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Ch85 - Testing, Testing




Su Hansheng’s mind was flooded with feral thoughts. It took him a long while to compose himself.
Chongjue had already left to attend his “important matters.”
Su Hansheng lay at the table intending to do his assignments, but after writing just two characters, he recalled Chongjue’s appearance. The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. He slashed his brush dipped in ink across the paper viciously, leaving an obvious smudge.
“Hmph,” Su Hansheng crumpled the paper and tossed it aside, thinking coldly: “Dressed up like a flower—it better be legitimate business.”
He’d completed most of his assignments yesterday. Coming early today was purely to spend more time in the Buddhist hall. Unwilling to write, feeling bored, he glanced at the Buddhist scripture on the table and casually picked it up to flip through.
After reading a few pages, Su Hansheng felt his head pound. He lay down on the ground and held the scripture above him, staring at it blankly. For some inexplicable reason, he murmured: “How did he become my uncle anyway?”
The age difference was one thing, but he was a Buddhist cultivator on top of that.
The previous life’s Chongjue and this world’s World-Honored One were entirely different. Su Hansheng could distinguish the virtuous one from the evil one. The evil one often had him sinking into lust, but the virtuous one…
Just imagining this made Su Hansheng feel like a shameless beast. He wanted to slap his own forehead—how could he dare think of anything else?
Su Hansheng’s grip loosened, and the scripture fell with a “thud,” hitting him in the face.
He wilted, letting the scripture cover his face. His vision was stolen away, and uncontrollably, his mind flashed with memories of time spent with Chongjue.
Thinking of his strictness, his indulgence…
His protection, his gentle resignation.
It was warmth Su Hansheng had never experienced in his entire life.
Suddenly, Su Hansheng sprang upright, flinging the scripture off his face.
No no no!
Su Hansheng pressed his hands to his head, his eyes widening in panic as he spoke in horror: “They’re just two different aspects of the same consciousness—the memories should be shared! That means…”
Did his uncle also have memories of the previous life, mixing with him in Infinite Hell?!
At the thought of this terrifying possibility, Su Hansheng nearly screamed, wanting to smash his own head against the ground.
Ahhhhh!
If that were truly the case, he might as well be dead.
Just as Su Hansheng descended into madness, his waist belt emitted a faint sound. Someone was sending him a message.
Su Hansheng, who’d rushed to find Yuan Qian early that morning to braid his hair, now had those braids completely standing on end. His head was a disheveled mess, looking like he’d just woken up. He listlessly picked up his disciple token and lightly wiped it.
Ying Zhijin’s spiritual power transmitted through.
“Xiaoxiao, where is your Senior Brother?”
Su Hansheng shook his head dejectedly: “I don’t know. Haven’t seen him in days. I think he went back to Yingxu Sect with Changkong?”
“Tsk.” Ying Zhijin said with contempt: “Whenever I need him, he’s nowhere to be found.”
Su Hansheng scratched his messy hair, raising his hand to summon his companion tree to groom him as he asked confused: “Doesn’t Senior Sister have his transmission device?”
Ying Zhijin replied: “Oh, I had one, but he was always sending nonsense in the middle of the night. I found it annoying and broke it directly. Can’t restore it in the short term.”
Su Hansheng: “…”
Su Hansheng didn’t want to involve himself in their matters. He could only ask: “Does Senior Sister have something urgent I can help with?”
Ying Zhijin thought for a moment: “I urgently need someone at Spirit Transformation stage or higher to pose as a villain and rob Gong Fuqu at the autumn market this evening, forcing Gong Handan to actively rescue her sister.”
lU KLJAITJN: “?”
WCNm IOtm OA tfzfhDLODI fzJN ENI mCfI?
YD dNyICJyq hCOXJz AOt NqJI gJAOtJ mJymNmfFJLe NIXfyq: “YJyfOt YfImJt, EfLL mCfI NhmDNLLe EOtX?”
“WCe EODLzy’m fm? v’FJ NLtJNze hOOtzfyNmJz EfmC ufyqgO rNLLJe’I FNLLJe LOtz. dJ ENI JNqJtLe FOLDymJJtfyq CfoIJLA, gDm IJJfyq COE ImOhXe CJ fI—gNtJLe oNyNqfyq YRftfm GtNyIAOtoNmfOy—fA SOyq dNyzNy tJNLLe ImtfXJI Nyz fylDtJI Cfo, mCNm’z gJ N zfINImJt.”
YO fzJNLLe IOoJOyJ Nm StJNm BJtAJhmfOy YRftfm GtNyIAOtoNmfOy Ot NgOFJ EODLz gJ yJJzJz.
bUiLgYT.
lU KLJAITJN BQBJ’d sJfm Ifm df iTAqfJB, fJYp AdLPPTiQJN: “W’P fJYp HfUJBLdQfJ kAdLgYQAIPTJd.”
DQwV WaQjQw aGH wJ bIGS IgrIvEGEQJwt YJb aQh GwNLGN. ZaI tQVaIH tJYESN: “z LGt rSGwwQwV EJ YQwH hN HGbSQwV, ikE aI’t tEQSS GwVbN GwH LJw’E tII hI Qw tIvSktQJw… TtB, LaN GbI NJk hIw tJ EbJkiSItJhI?”
“…” Su Hansheng stammered: “S-sorry…”
Ying Zhijin said “good boy” and decisively cut off her spiritual transmission.
Su Hansheng tilted his head, thinking hard for a long while, then secretly contacted Ying Jianhua.
“Senior Brother, good morning.”
Ying Jianhua’s voice came through the device sharply: “It’s already approaching noon—is that still morning? Did you just wake up? Don’t think you can slack off just because you have break time.”
Su Hansheng was berated thoroughly after speaking just five words. He accepted it with drooping head.
After Ying Jianhua finished scolding him, he paused to catch his breath: “What is it? Did you cause trouble?”
“Not at all,” Su Hansheng said hurriedly. “Senior Brother, where are you?”
“Yingxu Sect.”
Su Hansheng said: “Earlier, Second Senior Sister asked if I’d seen you. She seemed to need you urgently…”
There seemed to be the sound of shattering porcelain from Ying Jianhua’s end, and he faintly heard Changkong’s voice: “Master?”
Ying Jianhua said coldly: “I’ll return to Wendao Academy shortly.”
Su Hansheng: “?”
Su Hansheng watched as the spiritual transmission cut off, pursing his lips as he tossed his disciple token aside. He was rather skeptical of Ying Zhijin’s “plan.”
Gong Handan had been taught since childhood that none of her words or actions were under her own control. Suddenly forcing her to take the initiative like this—and making Gong Fuqu the target—would it really work?
He was too worried about everything.
Su Hansheng fretted over this and that, pushing aside the floating clouds to gaze at the blazing sun outside. He thought glumly: “I should just worry about myself instead.”
What if Chongjue knew about those previous life matters…
Su Hansheng let out an “ah” and began rolling frantically on the ground like he’d lost his mind, wishing he could knock himself out.
“I might as well just die!”
Just then, a familiar voice reached his ears: “What are you making a fuss about?”
Su Hansheng froze mid-roll, maintaining his position sprawled on the ground as he looked up.
Chongjue had returned, standing nearby with lowered eyes, indifferently observing him. From Su Hansheng’s angle, he could see the man’s layered robes, the subtle lotus patterns, and the hanging jade pendants dangling from his waist sash.
Su Hansheng: “…”
Su Hansheng was immediately startled. He quickly sat up straight in proper kneeling position, stammering: “N-nothing. I was just… tired from writing my assignments and wanted to… relax a bit.”
Chongjue, observing his tangled hair and wrinkled clothes, seemed to smile helplessly. He gathered his robes and sat down, saying indifferently: “How much have you written to be this exhausted?”
Su Hansheng looked at his untouched assignments and was about to lie.
Chongjue’s well-defined fingers pressed on the books on the small table, and he tapped twice with his bent fingers.
Su Hansheng immediately didn’t dare lie: “Haven’t written yet. I was wrong.”
Seeing how quickly and honestly he admitted his mistake—quite an improvement from his previous habit of making excuses, whining, and acting spoiled—Chongjue didn’t scold him. He simply told him to continue with his assignments.
Su Hansheng hurriedly opened his book, hoping to finish his lessons quickly so he could go play.
But even when Chongjue wasn’t present, he struggled to focus on his work. Now, with the tall man sitting right across from him in that “flower-like” blue robe, radiating his familiar bodhi flower fragrance, his presence so overwhelming, Su Hansheng found it even more impossible to keep his mind on his studies.
Su Hansheng bit his pen, frantically scribbling a few characters, his thoughts in disarray.
Did he have memories from the previous life or not?
He probably didn’t.
Su Hansheng comforted himself: “If he did, he’d either harbor ill intentions toward me like the evil one, or directly strike me down with his demon-subduing staff. How could he possibly keep me by his side and care for me like an ordinary junior?”
He definitely doesn’t know!
Su Hansheng resolved within himself and nodded firmly.
From beside him, Chongjue, who was reading Buddhist scriptures, spoke: “What is it? Is there something you don’t understand?”
Su Hansheng was startled. He quickly pointed randomly at a talisman on the page: “Th-this one. It’s a bit hard to understand.”
Chongjue lowered his eyes to look and said: “Give me your hand.”
Su Hansheng didn’t understand. He thought Chongjue was about to hit his palm and quickly hid his hands behind his back in fear.
Chongjue glanced at him.
Su Hansheng shuddered and nervously extended his palm outward.
He was fully prepared to be hit, squinting one eye to peek carefully when he suddenly felt a tingling warmth across his palm.
Chongjue, joining two fingers together and lowering his gentle gaze, carefully traced the talisman from the book stroke by stroke onto Su Hansheng’s palm with slow, measured movements.
Su Hansheng suddenly froze completely.
Chongjue’s fingers were like warm jade that could never be warmed by his heat, gently caressing Su Hansheng’s scalding palm with a soft touch that created an unbearable tingling sensation.
Su Hansheng’s heartbeat became completely erratic. The tingling and itching spreading from his palm made him shudder violently.
Finally, Chongjue finished drawing the talisman and asked indifferently: “Do you remember it?”
Su Hansheng withdrew his hand in a daze. His ears, barely cooled, suddenly flushed a deep red, nearly dripping blood.
Chongjue looked at him in confusion: “Xiaoxiao?”
Su Hansheng suddenly came to his senses, curling his fingers closed as if trying to hide the palm that had thrown his mind into chaos, hoping he could regain composure.
He lowered his head and said quietly: “Yes, I remember. Thank you… Uncle.”
Chongjue found him a bit strange today but didn’t dwell on it, returning his gaze to the Buddhist scripture.
Su Hansheng’s thoughts remained in turmoil. He silently repeated “uncle, uncle” countless times, using it like a meditation mantra to finally suppress the heat burning through his entire body.
After Su Hansheng finally struggled through completing his assignments, it was already afternoon.
He gathered his courage and carefully raised his head to look at Chongjue. Glancing over, he froze slightly.
Chongjue seemed to have grown tired of waiting, now sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion like a Buddha statue, apparently in deep meditation.
Su Hansheng called: “Uncle?”
Chongjue didn’t respond.
Su Hansheng was puzzled. Had he entered meditation?
At the thought, he pouted and thought bitterly: Was being with himself so tedious that he had to meditate?
Su Hansheng crawled closer, intending to wake him. As his gaze swept over Chongjue’s shoulder-length dark hair, he vaguely noticed a subtle streak that wasn’t quite noticeable.
White hair?
Su Hansheng crouched beside Chongjue and carefully wrapped that strand in his palm, gently twirling it, his brows furrowing deeply.
It wasn’t an illusion—Chongjue truly had white hair.
But he was the World-Honored One who’d lived thousands of years with unfathomable cultivation. Why would white hair appear?
Just as Su Hansheng was holding that strand in puzzlement, a familiar voice suddenly came from above his head.
“What?”
Su Hansheng was startled. His squatting posture became unsteady, and he tumbled forward uncontrollably, his knees touching the ground as he collided directly into Chongjue’s chest.
Su Hansheng: “…”
The Buddhist hall fell into deathly silence.
After a long moment of silence, Chongjue asked: “Did I scare you?”
The tremor from his chest as he spoke made Su Hansheng’s entire rigid body suddenly scramble backward. He landed on his rear, shaking his head desperately: “N-no, you didn’t scare me. Who got scared? Hahaha.”
Chongjue didn’t mind. He glanced at the completed assignments on the table and said: “Finished your lessons?”
Su Hansheng nodded eagerly like a pecking chick: “Yes, yes.”
Chongjue rose. He checked the time outside and said: “Sunset will come soon. Let’s go.”
Su Hansheng, acting as if he’d done something wrong, hastily tidied his long hair and got up to follow.
After walking a few steps, he suddenly had a realization.
“That was just an accident. I didn’t do anything wrong, so why am I being so nervous?”
Su Hansheng coughed loudly to appear composed, placing his hands behind his back as he ambled out of the Buddhist hall. Watching the blue figure ahead, a thought gradually formed in his mind.
During the recent period, Chongjue had gotten so angry at Su Hansheng just calling him a “paramour” that he’d beaten him with a bamboo rod. Now that Su Hansheng had crashed into his chest, this dog of a man remained so calm and collected?
Not a word of reproach, not even a single complaint.
Could it be that the evil one, having returned to the body, brought with him memories of the previous life? Was this calm demeanor intentional mockery?
Impossible.
Su Hansheng thought. Tonight at the market, he absolutely had to find an opportunity to probe and test him.
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