Sect Recruitment: I Can See Attribute Entries

Chapter 573: Chapter 574: Feelings Cannot Be Denied

Even when the spring wind passes through, there are still memories of the past to look back on.

Words spoken in the waters of the Three Rivers, told to the returning sea current.

In the memories of yesterday, the mottled years fade away.

Only when a single thought arises, even dreams hold nothing.

Yuan Kong slowly stepped onto the leaf-strewn stairs. The young novice monk, draped in a slightly worn kasaya, gazed upward toward the sky, looking at the small stupa.

Below the stairs, other novice monks chanted sutras as they passed, but none of them was the long-unseen figure walking toward the Relic Stupa.

Golden Core, flawless and sealed. Breath and aura drawn inward.

With a little effort, mortals would not notice him.

Yuan Kong had left Chanlin Temple when he was still at the Qi Refining stage. Since then, he had never returned. And now, coming back, he was already a Golden Core expert.

His cultivation had even surpassed that of his senior brother Yuan Jing.

The path to the Golden Core had not been difficult for Yuan Kong. It had simply been a matter of steady cultivation, searching for the answer within his heart, and then everything had fallen into place naturally.

But his senior brother had spent an entire lifetime without ever stepping into the Golden Core realm.

Otherwise, he would have been here in the temple, smiling as he waited for Yuan Kong to return.

Yuan Kong felt the bricks beneath his feet were both familiar and strange. He looked up—withered leaves sprouting new buds, just like in those days. But when he tried to recall it clearly, his memories felt like those leaves...

Beginning to yellow.

He didn’t know whether he had simply refused to remember back then, or whether his present self had already let go.

The stairs leading from Chanlin Temple to the Relic Stupa seemed, from a distance, rather long.

But Yuan Kong felt as though he had taken only a few steps before reaching the top.

Yuan Kong looked at the Relic Stupa, standing in place for a long time without speaking. Only after a gentle wind blew past did he finally open his mouth:

”Senior brother, it’s been a long time. I’ve grown this big now—taller than you ever were.”

”But you probably can’t see that anymore, so I’ve just been dressing a bit scruffy.”

”And you can’t scold me anymore either, so...”

Yuan Kong felt his nose sting oddly. Perhaps it was because the wind was turning toward winter.

The wind at Chanlin Temple was truly fierce—enough to make even a Golden Core expert’s nose ache.

He gently pinched his nose and continued:

”So I’ve been free to do and say whatever I want.”

”I’m already a Golden Core expert now. I’ve traveled across the land, tempered myself, and suffered my share of hardships.”

”A Golden Core expert is basically the highest authority you’ll find in Yuzhou City.”

”Senior brother, given that you’re in no position to argue with me right now, I have some rather pathetic things I want to say.”

Yuan Kong let out a heavy breath and looked up at the heavens:

”Even though I’m a Golden Core expert now, I still want to hide behind you whenever something happens, just like before.”

”And I think that’s your fault too. You treated me too well back then, and I still can’t forget those days.”

”I’ve repaid Chu Xingchen’s kindness, though not nearly enough. Receiving the Great Vehicle Buddha Heart Sutra out of nowhere counts as a debt to him as well.”

”That sutra is strange to me. The more I read it... the less ’emptiness’ I seem to find.”

”Forget it. Whether it’s empty or not doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

”Before I came, I thought about burning a copy of that good stuff for you to see, to show you what a treasure it is.”

”But it seems to be a unique copy, and a relic at that. I doubt it would burn anyway.”

”And reading it out loud is too much effort—I’m too lazy to open my mouth. After all, even a Golden Core expert gets tired after rushing all the way back here.”

As Yuan Kong spoke, he seemed to truly be exhausted. He simply sat down right in front of the Relic Stupa and continued with a smile:

”If you want to hear it, senior brother, come find me in a dream. I’ll read it to you there. After all, opening my mouth in a dream should be much easier.”

After saying this, Yuan Kong fell silent, his eyes fixed on the Relic Stupa.

But no gentle breeze answered his unease.

Yuan Kong slowly rose and reached out to touch the Relic Stupa.

No warmth. Only the cold, rough texture of the stone.

”Senior brother, until next time.”

Yuan Kong lowered his eyes and murmured softly.

With that, he turned and began to walk away, heading down the stairs.

The steps gradually obscured Yuan Kong’s figure, and the Relic Stupa was once again empty.

Suddenly, Yuan Kong’s voice rose from below the stairs:

”Senior brother is still as stubborn as ever. I don’t come here to see you, and you don’t come find me in dreams.”

”You should know I’m petty. I came to see you today, so you ought to visit me in a dream too.”

”Otherwise, watch out—your junior brother might just forget you completely!”

Yuan Kong’s voice grew louder and louder, as if venting his dissatisfaction.

But still, no one answered him.

Yuan Kong descended the stairs but did not leave directly. Though he had not been back to Chanlin Temple in a long time, the memories in his mind were still vivid.

He headed straight for the abbot’s quarters in the main hall.

The door to the abbot’s room stood wide open. An elderly novice monk sat with his eyes half-closed, softly chanting.

”Nephew in the Dharma, it’s been a long time. It’s your turn to be abbot now.”

Yuan Kong stepped into the hall and looked at the current abbot of Chanlin Temple. Time had not spared this nephew either.

He had grown as old as Yuan Jing had been back in the day.

The abbot of Chanlin Temple slowly opened his eyes and looked at the young monk standing at the door. Short black hair still sprouted from his head, and the kasaya he wore was barely better than a rag.

Looking at his face, the abbot did not recognize him at first. He narrowed his eyes, gazing into Yuan Kong’s eyes. After a moment, realization dawned:

”Is that... Senior Uncle Yuan Kong?”

Yuan Kong smiled. ”I didn’t expect you to still recognize me.”

The abbot hurriedly stood up, his expression filled with emotion:

”Senior Uncle hasn’t been back in so long... You’ve grown up, and grown taller...”

”After all this time, I’d better have.” Yuan Kong reached out and took the hand the abbot extended to him.

The current abbot of Chanlin Temple nodded repeatedly, his gaze moving up and down Yuan Kong with barely contained excitement.

Hadn’t he watched Yuan Kong grow up with his own eyes in the past?

Senior Uncle was a matter of seniority, but the care he had shown was that of an elder all the same.

The abbot was about to speak when he remembered something:

”Wait a moment. There’s something I need to give you.”

The abbot turned slowly and retrieved a box from under his bed.

Yuan Kong stared blankly at the box and asked quietly:

”Is it... something senior brother left for me?”

The abbot shook his head slightly and placed the box on the floor:

”No. This was left for you by Sect Master Chu—Chu Xingchen—afterward.”

Yuan Kong’s expression of gratitude and surprise quickly faded, replaced by a faint wariness.

If his senior brother had left something for him, even if it wasn’t anything particularly special, it would certainly be something good.

But something left by Chu Xingchen... he’d be grateful just to get anything at all.

The abbot opened the box, revealing several items inside.

A pristine white kasaya, a willow-jade staff, and two talismans still shimmering with spiritual light.

”These should have been kept at the Relic Stupa. But the treasures’ aura kept circulating, and since Senior Uncle never returned to claim them, certain people with ulterior motives eventually took notice.”

The abbot sighed gently. ”After that, quite a few incidents occurred because of them. In the end, we had to entrust several Buddhist experts, who used every method at their disposal, to barely manage to extract them.”

”They said it was only possible because the greedy thieves had already worn away much of the spiritual power and techniques stored within, leaving very little behind.”

”Now that Senior Uncle has returned, it’s time to take them.”

Yuan Kong lowered his gaze and recognized the two magical treasures immediately—they had been retrieved from the secret realm at Wanzhang Mountain.

He pressed further:

”When did Sect Master Chu deliver them?”

”After Abbot Yuan Jing passed into nirvana, about a month after you left Chanlin Temple.”

Yuan Kong suddenly chuckled.

Chu Xingchen always acted stingy toward him, but apart from his senior brother, Chu Xingchen had been the most generous person to him.

The spirit stones he owed had not been repaid in decades. It was less a debt and more a refusal to pay at all.

But spirit stones could be dodged.

This kind of feeling could not be denied.

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