Chapter 3548: Temple In The Wilderness
Rolling hills and deep forests, peaks covered by dogs - this made people feel as if they were entering a mysterious world.
It consisted of towering trees, bottomless lakes, and dark valleys that could lead someone to another dimension. There was no lack of powerful birds and beasts either of the chaos primal level.
Bubbles appeared on the surface of a pond. “Splash.” A young, hornless dragon got out of the water and lay by the sh.o.r.e, lazily enjoying the sunlight.
“Screech!” A screech tore apart the clouds as a ma.s.sive bird flew by. Its wings caused gales to destroy the trees below.
“Raaa!” A primal roar came before a ma.s.sive beast. Its shadow engulfed the land.
As this great beast slowly walked out from a valley, the smaller creatures within a hundred miles radius started running away. The ones too weak or slow to do so became paralyzed on the ground, completely suppressed by its monstrous aura.
The area had too many monsters including high heaven-level ones. They definitely reigned the region.
Nonetheless, Li Qiye walked through leisurely while using the borrowed hatchet to cut the vines and briars.
The beasts saw him from a distance and got far away even though he didn’t exude an aura. Their beastly instinct told them that Li Qiye was the real slumbering monster.
Of course, a few powerful yet blind ones roared and tried to stop his path. The result was obvious - Li Qiye easily chased them away. None of them affected his trajectory in the slightest.
He crossed through numerous mountains and valleys before reaching a particular peak.
It wasn’t that large or majestic. In reality, it looked rather obscured compared to its brethren. Nonetheless, Li Qiye chose it at his resting place.
The pinnacle had enough trees for ample shade. Various vines and briars filled the area. Beyond them were red tiles and walls. It turned out that there was a building in this place.
However, it looked decrepit with broken sections in the walls. Nature has taken over inside.
“This is it.” Some memories and familiar figures popped up in Li Qiye’s mind, prompting an emotional fluctuation.
“Not too bad, I can still stay here.” He said softly after looking at the condition inside.
He started to clean up with the hatchet given to him by the driver. It was extraordinary and sharp; he had no difficulties clearing the vines and thorns.
He ended up clearing the entire peak. Eventually, one could finally see a temple on top.
In the past, it must have been far larger but now, only this section was left. There were still Buddha statues in the center. The walls had Buddhist diagrams depicting different things. Unfortunately, most were broken by now.
After all, the rains and winds across the years could break down the toughest structure.
He heaved a sigh of relief, satisfied with his job while looking at the temple. Though it wasn’t as majestic as before, it was still more than enough for Li Qiye.
He picked up a plaque on the ground with ancient characters. Few in the modern era could read them.
He swept away the leaves and dust, revealing two characters - Archaic Buddhist. He quietly murmured the words: “Archaic Buddhist Temple.” [1]
He stared at the characters for a bit before hanging the plaque up again. He then entered the shrine and stood in front of a wall painting. The damage rendered the content inscrutable. Nonetheless, Li Qiye still stared at it since he still remembered everything in his mind so it didn’t matter.
After a while, he sighed and said: “Another fateful connection ends in this generation.”
Just like that, he decided to stay at this temple. He actually lived like a woodchopper, true to his words.
He spent each day personally chopping firewood in the morning then burning them into charcoal at night.
Time pa.s.sed by just like that. If anyone were to see him, they would a.s.sume that he was just another woodchopper.
This lasted for a while and no one knew his intent. He also raised a wild boar and a dog since it was convenient.
The wild boar had spa.r.s.e hair. One of its fangs was broken, seemingly damaged from fighting with another animal. The dog had an ashen yellow fur, skinny and feeble as if it had starved for a long time.
Li Qiye named one Lil’ Black and the other Lil’ Yellow. He didn’t put a lot of thought into this.
Lil’ Black didn’t do much outside of eating the roots around the temple or dug up the soil. However, Li Qiye made use of this and planted seeds for some vegetables.
As for Lil’ Yellow, it was sickly and only lay in front of the entrance the entire day, too lazy to even open its eyes.
Occasionally, Lil’ Black came to bother it and it would finally lift its head to bark once or twice.
Of course, it would sometimes follow Li Qiye when he went out to chop woods in order to hunt some small animals.
The man, boar, and dog lived in this manner. This uncomfortable life was actually quite peaceful.
More time pa.s.sed and he harvested the vegetables with no intention of leaving. He didn’t work all day and spent some time relaxing.
Nature was kind to him - the mountain breezes and water from the springs. The roars of beasts served as melodies.
The only thing he made sure to do each day was to stare at the wall painting and chant.
If someone were here to listen, they wouldn’t be able to understand him anyway. The chants were too profound and ancient. The words were unheard of in the present day. He didn’t miss a single day regardless of the circ.u.mstances.
On one morning, an old man visited the temple. He wore an ordinary robe; his back was slightly bent and his complexion aged. He occasionally coughed as well.
Nonetheless, he had no trouble traversing the harsh terrain. The beasts didn’t dare to approach him either, seemingly afraid.
He stopped for a bit at the base before climbing up out of curiosity for the temple.
1. I’m not sure if this temple was there in the first 3,000 chapters. I tried looking up the name but didn’t see it. Let me know in Discord/report comment if this is the case. The actual translation can change too, need more context