Chapter 207
Xiao Ma thought a while and said, “Little Ye, could it be that the force pulled me along when you were entering?”
Ye Shaoyang shook his head, “Impossible . I came in with my Divine Eye so the force would only apply to me . There is one possibility . You are related to this place, and you are destined to be here . ”
“What relation?”
“I don’t know . ” Both of them went silent for a moment before Ye Shaoyang continued, “Nah, it doesn’t matter . Since you’re in here, let’s walk . ”
As he said, he walked in the opposite direction of the hill as he planned . Xiao Ma followed him at once and asked, “Little Ye, how does this place exist? How is such a huge space contained in a little tablet?”
“This is a world of imagination . The owner of the tablet created it with his mind’s power . ”
“But how can we walk in a visionary world?” Xiao Ma stomped as he continued to ask, “And the texture the ground is similar to the real world!”
“You’re still a fool as usual!” Ye Shaoyang was out of patience and shouted, “Your body is still out in the real world . Only your soul came in here . It is as though you are dreaming, understand?!”
“Errr… . ” Xiao Ma scratched his head, “You should have told me that earlier . ”
Ye Shaoyang felt speechless . Xiao Ma could not understand it but blamed him for not explaining it clearly .
“One more question . Why--”
Ye Shaoyang grabbed Xiao Ma’s collar and yelled angrily, “Why do you have so many questions? Have you considered my feelings? Stop questioning me from now on!”
Xiao Ma stared at Ye Shaoyang for a moment and smiled awkwardly, “Alright, alright . I will stop asking and follow you . Oh ya, where are we heading to?”
Ye Shaoyang didn’t answer .
A body of water appeared as far as the eye can see when they walked a hundred meters or so . Ye Shaoyang stood by the shore and looked .
“This is the Wugen Sea . It indicates the border of the world,” said Ye Shaoyang as he marched along the shore followed by Xiao Ma .
After ten minutes of walking, they had reached the other side of the hill . They did not see anything along the way . Ye Shaoyang thought, “It seems like the hill is the only clue . ”
As he walked up the hill with Xiao Ma, Ye Shaoyang was amazed at the size of the imagined world . A Heavenly Master who could create such a big imaginary world with his mind’s power must have been a super powerful sorcerer .
There was a flight of ancient stone steps leading to the hilltop .
Xiao Ma exclaimed, “The Heavenly Master has a great imagination . Look at these stone steps . There is moss growing on the steps with a bamboo and pine forest alongside it . It looks so true to life!”
Ye Shaoyang shook his head, “This is not his imagination . This scene existed, and the owner reconstructed it with his mind’s power . You could easily do the same if I asked you to construct the image of your house . ”
Xiao Ma was shocked by his answer . He looked around and asked, “Do you mean this place exists somewhere in the real world?”
Since Xiao Ma kept quiet for a period, Ye Shaoyang had completely forgotten his order to make Xiao Ma stop asking questions . He replied, “How do I know? I have not been here before . ”
The hill was quite low, so the two of them reached the building on the hilltop quickly . It was a classically designed building with upturned eaves and carved on the memorial arch erected in front of the main doors were three mottled words in seal script . Since he was young, Ye Shaoyang studied ancient books in Maoshan . He was quite familiar with seal script and read them out at once, “Qing Tian Temple!”
It was a Daoist temple! Ye Shaoyang realized that the temple might once have been the Heavenly Master’s place of cultivation .
“Have a look here, Little Ye . ”
Ye Shaoyang gazed along Xiao Ma’s pointed finger to the tall Taihu Lake stone erected by the road . In the smooth surface of the stone was carved a saying: Qing Tian is boundless .
What does that mean?
Ye Shaoyang recalled the temple from the ancient Daoist books, but none of them had mentioned the phrase . Without further thought, he and Xiao Ma entered the temple .
It was a small temple with two yards, similar to other temples . The front yard was empty except for two magnificent, ferocious-looking statues of the Daoist deities standing by the entrance holding a mace and voulge, respectively .
Ye Shaoyang did not stop and walked across the yard to the main hall . Similar to a typical Daoist temple, the statues of the Three Pure Ones were placed in the room, but to Ye Shaoyang’s surprise, there was another statue placed at a lower position . He thought it would be a statue of Zhang Daoling or Lu Dongbin, but he found out it was not one of them as he gave a closer look . However, it looked quite familiar to him .
The finding shocked Ye Shaoyang, “Other than Zhang Daoling and Lu Dongbin, who has the right to a place below The Three Pure Ones? But the statue, I seem to have met him before . ”
Xiao Ma approached and looked at it . He frowned and held his chin, “I have seen him before too . . . ” His body suddenly jerked vigorously . He looked at the statue then at Ye Shaoyang and said in a trembling voice, “Little Ye, this statue-- this statue looks exactly like you!”
Ye Shaoyang was petrified . He looked again at the statue . It was true . The statue looked like him . He did not recognize it because he had never expected his face to appear on a statue and the appearance of a statue was slightly different from a real person . That was why he felt it was familiar without realizing it looked like him .
Xiao Ma mumbled, “Little Ye, since when have you become a God?!”
“Don’t talk nonsense!” Ye Shaoyang glared at Xiao Ma as he scolded him .
He advanced a few steps forward and examined the statue . Only he realized the differences between him and the statue: I have thicker eyebrows, a higher nose bridge and… . Hmmm, indeed, I am more handsome compared to it .
He told his findings to Xiao Ma . After they discussed, they agreed the statue was not Ye Shaoyang but had many similarities .
“This statue must be related to you . Could it be of one of your ancestors?”
Ye Shaoyang stroked his chin and stared at the statue, feeling strange .
After all, Daoism was one of the traditional religions in China . A lot of people believed in Daoism during ancient times . It was normal to have several Daoists or a few Heavenly Masters in a particular clan . If the statue is of my ancestor, it’s so unlikely for it to look so much like me .