Xuanxia

Chapter 1086 Coming out of seclusion
That night, in Duanling City, the northernmost city of Beiyi, the stars were hanging upside down and the sky and earth changed color. Although it was only for a moment, it attracted the attention of many powerful people in the world.

But all this happened for too short a time, and no one saw the dark star lighting up in the sky, so they just thought it was a strange phenomenon in heaven and earth - the world has been in chaos in recent years, so occasional strange phenomena are not surprising, and most people just took a quick look and paid no more attention.

But no one knew that when that color appeared in the sky, the door of the quiet room in the deepest part of Ning's house in the capital opened.

Ning Baimei, who had been in seclusion for more than three years, walked out of the meditation room with his hands behind his back.

There were no earth-shaking waves, no breath stirred by wind and clouds, just peace and tranquility without any ripples.

It was already night time, and the entire Ning Mansion and even the capital city were asleep. Even the people in the mansion didn't know that Ning Baimei had come out of seclusion.

After being locked up in this quiet room for three years, he was no different from when he first started his retreat.

He was still elegant, clean and tidy, without a speck of dust on his body, and his hair and beard were not at all messy, as if time had stood still for him over the years.

Ning Baimei raised his head and looked towards the sky - in a flash, the colorful nebula disappeared.

He laughed.

"So happy?"

An old and hoarse voice came from the side.

Ning Baimei turned his head.

The banished immortal who was thousands of miles away in Duanling City just a moment ago was now sitting under a tree not far from the quiet room, carrying Erlang Shen on stilts and throwing candied dates into his mouth.

Ning Baimei turned around and bowed to the exiled immortal: "Junior greets the immortal."

"Okay, our plan has now reached the final step."

The exiled immortal said leisurely: "At dawn, I will be reincarnated... I won't be able to see what happens next, so I'll leave it all to you."

"I will definitely live up to the expectations of the immortal."

Ning Baimei said softly: "Does the Immortal have any last wishes? I will do my best to help the Immortal fulfill them."

"What last wish could I have?"

The exiled immortal sneered: "I can go wherever I want and get whatever I want. I want...ah."

He suddenly sighed: "But don't tell me, there is really something."

"You say." Ning Baimei still kept his head down and maintained the posture of saluting, extremely respectful.

"It's actually nothing."

The exiled immortal smiled and said, "After leaving the Wulin Alliance, I have to find a way to make money, right? So I went to the gate of the Jinchan Temple to tell fortunes for people and make money... At that time, the Jinchan Temple had not yet moved completely, and there were still some pilgrims, so I could make a lot of money..."

Ning Baimei's mouth twitched.

Although this old charlatan in front of him is not a human, he is the strongest person in the world today. His strength is enough to match the selfless god realm a thousand years ago. He just said that he can get whatever he wants...

But why is it that such an immortal is always short of money?

"Anyway, that day, I had the chance to enjoy the vegetarian meal at the Jinchan Temple."

The exiled immortal savored the meal and said, "That was a really good meal... It was almost like Taoism, and the fragrance lingered on my lips and teeth. Even today, I can still remember the taste..."

Ning Baimei raised his head and replied softly, "Master Daoyuan, the head cook of Jinchan Temple, has been cooking vegetarian meals all his life. His cooking skills are close to the Tao. Three years ago, he was enlightened by Fu Qingzhou and learned about the compassion of life and death. The food he cooks is indeed the closest thing to the Tao between heaven and earth."

"Hey, you stay in this little room every day, but you know a lot."

The exiled immortal laughed and said, "What a pity, that old monk is also dead."

"If the Immortal really wants to have another vegetarian meal, I have a way." Ning Baimei replied.

The exiled immortal's eyes lit up: "What? Do you have a way to pull Monk Daoyuan out of the Styx?"

"Please follow me, Immortal."

Ning Baimei didn't answer, but just smiled.

Ning Baimei walked with his hands behind his back, and the exiled immortal followed behind him leisurely, with the candied date pit rolling around in his mouth: "You old man, you want to take me to a restaurant in the middle of the night? But which restaurant in the capital can match Daoyuan's skills? Or is the chef in your Ning Mansion really good?"

"The immortal is joking."

Ning Baimei smiled as she pushed open the carved wooden door. Moonlight trickled into the kitchen through the crack in the door. On the stove was a faded statue of the Kitchen God, with old oil stains gleaming in the moonlight.

"Really coming to your kitchen?" The exiled immortal followed him in. After looking around, he suddenly found that Ning Baimei was wearing an apron. He was stunned: "You want to do it yourself?"

"The Immortal's Eyes."

Ning Baimei still smiled and started collecting firewood.

The kitchen is not big, and the bluestone chopping board is shining.

Ning Baimei rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and picked up the kitchen knife beside him.

Soon, the sound of thump thump was heard, and the kitchen knife turned into a shadow on the chopping board.

The winter bamboo shoots were cut into butterfly-like slices as thin as cicada wings. There was no crisp sound when the blade passed by, as if the bamboo fibers were stretching themselves under the knife.

The exiled immortal came forward and looked at the spider-web-like amber lines at the fracture: "This is..."

"The direction of the bamboo shoot veins."

Ning Baimei put the slices on a celadon plate: "Follow the line drawn by heaven and earth when it was created, and its original flavor will remain in the veins."

The exiled immortal raised his eyebrows.

The firewood lit in the stove and the iron pot began to smoke.

Ning Baimei cooked personally, and his movements were smooth and fluid, like a master chef.

One dish, two dishes, three dishes...

When the eight-immortal table was laid out with four dishes and a soup, the banished immortal stared at them for a long time.

The carrots were cut like the tail feathers of a phoenix, the wood ears looked like they were painted with ink, and dew was still condensed on the broken ends of the cabbage stalks.

"Please, Immortal."

Ning Baimei chuckled.

When the exiled immortal was putting the tofu between the bamboo chopsticks and putting it into his mouth, his wrist suddenly trembled.

The white jade-like cube melts on the tip of the tongue, first tasting the coldness of the moss on the cliff, then the warmth of the underground hot springs, and finally the lingering sound of the morning bell in the ancient temple wafts in the throat.

When he closed his eyes, he actually saw a scholar in blue playing the zither amidst the snowy mountains. The snowflakes that fell from the strings all had a bean fragrance.

"The vegetarian meal of Daoyuan monk is like a bodhisattva lowering his eyebrows."

The exiled immortal sighed with satisfaction: "The food on your table is like a saint observing the sky... One solution, ten thousand solutions, Ning Baimei, if the world had not come to the end of a cycle, you would have achieved selflessness."

Ning Baimei shook his head and smiled: "It doesn't matter whether there is no me or not."

"You're right, it doesn't matter."

The exiled immortal picked up the tea beside him and took a sip. Then he picked up his chopsticks again and quickly swept the food on the table, saying non-stop: "The most important thing is to end all this."

Ning Baimei nodded and sat down opposite the exiled immortal.

Neither of them spoke anymore.

Ning Baimei glanced at the sky outside the window, and the exiled immortal was eating hard.

At some point, the sound of roosters crowing was heard in the distance.

A corner of the night sky was torn apart by the rising sun, which poured into the house, shining on the leftovers on the table and on the pair of bamboo chopsticks that had fallen to the edge of the plate without anyone holding them.

The figure of the banished immortal has disappeared.

Ning Baimei never turned his head and continued to look at the sky outside the window.

He let out a long breath and a smile slowly appeared on the corner of his mouth.

It has been sixty years since I met the banished immortal in my childhood.

During these sixty years, he has been scheming and planning every step of the way, and finally... he is about to face the final end.

(End of this chapter)