At Wuliang Temple, it was already past eight in the evening. Wan Yunting, the new Abbot, had been assigned a new courtyard, the very house where Sima Boyong used to reside when he returned to the sect.
If Sima Boyong knew that Wan Yunting was now lying on his luxurious bed, he would likely be so enraged that he'd smash his teacups again.
"Yan Xi, is everything okay at home?"
Leaning against the headboard of the bed, Wan Yunting was using Kang Nuolan's phone to video call Fang Yan Xi. He saw the woman, dressed in a nightgown, sitting in the study chair at home, clearly still busy with work.
Wan Yunting's phone had been damaged by water after falling into the mountain valley and into the hot spring pool. He had only managed to retrieve his SIM card. However, the first thing he did upon returning to the temple was to use Kang Nuolan's phone to call Fang Yan Xi to let her know he was safe, so she wouldn't worry. He recalled with lingering embarrassment the time everyone had rushed to Wuliang Temple to find him, a situation he never wanted to repeat.
Fortunately, the recent events at Wuliang Temple had not attracted any outside attention!
It wasn't a lack of attention, but rather a well-known rule among the major sects: to maintain a low profile and not allow disciples to excessively publicize sect matters, especially concerning the inner sect of Daoist schools.
For instance, promoting disciples of the outer sect practicing martial arts was acceptable, as it could attract martial arts enthusiasts to pay fees and learn techniques. This could be heavily advertised.
However, the inner sect could not be publicized. For example, Zhou Ruoxi of the Emei sect was an inner disciple and absolutely could not be excessively promoted. This not only disrupted the disciples' quiet cultivation but also allowed the secular world's influences to affect their state of mind.
This was the reason why disciples like Xu Lingwei and Li Zihang were forbidden from excessive phone usage within the sect.
"Why aren't you coming back yet?"
Fang Yan Xi's breathtakingly beautiful face, even without makeup, was still captivating. She closed her laptop and looked at the man on the video call, her tone tinged with a hint of complaint. He had been gone for almost half a month, and he still wasn't back. Anyone's girlfriend would be upset.
"Soon, soon," Wan Yunting quickly sat up, reassuring her with a smile. "I'll be back in a couple of days after I've sorted out the temple's affairs."
Fang Yan Xi looked at him with a hint of confusion. "Aren't you just a disciple? What affairs do you need to arrange? Also, my dad asked yesterday when you were coming back. He's going to Shaoxing, Zhejiang at the end of this month."
Wan Yunting gave a wry smile. "You don't know, I'm the Abbot of Wuliang Temple now!"
"What?" Fang Yan Xi sounded like she hadn't heard him clearly. Wan Yunting raised his voice, "I said, I'm the Abbot of Wuliang Temple now."
Fang Yan Xi's beautiful eyes widened slightly. She looked at him, her brow furrowed. "How did you become a Daoist Abbot? Are you not coming back ever?"
"No, I'm just holding the title. I'll be back soon," Wan Yunting quickly explained.
Fang Yan Xi glared at him. "Couldn't you have refused?"
"Alas, if only I could refuse. But there's nothing I can do. My skills are too great, so they insisted I become the Abbot. I had no choice but to accept," Wan Yunting put on an innocent act of having gained something unfairly, which made Fang Yan Xi roll her eyes in annoyance. "Fine, I don't care about your affairs. As long as you come back."
Wan Yunting nodded. "I can only leave at the end of this month. I'll probably go directly to Shaoxing, Zhejiang, to participate in the Calligraphy Lanting Award, and then return to Huadu City with your dad. What do you think?"
"Whatever makes you happy. I don't care," Fang Yan Xi pretended to be indifferent. How could Wan Yunting not see that she was just having a little tantrum? He smiled and said, "Alright, when I get back, I'll spend quality time with you. We can go on a trip, okay?"
Fang Yan Xi glanced at him. "Really?"
"I swear." Wan Yunting adopted a serious demeanor. "When I get back, I'll take you traveling. Anywhere you want to go."
Seeing his sincere attitude, Fang Yan Xi grudgingly nodded. Then, she seemed to recall something. "You're going to the calligraphy competition, right? Is Gu Luotang also going?"
Hearing her mention Gu Luotang, Wan Yunting's heart skipped a beat, but he nodded with a natural smile. "Yes, she's also participating."
"Heh, I knew it," Fang Yan Xi sneered.
Wan Yunting's heart sank, and his expression became somewhat unnatural. He looked at Fang Yan Xi on the video call and tentatively asked, "Yan Xi, you don't think..."
"Don't think what?" Fang Yan Xi's eyes, sharp as knives, swept over Wan Yunting. Although they were thousands of kilometers apart, Wan Yunting could still feel her gaze piercing his heart like two daggers through the video. He couldn't help but twitch nervously, forcing a smile. "It's nothing. It's getting late. You should get some sleep. I need to return the phone to Nuolan. She needs to call her parents."
Seeing him make an excuse to change the subject, Fang Yan Xi glared at him fiercely and said, "I'll deal with you when you get back."
"No..." Before Wan Yunting could say anything, Fang Yan Xi directly ended the video call, leaving him stunned. He could only shake his head and sigh helplessly, his mood suddenly turning somber.
He thought of Zhou Ruoxi's departure that day, and Wan Yunting felt self-reproach and guilt, blaming himself for hurting her. Now, even if he wanted to mend things, Wan Yunting couldn't find a reason, because he had Fang Yan Xi, and Gu Luotang...
But now, Wan Yunting actually knew that Fang Yan Xi had certainly found out about his relationship with Gu Luotang, but she had chosen to endure it.
"Sigh, I am quite the scumbag..." Thinking back to how Jiang Tingxia had called him a scumbag when Zhou Ruoxi and the others left that day, Wan Yunting gave a bitter smile. He got out of bed, left the room, and went to the room on the west side where Kang Nuolan had moved in. He knocked on the door, and Kang Nuolan's voice came, "Come in."
Wan Yunting pushed the door open and entered. He found the girl sitting cross-legged on the bed, meditating with a proper posture. "The phone is on the table."
Kang Nuolan opened her eyes. Seeing Wan Yunting's somewhat dejected expression as he was about to turn and leave, she said, "Wait, can you teach me how to meditate?"
Wan Yunting stopped and turned back, looking at her eager eyes. He was already accustomed to her obsession with martial arts. He went over and patted Kang Nuolan's back. "Straighten your back, let your mind sink into your dantian, and don't think about anything else. Concentrate your consciousness on a single point, yes, any point in your body."
"As long as your spirit is focused, slow down your breathing, feel the flow of qi in every meridian of your body, and then slowly mobilize the qi in your dantian. Use the method I used to unblock your Ren and Du meridians to circulate the internal energy to all the meridians in your body, repeating the process. Do you understand?"
Kang Nuolan nodded as if she understood, but not quite. Wan Yunting didn't say anything more and turned to leave. But Kang Nuolan stopped him again and asked, "Are you okay?"
Wan Yunting paused, turned to look at the girl, smiled without saying anything, and left her room, closing the door behind him...
"Kid, you're still awake."
At that moment, Chang Wude came in through the main gate, carrying two bottles of Xifeng wine. Wan Yunting looked at his drunken state and knew he had gone drinking with Uncle Wuwei again. "Uncle Chang, I'm the Abbot now. Can you give me a respectful address?"
"Bah." Old Chang's eyes widened as he spat at him. "Even if you're the Abbot, I'm still your master."
"Tch, I don't even want to be the Abbot." Wan Yunting rolled his eyes. Seeing the wine in his hand, his depressed mood prompted him to snatch it over. He opened a bottle and gulped it down directly, glug, glug...
Chang Wude was stunned by this. He quickly reached out and grabbed the bottle. "Who drinks like that? Aren't you afraid of ruining your throat?"
"Cough, cough..." Wan Yunting was choked by the fiery Xifeng wine, his face turning red. He sat directly on the doorstep. Chang Wude noticed his unusual mood and asked, "Kid, you really don't want to be the Abbot?"
"No." Wan Yunting waved his hand. Chang Wude looked puzzled and asked, "Then why do you look like this?"
Wan Yunting gave him a sideways glance and took another sip of wine. "You wouldn't understand..."
"Hey, I've lived for most of my life, and there's nothing I don't understand!" Chang Wude also sat down and took out a packet of peanuts wrapped in oil paper from his pocket. He opened it and placed it on the snowy steps. Wan Yunting saw them and started eating. "Can you understand matters of romantic relationships, old man?"
"Tch." Old Chang's eyes gave him a dismissive, disdainful glance. "Kid, how many women have you even been with? I'm not bragging, but in my youth, I dated seventy to eighty women, if not a hundred."
...This statement left Wan Yunting stunned and frozen. He looked askance at Chang Wude and said, "You mean you paid for it?"
"Bah." Chang Wude almost spat in his face, angered. "I only dated respectable girls."
"I don't believe you." Wan Yunting shook his head. "Just look at how timid you are around Grandma Mu. Who would believe you?"
"Tsk, what do you know, kid." Old Chang's eyes gave him a look. "I met your Grandma Mu later. When I first came down the mountain, I was a top-tier handsome guy. I could have any female disciple from the major martial arts sects."
"Oh." Wan Yunting turned to look at his old, wrinkled face, which resembled a chrysanthemum, and sneered. "I really can't see where you were handsome, let alone having any female disciple from major sects. Then tell me, which sect's female disciples did you date?"
"Hey, you're quite something." Chang Wude glared at him. He started counting on his fingers. "I slept with Chunyun and Cuilan from the Kunlun sect. I also wooed Lingxiu from the Kongtong sect, and even the current Abbess of the Emei sect, I slept with her..."
"Wait..." Wan Yunting's eyes widened. He stared directly at Chang Wude and said urgently, "You slept with the Abbess of the Emei sect? You're kidding me. I heard that the abbesses of the Emei sect have never married or had relationships with men. How could she possibly have hooked up with you?"
"Tsk, what kind of talk is that?" Chang Wude glanced at him, took a sip of his small wine, and ate peanuts with a smug smile. "The Abbess of the Emei sect doesn't marry, but that doesn't mean she can't sleep around. It was just for fun, right? As long as I don't marry her, that's fine."
...Wan Yunting was speechless. If this old man was telling the truth, then he was truly an old scumbag.