Chapter 37: Inheritance

Because he had fallen out of favor with his mother, Shen Siyuan barely managed to get any lunch. His mother had entered a state of berserker fury, and to avoid triggering any further misfortune, Shen Siyuan didn't dare linger at home after eating. He hopped onto his father’s motorcycle and headed straight for the Listening Wind Temple.

However, the motorcycle couldn't climb the Little Wind Ridge. Shen Siyuan parked it in the nearest patch of shade, knowing that if he didn't, he’d likely be sitting on a "teppanyaki-style" seat on his way back. He grabbed a shovel from the back of the bike, slung it over his shoulder, and pushed through the weeds toward the ridge.

From a distance, he saw the old Daoist priest waiting at the entrance of the path.

"Daoist Master, have you been waiting long?" Shen Siyuan greeted him.

"Not at all, I just arrived myself," the old priest said with a chuckle. Under the afternoon sun, his wide sleeves billowed, giving him an even more ethereal and otherworldly appearance.

"Where is my great-uncle? Didn't he come with you?" Shen Siyuan asked, glancing around.

The old priest led him up the mountain as he spoke slowly: "He left last night."

"Left?" Shen Siyuan had some inkling of where he had gone. The old priest didn't dwell on the matter of Yu Youcai, choosing instead to talk about the Listening Wind Temple.

"The Listening Wind Temple was founded by Xuanyuanzi. Xuanyuanzi originated from the Longmen Sect. He studied Confucianism in his youth, and before he turned twenty, he suffered three major illnesses that nearly claimed his life. Through these illnesses, he attained enlightenment and began to yearn for..."

"Later, Xuanyuanzi listened to the wind and watched the moon at Mount Longhu, finally achieving success in his cultivation, and thus he came here to establish the Listening Wind Temple..."

"Uh... so a member of the Longmen Sect achieved enlightenment on the territory of the Zhengyi Sect?"

"Haha, pay no mind to that. Whether it is the Longmen Sect or the Zhengyi Sect, though their philosophies differ, they are all fellow practitioners on the path, searching for the essence of the Dao..."

As they spoke, the old priest led Shen Siyuan to a massive Bodhi tree. It wasn't just the Buddhists who planted Bodhi trees; here in Qionghai, they were quite common, so seeing one in front of a Daoist temple wasn't particularly strange.

Behind the tree lay a heap of crumbling walls and ruins. This was the Listening Wind Temple. Judging by its scale, the temple had never been large, but even so, everything except the main hall had collapsed, with weeds and thorns growing wildly through the cracks in the masonry.

The old priest stood behind Shen Siyuan, watching him survey the ruins, and couldn't help but heave a long sigh. "Though our Listening Wind Temple was never a famous mountain monastery, it has a history spanning hundreds of years. I never imagined it would be destroyed and its lineage severed during my time..."

"You cannot blame yourself for this. In the last century, our great leaders have ushered in a golden age unprecedented in Chinese history. In an era where the divine is hidden and the human path flourishes, how many temples could have survived intact?" Shen Siyuan offered in comfort. Although he hadn't lived through that era, he understood from snippets in books that this was a torrential historical tide, rolling forward and crushing everything in its path.

"Let us not speak of that," the old priest said, pointing toward the side hall. "There is a well there. Walk ten paces east from the wellhead, and you will find a stone slab. Pry it open and dig down..."

Shen Siyuan stepped over the weeds, used his shovel to clear the thorns, and entered the ruins. Seeing the statues of the Three Pure Ones in the main hall, he hesitated, then set down his shovel and bowed several times to the ruined images. The old priest, following behind, showed a look of gratification.

After paying his respects, Shen Siyuan picked up the shovel again and went to the spot the old priest had described. He found a dry well with deep rope marks on its rim; looking inside, the walls had long since collapsed. He stepped ten paces east from the wellhead, right in the direction of the side hall, where the ground was paved with bluestone slabs.

"Is it here?" Shen Siyuan asked, stamping his foot.

"Yes, right here," the old priest replied.

Shen Siyuan didn't waste time. He used the shovel to pry up the stone slab, moved it aside, and began to dig.

However—

Several hours later, a drenched and exhausted Shen Siyuan couldn't help but look up and ask the old priest standing outside the pit, "Daoist Master, how deep did you bury this? How much longer must I dig?"

"Almost there, almost there. If it weren't buried deep, wouldn't it have been dug up by someone else?" the old priest said with a chuckle.

Shen Siyuan was helpless. "From the first time you said 'almost there,' I've been digging for another hour."

"Look, isn't that it?" the old priest suddenly said.

Shen Siyuan hurried to follow his gaze and saw a dark, solid object protruding from the dirt. He quickly cleared the surrounding soil with the shovel, revealing the full object: a soy-colored wine jar. He hauled it out of the pit and couldn't wait to open it, only to find the mouth sealed not just with a lid, but wrapped in deer-hide paper and coated with a thick layer of wax.

"No need for such trouble, just break the jar," the old priest said.

"Is this jar an antique?"

"It’s just a common vessel for holding wine; it's no antique."

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan didn't hesitate and smashed the jar with his shovel. The contents spilled out. He glanced at them and saw a small booklet, a broken jade seal, a finger-length jade tablet, and an iron chain. An iron chain?

Shen Siyuan picked up the jade seal first to examine it; after all, such things held extraordinary significance in ancient times. Unfortunately, the seal was severely damaged, with only seven characters remaining: [Imperial Edict, Conferred to Suppress the Mountain]. The rest was broken, and the specific meaning was impossible to discern.

"You can actually recognize the characters on it?" The old priest was astonished to hear Shen Siyuan recite them. These were Cloud Seals, which were difficult for the average person to read.

Shen Siyuan didn't explain. It wasn't that he knew them, but that the Nine Nether Demon Monarch did. Because the civilization of the Great Wilderness shared many similarities with the Chinese tradition, Shen Siyuan even suspected there might be some connection between the two worlds. That was likely why the Ten Thousand Soul Banner had brought the remnant soul of the Nine Nether Demon Monarch into this world.

Shen Siyuan picked up the jade tablet next. It also bore characters: [Red Water River Decree], surrounded by wave patterns. He set it aside and picked up the booklet. It read [Embracing the Wind and Sleeping], though these characters were not in Cloud Seal script.

"This is the legacy of our Listening Wind Temple. Now it is entrusted to you. If you can gain some insight, I hope you will help pass it on. If you cannot, then the lineage of the Listening Wind Temple ends here; such is fate." The old priest bowed deeply to Shen Siyuan, his expression solemn.

"Don't worry, Daoist Master," Shen Siyuan said offhandedly.

He flipped open [Embracing the Wind and Sleeping]. The opening chapter contained reflections on wind and clouds, followed by exercise diagrams. The diagrams featured red arrows indicating the flow of internal energy, with detailed annotations for every position. The movements looked somewhat like Tai Chi: holding something in the arms, focusing the mind and spirit. This was likely the origin of [Embracing the Wind and Sleeping], though after reading the opening, Shen Siyuan felt [Wind and Cloud] would have been a more fitting title.

This cultivation method was exquisite. Entry was not difficult; the challenge was that there was no spiritual energy left in the world today. Without a way to enter the path, it would ultimately be reduced to nothing more than a form of physical exercise like Tai Chi.

"In that case, I leave it to you, young friend. I hope your cultivation advances, that you realize the Great Dao and uncover the secrets of heaven and earth... haha..."

Shen Siyuan, who was busy flipping through the booklet, sensed something wrong. He turned his head and saw that the old priest's lower body had already dissipated. Yet, the old man wore a smile, showing no fear or panic, only a sense of calm.

"Daoist Master..."

Shen Siyuan instinctively wanted to summon the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to draw the old man in and prevent him from fading away, but he was a step too slow. The old priest dissipated into thin air.

It turned out his final wish wasn't to become an immortal, but for the Listening Wind Temple to live on.