Above the source of Tao

"Where have you been, little brat?"

"Boy Yun, are you okay?"

Two voices broke Yun Chang'an's daze.

"Just now your breath suddenly disappeared. I called you for a long time but got no response. Where did you go just now?"

Hua Shichen breathed a sigh of relief when he sensed Yun Changan's presence.

"Yes, the contract I just made in your heart has also disappeared."

Yun Changan said, "I just met a Taoist priest who said he wanted to tell my fortune, but he just said a bunch of weird things and disappeared. Did you really not notice the Taoist priest?"

Both of them said that they didn't see anyone talking to you, you just stood there motionless. Yun Changan also felt it was strange, as if he had a dream in broad daylight.

"Yun boy, next time you encounter something like this, be more vigilant. Although I don't know who the Taoist priest you mentioned is, I just checked your body and found nothing abnormal. The Taoist priest seems to have some means of cutting off cause and effect, so that my perception of you is blocked. There are many strange people in this world. The person just now did not have any ill will towards you. If you meet someone with ill intentions who blocks your cause and effect, it will be troublesome."

Hua Shichen chattered beside him like an elder.

Yun Chang'an walked and listened to Hua Shichen's teachings in silence, but he had many questions in his mind, so after Hua Shichen finished speaking, he asked, "Sister Shichen, what is the cause and effect you are talking about? Why can that person cut off the cause and effect around me, so that you can't find me."

Before Hua Shichen could speak, Xiao Xuan spoke first, "It is recorded in Buddhism that cause and effect is the connection between cause and effect. The saying that you reap what you sow is the simplest explanation of cause and effect. No matter what you do, there will be a cause and a result. All causes and effects are already predetermined. If you forcibly break the cause and effect, you will only suffer backlash, and even the person who broke the cause will be forcibly infected with evil cause and effect until he is destroyed."

Xiao Xuan took a breath and continued, "In the ancient times, there was a family called the Shenji Family. They were born with the ability to conceal the secrets of heaven, so even if they helped others break the bad karma, they would not be tainted with too many karmas. At that time, many people spent a lot of time and money to kneel down in the territory of the Shenji Family and ask for a fortune-telling. However, they said at that time that only those who were predestined could get the fortune-telling. Therefore, many people returned home disappointed and did not get that fortune-telling."

He added, "Those Shenji family members usually change their appearance and wander around the mortal world, looking for people with whom they are destined to be with, and tell fortunes for them, in order to find their own 'destiny' from those people and prove the great way. I don't know what happened, but the Shenji family all disappeared overnight. Some people say that they leaked too many secrets of heaven, encountered natural disasters, and were wiped out by the way of heaven. Some people also say that they all hid in the mortal world to find 'destiny', but since that day, no one has seen them in the world of immortal cultivation. What happened to you just now may be that you met someone from the Shenji family, or maybe you didn't meet someone from the Shenji family, after all, they haven't appeared for a long time."

Yun Changan asked in confusion, "Xiao Xuan, how can you know so much? Have you ever calculated your fate?"

Xiao Xuan came out of the Chixiao Sword and rolled his eyes at him, as if he was looking at an idiot, and said, "Are you an idiot? I am just a sword spirit, how can I let him calculate my fate? Of course, it must be the person from the Shenji family that the master once met."

"He is still too young and doesn't understand these secrets. Why are you, a little broken sword spirit, insulting him?" Hua Shichen was a little unhappy when he heard this.

"I am happy to do so. You can say whatever you want to say to him and scold him if you want to. Why can't you tolerate it? Aren't you also a remnant soul, living in his body? I am at least a little stronger than you." Xiao Xuan also responded to Hua Shichen without hesitation.

"You are just a little broken sword soul. You only learned some Dao skills under the sword of that strong man. Do you really think you can compare with us? Don't forget that you and Yun kid signed the Yuanhun contract. You are just a slave now."

"You...are so hateful!" Xiao Xuan was caught in his weak spot. For a moment, he couldn't find the words to retort. He could only stare at Hua Shichen angrily.

Seeing Hua Shichen's smug expression of victory, he became even more angry and struck Yun Changan, who was grinning beside him, in the face with a sword.

"How dare you laugh at me?"

Yun Changan rubbed his red face and complained in a weak voice, "God damn it, what does this have to do with me? It's an unexpected disaster, an unexpected disaster!"

"How dare you? If you don't accept it, you can come to me. I will beat you to death and send you back to that dark and dim world."

"Why not? Come on, I am afraid of you, a broken soul that is about to be annihilated."

As they spoke, the two women stood beside Yun Chang'an with their swords drawn, as if they were ready to fight to the death.

Yun Changan wanted to dissuade them, but he remembered that he had been bullied by the two girls because he had spoken out to dissuade them before, so he had to give up. "Forget it, let them be. I don't want to offend these two ladies. Let them decide for themselves whether to live or die. This unprovoked disaster should be far away from me. Isn't it nice to be a spectator?"

But just as the two men were fighting, Yun Changan saw Chu Xiaoxiao in the distance, walking towards him with a woman, so he shouted to remind them, "Someone is coming, stop fighting."

The two of them paused in their movements, and when they saw Chu Xiaoxiao, they stopped.

"Hmph! Your broken soul is really lucky. I'll spare you this time, but next time I'll beat you so hard that you won't know which way is which." Xiao Xuan did not forget to talk back to Hua Shichen. After he finished speaking, he immediately returned to the Chixiao Sword without giving Hua Shichen a chance to speak.

Hua Shichen pointed at the Chixiao Sword behind Yun Changan and cursed with a smile, "You little broken sword spirit, you're lucky to run fast. I'm telling you the same thing. If you dare to disrespect your master next time, I will not forgive you."

Then he returned to the Siyang Gourd Lamp.

Soon, Chu Xiaoxiao brought the beautiful woman to Yun Changan. She looked at Yun Changan with a strange expression and asked him, "Junior brother, why is your face swollen? Did someone hit you?"

Yun Changan rubbed his swollen face speechlessly and explained, "No...no, I was just thinking about something and accidentally fell down, hitting my face on the stone on the ground."

Chu Xiaoxiao supported the beautiful woman beside her with one hand and said to Yun Changan with a smile, "Oh, why are you so careless? You should be more careful next time. By the way, let me introduce you, this is my mother Jiang Qinyi. Mother, this is my junior brother, named Yun Changan, who is also a disciple of our master, and my only junior brother."

Yun Changan waved his hand and said to Jiang Qinyi, "Hello, auntie. Senior Sister Chu often mentioned you to me. This time, I saw that you are much younger and more beautiful than Senior Sister Chu described. Especially your temperament, you can tell at a glance that you are a lady from a noble family, and you are gentle and graceful everywhere."

Chu Xiaoxiao frowned with a puzzled look on her face, thinking to herself, "When did this boy become so eloquent?"

Jiang Qinyi was also amused by Yun Changan's words and smiled, "Young Master Changan, you are joking. Xiao girl also mentioned you to me. She said that her junior brother, although young, is very smart and has some skills. Now that I see you, I think what the girl said is not right."

"Oh? How is it wrong?"

Jiang Qinyi continued with a hazy smile, "Today, I saw you just as I saw you. You are dressed in green and ready to ride a horse. You carry a sword and a lamp, accompanied by wine. You look around at the road ahead, and there are mountains, rivers and streams for you to climb."

"This..." Yun Chang'an was a little shy, and his swollen face was even more red. He straightened his clothes, bowed to Jiang Qinyi, and said in thanks, "Thank you for your kindness, aunt. This poem is so good. I am a commoner and it is hard for me to be so kind."

"Young Master Chang'an, there is no need to be so polite. I was just speaking out of my feelings at the time. Just listen to it for fun. It cannot be taken seriously."

Seeing this, Chu Xiaoxiao also said with a smile, "Little Junior Brother, don't be shy. My mother's poems are very famous in this Chuwang City. I wrote a poem for you today, which can be regarded as your blessing. Just be happy."

Then, he said to Yun Changan, "This time, my mother and I came to look for you. First, my mother wants to see you. Second, I want to go back to Hualing City with my mother to see the graves of my mother's old friends and father. There is a small town four hundred miles northwest of the Black Ebony Forest, away from the sect. You go there and wait for me for a few days. After I accompany my mother, I will go to look for you, and then we will go back to the sect together."

After saying this, several people left Chuwang City in different directions.