Cheng Yunqi felt an extraordinary sensation, as if he were floating in the air, truly becoming a wisp of cloud.
Another "self" sat beneath him.
He listened, and the sound of the wind was loud, the rustling of bamboo leaves like thunder; he looked, and it seemed as if all distances had vanished, the ants on the ground carrying insect corpses were clearly visible; he smelled, the sweetness of the rain mist, the fresh scent of spring bamboo shoots, the faint earthy smell, all distinguishable.
He wanted to feel more carefully, but then he saw Priestess Sukong wave her sleeve at him, and suddenly, the world spun.
When he regained his senses, he was deep in the bamboo forest.
Looking around, the greenness surrounded him like an ocean, the mountain wind passing through the forest, and Yunqi felt as if he too would be carried away by the wind.
Yunqi focused his mind, carefully sensing the connection with the human soul as Priestess Sukong had mentioned.
In the depths of his mind, he felt like a rootless duckweed, about to be carried away by the wind, merging with the sky, seeping into the earth.
Only in the northwest direction was there an attraction; only by going there could he take root.
Having clarified the direction, Yunqi had the thought to head that way.
As soon as the thought arose, he felt himself drifting in that direction, the stronger the thought, the faster his soul floated.
After less than half a mile, a fragrant aroma rose from the soil below, and in a daze, his soul involuntarily descended.
He saw a green-leafed purple vine lying on the ground, heart-shaped leaves with white veins, deep purple vines, resembling fleeceflower root but emitting a strange fragrance.
Just floating nearby and smelling it made his soul feel more solid.
In just a few breaths, Yunqi felt as if an eternity had passed, lost in a trance, then suddenly jolted awake.
If his body were still there, he would surely be drenched in cold sweat.
Resisting the temptation, clearing his mind, Yunqi began to float towards the northwest again.
Along the way, various spiritual creatures like golden butterflies, white cats, green snakes, macaques, black muntjacs, and pheasants noticed Yunqi's wandering soul.
These creatures, not yet enlightened, didn't know what a wandering soul was and often flew over to play and frolic, causing Yunqi great distress as he struggled to avoid them.
What was even harder for Yunqi to endure was the attraction of various exotic flowers and plants along the way, as if the invisible fragrances were nets trying to ensnare his soul.
Fortunately, Yunqi's will was strong, and he ignored all temptations, determined to return to his body.
However, with his soul outside, his senses were sharp, but his perception of time was dull.
Yunqi didn't know how much time had passed or how much he had left, so he hurried on, not daring to delay.
As he floated, a feeling of weakness and exhaustion hit him.
Yunqi thought it was bad; had time run out, and his soul could no longer be maintained?
Panic rose, but Yunqi was helpless.
He had never felt the passage of life so clearly.
"Whoosh—"
At that moment, Cheng Yunqi keenly noticed that the never-ceasing mountain wind had turned northwest.
He realized this was an opportunity.
He carefully felt, pondered, and tried to merge his soul into the wind, riding it.
The soul is between the real and the unreal.
Previously, when assaulted by fragrances or caught by various spiritual creatures, he had imagined himself as a void, weakening his senses and gathering his soul.
But now, to harness the wind's power, he imagined himself as a solid body, stretching his limbs, billowing like a large flag.
These were his own musings, but they proved very useful.
The soul rode the wind, swiftly moving away.
As the wind gradually slowed, Yunqi was almost there, already seeing the stele marking the place where Zhan Biyun hid the bamboo.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief and quickly floated towards the stele, soon seeing a bamboo pavilion.
But upon closer inspection, a wave of unease surged within him.
The place was the same, the stele was there, the bamboo pavilion was there, the bamboo mat was there, but where was Priestess Sukong? Where were the young men and women who had accompanied him? More importantly, where was his own body?
Yunqi frantically searched around, but after countless circles, he found nothing.
He wanted to shout, but his soul could make no sound.
The feeling of weakness grew heavier, and Yunqi was frantic.
Then, a flash of inspiration struck, and he flew into the bamboo pavilion, but the scene inside left him at a loss.
In the pavilion were:
A handsome young man in white, thin and pale, with tightly closed eyes, sitting cross-legged, life and death unknown, but his appearance was no different from Yunqi's soul-separated body;
A robust, burly man, looking to be in his thirties or forties, but with a missing right eye, his appearance quite fierce, also in a soulless state;
A slovenly, bald old Taoist, covered in filth, emitting a foul stench, but his robe was of the same style as Priestess Sukong's, also in a soulless state;
A somewhat eerie paper figure, dressed in normal clothes, with a hat, shoes, and socks;
A plant with thick roots and few leaves, the root black, already human-shaped, with limbs and distinct facial features, resembling a doll, with leaves wrapped around its head like a grass crown;
And finally, a bamboo staff, seven feet long with seven sections, straight, jade-green, slightly transparent, with hollow ends and five sections in the middle emitting colorful light.
The second section had two bamboo branches, and the last section also had two branches, each with five leaves, giving it a somewhat limb-like appearance.
Yunqi was at a loss, but intuition told him that these people or objects could all house his soul.
Now it was just a matter of choice.
Yunqi looked at the incense burner; the incense was almost at its end, about to burn out.
Was returning on time not the test, but the final choice the real test?
Human?
The handsome but frail young man? The robust but maimed middle-aged man? Or the noble but slovenly old man?
Human-like?
The utterly baffling paper figure and bamboo figure, or the human-shaped, fragrant fleeceflower root?
Yunqi's mind was a mess, his thoughts jumping between the three humans and three objects.
Not long after, Yunqi first gave up on the three human bodies.
If he were to live again, he didn't want to wear someone else's skin.
Moreover, he thought, were these three bodies waiting for their own souls to return?
Since immortals truly exist in this world, why not inhabit an object?
Then, Yunqi quickly gave up on the paper figure, as the fleeceflower root and bamboo staff at least looked vibrant, while the paper figure felt lifeless.
His thoughts oscillated between the fleeceflower root and the bamboo staff, unsure how to choose.
As the last bit of incense ash was about to fall, Yunqi prepared to attach to the more human-shaped fleeceflower root.
But just as his soul was about to touch the fleeceflower root, he suddenly noticed a faint consciousness within it, expressing fear and pleading to Yunqi's soul.
So, this fleeceflower root had already become a spirit, gaining intelligence.
Yunqi breathed a sigh of relief, no longer needing to choose, and immediately entered the bamboo staff.
Just in time, the last bit of incense ash fell.
Cheng Yunqi suddenly opened his eyes.
Before him was still the stele marking Zhan Biyun's hidden bamboo.
Looking around, Priestess Sukong sat calmly in the bamboo pavilion, with a circle of people sitting around him, heads bowed, soulless.
Below the stele, about twenty or thirty young men and women stood, still not daring to approach.
He touched his face, his chest, and his back, realizing he had somehow returned to his body.
The young man, middle-aged man, old man, paper figure, fleeceflower root, and bamboo staff he had seen earlier had all disappeared.
It was as if it had all been a dream.
"You, stand behind me."
Yunqi looked up at Priestess Sukong, who was looking directly at him.
Yunqi didn't dare delay, stood up, and walked to stand behind the priestess.
At that moment, he saw the incense in the burner, still more than half left.
"Truly the methods of an immortal, have I passed?"
Yunqi thought to himself, then focused his gaze, standing still.
Watching the incense burn out, no one else woke up.
The soulless people on the bamboo mat showed no reaction.
Seeing this, the expressions of the dozens of young men and women below the stele who hadn't dared to participate in the trial were varied—some shocked, some horrified, some regretful—but all accompanied by a sense of relief at having survived.
After the incense burned out, Priestess Sukong, expressionless, took out a small white banner from her sleeve.
She gently waved it, and Yunqi heard her softly chant:
"Wandering souls, where do you linger? A thousand miles away, quickly return to your body!"
Suddenly, a gust of wind arose, and Yunqi felt a cool breeze brush his face.
Immediately, the soulless people on the bamboo mat suddenly raised their heads, as if waking from a nightmare.
They looked around, gradually regaining their senses.
Seeing Yunqi behind Priestess Sukong and the extinguished incense burner, expressions of frustration and unwillingness gradually appeared on their faces.
However, seeing these soulless people wake up, the expressions of those below the stele changed again, becoming even more unpleasant than those sitting on the bamboo mat.
If they had known the priestess could recall wandering souls, why wouldn't they have dared to participate in the trial?
Just as everyone on the bamboo mat had awakened, Jihu the Taoist arrived as promised.
Priestess Sukong pointed at Yunqi and said:
"Jihu, please first escort these young guests back outside the mountain. When you return, take him to Wanhu Peak."
"Yes, Master Yu."
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(End of Chapter)