Chapter 3630: Evil Portent
Golden Cicada Buddhist Child eventually started walking out of the temple. Of course, he finished the meat until there was nothing but bones. He seemed to be saying that since he had bit the bait, might as well finish the whole thing.
“It’s better to be a satisfied ghost than a hungry one.” He rubbed his bulging stomach before leaving.
Though Li Qiye’s request robbed him of air, he didn’t mistreat himself at all and got the entire divine bull for himself.
“It’s nice to be able to enjoy food.” Li Qiye smiled after seeing his appearance.
The monk turned back and placed his palms together to bid Li Qiye goodbye then left.
“This little one has a great Buddhist nature.” The old servant assessed.
“There is still a limit.” Li Qiye said: “Those before him had reached a level too high for anyone from the holy ground to surpass. This is for certain.”
The old man agreed. The holy ground had produced plenty of geniuses including four dao lords.
Golden Cicada might be attuned with Buddhism but he had no chance of surpassing the sages before him, definitely not supreme existences like Buddha Dao Lord and Dhyana Dao Lord.
A bit later, loud noises came from outside and disturbed Li Qiye. He saw Yang Ling pulling Fan Bai inside.
They were gasping for air. Yang Ling’s face was red and filled with indignation. Fan Bai kept her head lowered, not wanting to see anyone. She looked sad and clearly lacked confidence among other complex emotions.
“What is it?” Li Qiye asked.
“They crossed the line! Hmph, not even sparing a little girl!” Yang Ling dangerously said.
Li Qiye stared at Fan Bai who still kept her head lowered while touching her sleeves. Tears filled her eyes but she didn’t want them to stream down her cheeks.
Li Qiye knew what happened right away.
It was rowdy outside by this point. One student shouted: “Li, bring her out, you can’t hide her forever!”
“Zhang Changyu’s group is looking for trouble!” The furious Yang Ling wanted to rush out.
“It’s fine.” Li Qiye smiled and went out with the two girls.
“Young Master…” Fan Bai was afraid and didn’t know how to face the situation. She got the urge to run away and find a place with no one around, never meeting a stranger again.
“Don’t worry.” He stroked her hair and said: “I’ll be there for you even when the sky falls down. Certain things are inevitable and you need to face them in order to change your fate. Forget about others and what they say, you’ll be the one in charge of you.”
“I…” She remained teary. Ever since she gained awareness, she was considered an evil portent by everyone. People always pointed at her; some hated and even chased her away.
“Raise your head and arch your chest.” Li Qiye stared at her and said seriously: “The moment you walk through this door, you will never turn back and think about the past. From now on, you’re Fan Bai, a future god standing at the apex!”
These words resembled absolute judgment. It made her tremble; she eventually calmed down and clenched her fists. She raised her head and arched her chest to assume a confident pose.
“Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and gave her more courage.
There were many students crowding the temple. A dozen or so stood in front of the gate. The ones in the distance were gossiping.
“Is it true?” One student came after hearing the news.
“Yes, the legendary Foredoomed Star. She’s actually here in our academy.” Another friend nodded.
“It’ll be a misfortune to have her around, she shouldn’t stay here.” A different student said with scorn.
“She’s just a young girl, it’s not that serious. Foredoomed Star? It’s just a series of coincidences.” One friend disagreed.
“Right, our academy has been around for millions of years, successfully surpassing all calamities. This so-called legend won’t matter.” Another said dismissively.
So it turned out that Yang Ling wanted to take Fan Bai on a tour of Duality so that the latter would get used to it. Moreover, Yang Ling thought that just staying and training in the temple all the time would make Fan Bai sick.
Unfortunately, during their trip, a few older students read the signs and recognized her as the legendary Foredoomed Star.
This tale was well-known in the southern West King. Misfortunes occurred right after Fan Bai’s birth. Her parents died soon after and her clan suffered a disaster.
A couple adopted her but they also died; their sect fell as well. Next came a powerful cultivator. This person didn’t last for more than a few days, having exploded to death.
The enemies of his sect came a bit later and massacred everyone. Fan Bai was the sole survivor.
Thus, anyone who helped her had a terrible outcome. She was the only one who came out alive each time.
Thus, she became known as an unlucky star. Her stories spread like wildfires and people stopped helping her.
In fact, many cities and sect territories didn’t allow her in. They would instantly banish her on sight.
She became a wanderer hated by all. Children would throw stones at her - this was a regular occurrence.
She eventually focused on finding abandoned places and became afraid of people. She started to change after meeting Li Qiye; he showed her a new possibility.
By this point, numerous students have arrived after hearing the news. Some wanted to chase this symbol of misfortune away from Duality.
Yan Jingxuan and Zhang Changyu advocated for kicking her out and garnered plenty of support. The group ran here to the temple afterward.
“Li, hand the unlucky star over now or you’ll be provoking the academy.” Zhang Changyu shouted. He came to seek retribution for the previous humiliation. This was a godsend opportunity for him.
“This is too much.” One female student thought that chasing away a little girl was too much.
“No. On one hand, our academy will be just fine and one unlucky star won’t do anything. This might not be the case for the students. We’re just regular people, can we really avoid something nefarious haunting us?” Her male friend retorted.
The group exchanged glances. Sure, Duality probably wouldn’t fall but this might not be the case for the students. Death was a possibility.
The legends were quite scary after being spread for so long. The students became slightly afraid.
“It’s better to be safe then.” A student changed his mind: “If something unfortunate were to happen, we’ll be throwing our lives away, the same with our clan and sect.”
No one had a response this time.