Without a single unnecessary word, the Armored Warrior took out three meat dishes from the food box and then turned around and left immediately.
"Roast chicken, braised pork, and crystal pork knuckle!" Xiaodouding’s eyes lit up at once.
"Looks like we don’t have to steal meat tonight." Zhang Chen looked at the food on the ground. Although he was a bit puzzled, not knowing why this noble lady was so kind to him, he accepted everything gratefully. There would always be a chance to repay her in the future.
"Come, eat." Zhang Chen tore off a chicken leg, pulled the steamed bun from Xiaodouding’s mouth, and then stuffed the chicken leg into Xiaodouding’s mouth.
After the meal, Zhang Chen drank the medicinal soup, lit the Calming Incense, and as the medicinal effect took hold, Zhang Chen seized the opportunity to cultivate, entering the Meditation Realm to visualize the "Heavenly Round and Earthly Square Diagram." With the help of Incense, Zhang Chen felt his soul recovering at a visible speed, and all sorts of discomforts were continuously diminishing.
Days became peaceful, and Zhang Chen nourished his soul daily with medicine, restored his entire Qi Blood, and read scriptures.
Xie Lingyun came three times a day, each time standing in front of the big elm tree in the small courtyard, in front of the table, or in the corner of the wall, standing there in a daze, as if thinking about something.
Seeing Xie Lingyun’s back, Zhang Chen felt a bit strange, always thinking that Xie Lingyun was an odd person.
After three sticks of Calming Incense burned out, Zhang Chen’s soul recovered to nine-tenths. After another ten days of recuperation, Zhang Chen completely recovered and began to sit in meditation and cultivate Qi once more. He couldn’t help but marvel, "Calming Incense is really something good; it’s worthy of a great noble!"
On the third day after Zhang Chen’s soul recovery, Xie Lingyun held Zhang Chen’s pulse and nodded to him, "Your soul has recovered, but in the future, you need to practice martial arts diligently to strengthen your Qi Blood, so you don’t succumb to fatigue and trigger old ailments again."
"Thank you for your help, noble lady, your great kindness and virtue will never be forgotten." Zhang Chen bowed solemnly to Xie Lingyun in gratitude.
Hearing this, Xie Lingyun smiled and shook her head, "You do not need to thank me, nor do I need your thanks, it is enough that you live well. To be honest, seeing the camaraderie between you and Xiaodouding makes me feel quite touched. Chengyu is very pure; if you were to die, she would certainly be very sad. I cannot bear to witness such pain of separation by life and death."
She did not think that an ordinary person like Zhang Chen, a commoner, would have the opportunity to repay her in this lifetime.
"Live well!"
After saying this, Xie Lingyun turned and left, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the courtyard, watching her back, scratching his head, somewhat clueless. He couldn’t grasp Xie Lingyun’s sorrowful mindset, only feeling that the noble girl before his eyes seemed quite kind-hearted, just dazed every day, as if a bit absent-minded.
Days went by one after another, half a month passed, and Xie Lingyun still clocked in on time every day, staring blankly at the objects in the courtyard.
On this day, after Zhang Chen practiced the True Dragon Form, Xie Lingyun turned to look at Zhang Chen, "Living in this courtyard, have you noticed anything strange?"
"Strange? No." Zhang Chen replied, puzzled.
Hearing this, Xie Lingyun felt disappointed and said no more, but sighed faintly, "Could it be that such is my fate?"
"Is the noble lady perhaps facing some trouble?" Hearing Xie Lingyun’s words, Zhang Chen asked inquisitively, willing to lend a hand if he could.
Xie Lingyun said nothing and turned to leave.
From that day on, for the next ten days, Xie Lingyun did not come to the small courtyard again.
However, as Zhang Chen was responsible for cleaning the main hall, he couldn’t see Xie Lingyun in the courtyard, but he could see her in the main hall.
He saw Xie Lingyun in a big red robe kneeling on a mat, reciting scriptures without eating or drinking.
Zhang Chen watched Xie Lingyun kneel from day to night, and from night to dawn.
From the first day to the second day, from the second day to the tenth day.
Xiaodouding and Zhang Chen cleaned the sculptures quietly in the main hall; Xiaodouding looked at the emaciated Xie Lingyun and whispered, "The noble lady has been kneeling for ten days, reciting scriptures for ten days, and has not had a sip of water; do you think she might starve to death?"
Zhang Chen, wiping the foot of a sculpture with a cloth, glanced at Xie Lingyun discreetly, noticing the mysterious aura circulating around her, indicating she was not an ordinary person.
"What kind of person is the noble lady? She has her own considerations; why should we worry?" Zhang Chen whispered back.
Chengyu, unable to bear it, picked up the clear water from the Jade Purification Bottle on the offering table, cautiously approached the noble lady, and, seeing the severely thin noble lady, said carefully, "Noble lady, you haven’t had any food or water for ten days, would you like some water?"
The noble lady did not lift her head but continued to softly recite the scriptures.
At this moment, the Law Enforcement Elder happened to pass by, saw Xiaodouding disturbing the noble lady, hurried into the main hall, and pulled Xiaodouding aside, then whispered, "You have such nerve, daring to disturb the noble lady, aren’t you afraid of death?"
"I know that if she doesn’t drink water soon, the noble lady risks starving to death. She’s a good person and shouldn’t starve to death." Xiaodouding’s voice was filled with stubbornness.
Facing the obstinate Xiaodouding, the Law Enforcement Elder sighed helplessly and explained, "The noble lady is facing a great trouble, and only by asking for the help of the Yellow Heaven God might there be a chance to dispel the disaster. The noble lady has now staked everything on this, either to summon the Yellow Heaven God or to perish here; there is no other path. She is now sincerely fasting, hoping to move the Yellow Heaven God, and you must not disturb the noble lady, lest you offend the Divine Spirit and cut off her last hope."
Upon hearing this, Xiaodouding was shocked, his eyes filled with sadness, turning to look at the main hall, not knowing what to say.
Inside the main hall, wiping the sculptures, Zhang Chen, upon hearing the words of the Law Enforcement Elder, turned to glance at the noble lady again, his heart slightly stirred.
Xiaodouding entered the main hall, glanced at Xie Lingyun’s back, and silently began wiping the sculptures, his expression dimmed considerably.
Zhang Chen also remained silent.
The Law Enforcement Elder departed, and the entire Daoist Temple was now under stricter vigilance, even to the extent that these past few days, the other elders dared not approach the main hall, fearing to disturb Xie Lingyun.
Time slowly passed, and after three more days, Xie Lingyun’s aura grew weaker, even to the point where her chanting became intermittent, barely audible.
At this moment, Zhang Chen and Xiaodouding stopped wiping the sculptures and stood to one side, their faces full of worry as they watched Xie Lingyun.
"Boom~"
Just as Xie Lingyun seemed about to reach the end of her strength, a Golden Light suddenly flashed in Zhang Chen’s eyes, and the world before him underwent dramatic changes, with the clay statue in the hall suddenly reviving with divine light; the once ordinary statue erupted into a vast divine light.
The divine light reached up to the Ninth Heaven and pierced through mountains.
In that divine light, a figure slowly emerged.
As the figure stepped out, a Mysterious Power enveloped the main hall, seemingly cutting off one world, separating Xiaodouding and Zhang Chen.
In the two’s mortal vision, Xie Lingyun continued to kneel quietly, the main hall remained the same unremarkable hall, but in Zhang Chen’s Dharma Eye, the entire main hall underwent an incredible transformation, suffused with the vast light.
Zhang Chen in the main hall saw the figure stepping out and couldn’t help but narrow his pupils, feeling a loud bang in his brain, his thoughts almost halted, and his body trembled under the mighty pressure.
It was an incredible strength!
Yet, the dense Incense Qi emanating from the figure made Zhang Chen frown secretly.
Although the figure was far stronger than himself, with the emergence of that figure, the whole world seemed to fall under its control, Zhang Chen could clearly sense that the Incense Divine Power on the figure was of much lower purity compared to his own Light of the True God.
The figure might possess immense power at the moment, with the ability to command the world, but within Zhang Chen’s heart formed a nameless disdain for the figure’s lack of pure Divine Power compared to his own Light of the True God.