Chapter 41

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Zheng knew he had made a mistake, saying the wrong thing! This was not good at all. It was all his fault for speaking without thinking. If he had known better, he wouldn't have learned those pretentious tricks and just spoken normally. Now, he had called the little girl's teacher "Xian Di" (Younger Brother). What was he going to do now? He had offended the little girl's teacher. Would the teacher be angry? That man with the stone-carved face looked so fierce!

Lu Zheng's heart was pounding, and he kept stealing glances at Li Yi. Fortunately, Li Yi was a man of great cultivation and did not intend to argue with this unknown child. Instead of getting angry, he decided to show the grace of an elder, which would make him appear more polite and cultivated. This child was brought by the monk Baku, so he must be giving the monk some face. This kid might be a disciple Baku had brought back from the human world. Realizing this, Li Yi pretended not to hear those three words and said calmly, "Oh, it's Master Baku. Is Little Xian Di your disciple?"

This time, Lu Zheng was smart enough not to mention "Xian Di" again. He answered honestly, "No." After answering, he felt he had said too little and seemed impolite, but what else could he say? He remembered he should ask the man something, so he added, "Sir, are you related to Mr. Le? Are you brothers?"

Lu Zheng noticed that this man was dressed similarly to Mr. Le, though he had a long beard, a tall hat, and a stern expression. Despite the sternness, he looked somewhat familiar, so he boldly asked. Normally, he would never have asked such a question, usually only answering half of what was asked. Today, for some reason, in front of this little girl, he felt braver. He even subconsciously stepped in front of her when the teacher looked stern, though he himself was not aware of this.

What a silly question! Li Yi's hands, hidden behind his back, clenched into fists. He wished he could cover this foolish child's mouth. Why did he have to ask if he was Baku's disciple? He thought, "Sure enough, this is someone brought by Baku. The monk is honest and straightforward, but his disciple is full of foolishness!"

There was nothing wrong with the question, but Li Yi was a man of strict principles, always concerned with hierarchy and propriety. He felt very uncomfortable. He knew this child had probably never seen much of the world and had not been taught how to respond to elders. Although he did not want to be angry with the child, he immediately decided to quickly distance himself from this troublemaker and not get entangled with him. He took a step back and simply answered, "No." Then he turned to his student and said, "Xin'er, come back to class with me."

The little girl, who was usually a bit afraid of this strict teacher, today saw a silly little brother who had made the teacher so angry, yet the teacher could do nothing about it. She had been watching the whole time, her insides laughing so hard that her stomach hurt, but her face remained tight, not daring to show any expression.

When Lu Zheng mentioned Mr. Le, she remembered that she wasn't just running around on her own but had been asked by Mr. Le to show this little brother around. Hearing the teacher's words, she replied, "Teacher, Xin'er isn't running around on her own this time. Uncle Le asked Xin'er to show this little brother around." Influenced by this little brother, Xin'er felt braver herself.

Li Yi, upon hearing this, suddenly had a realization and glanced up at the Two-Boundary Mountain. When he turned back, his face showed a look of enlightenment, and he stared at Lu Zheng for a long time, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Lu Zheng felt embarrassed under his gaze and took a couple of steps back. Li Yi suddenly asked, "Are you Lu Zheng?" His tone seemed to carry a hint of excitement.

Lu Zheng nodded, wondering how this teacher knew his name when he had never mentioned it.

Li Yi also nodded, his face returning to its usual stern expression. He stopped talking to Lu Zheng and turned to Xin'er, saying, "Xin'er, since it's Uncle Le's request, you should show him around properly. We'll do today's homework after dinner." With that, he walked away, his hands behind his back.

The little girl almost couldn't believe her ears. The teacher had agreed to delay the homework until after dinner, which was unprecedented! Was the sun rising in the west today? Even the stone-carved teacher had his moments of leniency? Who was this little brother, and how did he have such power?

She quickly bowed and said, "I understand, teacher, walk slowly!" She was afraid the teacher might change his mind at any moment.

Seeing Li Yi leave, Lu Zheng felt a great relief. The little girl also let out a sigh. They both paused, then laughed, feeling closer to each other.

Lu Zheng remembered the butterfly king and quickly checked the net. Fortunately, the butterfly king was still there. He handed it to the little girl, saying, "Here, your butterfly king."

The little girl stared at Lu Zheng and said, "Little brother, you're so amazing. You're not afraid of the teacher, and you can catch the butterfly king. Xin'er has been trying for a long time but couldn't catch it." She carefully took the net and examined the butterfly king.

Lu Zheng felt a bit embarrassed under her gaze and lowered his head, saying, "Yes, you're Xin'er, right? This butterfly is so small, why is it called the butterfly king?" The closeness between them made him naturally call her by name, as if he had been doing it for a long time.

Xin'er, who was carefully examining the butterfly king, looked up and said, "I don't know. That's what the teacher said."

Lu Zheng shuddered and stuck out his tongue, "Is the teacher you're talking about the one just now? He looks so fierce!"

Xin'er first made sure the teacher was far away, then stuck out her tongue and said, "Little brother, the teacher is strict, but it's for Xin'er's good. Don't say he's fierce! The teacher is very capable and knows everything, but he is also very, very fierce!"

Hearing this, Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Oh, if you say so, he must be a fierce but good person."

Xin'er laughed, "Little brother, the teacher is definitely a good person, a fierce but good person, and a very fierce person! But Uncle Le is nice, always smiling, not fierce at all, and he tells the best stories... But, you called the teacher 'Xian Di' just now. The teacher is very strict about rules, but he didn't get angry this time. Little brother, you must be fiercer than the teacher, even the teacher is afraid of you, hehe!"

Hearing that he was fiercer than the teacher, Lu Zheng was about to protest, but seeing Xin'er's smiling face, he realized she was joking. He scratched his head and said, "No, no, I'm not fierce at all. By the way, Xin'er, you haven't told me why it's called the butterfly king yet."

Xin'er carefully opened a small gap in the net and pointed to the butterfly king, "Little brother, look, isn't there a 'wang' (king) character on the butterfly's wings?"

Lu Zheng leaned in and examined the butterfly king for a long time. The small butterfly's golden wings shimmered with different colors, forming various patterns. After a while, Lu Zheng remembered he couldn't read and said, somewhat embarrassed, "I, I... can't read." He was afraid Xin'er would laugh at him, so he spoke hesitantly.

To his surprise, Xin'er simply said, "Oh," and pointed to the butterfly's wings, explaining that the pattern was three horizontal lines with one vertical line in the middle, forming a 'wang' character. She didn't laugh at him at all and even offered to teach him to read if he wanted. Lu Zheng felt relieved and grew fonder of the little girl.

Xin'er played with the butterfly king for a while, then opened the net. The butterfly king, unexpectedly free, flew into the sea of flowers and disappeared in an instant.

Lu Zheng asked in surprise, "Hey, Xin'er, why did you let it go?"

Xin'er, with her moon-shaped eyes, asked, "Little brother, after playing with it, what else would you do if you don't let it go?"

Lu Zheng said, "When I and my brother Jiu caught butterflies, we put them in a bamboo tube to play with for a long time."

Xin'er frowned, "But that would make the butterfly unhappy. Being in a bamboo tube is so uncomfortable. If Xin'er were in a bamboo tube, Xin'er would be very unhappy. Little brother, little brother, promise Xin'er that you won't put butterflies in bamboo tubes anymore, okay?"

As she said this, she reached out to hold Lu Zheng's hand. Lu Zheng pulled back, but immediately regretted it.

Xin'er asked, "Little brother, what's wrong?"

Lu Zheng looked at her white face and black eyes, seeing the sincerity in her gaze. His face turned red, and he quickly waved his hands, "Nothing, nothing. Xin'er, I promise I won't do it again!" At the same time, he made a silent vow to himself to keep his promise. Compared to Xin'er, he felt his past behavior was indeed cruel.

Xin'er smiled again and held Lu Zheng's hand, "Little brother, you're so nice. Let's go play somewhere else." This time, Lu Zheng didn't pull away. Holding her hand, he felt Xin'er's soft, tender hand and his face turned red again. He nodded heavily, thinking, "If I could hold Xin'er's hand forever, she wouldn't mind that I'm dirty!"

On the Two-Boundary Mountain, Mr. Le's deep voice slowly recited, "Buddha is the mountain, Dao is the sea, the three teachings guide humanity."

The ascetic monk was greatly surprised, losing his usual calm, and exclaimed, "Mr. Le, you also know this prophecy?"

Mr. Le, rarely frowning, said, "To be honest, this prophecy has been passed down for a thousand years, known to every generation of Buddhist and Daoist leaders." As he spoke, he gazed into the distance, and the ascetic monk followed his gaze, which was toward the human world.

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