These new batch of Mingfei were originally prepared for Dharma King Baojing.

But their return timing wasn’t particularly fortunate—Dharma King Baojing was in seclusion and wouldn’t emerge until tomorrow. This made the initiation ceremony less urgent, especially since quite a few girls had come.

When they arrived yesterday, it was already getting late, and they had wasted considerable time in the side hall, so they hadn’t had a chance to look around.

Now that daylight had arrived, how could they contain themselves?

They were all young with limited experience, not to mention this sacred hall was the most yearned-for place for every believer in the snow region.

Having come here, they had both wholehearted devotion and wholehearted curiosity.

So early in the morning, unable to suppress their excitement, they had awakened early. Some had even spent the night in devout worship, not sleeping at all, and were still enthusiastic this morning.

Even without seeing Sangyang, Jian Chou could guess the general situation from her tone.

She had no interest in pilgrimage, but taking this opportunity to see the snow region would be excellent.

So upon hearing Sangyang’s voice, Jian Chou barely thought before replying softly: “I’ll go too. Wait a moment.”

After speaking, she concealed all her aura and rose from the couch.

From the outside, she looked like an ordinary woman, at most someone with outstanding appearance, more beautiful and radiant than common people.

Opening the door, she saw Sangyang.

The thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl had her hands playfully clasped behind her back, looking at her eagerly, with pure innocence still in her eyes.

Seeing her come out, she smiled happily: “It’s just ahead—everyone’s preparing to go.”

Sangyang pointed with her hand, and Jian Chou looked in the direction she indicated.

Indeed, a group of young girls were already waiting there.

Where they lived was on the western side of the entire sacred hall, to the left of the main hall—a row of clustered monk quarters. Standing in the courtyard looking outward, they could still see the small ivory building called “White Banner” that Mojia had mentioned earlier.

The famous sacred lake of the snow region was behind the sacred hall.

The only path to the sacred lake was through the main hall of the sacred hall. Every believer coming from afar to pilgrimage, upon reaching this place, would necessarily visit the sacred lake after devout worship.

Legend had it this was the cleanest lake in all of the Shijiu Zhou, capable of cleansing one’s soul.

This nonsense was obviously fabricated by the esoteric sect to deceive people.

Often, people trapped in their own suffering, or tormented by past mistakes and sins, desperately hoped such a place truly existed, so they were willing to believe.

But in reality, if the sacred lake could truly cleanse souls, how could the new esoteric teachings still have so many dirty and filthy affairs?

Listening to the words of these innocent young girls beside her, feeling their yearning and longing for the sacred lake, Jian Chou’s heart remained as unmoved as it had been throughout the journey.

Her identity was different from others to begin with, and only Sangyang was somewhat familiar with her.

So even if she appeared unsociable and aloof, no one had any opinions about it.

On the journey to the main hall, preparing to go to the sacred lake, they chatted while looking around. Sangyang seemed to sense that Jian Chou wasn’t very approachable, so after saying a few words to her, she joined the more lively girls ahead.

The entire sacred hall, though built on this high snowy peak, was extremely magnificent in scale.

From their lodging, they climbed upward following the direction, taking over a quarter hour before clearly seeing the magnificent main hall of the sacred hall.

The snow-like walls and tiles were all carved from rare ice jade, yet inside were golden bricks on the floor—a picture of extravagance.

Pilgrims hadn’t yet climbed the mountain at this early hour, so the entire sacred hall seemed quite tranquil.

When Jian Chou and the others arrived, they could only see several monks sitting cross-legged in the great hall, shaking drums, ringing vajra bells, chanting sutras, appearing completely focused.

In the hall stood a towering Buddha statue reaching straight to the top of the main hall, looking down from above.

A statue of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Its countenance naturally appeared solemn and dignified, also gilded with gold, radiating brilliant golden light with a sense of sanctity.

But perhaps because this Buddha statue was too tall, or perhaps because the overall color scheme of this sacred hall was vastly different from the Buddhist temples Jian Chou knew, she not only felt no compassion or sanctity from it, but only sensed a vague sinister aura emanating from within, making viewers feel a chill.

The dozen or so Mingfei who came together had already held their breath and dared not speak when approaching the main hall.

Now entering the hall, they dared not disturb the new esoteric monks worshipping day and night in front, only silently kneeling behind them at the entrance, each devoutly paying respects.

Jian Chou stood behind everyone, but no one noticed her, so she didn’t worship.

While others concentrated on kowtowing, she stood closest to the entrance, raising her head to stare at this Buddha statue.

That sinister feeling wasn’t an illusion.

Who could have imagined that this Buddha statue in the sacred hall of the snow region’s esoteric Buddhist sect would remind her of the “god” statue she had seen in the great hall of the night sailing ship at Mingri Xinghai?

That eyeless centipede standing in the depths of the great hall, always shrouded in shadows—the god Shaoji!

Beneath the seemingly brilliant golden Buddha statue, there actually coiled wisps of barely perceptible black qi, exactly the same as what she and Xie Buchen had discovered on the bodies of the fallen Kunwu elders and disciples.

The strange black qi on the Yashan disciples’ bodies had been collected by Fu Chaosheng in a jade bottle and placed within the pearl.

Presumably, he feared her current cultivation was insufficient to handle it, so he had done this intentionally.

Last night before Fu Chaosheng went to the Extreme Realm, he had said no traces of Shaoji were found in the sacred hall, so Shaoji should be in the Extreme Realm now.

The traces on the Buddha statue in this hall should be remnants from when Shaoji once resided here.

Jian Chou slowly speculated in her heart while secretly warning herself to be more careful.

After a while, the crowd who had been devoutly kneeling and worshipping rose.

No one noticed that Jian Chou hadn’t knelt in worship. When Sangyang got up and saw her still standing, she only assumed she had risen faster than others and didn’t think much of it.

So the group then headed toward the true sacred lake.

On both sides of the main hall were narrow, winding corridors.

Large golden prayer wheels were arranged in neat rows, hanging along one side of the corridor like bamboo scrolls. They were carved with various Buddhist patterns and common Buddhist stories, containing scriptures with the six-syllable mantra.

As people passed through the corridor, they would reach out to touch the prayer wheels, making them rotate.

The snow region was harsh and cold, not like other places in the Shijiu Zhou with abundant resources.

Here, most common people were illiterate. Though they had devout hearts for Buddha worship under the esoteric sect’s influence, how could they chant sutras without literacy?

Thus came these prayer wheels.

Illiterate believers only needed to have someone write down the “six-syllable mantra” and place it in the prayer wheels. From then on, each rotation of the wheel equaled one recitation of the sutra, accumulating merit.

Prayer wheels were common in the snow region.

In the sacred hall, these things were naturally indispensable, made even larger, more exquisite, and more grand in atmosphere.

Imagine what innocent believers would feel seeing this row of seemingly endless prayer wheels—what yearning and devotion!

The golden prayer wheels reflected dim light under the narrow strip of sky above.

As Jian Chou had initially expected, the young girls before her all showed sincere respect in their eyes upon seeing this. One by one, they stepped onto the narrow corridor, spinning the prayer wheels with their hands as they walked toward the other end.

Faint wind came from the end of the corridor, carrying coldness and moisture.

Jian Chou walked behind everyone as usual, her hand casually brushing over the numerous prayer wheels.

But her gaze remained on the people ahead.

Though she hadn’t talked much with these young girls during this snow region trip, observing their words and actions along the way revealed they were all simple-minded.

But by tomorrow evening at the latest, these girls’ blank-paper lives would be painted with colors.

Though her current cultivation wasn’t low, even successfully infiltrating the snow region undetected, she honestly didn’t have the ability to contend with the entire snow region at this moment.

Rescuing them truly wasn’t a simple matter.

Most importantly, a question had been circling in her mind these past days: if she truly “rescued” them, would they really be free from suffering?

Perhaps they themselves wouldn’t think so.

While thinking this, the corridor traversing the entire sacred hall had reached its end.

So when the light above suddenly spread and the view suddenly brightened, that pure and enormous lake ahead burst amazingly and unreservedly into everyone’s sight.

A true “lake in the sky.”

The snow from last night hadn’t completely melted, piling in silver-white layers along the lakeside, covering the world so no other colors remained. Yet at the center of this snow-covered world lay a patch of pure transparent blue like a sea.

The ripple-less lake surface was like a mirror, reflecting the extremely low sky.

At this moment, cotton-like clouds walked on the lake bottom, and the lake bottom was the entire vast snowy sky. Standing here was like standing in the crevice between sky and lake.

As if the sky at the lake bottom wanted to jump up, and the sky above wanted to fall down.

Never had there been such a feeling of being close to the sky, making one feel tremulous, yet when gentle wind wrinkled the lake surface, one indeed felt a clear transparency as if one’s soul had been cleansed.

This was probably why people believed this lake could cleanse souls.

The admiration in Jian Chou’s eyes finally became unreserved.

She stood transfixed for a long time, her lips involuntarily showing a slight smile. When she came to her senses, the dozen or so girls had already reached the sacred lake, kneeling and praying again.

Only one person was an exception.

She looked thin and small, standing not far from Jian Chou, staring straight ahead at the transparent lake like a gemstone.

Without saying a word, Jian Chou could vaguely sense sadness and unease from her.

This young girl was one of the previous Mingfei.

Jian Chou had a vague impression—besides herself being older than everyone and not liking to talk, this young girl was another quiet one, mostly silently watching others, seemingly very introverted.

“Aren’t you going over?”

Jian Chou found it somewhat strange, glancing at the crowd devoutly kneeling by the lake, then turning her gaze back to her.

The young girl seemed lost in thought and hadn’t expected anyone to speak to her. She seemed startled, and when she turned to see that the person talking to her was Qiaguo Suba, who had barely acknowledged anyone along the way and had special status, this surprise became even more obvious.

She became somewhat flustered, hastily concealing the expression on her face: “No, no, nothing. I’ve just never been to the snow region before and was mesmerized.”

Really?

This was obviously nonsense.

But Jian Chou didn’t expose her, only watching her and slowly smiling, still standing by the lake without going over.

Now it was the thin young girl’s turn to be puzzled: “Aren’t you going over either?”

“It’s just a lake. What’s the use of going over to worship?”

It wasn’t as if one would die from not believing in Buddha, and Jian Chou’s attitude toward everyone from the beginning had been “uncooperative.” Who told Xie Buchen to fabricate her identity as being from the Yin Sect? She spoke without reservation.

“When others send you to prison, lock you in hell, should you still be grateful?”

“…”

The young girl’s complexion immediately changed somewhat.

Sometimes appearing fearful, as if afraid the words she heard would bring her trouble; sometimes appearing moved, obviously agreeing with Jian Chou’s words in her heart.

She hesitated for a long time beside her before speaking with some bitterness and helplessness: “I heard them say you were originally a Yin Sect disciple, captured and brought here. My mother used to be a Buddhist mother too, but she just wanted to take my father and hide far away. She said we could go west or south, to the Yin Sect or the Central Region, to some place called Mingri Xinghai. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it.”

“Didn’t make it?” Jian Chou was puzzled.

The young girl lowered her head, revealing a beautiful, pale neck: “We were caught by the temple masters halfway. Father died protecting Mother, and Mother didn’t escape either. Sister, you came from the Yin Sect—what’s the Yin Sect like? Is it the same as the snow region?”

“…It’s different.”

Jian Chou hadn’t been to the Yin Sect, but according to records, the Yin and Yang sects weren’t much different from the Central Region’s Left Three Thousand sects, just with more conflicts between them. When not fighting, they were relatively peaceful.

“There are no temples there, no monks. Neither pilgrimage nor girls becoming Mingfei is required.”

“If you were there, you could cultivate through other methods like the monks here. The Yin Sect has more female disciples, the Yang Sect more male disciples. Among them are good people, bad people, and neither good nor bad people.”

“Compared to here, that place is like a sky where birds can spread their wings…”

Her voice gradually faded, like ethereal feathers falling from the sky.

Hearing this, the young girl’s eyes became bright, but when her gaze touched the clear sacred lake ahead, they became oppressed and melancholy again.

“That sounds wonderful—it must be the best place in all the Shijiu Zhou, right?”

“The best place in the Shijiu Zhou?”

Hearing this, Jian Chou was slightly startled, but the next moment, she looked into the distance and smiled.

“Though the Yin Sect is good, it’s not quite there yet.”

“Not quite?”

The young girl became somewhat surprised, widening her eyes to look at her.

Obviously, she had never left the snow region and didn’t know what the outside world was like.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked such a question.

Jian Chou was very clear in her heart. Looking back at her with only the tolerance and gentleness that could embrace all things, her heart slightly burning, she replied softly with an inexplicable tone: “The best place in the Shijiu Zhou is called ‘Yashan.'”

“Yashan?”

For the young girl, this was an unfamiliar name.

But Jian Chou nodded, smiling at her: “Later, when you have the chance to leave the snow region and go out to see, you’ll know.”

“Go out to see…”

The young girl looked back at her in a daze, feeling this sentence was so incomprehensible, yet mysteriously seemed to have a strange, convincing power.

And those eyes…

They seemed to contain a hint of soft light, warm and cozy, making one couldn’t help but wonder what kind of wonderful place that legendary “Yashan” must be.

At this time, she still didn’t understand this gaze.

Only much later, when she became the first Mingfei to voluntarily leave the snow region, seeing that towering solitary peak by the tributary of the Nine-Headed River in the Central Region, did she finally understand—

What this gaze truly contained.

“Meiduo, Meiduo, aren’t you coming to worship?”

From the lakeside below, a clear voice called out.

The girls who had finished worshipping saw the young girl still standing there and called to her, but strangely, no one dared call to Jian Chou.

The young girl was startled, her previous panic and unease reappearing on her face, as if afraid others might notice something. She quickly responded: “I’m coming right away!”

Then she hurriedly bowed to Jian Chou and ran over in a fluster.

At her age, no matter how much she disagreed in her heart, she still lacked the courage to be unsociable.

Jian Chou stood far away, seeing clearly.

But she didn’t go over either, only thinking about this girl named Meiduo, then thinking of Sangyang, thinking of the former’s fear and bitterness, thinking of the latter’s joy and excitement…

“Do you like them?”

A voice still carrying some youthful tenderness suddenly rang out beside her.

At this moment, Jian Chou had no awareness at all!

Only upon hearing this voice did she suddenly freeze, her protective Dragon Scale Dao Seal and “Human Weapon” body refinement technique almost bursting straight out of her body!

Fortunately, she barely controlled herself at the crucial moment, avoiding the danger of exposure.

But even so, the tension of that moment caused subtle changes in her aura.

Jian Chou forcibly suppressed her inner alarm and turned her head, surprisingly seeing a young man in snow-white monk robes who had somehow silently appeared beside her.

Those monk robes were too clean, as if woven from the sacred hall’s snow, untainted by any dust.

She could tell he was very young, his facial features slightly angular, still carrying the youthful awkwardness unique to adolescents. His snow-white hood fluttered slightly in the breeze from the lake, contrasting with his pair of vaguely blue-tinged, clear pupils that appeared exceptionally calm.

His feet were bare, and though his body was very clean, he seemed completely unbothered by the dirt and dust on the ground.

Like an ordinary person.

But what ordinary person could appear silently beside her?

Jian Chou’s mind raced, unable to reach any definite conclusion for a moment. After pausing briefly, she followed his words and replied: “They’re all very pure young girls. I quite like them.”

“Really?”

The young man’s eyes immediately showed some bright color, looking as transparent and pure as the sacred lake ahead.

“I quite like you too.”

“…”

This statement was somewhat incomprehensible.

Jian Chou knew the other party wasn’t simple, only watching him without speaking.

The young man tilted his head, still looking at her, bringing forward his hands that had been behind his back and extending them toward her. It was actually a snow lotus flower still carrying some chill, trembling with unmelted snow under the snowy sky’s sunlight.

With the corners of his mouth turning up, his eyes narrowed like two crescents, his voice extremely pleasant.

“Qiaguo Suba.”