strictlysupreme Chapter 70 The Arrival of Buddhabe
Chapter 70 The Arrival of Buddhabe
Old Deng is indeed Old Deng. After all these years, he has only gone from being a young Deng to an old Deng.
On the second day, after Wu You and his companions finished dinner and were enjoying the afterglow of the sunset, they saw three old men carrying a food box walking steadily toward the Lotus Pavilion.
Upon seeing the food box, Wu You knew without even looking inside that it contained peanut-based food. Immediately, Wu You quickly got up from the recliner and went into the Lotus Pavilion.
"The three academy masters are here, where are you going?" Fang Duobing asked curiously about Wu You's actions.
Wu You kept walking: "When guests arrive, of course we have to serve them tea."
Wu You returned to her room and took out the various pills that she had asked Li Lianhua to make the day before. She took out itching pills, farting pills, insomnia pills, croton oil, and other pills, and mixed them all in water.
It must be said that Li Lianhua's medical skills have improved significantly over the years. The things he makes are exactly to Wu You's liking; the pills are colorless and odorless, and dissolve in water.
Moreover, these drugs take different amounts of time to take effect; some take half a month, some two or three days, and some one or two months. In short, they are meant to cause a lot of suffering.
However, it will only start to take effect after half a month. By then, no matter what, no one will suspect Lotus Tower.
Even if there were any doubts, this place had long since become an empty lot, so let them go looking for nothing.
The moment Wu You threw all the medicine into the water, the water immediately turned green, which looked terrifying.
Stir it again with a chopstick, and the water in the teapot becomes clear and transparent again—a truly remarkable chemical reaction.
Wu You sniffed it closely and found no strange smell. Just in case there was someone with an unusually sensitive sense of smell, Wu You grabbed a handful of tea leaves and threw them in.
Wu You threw the stirring chopsticks into the trash can, grabbed three teacups, and headed out.
The three people who arrived were greeting the group of people outside.
"Since you deans have come from afar, and our building is small, we will not invite you in. Come, come, have a cup of tea to quench your thirst. Fang is ill, so please go inside and bring out a few stools."
Wu You poured three cups of tea on the small table and placed them on it. After steeping for a while, the tea had developed a light blue color, and there was no sign of anything fishy about it.
Fang Duobing ran back to Lotus Pavilion, dragging two long benches with one hand and placing them next to the small table: "Please sit down, deans."
Wu You lay back in his recliner, leaving Fang Duobing to entertain him alone. He only felt relieved after seeing the others take a sip of tea out of the corner of his eye.
Li Lianhua, watching Wu You's subtle movements and recalling the pills she had been asked to make yesterday, guessed what was going on but didn't expose her, letting her have fun.
Wu You, Li Lianhua, and Di Feisheng were all lying on the recliners, leisurely and carefree, while Fang Duobing was forced to get up, and was somewhat resentful.
"Deans, what brings you all to Lotus Pavilion?" Fang Duobing asked politely, but his tone was somewhat unfriendly.
Seeing that the others were not interested in their trip, Yun Bhikkhu, having found an excuse from Fang Duobing, quickly spoke up.
“We have already heard from Miss Qiao that thanks to Fang Duobing and Miss Wu You, we were able to find our young master yesterday and prevent the villains from succeeding. We have come here today to thank you.”
"There were too many people yesterday, so it wasn't appropriate to show it to Miss Wu You in public. I brought it here today so that Miss Wu can witness the Young Master Sword." Yun Biqiu walked to Wu You's side and raised the Young Master Sword: "Please."
Although he was looking at Wu You, his eyes never left Li Lianhua, trying to see if he would have any other reaction.
Ji Hanfo and Jiang Baihe, who were sitting at the small table, also looked over here.
"You deans are joking. I am not qualified to possess this sword. You deans should take it back."
Wu You directly quoted Li Lianhua's words, not even glancing at him. "The title of Junior Tutor is good, but it's been tarnished in the hands of some. It's good enough that it doesn't bother you."
"Miss Wu, you're too kind. Just try it out, it'll be fine." Seeing that Wu You didn't respond and that Li Lianhua beside her couldn't discern any emotion, Yun Biqiu had no choice but to persuade her again.
"I won't try it. I already examined it when I brought it back yesterday, and it is indeed a fine sword for the young master. Headmaster, you should give it to Fang Duobing. He did the most work yesterday by capturing the thief."
Wu You refused directly. Since even the young master didn't care, there was no need for him to say anything more.
If it were in someone else's hands, Wu You would definitely try every means to exchange it. But since it's in the hands of Baichuanyuan Yunbiqiu, there's no need for that.
Fang Duobing, who was standing nearby, was quite excited upon hearing this. Being able to touch his master's sword again would be wonderful.
"Didn't Fang Duobing already test the Young Master's Sword yesterday? I don't think it's necessary." Jiang Baihe refused without even thinking.
Fang Duobing, standing next to him, instantly became listless; if he had dog ears, you could see that they were drooping down.
"What Dean Ji said makes no sense. Fang was ill yesterday and tested his sword. He only had the opportunity because he won first place."
"As Master Yun just said, he specially gave the sword to the person who helped find it yesterday. Fang Dubing has worked hard and made great contributions, so he can naturally be tested again."
"Now that I'm giving him the chance to test his sword, what's wrong with that? He will naturally have another chance to test his sword. Did you all come here just to spout empty words?"
"Fang Duobing, I think you should stop reading. Taking other people's things and talking big in front of others. Isn't this just like that little story?"
"What little story?" Fang Duobing asked curiously.
Seeing several pairs of eyes looking over, Wu You coughed and calmly spoke.
"A poor scholar and a rich young lady fell in love. At first, they treated each other with respect and lived in harmony. But when the rich young lady's father passed away, the poor scholar poisoned her and faked her death as a result of her grief."
"Moreover, he inherited her family fortune, used the money left to her by her father to bribe officials, and enjoyed a smooth career. He even used her money as a betrothal gift to marry the prime minister's daughter."
"Moreover, he preyed on the people, was an inhumane official, and did many heinous things. Most importantly, on the surface, he was still a great benefactor and a good official."
"Whenever anyone mentions the rich girl, he puts on a grief-stricken expression, saying that he failed to take good care of her. Furthermore, he used the rich girl's money to lure away his original business partners, squeezing their profits again and again."
“Wu You, your story…” Fang Duobing’s expression was unreadable.
Just as Wu You thought he might say something, Fang Duobing, still somewhat indignant, said, "How can there be such a vicious person? Doesn't the imperial court and government care?"
Wu You conceded defeat, "Perhaps they haven't discovered it yet."
The group of people who understood the implied meaning of the story turned pale and then red, especially Yun Biqiu, whose expression was inexplicable.
Wu You's retort left Ji Hanfo speechless, and even Yun Biqiu, unable to save face, handed the young master to Fang Duobing.
Fang Duobing gave Wu You a grateful look, wiped his hands, and took the young master's instrument to observe it himself.
The three monks, Yun and his companions, exchanged glances. Ji Hanfo asked in a low voice, "Miss Wu, I've always had a small question: why don't the three of you show your true faces?"
"There's a big problem inside," Wu You said mysteriously, drawing everyone's attention.
Even Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng looked over, wanting to hear Wu You's explanation. Wasn't he wearing a mask to avoid revealing his identity?
"You may not know this, but this world seems so vast, with its endless rivers and mountains stretching for thousands of miles."
"However, deep underground, there grows a giant tree, and our world hangs on that tree. You know apple trees, right? These are like apples growing on the tree."
"Then this tree must be very, very big, big enough to contain all things? A tree that bears the fruit of the world, is it called the World Tree?" Fang Duobing asked curiously.
"It is indeed very large, larger than you can imagine. You could call it the World Tree."
Seeing that everyone was captivated, Wu You continued to deceive them.
"These three thousand small worlds are equivalent to one medium world, and the three thousand medium worlds are equivalent to one great chiliocosm. However, our world belongs to only one small world."
"What does this have to do with whether you're wearing masks or not?" Ji Hanfo asked, somewhat puzzled. Although it was the first time he had heard about this secret of the world, it really didn't seem to have anything to do with it.
"Don't bother me, I'm just talking about how we're about to get to this point." Wu You really wanted to ignore Ji Hanfo.
The others rolled their eyes. Why bring that up now? Of course, they were listening to this unprecedented world secret, even if they didn't know if it was true or not. They just wanted to hear it first, in case they had another chance to hear it later.
Receiving glares from everyone, Ji Hanfo awkwardly shut his mouth.
"That night, I couldn't sleep, so I got up and went for a walk outside. It was already midnight, and it was pitch black outside. The dew was heavy, and there was only the moon. All around was quiet."
"After watching the moon for a while, I didn't feel sleepy, just a little cold, so I was about to go back to sleep. Suddenly..." Wu You's voice suddenly rose.
"What's wrong? Keep going." Fang Duobing carried a stool in front of Wu You, grabbing the best spot to listen to the story, and urged him on. He stopped playing with the book in his hand; listening to the story was much more enjoyable.
Suddenly, I saw a huge white vortex appear in the open space ahead, shimmering brightly. It was even larger than this small building. The vortex looked like a whirlpool created by the sea breeze on the ocean, and it was terrifying to look at.
"But this white vortex was completely silent and didn't cause any damage to the surrounding trees. I even thought I was seeing things. I quickly rubbed my eyes, but the vortex was still there. It was really real."
"Just as I was thinking about going back to sleep, I saw a man slowly fly out from the center of the vortex. He was dressed in white, had white hair, stood barefoot, had a red dot between his eyebrows, and a red bell hanging from his waist. The night wind blew by, but he made no sound."
"The man seemed surprised when he saw me, probably because he didn't expect anyone to see him. Before I could say anything, he flicked his sleeve and I fell down."
"I woke up in bed the next day, thinking I was hallucinating the night before, but that aloof and independent face just wouldn't leave my mind."
"So I went outside the courtyard to investigate, and it was indeed the same as usual, with nothing amiss. It seems that the man who came here last night did nothing, perhaps he was just passing by and I happened to run into him."
“I told Li Lianhua and the others what happened that night, and they actually believed me and didn’t make it up. So we put together what we knew and realized that there are people beyond people, heavens beyond heavens, and other worlds beyond this world.”
"So, we abandoned our former identities, put on masks, and became unrecognizable to others, all just to..." Wu You rambled on and on, his mouth dry, and he didn't want to speak anymore.
"Just for what? Keep going," Fang Duobing urged. He was annoyed that the story had stopped at the most crucial point.
"Fang is sick. Go inside and get Youyou a pot of tea to quench her thirst. Youyou likes flower tea, so put some sugar in it."
Li Lianhua noticed that Wu You was thirsty, but she had been lying on the recliner for too long and didn't want to move, so she asked Fang Duobing to pour the water from inside the room, and not to give Wu You the one on the small table that Wu You had added all sorts of weird stuff to.
As expected of the meticulous Li Lianhua, before Wu You could even say anything, Li Lianhua had already made the arrangements.
Fang Duobing looked at Wu You's dry lips, said nothing, and got up to do as Li Lianhua had instructed.
A short while later, Fang Duobing came out carrying a teapot in his right hand and a teacup tray in his left, with several teacups on the tray.
Fang Duobing poured Wu You a cup first: "Wu You, drink it quickly. I've already put it in cold water, so it won't be too hot to drink."
Then he poured a cup for Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng, before pouring one for Yun Biqiu and the others. When he turned around and saw that Wu You's teacup was empty, he refilled it for her.
After Wu You had drunk several glasses, he poured himself one. "Quick, continue. What are you all after?"
After finishing his tea, Wu You continued, "We wear masks to seek the true meaning of the world through another identity, to unveil the veil of this world."
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Lotus Tower Small Theater
Wu You: Shocking, isn't it? Don't you feel like your previous worldview has been shattered into pieces, and then I've built up a new one?
Fang Duobing: So this is what the real world is like? What was all that I knew before? It was all just what those people said. Today is another day of learning something new.
Bhikkhu Yun: I've learned something new.
Ji Hanfo: I've learned something new +2.
Jiang Baihe: I've learned something new +3.
Flute Flying Sound: What is this all about? Although the story is well told, if I hadn't been part of it, I'm afraid I would have been completely fooled.
Li Lianhua: What a close call! I almost believed it at first, thinking Wu You had fallen into this world fruit from some other world fruit. But then I heard that I was among them, and I realized I was just overthinking it.