nycdaug Chapter 360 Silent and Formless
Chapter 360 Silent and Formless
Zhu Wuyao slowed his pace and walked through the nearby towns.
They specifically seek out strange and unusual stories to inquire about.
Who knows, there might be news of that "land of chaotic fate".
She sat in a tavern by the street, spreading her divine sense. There weren't many cultivators in this place, but she could hear the constant chatter of the crowd.
"You absolutely must not buy the sheep from Old Wang next door!"
"How to say?"
Zhu Wuyao pricked up his ears and listened intently to what was happening around him.
"I personally witnessed Old Wang sneaking into the sheepfold in the middle of the night and telling stories to the sheep!"
"My goodness! Such a heinous act is beyond the capabilities of ordinary people! That sheep must have bewitched him!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present was filled with doubt.
After a long silence, someone finally asked:
Why did you see Old Wang sneaking into the sheepfold?
"Could it be... that you've gone back to being a thief again?! You good-for-nothing, you said you'd retire from that life!"
……
Zhu Wuyao silently withdrew his divine sense.
I took a sip of tea.
She swept the dishes off the table with lightning speed, then got up to pay the bill and pick up the takeout food.
It seems there's nothing to be found here either.
Once they reached a secluded spot, she took out "Thousand Faces" from her storage bag and transformed her appearance into that of an old woman who sold mushrooms in the city.
They found the "old blind man" everyone was talking about, followed him, and arrived at the dilapidated thatched hut.
"Mother, look! These are the sour dates the children in the school gave us. They'll fill our stomachs again."
He was old and his sense of smell was no longer sharp.
The old woman, who was unable to walk and lay in the house, could still see.
She saw the old blind man proudly presenting the broken bowl as if it were a treasure, but there were no sour dates in it at all. It was clearly just sheep droppings that the children had put in the broken bowl to take advantage of his blindness!
"I'm already full, Mom, you eat first. These dates aren't sour at all, they're very sweet."
Zhu Wuyao sighed almost imperceptibly.
Such incidents are not uncommon, both then and now.
So this is why she still approves of Zhaixinglou even though they schemed against her; at least, it can prevent such incidents from happening again.
If the old blind man gives away money and uses it to buy things, he will inevitably be cheated.
They might even attract people with ulterior motives to their home, causing these two people to suffer unforeseen misfortunes.
The old woman on the bed looked at the bowl, her eyes seemingly brimming with tears, but her voice was steady without a trace of sob. Instead, she smiled and said:
"well."
Then he reached out to grab the sheep droppings from the bowl.
Zhu entered uninvited.
He snatched the broken bowl away, and before the two could ask any questions, he handed them the food he had packed, saying:
"Change to your sour jujubes."
The way of divination is that every gift must be returned.
Something needs to be taken away to settle the cause and effect.
Now these two have nothing of value; their most important possessions are this broken begging bowl and the "sour dates" inside.
A meal is enough to repay a debt of gratitude.
Before the two could thank him, Zhu Wuyao took the "item that should be returned" and turned to leave.
Three days later.
The old blind man returned home with a beaming smile, saying:
"Mom! This is great news! This is great news!"
"A few days ago, a Taoist priest named Wuyan came to our town."
"Every divination she performed was incredibly accurate. I heard that the Fu family offered her a lot of money to find a burial site for them, but the Silent Taoist Priest refused!"
"She told the Fu family that the grave would bring them excessive wealth, and that they would have to suffer some kind of misfortune in order to keep the family rich forever."
"It's just the two of us!"
As he spoke, he pulled a flatbread from his pocket and said:
"It's still warm!"
The old woman looked at the steaming hot bread, and her hand trembled, nearly dropping the stone slab that had been polished to a sharp point day after day.
She heard the old blind man say:
"The Fu family is truly kind-hearted; they are destined for great wealth and prosperity!"
The old woman remembered the person who had suddenly barged in a few days ago, trading the sheep droppings for decent food. A faint glint flashed in her cloudy eyes, and she said:
"It's because that silent Taoist priest is kind-hearted..."
"She's the truly good person..."
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Zhu Wuyao has been practicing divination for quite some time, yet he has never heard of the idea that the burial place of an ordinary person can bring wealth and honor to their descendants.
Otherwise, in her previous life, everyone was cremated and burned to ashes after death, wouldn't all her descendants have met with misfortune?
Some of these claims may have sources.
Some of these claims are simply nonsense.
She initially thought it was a money-making scam from the martial arts world, and that all the Taoist priests she had previously seen who didn't seek wealth were just trying to gain fame and then swindle a big sum of money.
But after Zhu Wuyao traveled to many places, he gained a new understanding.
This group is naturally a mixed bag, including those with ulterior motives who use it to swindle people.
However, there are also those who are weak and powerless, who actually rely on deception to do what they can.
Seeking a path to perfection.
Perhaps many "absurd statements" are actually acts of kindness and talent, offered as protection for the weak.
For example, what the village guardians said—
A village idiot is called the village guardian, because he became foolish because he bore the calamities for the entire village.
If the "village guardian" dies, the village will suffer a calamity.
Therefore, even a fool can always get a bite to eat and survive.
For example, the Taoist priest Zhang Jiao used talisman water to cure diseases—
He used the guise of talismanic water to give impoverished people who couldn't afford medicine psychological support, and they drank the hot water made from burning plant ash.
He pretended to be a shaman, but he also saved many lives.
Cultivating good causes makes it easier to reap good results; this is an unchanging rule.
Wealthy people would rather believe that their ancestors' graves will bless their descendants, or that they can only maintain balance by buying the suffering of physical defects.
If that's the case, then there must be "silent Taoist masters" in this world.
In the far south of the continent of Mozambique.
Rumors about the Silent Taoist Master began to circulate on a small scale.
Some say she is an elderly woman; some say the Silent Taoist is a child; others say her appearance is disfigured and her face is hideous; some say the Silent Taoist possesses a beauty that could shame the moon and flowers, and is not of this world; some say she is dressed in black, like a veiled ghost…
These rumors will soon disappear.
It's just an anecdote from a street corner; most people just listen for the spectacle and don't really believe it.
Silent and formless, it's just like a legend from a storybook.
I just laughed it off.
Meanwhile, the legendary Master Wuyan himself was engaged in a fight!
Zhu Wuyao had traveled to many places and witnessed many things that were unacceptable to him, but he had not found the information he hoped to find. He was feeling troubled and wanted to find a quiet place to meditate.
But then they happened to hear someone visiting a grave.
Zhu Wuyao had already been delayed on the road for a long time and had made up his mind not to cause any more trouble.
She wanted to leave quickly.
If you don't listen, you won't have any thoughts.
But before she could get up, the person who had come to pay respects at the grave was faster, revealing the whole story before she could.
That's the downside of being a cultivator.
Too sharp of hearing and sight.
If you act too slowly, you'll be tempted to do something. Zhu Wuyao wanted to reason with him, but this Juque Sect disciple not only wouldn't listen, he even hit her!