Stone Statues and Chicken Soup

That year, Ning Que and Sang Sang were besieged by the cultivation world. Through the Buddha's chessboard, they arrived in the Western Wilderness. Lanke Temple, in the autumn rain, bore the Academy's wrath. Jun Mo's iron sword tore through the air, cleaving the world's largest Buddha statue on top of Wa Mountain into countless fragments. These fragments rolled down the mountain, filling the valley, crushing half of the ancient temple.

Fortunately, those colossal stones did not cause a catastrophic disaster for the small town. Over the years, under the erosion of sea rain and mountain winds, they gradually became covered in green moss, instead forming a rare scenic view. In the context of the Yu Lan Festival being suspended and Lanke Temple's incense dwindling, this became the only way to attract tourists.

The town's residents now primarily earned their income from the stones that the Buddha statue had transformed into. People broke the large stones into countless small pieces, then carved them into Buddha statues to sell to famous visitors. Of course, breaking large stones was a very arduous task. Neither heavy iron hammers nor the sharpest iron blades could easily help the residents achieve their goal. The most common method was still to burn them with fire and then douse them with cold water.

The fire was made from dry grass burned in the fields outside the town; the water was seawater taken from the Wa Mountain side. At the quarry in the southeastern part of the town, from morning till night, acrid smoke rose, and hot steam billowed. The stones, burned red-hot, suddenly met cold seawater, emitting sizzling sounds. After several repetitions, eventually, at some point, distinct cracks would appear on the hard stones, and that was the key to breaking them.

Ning Que stood on the hillside beside the quarry, silently observing the residents' stone-breaking process for a long time. Watching the alternation between fire and water, watching the cracks appear on the moss-covered stones, he realized that the vast majority of cracks, when they appeared, followed a certain pattern: two diagonal cracks converging at one point.

The two converging cracks greatly resembled the character "Ren" (人, meaning 'person'). He naturally recalled many years ago, deep within Tian Qi Mountain's peak, seeing the sword marks on the stones at the bottom of Da Ming Lake. Junior Martial Uncle had, that year, used his sword to write countless characters outside the Demonic Sect's mountain gate, thereby rendering the Kuai Lei Grand Array, left by the Demonic Sect's pioneering Grand Divine Official of Guangming, useless.

The large stones were broken into smaller pieces, then hammered by adults. Children then rushed over, picking up various sizes of stones they could carry, carefully selecting them. According to size and grain, they were meticulously sorted, and only then delivered to the stone carvers.

Of course, most of the stone carvers in the town were amateurs, just like Ning Que, who only began to study Buddhist scriptures halfway through his cultivation. However, with continuous carving day and night, everyone's craftsmanship had become extremely skilled. A square stone block about a foot in size would be transformed into an exquisitely carved Buddha statue in just over ten days and nights.

Ning Que watched the stone breaking, then watched the stone carvers carve Buddhas. After three days, he began to learn carving from those artisans. It didn't take long for him to become the best carver on Wa Mountain. In the final years of the Buddha's chessboard, he had reshaped an entire mountain into the form of a Buddha; what difficulty could these stone blocks pose to him?

It was just that the Buddha statues he carved were very different from those carved by the town's artisans. Besides praising his comprehension and skill, the carvers repeatedly offered suggestions, but he only smiled without explaining. The Buddha statues under Ning Que's hands did not have broad foreheads or long ears, let alone compassionate expressions, but rather a slightly plump young woman with a high bun. It was clear that the young woman's expression was extremely cold.

One day, a light rain fell on Lanke Temple. Ning Que, holding a stone outside the temple, continued to carve. Suddenly, a somewhat casual voice came from behind him: "Did she successfully lose weight?"

"She lost a little in Chaoyang City in the chessboard." Ning Que placed the statue next to a dozen others, put down his carving knife, dusted himself off, and stood up.

The other person said, "Only that much in a thousand years? It seems Hao Tian is not omnipotent either."

Ning Que smiled, turned and hugged him, saying, "Didn't you used to like her very much? Why are you speaking so harshly now? It doesn't suit your current noble status as the New Sect Master."

Chen Pi Pi pouted, a little displeased, and said, "Then do you like her noble, or as before?"

Ning Que thought for a moment, realizing the answer was indeed obvious, and smiled helplessly. He looked at Tang Xiao Tang standing beside him, saw she still had her ponytail braid, and said with some surprise, "Still not married?"

Tang Xiao Tang was not shy at all, saying, "Waiting for my elder brother to arrive."

Chen Pi Pi sighed, saying, "I, however, don't hope to wait for my father's approval anymore."

Ning Que looked at him again, at the slightly loose green robe on his body, recalling the Abbey Dean in a green robe he had met twice in Chang'an City, realizing that after losing weight, he indeed resembled the Abbey Dean greatly.

The three walked to a nearby pavilion. The autumn rain pattered down on the pavilion roof, accumulating for a long time before turning into tiny streams flowing down the pillars, wetting the ground beneath the pavilion.

Chen Pi Pi said, "Finished writing?"

Ning Que took out a scroll from his chest and handed it over, saying, "If Ye Su or Eldest Senior Brother had written it, it might be more suitable. You know I am, after all, an unbeliever."

These were the words he had written during his seclusion observing stones at Lanke Temple. If approved, it could become the final and most important volume of the New Sect's doctrine.

Chen Pi Pi took the scroll and said, "Eldest Senior Brother doing it would naturally have a higher chance of success; I will have a slightly harder time. But rest assured, your efforts will not be wasted in my hands."

Ning Que said, "Time is indeed running out; we must hurry."

Chen Pi Pi opened the scroll, looking at the discussions about a new world, about the Divine Kingdom or the afterlife, and his eyebrows gradually furrowed, saying, "What a magnificent picture."

Ning Que said, "From Master to Junior Martial Uncle, and then to our generation, the Academy has spent a full thousand years preparing. If a magnificent picture still doesn't emerge, wouldn't that be too boring?"

Chen Pi Pi carefully put away the scroll, looking at the weariness and haggardness that could not be concealed between Ning Que's eyebrows, thinking of what he had done in the past half year. He took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve and handed it over, saying, "Drink it when needed."

Smelling the faint medicinal scent emanating from the porcelain bottle, Ning Que's expression was slightly unusual, because he had once taken this kind of medicine and knew very well its preciousness. He said, "At our current Cultivation Base, a Tong Tian Pill can only provide us with a possible opportunity; it's truly unnecessary to waste it."

"This pill was originally reserved for Senior Brother Ye Su, to help him break through the Five Realms." Chen Pi Pi was silent for a moment, then said, "It's just that I didn't expect him to be unable to cultivate anymore, and now he's dead. What good is keeping it? Even if it can't help you break through, it can at least help you repair the hidden dangers in your body. Killing people across a thousand miles sounds heroic, but it's extremely arduous in reality. These days you've been at Lanke Temple, seemingly recuperating, but in fact, you're still expending your spirit. Both the Academy and the New Sect need you to always stand firm."

Ning Que thought for a moment, said nothing more, and directly put the porcelain bottle into his sleeve.

Tang Xiao Tang said, "If Junior Martial Uncle feels this gift is too heavy, and you cannot repay it, then reciprocate."

Ning Que smiled and said, "You haven't married him yet, and you're already managing his household? Speak, what do you want?"

Tang Xiao Tang pointed to the row of stone statues outside the pavilion, wet with rain, and said, "Give me one."

Ning Que was a little surprised. He stepped out of the pavilion, picked up his favorite statue, and handed it to her, saying, "You've seen the real person; why bother looking at this cold statue?"

Tang Xiao Tang took the stone statue, wiped away the rainwater with her sleeve, and carefully put it into her luggage, saying, "If you could bring her back, why would you carve these cold statues?"

Ning Que was a little awkward, saying, "I'm mainly learning how to break stones."

Tang Xiao Tang patted her chest and said, "If you want to learn, I can teach you."

Many years ago on the streets of Chang'an City, there was a big-chested little girl breaking stones. Many years later, she was still as spirited as ever. Ning Que recalled that image from back then, feeling a little emotional. As a Junior Martial Uncle, it was inappropriate for him to look where her hand landed.

Chen Pi Pi, however, had no such reservations, muttering a sigh, "It wasn't big to begin with..."

Outside Lanke Temple, thousands of New Sect followers were waiting for Chen Pi Pi and Tang Xiao Tang. They would set off for the Song Kingdom. Like Ning Que killing people across a thousand miles, they were spreading the Dao across a thousand miles. The scripture had been entrusted, so Ning Que did not delay their time any longer and saw them out of the temple.

After Chen Pi Pi and Tang Xiao Tang left, he continued carving Buddha statues, or rather, Sang Sang's statues. He had made hundreds of Sang Sang statues, lined up before the hall. These statues either bowed in contemplation, or looked up at the sky, or clasped their hands observing the human world, with only one thing in common: emotionless faces.

Autumn rain occasionally fell, and Sang Sang's statues occasionally got wet. He squinted, stared, put his hands on his hips, crossed his arms, enjoying the changes of the stone statues in the autumn rain.

The world's situation also continued to change with the passage of time. War raged everywhere, murderous intent filled the air. The war between the Tang Kingdom and the Daoist Sect had its victories and defeats. The Xiling Divine Temple's strategy had achieved certain effects. The key still lay in the fact that the Tang Kingdom, or rather the Academy, had always been unable to find a way to pass through that small town.

In reality, Ning Que didn't pay too much attention to that town. Not many people could guess his thoughts; Long Qing was one of them. He stood in the desolate autumn wind on Cheng Jing City's wall in Yan, quietly waiting for Ning Que to arrive. Many people always believed that the battle between Ning Que and Long Qing was inevitable and should have happened at any moment. However, what surprised people was that Ning Que never arrived, and the battle never occurred.

Ning Que, at Lanke Temple in the autumn rain, looked at Sang Sang. What was Sang Sang looking at now? The night in the far northern frigid region was so long and cold. The hot sea had long been covered by thick snow. The faint lamplight in the goat-skin tents of the Wilderness people's tribe seemed about to freeze and shatter.

Sang Sang sat by the lamp, looking at her fingertips. On her fingertip was a bubble. The bubble's surface was smooth and shiny, reflecting the lamplight, appearing extremely shimmering and transparent, with an absolutely perfect shape. The Azure Lion lay prostrate at her feet, looking at the bubble, its eyes filled with curiosity but instinctively feeling immense fear. It always felt that if it swung its paw and popped this bubble, the world would be destroyed.

Ning Que, at Lanke Temple, looked at the two cracks on the stone surface. Two tiny cracks also seemed to appear on the surface of the bubble between Sang Sang's fingers; its rupture was only in the next moment. Like the hundreds of statues in Lanke Temple, her face still had no expression. But that did not represent coldness, but rather a greater sense of calm.

She gently stroked her bulging belly. From the corner of the goat-skin tent, the delicious aroma of soup emanated. In the morning, the Azure Lion had hunted a snow chicken. She was cooking chicken soup.