Chapter 844: That Kind of Yuankong

Chapter 844: Chapter 844: That Kind of Yuankong

Central Continent. Daoxuan Temple.

Yuankong sat gasping for breath, plopping himself down at the foot of the mountain gate. His two hands braced against the stone steps, his gaze tilted upward at the brilliant blue sky.

At the gate, the same small monk in earth-yellow robes was still there, his face carrying a curious expression as he studied the man before him — someone with Golden Core cultivation who deliberately refrained from using it, walking step by step through Daoxuan Temple’s trials on foot.

Yuankong.

The little monk naturally knew who stood before him.

The unlucky monk Qian Qing always talked about.

Just as eccentric as Qian Qing, sure enough.

Yuankong turned on his side, looking up at the wildly brushed calligraphy on the Daoxuan Temple plaque, and exclaimed:

"Are these trials meant for actual human beings? Isn’t this a bit too difficult?"

"What kind of demon-designed torture is this — heart questioning, path walking, mountain climbing..."

The little monk bowed properly, then replied solemnly:

"Since they’re trials, naturally they weren’t designed to be passed."

"Huh?" Yuankong hadn’t expected that answer. He stared at the little monk in shock.

The little monk continued explaining:

"The abbot says: one who harbors no delusions won’t come for the trials. One whose greed runs wild and cannot let go — walking into the trials will naturally learn that ’cannot’ means ’cannot.’ All unwillingness besides letting go is just torturing yourself."

"Because ’can’t’ means ’can’t.’ Many things aren’t yours just because you want them."

"So Daoxuan Temple’s trials were never meant to be passed."

Yuankong was silent for a moment, then asked:

"Then why do some people make it through? Shouldn’t you make it even harder?"

The little monk laughed and, mimicking the abbot’s tone, offered a reply that was not quite an answer:

"One who can walk through Daoxuan Temple can walk the world."

Yuankong shook his head with a helpless smile, then asked curiously:

"Do you remember Qian Qing?"

"Very well. It’s more accurate to say she’s hard to forget."

"Did she pass on her first try?"

"Of course not. Counting carefully, she failed at least twenty-three times."

"Twenty-three times?" Yuankong murmured softly. Even though he had suppressed his cultivation and refused to use it, his body’s resilience was still Golden Core-level. Many illusions and mazes — even without resisting, he had a massive natural advantage.

Qian Qing had needed twenty-three attempts.

And what was truly impressive was her sheer willpower.

Yuankong sighed: "That’s incredible... I never want to climb that trial again."

The little monk scratched the back of his head and said spontaneously:

"Qian Qing climbed to the top seven times."

"What?" Yuankong’s expression went blank as he looked at the little monk.

The little monk thought carefully for a moment, then said with certainty:

"Qian Qing reached the summit a total of seven times, climbing over the course of two years. The first time, she failed eight times. After that, she got better and failed less."

"She was incredibly determined. I even asked the abbot if there was something wrong with her head."

"The abbot said: ’One whose will is firm but whose mind is lost — only on the road can demonic obstructions be avoided.’"

Hearing this, Yuankong let out a heavy breath and pushed himself to his feet.

The little monk quickly stepped aside, clearing the path to Daoxuan Temple’s gate:

"Would you like to come in and take a look around, Senior?"

"No." Yuankong waved his hand. "Temples all look the same. I’ve seen enough of them — I’m a monk myself, after all."

The little monk nodded in understanding. He hesitated for a moment, then still asked:

"I don’t quite understand, so I wanted to ask — why did you refuse to see Qian Qing?"

Yuankong smiled: "At the time, I felt there was a gulf between immortals and mortals. She might bloom in the morning and crumble to dust by evening. Being with us would make her time not her time anymore — I felt it was wasting her life."

"I felt that in life, besides the immortal path, mortals have their own lives to live."

"No one should spend half their life waiting for something."

The little monk nodded in agreement:

"That makes sense. When the abbot and I were traveling years ago, an old man still remembered that the abbot had once stayed for three years to save them from a plague."

"Quite a few children had learned to read because of the abbot’s teaching and passed the imperial exams."

"The entire town’s elderly still speak of the abbot’s great kindness."

"But the abbot asked if they were remembering the wrong person — he had no memory of having been there. It was only when he saw the statue the whole village had erected and the characters he had written all those years ago that he was convinced he had truly visited."

"Three years seems like nothing in our eyes. But perhaps a hundred years would too."

Yuankong reached out and rubbed the little monk’s head, finding it surprisingly pleasant to the touch. No wonder Chu Xingchen had always liked rubbing this bald little head back in the day.

"Never mind. The clouds and mist are scenery too. She’s a person who knows what she wants."

"Perhaps because I have cultivation, have seen so-called great storms, grown accustomed to partings and deaths, I assumed — because I raised her from childhood — that I could make decisions for her."

"But thinking back to how I felt when I was small... I resented my abbot for all the effort he put into me, resented him for not living longer, for leaving a little novice monk to walk such a long road, meet so many people."

"Her life should be her decision. I’m merely a passerby in her life — I shouldn’t be making her choices."

The little monk stared blankly, then nodded:

"Putting it that way, you really were in the wrong."

"I feel that way now too." Yuankong’s aura returned to its calm state. "So I’m planning to go apologize. Do you think Qian Qing will forgive me?"

"Definitely."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she climbed Daoxuan Temple twenty-three times for you and reached the top seven times. If she didn’t want to forgive you, she wouldn’t have climbed it that many times. At the very least, I know I wouldn’t climb that many times for someone I disliked."

"That makes perfect sense. I’ll take your blessing."

"We’re both monks. No need to be so polite."

Yuankong nodded, then his body transformed into a streak of rainbow light, shooting from Daoxuan Temple’s mountain gate straight toward Tianyan Sect.

The little monk watched him go and exhaled softly.

At first he had been a bit nervous — after all, this Yuankong was connected to the legendary Chu Xingchen. He had assumed there would be some temper. Instead, he turned out to be remarkably easy to talk with — almost too easy, really.

"What did you think of Yuankong?"

The little monk was still gazing at the fading rainbow when the abbot’s voice drifted from behind. He turned his head and saw the abbot’s calm face. After a moment’s thought, he answered:

"Very easy to talk with, quite interesting, and he seems to have been through storms."

"He too is a Born Buddha Son."

"Just like me? No wonder he felt so approachable."

"He feels approachable because his mind is clear and his realm is elevated — not because he’s a Buddha Son. Otherwise, why does everyone in the temple call you stupid instead of approachable?"

The little monk looked at the abbot with an unhappy expression:

"Everyone in the temple calls me stupid because you keep calling me stupid in front of them!"

The abbot replied naturally: "But if you were truly clever, they would see your cleverness. Why would they call you stupid?"

The little monk heard this and didn’t know how to rebut it, because it actually did sound quite reasonable.

The abbot smiled and reached out to rub the little monk’s head:

"Study hard. In the future, you can be like that Yuankong."

"Know Chu Xingchen, make friends like Qian Qing — so interesting, so easy to talk with, with such a realm."

The little monk nodded vigorously.