From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 381 Shenjing
The weather was scorching hot, but nothing could deter my desire to head north.

After a day, they arrived in Qingtian County.

When Meng Yuan first went on a mission, he came here to slay demons. It was here that he encountered the story of Jie Kaiping's younger brother from the secular family, and thus learned that the calamity caused by demons was not as great as the calamity caused by humans.

But now, when I come to Qingtian County again, it should have recovered a lot of vitality, but it is not much worse than it was after the demon calamity.

A Buddhist temple was built within the county, but no monks were stationed there; instead, it was used as a temporary residence for displaced people.

Meng Yuan inquired a little and learned that there were originally monks in the Buddhist temple, who were sent from the capital. However, after preaching for only a few days, they were beheaded in the middle of the night, and the Buddha statues in the temple were also knocked down, turning it into a deserted temple.

The county magistrate has already fled, and now it is the assistant prefect leading the yamen runners to carry out the work, so the official structure has not yet collapsed.

"It was right here that I witnessed Benefactor Meng's prowess. I recall how sharp Dugu Sheng's blade was that night, yet in the end, he was no match for Benefactor Meng, suffering a crushing defeat." Jie Kaiping, perhaps having grasped the essence of the Dao, now boasted about everyone he met.

Even a seasoned veteran like Xiangling praised Jie Kaiping for her keen eye.

After exchanging a few words of nonsense, he unlocked the screen and, seeing that Meng Yuan ignored him, he was not discouraged. So he took Dugu Kang and went for a walk around the county to inquire about the people's livelihood.

Just as they were about to find an inn to rest for the night, they unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance on the road.

"Could it be Brother Meng? Brother Lin?" A clear voice rang out, the excitement in its tone impossible to conceal.

The visitors were two people, a man and a woman, both dressed in Taoist robes. They were Ning Qufei and Mo Tingyu from the Lingxiao Sect.

Mo Tingyu pulled Ning Qufei forward happily, staring intently at Meng Yuan, then grinning at Lin Yan. Finally, seeing the two ragged men, she remarked, "Why do these two smell like bald monks?"

"Brother Meng! Brother Lin!" Ning Qufei bowed to Meng Yuan and Lin Yan, then pulled Mo Tingyu aside and said, "Junior Sister, please don't be rude."

"Senior Brother, you are more sensible than me. Without you by my side, I can't even speak properly!" Mo Tingyu listened to Ning Qufei the most. She still did not bow to the two monks, but put one hand on her hip, and after looking them over, she said, "You are Dugu Kang and you are Jie Kaiping, hehe."

Mo Tingyu didn't take Dugu Kang seriously at all. Instead, she stared at Jie Kaiping and kept sneering.

Jie Kaiping knew that Mo Tingyu had not forgotten about Hulu Mountain. He obediently bowed but dared not say anything more.

"These two have already turned to the righteous path, there's no need to worry about them," Meng Yuan said with a smile, then asked, "How did you two get here?"

"I originally went to Songhe Prefecture to look for you, but I heard you went to the capital, so I followed you." Mo Tingyu was the most talkative. She then carefully examined Meng Yuan and asked, "I heard that Brother Meng killed Dugu Sheng and broke through to the fourth rank. Is that true?"

"It was just luck." There was no point in hiding it, so Meng Yuan immediately admitted it.

Upon hearing this, Ning Qufei and Mo Tingyu both looked directly at Meng Yuan.

There are countless martial artists in the world, and in the past, the fourth rank was already considered extremely high. Although Li Weizhen is a shining example, a fourth-rank martial artist should not be underestimated. They are still capable of defeating Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist masters who are of higher ranks.

Not to mention, the person in front of him is in his prime, and has the feat of killing the fourth-rank Dugu Sheng before him. In the future, he may well be able to advance further and kill a great demon to become a third-rank official.

Ning Qufei and Mo Tingyu exchanged a glance, then bowed to Meng Yuan again.

The group found an inn, and Ning and Mo came to ask Meng Yuan about his trip abroad. Then, the group inevitably talked about the worship of Buddhism in the country.

The Qing Kingdom has always revered Taoism and Confucianism, but now that Buddhism has invaded, Ning and Mo, belonging to the Lingxiao Sect, one of the three major Taoist sects, naturally couldn't stand by and watch, and wanted to go to the capital to see what was going on. "Our ancestor is already in the capital. He sent a letter saying that the one who is causing chaos in the country is indeed Qing Guangzi," Mo Tingyu sighed. "Why did he suddenly become a Buddhist, and a demonic one at that!"

"Whoever can make the Dugu family rule the world, then people will be happy to serve them." Lin Yan chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Mo Tingyu couldn't help but frown and glare at Jie Kaiping.

Jie Kaiping, who had been quietly eating his food and listening to the president's words, didn't bother to explain when he saw Mo Tingyu's unfriendly expression. Instead of paying attention to Mo Tingyu, he used tea instead of wine to praise Ning Qufei.

"I'm not bragging!" Jie Kaiping said seriously, not as if he were just making things up. "I have traveled all over the country and met many young talents in the Taoist sect. But in terms of character and ability, I personally believe that Brother Ning is the leading figure among the younger generation of the three major Taoist sects."

After praising Ning Qufei, he brought up the incident at Hulu Mountain, saying that he could tell at the time that Ning Qufei was extraordinary and that his future achievements would be no less than Meng Feiyuan's.

Dugu Kang, having been influenced by his surroundings, had learned many genuine skills and wanted to offer a few words of praise, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise.

As expected, Mo Tingyu realized that Jie Kaiping's actions were shameless, but his words made sense, so she felt a little embarrassed to continue criticizing him.

After a long night of conversation, the group headed north together the next day.

Na Mo Tingyu had already realized that she had already formed a prejudice against Jie Kaiping and would occasionally make sarcastic remarks about her.

However, Jie Kaiping didn't take any of this seriously. Instead, she would chat with Ning Qufei from time to time, discussing the differences between Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, as well as various folk customs. She always managed to praise Ning Qufei, and even said that Ning Qufei and Mo Tingyu were a match made in heaven.

"No wonder our ancestors said we shouldn't get too close to bald monks, that's so flattering!" Although Mo Tingyu knew that Jie Kaiping's words were mostly nonsense, she was constantly tickled and couldn't stop herself from wanting Jie Kaiping to say more.

The group traveled north together, and after a few days, they encountered refugees fleeing famine.

Instead of government officials providing disaster relief, there were only opportunists taking advantage of the chaos.

Although everyone possesses abilities and may be able to save one, ten, or a hundred people, they cannot reverse the course of heaven and earth.

Further on, we came across a civil unrest; a city had been looted, smoke and fire filled the sky, and cries of agony echoed everywhere.

However, as they moved further north, civilian unrest became less frequent, while soldiers heading south and transporting provisions could be seen from time to time.

Seeing that Meng Yuan and his companions were traveling on horseback and their clothes were not dirty or disheveled, these people inquired about their origins. Upon realizing that the men were armed with swords and were not ordinary people, they abandoned their intention to rob them.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and Meng Yuan had already arrived outside the capital.

Martial law is now in effect in and around the capital. Many refugees have gathered outside the city, but they cannot enter the city. Only a few soup kitchens have been set up outside the city.

Looking up into the distance, one could see soldiers gathered on the city wall, among whom were bald monks walking.

Above the capital, however, there was no heat; instead, many dark clouds gathered.

The dark clouds were heavy, even more profound than the black light that obscured heaven and earth, as if carrying countless resentments, and were slowly pressing down on the capital.

Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but think, and they clearly felt that Qing Guangzi was in the thick fog, ready to break through the fog and shine brightly at any time.

(End of this chapter)