Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 2876: Meng Bai's First Mingling With 'Fairies'

Lin Mu continued to chat with Dugu Ciu and the two quickly became friends over their shared intrests, moving to a more suitable place to chat.

"Hahah! Daoist Lin Mu is truly suitable for the Sword Path." Dugu Ciu was thoroughly intrigued by the insights shared by Lin Mu.

"I merely try to dabble a bit." Lin Mu said humbly.

"If this is merely the level at which you dabble, then the sword cultivators of our world are not even on the Sword Path." Dugu Ciu laughed. "You should come to our sect. I believe our juniors would greatly benefit from a demonstration or lecture from you." He asked.

"hmm... Perhaps I can fit it into my schedule." Lin Mu wasn't averse to it.

Having taught all these years in the Green Lotus Temple, he had taken quite a liking to teaching others. Not only did it help others, it even helped Lin Mu learn a lot about his own skills and deepened his understanding.

It was a win win situation thus he didn't mind doing this. Plus it was on his way anyways. The Hawk Eye Sword Sect was merely two hundred kilometers from the city, a mere hour away with Little Shrubby if not less.

So visiting it wasn't an issue.

Additionally, the abbot had told Lin Mu to spread the teachings and benevolence of the Buddhist path across the world, so this was filling that requirement too.

Lin Mu also realized that reaching the Fourth Stage of the True Internal resonance for the sutras seem to require some kind of condition. For the Calming Heart Sutra it seemed to be benefitting others, and Lin Mu reckoned the Severing Heart Sutra might have something similar to it too.

He wondered if teaching others could help him progress further in it.

And while he was chatting away with Dugu Ciu, Meng Bai was in heaven.

Or at least, some mortal approximation of it.

The young cultivator sat at an open-air teahouse nestled beside the lotus lake that gave Verdant Moon City its name. A cool breeze stirred the silver-tinged petals of the moonlotuses, while soft guqin music played from within the teahouse hall.

And around him sat three charming women, their eyes twinkling, their laughter like the chime of wind bells.

One of them poured him tea with such exaggerated delicacy that Meng Bai nearly forgot what tea even was. Another kept brushing her sleeve against his arm "accidentally," while the third kept asking about his cultivation path with such intense curiosity, he half-wondered if she was writing a thesis on him.

He had always considered himself smooth—witty, charismatic, and good-looking enough to turn a few heads. But this… this was an entirely different realm.

This was the realm of Daoist Chu.

The memories came rushing back—Daoist Chu's countless lessons, almost all of which Meng Bai had mentally dismissed as the ramblings of a hopeless romantic.

"Charisma is the tenth heavenly force," Daoist Chu had once said. "Right after darkness and before taxes."

Meng Bai had laughed at the time.

But now? Now he saw the truth. Now he understood the deeper meanings behind lines like, 'When the moon is full, the peach blossoms bloom best.' Or, 'Cultivation without companionship is but a blade with no hilt.'

The women were flirting. Seriously. And skillfully.

One leaned in close and whispered, "Senior Brother Meng, your eyes are so sharp. You must cultivate a profound gaze technique, yes?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but only a squeak came out.

Another smiled as she tilted her head. "Are all cultivators from your sect this strong and handsome? Or is it just you who stands out?"

He tried to sit up straighter, but knocked over his teacup in the process.

"Oh no!" she gasped playfully, brushing at his robes. "Let me help you clean that up, Senior Brother…"

The third tapped her fan against her lips. "Do you always travel with such powerful beasts? That little kitty of yours is so adorable! May I hold him?"

Little Shrubby, curled on the floor beside the table, gave the woman a flat stare, then slowly looked at Meng Bai. His tail thumped the wooden floor exactly once.

It was not a good thump.

But Meng Bai barely noticed.

His entire worldview was shifting.

Daoist Chu had called this phenomenon "Immortal Entanglement." When beautiful women gathered, smiled just right, and sent a young cultivator spiraling into existential crisis and mild heart palpitations.

One of the women, the most forward of the three, placed her fingers lightly on Meng Bai's hand and said, "You know, we're staying at the Willow Wind Courtyard tonight. It has a moon-viewing pavilion. Would you… perhaps care to join us later for some tea and conversation?"

Meng Bai's mouth moved but made no sound.

He, Meng Bai, was being invited—no, summoned—to moonlit tea with beautiful cultivators!

This must be karma from a past life.

And yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he recalled Daoist Chu's final warning.

"There comes a time, young man, when a choice must be made: pursue the path of cultivation or pursue the path of peach blossoms. Sometimes the path intersects. But more often… you get lost."

Meng Bai suddenly wasn't sure if his knees were trembling from excitement or from dawning fear.

From a rooftop across the square, Lin Mu watched the scene while chewing on a roasted spirit fruit. Beside him, Little Shrubby had already returned to his larger form and now sat upright like a sentinel.

"Should we interfere?" Little Shrubby asked casually.

Lin Mu huffed. "He's the one who walked into the peach forest. Let him figure out the way out."

"True," Little Shurbby agreed, then raised a brow as Meng Bai almost tripped on a chair while trying to bow to the women.

There was no danger—at least not the kind that required swords. But this was a lesson Meng Bai had to learn on his own.

Lin Mu turned away, looking out at the lake that shimmered beneath the early evening sky.

"Daoist Chu would be proud," he muttered.

Or horrified.

Either way, the journey continued.