Open A Clinic To Cultivate Myself Chapter 279 Fahai?

The boat traveled downstream. Raindrops of the autumn drizzle fell on the boat but made no sound. A light fog formed over the river, the city lights could be still be seen vaguely. Gradually, the city disappeared among the fog, nothing could be seen. Within this period, Tang Zixian rowed the boat to a smaller stream. On both sides of the riverbanks were farms and villages. Being far away from the bustling city, such scenery brought a sense of serenity.

Ning Tao was playing with The Whisperer smart.w.a.tch while sitting inside the boat, exploring its new functions. However, no matter how he tried, The Whisperer seemed to only have that one function derived from the cloudy ore.

Ning Tao was disappointed. After giving so much, The Whisperer he had created was virtually just a dog translator. How useful would such a function be to him?

“That watch in your hand is the one you s.n.a.t.c.hed from Yang Long, right?” Tang Zixian, who was rowing the boat at the end, broke the hour-long silence between them.

Ning Tao was honest. “It is, but it also isn't.”

Tang Zixian knitted her brows. “I really suspect that you were a poor scholar in your previous life. Can you speak properly?”

Ning Tao did not take her words to heart, and said coolly, “There is something wrong with the battery and microchip of the Apocalypse smart.w.a.tch. Bai Sheng has a technological magic tool, and once activated, the watch would receive a signal and the battery would release energy. Thereafter, it would be discharged in the form of waves of energy through the Divine Microchip. That sort of energy could turn people into puppets to be manipulated by him.”

“How are you so clear about this?”

“Bai Sheng knew that I was going to take the watch but did not stop me. Before we met, he had tried to manipulate me, and made me kill two of my friends and then kill myself. I've done so,” Ning Tao said.

Tang Zixian looked at Ning Tao with an odd gaze. “You managed to deceive him?”

Ning Tao nodded. “Then he tried to destroy that watch. I smashed it before it was destroyed, then fixed it. So, in some way, it was no longer the same watch.”

Tang Zixian was surprised. “You even know how to repair watches?”

Ning Tao said, “I'm a doctor who not only can heal people, but also repair magic tools. If you have any broken magic tools no longer usable, you can bring them to me, I'll fix them for you. You can also tell your friends in the cultivation circle that if they have such a need, they can come to me, I'll repair magic tools for an appropriate amount of spiritual material as payment.”

Tang Zixian thought for a while. “I have a broken magic tool with me. After this, I'll let you take it back to try. But I have no spiritual materials. I'll give you money once you've fixed it. How about that?”

Ning Tao glared at Tang Zixian. “What kind of magic tool? How much money?”

Tang Zixian said, “An umbrella. I'll pay you a hundred thousand if you can fix it.”

“US dollars?” Ning Tao asked.

“No, Chinese currency of course,” Tang Zixian said.

Ning Tao shut his eyes to meditate.

“What's the meaning of this? You think it's too little?” Tang Zixian was audibly unhappy.

Ning Tao continued meditating. He could not even be bothered for 100,000 US dollars, much less that it was Chinese yuan. He had gone to such distances, initially intending to strike a deal for some spiritual materials so that he could upgrade The Whisperer. Yet he did not expect Tang Zixian to be so stingy and petty. “Like h.e.l.l am I repairing it for a hundred thousand Chinese yuan!” He could earn more just by sticking two plucking talismans on some random flat-chested girl!

“All right, I'll add another 50,000, how about it?” Tang Zixian had softened her tone.

“How long will it be until we reach that Cold River Temple?” Ning Tao asked.

Tang Zixian huffed, “Soon!”

Ning Tao continued shutting his eyes and resting.

It had returned to silence on the boat. Not another word was exchanged between the lady warrior who was rowing the boat and the miracle doctor who was sitting inside the boat.

After a while, the boat docked. Behind the harbor was a dense forest. A stone pavement ran into the forest. It was drizzling, and Cold River Temple was nowhere to be seen.

Ning Tao got off the boat, following behind Tang Zixian along the stone trail. He had only then noticed that there were signs of human and animal footprints on the stone slabs. Some stones were cracked, and tiny plants grew out of the cracks. The stone path had at least a thousand years of history. Then how old could the unseen Cold River Temple be?

After a certain journey, an ancient temple appeared in Ning Tao's view. It was a small temple with only one Buddha hall. Two old pine trees stood before the temple entrance. The tree trunks were so big that it would take two people to link arms around one of them. The forest was at least a thousand years old. There were a few rooms on both sides of the hall behind the entrance. There was also a yard behind, and in the yard was a thatched pavilion. That thatched pavilion was very special, just like a white mushroom stuck out in the middle of a field.

“Dong!”

The sound of a bell ringing came from the hall.

Tang Zixian put both her hands together, her head lowered slightly, her expression somber.

Yet Ning Tao only had a bit of an urge to pray upon hearing the bells, but such an intention disappeared in the next moment. The sound of the bell was somewhat effective, but it was far from the bell he heard when reciting “I rest within the womb, listening to the sound of the Way”. However, out of politeness, and also pretense, he followed Tang Zixian's actions, putting his hands together and lowering his head as a sign of respect.

The echos of the bell had traveled far, then the entrance to the temple opened and dim candlelight spilled out of the temple. In that murky lighting, an old monk came into Ning Tao's view. The old monk had a large build, his face was slender, and a white beard grew from his chin. Even his brows were white, touching the edge of his eyes. It was unclear how old he was, but no wrinkles were seen on his face, and his skin was also very radiant.

Tang Zixian said respectfully, “Master Fakong, I've brought him here.”

Master Fakong had been laying his eyes on Ning Tao ever since the door was open. His gaze had never left, it felt as if he was going to see through Ning Tao's soul.

Ning Tao put his palms together again, and said politely, “h.e.l.lo, Master Fakong.”

He had activated his state of looking when he was speaking. This Master Fakong had a very intense innate aura, and very strong spiritual energy was being released from his body. Strong spiritual energy meant strong spiritual power. This Master Fakong was actually of a higher cultivation level than Tang Tianren!

Yet not only did Ning Tao see a strong innate aura and spiritual energy field on Master Fakong, but he could also see a white fog of good energy. The grade-three elementary cultivation method given by the good-evil tripod had bestowed him with this power, which allowed him to see the good energy of good people under the state of looking. However, there were really too few people with good energy nowadays.

Ning Tao let down his guard after seeing Master Fakong's good energy, no longer worried that Tang Zixian would stab him in the back.

Fakong spoke up, “Benefactor Ning, no need to be too reserved. Come in, I have already prepared tea, let's speak as we drink.”

Ning Tao followed Master Fakong into the temple's only hall. The hall housed an idol of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Her features were demure, appearing to be benevolent and amiable.

Even though Ning Tao was not a big believer, he still paused to pray to Guanyin Bodhisattva. He then followed Master Fakong to the thatched pavilion in the yard.

A wooden board was laid across the floor of the thatched pavilion, and a bamboo mat was placed on the wooden board. A tea table was placed on the mat, and three sitting cushions were placed beside the table. A pile of fire was raised beside the table, which was cooking a metal teapot. It was steaming as the water made blooping noises.

After Ning Tao and Tang Zixian were seated, Master Fakong took the metal teapot and poured three cups of tea. He said with a smile, “I don't have any good tea here. This tea was gifted by a benefactor, I'm being granted by their kindness to serve you. Benefactor Ning, please have some tea.”

Ning Tao held up the teacup and sipped lightly. He did not comment on whether it was good or bad because it would appear as narrow-minded no matter what he said. So he only smiled as a sign of thanks.

Master Fakong also drank the tea. He put the cup down and said, “Benefactor Ning, do you know why I've asked to meet you tonight?”

Ning Tao said, “Is it because of Bai Sheng?”

Master Fakong said, “That demon Bai Sheng can only be taken care of by the ways of Heaven for the destruction he is inflicting on humanity. I am devoted to the way of the Buddha, I do not kill. While Bai Sheng must die, I will not be killing him.”

Ning Tao was slightly stunned and was left confused. “Then what for?”

Master Fakong looked directly into Ning Tao's eyes. His tone suddenly became stern. “I've asked you here tonight to remind you that the path of cultivation is hard, the path of righteous cultivation is even harder, and cultivation of the way of Heaven is astoundingly hard. You're birthed by the heavens, you have obligations to it, so why are you in the company of demons?”

Ning Tao was stunned, feeling slightly puzzled.

Based on Master Fakong's tone, he seemed to have seen through something, and had even learned about some things concerning the Sky Clinic. Yet, he had mentioned that Ning Tao was in the company of demons. Was he not referring to Qing Zhui, Bai Jing, and Yin Molan? What had that got to do with him?

Master Fakong continued speaking, “I know that there are two snake demons with you, one named Bai Jing and another Qing Zhui. They're both Bai Sheng's foster daughters, and carry with them heavy sins. You're someone who cultivates the way of Heaven, how could you be fooling around with two snake demons? They will ruin your cultivation and lead you astray. If you do not stop this, you'll go on a downward spiral of no return.”

Ning Tao glanced at Tang Zixian.

Tang Zixian said coolly, “Don't doubt it. It's me who had told Master Fakong.”

“Benefactor Ning, do you understand my efforts in trying to persuade you?” Master Fakong glared at Ning Tao fixedly.

“Wait…” Ning Tao suppressed the flurry of emotions inside him, and said, “Master Fakong, you've asked me out just for this?”

“Amitabha,” Master Fakong chanted. “I have the responsibility to sway you back onto the righteous path. It's still not too late to change.”

Ning Tao smiled all of a sudden. “Master Fakong, this is my personal affair, I will deal with it myself. Also, this Cold River Temple is not far away from Guan City, so Bai Sheng is not far away. That demon is running amok, yet Master is not taking care of that thousand-year-old snake, and you're advising me to return to the righteous path. I think I have a good sense of direction and very rarely lose my way, so Master need not worry.”

Tang Zixian huffed, “Ning Tao, what kind of att.i.tude is this?”

As Master Fakong lifted his hand, Tang Zixian calmed down again.

Ning Tao looked at the path they had taken here. He took the teacup and drank it up. He was already coming up with an excuse to leave.

Master Fakong said calmly, “Benefactor Ning, have you heard of a person named Xu Xian?”

“Pfft!”

Ning Tao spat out the tea that he had just drunk.

However, all the water droplets were suspended in midair.