Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 121: Listening to Third Master's Reasoning

"Ha ha ha..."

Chen Huangpi laughed heartily. "First Master, Second Master — you can't fool me. I already brought you back with the Soul-Restoring Jade. There's no way Third Master could have come out. He must still be inside the Old Temple."

"Oh, that reminds me — I kind of miss Third Master. Let me go check on him in the Old Temple."

Before he'd even finished speaking, Chen Huangpi turned to leave.

But he'd barely taken a few steps before he felt the collar at the back of his neck go taut. His feet left the ground, and his entire body was hoisted into the air.

Then came a dizzying spin.

Followed by a large hand descending squarely on his backside.

Smack, smack, smack...

The cyan-robed old Daoist said furiously, "Huangpi, those two — the First and Second — really did spoil you rotten. You've even learned to play sly. You deserve a spanking!"

"Ow, ow, ow!"Chen Huangpi wailed. "Third Master, stop hitting me! I won't do it again!"

"You won't?"

The cyan-robed old Daoist sneered. "Is there anything under heaven you wouldn't dare to do? Just because the First and Second taught you a few tricks, you got hot-headed and dove straight into the Underworld Yellow Spring. And 'I, the sovereign' this and 'I, the sovereign' that — who exactly are you to call yourself sovereign?"

"I, the sover— Oww!"

The word had barely left his lips before another slap landed on his backside. Wincing, Chen Huangpi hissed through clenched teeth, "Fine, hit me! Hit me to death! When First Master and Second Master wake up, they'll get payback for me."

"The First and Second are gone."

"What?!!"

Chen Huangpi's small face went deathly pale, as though the sky and earth had crumbled around him.

First Master and Second Master were gone.

Only Third Master remained. Did that mean his master could never be cured — could never go back to being the master who had showered him with love?

"Gone is gone. What's there to be sad about?"

The cyan-robed old Daoist consoled him. "Those two had too many selfish motives. One wanted to refine you into a pill, the other wanted to eat you alive. Your master would never do such things. Now that your master is here, no one can bully you."

Chen Huangpi murmured, "So... my Heaven Toxin Pill really did kill First Master and Second Master."

"Not at all, not at all."

The cyan-robed old Daoist said smugly, "With the Heaven and Earth Mutation scrambling day and night, using your old methods to refine pills was never going to work. And even if you'd succeeded, it wouldn't have killed the First and Second."

"Then why were they knocked out by my medicine?"

"Silly disciple."

The cyan-robed old Daoist chuckled. "Every time you entered the Old Temple, your master would toss you into the pill furnace and burn away the things clinging to you with true fire. Those things have no form, no shadow, no substance — their existence or absence is one with the mind."

"On top of that, you refined the Heaven Toxin Pill, which gave your master the perfect opening to act. Naturally, the First and Second ceased to be."

Hearing this, tears welled in Chen Huangpi's sightless eyes. He said bitterly, "Third Master, you're lying. You're a big liar. First Master and Second Master are incredibly powerful — they wouldn't die just like that."

Third Master was formidable, sure — but he was still the youngest of the three.

If First Master and Second Master joined forces, how could they possibly lose to Third Master?

The cyan-robed old Daoist shifted uncomfortably. "The First and Second are most certainly dead. Your master killed them personally. How could that be false?"

But the moment those words left his mouth.

The cyan-robed old Daoist's expression suddenly twisted with intense fury.

His robe changed to purple.

"Huangpi! Huangpi!"

"First Master, is that you?"

Chen Huangpi recognized that familiar tone instantly and knew it was First Master speaking.

Sure enough, the very next second.

The purple-robed old Daoist set Chen Huangpi down on the ground with tender care, then declared angrily, "The Third actually dared to spank you! You're still growing — if he damages your body, you won't put on any more weight! He's terrible!"

Yes — this was First Master.

Only First Master would fuss over him like this.

Chen Huangpi said excitedly, "First Master, I knew you weren't dead!"

"Of course not."

The purple-robed old Daoist gave a cold snort. "Your master is the eldest! That petty Third, with his heretical tricks — your master doesn't fear him one bit. Once the Second gets out of the Old Temple, your master is going to give the Third a thorough thrashing!"

"Huh?"

Chen Huangpi said blankly, "Third Master came out... so Second Master is trapped in the Old Temple now?"

So Third Master's escape from the Old Temple didn't require just one method — resurrection wasn't the only path.

It was like prison: swap someone in to serve the sentence, and you walked free.

In other words, all three masters were still alive.

There was still a chance his master could return to how he used to be.

Chen Huangpi felt both joy and worry — joy that his master was safe, worry that Second Master was now sealed in the Old Temple, a cold, damp place without a scrap of food. Second Master had an enormous appetite. What would happen when he starved?

The purple-robed old Daoist hurried to say, "The Second's situation doesn't matter. Just remember this: your Second Master is bad, Third Master is the worst, and only your great First Master is the best. First Master would never hurt you. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

Chen Huangpi sighed helplessly.

First Master, Second Master, Third Master.

All three were his master.

He'd heard this sort of speech more times than he could count.

The purple-robed old Daoist let out a breath of relief — then suddenly caught sight of Chen Huangpi's vacant, empty eyes. His expression darkened at once. "Huangpi, what happened to your eyes? Who did this? Who?!"

"I stared at the sun for too long and went blind."

Chen Huangpi said in confusion, "First Master, you really didn't know about that?"

The moment Third Master had emerged, he'd mentioned the trip to the Underworld Yellow Spring.

Clearly, Third Master had been fully aware of everything Chen Huangpi had done. First Master and Third Master were both born from his master's madness — they were the same person. There was no reason one would know and the other wouldn't.

The purple-robed old Daoist replied in bewilderment, "The sun is your master's Yang God. I don't recall ever blinding you with it. Besides, your master could never bear to do that to you. And yet your eyes truly have been blinded."

"Then it must have been your master's doing."

"But why would your master do such a thing?"

The more the purple-robed old Daoist thought about it, the more his head ached, the more confused he became. Unable to stand it, he reached a hand into his own skull and began stirring around.

The more he stirred, the murkier his gaze grew.

The aura surrounding him became increasingly eerie.

After a long while.

The purple-robed old Daoist blurted out, "It must have been the Third!"

Chen Huangpi asked hesitantly, "First Master, if the sun is your Yang God, then why does your Yang God look like an eye — one covered in fleshy nubs?"

"An eye? With fleshy nubs?"

The purple-robed old Daoist tilted his head, popped one of his own eyeballs out, then widened the remaining one to examine it carefully before saying, "Your master's eye doesn't have fleshy nubs. Only the sun of the outer world grows those."

"Is the world outside the Hundred Thousand Mountains the outer world?"

"Of course it is."

The purple-robed old Daoist said earnestly, "The Hundred Thousand Mountains are blessed land — rich in talent and spiritual essence, the last untainted sanctuary. The outer world is corrupt soil. All those things out there want to come in and make themselves at home, but you haven't grown up yet. Your master won't let them in."

"That's right — no one is allowed in."

"They're wicked. Worse than the Third, even."

"They used to bully this poor Daoist's little Huangpi, turned him into... into this. This Daoist must protect Huangpi! Must protect Huangpi!!!"

The purple-robed old Daoist's speech grew more and more frantic, his expression more and more savage.

The aura radiating from him became overwhelmingly terrifying.

Gradually, the purple robe shifted to cyan once more.

The cyan-robed old Daoist spoke with murderous authority: "Huangpi is so pitiful, yet this entire world bears down on him at every turn. They deserve death — every last one of them!"

"Heaven deserves death! Earth deserves death!"

"Immortals, gods — all of them deserve death!"

"Even without those golden and black energies, this poor Daoist can still slaughter every last scheming wretch!"

"Third Master, your killing intent is terrifying."

Fear gripped Chen Huangpi's heart, and he couldn't help but take a step back.

The Third Master had been somewhat lucid a moment ago.

But this time, the instant he resurfaced, he'd become utterly unhinged — the word "kill" on his lips with every breath, no different from a demon lord.

Chen Huangpi was frightened and deeply unsettled.

"Those things all want to harm you — shouldn't they be killed?!"

"Third Master."

Chen Huangpi couldn't help but say, "There are good and bad people, just as there are good and bad evil spirits. Besides, the Daoist scriptures teach that heaven and earth make no distinction between good and evil, between public and private. If you kill them all, wouldn't that be slaughtering innocents?"

"Huangpi has grown up and learned a great many truths."

The cyan-robed old Daoist suddenly smiled faintly and beckoned. "Come here, Huangpi. Come to your master's side. Your master has something to tell you."

"Go ahead, Third Master."

Chen Huangpi stepped forward and leaned in to listen.

Then he heard Third Master say in a gentle, loving voice: "Although your master has been trapped inside the Old Temple all these years, within the Hundred Thousand Mountains, your every word, your every action, your every step — all of it has been before your master's eyes."

"Your master knows you're a good child."

"And your master also knows that if he truly slaughtered everything, it would tear you apart with guilt."

"Your master cannot ignore your feelings."

Chen Huangpi said, moved to his core, "Third Master, you're so good to me."

The cyan-robed old Daoist smiled warmly. "That's why, during all those years your master was imprisoned in the Old Temple, he spent his time pondering this very problem."

"And did you figure it out, Third Master?"

"Naturally."

The cyan-robed old Daoist stroked Chen Huangpi's head and said with a hint of pride, "As long as your master kills you, you won't agonize over it anymore. So — what do you think? Is your master's solution brilliant or what?"

"Absolutely brilliant."

Chen Huangpi blinked. "It's just that, Third Master — I've suddenly stopped agonizing."

The cyan-robed old Daoist laughed. "As expected of your master's Huangpi. Your master gave you only a few words of guidance, and you've already broken through to clarity — understood the principle of cultivation."

"Remember this: the Dao is a road for people to walk. As you walk your road, countless others will come to you with their reasoning, because they all believe their own road is the right one. If you accept their reasoning, then your Dao is no longer your own."

"When no one tries to reason with you anymore — that is when your Dao is walked true, walked right."

Chen Huangpi reflected for a moment, then said, "Third Master, my Dao will never go astray."

"You're that confident? What if you truly do stray?"

"Then I'll set the standard myself!"

Chen Huangpi's tone was utterly serious.

"Wonderful, wonderful!"

The cyan-robed old Daoist clapped his hands in delight and laughed — half mad, half lucid: "I reflect upon myself thrice daily — and every time, it's everyone else who's wrong."

"What a pity, though, that you won't live to see eighteen. Dao, Dao, Dao — emptiness, emptiness, emptiness — in the end, it all amounts to nothing."

In the corner of the great hall, a certain black lamp that had been trembling all this time suddenly couldn't hold back: "Guanzhu, you've gone senile. How can Chen Huangpi not live to eighteen? He's already lived over thirty thousand years."

Chen Huangpi corrected, "It's madness, not senility."

The cyan-robed old Daoist's smile froze.