When Ji Yuan brought his people back to Xuanyuan Temple, it was already past noon. Apart from his master and fifth senior brother, no one else could be seen in the temple.
His senior brothers had been quite busy for the past two years, always taking on a string of religious services. They rarely stayed in the temple. Those living closer would come and go daily, while those living farther away would be unseen for several days.
Only fifth senior brother was better. Although he occasionally took on a few religious services, he mostly stayed in the temple, diligently taking care of their master and junior brothers.
"In this case, you must be extra careful these days."
Zhang Zhiya sighed and then said, "Perhaps you should leave the city today? No matter where you go, just get away and lie low for a while?"
Beside him, fifth senior brother Guo Tao was nodding in agreement. After listening to his junior brother's account, he couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. He hadn't expected that an act of exterminating demons and monsters would hide so many twists and turns.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it extremely perilous, and most of the danger was hidden, not in the malevolent demons themselves.
At this moment, a group of people sat in a side courtyard of the temple, their faces showing thoughtful expressions as they listened to the elder's advice.
However, Ji Yuan shook his head. He glanced at Zhao Yuansong, whose expression was equally calm, and then spoke, "Unless we move directly into the county town or find the protection of a powerful faction, it makes no difference whether we hide or not."
After all, the schemer in the shadows could erect an idolatrous shrine right under the nose of the City God, maintaining incense offerings for a century and yet never being discovered by the county yamen.
For such a person or faction, finding their whereabouts would not be a difficult task.
"This is all my fault. I've implicated all of you in danger."
Zhao Yuansong stood up, clasped his hands, and bowed deeply to everyone. He then stated that he would send a message back to his sect and would absolutely not cause trouble and then pretend nothing happened.
Ji Yuan and the others accepted his bow calmly. Only Monk Huixin seemed a bit flustered as he stood up to return the courtesy.
"Fortunately, the county yamen has taken full responsibility for this. Unless that person has lost their mind, they shouldn't retaliate against us."
After the two sat down, Ji Yuan mused and analyzed.
Earlier, in the idolatrous shrine, Chief Constable Liu Hongsheng had shattered the idol. This was the county yamen's stance to the outside world. In the subsequent announcements, their existence would also be downplayed.
This way, if the schemer dared to retaliate against them, it would be seen as an insult to the court, and they would inevitably face the thunderous might of the Great Yu Dynasty.
"For the next few days, it's best to keep a low profile. If possible, try to minimize going out."
Ji Yuan's earnest words were directed more towards Huixin.
Compared to this young monk who was ignorant of worldly affairs, Zhao Yuansong, with his extensive experience in the martial world, naturally knew what he was doing and could take good care of his junior brothers and sisters.
"But this way, wouldn't we be unable to investigate the other two suspected locations of evil spirits?"
Huixin's brows furrowed, and he spoke with concern.
As expected!
Ji Yuan tilted his head back and sighed. He hadn't guessed wrong. What was coming would eventually come, it was only a matter of time.
If there weren't outsiders present, he truly wanted to point at the monk and curse him, wondering why he couldn't use his brain for once.
Zhao Yuansong glanced at Ji Yuan's expression, cleared his throat twice, and then, with his junior brothers and sisters, got up to take his leave. Before leaving, he mentioned the name of the inn where they were staying.
After seeing the five of them off, Zhang Zhiya called his fifth disciple, Guo Tao, and returned inside with him, saying he had something to discuss.
The small courtyard that had been crowded moments ago was suddenly empty, leaving only Ji Yuan and Huixin. However, with both of them lost in thought, neither spoke for a while.
After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Ji Yuan finally looked at Huixin with a worried expression, "You know, can't you just be a little more sensible for once?"
Some things he didn't want to say, and he didn't have the energy to say them. After all, he, Ji Yuan, was not a Confucian sage traveling the world, possessing the heart to guide all beings.
But the monk before him had a deep friendship with him. When he was eight or nine years old, he often sneaked into Baiyun Temple over the wall, and would chat with Huixin for half a day.
It was also because the other party had awakened to the Way earlier that he had the idea to cultivate. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sneaked into his master's room to flip through those dusty Taoist scriptures.
In terms of emotion, their personal relationship was deep. In terms of reason, Huixin had guided him.
Therefore, after much deliberation, Ji Yuan could only patiently say a few words.
"Today, your first problem was not exerting your full strength during the fight, being reluctant to deplete your spiritual energy. What if you ended up losing yourself?"
"What is more important, your life, or spiritual energy and magical artifacts?"
Ji Yuan paused, then continued irritably, "The second problem is in the shrine of the idolatrous temple. There were clear signs that anyone with eyes could see, yet you couldn't understand them and even exposed them on the spot!"
"I often tell you that practicing Buddhism makes people stupid. Even if I say it in jest, you should at least listen a little. Don't actually turn yourself into an idiot!"
"Practicing Buddhism is also about cultivating the heart and nature. It's meant for you to step out of the temple, to benefit the world and save those suffering, not for you to shut yourself in, holding those Buddhist scriptures, and reading them from birth to death!"
He spoke a lot in one breath, and finally leaned back against the chair with a helpless expression, looking up at the white clouds in the sky, "The third problem is that it's good to have the heart to help the world and vanquish demons, but you also need to consider your own safety, or the safety of those around you."
Some things cannot be accomplished smoothly simply with a passionate heart or a desire to help the world.
Take today's matter for example. Zhao Yuansong had intended to act and exterminate the demon once he discovered its trace, to eliminate harm for the people. But in the end, he almost lost himself.
And if it were just himself, it would be one thing. The critical point was that he had his junior brothers and sisters with him, as well as people like Ji Yuan who were invited to help.
If even one mistake were made, it was possible that in the end, they would fail to subdue the demon, not only putting themselves in danger but also involving those around them, and losing their lives together.
"I'm sorry, I was too foolish."
Huixin looked ashamed. He instinctively wanted to clasp his hands together and chant a Buddhist name, but for some reason, he froze in mid-air, and finally placed his hands on his legs helplessly.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan just shook his head and said no more. He had already said a lot. If he could take it to heart, there was no need to say more. But if he still couldn't understand, saying more would be useless.
Thinking for a moment, he sighed, "Let's go back soon. For the next few days, if it's not necessary, try not to go out of Baiyun Temple."
Upon hearing this, Huixin nodded and took his leave, appearing somewhat crestfallen. It seemed that his words and the events of the day had overturned many of his perceptions.
After the obtuse monk left, Ji Yuan sat in the small courtyard for a while before returning to his own room.
As soon as he closed the door, he took out a few spirit stones and placed them beside the bronze oil lamp on the table, allowing it to absorb the spiritual energy within.
This practice was indeed somewhat extravagant. A single spirit stone was worth fifty taels of snowflake silver. If converted to ordinary silver, it would be over two hundred taels.
However, it was not advisable to go out these days, so he could not go to Mingxin Pavilion to purchase some spirit-replenishing water, which had similar effects but was much cheaper.
With a magical artifact containing abundant spiritual energy in hand, one would undoubtedly feel more confident when facing danger.
Ji Yuan sat at the wooden table and meditated for a moment. Then, he pointed to his forehead, and the white jade flying sword in his Purple Mansion immediately shot out. With a thought from him, several objects appeared out of thin air on the table.
He paused, waved his sleeves forward, and the wooden table was instantly piled high.
In front of the young Taoist, besides the bronze oil lamp that was absorbing spiritual energy, there were three San Cai treasures, a bronze alchemy furnace, a book with yellowed pages, and a large amount of yellow and white items along with a considerable number of spirit stones and spirit coins.
Among these, there were one hundred taels of pure snowflake silver, fifty taels of ordinary silver, and a stack of banknotes totaling five thousand seven hundred taels after removing the smaller denominations.
Excluding the gift from Old Master Zhao yesterday, there were still a full five hundred taels of gold on the table, all in the form of long gold ingots of uniform weight and shape.
However, in terms of value, these yellow and white items could not compare to the spirit stones and spirit coins beside them.
There were over two hundred of the former, all standard in appearance, measuring no more than palm-sized in length and width. They contained pure spiritual energy, but because the amount of spiritual energy was not too large, they were only of the lower grade.
As for the latter, although there were only thirty-seven coins, each was worth one hundred low-grade spirit stones, and their price would even increase slightly in actual transactions.
These spirit coins were originally called Ling Yun coins. Legend had it that they originated from the Central Continent Imperial Dynasty. Because they contained extremely pure spiritual energy and a mysterious aura, they could produce effects far beyond spirit stones, regardless of their use, and were the hard currency among cultivators.
These items before him, along with the long sword on his back and the flying sword currently circling him, constituted Ji Yuan's entire fortune.
As for the bottles of elixirs and stacks of talismans, they were not included.
Looking at the fortune he had painstakingly accumulated, Ji Yuan sighed with a hint of worry. In his opinion, it was still too little, and he wished it could multiply several times over.
"My fortune is still rather meager!"
The young Taoist lamented and, with a slight thought, his gaze reluctantly collected all the fortune on the table into the space within the white jade flying sword.
When the flying sword, which he had named 'Little White,' returned to his Purple Mansion at his brow, the originally full wooden table was left with only a book with yellowed pages.