Zhongshan We-sun’s teeth were all clenched broken, barely managing not to show a jealous expression.

The crowd discussed animatedly.

She recounted meeting several times, but stopped abruptly here, saying reproachfully: “You heartless young man, how can you say we only met three times?”

Even Huang She-li, who was walking back, looked at Jiang Wang with a meaningful gaze—good for you, Jiang Wang, hiding it from me so completely. All day long, you pretend to be honest in front of me, act dull, feign not understanding romance, but you’re the same kind of person after all!

First sight, fall in love; second sight, become familiar; third sight, leave affection; fourth sight, the phoenix lands on the parasol tree!

This phrasing was truly clever.

Ye Lan-er’s sentence was indeed a bit too familiar, and all eyes in the hall followed and landed on Jiang Wang.

In short, you were in me, I was in you, a complete mess. If the Yellow River’s Great Manager, Fu Yun-qin, hadn’t stepped forward to control the situation, who knows how many fights would have broken out by now. Seeing blood and death wouldn’t be uncommon.

Renxin Hall has always been known for its benevolence, widely praised for its kindness, but it’s not without old grudges.

Now everyone knows that Renxin Hall’s main physician, Yi Tang, is immensely talented and holds the title of “Little Sacred Hand.” Then, who is the “Sacred Hand”?

That would be Renxin Hall’s Medical Dao True Person, Lu Gong-xiang.

Lu Gong-xiang, who had saved the world for three hundred years, was killed by the demon-exterminating commander Yin Xiao-heng during Jing Guo’s attack on Wei!

At that time, Renxin Hall aided Wei, and Yin Xiao-heng utterly defeated the Wei army. He pointed at Lu Gong-xiang and swore, his words being—”Do you foolish children think this is benevolence? Today you save one person, I kill ten. Let’s see how many people live because of you, and how many die because of you!”

Finally, Lu Gong-xiang committed suicide, ending this cruel slaughter.

Renxin Hall naturally harbored resentment towards Jing Guo. But to say they wanted to do something more was impossible.

Long Bo-ji, sitting nearby, said: “Hey, I did see the Suspended Temple monks. Have the Xu Mi Mountain ones arrived yet?”

Zhongshan We-sun lifted her chin: “Over there, in that corner, the one burying his head… hush, don’t keep staring, he must be feeling uneasy.”

“Why aren’t they fighting?” Long Bo-ji asked.

Xu Mi Mountain and South Dipper Hall’s worldly entrances aren’t far apart, their spheres of influence overlapping. No matter how reclusive each is, friction is unavoidable. He was, of course, happy to watch the show.

“Don’t know.” Zhongshan We-sun sighed regretfully: “Originally, they were all gathered together, and I stared for half the day, but the one from Suspended Temple left again. Such a pity, monks fighting is so interesting! I just love watching this kind where no matter how hard you try, you can’t grasp their hair.”

Long Bo-ji was silent for a moment, then thought of something and asked casually: “Speaking of which, isn’t Xi Yue An developing very well on the grassland now? Is there a possibility of it becoming the third holy land of the Buddha Gate?”

As the two great holy lands of the Buddha Gate, Suspended Temple and Xu Mi Mountain are naturally high and unreachable.

For many years, only Ku Rong Yuan once caught up, once called the “Third Holy Land of the Buddha Gate,” but it was wiped out overnight. After that, various temples and myriad precious pagodas never heard a holy name.

But Xi Yue An has a long history, existing for a very long time. Its foundation is solid, arguably second to none among the holy lands. It endured the period of Ku Rong Yuan’s “rise and fall,” and in this era of great contention, it has begun to strive and catch up.

After leaving the North out Bamboo Forest, Xi Yue An formally stepped out of its reclusive state. It lifted its veil, borrowing the east wind of Mu Guo’s myriad teachings integration, and grew wildly on the grassland.

Can it, in this era, leap to become the third Buddha Gate holy land?

This wasn’t a question that only Long Bo-ji cared about.

Zhongshan We-sun shrugged her shoulders: “I don’t pay much attention to Xi Yue An. She-li girl should be relatively clear; she is responsible for spreading the faith of the Yellow Face Buddha on the grassland.”

She thought for a moment and added: “But you’re not handsome enough, she might be too lazy to bother with you.”

“You’re quite handsome.” Long Bo-ji slowly poured wine for himself: “Miss Huang has already gone to someone else’s team.”

“…You don’t understand.” Zhongshan We-sun maintained her composure: “She’s going to gather intelligence. We have a clear division of labor, each responsible for inside and outside. Don’t you see her greeting everyone she meets?”

“Touching hands is also gathering intelligence?” Long Bo-ji asked.

“You don’t understand, the way of touching hands can be profound. In advance, you can touch bones to tell fortunes; in retreat, you can feel skin texture and blood energy. It can also bring people closer, making the other party lower their guard and thus reveal useful intelligence…” Zhongshan We-sun spoke nonsense: “If you don’t believe me, stretch out your hand and I’ll touch it.”

Long Bo-ji grinned: “I’ll kill you.”

Zhongshan We-sun laughed heartily.

Long Bo-ji, who was just pouring wine, suddenly stopped with the pot in his hand.

“What happened?” Zhongshan We-sun asked.

“Do you believe in fate?”

“Got it. You just don’t look like someone with fate.”

Long Bo-ji wasn’t angry; perhaps he simply didn’t notice Zhongshan We-sun’s words. He looked in the direction of the hall entrance, somewhat dazed for a moment.

“The people from Xi Yue An have come,” he murmured.

At this moment, who could have walked into the hall?

Wearing a simple gray monk robe, stepping in simple cloth shoes, without any makeup—and why would she need makeup?

On this face, any kind of powder would be vulgar.

Her monk robe was very wide, it should have covered everything, but it was like the clear sorrow in her eyes that couldn’t be hidden. As she walked, there were also vaguely undulating mountains.

She wasn’t wearing that Bodhi branch mask today.

Perhaps it was the Dragon Palace banquet, where all the heaven’s pride revealed their true appearances. Or perhaps it was just pure… not wanting to hide.

Thus, her appearance was so clearly presented here. Like a peerless painting, unfolding in the splendid light of the Dragon Palace.

Her features had too much color, but her expression was so lonely.

That pair of beautiful eyes, bewitching like hooks, contained the deep coolness of an ancient well.

Her beauty at this moment was contradictory.

She was a beautifully contradictory woman.

Stepping onto the magnificent Dragon Palace banquet, where heaven’s pride gathered, yet like a lost little deer who had wandered in, she was a lost little nun.

“Who is this person?” someone asked.

“Never seen, but thinking… it’s no more than those few families.”

“She must rarely appear, otherwise it’s impossible for me not to have an impression.”

The heaven’s pride in the crowd discussed amongst themselves.

And she just stood at the palace entrance, standing in the misaligned light and shadow between the hall and the outside, her palms together: “Poor nun Yu Zhen, greets all good believers.”

At this moment, it truly felt like Bodhi had descended to the world.

The hall was too quiet, so her voice lingered in the ears.

Jiang Wang didn’t turn his head to look; he felt he cared more about the taste of this tiger-striped orange in his hand.

Everyone was discussing Xi Yue An.

Jiang Wang didn’t participate.

He felt he cared more about when the Dragon Palace banquet would begin.

The arrival of the nun Yu Zhen represented that the three strongest forces of the Buddha Gate—Suspended Temple, Xu Mi Mountain, and Xi Yue An—their true inheritors had all gathered at the Long River Dragon Palace.

World overlord countries, eternally renowned sects, the Four Great Academies, the Three Great Precious Pagodas…

Although quite a few heaven’s pride were absent from this Dragon Palace banquet, the lineup was still splendid, rare in the world, ancient and modern, living up to its reputation as the world’s first banquet!

Huang She-li from Jing Guo could serve as the welcome guest of the Dragon Palace today. Solemnly presenting herself as the host here, she equally welcomed every beauty.

At this moment, she went up gracefully again, still putting on a show of performing a Buddhist rite: “Namo Burning Lamp Buddha!”

Then she said with a cheerful smile: “Master Yu Zhen, I also cultivate Buddha!”

Yu Zhen returned the greeting, saying: “May I know which one master cultivates?”

“Hey, don’t call me master, our branch of Buddhism is different from others. We don’t taboo meat or vegetables, we’re free to marry, we emphasize following our hearts’ desires, and boundless happiness. Just call me Sister She-li!” Huang She-li waved her hand and said enthusiastically: “We cultivate the Yellow Face Buddha… that’s my old dad.”

Huang Fu, the Great General of the Huang Long Guard, had established himself as a Buddha, built temples to worship himself, under the honorific title “Yellow Face Buddha,” and accumulated faith.

This kind of thing should be called absurd, but placed on Huang Fu, it had an absurd believability.

Although this person’s temperament was willful and he often had absurd actions, when it came to strength, he was unquestionably the strongest True Person in the North Domain!

Whether it was Zhongshan Yan-wen, who created the farthest record of a True Person venturing alone into the border wilderness, or Hu Yan Jing-xuan from Mu Guo, who shattered the Cang Tu Mirror Wall and claimed “under the divine light, nothing is as strong as its force,” none could shake Huang Fu’s position as the foremost in the North Border!

It should be known that the Cang Tu Mirror Wall was a secret treasure that tested the limits of Mu Guo’s cultivators. Hu Yan Jing-xuan’s act of directly shattering it was breaking through the limit of past challengers’ Cave True realm, and with his own strength, redefining the barrier within the new mirror. And Zhongshan Yan-wen’s deep penetration into the border wilderness for eight thousand li created an epic of heroism.

Huang Fu’s ability to steadily remain above these two demonstrated his power. He vaguely had the momentum of the world’s foremost True Person.

This is why the Huang family could participate in shares in the highest imperial court’s best arena, and why when the myriad teachings integration began, the Yellow Face Buddha could get the first share of the soup.

Huang Fu’s power was recognized throughout the world!

Yu Zhen, however, didn’t dwell on any Buddhist sect orthodoxy or look down on the Yellow Face wild Buddha’s antics. She only said: “Adult Huang Fu’s cultivation of Buddha’s learning is admirable to Yu Zhen.”

“Let’s meditate together sometime.” Huang She-li smiled broadly: “My house is big, the cushions are soft, the incense is good, and there are many scriptures!”

Yu Zhen wasn’t afraid of being taken advantage of by her. If their identities were changed, or the occasion was different, who would take advantage of whom, and who would be more embarrassed, was truly uncertain. But today, she was not in the mood. So she said: “Next time, certainly.”

“We have more than just this bit of origin. When your Xi Yue An was spreading faith on the grassland, you were together with me. I got along very well with your senior sister, it was truly mutual help. That Yu…” Huang She-li racked her brain to forge a connection, seemingly completely forgetting how she had competed with Xi Yue An on the grassland, constantly pressuring the other side, so much so that she still couldn’t recall that nun’s name!

Fortunately, there were others present.

She turned her head and called out: “Fairy Jiang! What was that Yu who came?! That Xi Yue An nun who also watched you and Dou Zhao duel, do you have any impression?”

Jiang Wang swallowed a mouthful of the unidentifiable tiger-striped orange and slowly turned his head back. His gaze was so agile, skillfully avoiding intersecting with any specific line of sight. His voice was gentle and peaceful: “Perhaps you mean, Master Yu Hua?”

“Right! Yu Hua!” Huang She-li turned back happily and said to Yu Zhen: “Is Yu Hua your senior sister? We have a very good relationship!”

“Yes. Our relationship is also very good.” Yu Zhen’s gaze turned back to Jiang Wang’s side, looking at Jiang Wang, yet also seemingly not looking at Jiang Wang, and said slowly: “That is my closest person, it’s a pity she is not by my side now.”

Huang She-li sighed, gently held her hand, and said with heartache: “It’s okay, sister will accompany you. Sister is by your side.”

She held Yu Zhen and walked towards the seat she had occupied earlier.

Yu Zhen also let her hold her and walked.

People’s gazes intertwined on her body, her gaze drifting. Like a solitary feather of a bird, with no branch to lean on.

“There’s only one seat here, Miss She-li.” Jiang Wang said. Still gentle, proper, restrained.

Seemingly objective, calm, distant.

“We can squeeze a bit.” Huang She-li looked at Jiang Wang, her eyes serious, with no hint of a cheerful smile.

“Forget it.”

Yu Zhen suddenly let go of Huang She-li’s hand and smiled slightly.

This smile melted frost and snow, and spring returned to the earth. Her gray monk clothes brightened up, and that face, still without makeup, was dotted with blush by this smile.

The green lamp and yellow scroll illuminated the monk’s shadow, and this shadow was unexpectedly charming in countless ways!

She swayed her charming posture and turned to leave, sitting down in front of a seat in the center of the great hall. At this instant, her appearance was solemn and dignified again, stern and inviolable, like a sitting Bodhisattva!

You thought she was a lonely, desolate little nun, you thought she was that kind of weak person who couldn’t withstand the wind and was easily bullied.

Wrong!

Xi Yue An’s presence at the Dragon Palace banquet today was to arrange seats among the various sects in the world.

Just like her, stepping on a lotus flower, sitting on Bodhi!

***

“Aren’t almost all the people gathered?” Yi Tang’s voice returned from his research on the rare fruits of the Dragon Palace.

Cui Yi-gen beside him replied: “No, the people from Mu Guo and Jing Guo… haven’t arrived yet.”

Yi Tang then fell silent.

Ye Lan-er transmitted her voice again: “Our cooperation in Lin Zi is not yet finished!”

This woman had helped Nian in the battle to pursue and kill Zhang Lin-chuan. Jiang Wang’s eyebrows smoothed out, and he finally said indifferently: “Miss Ye, please sit down. With the Yellow River’s Great Manager here, Brother Dou won’t do anything to you.”

Ye Lan-er intended to stab at Jiang’s warblers and swallows, his confidantes, on behalf of Mei Yue, but also knew not to overdo it, as Jiang was about to get angry.

Thus, she smiled gently, no longer paying attention to Dou Zhao’s deterrence, disregarding Jiang Wang’s indifference, finding a seat for herself, and sitting down gracefully.

Jiang Wang raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat unhappy.

Isn’t Jiang Qing-yang only first in martial arts?

Speaking of today’s Dragon Palace banquet, it gathered heaven’s pride from all sides, and the enmities and relationships among them were intricate and complex.

Qin Chu, Zhuang Yong—these need no mention. Renxin Hall and East Wang Valley were also old opponents, the Four Great Academies naturally competed, the Buddha Sect’s holy lands each had their tendencies, and there was also the Three Points Fragrance Building that had peeled off from Chu Guo and established itself…

Ye Lan-er’s eyes were mournful, and she said faintly: “The first time this concubine body met Young Master Jiang was at View River Terrace. The young master was like the rising sun crossing the sky, and this concubine body gazed foolishly from below the terrace.

The second time we met the young master was on the eve of the opening of the mountains and seas realm in Chu. A few of us friends had a small gathering and talked very happily.

Zuo Qing-ru’s eyes flickered even more, not knowing what she was thinking.

The gazes of the crowd were truly complex, and it was hard to imagine how the rumors would spread after today. Jiang Wang finally turned his head and said: “Miss Ye, we don’t seem that familiar either. Altogether, we’ve only met three times.”

The third time we met was when the mountains and seas realm closed, and Young Master Jiang returned with a great victory. I welcomed you with a banquet to wash away the dust. After the banquet, we were alone, and you still praised my appearance as very beautiful, the only one you had ever seen in your life.

The fourth time we met, I specially went to South Xia to seek you…”

Reading Red Heart Patrolling Heaven