The Guanyin Zen Temple

Chen Chaoyan looked at the smiling Su Qing.

After thinking about it, that logic did make sense...

So, she stopped questioning further.

She simply said, "So, after all that, it was just a misunderstanding! You scared me to death. I thought this white dragon wanted to eat you, Godmother!"

Beside them, Ao Lie heard this and hurriedly shook his head, saying, "I am a prince of the Dragon Palace, after all. How could I eat people?"

Forget about eating Su Qing; Ao Lie felt a chill just looking at her now.

Besides, even if he had the courage and the thought, he didn't have the ability.

With his mediocre skills, wouldn't he be torn apart by the person in front of him and turned into a dish?

Chaoyan was somewhat surprised to hear this. She hadn't expected this cowardly white dragon to actually be a prince of the Dragon Palace.

For a moment, Chen Chaoyan's image of the Dragon Palace underwent a subtle change.

How should she put it? It just didn't feel as grand and lofty as she had imagined.

So, it turned out that even among dragons, there were wimps?

"That's good then..." Chaoyan breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Qing smiled faintly, reached out to pat Chaoyan's head, and said, "Actually, you were worrying for nothing. I am a bit stronger than you; how could I be easily eaten?"

Hearing this, Chaoyan suddenly struck her palm and said, "That does seem to be the case..."

Chaoyan had been so worried that she had momentarily forgotten the obvious.

Seeing this, Su Qing shook her head.

The matter was now concluded.

Su Qing did not intend to continue making things difficult for the little white dragon.

She gave him a faint smile and said:

"Alright, since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, this matter is settled. You may return now!"

The little white dragon breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Su Qing had completely let him off the hook.

He said, "Thank you for your magnanimity, Senior. By the way, would Senior like to come to my humble abode for a seat?"

The little white dragon was only asking out of politeness. Even if he invited Su Qing, he had nothing to entertain guests with.

After all, if he had anything to offer...

He wouldn't have to come ashore to hunt on a regular basis.

"No, we still have a journey to make," Su Qing shook her head.

Seeing this, the little white dragon said no more, only nodding. "In that case, this junior will take his leave! I wish Senior a smooth journey."

Su Qing nodded slightly and waved her hand, signaling that he could go.

At this, the little white dragon transformed back into a white dragon and dove straight back into the water.

Today had been incredibly thrilling and had scared him half to death.

After going back... as long as Su Qing and her group hadn't traveled far, he certainly wouldn't dare to come out again.

As for the matter of searching for the pilgrim heading west...

He felt he would probably have to wait a few more years.

With the little white dragon gone, Su Qing and the others did not linger at Eagle Sorrow Gorge.

They had seen enough of the scenery, and after what had happened, they naturally lost the mood to continue sightseeing.

Thus, they set off once again.

They prepared to cross Eagle Sorrow Gorge and continue their journey west.

However, not long after they started moving...

Chen Chaoyan, whose mind had been occupied by other things and hadn't thought about Yudie's situation, finally remembered it.

Halfway through the journey, she suddenly cried out in surprise, "Speaking of which... Sister Yudie, you also practice cultivation?"

Yudie was a bit dazed by the sudden outburst, but after regaining her senses, she nodded slightly and said, "My mother is a cultivator, so naturally I have been practicing since I was a child."

Yudie naturally knew how to bluff... after all, following Su Qing for so long, she had picked up some skills through osmosis.

Besides, Yudie had indeed been practicing since she was 'young.'

As a sword spirit, saying she had been practicing since she was in the womb wasn't really an exaggeration.

Chen Chaoyan couldn't help but curl her lip and said, "I always thought you were just an ordinary person, Sister Yudie. You really fooled me. Godmother too... just how many things are you two keeping from me?"

Yudie was stunned for a moment, scratched her head, and said, "Actually, I wasn't hiding it from you; you just never asked. And usually, I don't have many opportunities to act, so you didn't know."

"Then, Sister Yudie, just how strong are you?"

"Hmm, probably about the same as you?" Yudie said casually after some thought.

Chen Chaoyan couldn't help but roll her eyes, chanted a Buddha's name, and said:

"Fine, this poor monk can't be bothered to argue with you."

Regarding the fact that Yudie knew magic...

Chaoyan was both surprised and not surprised.

After all, Yudie was Su Qing's child. If Su Qing knew magic, how could Yudie not?

She was just slightly annoyed that Yudie hadn't told her... but that was all.

After saying that, Chen Chaoyan continued, "But since Sister Yudie also knows magic, then if we encounter trouble in the future, you can help me protect Godmother! With the two of us, Godmother won't even have to lift a finger."

Yudie nodded cooperatively and high-fived Chaoyan in agreement.

Though Yudie felt her mother didn't need protection from anyone... she was just helping her mother handle things she didn't want to do herself. But since her mother didn't want her to say anything, she naturally wouldn't talk too much.

In any case, if they encountered something they couldn't handle...

In the end, her mother would still have to step in.

Su Qing watched the interaction between the two girls from the side, the corners of her mouth curling slightly...

I don't actually need you two little ones to protect me!

However, not stepping in myself and letting this girl get some good practice was one of the goals of this pilgrimage.

It just felt like... why did it seem like I was the one who had become Tang Sanzang?

Su Qing thought, rubbing her chin, feeling that she was likely overthinking it.

"Whatever, I shouldn't think too much about it. The more I think, the easier it is to go in that direction. If this keeps up, I'll become a hypochondriac," Su Qing shook her head, thinking to herself.

Soon, Su Qing pulled her thoughts back.

She said to the two girls, "Alright, you two, stop chatting. It's getting late; let's hurry up. Once we cross Eagle Sorrow Gorge, we need to find a place to stay! Otherwise, we'll have to spend the night in the wild."

Though spending the night outside wasn't a big deal, it was never as comfortable as sleeping in a bed.

They also needed a place to shelter from the rain...

So, it was naturally best to find a place to stay.

Hearing Su Qing's words, the two stopped their chatter.

They nodded and followed Su Qing forward.

Before long, Su Qing and the others crossed Eagle Sorrow Gorge and continued west.

Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, the sky gradually darkened.

At some point, dark clouds filled the sky...

From the looks of it, there would likely be a heavy rain tonight.

Unfortunately... Su Qing and the others hadn't seen any houses along the way and couldn't find a place to stay.

However, perhaps as an act of mercy from the heavens, just as night was about to fall, they were lucky enough to find a dilapidated little temple.

It was an abandoned Buddhist temple with a statue of Guanyin inside... The temple was extremely old, clearly having been abandoned for a long time.

However...

Though the temple was ruined, it could still provide shelter from the wind and rain.

Especially on an evening like this where it looked like it was about to pour, this little temple really saved their lives.

Su Qing and the others tied their horses inside the temple and started a fire...

Before long, the rain outside was pouring down.

Hearing the sound of the rain, Chaoyan, who had been chanting sutras before the Buddha statue, returned to her senses.

She turned to look at the heavy rain outside, let out a soft breath, and said, "It's a good thing there's a temple here, otherwise... we'd all have become soaked like drowned rats today."

Su Qing smiled faintly and said, "Yes, our luck is indeed quite good..."

Su Qing looked up at the dilapidated Guanyin statue, thinking with amusement that she really seemed to have an affinity for ruined temples.

And she seemed to have quite an affinity with Guanyin Bodhisattva as well.

Inside the ruined temple, the night passed peacefully.

Su Qing and the others slept quite comfortably to the sound of the rain.

The next day.

Dawn broke, and the rain had stopped.

Su Qing and the others naturally packed up, ready to set off again.

Before leaving, Chaoyan still cleaned up the ruined temple...

She said it was for the sake of whoever might stay here after them.

Su Qing was speechless, thinking that while this girl might not seem like a Buddhist practitioner in some ways, she was indeed still a Buddhist at heart... it was just that her personality made it hard to tell at times.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Su Qing and the others had been traveling for more than two months.

Over these two months, they hadn't encountered any major incidents...

Most of what they met on the road were ordinary bandits or wolves, leopards, and tigers. Occasionally, they would encounter man-eating demons, but most of the time, Yudie would conveniently send them to the Western Paradise in advance.

As for powerful demons, they hadn't actually met any in these two months.

So, the journey over these two months had been relatively peaceful.

Their speed hadn't been delayed much either.

However, now that two months had passed... the weather was getting increasingly cold.

Without realizing it, winter had already arrived.

This day.

Heavy snowflakes like goose feathers drifted from the sky, wrapping the world in a silver coat.

The sky was also gradually darkening, and it looked like the sun was about to set, yet Su Qing and the others still hadn't found a place to stay...

Chaoyan was a bit anxious, wanting to find a place soon.

After all, with it snowing, camping outside was not a good choice...

Thinking this, Chaoyan climbed to a high point to look around...

And what a look it was; she actually managed to find one.

In a mountain hollow not far away, there were shadows of buildings and halls. It was clearly either a palace or a temple.

Seeing this, Chaoyan breathed a sigh of relief.

Returning to Su Qing's side, she pointed in that direction and said, "Let's head that way! There's a temple over there; we should be able to stay the night."

Su Qing nodded slightly. Without thinking much of it, she followed Chaoyan toward that direction.

Before long...

Su Qing and the others arrived at the gates of the temple.

However, after seeing the temple.

Su Qing's mouth twitched slightly... and she felt a bit speechless in her heart.

"I didn't expect... to arrive at a landmark that wasn't on my planned itinerary." Su Qing smiled helplessly to herself and thought, "But... I really do have quite an affinity with the name Guanyin."

The reason Su Qing felt she had an affinity with the name Guanyin was for no other reason...

But because the temple Chaoyan had found was none other than the Guanyin Zen Temple, where the Black Bear Spirit stole the kashaya.

"Well, since we're here, we're here. Chaoyan and I don't have any treasures on us, so the monks of this temple shouldn't target us," Su Qing thought. "On the contrary, we can even get some dry rations here."

While Su Qing's thoughts were wandering, Chaoyan had already knocked on the gate of the Zen temple.

Before long.

A novice monk ran out to open the gate.

"Amitabha, have you come to offer incense and worship the Buddha?" the novice monk said. "If you've come to offer incense, you're a bit late. The temple has already closed."

Hearing this, Su Qing's mouth twitched...

A temple closing its doors was quite something.

Chaoyan, however, didn't think much of it. She just smiled and said, "I am a monk heading to Spirit Mountain to seek the scriptures. Passing by your precious temple, I wish to stay here for the night."

The novice monk looked at Chaoyan, tilted his head, and asked, "Is Benefactor making fun of this little monk? You don't look like a nun, Benefactor."

"I am practicing with my hair," Chaoyan said with a smile.

The novice monk was stunned and couldn't make up his mind. He simply invited them into the temple and went to find his master.

Before long.

The abbot of the Guanyin Zen Temple, having learned of the matter, came over.

Seeing that they were three women, the abbot also breathed a slight sigh of relief and said, "Greetings, Benefactors. I heard from my young disciple that you are monks going to the Western Heaven to seek the scriptures and wish to stay here?"

Hearing this, Chaoyan nodded and said, "Amitabha, yes... however, I am the only monk. This is my secular godmother, who is accompanying me to the West."

Though the abbot was somewhat puzzled, he didn't ask much, only saying:

"I see... that is quite rare. By the way, may I ask where you have come from?"

"The Eastern Land of Great Tang..." Chaoyan replied.

"I have heard that the Eastern Land is paved with gold; is that true?" Hearing that Chaoyan came from the East, the abbot couldn't help but press for more information.

Su Qing saw Chaoyan chatting with the abbot, so she didn't interject.

Instead, she looked at the abbot with a slight smile, her mind filled with many thoughts.

This abbot was indeed just as described in the stories. Although he was the abbot of a temple and had lived for hundreds of years, he hadn't absorbed any Buddhist nature at all; he didn't even feel like a Buddhist practitioner.

He was completely different from Chaoyan...

The feeling this abbot gave... was like a monk who was just playing a role.

Not only him, but the entire temple, including the novice monk, gave her the same impression.

After a while, after Chaoyan had chatted with the abbot for a bit, the negotiations were settled...

The abbot agreed to let Su Qing and the others stay in the Zen temple for the night, but they had to tell him about the sights of the legendary Great Tang.

Whether it was truly as beautiful as the rumors said.

For such a simple request, Su Qing and the others naturally had no reason to refuse.

They agreed very simply.

That night.

Chaoyan told the abbot many things related to the Great Tang.

Listening to her, the abbot was filled with immense longing...