Chapter 209: The Great Hall of Light guarantees.
Min Guofei's face immediately showed a subtle change, colorful, as if he had eaten something unpleasant.
After all, no one expected that right after those words were spoken, a disciple of the Great Hall of Light actually appeared, and he was even a disciple of Venerable One Miaofa. This can't be a joke, right?!!
Qiao Wan asked in a dazed tone, "Sen...senior?"
Ever since the gathering with fellow cultivators, she hadn't seen Venerable One Miaofa again. These past few days, she had been busy climbing the tower, not even closing her eyes, let alone dreaming.
Furthermore, after the embarrassing experience last time, just the thought of it made Qiao Wan's face feel a bit hot. She definitely wouldn't try this dreaming thing again anytime soon!!
Ma Huaizhen, on the other hand, wasn't at all disturbed.
The fact that Ciji and Qiao Wan didn't get acquainted in Kunshan wasn't a secret.
The man hadn't forgotten about the job and asked, with a smile, "How do you prove that Qiao Wan is using the power of the Great Hall of Light?"
At that moment, Qiao Wan suddenly remembered that she was still in the middle of doing something important.
Ciji burst into laughter and walked over to the young person who was still groaning on the ground. He reached out and said with a smile, "Yes, it is indeed the power of the Great Hall of Light that Little Qiao sold, but this taoist friend mixed something else in it."
"What is it?" asked Ma Huaizhen.
Ciji collected himself and said, "It's demonic energy."
Ma Huaizhen's face grew cold. He stared at Ciji for a moment, then smiled calmly, saying, "This is not a joke."
The monk remained unmoved.
Banishing demons and evil spirits was their specialty as monks.
Ma Huaizhen raised his hand and signaled his undercover disciple to bring a chair for Ciji to continue speaking.
"I agree with Little Qiao," Ciji pondered for a moment and grinned, "Master, something fishy is going on here. There must be someone playing tricks behind the scenes. I don't think you are impulsive, so why don't we hand these people over to Wenshi Hall for questioning first?"
"As for Little Qiao..." Ciji paused, smiling as he uttered a shocking statement that stunned everyone, "We, the Great Hall of Light, will vouch for her."
"What do you think, Master?"
Ma Huaizhen blinked, a hint of surprise appearing on his face.
The Great Hall of Light, vouching for her?
Looking at Ciji with a slightly startled expression, everyone wondered.
Is this monk serious?
The Kunshan disciples who were eavesdropping on the jade slip were also shocked.
Is this serious? How did the Great Hall of Light get involved? You should know that the Great Hall of Light has a high status, which is different from a position determined by strength. It has a high religious status. Although the Great Hall of Light is indeed powerful, it is dedicated to the belief of being kind to others. Its disciples rarely clash with others. Even when Sun Tao College and Fanxin Temple surrounded the Great Hall of Light last time, the Great Hall of Light still managed to maintain a sense of "courtesy".
Ever since Ciji arrived, Ma Huaizhen was not surprised. That's because he controlled Wenshi Hall completely. He knew about Ciji coming to Wenshi Hall even before Qiao Wan and the others. He specifically used a secret message to instruct his undercover disciples not to stop Ciji from entering. He allowed him in.
But what Ma Huaizhen did not expect was that the monk from Great Compassion Cliff in front of him dared to involve the entire Great Hall of Light.
Now, there was a disciple named Kunshan who had been influenced by dark magic. It was uncertain whether this would be a big or small problem for Qiao Wan, but the fact that he dared to bring the Great Hall of Light to vouch for Qiao Wan showed that he was a brave man. He never expected that the monk named Ciji had such abilities.
Ma Huaizhen quietly observed Ciji.
Based on his brief interaction with the person in charge of the Great Hall of Light during the gathering of fellow practitioners, Venerable One Miaofa seemed like a serious and devout follower of Buddhism. However, he was actually not like those top-notch practitioners who seemed ethereal and were like "lucky charms" with their exceptional abilities and mysterious aura.
This Venerable One had a hot temper and acted like an official. He perfectly embodied the concept of being enlightened while still being a part of the world. Under the pressure of Venerable One Miaofa, it seemed that no one dared to challenge or surpass him.
The fact that Ciji dared to speak these words indicated that he had received a signal from Venerable One Miaofa.
But why should Venerable One Miaofa vouch for Qiao Wan?
Seeing Ma Huaizhen's silence, Ciji smiled and said, "Hall Master, why not give the Great Hall of Light some face? What do you think?"
After glancing at Ciji, Ma Huaizhen finally put on an official smile and said, "Ciji, my taoist friend, you're too kind."
These monks from the Great Hall of Light, each one more calculating and worldly than the other. Hall Master Ma smiled with a hint of officiality, subtly twitching at the corner of his mouth.
Ming Guofei and the others immediately panicked, "Hall Master... are you... are you serious?"
"What about her?" Ming Guofei pointed at Qiao Wan. "It's fine for us to stay in Wenshi Hall, but should we let her go without knowing the truth?"
"Who said we're just letting her go like that?" Ma Huaizhen glanced at Ming Guofei and kindly said, "Don't worry, she'll be accompanied by our undercover disciples for the entire day."
"What a load of nonsense!"
Min Guofei was so enraged that he almost burst into tears due to this blatant bias.
Why were only a few of them being detained while Qiao Wan. was still free to move around? And this so-called "surveillance" had such a wide range of operation, he couldn't believe that the dark disciples would really be monitoring her closely for twelve hours a day, all the time, given the close relationship between Qiao Wan and the dark disciples.
As Qiao Wan walked out of the Wenshi Hall's gate, she felt a bit lost.
Having spent so many years in Kunshan, this was the first time she experienced the feeling of having support. Qiao Wan silently shed tears, feeling a mixture of relief and pressure.
The news on the jade slip kept ringing incessantly, without exception, all shocked by the sudden outcome brought about by the Great Hall of Light.
In the story, it was mentioned earlier that the outcome of this matter depended on the person's decision. You could either make it a big deal or make it small and insignificant. However, if it alarmed the Great Hall of Light, it wouldn't be reasonable to protect Qiao Wan.
Qiao Wan felt a bit uneasy, as if her secret identity was in danger. Suppressing her joy of reunion, she gently asked Ciji, "Do you know where the senior is?"
The naive monk grinned, "The senior said that once this matter is resolved, I should bring you to find him."
Ignoring the hundreds of curious eyes on the jade slip, Qiao Wan decisively ended the live stream and thought for a moment. "Okay, let's go then."
According to Ciji, Venerable One Miaofa went to Kunshan after leaving the Great Hall of Light. First, he met with the head of Kunshan on behalf of the Great Hall of Light, conveying warm greetings. Then, he met with several senior elders.
Qiao Wan asked, a little confused, "So where is he now?"
"He's still at Shangqing Peak."
Shangqing Peak!
Qiao Wan felt a shiver at the back of her head.
This is the main peak of Kunshan. All major events of Kunshan are decided by the elders through voting in the Ziwei Immortal Palace on this peak. Ordinary disciples of Kunshan cannot enter the Ziwei Immortal Palace. Only elite disciples like Lu Pihan can enter. However, there are only a few disciples like him in the whole Kunshan.
Having lived in Kunshan for decades, this was the first time Qiao Wan had ever gone to the Ziwei Immortal Palace.
Suddenly, Qiao Wan felt even more discomfort between her legs.
She looked up at the towering mountain peak surrounded by vast clouds. The peak soared into the sky, with winding corridors, pavilions, and buildings scattered in a magnificent display. The colorful glass tiles and the clouds in the sky created a stunning reflection of colors.
The pressure seemed to increase even more.
With a mix of excitement and nervousness, Qiao Wan pushed open the large gate in front of her.
As Qiao Wan entered, she was greeted by white jade floor tiles, shining brightly. The walls of the hall were adorned with colorful paintings, reflecting off the white jade tiles, creating a magnificent scene. The hall was spacious and deep, with echoes of footsteps. In the center, under the dim light, there were a total of more than ten chairs.
Not all of the chairs were occupied, and Qiao Wan glanced at them with relief in her eyes. Perhaps it was because Venerable One Miaofa had already seen the sect leader and other elders before, so there were not many elders sitting in the hall.
There was Zhou Yan and Elder Xuan Zhong, along with three others who were relatively unfamiliar and rarely interacted with people: Spiritual Master Miaoxing and Elder Lianzhen.
Zhou Yan sat upright in a chair on the right side, his white robe flowing down, his face showing no emotions.
As Qiao Wan pushed open the door, there was a momentary silence in the hall. Then, she heard a refreshing and majestic Buddhist chant that invigorated the mind.
"Come up."
Feeling pressured, Qiao Wan, with her head down, tightly gripped her sword and stared at the ground. Luckily, the ground was clean and reflected a clear image.
The Venerable One, with long eyebrows slightly furrowed, sat on the high seat. Even though the reflection on the floor was a bit blurry, it was still easy to recognize the captivating and extraordinary beauty of a woman who seemed detached from the worldly affairs.
It was her hair, a shade of dark blue...
That beautiful dark blue hair...
For a moment, Qiao Wan fell silent, her thoughts unexpectedly straying.
Why did these monks have such beautiful long hair? It was quite unfair! She couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy, while touching her own bare scalp, as if her heart was unsatisfied with this situation.
Although she knew that monks having hair was mainly because of the novel "Immortal Ascending Road," perhaps fearing that readers would find it hard to accept a bald character, in "Immortal Ascending Road," every handsome and well-known monk had a head of flowing hair.
Just then, Spiritual Master Miaoxing suddenly spoke up, "Does the Venerable One know Qiao Wan?"
In front of everyone's eyes, the great figure of the Buddhist world calmly said, "Elders, you're mistaken. I have a history with this young friend."
"After she left the mountain, she once studied under me, accompanying me and learning the ways of Buddhism for a while." Unsure if he remembered an unpleasant memory, Miaofa furrowed his brow and said coldly, "There was indeed some sense of mentorship between us."
As these words were spoken, a few elders in the hall couldn't help but glance at Yuqing Spiritual Master sitting on the right side.
Mentorship... a bond?