Mojia’s expression immediately became strange.

His gaze moved from Xie Buchen’s face to his still properly grown hair, then circled between him and Jian Chou, almost subconsciously asking: “Then is this woman your consort?”

After asking, he felt something was wrong and added: “Or Master Diyi’s?”

Obviously, according to what the Holy Temple knew, Huaijie’s cultivation had only been at the Golden Core stage recently—how could he have the qualification to enjoy such a fine consort?

Not to mention he still had a master above him.

So this woman was more likely Master Diyi’s consort.

Mojia didn’t consider any other possibilities at all.

In the snow region, when an esoteric monk protected an ordinary woman like this, aside from having a dual cultivation relationship with her—being his or his master’s consort—could there be any other reason?

Sister, wife, daughter?

Obviously not likely. Moreover, Huaijie had no living relatives.

No one felt there was anything wrong with Mojia’s question, even though it contained quite problematic preconceived judgments.

But when it fell on Jian Chou’s ears, it didn’t sound right.

She hadn’t expected this group of New Esoteric monks to have reached such a state.

As the saying goes, “the benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom,” but applied to them, it became “the lustful see lust.” Any woman they saw with even a slight connection to esoteric monks, they assumed was a consort or Buddha mother.

Pitiful, laughable, and detestable!

Xie Buchen’s hand was still pressed on her wrist.

Jian Chou knew he actually had no ability to stop her from acting. His continued grip was merely a reminder not to act, but it held no real binding power.

At this moment, facing Mojia’s question, she could completely deny it outright. This would immediately put Xie Buchen in a dangerous and awkward position.

However…

She looked at these monks before her, and also at Xie Buchen. Her eyes turned slightly, and she actually remained silent.

The moment Xie Buchen boldly admitted he was “Huaijie,” she had already seen through his thoughts and plans.

But if she remembered correctly, the one who had searched Huaijie’s soul was her, not Xie Buchen.

When she finished the soul search, she had only mentioned some basic information about Huaijie. Xie Buchen’s knowledge wasn’t that detailed—

So at this moment, facing this group of New Esoteric monks from the Holy Temple, how could the unshaven Xie Buchen make them believe he was Huaijie?

A barely perceptible smile appeared at the corners of Jian Chou’s lips.

Not hearing her speak, Xie Buchen could roughly guess what Jian Chou was thinking, but since he had already stepped forward, he was naturally prepared, so he remained composed.

“Brother’s insight is correct. She is indeed a consort my master sought during his lifetime.”

“But as brother knows, things were chaotic recently, and unfortunately, master met with disaster and passed away. She took advantage of my inattention to escape, even running back to the Yin Sect.”

“It took me great effort to capture her back using the restrictions my master left behind.”

As soon as Xie Buchen finished speaking, the group of monks all showed somewhat surprised expressions.

Mojia hadn’t expected this and couldn’t help asking: “The Yin Sect? This woman actually comes from the Yin Sect?”

“Correct.”

When Xie Buchen lied with his eyes open, he showed no trace of guilt, as if what he said was the truth, appearing even more credible than at other times.

“Brother should know that the Yin Sect recruited a batch of disciples in recent years, and she was one with excellent constitution among them. Master also spent great effort to bring her back. Unfortunately, she was quite prideful, so she remained stubbornly unrepentant…”

“I see.”

Mojia nodded, his gaze involuntarily falling on Jian Chou, examining her several times.

“So you’re saying you chased this woman all the way to the Yin Sect and have just now captured her back?”

“Exactly.”

Xie Buchen smiled, then casually caught a strand of his own hair with two fingers, looked at it, and shook his head, seeming quite helpless.

“Moreover, it required considerable effort. And being away from home, infiltrating the Yin Sect, I didn’t even have time to shave my head.”

This explanation was seamless.

The Yin and Yang sects were also in the Northern Domain, located between the Western Sea Chan sect and the snow region’s esoteric sect. The Yin Sect was precisely to the west of the snow region, neighboring each other. Many of the high-quality consorts in the Holy Temple indeed came from the Yin Sect.

Mojia was not unfamiliar with these matters.

For Master Diyi, capturing someone with decent qualifications from the Yin Sect as a consort for his own needs was completely reasonable.

As for the hair, it was even less of an issue.

It was merely external appearance—after returning to the snow region, he could simply be ordained again.

The important thing was that the other party held the token left by Master Diyi, and the snow region was closed off. Not to mention that during recent frequent disputes, the New Esoteric had already controlled the overall situation. Mojia wouldn’t even think of the possibility that the real Huaijie had already been killed.

So although he felt these two people before him seemed somewhat odd, he only attributed it to “the disciple enjoying a consort his master had used, while the consort herself was very unwilling.”

His previous wariness and suspicion toward Xie Buchen had diminished considerably.

“To be able to capture an escaped consort and even infiltrate the Yin Sect, Brother Huaijie truly has abilities far exceeding ordinary people. I believe after going to the Holy Temple for initiation soon, you’ll surely advance further. But this woman…”

Mojia first complimented him, then looked at Jian Chou with some concealment, making his following words clear.

“Dharma King Baojing ordered me to select consorts. Since you haven’t yet inherited Master Diyi’s robes and bowl, I believe you won’t mind dedicating this woman to the Dharma King?”

Though the words were polite, he not only mentioned going to the Holy Temple for initiation but also brought up Dharma King Baojing…

Wasn’t this an obvious threat?

If he were just Xie Buchen at this moment, this person would have died countless times already. But now he was still “Huaijie,” so he merely restrained his dark gaze, his smile unchanged, saying: “Naturally, I don’t mind. It’s this disciple’s honor.”

“Haha…”

Mojia immediately laughed, even walking over to pat Xie Buchen’s shoulder, obviously thinking he was very sensible.

“Rest assured, after reaching the Holy Temple, I’ll certainly speak well of you before the Dharma King. Perhaps a master with deeper Buddhist knowledge will perform your initiation. By the way, what’s her name?”

Name?

Xie Buchen hadn’t thought of such details beforehand. When this question came, he had no preparation whatsoever and didn’t dare show the slightest flaw.

So in the flash of lightning, with almost no time to think, he blurted out: “Qiaguo Suba.”

Jian Chou immediately frowned.

The language and writing of the snow region, influenced by the esoteric sect, had introduced much Sanskrit and derived from it, making it quite different from the Central Region.

She hadn’t studied this deeply, so she didn’t know what these four characters meant.

But after hearing it, Mojia examined Jian Chou carefully, then laughed: “Did Master Diyi give her this name?”

Actually, the moment these four characters left his mouth, Xie Buchen realized what he had said, and his fingertips stiffened slightly.

But his thoughts were always deeply hidden. Even Jian Chou might not glimpse much, let alone the superficial Mojia before him.

For a moment, he felt ironic about himself, only responding with one word: “…Yes.”

Of course, Mojia didn’t think deeply about it.

He asked for Jian Chou’s name only to record it on the parchment. After learning it, he circulated the Buddha power within his body, leaving the four dark golden Sanskrit characters “Qiaguo Suba” on the parchment, then asked Sangyang and similarly recorded her name.

Only then did he say to Sangyang: “Now you don’t need to handle guests anymore. Pack up and come with us.”

“Ah, okay.”

From the moment Jian Chou refused to be selected as a consort, Sangyang’s mind had been like mush. She only roughly understood the ins and outs of the situation, ultimately remembering that Jian Chou would become a consort together with her, making her quite happy.

She responded cheerfully, even smiled at Jian Chou beside her, before hurrying to pack.

Throughout this entire process, Jian Chou watched indifferently.

Though she hadn’t said a word, during the entire process, not a single person asked for her opinion again. Especially these monks from the Holy Temple, led by Mojia, almost took it for granted that she belonged to “Huaijie.” As long as “Huaijie” agreed, it was equivalent to her agreement, as if this were natural—such habituation, as if this were common sense…

Thinking about it carefully, it was truly chilling.

Since her father went on pilgrimage, Sangyang had been managing the inn alone. Even packing simply now would take considerable time.

So these monks from the Holy Temple all sat down cross-legged in the main hall to wait.

Xie Buchen was now “Huaijie,” and having just blocked Mojia’s conch shell with one strike, many looked at him with higher regard, inviting him to join them.

Mojia was the leader of their group, obviously not very good-natured, and didn’t talk much.

But another rather fat monk was much more lively, not only pulling Xie Buchen to sit beside him but also winking at him.

“Brother, I see your cultivation is quite high.”

This appearance was just like a street ruffian—where was there any trace of a monk’s bearing?

Even with some understanding of the snow region’s esoteric situation, actually experiencing it was still somewhat difficult to adapt to.

Xie Buchen’s expression was somewhat distant, only responding: “I gained some fortune and was lucky enough to reach late Golden Core, but I’m at a loss regarding future cultivation.”

“Hehe…”

When the fat monk heard him say “fortune,” he laughed with an ambiguous expression, glanced meaningfully at Jian Chou still standing upstairs, and quite familiarly bumped Xie Buchen’s arm.

“Hey, you like her, don’t you?”

“…”

This question was truly frightening.

The lotus plaque with “Diyi” carved on it in his fingertips nearly shattered under Xie Buchen’s grip.

After a long while, he raised his eyes, gently loosened his fingertips, his expression normal, and smiled without a trace of emotion: “Is it that easy to see?”

“Oh my, do you even need to see it!”

Xie Buchen’s counter-question was no different from admission. The fat monk immediately slapped his thigh, his expression becoming animated. He leaned forward, poking his head closer to Xie Buchen, immediately spitting as he spoke.

“I’m not bragging to you—I’ve seen countless people! Just your expression, when I was—”

Just as this person was about to overwhelm with words, boasting about his experiences and knowledge, unexpectedly, before he could finish his opening remarks, a light voice came from above.

“Master Huaijie.”

Everyone looked up to see Jian Chou standing on the second floor with a half-smile, looking at them, especially at Xie Buchen.

—She had just sensed a trace of murderous intent.

At that moment, the fat monk somehow suddenly shivered.

This woman’s gaze…

She was clearly an ordinary person, yet she made him feel a chill down his spine.

He had animal-like acute intuition for danger.

Although he wasn’t yet clear whether this dangerous feeling was related to this woman, in that instant, the fat monk quickly withdrew his body that had been leaning toward Xie Buchen, pulled back his head, and immediately sat up straight.

As if the chatterbox who had just been pulling Xie Buchen to talk wasn’t him at all.

The other monks, including Mojia, were already accustomed to this and didn’t react much.

Their attention was on Xie Buchen and Jian Chou.

Xie Buchen also looked up at her.

So Jian Chou raised her eyebrows slightly, roughly guessing why Xie Buchen suddenly had murderous intent toward her and hadn’t suppressed it, but her tone was merely light: “I have something to discuss privately.”

The looks in everyone’s eyes immediately held several degrees of speculation.

Esoteric initiations were always completed by masters guiding disciples. During the ceremony, it was common to share a Buddha mother for dual cultivation, and it wasn’t rare for a master’s Buddha mother to be enjoyed together with disciples.

For something to happen between this “Qiaguo Suba” and “Huaijie” was perfectly normal.

So at this moment, though they had speculations, they all went in a certain direction, and no one spoke to stop them.

Xie Buchen looked at her, and though not knowing what she wanted to discuss, he still stood up and went upstairs directly.

The two temporarily said nothing, only walking toward the other end of the narrow corridor, avoiding most people’s gazes, before stopping at the end.

Xie Buchen asked: “What’s the matter?”

Jian Chou smiled: “I have no matter, but you do.”

“…”

He looked up at her but made no sound.

But Jian Chou’s smile deepened considerably. Without mentioning the murderous intent, she simply put her hands behind her back and strolled two steps toward him as if casually, saying leisurely: “Since these dharma teachers from the Holy Temple are seeking consorts for Dharma King Baojing, they certainly won’t seek just two. And they’re here now, having just said they’d take Sangyang directly back. Tell me, are the other consorts not yet found, or are they temporarily elsewhere?”

For instance, at Zhaohua Temple where Master Diyi and Huaijie had originally been.

When Xie Buchen came out to “save the situation” earlier, even though he had observed from hiding and quickly devised a response strategy, it was still hasty.

It could only temporarily deceive those present.

But in this world, perfectly seamless lies simply don’t exist!

The moment Jian Chou’s words fell, Xie Buchen’s pupils suddenly contracted. Obviously, he had realized what kind of thorny trouble Jian Chou’s next words would bring him…

And indeed, Jian Chou didn’t “disappoint” him.

“What a pity that Qiaguo Suba is an ordinary person and can’t help.”

Her pacing steps had stopped, positioning herself just beside Xie Buchen. She leaned slightly toward him, moving close to his ear, curving her lips in a light laugh, sighing as if extremely regretful.

“My sincere apologies—I forgot to tell Friend Xie: there are three to five monks at Zhaohua Temple, all on good terms with Master Huaijie…”

Then she shifted her gaze to see Xie Buchen looking at her as if he wanted to burn two holes in her face!

This expression…

Jian Chou only felt: Tsk, marvelous!