They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 71 Energy

The night was as dark as ink, and the gaunt figure of the Wei family steward seemed to blend into the shadows.

Chen Guangrui knew perfectly well why Wei Zheng had summoned him late at night. He didn't ask a single question, but calmly and silently followed the steward to Wei's residence and headed straight for the study.

Pushing open the door, Wei Zheng sat alone at his desk, his brow furrowed. Seeing Chen Guangrui enter, he gestured for the butler to leave. The door closed, leaving only the two of them in the room, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive.

Chen Guangrui didn't ask immediately. Instead, he did what Wei Zheng usually liked to do: scan the four corners of the study and the gaps in the window frames to make sure no one else was watching. Only then did he walk to the desk, lower his voice, and get straight to the point.
"Lord Wei, did Black Impermanence report all that he 'saw' to you?"

He knew that Hei Wuchang was sent by Wei Zheng after he asked Cui Jue for help. If Hei Wuchang knew, then Cui Jue must know, and Wei Zheng must know as well.

It can't be hidden, and he doesn't want to hide it either.

Wei Zheng nodded slowly, his white beard trembling slightly. He sighed deeply, his gaze towards Chen Guangrui unusually complex.
"Reporting... The young lady of the Yin family has a golden cicada in her soul. Judging from this, her soul has long since... Guangrui, no wonder the Buddhist sect is pressing you step by step, resorting to any means to force your marriage with him."

Chen Guangrui's eyes were calm as a deep pool, and his question was utterly unfathomable.
"Didn't they also harm Yin Wenjiao? She was such a good girl, but now... is she still herself?"

He paused, then cut to the heart of the matter.
"Why would Buddhism go to such great lengths, using living people as vessels to nourish the 'golden cicada'... what is it seeking?"

Wei Zheng's expression was solemn.

"We can't see through everything yet. But that Golden Cicada... must be the true spirit of the Golden Cicada, a disciple of the Buddha. He forcibly separated his soul and spirit, and placed them in your bodies and Miss Yin's bodies respectively. He used your flesh and blood and spirituality to nurture and conceive them, but in reality, he wanted to use mortal bodies as vessels to complete his reincarnation."

He looked at Chen Guangrui and said in a low voice, "Once the two of you unite, Jin Chanzi's soul and spirit will be united, and he will be completely successful and break out of his shell. At that time... it's hard to guess what will happen to you two 'shells'."

Chen Guangrui's lips curled into a smile, and he let out a cold snort.
"Fortunately, I ruined this marriage today, and Yin Kaishan backed out on his own. Lord Wei, if I were to flee to the ends of the earth from this day forward, never to set foot in Chang'an again, and never to see Yin Wenjiao again, would this Golden Cicada... be unable to be reincarnated forever?"

Wei Zheng looked at him, his eyes filled with a hint of pitying helplessness.
"Don't you understand yet, Guangrui? How do you know that your success in becoming the top scholar and your arrival in Chang'an wasn't secretly guided by Buddhism? That mysterious 'fate' has already laid a trap. You may leave Chang'an, but can you escape the all-powerful reach of Buddhism?"

Chen Guangrui paused for a moment, then raised a question.

"The impermanence can be seen through because its power touches the very source of the soul. Is there no one in Buddhism with profound cultivation who can also perceive this anomaly? If someone saw the abnormality in my 'soul' beforehand, why did they never intervene?"

Wei Zheng shook his head slightly.

"There must be many people in Buddhism who can see through souls and dispel illusions. However, you have always been an inconspicuous mortal scholar, living outside Chang'an City, and have never truly entered the sight of certain beings, which is why you have been lucky enough to remain unexposed. But now... your reputation and your situation have made you like an arrow on a bowstring, making it difficult for you to hide any longer."

Chen Guangrui acted with a do-or-die determination.
"Since that's the case... then you mean there's no other way? Fine! Then I'll say it right here today: if they really want to completely break off relations and use any means necessary to force me to submit... even if it means mutual destruction! I, Chen Guangrui, would rather die than grant their wish!"

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed intently on Wei Zheng. "Lord Wei, you are an official in the Ministry of Personnel, capable of communicating with the heavens. Could you lend me a hand?"

A silence fell over the study. Wei Zheng did not answer immediately. He looked down at his outstretched, rough palm, his knuckles slightly deformed from years of writing official documents.

He seemed to be weighing and calculating, just as he usually dealt with complex political affairs, but the dangers and costs involved far exceeded any ordinary dispute.

Chen Guangrui did not urge him, but simply watched quietly. He knew that Wei Zheng's silence was not a rejection, but rather that this seemingly upright but equally adept at weighing options was carefully considering the pros and cons and the possible consequences.

This is a choice that concerns one's own path and involves enormous karmic consequences.

Sure enough, time passed slowly, seemingly a long time, yet also a fleeting moment. Wei Zheng slowly raised his head, his eyes no longer hesitant, but revealing a resolute acceptance. He nodded heavily, his voice clear and steady.
"can!"

This single word carries immense weight.

Wei Zheng said no more, then suddenly picked up his brush and dipped it in thick ink.

The tip of the wolf-hair brush touched the specially made yellow talisman paper, as if it embodied all his determination at that moment.

His pen flew across the paper, its strokes powerful and elegant, each character imbued with strength and an urgent desire to uncover the truth. He meticulously and unreservedly detailed the Buddhist sect's years-long scheme in Chang'an, including the discovery of the Green Lion Demon to steal the documents and cover up the truth, and most importantly, Jin Chanzi's earth-shattering plot to reincarnate through the bodies of Chen Guangrui and Yin Wenjiao!

The pen tip glided across the talisman paper, making a soft rustling sound that was particularly clear in the quiet night.

As he finished writing, Wei Zheng paused, then added another sentence.
"I have now learned that Manjushri Bodhisattva of the Western Vulture Peak will soon arrive in Chang'an to retrieve the captured Green Lion Spirit's mount. I know I am no match for him."

Every stroke of his pen was marked by hesitation, and every stroke of his pen was marked by resolute determination.

Simply because he felt that Chen Guangrui was worth it!
With the final stroke, Wei Zheng put down his brush, picked up the talisman, and examined it carefully to confirm that there was nothing wrong. He made hand seals and silently chanted an incantation, and a hazy, clear light immediately emanated from the talisman.

"go with!"

He gave a low shout, and the letter moved without wind, suddenly transforming into a barely perceptible stream of blue light, as if merging into the night itself. With a "whoosh," it pierced through the roof and shot straight into the sky, its target being the Tushita Palace beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens!
Having done all this, Wei Zheng seemed to have exhausted a great deal of energy. He let out a long sigh, leaned back slightly in his chair, and looked at Chen Guangrui.
"The letter has been sent. You know where it is."

Chen Guangrui stared in the direction where the light disappeared, then slowly nodded, his voice low and firm.
"It's for that one in the Thirty-Third Heaven. Manjushri is one of the four great Bodhisattvas of Buddhism, with intense obsession. In a direct confrontation, you are no match for him... However, Lord Wei's actions are my only chance of survival at the moment."

The candlelight flickered in the study, casting the somber shadows of the two figures on the wall. A letter, carrying all their resentment and final struggle, had flown to the unknowable depths of Tushita Heaven.

(End of this chapter)