Chapter 983: Chapter 982: When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Chapter 983 -982: When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do

With two cultivators at the Divinity Transformation Stage offering protection, Old An and his companions had returned to Kaihuang City unharmed and without experiencing any dangers.

Just as Kaihuang Temple was originally named Erli Village Temple, Kaihuang City used to be called Erli Village, originally just an inconspicuous little place. Through the efforts of several generations of abbots from Kaihuang Temple, especially Master Duanchen, Erli Village was eventually developed into the sizeable and well-organized city it is today.

Unlike the cities of Great Xia, which were built using blue bricks and stone, the cities of Buddha Country generally used thick earthen walls. Weathered by the elements, their edges had been smoothed by wind and sun, giving them the appearance of being on the verge of collapse.

In actuality, the earthen walls’ interlayers were fortified with various array methods for stability and defense, ensuring that the city walls would stand for a thousand years.

An unnamed river flowed through Kaihuang City, providing the source of water for the entire city, and it was said to have been directed there by Master Duanchen as well.

Along the way, Lu Yang also saw many monks, with shaved heads and bare shoulders and arms, their skin dark and ruddy. As they walked, they perused scriptures, evidently devout believers, which made Lu Yang very concerned for their eyes.

Upon entering Kaihuang City, the differences from the cities of Great Xia became even more pronounced. There were beauties with blonde hair and blue eyes of exotic charm, with seductive figures and veils over their faces. There were ascetics with small monkeys perched on their shoulders. There were snake charmers who could make snakes dance by playing flutes. And there were fishmongers who placed knives vertically on the cutting board and then pressed fishes against the upright blades, avoiding taking life.

“Finally, no more sand.” Meng Jingzhou let out a sigh of relief. The pervasive sandstorm was too bothersome, but the city walls had a sand-blocking array method, which stopped the sand from entering and made things much more comfortable.

But Lu Yang’s spiritual space was not so fortunate.

In the spiritual space, sand was everywhere, forming undulating hillocks. A female immortal in golden exotic attire hummed a song and danced gracefully, her bare feet pressing into the sandy ground, leaving a trail of small footprints.

“Fairy, can you reduce the amount of sand a bit?” Lu Yang shouted, straining his voice. He was too far from Fairy Eternity; she wouldn’t hear him otherwise.

It was with great difficulty that they arrived in the city. Although there was no sand in reality, there was now sand in his spiritual space.

Fairy Eternity, twisting her waist, came up to Lu Yang, “This Immortal is just adapting to local customs. Look at you and the Meng Family Kid; you dress differently than the locals, and people have been staring at you continuously. If you look at me now, aren’t I less conspicuous?”

Lu Yang had long noticed the peculiar glances from passersby. Just like monks from Buddha Country would attract attention in Great Xia, he and Old Meng stood out noticeably as they walked down the main streets of the city.

They’d wanted to find a place where each could change into Buddha Country attire, but an appropriate opportunity had not yet presented itself.

Lu Yang glanced at Fairy Eternity, who was still dancing, and his face turned red as he quickly lowered his gaze. It was hard for the fairy to not attract attention this way; he didn’t even know where to look.

“Would the two masters care to come and sit at my humble abode?” Old An and his companions were very grateful to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou and wanted to entertain the two. If not for their protection, they would have fallen prey to the sand wolves long ago.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou declined Old An’s kind offer, got directions to Kaihuang Temple, and set off to visit it.

“Brother, walk faster!”

As Lu Yang approached the corner, suddenly a young girl ran over and bumped into him while looking back at her brother.

Before she collided with him, Lu Yang used a magic skill to gently wrap the girl in a breeze, stabilizing her so that she neither bumped into anyone nor fell.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Realizing that she had nearly offended a cultivator, the girl quickly apologized.

Seeing this, the girl’s brother hurried over, “Sorry, it was my fault for not looking after my sister properly.”

“Be more careful when walking,” Lu Yang said, not taking the matter to heart.

Looking at the retreating figures of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, the young man’s gaze carried a hint of vigilance, “People from Great Xia…”

“Strange, why was that kid so wary of us just now, and what’s with the ‘People from Great Xia’ comment?” Although Lu Yang had walked a good distance away, his Spirit Transformation Level hearing was astonishingly acute, and he could clearly catch the youth’s muttering as if spoken directly to him.

“Probably hasn’t seen Great Xia Cultivators before, or maybe he was harmed by one?” Meng Jingzhou shrugged nonchalantly as he spoke, neither of them taking the youth seriously.

Lu Yang and his companion strolled leisurely through half of Kaihuang City, ambling and sightseeing, taking in the local customs and scenery of Buddha Country. By the time they reached Kaihuang Temple, it was already evening.

The Kaihuang Temple looked magnificent, with red walls and gray tiles, and the incense was burning vigorously. The cauldrons at the temple entrance were filled with incense ash, with only a few sticks left burning.

“Benefactors, the temple is closing to visitors now. Please come again tomorrow,” the Young Monk politely barred them at the entrance.

Lu Yang handed over the letter sent to him by the Kaihuang Temple to the Young Monk, “Please tell Master Duanchen for me.”

Master Duanchen was the abbot of Kaihuang Temple.

“Certainly.”

Before long, a white-haired monk hurried out from Kaihuang Temple, bustling along while chiding the Young Monk’s head, “I don’t know Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, and you still had the nerve to make me check the letter.”

“Benefactor Lu, Benefactor Meng, I’ve long admired you. I am the monk Duanchen,” greeted Master Duanchen with a smile brimming on his face and his hands pressed together. He had only hoped to try his luck, not really expecting Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou to come.

“So it’s Master Duanchen,” Lu Yang and his companion replied, mimicking Duanchen’s gesture of pressing their hands together in return.

“Please come in, my fellow daoists,” Master Duanchen gestured welcomingly, inviting them into the temple.

The monks following Master Duanchen all tried to push to the front to see what Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou looked like, with the shorter ones even standing on tiptoes.

“I didn’t expect the benefactors to arrive so early. I apologize for any lack of hospitality on our part,” said Master Duanchen. The Buddha Bathing Festival was still two months away, and he had thought that even if they were to come, it wouldn’t be this soon.

However, this was a positive development. With their early arrival, Kaihuang Temple had more time to spread the news of Lu Yang and his companion’s participation in the Buddha Bathing Festival. Surely, this would attract many more cultivators than expected, making the festival even more lively.

“No trouble at all, we were afraid of unexpected delays on the road, so we started our journey a bit earlier,” they responded.

“You jest, benefactors. With your level of cultivation, you could easily establish a sect in Great Xia; what sort of accident could you possibly encounter?”

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou offered smiles in lieu of a response.

Lu Yang changed the subject, “I’ve heard that Kaihuang City was originally known as Erli Village and that it was your temple’s continuous efforts that built this place into what it is now. Truly a remarkable feat of great merit.”

Master Duanchen waved off the compliment, “It’s not any great merit. It’s just that one of the abbots was the illegitimate son of a high monk from Western Paradise Temple. That high monk wanted his son to live a better life, so he continuously supported our temple in secret, allowing us to achieve today’s scale. It’s all thanks to the blessings of those who came before us.”

“That high monk eventually passed away, leaving behind many Shariputras. The abbot at the time went to Western Paradise Temple to dispute ownership of the Shariputras and was never heard from again.”