Chapter 1026: Little Junior Brother, Will You Understand Me?

“A secret realm, huh? I guess I’ll have to find a way to enter it,” Lu Yang muttered to himself. His second senior brother had been investigating in the Buddhist State for so long; surely he couldn’t have come up with absolutely no useful clues.

Fortunately, Xin Ding was qualified.

“You have a way?”

“The Azure Blade has a small world within it; I can hide inside, and no one will find me. At Xitian Temple, I know a young monk who can happen to take me into the secret realm.”

“That works out perfectly,” Ye Zijin chuckled. He had been agonizing over how to enter the secret realm and was even considering possessing a young monk. He hadn’t expected his junior brother to be one step ahead.

In her letter, the eldest senior sister had consistently praised their junior brother, specifically mentioning his good fortune.

The eldest senior sister’s judgment of people was as accurate as ever.

“When does the secret realm open?”

“In about two months.”

“It seems I’ll have to stay in the Buddhist State for a while longer.” Originally, Lu Yang had planned to leave the Buddhist State; otherwise, he wouldn’t have arranged for the Sky Lord to possess Xin Ding later.

Since the senior and junior brothers rarely met, Ye Zijin, as the senior brother, naturally had to treat him.

“Come on, come on! You’ve been hiding in Xitian Temple and haven’t really explored Xitian City, have you? Your senior brother will show you a good time.”

Lu Yang didn’t dampen his second senior brother’s good intentions, and they left Xitian Temple.

“No, no, absolutely not here.”

Lu Yang stood in front of a brightly lit, boisterous pavilion, absolutely refusing to take another step forward.

After leaving Xitian Temple, Ye Zijin dragged Lu Yang straight to a brothel, startling Lu Yang, who repeatedly refused.

“My junior brother is quite virtuous,” Ye Zijin said, looking at Lu Yang with a half-smile. This made Lu Yang feel a little embarrassed, so he changed the subject.

“Senior brother, why is there a brothel right at the foot of Xitian Temple?”

Ye Zijin chuckled heartily. “Well, Xitian City isn’t just full of monks. Don’t just look at Xitian City being a Buddhist city, with every household enshrining Buddha statues. In reality, there aren’t that many devout Buddhists; it’s all just for show.”

“Where there’s demand, there’s naturally an industry.”

“Outsiders try every means to settle in Xitian City, closer to Xitian Temple. Is it because they’re devout? Of course not. It’s because it gives them peace of mind and a spiritual anchor.”

“How does that bring peace of mind? Just burn incense, pray to Buddha, and offer donations. The rest, the Buddhas will take care of everything for you.”

Ye Zijin shrugged. “At least, that’s what they believe.”

“Actually, I’m also a self-disciplined cultivator. It’s just that this brothel is the easiest place to gather information. To get information, I, your senior brother, have no choice but to humble myself and come here.”

“With your transformation art, senior brother, why don’t you just transform into a monk and enter Xitian Temple?” Lu Yang asked, puzzled. His second senior brother’s transformation art had reached a level where it was indistinguishable from the real thing; he could completely fool the elders. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to gather information that way?

Ye Zijin sighed when this was brought up. “Do you think I haven’t tried? Initially, I lowered my cultivation and successfully blended in as a monk in the refectory – the place where they cook. Aside from secretly using my cultivation to show off and humble others, I always kept a low profile and wasn’t discovered by the monks there.”

“Then one day, the head of the refectory cooked too little food. When he served the head of the Martial Monk Institute, there was no rice left; he was the only one in the entire temple who didn’t get to eat. The atmosphere became quite awkward.”

“To ease the tension, I went up, offered a conciliatory smile, and tried to smooth things over. I told the head, ‘Fortunately, it’s just the rice that’s gone, not you.’ ”

“And then I was discovered.”

“I originally didn’t mean to say that, but the words changed as they came out.”

Ye Zijin explained to Lu Yang, his face clouded with worry, shaking his head and sighing: “This is a lingering side effect from the Golden Core stage. I didn’t expect it to still be here in the Integration stage, which is why I sometimes say inappropriate things.”

“Junior brother, you’re so understanding. You’ll understand me, won’t you?”

“…I can’t say.”

Seeing that his junior brother wouldn’t go to the brothel, Ye Zijin took Lu Yang to a hotpot restaurant.

“This is a specialty of the Buddhist State. You definitely won’t find it anywhere else; this is the most authentic porridge-style hotpot in the entire Buddhist State.”

Hotpot originated from Great Xia. After it reached the Buddhist State, the industrious and wise people there improved it.

The improvements were so successful that Great Xia didn’t even recognize it as having come from them.

Lu Yang looked at the yellowish-brown hotpot, whose bottom was obscured and which was bubbling with a gurgling sound. He had absolutely no appetite.

But if he didn’t eat, it would be disrespectful to his senior brother.

Lu Yang didn’t dare to eat first. He could only observe his surroundings and was surprised to find that everyone dining there was a cultivator.

“Senior brother, is this place specifically for cultivators…?”

Before he could finish his question, Lu Yang saw his second senior brother retrieve a slice of meat from the boiling pot with his bare hand. He looked up at his junior brother with a puzzled expression. “What were you just asking?”

“Nothing.”

Lu Yang’s eyelids twitched. No wonder everyone dining here was a cultivator; without cultivation, one couldn’t even eat here.

The Buddhist State had many deserts and sparse vegetation, which led to the custom of eating with hands.

Seeing his second senior brother eating, Lu Yang gritted his teeth and awkwardly mimicked retrieving hotpot ingredients with his hand.

After overcoming the psychological hurdle, Lu Yang was surprised to find that he still needed to overcome the problem of taste.

It was truly awful.

“Let this Immortal try?” This piqued the Immortal Fairy’s curiosity, and possessing Lu Yang, she also reached for the hotpot ingredients with her hand.

“It truly is awful.”

After reluctantly finishing the unpleasant meal, Lu Yang, worried his second senior brother would take him on another strange experience, exchanged contact information and found an excuse to leave.

“Senior brother, I’ll be returning to the sect in two months. Do you want to come back with me?”

If the secret realm also yielded no clues left by the Immortal of Time, Lu Yang felt there was no need to remain in the Buddhist State. It would be about time to return.

If he didn’t return for so long, the eldest senior sister would surely worry about him.

Ye Zijin considered. “That’s a good idea. I haven’t been back to the sect in a long time. Oh, and Master isn’t at the sect, same as before, right?”

“He’s not. I haven’t seen him in two years. I heard he’s been busy dealing with enemies outside and hasn’t had time to return.”

“That’s good,” Ye Zijin sighed in relief. “I accidentally provoked a few Tribulation Stage cultivators in the Buddhist State, and I’ve passed all the trouble onto Master.”

“…No wonder Master’s enemies never seem to decrease.”

Lu Yang returned to the Martial Monk Institute. Xin Ding was sleeping soundly.

Earlier, when his second senior brother and the elders were fighting above Xitian Temple, Xin Ding had been woken up, set up a sound-proofing array, and then gone back to sleep.

For Xin Ding, the outcome of the battle between Ye Zijin and the elders wasn’t important; there was no need to specifically wake up to watch.

Entering the Azure Blade’s small world, a small wooden cabin had surprisingly appeared. It looked quite intricate and had clearly taken considerable effort.

Venerable Azure Smoke rubbed his hands and offered a placating smile. “We saw there was no place to stay here and were worried you might be inconvenienced, so we took the liberty of building this small cabin. Are you satisfied with it? If not, just tell us the style you prefer, and the three of us will rebuild it.”