Chapter 223: Steeped in Great Karma
Chapter 223: Steeped in Great Karma
There were quite a few people in the courtyard.
Apart from the head of Qingyuan Yun Manor, many were familiar faces.
The leaves outside the courtyard floated past their faces with the wind of Huai Xu.
Moyuan, who was usually playful, stood up and saluted respectfully now.
He said with respect: “Welcome back to the mountain, sir!”
Seeing this, the others stepped forward together.
They bowed, and then spoke one after another.
“Welcome back, Mr. Chen!”
Chen Changsheng could not deny it; he felt dazed for a moment.
He had thought he was just a carefree person.
He did not expect that so many people remembered him.
His eyes swept over everyone in the courtyard.
He let out a light breath.
As he nodded, his face showed a warm smile, like a spring breeze.
“Long time no see.”
Chen Changsheng felt happy in his heart, and then said: “Bring the wine.”
As soon as the words fell, the side room of Flowing Cloud Temple opened.
Several jars of fine wine floated out from it.
They landed in the courtyard.
Yu Hongjin, who had been gloomy before, stared wide-eyed at the jars floating out one after another.
Her eyes were fixed on them.
This was probably the liveliest moment at Flowing Cloud Temple.
There were no seats in the courtyard, so they sat on the ground to talk.
Without wine cups, they drank directly from the jars.
Everyone laughed and cheered, congratulating sir on his return.
Moyuan, Chenghuang, Yu Hongjin, guests from Yun Manor, and Xian Yue, an old friend from many years ago.
And that was not all.
When Mr. Chen returned, the Second Prince of Dragon Palace, who had stayed in Autumn Moon Market, rushed over at once.
“Yingyuan greets Mr. Chen. I’ve come to thank you for the kindness of your earlier guidance.”
Chen Changsheng smiled warmly and beckoned.
“Settle down and drink today. We won’t talk about favors or feelings.”
Yingyuan saw the joyful scene in the temple.
After a bit of thought, he dropped his proud airs.
He picked up a jar of wine and sat down.
“I toast to all of you.”
“We toast to Mr. Chen!”
Xian Yue sat to the side.
She saw that sir was in good spirits, so she did not bring up more matters for now.
The courtyard was full of guests who might not know each other.
But because of Mr. Chen alone, they gathered here.
There were no seats, no cups, no wine dishes.
Yet, they did not mind at all.
Xian Yue thought to herself, this must be the Mr. Chen that Sword Grandfather spoke of.
Probably only Mr. Chen could achieve something like this.
“Glug, glug…”
Yu Hongjin was an exception.
Her eyes only saw wine.
Her head was buried deep in a wine jar.
The least comfortable people in the courtyard were probably Yun Li and Yun Ze.
Yun Ze whispered softly: “This senior is truly special…”
This time, it wasn’t because of his great skill.
It was because of who he was.
He had not expected that.
This senior, who had nearly destroyed Qingyuan Yun Manor, was so gentle.
“Not only is his skill deep, but he also has a heart as big as the sea.”
“It truly makes people admire him.”
Soon after, several sips of wine went down their stomachs.
But outside the courtyard, another voice sounded.
“Is Mr. Chen at home? Mao has come to ask for some wine.”
Looking up, he saw the city god of Autumn Moon Market standing at the temple gate.
He stroked his long beard.
His gaze fell on Mr. Chen in the courtyard.
Mr. Chen was also surprised by the old city god’s arrival.
He waved his hand and smiled: “Old City God, you smell it, don’t you? Hurry, come on in.”
“Long time no see, Mr. Chen. I’ve missed you a little.”
The old city god smiled.
After sitting down, Mr. Chen handed him a jar of wine.
He sniffed it, and then his eyes brightened.
“As I guessed, it’s Autumn Moon Brew.”
Chen Changsheng laughed: “It’s the only taste I like, this Autumn Moon.”
“It’s hard for top wines to please sir. Only a taste of the mortal world beats all others. Wonderful, wonderful! Mao toasts you.”
The fierce sun of Huai Xu was harsh.
But it was blocked by the mountain woods.
Only some gentle breezes were left.
They blew across everyone’s faces.
The always quiet Flowing Cloud Temple bustled with life this time.
Chenghuang said little.
He was among the crowd.
But such liveliness was not new to him.
The liveliness was because of sir.
The peace was also because of sir.
Chenghuang thought to himself: what kind of person is Mr. Chen?
Perhaps like the Daoist arts, mysterious and marvelous.
Everyone gathered and talked about many things.
Moyuan spoke about his past tribulation crossing over water.
Second Prince Yingyuan then spoke about the day he confronted sir.
He felt a bit shy saying it.
Later, they talked about Tong Zhihuan.
And then about Miss Tao’er.
The old city god added a word about Miss Tao’er becoming a monster.
Everyone felt a little sad.
But they respected Miss Tao’er’s choice greatly in their words.
Xian Yue listened to these stories.
She admired him more and more.
She remembered the book Journey to the West she had read from sir.
She thought immortals and monsters were far away.
She had not expected to be so close to them now.
Yu Hongjin got drunk from too much wine.
Her round-bellied body fell to the ground.
She began snoring away.
She heard nothing.
But luckily, she didn’t cause any drunken fuss.
At least when drunk, she slept peacefully.
Chen Changsheng looked at Xian Yue and asked: “When did I meet you again?”
Xian Yue paused and said: “It should be in Tianshun year twenty-four.”
“I sneaked into the Library Pavilion and ran into sir then.”
“At that time, I thought sir was someone from Jianghu.”
“The next time we met was near the end of Great Jing.”
“It should be Tianshun year thirty-one.”
“That year, sir came to Shangjing.”
“The year after sir left, Great Jing was gone.”
Chen Changsheng nodded and said: “Counting it, it has been ten years since we last saw each other.”
Xian Yue paused.
Then she nodded.
The years passed quickly; they really flew by.
Chen Changsheng took a sip of wine and asked: “According to the way of things, you should have entered reincarnation.”
“Why have you stayed in the mortal world all this while?”
“This matter… it’s a bit of a long story.”
“Back then, my royal brother went south to Anqing with our father.”
“And I went along…”
“That year, sir told me the living and dead are apart.”
“He said I shouldn’t cause more karma.”
“But I did not manage that.”
“I hope sir can forgive me.”
The old city god beside him had an idea: “Miss Xian Yue meddled in mortal realm affairs?”
Miss Xian Yue nodded: “That year, the Prince of Xiang burned Anqing.”
“I used the long saber sir once gave to Junior Minister Chang.”
“It helped my royal brother escape that disaster.”
The old city god felt a shock: “That is great karma!”
Chen Changsheng murmured: “Your soul didn’t disintegrate because you used that blade, I think.”
“Exactly.”
Xian Yue said: “After saving my royal brother, Yin Attendants from many places came for me.”
“Luckily, the City God of Shangjing took me in because of sir.”
“Then I finally had a place to stay.”
Second Prince suddenly remembered something: “According to what I know, a rebel army rose in the Southern Region a few years back.”
“Over the years, it grew to eighty thousand soldiers.”
“The leader was a remnant of the Yan family.”
“Might it be…”
Xian Yue said: “Exactly my royal brother.”
Yun Li heard this and said: “If that’s the case, Miss Xian Yue must have been tangled in even more karma.”
“I am aware of all this.”
“Xian Yue is stained with karma.”
“I turned my back on sir’s kindness years ago.”
“This visit was also to say sorry for it.”
Xian Yue raised her head.
She took a deep breath.
She said: “After this, Xian Yue will settle all this herself.”