White-Robed Chief

When Chu Li appeared in front of Liu Xing and the others, the sky was already bright.

Liu Xing and the rest were relaxing on the peak of the canyon, bathing in the bright morning sunlight.

“Head Chief, so fast?” Liu Xing and the others exclaimed.

Chu Li handed over the jade pendant to Liu Xing. “This is an object of authentication from Green Hill, to prove that you are the ones who sent the letter.”

“Did the Head Chief take it secretly?” Liu Xing laughed. “To sneakily place the letter in the main hall of the Green Hill, and take away a jade pendant silently, surely no one would notice, and the Royal Highness could not blame us for not sending the letter.”

Chu Li laughed. “This is indeed a good idea.”

“Did the Head Chief not use this tactic?” Liu Xing questioned.

Chu Li shook his head. “The Grandmasters of Green Hill and Feng Huang Mountain were waiting for you people to walk right into their trap. Fortunately, my Light-body Technique is good enough, they could not catch up which saved us the trouble, so you people can now send your report.”

“Sigh…” Liu Xing looked at the jade pendant, shook his head and smiled bitterly. “Who knows what the Royal Highness would think of this.”

Chu Li answered, “If the Royal Highness still gives you trouble, just play along with him, don’t be hard-headed. If worse comes to worst, you can just leave. His main purpose is to chase you people away, to leave me helpless and alone.

“What is the Royal Highness’s true intention?” Liu Xing frowned. “Does he really want to kill the Head Chief?”

“Yes, and to kill me personally.” Chu Li laughed. “This is now his only objective. To recklessly carry out this objective, he will kill anyone who opposes him!”

“This is just insane!” Huo Yuhao sighed.

Xiang Feixue laughed. “It is mainly because he suffered a lot thanks to the Head Chief, the despondency in his heart was hard to soothe, the Head Chief has to be careful at the Princess’s location. If he wants to get rid of us, he might be targeting the Princess herself. Zhu Tianhua is currently the only Protector that the Princess has left, we have to return quickly!”

“It is useless.” Liu Xing shook his head. “Even if we were to return, the Royal Highness would dispatch us to do something else, and we still would not be able to protect the Princess!”

Everyone knows that the Princess was the Head Chief’s weakness. Anyone would target the Princess first if they wanted to deal with the Head Chief. They were only afraid that the Royal Highness would deliberately divert the attention from Chu Li to the Princess and leak this information; that would result in waves of assassination attempts.

As the Head Chief becomes exhausted from handling the situation, the Royal Highness could then assassinate the Head Chief, saving him the effort and energy.

“If there is no other way, we could protect the Princess in the shadows,” Xiang Feixue said.

“Good idea, do not ask His Royal Highness what your next assignment is, for now, just wait and see.” Liu Xing nodded. “We will go back to the Imperial Residence in secret and protect the Princess.”

Chu Li smiled. “The Princess will be fine, after two days, she will return to the High Duke’s Public House and stay there temporarily.”

“That’s great!” the four of them were overjoyed.

Chu Li said, “Take care of yourselves, be careful on the road to avoid being ambushed again!”

“The Head Chief does not need to worry, we will be careful!” Liu Xing laughed. “Does the Head Chief want to return first?”

“Yes, I shall take my leave,” Chu Li replied.

He waved at the four of them and fluttered away.

…

Chu Li arrived at the Tianshu Courtyard.

In the Tianshu Courtyard, Xiao Shi was taking a walk with Yang Xu and Meng Lan walking alongside him.

As they saw Chu Li enter, Meng Lan shyly looked down.

Yang Xu smiled as she curtsied.

Xiao Shi asked, “What happened last night?”

She noticed that Chu Li was not in the Imperial Residence last night.

“I handled some trivial matters,” Chu Li answered, “My Lady, it seems that you have to stay in the High Duke’s Public House for a while.”

“More trouble again?” Xiao Shi’s dark eyebrows lightly frowned. “What trouble is King An causing now?”

“Without Liu Xing and the others, only Protector Zhu Tianhua is left.” Chu Li shook his head. “If something were to happen, Zhu Tianhua would be at risk. As King An intends to kill two birds with one stone, he had set up an ambush at Liu Xing’s location, attempting to kill them all.”

Xiao Shi went to the stone table, sat down, and frowned. “Looks like he wants to abolish your power and wants to wipe the entire Residence clean!”

Chu Li slowly nodded his head.

Xiao Shi said, “Alright then, it would be nice to return to the High Duke’s Public House and take a look, I do not even want to stay here!”

As the two of them were talking, Meng Lan served teacups over, handing it over to Chu Li with pale and sallow hands, showing shyness and timidness.

Chu Li took the teacup and lifted his head to look at her; at the same time, her bright eyes made contact with his own.

She hurriedly turned away; her clear face redder than before.

Xiao Shi squinted at them, and said snappishly, “Meng Lan is quite understanding and is already doing a good job, you can bring her back.”

Chu Li laughed. “My Lady, you are currently short of people here, let her stay here for now.”

“Are you willing to?” Xiao Shi scoffed.

Chu Li answered, “What is there to be unwilling about.”

“To not keep such a beauty by your side, what would happen if she ran away?” Xiao Shi seemed like she was both smiling and not smiling. “Can you rest assured? Do not just say yes but mean no and cause yourself to be unhappy!”

Chu Li laughed as he shook his head and suddenly frowned.

He saw a round-faced and strong monk arriving in front of the Imperial Residence through the Omniscient Mirror. The monk was around his thirties, with a simple and honest face, making him look silly.

King An and Xu Ning strode towards the main gate and greeted the monk with closed fist salutes. “May I know if the Great Master is a senior monk of the Tempest Temple?”

“I am Fa Zhi, greetings to His Royal Highness and Revered Sir Xu Ning,” the monk answered seriously with pressed palms.

“So, it is Great Master Fa Zhi, my apologies, please come in and have a talk!” King An laughed.

But in his heart, he whispered to himself, he never thought that the Tempest Temple would dispatch a monk that does not know Martial Arts; purely a normal being.

He wanted a monk with outstanding Martial Arts, like Fa Yuan who was known by everyone for his intelligence but who chose to play dumb. However, they dispatched a person without martial arts to him, does the Tempest Temple not intend to join in the matter between Chu Li and himself? Do they value Chu Li that much now?!

His appearance was instead enthusiastic as if he was really welcoming Fa Zhi.

Fa Zhi said with pressed palms, “I would not dare claim myself to be as such. Please just call me by my Dharma name. After you, Your Royal Highness and Xu Ning!”

Xu Ning curiously looked at Fa Zhi.

The Tempest Temple and Titanium Temple did not get along well, the two factions would secretly compete against each other, each recognizing themselves to have genuine Buddhism.

If a disciple of the Tempest Temple sees him, it would be rare enough to not be gazed at with animosity but Fa Zhi was actually being courteous to him, which was really weird.

The three people arrived at the main hall and sat down for tea.

“I am a literary monk from the temple, I do not cultivate Martial Arts.” Fa Zhi placed down his teacup and smiled. “About matters regarding Martial Arts, the Royal Highness need not question me, but matters regarding the dharmic base, I know a little of it, so I will speak everything I know.”

“It seems like Great Master Fa Zhi’s dharmic base attainments are definitely unordinary.” King An smiled as he placed down his teacup.

Fa Zhi shook his head. “My dharmic base is still incomparable to the Elders, and I have far less intelligence. The dharmic base has immeasurable wisdom and I have but a small fraction of it.

“The Elders have learned for many years, but Great Master Fa Zhi is still at a young age. When you reach their age, you will definitely surpass the Elders.” King An laughed.

Fa Zhi shook his head. “Learning Buddhism still depends on the person’s aptitude and temperament. With the same principle, some people would never grasp it, while some would instantly understand. Since I only have ordinary comprehension, it would not be easy to surpass the Elders.

“Hehe, to have Great Master Fa Zhi teach me, my dharmic base would definitely grow rapidly, I am exhilarated!” King An said.

Fa Zhi smiled. “If I can aid the Royal Highness in attaining the Golden Lohan’s Power, it would be a benefit beyond measure, I too would be exhilarated!”

“With the Great Master’s advice, I will definitely obtain it!” King An laughed.

“May the Buddha bless us!” Fa Zhi looked at the sky and pressed his palms solemnly.

King An also looked up and pressed palms with a solemn expression.

Xu Ning looked on quietly but was not swayed.

The cultivation of the Golden Lohan’s Power is no easy task. No one ever heard of anyone being able to cultivate it.

Fa Zhi took a sip of tea. “The Royal Highness, please provide me a quiet courtyard, as I usually meditate alone, but if the Royal Highness has time to spare, you could visit my courtyard, and I would provide you with any information that I have.

“Alright, I will definitely go to the Great Master’s place to seek advice.” King An quickly nodded.

“Then, Your Royal Highness, I shall take my leave.” Fa Zhi stood up and pressed his palms.

King An hurriedly pressed his palms, and shouted, “Song Sansi!”

Song Sansi quickly entered the basilica.

King An gave a few instructions, to only treat the Great Master nicely, and give the Great Master the best courtyard for him to live, he then personally escorted Fa Zhi to the main hall entrance, his actions were very enthusiastic.