Chapter 710 - 563: Husband, Long Time No See

"Senior Brother..."

Xiao Mo had just stepped out of the main hall when Xujing’s tearful cry suddenly came from behind him.

The little monk caught up, wiping away his tears.

"Xujing, what’s wrong?" Xiao Mo stopped and turned, smiling at his red-eyed junior brother.

"Senior Brother, are you... are you really renouncing your vows? In the future... are you really never going to be a monk again?"

Xujing tilted his little face up to look at Xiao Mo, his eyes filled with reluctance and his voice tinged with an undisguisable sorrow.

"Yes." Xiao Mo nodded lightly. "From this day on, I am no longer a monk. And I am no longer your Senior Brother."

Even though Xujing had just witnessed the entire ceremony of his Senior Brother renouncing his vows, hearing Xiao Mo say the words himself still felt difficult to accept.

"Xujing..." Xiao Mo reached out and gently patted Xujing’s smooth, shaven head, his gaze a mixture of emotion and expectation.

"Actually, your talent for the Buddhist Dao is excellent. You’re not the least bit inferior to me."

"It’s just that you’re still young, so sometimes you can’t quiet your heart to focus."

"But I believe that as long as you cultivate diligently, with time, your future accomplishments will certainly not be less than mine—perhaps not even less than Master’s."

"Also, you are Master’s Closed-door Disciple. After I’m gone, you’ll be his only disciple."

Xiao Mo looked at Xujing and earnestly advised him.

"Master is getting old. From now on, you’ll have to take good care of him. You must also listen carefully to his words, reflect on them, and remember them firmly. Understand?"

Xujing wiped away his tears forcefully and nodded seriously. "I understand, Senior Brother! Don’t worry, I will definitely take good care of Master!"

"Also, Senior Brother..." Xujing sniffled and added, "When I become the Abbot one day, I’ll definitely make our Sikong Temple prosper! When that time comes, you have to come back and visit often!"

"Alright. I’ll be waiting."

Xiao Mo smiled faintly, gave Xujing’s shaven head a gentle rap, then straightened up and turned to walk out of Sikong Temple.

Watching his Senior Brother’s back grow more distant, Xujing couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted, "Senior Brother! I will study the Buddhist Dharma diligently! I’m going to become a great monk, just like you and Master!"

With his back still to Xujing, Xiao Mo raised his hand and waved, his figure gradually receding until it finally disappeared beyond the mountain gate.

「Meanwhile, in Yuncai Village at the foot of Sikong Mountain.」

Tushan Jing Ci sat alone in the courtyard. Ever since Xiao Mo left yesterday, she had returned to the courtyard and sat there motionlessly, in a daze.

The courtyard gate was pushed open gently, and Yue Shi stepped inside.

Seeing her miss looking so lost and haggard, Yue Shi felt as if a knife were twisting in her heart.

"Miss..." Yue Shi approached softly and called out in a low voice.

Tushan Jing Ci’s head remained bowed. Her voice, raspy and weary, emerged word by word from her cherry-like lips, "Is there any news?"

Yue Shi bit her lip, momentarily at a loss for how to begin.

But after hesitating, she finally said, "Miss... I heard that Xiao Mo... broke the precept against lust. The Abbot, Yuan Kong, gave him a chance to repent, but Xiao Mo chose to renounce his vows anyway. Now... he has already left Sikong Mountain with Gui Junmeng."

"He just left... like that..."

Hearing the news of Xiao Mo’s departure, Tushan Jing Ci’s eyes reddened slightly.

"Do you... hate me that much?" The woman raised her head and gazed into the distance, her voice so low it was as if she were talking to herself, or perhaps asking him. "Did you renounce your vows and leave with her just so you wouldn’t have to see me again?"

"Miss..." Yue Shi clutched her sleeves tightly. A thousand words of comfort were in her heart, but she couldn’t bring herself to utter a single one.

"Let’s go." Tushan Jing Ci slowly rose to her feet.

"Miss, where are we going?" Yue Shi quickly asked.

"He’s already gone. What’s the point of me staying here?"

The woman gazed in the direction Xiao Mo had left, her voice suddenly dropping, laced with an almost paranoid-like resolution.

"So what if he’s gone?"

"I won’t let him leave me—not in this life, not in any life to come!"

"Even if I have to die, I will be with him!"

...

「The second day after Xiao Mo’s departure.」

Sikong Temple opened its doors to receive worshippers as usual. The monks in the temple descended the mountain as they always did, to exorcise evil, pray for blessings, and treat the sick for the people in the nearby villages and towns.

Everything seemed to be the same as before, with no changes.

Except, the little monk Xujing looked far more dejected than usual, lacking the energy for anything.

At a certain moment on this day, Master Yuan Kong, who was quietly reading scriptures in the back courtyard, suddenly lifted his head, his profound gaze fixed on a particular direction.

In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, waves of demonic energy, so thick it was almost tangible, began to gather and churn in the sky above Sikong Temple, pressing down like a dark shroud that blotted out the sun.

Master Yuan Kong set down the scripture in his hands, rose calmly, and walked unhurriedly toward the front hall.

Inside Sikong Temple, nearly all the monks simultaneously focused their minds and looked up at the gloomy sky, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"What... What’s going on?" Xujing looked up, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He saw thousands of Demon Race Cultivators completely surrounding the sky above Sikong Temple.

These members of the Demon Race looked down coldly at the temple below, their eyes filled with unconcealed, chilling killing intent.

"Abbot..." Xujing caught sight of Master Yuan Kong walking over and scrambled toward him, his voice trembling. "Who... Who are these people..."

"There is no need to worry." Yuan Kong smiled faintly and placed a hand gently on Xujing’s shoulder, his tone gentle yet firm. "Leave everything to your master. Go back to the courtyard and recite your scriptures."

With that, Yuan Kong walked unhurriedly through the front hall to the temple’s main gate, where he stood quietly, as if waiting for someone.

「A short while later.」

A woman with a face as cold as frost, who appeared to be in her early forties, walked toward Sikong Temple step by step.

Her pace was unhurried, yet she carried a suffocating aura.

Behind her, nine long, snow-white tails swayed gently in the wind like nine streams of white silk.

The Tushan Grand Elder, Tushan Meng, walked up to the monk, her cold, fox-like eyes gazing at him as if piercing through a thousand years of time.

"Amitabha Buddha." Yuan Kong put his palms together in a respectful bow. "This old monk, Yuan Kong, greets you, Benefactor."

"It has indeed been a long time..."

Tushan Meng spoke slowly, her voice as cold as if it had risen from the Nine Netherworld.

"Husband..."