Ancient city,

Small alley,

Xu Qinglang walked alone.

His face

had already peeled yesterday.

Though he was a man, even men love beauty.

Otherwise, who would buy all those men's skincare products and cosmetics in supermarkets and specialty stores?

Perhaps because his skin had just peeled,

Old Xu looked even more tender than before he was injured.

Unlike the effeminate and enchanting style that was popular when the Korean wave swept the country a few years ago,

he instead resembled Li Yu Gang after makeup,

yet without any powder or rouge,

giving off a natural and very comfortable feeling.

Xu Qinglang still carried a bit of artistic temperament in his heart. Anyone who escapes the stage of being busy just to survive can have a bit of artistic temperament.

After all, he was a man who owned twenty-odd properties at a young age.

The rest of his life

would be much more free and easy,

even "sharing the country's destiny" wouldn't be an exaggeration.

He strolled lazily for an afternoon,

and by evening,

the ancient city was ablaze with lights, even more lively than during the day. The blackness of night also diluted and concealed much of the commercial atmosphere of the daytime, giving people a more suitable atmosphere for "dreaming."

"Ring, ring, ring…"

His phone rang.

Xu Qinglang picked up his phone.

It was actually a video call from Old Daoist.

After accepting,

Old Daoist's face appeared on the phone.

"Old Xu, still in Lijiang?"

Old Daoist greeted him extremely enthusiastically.

Xu Qinglang frowned slightly,

because he felt that

Old Daoist seemed a little too enthusiastic.

His first reaction was a bit of panic.

Old Daoist's mine-laying attribute was no secret in the bookstore; otherwise, Zhou Ze wouldn't have had Old Daoist accompany that Son of Destiny on a trip to Tong City.

And now, that Son of Destiny and his two henchmen were still lying in the intensive care unit.

Moreover, the previous talisman reward had shrouded Old Daoist in a layer of mystery.

His second reaction

was whether something had happened to the bookstore.

Had Old Daoist been coerced, so he was deliberately being so enthusiastic to warn and ask for help?

Xu Qinglang frowned slightly,

pondering.

…………

"Wow, Old Daoist didn't lie to us, this woman is really good-looking!!!"

"So beautiful, she looks so good in men's clothing!"

"I'm a woman, but I want to fuck her!"

"The first floor is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Are you guys stupid? Didn't Old Daoist say he was going to show us a man!

She's a man!"

"Upstairs, stop pretending, your input method betrayed you!"

"Qiu-ge has rewarded a rocket, please everyone open the treasure chest to claim it!"

"Typhoon Restaurant has rewarded a supreme rocket, please everyone open the treasure chest to claim it!"

"The big boss has rewarded us, the big boss is also excited!"

"Rich people have too many women, so they want to change their taste?"

"I don't have money, but after seeing him, I also want to change it up."

"Old Daoist, quickly send a WeChat, pound your little chest, sob sob sob!"

………………

"You're in the ancient city, right, Old Xu?"

Old Daoist greeted him very enthusiastically.

"Yeah."

Xu Qinglang responded.

"There's an Umbrella Street there, isn't there? You know, the one where the whole street is covered in flower umbrellas.

That one that's so popular on Douyin!"

Xu Qinglang nodded.

He had just walked past there, but it was a网红 (wǎnghóng - internet celebrity) spot, so he wasn't really clear on it.

It's not that he doesn't go online usually, but his interests are still in drawing talismans and researching formations.

"Then go walk over there, let me feast my eyes, I couldn't make it this time and I'm stuck at home renovating, it's so hard~~"

Old Daoist actually started acting coy.

Xu Qinglang subconsciously wanted to hang up the video.

Regardless of whether something had actually happened to Old Daoist,

he didn't want to deal with it.

"Don't, don't, don't!" Old Daoist seemed to sense something. If Old Xu hung up, how would he continue his live stream?

You have to know, his fans and friends are all his family!

"Old Xu, I'm begging you, really."

Xu Qinglang took a deep breath,

and finally nodded.

Umbrella Street was right in front, very close.

"Old Xu, hold the phone higher, damn, not high enough, there's a convenience store next to you, right, buy a selfie stick!"

"Old Xu, just buy one, how about this, I'll use my private money to redecorate your room, so you can have a good mood when you work in the future, right?"

"I'm begging you, Old Xu, you also know that I'm a streamer, I couldn't go to Lijiang this time, I can't personally check in, I'm also very sad."

Xu Qinglang bought a selfie stick,

held it up,

and walked towards Umbrella Street somewhat perfunctorily.

He didn't walk very fast, but very casually. He had no interest in striking any poses for Old Daoist.

But it was precisely this very casual and perfunctory style

that instead brought out a kind of temperament and atmosphere,

Old Daoist's live stream had completely exploded!

………………

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! I can't take it anymore ahhhhhhhhh!!!!"

"I'm sorry to my mom, I feel like her son has been bent!"

"This little brother is really good-looking."

"Dunhuang Entertainment has rewarded a glow stick: Old Daoist, I'm from an entertainment agency, can you give me this person's contact information?"

"Mo Xiaoxuan has rewarded a rocket: I can't take it anymore, I'm already wet."

"Upstairs, miss, hold on! Although I'm also suffering!"

"Old Daoist, let him also start a live stream, he's guaranteed to be more popular than you!"

"Yeah, you sell spirit money and we'll buy it, he sells toilet paper and we'll buy it too!"

………………

After walking through Umbrella Street,

Xu Qinglang nodded to Old Daoist

and said:

"Is that all?"

Old Daoist glanced at the tablet next to him, which Little Monkey was holding, and scanned the number of rewards in the background, his eyes narrowed into slits with laughter. He was worried about being discovered by Xu Qinglang, so he immediately said:

"Alright, Old Xu, thank you!"

Xu Qinglang hung up the video,

took off the selfie stick, and casually threw it into the trash can on the side of the road.

He stretched,

looked up,

at the night sky,

but suddenly froze.

In the sky,

there were no stars or moon,

but this wasn't because the weather was bad.

In fact,

the night sky seemed to be dyed with a layer of fluorescent powder.

It was black,

but it carried a sense of transparency.

Xu Qinglang took a deep breath

and felt a choking sensation.

It wasn't that he smelled ghost energy,

but rather that the durian barbecue shop next door had just put out a batch of freshly cooked durians.

………………

"You're so amazing, I can't do it anymore, my body is all limp."

The woman lay on the bed, her eyes full of allure.

Attorney An chuckled,

and walked to the balcony in complete comfort, lighting a cigarette.

But,

after only taking one puff,

Attorney An froze.

He looked up at the sky,

"Did a volcano erupt?"

………………

"Śariputra, form is emptiness, emptiness is form; form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form…"

Climbing mountains on the plateau was already a painful thing.

Bald Monk looked much thinner than before, especially his face. Originally, it had been plump, but now it gave people a sense of desolation.

His beard had also grown out,

his clothes were tattered,

and his shoes and socks were also torn.

It wasn't that he deliberately wanted to imitate Ji Gong,

but because he had dragged his sick and broken body,

step by step,

from north of Xuzhou

to get here.

Along the way,

how much sorrow,

how much suffering,

he was completely unaware.

The Buddha said that the physical body was nothing more than a stinking skin.

Since it was a stinking skin, what was there to care about?

Walk,

walk,

walk,

finally,

he reached the top of the slope.

Yunnan has many mountains, and Lijiang is surrounded by mountains. The reason why Lijiang rose up in the first place was also because of its geographical location, being the most famous transfer station in the southwest region.

The once-famous caravan teams gathered here and set off from here, traversing towering mountains and overcoming many difficulties and obstacles.

There were too many mountains, so naturally it was difficult to fully explore them. In fact, apart from a few areas that had been developed for tourism, most of the mountainous areas didn't even have roads, so there was naturally no talk of exploration and development.

Therefore,

this place was sparsely populated.

Bald Monk walked to a stubborn rock,

and sat down silently.

He looked at the stone,

and the stone seemed to be looking at him too.

He subconsciously put his palms together,

but then silently lowered them again.

"Sorry, wrong door."

This voice

resounded in his mind again.

It was the sound of faith shattering,

it was the moment when his worldview was subverted,

it was a scene that he didn't want to remember but would always repeat in his dreams and in his daze.

He believed in the Buddha,

and was sure that the Buddha was the essence of all truth in the world,

the Buddha was boundless, the Buddha was limitless, and the Buddha was also fearless.

It was like a beautiful dream that everyone was doing together, but he was directly awakened by a loud slap in the face.

There was a very cliché saying, but it was very effective.

How deep the love was in the beginning, how deep the hate was now.

"You said you had attained nirvana, you said you had achieved enlightenment, you said you were great!

But the three of you could have completely solved the Ghost Cave back then, but you deliberately kept it in existence.

You attained nirvana here, suppressing the Ghost Cave. I used to think it was great compassion, but now I think:

Bah,

so disgusting!

Clearly, you were thinking of relying on this to accumulate merit over the years,

to add chips to your next life's reincarnation and cultivation!

Sentient beings,

you said you were compassionate,

but you were only compassionate to yourselves, leaving all the sorrow to sentient beings!"

Bald Monk punched out,

slamming into the rock.

The rock didn't move,

but Bald Monk's hand was dripping with blood.

But when the rock was soaked in blood, it began to slowly peel off,

and a skeleton was revealed from the rock, calm and unmoving.

"Hehe!"

Bald Monk stood up,

stuck out his tongue, and licked the wound on his hand.

He glanced back,

as if sensing something,

"The people from the underworld, their reaction is so fast."

He looked up,

and looked at the sky again.

Bald Monk suddenly wanted to laugh.

The Buddha was illusory,

and now,

even this yang world

was beginning to have a tendency to become neither yin nor yang!

The agitation of the Ghost Cave was certainly due to the recent stimulation, but it was also due to the changes in the rules of this world.

The separation of yin and yang was about to come!

This wind

would blow down everything that existed now!

Taking a deep breath,

Bald Monk kicked the skeleton,

the skeleton shattered directly,

Bald Monk laughed ferociously:

"Since seeking the Buddha leads to no door,

better to enter the demonic path to find the end from the beginning!"