At the temple gate.
The long, straight stone staircase lay before them. It was a dizzying sight, as though one misstep would send them tumbling all the way down.
People kept climbing the mountain, bent forward as they went.
Chen Shu and the others headed down instead.
Peach had already gone ahead. Realizing they had not followed, she turned back to look at them.
Chen Shu was holding up his phone to take a picture.
Click!
The ancient stone steps stretched beyond sight. Dappled sunlight filtered through the treetops. Peach blossoms covered the mountain. A young monk in pale moon-white robes patiently swept pine needles from the steps, one step at a time. A white Cat looked back as she descended.
Satisfied, Chen Shu put away his phone.
Then he looked back too.
From the mountain gate, classical halls could be seen covering the entire mountaintop, while the golden roof of the white pagoda at its summit reflected the sunlight.
Mist had hidden this scene in the morning.
Buddhist Order Cultivators were adept at glimpsing the future, and the New Orthodox Temple was the Ancestral Court of the Buddhist Order. Perhaps they had glimpsed something concerning him. But on second thought, it probably would not be anything that surprised him much.
Shock would be no use.
Better to take it calmly.
"Ahhh—"
Chen Shu stretched long and hard. Just as he spread his arms to their widest, Qingqing happened to walk past, so he swung a hand and landed an utterly harmless punch on her back.
Qingqing stopped and looked at him without expression, as if she thought he was an idiot.
Grinning, Chen Shu strode ahead.
Once he had walked away, Qingqing looked back too. For an instant, her gaze was as cold as a Deity's. Less than half