Ch 541: Taboo

Only a hundred years?

Jiang Nanyu was somewhat surprised. By this calculation, wouldn’t it be very possible that the Old Taoist knows the owner of this wooden staff?

“Old Bald Head…” Jiang Nanyu thought for a moment. Suddenly, a person slowly emerged in her mind.

No way?

Jiang Nanyu’s heart skipped a beat. She really seemed to know a “Old Bald Head” over a hundred years old.

It shouldn’t be such a coincidence, should it?

That Old Lama didn’t seem like the type to use a staff as a Magical Artifact. Imagining an Eminent Monk with a dignified bearing holding a wooden staff, she shook her head repeatedly, dismissing this eerie footage from her mind.

“Do you know the name of its owner?”

The feather swayed: “Taciturn Wooden Head hasn’t said.”

“Taciturn Wooden Head…” Jiang Nanyu chuckled, “That name is quite fitting for its image.”

Jiang Nanyu approached it, wanting to touch the wooden staff, but the staff swayed slightly and dodged her, muttering, “Men and women should not touch each other, donor, please restrain yourself.”

“…”

This address.

“Could you tell me your master’s name or Dharma Name? Perhaps I know them?”

“You don’t know them,” the wooden staff refused.

But Jiang Nanyu insisted on finding out: “Don’t underestimate me because of my age. I know a lot of people, and coincidentally, I know an Eminent Monk, probably a hundred years old or so, who might just be your master!”

The wooden staff remained silent.

The feather scratched Jiang Nanyu’s palm, telling her that Taciturn Wooden Head was different from them.

Other Spirit Tools and Magical Artifacts were forced into the Netherworld Barrier, but the wooden staff entered voluntarily.

Jiang Nanyu was somewhat surprised.

Magical Artifacts voluntarily entering this accursed place?

“Previously, a sword came in at the same time as it, but that sword’s Cultivation was too shallow, it didn’t even develop Spiritual Awareness, and it instantly turned into a dead object upon entry. Now, I don’t know if its True Form is still there; it probably turned to dust.” A Treasure said.

Jiang Nanyu looked at the wooden staff lying on top of a pile of Treasures, her eyes turning.

These Magical Artifacts seemed quite old, but after developing Spiritual Awareness, their intelligence was no more than that of a child. Jiang Nanyu, having traveled the Rivers and Lakes for so many years, knew how to deal with such brats.

“As the Buddha Said: All things in the world are due to fate and chance encounters. The meeting of destined ones is not accidental, but a pull of fate. The fact that we meet today shows we are destined. Let’s chat,” Jiang Nanyu said with a smile. “I think the Buddha wouldn’t refuse destined ones.”

The wooden staff didn’t expect Jiang Nanyu, a Taoist Priest, to be able to utter such profound sentences, and for a moment, it seemed unable to react.

“I heard them say you came in voluntarily. Surely your master entrusted you with an important matter. Coincidentally, I also came in with a task. I have to come in to find a painting.”

This was also heard by the other Treasures.

“Painting, we have that here! Let me find it for you!”

As if trying to please Jiang Nanyu, two Magical Artifacts immediately began searching, eventually finding a Painting Scroll from under a pile of rubble.

Jiang Nanyu’s heart skipped a beat. No way, could her luck be this good?

They dragged the Painting Scroll in front of Jiang Nanyu. The moment she touched it, her anxious mood immediately calmed down.

She was looking for the Infernal Scarlet Lotus Diagram, and her body also contained the True Form of the Karmic Flame Lotus. In other words, if this Painting Scroll was the Infernal Scarlet Lotus Diagram, she would have a feeling after touching it. But in fact, nothing happened, meaning this was just an ordinary Ancient Painting.

Nevertheless, Jiang Nanyu carefully opened it out of curiosity.

Jiang Nanyu: !!!

She widened her eyes, staring in shock at the painting—

《Zhang Guolao Meets Emperor Xuanzong of Tang》.

Jiang Nanyu was very familiar with this painting. Jiang Nanyu would visit the Palace Museum almost every two years to observe it. The Painting Scroll depicts Zhang Guolao performing Illusion Art in front of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, turning a Paper Donkey into a real donkey, illustrating Daoism’s “Illusion within Reality.”

But the original is in the Palace Museum!

How come there’s one here too?

“Is this painting not good enough?” The feather curiously asked, “This painting has been around for quite some time, from the Ming Dynasty, right? And I think it’s quite interesting. This old man’s donkey is so ugly, hehe.”

Jiang Nanyu was deep in thought. She carefully closed the Ancient Painting: “This is a good painting, but it’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for a Lotus Painting…”

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire mountain cave fell into silence.

Jiang Nanyu didn’t notice their anomaly and continued to describe the Lotus Painting, but as she spoke, she noticed something was wrong, because she found that these Magical Artifacts seemed to be “afraid”?

The feather trembled slightly and asked: “Y-you’re looking for a Lotus Painting?”

“Is there a problem?” Jiang Nanyu asked in confusion.

“Is it the Karmic Flame Lotus Diagram?” The Incense Burner asked cautiously.

Jiang Nanyu carefully observed their reactions. Although she couldn’t see their expressions, their subtle little movements were undoubtedly noticed by her.

In other words, they all knew the whereabouts of the Infernal Scarlet Lotus Diagram?

Jiang Nanyu softened her tone, using the tone she used to coax kindergarten children, and softly asked them: “Do you know the whereabouts of the Infernal Scarlet Lotus Diagram?”

All the Magical Artifacts immediately swayed their bodies, refusing to answer the question, their nervous and fearful emotions overflowing.

Even the feather nervously wrapped around Xingxing, whispering: “You can’t mention that painting in the Netherworld Barrier; there will be terrible consequences.”

Jiang Nanyu raised her eyebrows slightly. Serious consequences?

So, the Karmic Flame Lotus Diagram has a very bad temper, or there are other reasons.

Regardless, it might not be a bad thing for her.