Chapter 1582: Feng Ruonan's Gift

Only after a long while did Niu Youdao finally say, "I've exhausted myself planning and struggling all these years. We finally made it to today, and now you tell me this?"

Yuan Gang said, "Master Dao, I remember you once told someone that in the end, a man's road is his own to walk."

Niu Youdao gave a humorless laugh. "Good. You've learned to use my own words to stop my mouth. Looks like you've truly made up your mind."

Yuan Gang called out earnestly, "Master Dao!"

Niu Youdao turned away and said nothing more.

He returned to Shang Shuqing's side instead and told her, "Commandery Princess, that glutton Yin'er eats far too much. We can't afford to keep feeding her."

The line made Shang Shuqing laugh through her tears, caught between crying and amusement...

After the group returned to Maolu Villa, Niu Youdao immediately arranged for Guan Fangyi and Nantian Wufang to accompany Yuan Gang to the Boundless Desert and assist him with the work of transferring people into the Fifth Domain.

Afraid Yuan Gang would be overwhelmed, Lü Wushuang specifically assigned two of her disciples, An You'er and Liu Feixing, to go as well. They could organize the people of the former Wushuang Sacred Land to help Yuan Gang.

After watching the group depart, Niu Youdao asked Lü Wushuang to remain behind for a private conversation.

Once they had walked aside, Lü Wushuang asked with some curiosity, "What is it?"

Niu Youdao rested both hands on his sword. "Monkey told me he doesn't want to go to the Fifth Domain. He wants to stay in the human world. What do you think?"

Lü Wushuang fell silent for a moment. "He has always listened to you. If even you can't persuade him, telling me won't help."

"You don't intend to try?"

Lü Wushuang shook her head. "Wherever people go, there will always be entanglements and disturbances. It's the same anywhere."

"Monkey once repeated something to me that he said you had told someone before: 'Where the heart is at peace, there is home.'"

"Where the heart is at peace, there is home..."

Niu Youdao murmured the words and remained silent for a long time.

At last he drew a deep breath, raised his head toward the sky, and asked, "That Feng Guan'er... is it really appropriate for you to keep her by your side as a maid?"

Lü Wushuang said, "Our family affairs are none of your concern. Even an upright magistrate finds family disputes hard to judge."

"Whether it's appropriate or not, once she and Monkey both get used to it, once everything naturally settles into place, it'll become appropriate on its own."

"You know Monkey's temperament. If I keep a hostage in my hands, it's easier to make him give way."

"Dammit," Niu Youdao muttered. "That bastard isn't planning to stay here and keep three wives and four concubines, is he?"

Lü Wushuang did not hear clearly. "What?"

"Nothing." Niu Youdao smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Forget it. With you at his side, I can worry a little less. Keep a close eye on him for me."

Lü Wushuang said, "Do you really need to tell me that? How could I not take it seriously? Meeting a man like this is exhausting enough already."

After she left, Niu Youdao remained where he was in silence, weighing the matter.

In truth, he had already been considering whom to leave behind in the human world.

There was no need to doubt one point: some people would inevitably slip through the net.

There would certainly be cultivators who hid and remained behind, perhaps even a substantial number.

To prevent chaos, he needed at least one capable person to stay.

Who should remain had been a problem.

Now Yuan Gang had volunteered, and the problem seemed to have solved itself.

With Yuan Gang's deterrent power, the hidden cultivators should not dare act rashly. Combined with the imperial court spreading its own net of authority, there should be no major trouble for a considerable period of time.

"What are you standing here for?"

Yun Ji appeared beside him.

Coming back to himself, Niu Youdao looked at her. "Send word to Yuan Fang. Tell him to come back and see me immediately."

Yuan Fang received the message and hurried back that very night.

The moment he returned, he rushed straight to Niu Youdao's room.

"Master Dao, you were looking for me?"

Niu Youdao asked, "You came back this quickly. Have you found a place to build the monastery?"

Yuan Fang grinned and nodded. "Found one. I looked at so many places I nearly went blind choosing. Then someone below reminded me that Master Dao's old residence from before you rose to prominence might be a good place. Maybe some of your fortune will rub off on us."

Niu Youdao looked puzzled. "My old residence? What do you mean?"

"The former grounds of Shangqing Sect!" Yuan Fang said grandly. "It's close to the old Nanshan Temple too."

"I went over specially to take a look. What a good place! I even went to see that Peach Blossom Spring where Master Dao once lived. Tsk, tsk. That thousand-year-old peach tree outside the gate really is beautiful. Its blossoms never fade all year round, and petals drift everywhere in every season. Gorgeous."

"The existing Shangqing Sect buildings only need some repairs and alterations. We won't even need to carry out major construction. I've already sent people to find craftsmen."

Shangqing Sect?

Niu Youdao was speechless for quite a while.

He had never expected this demonic monk to choose that place.

The mention of the peach tree also stirred memories from long ago.

When he returned to himself, he said casually, "I've thought it over. You don't need to go to the Fifth Domain."

"Considering how devoutly you worship the Buddha, and since Nanshan Temple probably can't do without its backbone, you can remain here and continue serving as abbot."

"Ah!"

Yuan Fang froze, delight and alarm mingling across his face. Then worry surfaced.

"Didn't you say spiritual qi in the human world will become thin after the passages among the Five Domains are severed? What am I supposed to do about cultivation?"

Niu Youdao asked, "What's more important, your cultivation or the Buddha?"

"Well..."

Yuan Fang counted on his fingers, apparently finding the choice difficult.

He muttered, "If all of you leave, what am I supposed to do here alone?"

"Don't worry. I'll leave someone behind to keep you company."

Yuan Fang asked curiously, "Who?"

"Monkey."

"Ah?"

Yuan Fang was badly startled.

He was genuinely terrified of Yuan Gang. Those huge fists were frightening enough.

He immediately waved both hands. "No need, no need. This poor monk can stay here alone. How could we wrong Master Yuan like that?"

Niu Youdao said, "It won't wrong him. He isn't a cultivator in the first place. He doesn't have to go to the Fifth Domain."

Yuan Fang gave a dry, awkward smile. "Master Dao, you're joking. He's more of a cultivator than cultivators are. He killed four of the Nine Saints, and another one became his wife."

"At this rate, he's practically become one of those legendary figures who enter the Dao through martial arts. Keeping him in the human world doesn't seem especially appropriate."

Wretched bone!

Niu Youdao snorted inwardly and raised an eyebrow. "Do you make the decisions here, or do I?"

Yuan Fang's face filled with awkwardness.

He wanted to refuse but did not dare.

Lowering his eyes, he said meekly, "Naturally, Master Dao makes the decisions. It's just... will Master Yuan agree?"

"If I say he can stay, then naturally he can stay."

"Don't overthink it. He won't be living together with you."

"The reason I'm leaving him here is simple. I'm concerned that cultivators who fail to leave cleanly may bring disaster to the human world, so someone needs to stand guard."

"You'll remain as his assistant. If Monkey ever needs something from you, you are not to neglect it."

So that was the reason.

Yuan Fang knew he had no say in the matter and could only answer reluctantly, "All right. I'll remember."

"Don't agree with your mouth while thinking something else in your heart."

Niu Youdao warned him, "If I ever come back to inspect things and discover you've been acting recklessly, I definitely won't spare you."

Yuan Fang immediately asked, "You can still come back?"

"Whether I can return or not is my affair. If I want to leave, you can't stop me. If I want to come back, you can't stop me either. So you don't need to concern yourself with it."

"And don't spread word of this outside for now. Understood?"

"Oh."

Yuan Fang answered submissively, while all kinds of thoughts churned in his head.

He had only just settled this trouble when another one arrived the next day.

Feng Ruonan sent him a gift.

A living human being.

Wu Gongling's favored consort, the favored consort who had passed through the hands of four emperors—

Aque!

The graceful woman standing before him was truly famous beneath Heaven.

Seated behind the table in the waterside pavilion, Niu Youdao watched Aque, veiled beneath a gauze hat, make a graceful bow and found himself somewhat bewildered.

Feng Ruonan truly knew how to create trouble.

He had also discovered that women beneath Heaven were all cut from the same cloth!

By now, he had already learned the sequence of events through various channels.

The former consorts of the Song imperial palace had been dealt with however the great officials pleased. They even dared take advantage of them or claim them for themselves.

Only this woman was different.

No one dared touch her lightly.

Four emperors in succession had all wanted to possess her.

Who knew what Shang Chaozong himself might think?

Now that Shang Chaozong already carried the aura of a ruler about to stand over all beneath Heaven, there were very few people in the secular world who dared risk making him unhappy.

So Song's side had sent this woman to Nanzhou and left her disposition to Nanzhou.

The move thoroughly disgusted Feng Ruonan.

Too many eyes were watching, however, and she could not do anything too obvious without inviting criticism.

Shang Chaozong had not yet formally taken the supreme position, and Feng Ruonan still wanted to preserve a virtuous reputation.

Then she learned Shang Chaozong was preparing to return in triumph.

The moment she heard he was coming back to Nanzhou, she could no longer remain calm.

What if Shang Chaozong truly took a liking to this woman?

Wouldn't that be disastrous?

Someone below eventually offered a suggestion.

Send the woman to Maolu Villa and let Master Dao deal with her.

That way the Prince would not dare complain, while the Princess Consort would not have to play the villain.

What a marvelous plan!

Feng Ruonan was delighted and immediately had Aque sent over.

Now Shang Shuqing, Yun Ji, Lü Wushuang, and even Feng Guan'er, who came carrying the baby, had all emerged to take a look.

Everyone wanted to see what kind of peerless beauty could captivate four emperors in succession.

Niu Youdao wanted to see as well.

After considering for a moment, he said, "Take off the veil."

Xia Hua immediately stepped forward and removed Aque's gauze hat.

Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain had escorted Aque here.

In fact, the Sect Leaders of all three factions had volunteered for the assignment.

Simply for the opportunity to see Niu Youdao, three Sect Leaders had personally gone to the trouble of escorting one woman here.

The moment the gauze hat came off, Niu Youdao's gaze stopped.

He was stunned by the woman's appearance.

Across two lifetimes, he had never seen a woman this beautiful.

Only after seeing her did he understand what peerless elegance truly meant.

A faint sorrow lay within a face beautiful enough to topple states and cities, stirring an instinctive desire to cherish and protect her.

Lü Wushuang and the other women exchanged glances.

Every one of them felt ashamed of her own appearance by comparison.

Only now did they understand why this woman had been able to captivate four emperors.

She truly was a peerless beauty of the mortal world.

Shang Shuqing could not help watching Niu Youdao's reaction.

She pressed her lips together and privately blamed her sister-in-law for sending this woman here.

Niu Youdao raised one hand and rubbed his forehead.

"Aque, was it? That face of yours truly is a source of calamity. Any man without enough power who dares claim you will only invite disaster down upon himself."

"Tell me. What do you plan to do with the rest of your life?"

Sorrow showed on Aque's face.

"I am someone without control over my own fate. I've lived this long only because I was too afraid of death to die."

"I beg Master Dao to give me a road to survival."

With that, she actually dropped to her knees.

Niu Youdao said, "You're a celestial maiden descended into the mortal world. You shouldn't have remained among mortals in the first place."

"You haven't done anything wrong either. Killing you would be somewhat difficult for me to bear."

Then he suddenly thrust out one palm.

A surge of force swept past.

Aque's full head of black hair flew away with the wind.

In an instant she had become completely bald.

Yet even without hair, her beauty could not be concealed. If anything, it gave her a different kind of allure.

"Spend the rest of your life before the green lamp and ancient Buddha."

"Yuan Fang!"

Yuan Fang, dressed in monk's robes, immediately stepped forward. "Here."

Niu Youdao said, "Take her to Nanshan Temple and have her enter the monastic life."

"If you discover she still longs for the red dust, then she lied to me."

"Give her a swift death."

[End of Chapter 1582]