"Girl, why go all the way to Wanfo Temple?" Xie Shen was a bit puzzled.
Mo Lan smiled with pursed lips, "Just go if I tell you to. What's wrong with Jiujiu being a bit curious on her first trip out?"
"I want to broaden my horizons, just like Mother said. It doesn't matter if it's fun or not, after this trip, I can also say I've been to Wanfo Temple," said Xie Jiujiu with a flutter of her innocent eyes, making up an excuse on the spot.
A doting look glimmered in Mo Lan's smiling phoenix eyes.
The family left Yunmu City, and after confirming nobody was following them, they switched their horse carriage for a flying vessel.
The flying vessel was a small boat, more than enough to fit three people.
The Wanfo Temple was originally the Buddhist Sect.
In its heyday, the Buddhist Sect was a top force in the Cultivation World. Later on, when the Demon Clan invaded, the Buddhist Sect was one of the main fighting forces. In the final decisive battle, the Demon Clan was defeated, and the strong practitioners of the Buddhist Sect almost entirely fell. Their teachings almost ceased to exist.
As the years passed, the Buddhist Sect gradually disappeared, turning into what is now Wanfo Temple.
The main hall of Wanfo Temple was the Heritage Hall of the old Buddhist Sect.
All Buddha Cultivators from the Cultivation World will visit here once in their lives.
It is said that once, a young monk suddenly had an insight while offering incense in Wanfo Temple.
From then on, he underwent a transformation and soared to the skies, becoming the renowned Divinity Transformation Buddha Cultivator—Spiritual Hidden Venerable.
On average days, some cultivators also wish to have fun and incidentally bump into some fate.
At the foothill of Wanfo Temple, there's a small town, quite prosperous, with teahouses, inns, and Fangshi, with various businesses lined up, and there are even special personnel maintaining public order.
Wanfo Temple opens on the first and fifteenth days of each month. Now it's the twelfth, three days shy of the fifteenth.
Xie Jiujiu spoke, "Dad, Mom, let's go to the inn first."
"Are you tired, girl? Do you want to rest?" Mo Lan watched the busy scene of carriages and horses bustling with life, and couldn't help but sigh, "This place is even more prosperous than what we've heard."
Xie Shen looked up in the direction of the top of Wanfo Temple, his eyes filled with longing, "Of course, this place was once the site of a sect. We cultivators find it hard to encounter opportunities. Where else should we go if not here, to a well-known and safe haven? What if I offer some incense in Wanfo Temple and happen to receive the inheritance from a senior monk of the Buddhist Sect?"
"Dad thinks like that?" Xie Jiujiu was surprised, "Gosh, do you want to become a monk and give up on having a wife? Does Mother know about this?"
Hearing this, Xie Shen, worried about the reaction, quickly explained, "I didn't, I didn't! I'm just making an analogy. Your mother is beautiful, smart, kind, and generous. Marrying her is the blessing of my eight generations..."
Mo Lan watched him with a look that was halfway between smiling and not smiling.
Xie Jiujiu's mouth twitched; her father's desire to live was quite strong.
What followed was her father being scolded by her mother, with one teaching a lesson and the other begging for mercy.
Ever since they had left Yunmu City, Xie Jiujiu saw this scene too many times. She had never known her parents interacted like this in private, their relationship incredibly close. Suddenly, she began to understand her mother's demise and her father's final choices...
They found an inn and rented an independent quaint courtyard.
It had two wing rooms, a main hall, and even included a tea room, washroom, and utility room. The yard had a small garden with some ornamental plants and trees.
The courtyard was enough for them to stay in, but it wasn't cheap.
It cost eighty-eight Spirit Stones for one day, and it was just an ordinary mortal courtyard, one without any formations. In Yunmu City, even one Spirit Stone was considered expensive.
Mo Lan paid for the room, his face showing the pain as he listened to his daughter and rented it for three days.
It didn't hurt, it didn't hurt; they already had a fortune of five hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
She didn't know her daughter's purpose for coming here, but mother knows best. Since her daughter didn't want to talk, she and her husband acted as if they were unaware. During the three years they were apart, they didn't know what their daughter had experienced, what had made the cheerful and naive child be forced to grow up while seemingly burdened with some purpose...
Every time Mo Lan thought of this, she regretted it deeply.
She hated the main house to death.
The people from the main house are all no good!
Xie Jiujiu didn't know that her occasional odd behaviors had already been noticed by her parents, and as a result, the main house unwittingly took the blame.
In the following two days.
The parents were surprised to see their daughter, who usually raced against time, either studying or cultivating, wandering about everywhere bright and early, with a particular fondness for strolling through the stalls of the Fangshi.
She checked out every stall.
The vendors found this unsurprising, as many sought to find bargains among overlooked goods.
No matter how the others peddled their wares, with grandiose claims, Xie Jiujiu remained resolute and never bought anything.
Xie Shen was puzzled, "What is our daughter looking for?"
"My opportunity," sighed Xie Jiujiu. "Why can't I find anything that catches my eye and makes me want to buy it right away?"
Am I not the favorite of Heavenly Dao?
They say the Child of Destiny harbors the world's fortune, often merely walking a few steps before stumbling upon ancient treasures, and now it was her turn. She had walked for two days...
And found absolutely nothing!
Indeed, one can only truly rely on oneself.
Xie Jiujiu had specifically chosen this time to visit the Wanfo Temple, aiming for an opportunity that Lin Wangchen had obtained in his past life.
Early on the third day.
Xie Jiujiu woke up early and went with her parents to offer incense.
She ascended the steps with devout sincerity.
The Buddhist Sect sought to save the declining world; the sacrifices of countless ancestors should not go unrecognized, their virtues boundless and immense.
Finally reaching the peak.
Amidst the verdant green mountains, they glimpsed a majestic Buddhist temple, grandly standing between heaven and earth.
In front of the great hall, in the center of the spacious square, there was a giant golden bell.
Beyond that, a sea of people.
The sun hasn't even risen, and there are already so many people?
Xie Shen, tall like a tower, constantly protected his wife and daughter; Mo Lan said she would go buy incense candles.
Xie Jiujiu suddenly said, "Mom and Dad, there are too many pilgrims. Let's not squeeze in with the crowd; let's wander around the temple first."
"Alright, it doesn't have to be the first incense of the day; any time is just as good for offering incense," Mo Lan now wholly devoted to her daughter, went along with whatever she said.
Xie Jiujiu pretended to casually tour around Wanfo Temple, but in reality, she subtly led her parents towards the back mountain until they stood in front of a small pond.
The pond's water was shallow and crystal clear to the bottom.
Standing by the shore, one could clearly see the scattered pebbles at the bottom and the occasional flash of a small silver fish.
In his past life, Lin Wangchen mentioned obtaining a palm-sized golden Buddha statue in this small pond. He was once pursued by a Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivator while on a mission from the Sect during his Golden Core Stage; it was said that it was this Buddha statue that had saved his life.
The exact time was unknown, nor were the details of how it was obtained mentioned—only the small pond was mentioned.
Xie Jiujiu deployed her Divine Sense to search but found nothing?
That should not be the case.
Could it be that the golden Buddha statue also blocked the probing of Divine Sense?