Chapter 287 - 260: Yet the Maiden Had Already Grown a Myriad Strands of Black Hair

Xiao Mo stood in the sunlight.

The sky was cloudless and the sun shone brightly, yet a heavy rain began to fall.

This Dao rain of survival nourished the land for a thousand li around, mending the injuries on Xiao Mo’s body.

Xiao Mo closed his eyes, letting the heavy rain drench his body.

After ascending to the Immortal Realm, Xiao Mo could clearly sense the flow of the surrounding Dao rhythm.

This was a world apart from the Jade Realm.

After the heavy rain stopped, Xiao Mo slowly opened his eyes.

After being cleansed by the Dao rain, although he still had some injuries, he had already healed a great deal.

His Immortal Realm body could be left to heal the remaining injuries on its own.

Xiao Mo descended from the air and glanced at a large tree to the side. "Stop hiding. Come out."

Hearing Xiao Mo’s voice, Wangxin flinched behind the tree before stepping out.

Wangxin kept her head down, nervously wringing her small hands.

Wangxin was certain Xiao Mo would scold her for not listening to him.

But just as Wangxin braced herself for a scolding, Xiao Mo simply said, "Let’s go. Time to head back."

"Huh?"

Seeing that Xiao Mo wasn’t scolding her, Wangxin looked up in disbelief, only to find he had already flown off into the distance.

Back in the village, Madam Wang and Ning Wei stood at their courtyard gate, looking out anxiously.

When they saw Xiao Mo return, their eyes instantly lit up.

"Brother Xiao, are you alright?" Ning Wei hurried forward to ask.

"I’m fine." Xiao Mo ruffled Ning Wei’s hair. "It’s all taken care of."

Xiao Mo turned to Madam Wang and bowed with clasped hands. "Madam Wang, thank you for taking care of me during this time."

"Young Master Xiao, you mean to..." Madam Wang seemed to guess Xiao Mo’s intentions.

"My injuries are mostly healed, and my Realm has been restored. It’s time for me to return to the Wandao Sect. I’m afraid something might have happened there," Xiao Mo said frankly.

"Are you leaving today, Young Master?" Madam Wang asked.

"Yes." Xiao Mo nodded. "I shouldn’t delay. The longer I wait, the more can go wrong."

"Since you’ve put it that way, I can’t very well ask you to stay..." Madam Wang’s eyes showed her reluctance to see him go. "Please be careful on your journey, Young Master. And please, give my regards to the Master Peak Lord."

"Be careful on the road, Brother Xiao." Ning Wei gently tugged on the corner of Xiao Mo’s sleeve. "You should come back to the village and visit when you have time."

"Don’t worry. I’ll be back for Weiwei soon."

After exchanging a few more words with Wang Qian and her daughter, Xiao Mo packed his belongings and left the village.

Naturally, Wangxin left with Xiao Mo.

But soon, Wangxin realized that the direction Xiao Mo was flying seemed... wrong.

Eventually, Xiao Mo landed on the peak of a mountain.

"Xiao Mo? What is it?" Wangxin asked, standing beside him.

"This mountain is called Buddha Demon Mountain."

Xiao Mo gazed into the distance and began to speak slowly.

"The last great war between the Buddhist Sect and the Demon Sects was fought right here.

From then on.

In that direction lies the territory of your Ten Great Buddhist Temples.

And in this direction is the domain of the Ten Great Demon Sects.

Now, you will take Chaos and walk that way.

And I will go this way."

"I... I want to go back to the Wandao Sect with you." Wangxin’s face paled, her expression filled with trepidation. She couldn’t help but hug the Little Chaos in her arms tighter.

"You, a Buddhist, want to follow me, a demon, into a demon’s den?" Xiao Mo chuckled, his tone laced with mockery.

"I’m not afraid of where you’re going, even if it is a den of demons..." Wangxin subconsciously began to take a step forward.

But before she could take that step, a flash of Sword Qi from Xiao Mo landed at her feet.

BOOM!

A deafening roar followed.

With the line carved by Xiao Mo’s Sword Qi as the boundary, the entire mountain peak split apart.

Xiao Mo and Wangxin now stood on opposite sides of the chasm.

"Migu... migu..."

Little Chaos looked from side to side, not understanding what was happening between its master and the lady.

"If you still want to come with me, fine."

Xiao Mo looked straight at Wangxin.

"Answer one question for me.

Answer it correctly, and I’ll let you come with me.

Answer it wrong, and you can get lost!"

"You... ask..." Wangxin nodded nervously.

"It’s very simple."

Xiao Mo said calmly.

"These past few days, I’ve been reading your Buddhist Scriptures, and you’ve told me much about the Buddhist classics. The one thing I hear most is how your Buddhist School speaks of saving all living beings. So, if one day I were to kill everyone in the world, but you were the only person in the world who could kill me, what would you choose?"

Wangxin was speechless.

"I’ll count to three."

Xiao Mo didn’t give her much time.

"Three..."

"Two..."

As he counted down, Wangxin’s mouth opened slightly. She wanted to answer, but she couldn’t form the words.

"One..."

Xiao Mo finished his count, but Wangxin remained silent.

"Go back. And properly cultivate your Buddhist Dao."

Xiao Mo turned and flew off in the direction of the Wandao Sect.

"Don’t assume that day I spoke of will never come. When it does, you’d better have the power to kill me."

Xiao Mo’s figure gradually vanished from Wangxin’s sight.

Even long after he had disappeared from view, Wangxin stood frozen in place, staring in the direction he had flown.

"Alas..."

After an unknown amount of time, a sigh drifted down from the clouds.

Abbot Xujing of Kongnian Temple slowly descended from the clouds.

"Grandpa Abbot..." Wangxin snapped back to her senses. Seeing him, she asked in surprise, "What are you doing here...?"

"Donor Xiao sent a message by Flying Sword, asking me to come and get you. I arrived yesterday."

Xujing looked at the young woman who was both his disciple and granddaughter.

"Let’s go, Wangxin. It is time for you to return..."

"Yes... Grandpa Abbot..."

Wangxin lowered her head, saying nothing more.

After returning to Kongnian Temple, Wangxin would sit in the courtyard every day like a statue, her head raised to the sky, as if meeting the gaze of the Buddha in the firmament above.

’If one day, I were to kill everyone in the world, but you were the only person who could kill me... what would you choose?’

Xiao Mo’s parting words echoed endlessly in Wangxin’s mind.

She was still searching for the answer.

But she could not find one.

"Migu..."

Little Chaos raised its head, looking worriedly at its mistress.

But it didn’t dare disturb her, so it could only lie quietly at her feet.

The days passed, one by one.

「One day.」

When Little Chaos woke up and looked up at Wangxin, it jumped in fright.

"Migu!"

Little Chaos hurriedly flew to the front hall of Kongnian Temple and began frantically tugging and biting the corner of Abbot Xujing’s robes.

Xujing understood what Little Chaos meant and quickly went to Wangxin’s courtyard.

When Xujing saw his disciple, he too was taken aback.

"Alas... Amitabha Buddha..."

Outside the courtyard, Abbot Xujing sighed softly. He put his palms together and recited the Buddha’s name.

In the courtyard, the young woman on the stone bench remained motionless, her head raised to the sky.

But the young woman... now had a full head of black hair.