“Master Huai Jie?”

It was already Xie Buchen’s turn, but when Mojia turned his head, he only saw him staring fixedly at some direction in the empty space within the hall. Finding this strange, he couldn’t help but call out.

Xie Buchen heard him but didn’t immediately withdraw his gaze.

He continued to stare in that direction, his brows slightly furrowed. After watching for a while longer, he finally pulled back his gaze and smiled at Mojia: “I was a bit distracted just now.”

His appearance indeed looked quite like someone who had been distracted.

Mojia didn’t think much of it after hearing this. Moreover, even if he had been suspicious, he really couldn’t find any direction for it, since he was completely unaware of the incredible things Xie Buchen was currently sensing.

So he just nodded, had Xie Buchen come forward, arranged his accommodation, and handed him the “key” for entry and exit.

But Fu Chaosheng’s feelings were rather indescribable.

It wasn’t a coincidence.

The way this person had been looking in his direction just now was definitely not a coincidence, but because he had truly discovered something or sensed something.

Originally, with his cultivation as a natural great demon, only in front of the top powers of the Nineteenth Zhou would he reveal slight traces.

But the perception of heaven, earth, and all things has always been quite mysterious.

Generally speaking, in terms of being close to nature, humans are inferior to demons; but sometimes, there are also exceptionally gifted cultivators who are favored by heaven and naturally possess extraordinary perception.

When heaven changes, it stirs the surrounding energy, and all beings might witness it with their own eyes, feel it around them, or even have premonitions in their hearts—all count as “perception.”

The more one can detect subtle changes in energy, the stronger their perception.

Fu Chaosheng was originally a mayfly of the most minute existence between heaven and earth. Having heard Jian Chou’s words of the Dao and born from the collective wish-power of the mayfly clan, he became a demon—moreover, a great demon of natural disposition.

If he wanted to hide his traces, he would be much harder to find than ordinary cultivators of the same level.

But this Kunwu cultivator had actually sensed him…

So in that instant, a phrase suddenly popped into Fu Chaosheng’s mind—one he had heard at some unknown time, place, and circumstances: “Heaven’s Favored Dao Child…”

How could there be such unfairness in the world?

The mayfly clan lives from morning to evening.

Their lives are too brief, giving them no chance to attain the Dao. Who would be like Jian Chou back then, talking to herself beside a secluded stone pond in front of a mayfly?

So only then did he have the opportunity to transform and hear the Dao, emerging through the great wishes of the mayfly clan.

But humans…

Or rather, this person before him, could receive heaven’s creation and be a “Child of Heaven, Child of the Dao.” Even his perception far exceeded ordinary people.

In Fu Chaosheng’s knowledge, most demons could hardly compare to him.

—Was this normal?

Such thoughts suddenly emerged from his heart.

So he developed the idea of investigating thoroughly.

Under a pair of cold, dark eyes, the swirling demonic energy floated gently like mist, but in an instant became intense. Yet in contrast, his eye color became much lighter in that moment, like a piece of transparent green jade.

In this instant, in his eyes, all scenes—including Jian Chou who was watching him, and all the people in this side hall—fell apart!

Everything was swept into the torrents of time and space.

And he was the only motionless point in this torrent, watching this strange and bizarre world before him…

Was it the Paired Eyes?

Jian Chou didn’t know whether Fu Chaosheng was truly discovered by Xie Buchen or what his inner thoughts were, but when she saw the changes in his eyes, a strange sense of familiarity surged in her heart.

Almost without thinking, she thought of the Cosmic Paired Eyes.

So was he now looking at Xie Buchen’s past and former times?

Jian Chou watched, suddenly feeling quite complex emotions: because she clearly knew what Fu Chaosheng would see from it.

That was not only Xie Buchen’s past, but also her past.

So she suddenly didn’t particularly want to watch, turned around, and followed behind Sang Yang, stepping forward to receive a key made of old silver from the Tantric disciple responsible for miscellaneous affairs.

At this point, everyone’s accommodations were settled.

Xie Buchen, impersonating Huai Jie, naturally didn’t stay with the “Ming Fei” who came with him, but stayed with the Tantric monks instead.

The young girls were all on the east side of the Holy Temple’s main hall, while the monks were on the west side.

When leaving the side hall for their lodgings, Xie Buchen held that key and glanced at Jian Chou. But Jian Chou’s gaze remained indifferent, not showing the slightest abnormality even when meeting his eyes.

It was almost impossible to detect any flaws from her.

Because the current Jian Chou was no longer her former self—she had long since mastered the art of remaining composed.

“We go this way.”

Mojia led the way in front.

Xie Buchen ultimately didn’t say another word to Jian Chou, silently following Mojia upward. But when passing through the place he had been looking at earlier, that strange feeling appeared again.

Clearly walking through an empty hall, yet at that moment…

He actually felt as if he had passed by someone.

The extremely close distance even made him feel creepy, but when his gaze fell there, the area beside him remained empty.

Was it an illusion, or was someone indeed standing there?

Until he walked out of the hall and followed Mojia through other pavilions and halls, seeing a cluster of rather ordinary-looking monk chambers ahead, he still couldn’t let go of this matter in his heart.

Xie Buchen recalled Jian Chou’s gaze earlier as she stared into the void, as if she had seen some familiar confidant; he also recalled when they were discussing whether to directly search Mojia’s soul or infiltrate the Holy Temple, Jian Chou’s answer and choice.

Knowing it was dangerous, she still wanted to enter the Holy Temple with him.

Was it simply because she was curious about his purpose for this trip and wary of Kunwu?

What if she had her own support in the Holy Temple?

The shadow that had been weighing on his heart since encountering Jian Chou halfway and traveling to the snowy region suddenly spread in all directions the moment this thought emerged, pressing down heavily so that even a thread of light could hardly shine through.

Xie Buchen’s premonition grew heavier once again.

The Holy Temple trip might have even more twists and changes…

“This is your room.”

After passing through a deep gray corridor, Mojia stopped in front of a monk chamber that looked somewhat special.

“Masters who come to the Holy Temple for empowerment over the years have all stayed here. Junior Brother Huai Jie, go in and take a look.”

The outer walls were painted entirely in pale blue, like a piece of sky.

The two doors opening in the middle were carved with exquisite and delicate Buddha statues, then filled with bright, rich colors, giving a strange impact at first glance.

But for Xie Buchen, what was more impactful was actually the content of these carvings.

In the center of the carving, a Buddha sat on a lotus platform.

But this Buddha’s expression showed no trace of compassion; instead, his eyebrows were raised high, his eyes fierce and hideous. In his arms was actually a woman with full breasts and plump buttocks, completely naked, brazenly stretching her body, revealing a graceful posture, sitting perfectly between the Buddha’s legs.

How could this be called a Buddha statue? It was clearly depicting lewd acts, heretical and depraved!

Xie Buchen knew in his heart that the new Tantric sect was no good, but before coming to the Holy Temple, he hadn’t known it had reached such a blatant level.

He looked at this carving, his eyes flickering slightly.

The other monks who had followed with Mojia, seeing him gazing at this painting like this, all laughed, thinking he was having thoughts related to this painting.

The fat monk, who had talked quite a bit with Xie Buchen along the way, was even more direct now.

He came up and hooked his arm around Xie Buchen’s shoulder, grinning: “Brother, how about it? Not bad, right? Are you impatient for the empowerment? There are even better ones inside!”

“…Is that so?”

Xie Buchen smiled faintly, but his actual expression didn’t change much.

These paintings before him were just paintings, after all. How could they stir even half a romantic thought in his heart? All his love in this life was tied to one person alone.

“Creak.”

Mojia glanced at them and directly pushed open the door, saying to him: “Go in and take a look. Master Di Yi should have already taught you about the four empowerments. Before performing the empowerment here at the Holy Temple, you need to meditate and visualize on your own, completing the first level of vase empowerment.”

Xie Buchen nodded and walked in.

Some of the monks who came with him had been in before, some hadn’t, but they all followed behind him now, walking in together, their gazes somewhat heated as they surveyed this simple room.

Empty and bare, with no tables or chairs visible.

Only in the center of the floor was painted a mandala; on the left and right walls were arranged eight Buddha statues, all similar in style to the one at the door, even more explicit; on the front wall hung a very special painting with roughly four pictures depicted.

Xie Buchen roughly understood that these four pictures should be about the “four empowerments.”

Vase empowerment, secret empowerment, wisdom empowerment, and word empowerment.

They all sounded like quite decent names.

But looking at these four pictures, the summary was roughly like this—

First, look at Tantric dual cultivation statues and paintings for visualization;

Then personally observe the master and Ming Fei in sexual acts, and accept the filthy substances from their union;

Next, personally engage in sexual acts with the Ming Fei, experiencing the “great bliss” to cultivate the so-called “great concentration”;

Finally, through this experience, achieve great accomplishment in cultivation and become a Buddha in this very body.

Four empowerments?

Even in the brothels and pleasure quarters of Great Xia when he was on that isolated island, he had never heard of such nauseating practices.

Moreover, he remembered that when they came, most of the Ming Fei selected by Mojia were very young, mostly between twelve and sixteen years old, with probably only Jian Chou being twenty or older.

He looked at the pictures before him, countless thoughts flashing through his mind, but he didn’t speak.

But behind him, the fat monk had already automatically walked up, looking at the four empowerment scroll before him, pointed with his finger, and actually laughed: “This is called a thangka. Do you know what it’s made of?”

Xie Buchen had earlier noticed that the base paper of this hanging painting seemed somewhat special, but he had only thought it was the fur of some special animal from the snowy region and hadn’t paid much attention.

But the fat monk’s question made his heart inexplicably grow cold.

He turned back: “I don’t know.”

“Haha, I knew you didn’t know!” The fat monk immediately became proud, “Let me tell you, this is human skin! I heard that hundreds of years ago, Dharma King Baoping skinned twelve Ming Fei to make this. Look, such a large piece.”

“…”

Human skin!

And the skin of twelve Ming Fei at that!

Even though Xie Buchen’s heart was like stone, never moved by others’ suffering, hearing such horrifying deeds, he couldn’t help but be somewhat moved.

Others wanted to see exactly this kind of expression from him.

Even Mojia’s face showed more amusement, let alone the others. As if this was something worth boasting about and being proud of.

The fat monk patted his shoulder, his voice carrying some envy: “Really envious of you, your master actually had such a good Ming Fei. Although she’s been offered to Dharma King Baojing now, if Senior Brother Mojia puts in a good word for you, when Dharma King Baojing performs empowerment cultivation with her later, maybe he’ll let you host the second empowerment, or even give you the third empowerment as well!”

Xie Buchen’s eye twitched slightly, but he didn’t speak.

The fat monk and others didn’t notice his emotional changes, still thinking the situation they described was already a great favor.

Even the fat monk secretly came forward to put his arm around his shoulder, with shifty eyes lowering his voice: “Well, we’re all brothers and fellow disciples. If Dharma King Baojing gives this Ming Fei back to you later, could you lend her to me to use too?”

“…”

In that instant, Xie Buchen completely lost his voice.

He couldn’t describe what the emotion that suddenly drilled up from his heart and spread was. He only knew that when he raised his head again to look at the fat monk, his mind had already calculated eighteen different ways to die.

This gaze was really no different from looking at a dead person.

But neither the fat monk nor the others had any awareness of this, even saying Xie Buchen was stingy: “We’re all fellow disciples, you wouldn’t be unwilling, would you?”

“How could that be?”

Xie Buchen’s hands were tucked in his sleeves, his face showing a faint smile, looking very easy to get along with.

Only then did the other monks secretly say he was sensible, and they began flattering Xie Buchen’s excellent cultivation and extremely good luck. It was quite a while before they dispersed.

Before leaving, Mojia told him that he would go report about him shortly.

As for the empowerment ceremony later, it would most likely be arranged for the day after tomorrow. He could spend these two days in quiet cultivation and Buddha worship, or walk around to see the Holy Temple, or stay in his room for visualization, as long as he didn’t do anything offensive to the Holy Temple.

Having said this, he finally left.

With a soft “bang,” the door finally closed.

In the entire room filled with lewd Buddha and evil god statues, only Xie Buchen remained. Only then did he slowly lower his head, looking at his raised hand, then slowly moving away his stiff thumb.

On the old silver key pressed between his fingers, a deep fingerprint remained…

For anyone, this would not be a peaceful day.

On the other side of the Holy Temple, Jian Chou had also arrived at her room.

Compared to Xie Buchen’s room specially set up for empowerment rituals, this place was naturally much more “modest.” There was only one Buddha statue, but there were quite a few paintings hanging around, probably also for the Ming Fei to use for visualization.

But when Jian Chou saw them, she almost had the thought of setting a fire to burn them all. How could she carefully study them?

Fu Chaosheng was currently in the room.

Although he had walked around the Holy Temple before and seen some strange statues on the great halls, this was the first time entering these more ordinary rooms to see them.

So he didn’t ignore them like Jian Chou, but walked around in a circle.

After Jian Chou entered, she directly sat by the round table in the room. Seeing him looking so seriously, for some unknown reason, she suddenly felt particularly strange.

These rooms of the snowy region’s Tantric sect really weren’t good places for discussing matters.

But Fu Chaosheng obviously didn’t think so. After finishing his look, he turned back and asked: “Do humans enjoy this matter very much? Even after becoming cultivators.”

“…”

This really wasn’t a good question, nor a question that was easy to answer.

Jian Chou looked at him for a long while, thinking carefully, but really couldn’t come up with a suitable answer, not knowing what she should say for a moment.

Fu Chaosheng found it strange.

Because he knew this old friend was both human and a cultivator, so shouldn’t this be a question that was easy to answer? But why did she seem to have thought for a long time?

In his confusion, he wanted to ask further.

Unexpectedly, before he could speak again, something hit hard against his waist. The force was quite strong, causing him to stagger slightly.

Fu Chaosheng immediately frowned.

Looking down, it was none other than the carp jade pendant hanging at his waist.

The two fish eyes that should have been carved in appropriate positions had somehow turned to the forehead, staring at him deadly, with a voice kept very low: “You need to be reserved!”

“…”

What did this have to do with being reserved again?

Fu Chaosheng became confused again.

Was it because they were all different species?

Mayflies, kun-peng, and humans.

So he didn’t understand why Jian Chou couldn’t answer; he didn’t understand why the kun-peng wanted him to be reserved; and perhaps they didn’t understand why he asked these questions either?

Thinking this way, Fu Chaosheng walked slowly to the table and sat across from Jian Chou.

Before Jian Chou could react, the jade pendant hanging at his waist, which was actually a salted fish, let out another long sigh of disappointment.

Jian Chou heard it clearly and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“My friend needn’t mind him.”

Fu Chaosheng still didn’t know why Jian Chou was laughing, only thinking the salted fish was too annoying, so he said this lightly.

“Cough, it’s fine.”

Jian Chou coughed once, barely suppressing her laughter, then changed the topic.

“You’ve been in the snowy region for some time now, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been in the snowy region for seven or eight days, but I’ve been waiting at the Holy Temple for three days.”

Fu Chaosheng nodded without denying it, but after speaking, he fell silent for a moment.

He raised his eyes to look at Jian Chou, the pale demonic energy always lingering in his eyes, making them always carry something unique that differed from ordinary people.

But at this moment, these eyes also carried a hint of hesitation.

Since getting to know Fu Chaosheng, though they hadn’t met many times, she had never seen such an expression on his face, nor did she think such an expression should appear on a great demon who roamed freely between heaven and earth.

So a not-so-good premonition quietly surfaced in her heart…

“…Is something the matter?”

“…”

Fu Chaosheng didn’t answer her, only silently turning his gaze away, then extending his hand to gently place on the table a pearl he had been holding in his palm for a long time.

Being born of heaven and earth, this hand could rival heaven and earth’s creation—it was extremely beautiful.

Under the skin that was pale to the point of transparency, light blue veins meandered faintly, much like those on human palms, but if you looked carefully, you’d find their direction was completely different from ordinary people.

The pearl placed on the table was dark green.

At first glance, it seemed ordinary, but once you held your breath and looked carefully, you’d feel it contained a vast inner cosmos, as if hiding a world within.

At first sight, Jian Chou recognized it.

This was a pearl containing inner space.

But what would be inside?

Her thick, long eyelashes suddenly trembled, her gaze falling on Fu Chaosheng’s face, and she immediately understood.

“Originally I was just passing through and didn’t want to interfere. But when I was about to leave, I…” Fu Chaosheng’s voice paused, a strange smile appearing at the corner of his lips, “I just felt that my friend might care.”

So he collected the remains on her behalf.

It was the corpses of fourteen Yashan disciples.

Jian Chou stared fixedly at that pearl, feeling everything in her mind was chaotic.

Without closing her eyes, she could think of the shattered life tablets lying in the council hall, think of the expressions on Sect Leader Zheng Yao’s and Master Fudao’s faces, think of the mottled sword marks and bloodstains on the riverbank she had visited with Xie Buchen earlier…

For a moment, she dared not reach out to take it.

Such a small pearl—what heavy things were hidden inside?

Jian Chou didn’t speak, just looked for a long time.

Fu Chaosheng didn’t disturb her either.

Until the sunset outside completely sank below the horizon and a crescent moon hung in the sky, illuminating the snow-white window paper, he finally saw her extend her hand.

The moment she touched it, her finger shrank back, as if about to withdraw.

But ultimately, she picked it up again.

A tiny dark green pearl, trembling. The moment her fingertip touched it, all the scenes inside drilled into her mind.

Under Yashan’s gate, fourteen people.

Not one missing.

In that instant, tears immediately rolled down from Jian Chou’s eyes, but her facial expression remained no different from before.

This was a very strange feeling.

Looking at her, she didn’t seem sad. But Fu Chaosheng sitting across from her felt that she was actually extremely sad. So actually, he didn’t understand humans very well.

But he thought he hadn’t guessed wrong—she indeed cared.

The Tantric sect…

Holding this pearl, Jian Chou was in a trance for a long time, then gave a mocking laugh, gently placed it back on the table surface, raised her head again, and looked at Fu Chaosheng.

“The Paired Eyes—”

“The left eye is the universe, observing the four directions and up and down; the right eye is time, examining the past and future.”

“I wonder, could I borrow them for use?”