Chapter 627: This Poor Daoist Is Also Inferior to the Grand Ancestor of Xiang

Riding the dragon back, he looked out over the green hills and clear waters.

The toll of bells and drums echoed endlessly through the air.

How could the splendor of the Mortal World be fully seen in a few years, or even a few hundred?

Returning to his old home brought a different kind of feeling to Mo Yuan. Gazing at the green hills, clear waters, and overlapping peaks, he felt as though he had returned to the days when he still wandered freely through the wilderness.

Everything was so deeply peaceful.

"Mister, where are we going? Are we returning to Liuyun Temple?"

Chen Changsheng replied, "If you want to go back and take a look, then let's head to Qiuyue Fang first."

"Mm."

The closer they drew to Qiuyue Fang, the faster Mo Yuan flew.

Come to think of it, Chen Changsheng had not been back in a long time either.

The two alighted at the foot of Liuyun Mountain and saw incense smoke rising from the Daoist temple straight into the blue sky.

Mo Yuan looked up. The stone steps leading up the mountain were neat and clean, though after so many years, they inevitably bore the decaying marks of time.

The bluestone slabs were now dotted with mottled stains.

Mo Yuan asked, "Has Mister returned in recent years?"

"I came back to take a look many years ago."

"I remember Zhang Xiaoliu used to come sweep the steps. Many years ago, he even gave me a Lantern and some couplets..."

Chen Changsheng fell silent, offering no reply for a long while.

Mo Yuan understood what Mister's silence meant.

"Is he no longer in this world...?"

"Mm."

Mo Yuan sighed, feeling a trace of inexplicable sorrow.

That boy was one of the few people and events he remembered clearly.

He looked up the path and asked, "Then who is on the mountain now?"

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, "Someone from the past. You've met him before."

"I've met him?"

Mo Yuan searched his memory, and a few faces came to mind.

"Let's go."

The two of them walked up the mountain.

Stepping onto these stone stairs once more, every footfall felt a little heavier.

Mo Yuan kept his gaze fixed on the peak, constantly looking at the Daoist temple.

As he saw it, he only had two homes: one at Jade Wave Lake, and the other here.

When they reached the mountain gate, they heard the sound of sutras being chanted from inside the temple.

The recitation was of Daoist scriptures. The voice was calm, as if the chanter's mind was as still as placid water.

But the sound of a few footsteps at the door caused the chanting to halt.

Sitting inside, Daoist Fuyun paused.

His gaze shifted toward the door, and soon after, a slow knocking rang out.

He stood up from his meditation cushion and walked to the entrance.

Slowly, he pulled open the Daoist temple's main doors.

Two figures stood right outside.

One was dressed in a green robe, the other in black.

Daoist Fuyun froze.

A moment later, Mo Yuan spoke up. "So it's you."

Chen Changsheng looked at him, silent for a moment before saying, "Have you been well?"

Daoist Fuyun's previously tranquil state of mind trembled at that moment.

Suddenly, he smiled and nodded.

...

The Daoist temple was peaceful and quiet.

Everything was kept simple.

Daoist Fuyun had cleared a plot of land on the Back Mountain to plant various crops. A few years ago, he had even bought a few peach tree saplings and planted them there; now, they were already bearing fruit.

He did not have to worry about food. Whatever he could not finish, he could carry down to the marketplace to sell for a bit of money. He only had one mouth to feed, so it was not as strenuous as it had been for his Master back then.

Daoist Fuyun brewed some tea—wild tea leaves he had picked from the mountain and roasted himself.

The three of them sat around the stone table beneath the peach tree.

"It's still this same table..."

Mo Yuan could not help but remark, "Back then, this table broke time and again. We replaced it, and it broke again. I never expected that after leaving and coming back, it would still be this one."

Daoist Fuyun replied, "For all things in this world, change is fine, but remaining unchanged is also good."

"The Priest is right," Mo Yuan agreed.

To him, those days were unforgettable. The unchanged table made him reminisce about the past even more. It was all good.

Chen Changsheng observed Daoist Fuyun. He had to admit that the man before him had indeed let go of many things. Or perhaps, that was not quite the right way to put it.

It was possible that from the very beginning, the man named Shang Lu had seen things clearly and thoroughly. That was why he had returned.

Whether acting as the emperor of West Xiao or the temple master of Liuyun Temple, both were simply things he was meant to do.

Chen Changsheng asked, "All these years, has it just been you alone in the temple?"

"There are also many pilgrims," Daoist Fuyun answered.

Liuyun Temple had never lacked incense.

No matter how long Liuyun Temple had been abandoned, the people of Qiuyue Fang always remembered that a Daoist temple once stood here. They remembered that in the past, there was a Daoist over a hundred years old, a benevolent Priest, and a young divine physician who performed acts of great righteousness.

"Then you are not lonely," Mo Yuan said.

Daoist Fuyun smiled. "Layman Mo is quite right."

Hearing that title, Mo Yuan could not help but remark, "You really are like a true Priest now. You are very different from when I first met you."

Daoist Fuyun said, "Perhaps it is because I have read too many Daoist scriptures, so my heart has lost its youthful vigor. Furthermore, I truly am old now. Naturally, I would be different."

Mo Yuan nodded and asked, "Has the Priest not taken a disciple?"

Daoist Fuyun thought for a moment and replied, "I am but a Daoist who joined the path halfway through his life. It is better that I do not lead anyone astray."

He had been an emperor. Some of his views were, inevitably, different.

No matter how clear-minded he was, he would always retain traces of his past. Fully aware of this, he had never taken an apprentice.

Mo Yuan said, "I can see the Priest understands that the Dao models itself on nature. How could you lead a disciple astray?"

Daoist Fuyun chuckled. "Everyone has their own fate. Some go up the mountain, while others go down the mountain. One should just let nature take its course."

Chen Changsheng asked, "Do you plan to stay on this mountain for the rest of your life?"

"That is what I intend."

Daoist Fuyun felt that this mountain was better than anywhere else.

He let out a breath and said, "I was young and ignorant back then. Only now do I understand how the ways of the world can weather a person. Even so, having walked through it all, this poor Daoist's life can be considered complete. From where I came, there I shall return. Dust to dust, earth to earth."

"On the path of the Dao," Chen Changsheng said, "you have comprehended much more than your Master."

"My Master..."

Daoist Fuyun paused, inevitably recalling his Master's life.

Daoist Fuyun said, "Master was stubborn. For the many decades of his life, he stayed on the mountain. As a disciple who went down the mountain, how could I ever compare to him?"

Chen Changsheng shook his head. "It is not a matter of going up or down the mountain. It is simply a difference in perspective. Your Master was too pure. It was as if only a few sparse strokes were sketched onto a blank sheet of paper, and that remained true for his entire life. But you are different. Your sheet of paper is filled with a Painted Scroll. Both paths have their merits, and both point toward the Great Dao."

Daoist Fuyun said, "This poor Daoist is ashamed."

Mo Yuan asked, "Is the Priest unwilling to accept how things turned out?"

What he was asking about, naturally, was West Xiao's defeat by Great Xiang back then.

Daoist Fuyun said, "Naturally, there was some unwillingness. But now, I have already made my peace with it. Glory and disgrace, rise and decline—all are determined by the mandate of heaven. The mandate rested with Great Xiang. It might seem unfair, but in truth, it secretly aligns with the will of heaven."

He looked at Mo Yuan and said, "In reality, whether it was West Xiao or Great Xiang, both would have experienced a period of prosperity in the short term. The difference is that the Xiang People possess an enduring strength of character, which will allow them to last. In this regard, West Xiao is inferior to Great Xiang, and this poor Daoist is also inferior to the Grand Ancestor of Xiang."