Master Dehua

Dusk mists hung heavy, and the quiet ancient temple was stained with the vicissitudes of time. Crimson perimeter walls crawled with green moss, and the branches and leaves of towering ancient trees rustled.

Squeak—

The carved wooden doors opened without wind, and an intangible pressure swept from the outside into the hall.

Three figures stepped over the fragments of light covering the ground, slowly pacing to the entrance of the main hall.

The person leading the way was a handsome young master, wearing a moon-white brocade robe embroidered with dark patterns resembling starlight, and waves of martial arts qi rippled outward with his footsteps.

This handsome young master was none other than Langya Xing!

"Master Dehua, long time no review!" Langya Xing spoke once more. His voice was gentle and noble, marking him at a glance as a young master of a noble lineage, and his voice echoed within the grand hall for a long time without dispersing.

Meanwhile, in the small courtyard outside the ancient temple, the atmosphere was fraught with tension.

A group of monks holding Zen staves, their expressions vigilant, tightly surrounded the three members of Langya Xing's party.

Staff shadows were stern, precisely like a wall of bronze and a rampart of iron, seeming as though as long as Langya Xing and the others made the slightest rash move, they would suffer a thunderous blow.

Langya Xing was dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, the corners of his garments swaying lightly with the wind. He raised his eyes slightly, his gaze like lightning, and merely swept it casually around the perimeter.

This sweep, seemingly casual, nevertheless appeared to hold everything in absolute contempt.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, carrying a trace of detachment, as he spoke, "Could Master Dehua believe that merely relying on this rabble can block me?"

His voice was not loud, yet every word was clear, lingering leisurely in the small courtyard, as though carrying a sort of oppressive might that one could not ignore.

Inside the grand hall, Master Dehua sighed lightly, and within that sigh, there seemed to be boundless helplessness.

He slowly raised his hand and waved it gently, signaling the monks to disperse.

The monks were clearly unwilling. Their brows were tightly furrowed, their gazes filled with worry and reluctance, and they gripped their Zen staves even tighter, as if silently protesting.

Yet Master Dehua's majesty could not be questioned. In the end, under Master Dehua's resolute demand, they departed with a reluctant glance back every few steps.

Once the monks had dispersed, Langya Xing tidied his garments and walked into the grand hall with steady strides.

He first raised his hand in a light wave, and the temple doors slammed shut with a boom, shaking the accumulated dust on the beams so that it fell in a rustling shower.

Following that, with a detached expression, he offered a slight junior's bow toward Master Dehua, then straightened his posture and stated his purpose: "Master, this junior has come this time to ask you to make a move and assist our side in dealing with the Carefree Prince's Estate." His voice was firm and powerful, and his gaze revealed an unshakeable resolve.

Master Dehua sat quietly upon the round rush cushion. Hearing these words, he shook his head slightly, his eyes filled with detachment: "This old monk has already entered the gates of emptiness, and has no intention of further entangling himself in the affairs of the mortal world. These martial arts conflicts, to this old monk, are merely passing clouds."

His tone was calm, yet it carried a sort of unrefutable finality.

Langya Xing seemed to have anticipated this sort of reply long ago. Unhurriedly, he drew a token from his bosom.

Upon entering the hand, the token radiated wisps of a chilly aura, and carved upon it was a lifelike heavenly dragon pattern—it was precisely the token of Tianlong Temple.

He passed the token before Master Dehua. The instant Master Dehua saw the token, his originally calm expression shifted slightly, and a trace of complex emotion flashed within his eyes.

He fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Where did this token come from?"

Langya Xing did not directly answer this question, but simply looked at Master Dehua with a burning gaze and continued to ask, "Master, with this token, can you leave the mountain to assist?"

His gaze was filled with anticipation, as though waiting for an answer concerning life and death.

Master Dehua sank into deep thought, his gaze shifting back and forth between the token and Langya Xing.

After a long while, he shook his head once more. Though his tone remained calm, it carried a trace of apology: "Even with this token, this old monk's mind is made up; it is truly difficult to leave the mountain."

Hearing this, far from getting angry, Langya Xing instead smiled.

His smile was unfathomable, as though he had long prepared a countermeasure.

Following that, he withdrew a slip of paper from his bosom, slowly walked forward, and presented the paper to Master Dehua with both hands.

With a trace of doubt, Master Dehua accepted the slip of paper and unfolded it.

In an instant, his pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with shock, and he actually stood up involuntarily, blurting out, "This is?"

Langya Xing smiled faintly and spoke softly, "His Elder Third Uncle bids you well."

His voice was not loud, yet it was like a pebble tossed into a calm lake, stirring up a thousand layers of waves in Master Dehua's heart.

Master Dehua was silent for a long time, his gaze a weave of memories and struggle.

In the end, he slowly spoke: "I can make a move, but I am only responsible for stepping forward to help you seize the person, and this old monk must guarantee his safety in life; other matters I will not concern myself with at all."

Having spoken, he slowly closed his eyes, as though wishing to isolate everything of the outside world.

Hearing these words, Langya Xing wore a satisfied smile on his face: "That is sufficient; then this junior will take his leave first."

With that, he turned and strode away with his two domestic servants.

His pace was brisk, clearly extremely satisfied with the outcome of this trip.

Master Dehua sat back down upon the round rush cushion, picked up the Buddhist prayer beads at his side, and began slowly turning them.

Yet, judging from the somewhat hurried speed at which the prayer beads turned, his inner heart was by no means calm.

At this moment, the other three elderly monks looked at each other, their gazes likewise filled with doubt and worry, but in the end they said nothing and simply resumed chanting scriptures. That low, droning chant seemed as though it would pacify all the entanglements of this mortal world.

At this time, a breeze swept past, gently brushing across the grand hall and lifting the slip of paper on the ground. The paper was seen to bear the writing: "Little monk, do me a favor."

The handwriting was archaic and vigorous, seemingly bearing the traces of time.

Outside Tianlong Temple, Langya Xing and the two others had already walked to the spot where they had tethered their horses when a servant at the side asked curiously, "Young Master Xing, what on earth was that slip of paper? It actually managed to move this Master Dehua!"

Langya Xing glanced sideways slightly at the servant beside him and asked, "What? You want to know?"

With a sheepish expression, the servant replied, "It's not that I especially want to know; I'm just a little curious."

Without looking at him, Langya Xing said, "That slip of paper was written by Third Uncle."

"Third Uncle?" The servant first started, then froze as if thinking of something, and stammered, "Your Third Uncle... that would be the Ninth Elder, Elder Langya Liu!"

Langya Xing nodded slightly and continued, "Sixty years ago, before Third Uncle broke through to the Xiantian realm, he once roamed and trained in this Great Yan pugilistic world under the alias of Liu Yalang."

"At that time, this Master Dehua was merely a young monk in his teens, and back then Third Uncle gave him guidance in his martial arts cultivation."

"It must have been ties formed around that time, I suppose." Langya Xing sighed lightly with emotion.

The servant said in astonishment, "To think that supreme expert of Great Yan from several decades ago, revered by people as the 'Finger Demon', turned out to be the Ninth Elder within our lineage!"

"Mn." Langya Xing acknowledged with a sound and spoke no further, though a yearning flashed within his gaze.

One had to know that it was precisely after training in this Great Yan realm that Langya Liu had returned to the lineage and made a single-bound breakthrough to the Xiantian realm!

And he, Langya Xing, similarly yearned to break through to the Xiantian realm and become an Innate expert!