After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

Just then, a young novice monk rushed in to report, pointing in the direction of the argument:

"Abbot, three benefactors have arrived outside the mountain gate, two men and one woman. They claim to be from the Jiang family and insist on seeing Uncle-Master Jiang."

As he said this, he secretly glanced at Jiang Dusheng's expression.

"Those three benefactors barged through the Heavenly King's Hall and headed straight this way. The senior brothers couldn't stop them, and they didn't want to actually be violent towards these lay benefactors..."

Upon hearing this, Master Huiming frowned: "Why are the Jiang family members so persistent, actually forcing their way through the mountain gate and into the inner courtyard?"

Jiang Dusheng's expression remained unchanged; he simply put down the teacup in his hand.

The commotion had reached outside the moon gate, and she could even hear Jiang Wanqing's voice, which couldn't hide her urgency:

"We have no intention of offending your temple; we are simply longing for our sister and would be grateful if you could grant us this favor..."

As soon as the words were spoken, a slightly chaotic sound of footsteps came, and three figures appeared at the entrance of the bamboo forest, where the bamboo shadows swayed.

It is Jiang Wanqing, Jiang Zhiyuan, and Jiang Zhiheng.

Jiang Wanqing was dressed in a simple and elegant dress, her eyes red-rimmed, a sight that evoked pity in me.

Jiang Zhiyuan walked at the front, his face calm, but he couldn't hide his anxiety.

Jiang Zhiheng stood to the side, his face somber and tinged with anger.

They immediately spotted Jiang Dusheng in the bamboo pavilion, and Jiang Wanqing called out, "Sister!"

Jiang Dusheng looked at the three of them and suddenly spoke, his tone filled with curiosity, "Master, can you make out the woman's face?"

Huiming followed his instructions and stared intently. A faint golden light seemed to flash in his eyes, and in an instant, he took in Jiang Wanqing's features and complexion.

After a moment, he shook his head: "It's shrouded in mist and clouds, making it difficult to see the truth. How strange! Although my cultivation is not as high as your grandmaster's, it is not ordinary either. Yet I cannot see even a trace of it."

Upon hearing this, Huiqing, who was picking up a teacup and trying to maintain the image of a high-ranking monk, casually glanced over and said:

"Can't see it? I can see it perfectly clearly."

He smacked his lips, as if savoring tea, and said, "The Red Phoenix Star is in motion but encounters calamity; the road to a good marriage is long and fraught with obstacles. To put it bluntly, marriage is quite tortuous, and it is difficult to find a satisfactory husband. Even if you do find one, I'm afraid good things will be fraught with difficulties and setbacks."

"However, there is a clear turning point in her fate, and that turning point should be her own elder sister, Dusheng. Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, it seems that she did not seize it, or rather... she went astray."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Dusheng and Huiming turned to him simultaneously, their eyes shining with surprise.

Huiming asked curiously, "Junior brother, you..."

He paused, scrutinizing Huiqing carefully. "Could it be that you've had some extraordinary encounter while traveling these past years, and your cultivation has advanced to this level? You can even see through such a concealment technique that even I, your elder brother, find difficult to discern?"

Upon hearing this, Huiqing put down her teacup casually, her tone indifferent, as if she were commenting on the blandness of today's vegetarian meal. "No. Cultivation level?"

He scratched his smooth scalp, somewhat embarrassed. "Over the years, I've been eating, drinking, and having fun... cough, mainly traveling around, cultivating my character, and broadening my horizons. As for my cultivation, well, it's neither progressing nor regressing, just barely maintaining itself."

He pointed to Jiang Wanqing, who was stopped at the entrance of the bamboo forest, and said, "The reason I can see her clearly is because the little girl is wearing a trinket that I gave her casually back then."

"With that thing hanging on her, when you look at her, it's like looking at flowers through fog; you can't see her face clearly at all."

Jiang Dusheng: "..."

It turns out that the reason he once suspected his cultivation had regressed was actually due to his unreliable martial uncle.

Huiqing noticed Jiang Dusheng's reproachful gaze, coughed lightly, and touched her bald head with a slightly guilty expression.

"Well... that's a long story."

His eyes flickered. "Back then, this little girl was sickly, and the Jiang family sought help from gods and Buddhas everywhere. They invited wave after wave of monks and Taoist priests, and I was one of them."

"The amount they gave... cough, that donation was really generous..."

"I saw that the child was indeed on the verge of death, and she was also my nephew's own sister, so I gave her a protective magic artifact that I had acquired during my travels in my early years, which helped her avoid that near-death experience."

"Who knew that thing had the effect of concealing one's destiny? I didn't specifically point it out."

Huiqing's voice grew softer and softer as he spoke, finally muttering, "Anyway, the money is exchanged, and this old monk hasn't done anything wrong..."

Upon hearing the words "generous amount of money for incense," Huiming's attention was instantly diverted.

His white eyebrows shot up as he glared at Huiqing, angrily saying, "Well! You took so much money from the Jiang family's donations, and you didn't even take it back to the temple to supplement public funds!"

"Knowing full well that the temple is keeping two gluttons, and my rice jar is running low every day, what are you, my senior brother, doing outside doing shady work?"

"Take this palm strike from this old monk!"

As he spoke, he actually rolled up his sleeves and made a gesture as if to slap the target.

Huiqing cried out "Ouch!" and nimbly jumped away, saying, "Senior brother, you are an enlightened monk, you should not show your joy or sorrow."

Jiang Dusheng looked at his master and uncle, who were now completely devoid of the demeanor of high monks, and a smile flashed in his eyes.

This vibrant appearance may be a reflection of a free and easy state of mind that comes with reaching a certain level of spiritual cultivation.

Then, as if remembering something, she smiled slightly and spoke softly, her voice not loud, but clearly reaching Huiming's ears as he chased after her to a bamboo grove:

"Master, you just said that the temple keeps two Taotie beasts. Are you referring to me and my senior brother?"

Upon hearing this, Huiming froze in his tracks as he chased after Huiqing.

He stopped awkwardly, turned around, and quickly straightened his somewhat disheveled monk's robe.

Immediately, he put his hands together and in the blink of an eye, he regained his dignified and solemn appearance.

Huiming cleared his throat and chanted a Buddhist prayer:

"Amitabha, well said, well said. My disciple, you must have misheard, or perhaps the mountain wind disturbed your voice."

Huiming's gaze drifted elsewhere, attempting to change the subject, but he happened to see the three members of the Jiang family being stopped outside the bamboo grove. His expression immediately straightened, and he said solemnly:

"The Buddha is compassionate and also speaks of karma. Since the Jiang family has come repeatedly with such earnest intentions, you should go and meet them to settle your worldly ties and karmic debts face to face."

"Now that we have let go, why not face it calmly and completely put an end to their obsession, so as to avoid causing unnecessary trouble in the future, which would only stir up dust and disturb the peace of the temple."

After saying that, he immediately gave Huiqing, who had just peeked out from behind the bamboo, a quick wink to retreat, and raised his voice:

"Junior brother! It's been a long time since we last met. We have some questions about Buddhism that we need to discuss. Please come with me to the meditation room in the back mountain to talk about them in detail!"

Having said that, he moved with lightning speed, his monk's robes fluttering, and drifted away along the path behind the mountain.