“Um…” As soon as Qi Yan opened his mouth, everyone in the room looked at him, which forced him to straighten his back to make himself look more serious, “Cough, I mean, could someone have accidentally leaked the news?”
“It’s possible,” Master Xu was very good at reading people. Almost none of the people he had met was a mystery. He swept his gaze across the room, and finally reached out and pointed at someone, “You, come.”
Xiang Qiang, who was named, looked at Master Xu in panic, and kept waving his hands, “Master Xu, I didn’t…”
“I know it’s not you,” Master Xu raised his hand and motioned him to stand aside, “Sit aside.”
Then, Master Xu asked a few more people to step aside. There were finally only two remaining. The shoulders of these two people were shaking and their foreheads were sweating. Even people who didn’t know how to read faces knew that they were guilty.
“I only know how to read people. I will leave the rest to the team.” Master Xu took a sip of tea and said with an unfathomable face, “Let’s have breakfast first.”
This suggestion was well received by everyone. Cen Baihe was not used to the behavior of these masters who did as they pleased.
The breakfast was well prepared, with a huge variety and placed on a big table. Cen Baihe watched the masters who were old enough to be his grandparents acted like children who were picking out their favorite food.
Qi Yan quickly chose the dishes that he and Cen Baihe liked. He saw that Cen Baihe looked a little dazed and put a box of yogurt in front of him, “These foods are specially prepared, you can’t buy them with money. Try it.”
Looking at Qi Yan’s sparkling eyes, Cen Baihe didn’t mention that he often ate these since he was a child and drank the yogurt, “It’s delicious.”
“Are these masters different from what you expected?”
“They do surprise me a bit,” Cen Baihe gave Qi Yan a meaningful look, “But if you think about it carefully, it’s not unacceptable.”
Qi Yan didn’t notice the look in Cen Baihe’s eyes and explained to him, “Some masters are very disciplined, like Abbot Yun. It is very difficult to reach his level of cultivation.”
“Others like to do as they please. For example, Master Xu and Master Shen,” Qi Yan took a sip of milk, “But many people do whatever they want and end up on the wrong path.”
“The masters here are all skilled masters. They no longer care about what the world thinks of them. The only thing that matters is their own principles.” Qi Yan’s admiration for his seniors were shown while explaining to Cen Baihe, “No matter what kind of person you are, the most important thing is to cultivate the heart, which remains unaffected by external changes.”
Cen Baihe listened quietly to Qi Yan’s explanation, and couldn’t help but think that maybe in a few decades, Qian Qian would be like them, doing as he pleased without forgetting his principles. Although his body would be old, his mind would be clearer than most people. When he looked at these elderly people again, he thought that they looked cuter.
Although Master Shen had a hot temper, he preferred to be a vegetarian in the morning. There was half a bowl of salad and she had a big appetite. Seeing Qi Yan and Cen Baihe sitting together and whispering at each other, she asked, “Xiao Qi, what are you whispering to Mr. Cen?”
“Baihe is very curious about all of you, and he is too shy to ask. So I am telling him.” Qi Yan smiled innocently, “Baihe is my good friend, I hope you will take care of him.”
“Your good friend is surrounded by an air of nobility. I have never seen someone with such a special fate in my life,” Master Shen frowned, wanting to say something, but seeing Qi Yan’s smiling eyes, he remained silent. “Don’t worry, since he is your friend, we will all take care of him.”
The other masters also gave Cen Baihe a friendly smile.
Even a sorcerer who was not afraid of death would not dare touch a single hair of a person with such an extremely precious life. They were most afraid to deal with this kind of person. They didn’t want to offend nor get too close to him for fear of trouble. The young man Qi Yan seemed smart. Why would he want such a big trouble? He was highly cultivated with a lot of knowledge, it was impossible not to know this, yet he was still friends with him. Young people were becoming more and more incomprehensible.
However, masters tend to do as they please. Although she didn’t quite understand Qi Yan’s approach, she didn’t comment on it. This was respect for her fellow Daoists.
“Thank you.” Qi Yan smiled brightly at the masters, showing no discomfort.
Cen Baihe laughed softly and nodded at the masters, “I came too late yesterday, and didn’t say hello to all of you. Qian…Qi Yan is young and must have troubled you.”
“Mr. Cen, you’re welcome,” said Master Zhao. “Although Master Qi is young, he has helped us a lot. If it wasn’t for Master Qi who came up with the solution to the formation, we wouldn’t have thought of such a safe method.”
Although they were ready to die before they came, who wouldn’t want to live if there was a chance.
After everyone exchanged pleasantries, Sorcerer Lin said, “Although we temporarily suppressed the evil spirits yesterday, there is only one more day left until the Mid-Autumn Festival. I am afraid that the people behind this will come up with something else.”
“If these two formations are driven by people’s energy, it is almost impossible,” Master Xu wiped his mouth and put down his chopsticks contentedly, “Maybe these people are secretly watching us from behind, waiting for us to fail.”
“What is the benefit to them if we old people die?” Sorcerer Lin shook his head. He really didn’t understand why the people behind this put so much effort into harming them.
“Big tree attracts the wind,” Zhao Zhicheng said, “We suspect that they are targeting the dragon vein.”
“The dragon vein?!”
The so-called dragon veins were often mentioned in film and television works. The villain in the movie would destroy the dragon vein by blowing up a mountain or by chopping down a tree. In reality, it was not so simple. There was not only one dragon vein. Of course, not everyone who had dragon veins could become the emperor. It was purely fiction, and it was different from reality.
For most people, dragon veins were intangible, but it would bless the mountains and rivers, and keep the earth alive, so that the people on this earth have a stable living environment. Deforestation, water pollution, and uncontrolled exploitation of resources were actually a chronic injury to the dragon veins.
If one wanted to destroy the dragon veins, they needed to blow up the mountains and find its weak spot. Then, use a tool containing spiritual energy to break it, releasing the energy in the ground, and let the dragon veins “die”. That was the real method of cutting the vein.
When the dragon veins were cut off, there might be natural disasters, and epidemics. Everyone in the country would suffer immensely.
Dragon veins existed in mountains and rivers, and all corners of the country. Each dragon vein was a generous gift of nature to the creatures on this land. If the masters who protected the dragon veins were dead, no one would be able to stop others from destroying them.
“Yes, the dragon vein,” Zhao Zhicheng lowered his head, got up and bowed deeply to the masters, “I am not cultivated. So I am asking you to take care of yourselves as the country needs you.”
The masters did not speak, but nodded silently.
“When the country is in trouble, the common man also protects it with his own body.”
Cen Baihe looked at Master Xu and remembered the prejudice he had against them, and felt ashamed. They were scumbags in any industry. It would be prejudice and ignorance to deny the entire industry because of them.
He thought he was calm and rational, but he actually made the same mistake.
The masters stayed in the villa for another day, but perhaps because yesterday’s sneak attack had been discovered, nothing strange happened that night.
The only one who was uncomfortable was Cen Baihe because after Qian Qian fell asleep that night, he didn’t put his legs on him, but took over his side of the bed. He kept moving to the side and almost fell to the ground.
When he woke up in the morning, Qi Yan noticed that Cen Baihe had two dark circles under his eyes, and asked with concern, “Are you not used to sleeping with someone else? How about I sleep with Master Zhao tonight, and you sleep alone?”
“No,” Realizing that he replied too quickly, he said slowly, “I had a dream last night that someone kept chasing me, so I didn’t sleep well.”
“Nightmare?”
Cen Baihe nodded with a strange expression.
“That’s not right,” Qi Yan looked around the room, “This room has good Feng Shui, and your life is so good, how could you have such a nightmare? That’s shocking.”
“Maybe it’s because I’ve experienced too many new things in the past two days, and I had a dream because I’m uneasy,” After seeing that Qi Yan was about to check if there were any strange talismans under the carpet, he said quickly, “Why are you barefoot? Put on your shoes.”
“It’s very comfortable to walk on the carpet. It’s not cold even without shoes,” Qi Yan lowered his head and found a slipper under the bed, “Where’s the other one?”
“Here,” Cen Baihe picked up another slipper at the foot of the bed. He then walked to Qi Yan, bent down and placed it at his feet.
At this time, he saw that Qian Qian’s left foot looked a little strange. It was missing the fifth toe, but it’s not like it was broken by external force, but it was born without it. So it was not ugly at all, and even had an indescribable sense of beauty.
“Are you scared?” Seeing Cen Baihe staring at his feet, Qi Yan thought he was afraid of his foot, so he moved it slightly back to hide it.
