The boy had not come alone. About thirty zhang behind him flew a strange bird. The bird was three zhang in size, with two-zhang flight feathers of black and white. Its waist and belly between the wings, as well as the roots of its wings, were jet-black, while the tips of its wings were pure white. Most notably, the bird had a neck fully five chi long, utterly bare of feathers. Looking carefully, one could see a faint bronze hue seeping out from deep within that neck. A woman in palace attire stood on the bird's back. She was only around twenty, and her looks were not especially outstanding. She had large eyes, somewhat coarse brows, and an air weathered by wind and frost. Though her skin was exceedingly fair, the hand holding a flexible sword looked rather large. Even with a golden hairpin nestled amid her cloudlike tresses, she would never stir any particular desire in others.
"Amitabha..." As the boy flew nearer and saw Xiao Hua waiting there with his palms pressed together, he too proclaimed the Buddhist invocation. "This humble monk is Ci Hui. How should I address you, monk?"
"This humble monk... is Tipu. Greetings, Master Ci Hui..." Hearing that this was a monk of the "Ci" generation, Xiao Hua was secretly startled and hurriedly bowed in reply.
Monk Cihui froze, then asked curiously, "You... why are you called Tipu? Though you belong to the Esoteric Buddhist lineage, your Dharma name should still have been chosen according to the generations of our Buddhist Sect!"
"Master..." Xiao Hua smiled bitterly. "This humble monk was previously a lay disciple of Buddhism and had never shaved his head to leave the secular world, so I had no true Dharma name. Today was supposed to be this humble monk's auspicious