Chapter 1249: Hide and Seek

Today should have been an ordinary day, neither a festival nor a momentous occasion.

But for Monk Jingli, the ninth of August was undeniably special.

His beloved junior brother had promised to treat him to a meal in Linzi on this very day!

He had worked diligently, completing his tasks ahead of schedule to free up a full two days.

His master, with a sour note, asked him why he needed to set aside two days just for a meal.

He confidently replied that after eating, one must surely explore Linzi! Linzi was so vast! It would surely take several days to explore. Two days was barely enough.

He knew his master was jealous, for he was the first in the entire Suspended Temple to receive an invitation from the junior brother!

But there was nothing to be done.

His junior brother had endured so much hardship in Linzi, suffering the torment of endless feasting and revelry each day. He absolutely had to accompany him for two days.

As fellow disciples, they must share both sweetness and bitterness.

He must empower his junior brother, so that he might soon escape the red dust, shed his hair, and return to the fold.

However...

Imagination and reality were often disparate.

Vastly disparate!

He never would have imagined that the first meal he ate in Linzi... would be in prison!

"Here!"

A jailer, holding a broken bowl with two pitch-black steamed buns inside, thrust the bowl through the bars and slammed it onto the ground, the buns rattling against the bowl.

Monk Jingli was no stranger to steamed buns; he had eaten them before while begging.

But steamed buns this black, this hard... he had truly never seen.

"Esteemed benefactor."

Jingli was a monk who paid great attention to personal hygiene, so he was neither lying nor sitting.

He stood in the only dry corner of the cell, reaching out from afar and calling, "Please stay your hand!"

"Want an extra meal?" The jailer glanced at him askance, reaching out his hand. "Pay up first!"

"Ah, that's not what I meant." Monk Jingli explained, "I wanted to tell the benefactor..."

"Hmph, a penniless wretch!" The jailer impatiently flicked his hand and strode away.

Only Monk Jingli remained, his hand still outstretched, standing dejectedly in place.

How could this be... so different from what the junior brother had said?

Hadn't he said that coming to Linzi didn't require reporting, that everything was a small matter, that everything could be arranged with just a word to the Capital Patrol Bureau?

Why was he surrounded by dozens of people the moment he entered Linzi, each one looking fierce and wanting to beat him?

Although Monk Jingli was not afraid of those people, he didn't want to cause trouble for his junior brother, so he obediently followed them.

He had thought it was just a small misunderstanding, something the junior brother could clear up with a word. Unexpectedly, as soon as he mentioned the junior brother's name, those who were preparing to deport him immediately took him to prison!

He still remembered the conversation from that morning—

At the time, a group of people had surrounded him, including Qingpai constables, Capital Guards, and even Night Watchmen.

"That monk, from which sect are you? Did you report your arrival in Qi?"

He had proudly replied at the time, "No!"

Seeing the other party about to make a move, he confidently said, "My junior brother invited me for dinner!"

"Your junior brother?" The leading constable sneered, "There's no monk in our Linzi with such influence!"

He chuckled, "Aren't you going to ask who my junior brother is?"

The constable asked, "Who is it?"

He said with full confidence, "Jingshen! His common name is Jiang Wang!"

Then he heard a cry of "Take him down!"

By the time he reacted, he was already in prison...

If his master were to ask him now how it felt to attend the banquet in Linzi.

He could only reply—

Having just arrived in Linzi, I'm in prison... The feeling is quite complex.

"Did something happen at your Soaring Cloud Pavilion these past few days?" Jiang Wang asked in the Soaring Cloud Secret Realm.

"Why do you ask?" Ye Qingyu's eyes held a smile.

"Why are your father and Senior Acho..." Jiang Wang pointed upwards. "Always flying around."

Good heavens, he could encounter them several times a day. A Pavilion Master and a鎮宗 divine beast, as if they had nothing else to do, patrolling all day!

"Well," Ye Qingyu was secretly annoyed but found it difficult to say anything, only smiling, "They're getting on in age, you know. They need to move around more, stretch their muscles and bones."

Jiang Wang said in surprise, "Do True Lords also need to stretch their muscles and bones?"

"This..." Ye Qingyu was racking her brain for an explanation.

Jiang Wang had already come up with his own answer, "No wonder True Lord Ye is so powerful. Having already attained the Cavernous Truth, he still never forgets cultivation. Truly a model for our generation!"

"Haha, is that so. You figured it out," Ye Qingyu's tone was a bit dry.

"Since senior is so diligent, we mustn't fall behind," Jiang Wang said with great emotion, adding, "That Dao art you mentioned last time, I think there's actually a new direction... Look, when your Dao Yuan emerges from the Heaven-Reaching Palace and stirs the wind element..."

Under the setting sun, two figures engrossed in cultivation were stretched out very, very long...

Behind a small hill not far away, concealed by an illusion array, lay a row of figures.

From left to right, they were the square-faced senior brother Xie Ruixuan, the annoying senior brother Mo Liang, the Big and Small Wang senior sisters, Acho, Jiang Anan, and Stupid Gray.

"It's too terrifying..." Xie Ruixuan murmured.

"No wonder my brother is so powerful!" Mo Liang clenched his fists. "Truly, the Dao rewards diligence! The diligent heart, the heavens will not abandon, it has ignited my fighting spirit!"

"Hey!" As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately shouted at Xie Ruixuan, "Move over a bit, you're crowding me! How can I sunbathe like this!"

"It's my brother!" Jiang Anan, hearing the first half of the sentence, quickly turned her head and corrected loudly.

Woof woof woof!

Stupid Gray immediately cheered her on.

"Yes, yes, yes, Sister An!" Mo Liang quickly said, "It's your brother, it's our big brother!"

Miss Small Wang shook her head blankly, "I don't care about his marriage anymore."

The gentle Miss Big Wang also had lingering fears, "This beautiful weather is only suitable for lying down..."

"Acho," Jiang Anan asked again at this time, "Why are we lying here peeking at my brother?"

Everyone else addressed him with respect.

Only Jiang Anan, Acho liked her to call him by his name directly.

One time, Jiang Wang meddled and told little Anan to be more polite. That night, Acho went to his door and had a friendly chat. Since then, it was no longer an issue.

"This isn't called peeking," Acho said casually, then glared at Mo Liang.

Meaning, keep lying!

Mo Liang cleverly took over, "Right, hide-and-seek! We're playing hide-and-seek!"

Jiang Anan furrowed her brow, sensing that things were not so simple, "Then why aren't they coming to find us? They're still talking about Dao art."

"Perhaps that's just what good children who love to learn are like," Mo Liang sighed. "Otherwise, why don't you go and learn from your brother?"

Jiang Anan silently shrank her head back, whispering, "I'm a little sleepy now..."