bundle.

Nie Yannian took out the bundle, opened it, and found a few taels of silver fragments and a worn-out kasaya.

There were no words or any markings.

"No words, maybe it really is from the Zen Sudden Enlightenment school," Nie Yannian muttered, looking at the kasaya.

He checked the surroundings again, and seeing no gains, Nie Yannian told them to go down the mountain, "You killed Wolf One, carry it back yourself!"

Wolf One, weighing around two hundred jin, was not heavy, and Meng Yuan carried it on his back without a word.

Nie Yannian walked in front and naturally wouldn't help. Ren Debiao also had no intention of lending a hand, but his face became increasingly ugly.

Meng Yuan's strength had not yet recovered after the battle, and he felt tired after walking for a while. Moreover, the spring rain had not stopped, and the mountain road was slippery, so he inevitably stumbled and fell from time to time.

Nie Yannian would stop and wait after walking for a while, with a smile, while Ren Debiao remained silent.

Meng Yuan didn't ask them for help, only gritted his teeth, mustered up his spirit, and stubbornly walked down the mountain.

By noon, the spring rain had stopped, and they finally came out of the mountain. The head of the herbal farm had already brought a few villagers and was waiting with a donkey cart.

The villagers were startled and cried out in fear when they saw the giant wolf's corpse.

"This..." The farm head's face was also very ugly. He stared at the wolf's corpse for a while before saying, "Master Nie, the farm has prepared food and hot soup. Please take a hot bath and eat something hot first."

Nie Yannian nodded, pulled Ren Debiao over, whispered a few words, and then Ren Debiao rode away towards Songhe Prefecture.

Meng Yuan was already exhausted. He threw Wolf One's corpse onto the donkey cart and simply lay down on the donkey cart himself, using Wolf One's belly as a pillow.

"You're already weak?" Nie Yannian walked over, sat on the donkey cart, and smiled as he handed the water skin to Meng Yuan.

Meng Yuan didn't want to take it, but Wolf One's belly fur tickled his face, so he sat up again, took the water skin, and drank for a long time, not saying anything.

"You think you don't offend people, but you have a harvest and others don't, which is already considered offending them! Otherwise, why wouldn't they lend you a hand?" Nie Yannian kept mocking.

"Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you. It's kindness if he helps me, and his duty if he doesn't. I don't care what he thinks in his heart, nor do I expect him to help me. As long as he doesn't provoke me, I will still respect him. If he does provoke me, it's not like I haven't beaten Steward Liu's son before," Meng Yuan said.

"Heh! You really got something out of reading!" Nie Yannian looked Meng Yuan up and down, smiled, and didn't say anything more.