Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 357 - 311: Fasting Hall

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

The sudden knocking interrupted their thoughts. Everyone inside exchanged puzzled looks. Li Ang furrowed his brows, stepped forward, and peered quickly through the crack of the door.

Outside stood a young monk with a shaved head and an ordinary appearance, showing no fluctuations in Spiritual Energy.

Li Ang frowned slightly and pulled open the door. The monk outside bowed respectfully, speaking calmly, "Cultivators, dinner is about to start. Please make your way to the Great Vegetarian Hall."

The Great Vegetarian Hall, for dinner?

Li Ang took a breath and smiled, "Alright, we’ll head over shortly."

The young monk took his leave. Without turning around, Li Ang already knew what the others were wondering about. He pulled the door wider to give them a clearer view of the scene outside.

Outside, the sunshine was brilliant and the sky cloudless. Towering Zen buildings in the style of the Former Sui stood undamaged. In the middle of the courtyards connecting the buildings was a crossroads paved with black and white pebbles, surrounded by plots filled with various flowers.

TAP, TAP, TAP.

Many people emerged from rooms on both the east and west sides, moving along the corridor toward the north.

They included ordinary citizens in brown clothes, dignitaries in luxurious silks, and some whose bodies faintly emitted Spiritual Energy fluctuations—clearly Cultivators.

"This place is..."

Xia Jun took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly.

"Exactly. The Jialan Sect."

Li Ang squinted and spoke softly.

The architectural style and terrain of the building complex before them were identical to the ruins of the Jialan Sect.

Swallowed by the Demon Buddha, have I traveled through time again? Or is all of this an illusion?

SNAP.

Sui Yi pinched the flesh on his arm forcefully. Feeling the pain, he murmured, confirming he was not in an illusion, "Have we returned to when the Jialan Sect was still around? Have we gone back three hundred years?"

"This can’t be happening!" Xia Jun clenched his fists, his voice coming through gritted teeth. "This must be an illusion! I’m fed up with the tricks of the Academic Palace. Can I drop out of the competition?"

He tried to tear off the Alarm Talisman on the back of his hand, but just as he extended it, Que Teqin stopped him.

"Don’t act rashly. I think the situation was already out of control when those three Buddha statues suddenly came to life. This likely isn’t a setup by the Academic Palace."

Ashina Que Teqin gestured with his chin towards the sky. "Take a closer look."

Following Que Teqin’s gaze, Xia Jun looked up. He saw a faint, shimmering light high in the sky, like ripples on a lake. It covered the entire mountain area like an enormous, inverted bowl.

Undoubtedly, this was some sort of city-level Prohibition.

"Even if the Academic Palace were to get creative, they wouldn’t pull off something this elaborate," Que Teqin spoke softly. "Let’s figure out the current situation first."

DONG, DONG, DONG—

The temple echoed with thundering bell sounds.

Pilgrims in various attire continuously emerged from the wing rooms on both the east and west sides, talking and laughing as they headed north.

Li Ang and his companions gathered their weapons, suppressed their astonishment, and blended into the crowd.

These are all living people with flesh and blood. Notably, their accents and attire are distinctly different from those of Yu Country people.

Li Ang scrutinized the attire of the people around him. He noted the men, in particular, wore soft foot headscarves—headscarves without any rigid supports in the main body or the feet. In contrast, the current fashion in Yu Country involved fixing materials like cloth onto headbands and using metal or bamboo fibers as frameworks to form stiff, extended feet in their headscarves. Even for the soft foot headscarves, their feet were somewhat longer.

It was indeed the clothing style of the Former Sui people.

Xiao Da and the others recognized this as well, their expressions turning even uglier, especially after overhearing the conversations of the people nearby.

"Sigh, I wonder what’s happened with the rebellion in Jiangdu. Those traitorous officials! The moment His Majesty ascended to heaven, they couldn’t contain their ambition."

"It will get better. There are still so many Imperial Palace Tributors, and so many loyal Inspectors in the various provinces and counties of Sui Country..."

"What’s the use? Even if there are many Imperial Palace Tributors, can they truly suppress the numerous Cultivation Sects? Can they suppress all the noble families with ulterior motives?"

"Shush, keep your voice down! Everyone has come to the Jialan Sect seeking refuge; let’s not discuss matters of state. Better to look at the distant Mountain of Mind and Heart instead."

Jiangdu’s upheaval, the Emperor’s ascension to heaven, the Jialan Sect...

These keywords reached their ears and stirred a tempest in the hearts of Jiu Fenghai and the others.

Have we truly returned to the Late Sui period, three hundred years ago? Our teachers, relatives, friends in Yu Country... will we never see them again?

"Stay calm." As they passed through the corridor and the crowd thinned, Li Ang deliberately slowed his pace, addressing the shocked and bewildered Sui Yi and others, "Every effect has its cause. As long as we’re not dead, there’s hope. If we figure out why we’re here, we can find a way back. For now, control your expressions; we cannot reveal our identities."

Jiu Fenghai opened his mouth. Looking at the overly calm Li Ang, he couldn’t help asking, "Aren’t you... Aren’t you nervous? Aren’t you worried about not being able to return?"

"I want to return more than any of you, but worrying doesn’t help our current situation," Li Ang said. Isn’t it just time-traveling? It’s not the first time I’ve experienced it. "Alright, we’re almost at the Great Vegetarian Hall. Go there, speak less, listen more, gather information, and don’t scatter."

He walked briskly ahead, lightly flicking his fingers.

He was more certain than the others that they were now in a different time and space.

The Ink Silk beneath my skin still exists. I also have the Bitter Realm Lotus, Spirit Summoning Paper, Water Spirit Bead Powder, and even the unknown iron box I obtained from the shattered cleaning bottle. However, I cannot sense my Ink Silk Clone at all.

To avoid accidents, I had let the Ink Silk Clone go into hiding two hundred miles away beneath the Mountain of Mind and Heart beforehand. Before this, neither the Prohibitions of the Yu Country Imperial Palace, nor those of the Academic Palace, nor even those of Dongjun Tower, had severed my connection with the Ink Silk Clone. Now... the situation is indeed different.

Zen Buddhism advocates that all beings are equal. Therefore, monks in the temple, regardless of their rank or years of Cultivation, must all dine together.

This dining area was called the Great Vegetarian Hall.

It was a space even more expansive than the Grand Hall. Rows of long tables and benches were neatly arranged. Some monks carried wooden food boxes, bringing the vegetarian meals.

Due to the Jialan Sect’s great wealth, the quality of these vegetarian meals had not diminished despite the large number of diners. Aside from the absence of the Five Meat (pungent ingredients like garlic and onions, which Zen Buddhism prohibits due to their strong, stimulating flavors), the taste was almost the same as the food in the Academic Palace cafeteria.

While Li Ang and the others focused on their meals, they kept their eyes and ears open, gathering intelligence.