Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

"Hey, sir, here you come!" The waiter ran over when he heard Wen Chong's voice. "Sir, Brother Wang will be back this evening."

"Tonight? Are you sure?" Wen Chong raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, his eyes fixed on the meek waiter beside him. "Alright, tell me when Wang Lin gets back, I'll go find him." Wen Chong looked at the waiter for a long time before turning to pour tea and speaking to him.

"Alright, sir, please enjoy your meal." The waiter nodded to Wen Chong with a smile, then turned and left to attend to other guests. After the waiter left, Wen Chong took a small sip of tea, frowned, and tilted his head to look at the bustling scene in the center of the inn. Although everything seemed very ordinary and harmonious, for some reason, Wen Chong had a strange feeling about this inn.

Having been at this inn for so many days, Wen Chong had seen many regular guests, which wasn't unusual in theory, given that Tianwu City was a very large city and an important transportation hub and trading center on the continent. It wasn't surprising for an inn to have regular customers. However, Wen Chong couldn't understand why some people who came to the inn wanting to stay would always turn around and leave after seeing the people sitting and talking inside, and the waiter never seemed to approach these unfamiliar customers. In all these days, Wen Chong had seen fewer than two people successfully check in. Even stranger, among those who left were quite a few people with profound cultivation.

Wen Chong gently tapped the rim of his teacup, then suddenly chuckled, downed the tea in one gulp, placed it on the table, and left the inn. Now, Wen Chong was only waiting for Wang Lin to return that evening so he could hand over the letter and leave this somewhat strange inn, returning to the Dark Forest to reunite with the old man.

"Father, what exactly is the background of that Tonglai Inn?" Thinking of this, Wen Chong couldn't help but feel puzzled. While the two were waiting for the people behind them to arrive, Wen Chong couldn't help but ask the old man beside him.

"You met Wang Lin and you know nothing about him?" The old man asked casually, his eyes fixed on the direction he had come from, without looking at Wen Chong beside him.

“Wang Lin…didn’t see me.” Wen Chong frowned upon hearing this and answered hesitantly. The old man was taken aback by Wen Chong’s answer and turned to look at him.

"You didn't see him?" The old man's voice suddenly carried a hint of reproach and reprimand.

“Yes, I didn’t see him.” Wen Chong felt the old man’s gaze, looked up at him, and nodded. “That night, Xiao Er came to me and said Wang Lin was back. He led me to Wang Lin’s door. Then Xiao Er knocked on the door, said he wanted Wang Lin, and left. Just as I was about to push the door open after watching him leave, a voice came from inside…”

"Stop. You don't need to come in." A deep, powerful voice came from inside the room, brooking no refusal. Wen Chong paused, startled.

"Are you Wang Lin?" Wen Chong asked.

"Only Wang Lin can enter this room. Tell me, am I Wang Lin?" The voice inside the room was somewhat disdainful, perhaps finding Wen Chong's question amusing.

"I've never seen you before, and I don't know anything about this Tonglai Inn. How can I be sure?" Wen Chong's voice was somewhat angry.

"Who sent you?" The voice inside paused for a moment before asking again.

“I come from the Wen family,” Wen Chong replied in a deep voice.

"Open the door a crack, throw the stuff in, and leave," the voice inside said.

"Can I call you Wang Lin?" Wen Chong hesitated for a moment. "Why can't I go in?"

"Leave your things or take them with you. Don't waste my breath." This time, the voice from inside was particularly firm, brooking no argument. Wen Chong frowned and pondered for a while, then gritted his teeth, took out the envelope from his pocket, pushed open the door a crack, threw it inside, and closed the door. After that, Wen Chong didn't speak again, bowed his head in politeness, and then turned and left Wang Lin's residence. Wen Chong's doubts remained, but he couldn't just barge in and ask him. Just as he was wondering what was going on, he ran into the waiter from before as he went downstairs. Wen Chong called out to him in a daze and went over to him.

"Hey! Wake up! Wake up!" A voice rang in Li Xiuchen's ears. Li Xiuchen saw a white light in front of him, and gradually he felt as if he were looking directly at the sun.

"Ah!" Li Xiuchen suddenly woke up, large beads of sweat sliding down his face. He shook his head, panting heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. After a long while, Li Xiuchen's breathing gradually calmed down.

"You're awake! Are you alright?" Li Xiuchen was startled and immediately assumed an attack stance, looking around. He was instantly bewildered. In his memory, he had already left the cave, so why was he still inside? Li Xiuchen's eyes widened as he looked around in terror.

"What's wrong, Xiu Chen? Xiu Chen, are you alright?" The voice rang out again. Li Xiu Chen looked around warily, but suddenly realized that the voice sounded very familiar. After thinking about it carefully, Li Xiu Chen lowered his guard and slowly sat down on the ground against the cave wall.

"Holy Buddha, you finally spoke! I was wondering what was wrong with you; I kept calling you but there was no response." Li Xiuchen smiled sincerely and rubbed his face as he replied.

"What? I didn't hear anything? That can't be right." Saint Buddha suddenly exclaimed upon hearing Li Xiuchen's words, "You were the one who called me and then suddenly fell into a deep sleep, okay? I called you for a long time, and you ignored me." Saint Buddha seemed a little aggrieved.

"No, in my memory, I suddenly lost my fighting spirit, and then you didn't answer when I called you. After a while, everything went black, and then... and then..." Li Xiuchen's expression became pained as he said this. He grabbed his hair and pounded his head hard, his expression contorted in pain. "What happened... why does my head suddenly hurt so much, and then... and then... what happened to me? What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?"

"Xiu Chen, Xiu Chen, Li Xiu Chen!" The Holy Buddha's voice suddenly sounded a little anxious. "Li Xiu Chen, stop thinking about him, stop thinking about him! For some reason, the magnetic field in this cave we're in is extremely strong. The more you think about something, the more painful it will be for you. Stop thinking about it! Stop it!"

The Holy Buddha's voice grew increasingly urgent, "Li Xiuchen, calm your mind, circulate your battle qi, and quickly stabilize yourself!" The Holy Buddha hurriedly reminded Li Xiuchen as he grew increasingly pained.

Li Xiuchen slowly loosened his grip on his hair, enduring the pain in his head to calm himself down. He slowly sat cross-legged and began to circulate his battle qi. After a while, the throbbing pain in Li Xiuchen's head gradually disappeared, and his complexion also improved somewhat.

"Are you feeling better?" Saint Buddha asked tentatively, seeing that Li Xiuchen's condition had improved.

"Hmm, much better," Li Xiuchen replied, taking a deep breath.

"What happened to you? How did you fall into a coma?" Saint Buddha asked Li Xiuchen in confusion. "What exactly happened to you?" Saint Buddha paused for a moment. "Skip that part and tell me the rest."

"I remember after I woke up, I came out of this cave, and then I saw Weiwei." Li Xiuchen paused for a moment, "Do you remember Weiwei? She was here a year ago..."

“I remember, I remember, you’re the granddaughter of the old man who took you in, I remember,” the Holy Buddha said confidently. “And then, what happened?”

"Then when I saw Weiwei, she was covered in blood and had injuries. She told me... she told me that she and her senior sister encountered a group of people. Without saying a word, the group attacked them. Later, the two of them were outnumbered and gradually couldn't fight back. Her senior sister told her to leave first and then come find me." Li Xiuchen paused as he spoke, tilting his head in confusion as he asked the Holy Buddha, "Wait a minute, I didn't tell you that I was once taken in by someone."

"I already told you, you forgot? You told me about your situation when I first found you. Otherwise, do you think I'm a god who knows things you haven't told me?" Saint Buddha explained helplessly. "Li Xiuchen, you didn't lose your brain while you were unconscious, did you?"

"Ah~ Oh, I forgot. Hahaha." Li Xiuchen was taken aback, scratched his head sheepishly, and laughed awkwardly. "Okay, then I'll continue."

"After that, Weiwei couldn't rest easy and went back to find her senior sister... Then after a while, she came back to me. Then she stabbed me with a knife and said that her senior sister..." As he spoke, Li Xiuchen's expression became increasingly solemn, his face filled with disbelief. "Impossible, Weiwei isn't that kind of person, it can't be, something must have gone wrong, no, no, Weiwei isn't that kind of person." Li Xiuchen suddenly panicked, speaking incoherently.

"Li Xiuchen, Li Xiuchen, what's wrong with you, hey!" Saint Buddha's voice rang out again. "What happened? What happened! Li Xiuchen! Calm down!"

"You just said there's a magnetic field in this cave?" Suddenly, Li Xiuchen calmed down and asked the Holy Buddha expressionlessly, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Magnetic field? What magnetic field? How can there be a magnetic field in this cave? What nonsense are you spouting, Li Xiuchen?" Saint Buddha asked curiously, as Li Xiuchen's emotions kept changing.

"Ah~ that's good. I knew it. How could you possibly tell me there's a magnetic field in this cave?" Li Xiuchen relaxed and replied with a smile, his tone conveying a sense of relief, as if he had finally figured out the reason.

"But you said I was taken in by Weiwei's grandfather, right?" Li Xiuchen then asked another question.

"Yes, is there a problem?" the Holy Buddha replied without hesitation.

"So here's the question: who exactly are you?" Li Xiuchen's expression turned serious again. "I never told you I was taken in. Where is the Holy Buddha? And where is this place?"

Chapter 1204 Letter

"Nonsense!" A dignified voice echoed from a main hall crafted from rosewood. The speaker was an elderly man with a white beard, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. Before him, a group of people knelt respectfully, many of whom were also elderly men with white beards.

"Explain yourself! Why! Wen Chong was taken away by that beast!" In his rage, the old man slammed a letter he was clutching in his hand down in front of the large group of people.

"Reporting to the patriarch, we...we only just found out that Wen Chong and he went to the Dark Forest," an elderly man kneeling on the ground at the head of the group replied, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

"So you're telling me that all of you, the core members of my Wen family, are a bunch of useless trash! You can't even find out where someone is!" The old man pointed at the group of people in front of him and cursed, "Look at yourselves! What does this letter say! Huh!"

With a wave of his hand, the letter he had tossed to the ground flew back into his hand. He straightened the crumpled paper, which he had rubbed raw. "Come on, let me read the contents of the letter to everyone." As he spoke, the old man smiled at the group of people in front of him, but his eyes were full of sharpness.

"I don't know whether to call you head of the family or father. In any case, by the time you receive this letter, Wen Chong will no longer be returning to the Wen family. After all these years, Father, you haven't changed; you're still as cold and heartless as ever. Do you still remember that person you drove out of my Wen family? You claimed he was going away to gain some experience, but as soon as he left, you turned around and announced to the world that he had betrayed my Wen family. Father, I don't know who is truly loyal in your heart. Let me tell you, the Wen family won't prosper for much longer. I might return to the Wen family at any time to meet you, my nominal father."

After roughly reading the letter, the old man's expression turned serious again. He put down the letter and coldly looked at the crowd before him.

"Raise your heads, all of you," the old man coldly ordered, his voice turning icy. "Tell me, how do you plan to resolve this?"

The kneeling crowd looked at each other, wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads, swallowed hard, and dared not raise their voices.

"Wenlin, speak." After a long while, seeing that no one spoke, the old man fixed his gaze on a person kneeling in the third row. Wenlin was stunned and looked at the patriarch in front of him, who was in a fit of rage, and stammered as he spoke.

"Patriarch...Patriarch, I think...uh...I think..." As he spoke, Wen Lin's gaze suddenly drifted to a young man standing next to the patriarch. Although it was only for a fleeting moment, the young man actually nodded with a barely perceptible movement. Wen Lin slightly rolled his eyes, gritted his teeth, and said...

“Patriarch, since Wen Chong has been taken away by him, why don’t we turn the tables and take this opportunity to eliminate all his cronies in the Wen family, and then create the illusion that he was attacked? I think that no matter how capable he is, he can’t possibly stand up to the people of the world.” After saying this, Wen Lin stared at the old patriarch in front of him and involuntarily swallowed.

The old man stared straight at Wenlin for a long time before finally saying, "Wenlin, are you trying to make me unable to clear my name of what's in this letter?"

"No, no, no, I wouldn't dare." Upon hearing the old man's words, Wen Lin quickly bent down, lowering his head and not daring to look directly at the old man in front of him. Large beads of sweat instantly covered Wen Lin's forehead.

“Patriarch, I think Uncle’s method is feasible.” At this moment, the person standing next to the old man spoke up, “However, instead of eliminating all of Uncle Wenlin’s cronies in the Wen family as he suggested, we should pretend we don’t know anything and let them go. That way, the matter that could give others cause for criticism won’t be associated with our Wen family. Patriarch… what do you think?”

After hearing the person beside him speak, the old man quietly turned around and looked at him. Only after he finished speaking did he say, "Don't you want your third uncle to bring Wen Chong back? I know there are frictions between the two of you, but to be honest," the old man paused, "you and Wen Chong are still the best of the Wen family, the hope for the future of the Wen family, and brothers, have you forgotten that?"

"Reporting to the patriarch, they are blood cousins. The minor friction between Wen Chong and me is ultimately not something that can be openly discussed. The reason I agreed with my uncle's statement was to let the world know, and to let Wen Chong know, what kind of person is the one beside him, and what he would do for his goals. I think that's the most important thing." The young man beside the old man met the old man's sharp gaze and spoke his thoughts with composure. "Patriarch, I want to say... you've become confused in your anger; this is not good."

The old man stared at the young man for a long time without saying anything more. He then turned to look at the kneeling crowd in front of him and asked, "Did you all hear that?"

Everyone was taken aback, then bent down and answered that they had heard.

"Since you've all heard him, then do as he says. If I find any of you harboring disloyalty..." The old man suddenly stopped speaking, coldly surveyed the room, let out a heavy snort, and turned to leave the main hall. Before leaving, he tossed the letter in his hand to the young man standing beside him. The young man caught the letter and tucked it into his lower back, bowing respectfully to the old man, "Respectfully seeing off the patriarch."

"Respectfully seeing off the patriarch." Upon hearing the young man's words, the kneeling crowd also said in unison.

"Alright, elders, please rise." Once the old man had disappeared, the young man quickly addressed the still-kneeling crowd, his tone now more respectful. As he spoke, the young man waved his hand, and all the sounds of birdsong and the fragrance of flowers outside rushed in—it was a protective barrier. "Guards! Take seats! Serve tea!" the young man then ordered, pointing outside. Instantly, countless servants poured into the room to serve the newly seated people.

"Wenlong, you've got a knack for this," a middle-aged man said to the young man.

"Who exactly are you? I never told you I was taken in. Where is the Holy Buddha? And where is this place?" Li Xiuchen's expression became extremely solemn.

"Ha...haha...hahaha...hahahaha." After a brief silence, a piercing laugh suddenly rang out in the narrow cave. "Holy Buddha, I am not the Holy Buddha, if I am not the Holy Buddha then who am I!" The Holy Buddha's voice suddenly became agitated, his tone became very strange, and his emotions became particularly agitated.

"I am not a saint or Buddha, then tell me, who am I, hmm? Who am I!"

"Answer me, where is the Holy Buddha? Where did the Holy Buddha go!" Li Xiuchen's eyes turned extremely cold.

"I am the Holy Buddha! I tell you! In this world, there is only one Holy Buddha! Where is my Li Xiuchen? Where is my Li Xiuchen? Tell me where my master is!" The Holy Buddha's voice gradually became out of control and extremely harsh.

"Calm down. I am Li Xiuchen. Who are you? Calm down and think about who you really are." Li Xiuchen frowned. He realized that things were going in a bad direction, so he took the initiative to make peace and tried to slowly guide the saint's emotions.

"Li Xiuchen, Master, Master? Li Xiuchen, Li Xiuchen. It's me, I'm your Holy Buddha." For some reason, the Holy Buddha's tone began to have a hint of pleading.

"Holy Buddha System, ding~ Master, I am at your service. I am the most powerful system in the world, Master, I will lead you to success." For some reason, Li Xiuchen suddenly felt that the Holy Buddha he was talking to seemed a bit crazy. Li Xiuchen didn't know what to say or what to do next, so he quietly listened to the Holy Buddha talking to himself.

"Father, those two are very close to us. Are we about to clash?" Wen Chong glanced at the still empty area and asked the old man beside him. "If we keep waiting like this, we might not be able to get back to the Wen family before he does."

"We're not going back." The old man didn't look at Wen Chong beside him, and answered calmly after a moment of silence. Wen Chong didn't react for a moment upon hearing this, and stood there stunned. When he came to his senses, he was suddenly shocked.

"Aren't we going back?" Wen Chong was a little surprised. "But isn't the reason we're rushing so much to get back to the Wen family and tell the family head that the Mountain Man has reappeared?" Wen Chong couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

“We have already severed ties with the Wen family,” the old man finally turned his gaze to Wen Chong. “In other words, you and I, father and son, have betrayed the Wen family. Going back now will only lead to our deaths.”

When Wen Chong heard the old man say that he had betrayed the Wen family, his eyes widened, and he stared at the old man beside him in disbelief for a long time.

"Do you still remember that incident ten years ago?" The old man sighed and turned his head away from Wen Chong. After a moment of contemplation, he continued, "It was that incident that almost caused the collapse of my Wen family."

Wen Chong nodded hesitantly. He still remembered the upheaval that occurred ten years ago. The impact of that upheaval was so great and far-reaching that it shocked the entire martial arts world. The Wen family, which had stood strong for a century and possessed a deep foundation, was almost brought to ruin by it. However, thanks to the efforts of the current patriarch and many elders of the Wen family, the family survived and grew stronger again over the next ten years. Nevertheless, the Wen family had suffered greatly compared to ten years ago. The key figure who caused that upheaval was Shanren, whom the Wen family had identified as a traitor. But Wen Chong still didn't understand what the connection was between that upheaval and himself, and his father's betrayal of the Wen family.

Wen Chong was about to ask his father, who suddenly seemed to have aged ten years, why, but before he could even ask, Wen Chong's nerves jolted, and before he could think any further, his eyes sharpened.

"Father, they're here."

Time ticked by, and finally, the Holy Buddha stopped his mutterings, plunging the cave into endless silence. Li Xiuchen took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Holy Buddha, I... I'll call you Holy Buddha for now. Do you know where this is? Can you tell me what happened to me during... during my supposed unconsciousness?" Li Xiuchen didn't care who the Holy Buddha was now; he desperately wanted to know what he had experienced during that time, and why his memory seemed like a black hole, ruthlessly sucking away everything that was once clear in his mind. Moreover, he began to vaguely sense that what he had just told the Holy Buddha about Weiwei was gradually becoming blurred, and many things were beginning to fall apart.

"I don't know, I don't know anything, but I do know that I am not the Holy Buddha. You're right, I'm not, I'm not the Holy Buddha you imagine. I don't even know where this is, it's not the best in the world, I'm not..." Hearing Li Xiuchen's question, the Holy Buddha was silent for a while, answering listlessly, but it sounded very much like he was talking to himself. His voice was so low that Li Xiuchen couldn't help but wonder if he was even speaking.

“But I know that the reason I am here, the reason I can stay here with you, is for only one purpose: do you believe in reincarnation?” The Holy Buddha paused for a long time before suddenly saying this to Li Xiuchen.

"Reincarnation?" Li Xiuchen was clearly stunned when he heard this word, unsure how to respond. "I...reincarnation, I...I don't believe in reincarnation." In the end, Li Xiuchen still expressed his thoughts, but for some reason, he felt very unsure of himself when he said these words.