er 33 Unable to Keep a Low Profile(It seems many people are waiting for me to get fatter... At least give me some收藏 and recommendations... Sigh, pitiful...)At this moment, Hao Ren, who was coming down...Chapter 28: Suffering for Disobedience

(A chapter with over 4,000 words... If there's no update tonight, don't blame me.. Saturday.. Little Dragon is trying his best to type.. A sad and pitiful escape..)

Ignoring郝仁's reaction, Zhao Yanzi jumped with joy and ran towards the Daoist temple. 郝仁揹著書包，跨進了道觀的大門。

The golden eaves of the Daoist temple absorbed the remaining sunlight of the afternoon, making the entire temple look solemn and serene.

Since this Daoist temple was situated on a mountain peak, there weren't many visitors at this time in the afternoon. Unless one had excellent physical strength and perseverance like 郝仁 and Zhao Yanzi, or got up very early to climb the mountain, it would be difficult to reach the temple by midday.

Therefore, when 郝仁 and Zhao Yanzi arrived here in the afternoon, they hardly encountered any ordinary visitors. In the courtyard of the Daoist temple, only a few young monks were sweeping fallen leaves. Even Zhao Yanzi, who had been shouting outside just now, suddenly became quiet upon entering.

The ground bricks of the courtyard formed a large Taiji diagram with different colored tiles, and in the southwest corner of the courtyard stood an ancient towering pine tree that looked old and majestic.

郝仁 knew this must be the thousand-year-old tree mentioned by Zhao Guang. With a reverent heart, he slowly walked over to it. Because there weren't many visitors who could reach here, this ancient tree wasn't fenced off but quietly stood within the courtyard.

郝仁 approached and gently touched the trunk of the old yet strong pine tree with his hand.

The outer bark was as hard and smooth as iron stone; from its appearance, it no longer looked like wood.

悄悄運轉《凝神決》，感悟著附近的天地之氣，居然能夠從這堅硬的古鬆的外皮，感受到一股濃濃的木之氣。

The Ling Shen Decision quietly circulated in 郝仁's body as he sensed the surrounding natural energy. He was able to feel a strong sense of wood energy from this hard ancient pine tree bark.

And the dragon egg inside him seemed to respond, resonating with the ancient tree. Moist and warm air flowed through 郝仁’s arm towards the interior of the old pine tree, while its wooden essence reciprocated by nourishing his body.

Zhao Yanzi quietly watched 郝仁; she knew he was in a state of enlightenment right now and didn't disturb him.

After about a minute, 郝仁 retracted his hand and took a deep breath. The fatigue from the climb vanished instantly, leaving only pure physical strength and vibrant vitality behind.

With a feeling of reverence, 郝仁 bent slightly and paid homage to this ancient tree.

Seeing Zhao Yanzi staring at him in astonishment, 郝仁 smiled at her and said, "Let's go."

Zhao Yanzi stood still for a few seconds before responding with an “oh,” unable to help but follow 郝仁. As she stepped into the main hall from the courtyard and came back to her senses, the smile on 郝仁’s face earlier suddenly flashed through her mind.

Even 郝仁 himself didn't realize that he had smiled so gently at Zhao Yanzi just now. He entered the main hall and looked up at the imposing statues of the Three Pure Ones, then continued further inside.

The entire hall was awe-inspiring and solemn; 郝仁 instantly felt it was worthwhile to have taken such a long time to visit here.

Zhao Yanzi followed closely behind 郝仁. Facing these statues with stern expressions, she felt a bit frightened in her heart.

After passing through the main hall, they entered the second courtyard of the Daoist temple. On the eastern side of this yard was a stone house where an ancient stele stood inside.

For some reason, after contemplating the ancient tree, 郝仁 suddenly felt that Zhao Guang deliberately mentioned the old tree and stele to attract them to visit this mountain-top Daoist temple must have had its reasons.

郝仁 walked up to the stele and carefully examined the inscriptions on it:

"Tangled threads cannot be named, returning to nothingness. This is called shapeless form, imageless appearance, which is described as elusive. Approaching it, one sees no beginning; following it, one sees no end. By holding onto ancient ways, one can govern the present existence..."

After straining his eyes, 郝仁 finally managed to understand a couple of sentences.

Zhao Yanzi stood by 郝仁 and silently recited the words inscribed on the stele:

"If you wish to contract it, first expand it; if you want to weaken it, first strengthen it; if you intend to discard it, first promote it; if you aim to take away, first give. This is called subtle discernment. Softness and weakness overcome hardness and strength..."

Hao Ren found the more he looked, the more profound and incomprehensible it seemed. Zhao Yanzǐ furrowed her brows as she struggled to chant.

This is the path of controlling water.

Suddenly, Hao Ren's mind cleared up a little.

It felt like a revelation was rising from his heart and trying to break through his chest, reaching his forehead.

Thinking about that ancient tree’s thriving vitality, Hao Ren had the feeling of solving a math problem, as if he found the key idea or approach to solve a difficult question.

Water nourishes all things. Water breaks through obstacles.

Clang...

An unexpected bell sounded somewhere, interrupting Hao Ren's revelation.

Zhao Yanzǐ, who was also lost in thought, jumped in fright.

Hao Ren turned around to check his phone and found that he and Zhao Yanzǐ had been standing before the stone tablet for half an hour!

The fallen leaves from the trees overhead were already covering their heads and shoulders. The young Taoist monks who cleaned the courtyard had all gone back to rest.

In the vast courtyard, only Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ remained.

"It's late, let's go back," said Hao Ren.

“Oh…” Zhao Yanzǐ replied obediently, still lost in thought about what was written on the stone tablet.

Hao Ren reached out to help her brush off the fallen leaves from her hair and shoulders.

This unconscious gesture caught Zhao Yanzǐ by surprise. She felt a hint of sweetness as well as astonishment.

He’s actually not bad towards me, thought Zhao Yanzǐ inwardly.

Hao Ren didn’t think much about it and continued to pat away the leaves on his own shoulders before leading Zhao Yanzǐ out through the front gate.

The dusk in the mountains seemed to come early. The sun was swaying precariously beyond the distant mountain peak, its last rays desperately holding up the sky as if… darkness was about to fall.

"We should hurry and go down," Hao Ren urged Zhao Yanzǐ without delay.

Zhao Yanzǐ pursed her lips; she blamed Hao Ren for not being considerate but didn’t dare to hold back. She obediently followed him down the mountain.

The path going downhill seemed easier than climbing up, but with weakened sunlight, their steps on the stone stairs became more cautious and slow.

The cobblestone road felt like strings on an instrument while the mountain stream sounded like musical notes in tune. Cool and gentle breezes rustled through the branches with soft whispers.

As they walked, both of them observed their surroundings as if gaining a deeper understanding of Daoism's reverence for simplicity and nature.

The distant Daoist temple and pavilions were hidden among lush greenery; quiet and profound. These buildings integrated seamlessly with the mountain forest landscape, making one wonder whether there truly lived an extraordinary hermit in this mountain.

While Hao Ren admired the scenery around him, he suddenly noticed Zhao Yanzǐ lagging far behind them, completely motionless.

"Hey…" Hao Ren cupped his hand to his mouth like a megaphone and shouted towards her.

Hearing Hao Ren calling her, Zhao Yanzi did not walk forward but sat down instead.

"What are you doing..." Hao Ren hurried his pace and rushed back to where she was, "Why aren't you walking"

Zhao Yanzi pouted and turned her head away.

Hao Ren thought that she couldn't walk anymore and decided to sit next to her for a rest. However, he completely failed to understand the girl's feelings: He was so focused on rushing down the mountain without much consideration of Zhao Yanzi. While she kept silent and gritted her teeth to follow him, she felt incredibly aggrieved inside.

"Can't walk anymore" Seeing that she still didn’t stand up as the sky darkened, Hao Ren couldn’t help but ask her.

"If I had a dragon pill, I would have gone down by myself long ago. Who cares about you!" She said irritably.

Hao Ren only then realized that he was in such a hurry to go down the mountain that he ignored Zhao Yanzi's physical strength as a little girl. Zhao Yanzi’s parents asked him to take care of her, but he didn’t consider her at all, rushing up and down the mountain.

"Or maybe... I could carry you" Hao Ren thought for a moment.

"Pah! Who wants you to carry me!" Zhao Yanzi stood up angrily and walked towards the downhill direction.

"Hey! Walk slowly!" Hao Ren was afraid that she would fall down and hurriedly followed her.

He started to understand this little girl’s thoughts. It turned out that while she claimed she didn’t need his care, she actually became unhappy when he really ignored her.

The two of them hurried their pace while one took the lead for the other, like yin and yang in Tai Chi, entangled with each other as they meandered down the tranquil mountain path.

However, no matter how fast they walked, it was inevitable that darkness would fall much earlier than expected.

"You! Hurry up!" Seeing that there were still two hours left before reaching the foot of the mountain while the last sliver of sunset gradually disappeared, Zhao Yanzi truly became anxious.

"Left or right" Hao Ren held out a map and asked under the dim light. The closer they got to the waist of the mountain, the more scenic spots there were and thus more forked paths.

"Of course it’s left!" Zhao Yanzi pointed at the left direction.

"Oh then we must head right," Hao Ren walked towards the opposite side. Having experienced three times when Zhao Yanzi pointed out wrong directions, he no longer trusted her sense of direction and would choose the opposite direction according to her intuition.

Zhao Yanzi was infuriated but she herself didn’t believe in her own sense of direction anymore and could only follow Hao Ren. It was strange that whenever Hao Ren chose the direction opposite to Zhao Yanzi’s indication, it turned out to be the downhill path.

There seemed to be no other people around as they moved further up into the mountain, making it increasingly quiet. The thumping footsteps of Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi in the darkness became clearer.

The scenery that was originally picturesque had become eerie with the sunset. As a little girl, Zhao Yanzi felt scared facing this deep forest. She walked slower than before and naturally didn’t dare to lead the way anymore, gradually walking side by side with Hao Ren.

Hao Ren could now guess her thoughts and took her delicate hand in his proactively. He wasn’t trying to take advantage of her but worried that she would stumble down the mountain if she trembled on both feet.

The darker it got, the slower they walked. Unconsciously, it was already past 7 pm. But judging from their speed at night, there were still at least two hours left to reach the foot of the mountain.

There were only signal towers near some temples in this mountain and mobile phones hardly had any signal elsewhere within the mountain range. Unable to seek help from anyone, Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi could only grit their teeth and continue walking down.

The winding mountain path was undulating with ups and downs, sometimes making them unsure whether they were going uphill or downhill but overall they felt that they were getting closer to the foot of the mountain.

"Hey, won’t we starve to death here" Squeezing Hao Ren’s palm, Zhao Yanzi couldn’t help saying.

"If there's really nothing left for us to eat, I’ll just eat you first," Hao Ren said to her.

"You…" Zhao Yanzi wrinkled up her nose and glared at Hao Ren, but fear was alleviated in the process.

The ticking of time went by, and it was already eight o'clock in the evening. The foot of the mountain was still far away from them.

In the depths of the mountain, birds cawed strangely. Zhao Yanzǐ had no one to rely on, so she clung tighter to Hao Ren's hand.

Hao Ren wasn't familiar with the mountains and hadn't brought a flashlight, so he could only use his phone's weak light to illuminate the path at their feet, hoping not to slip and roll down the mountain together.

Some strange insects emitted golden glows, but they weren’t fireflies; instead, they were soft-bodied and clinging to the cliff face.

Zhao Yanzǐ was afraid of insects. She cuddled closer to Hao Ren, gripping his hand even tighter. Now she deeply regretted following Hao Ren up to the mountain top and being stuck out in the middle of the night unable to come back down.

"Hey, you're holding me too tightly; how am I supposed to walk" Hao Ren turned to ask her.

In the dark surroundings, Zhao Yanzǐ's tender white face shone with two twinkling star-like eyes, very pretty and endearing.

"I... I'm not afraid. I just feel a little cold," Zhao Yanzǐ stubbornly argued, inadvertently confessing her fear.

Hao Ren tightened her slippery hand in his palm even more firmly, bolstering their resolve to continue down the mountain.

After another hour of groping around in darkness, they finally saw lights from below. A brightly lit hotel appeared before them.

"We're almost there!" Hao Ren pulled her and quickened his pace. His phone was almost out of power, while Zhao Yanzǐ's had too weak a light; if they didn't hurry, they might be stuck in the mountains all night long.

Zhao Yanzǐ sighed in relief and unconsciously picked up her speed as well.

Finally, after about ten more minutes, they returned to the entrance of the scenic area.

Zhao Yanzǐ's palms were drenched with sweat, clearly showing how tense she had been on their descent down the mountain.

Now that the crisis was over, she realized she’d let Hao Ren lead her for several hours and suddenly pulled her hand out of his.

"You really do take kindness for granted," Hao Ren sighed seeing her reaction.

"Who said you could hold my hand" Zhao Yanzǐ retorted indignantly.

Hao Ren didn't feel like arguing with her. His stomach was growling, and all the snacks in his backpack had been eaten during their descent down the mountain.

He walked towards the hotel, Zhao Yanzǐ trailing behind him with a complex expression on her face. In truth, she knew that without Hao Ren pulling her along, she wouldn't have known what to do when they were descending the mountain.

But deep down, she didn’t want to admit that she relied on Hao Ren for their descent. She believed that even if there was danger, her parents would be able to rescue her.

The moment they returned to the foot of the mountain, it seemed as if their alliance immediately dissolved. Zhao Yanzǐ’s expression turned frosty, as though Hao Ren owed her a million dollars.

Seeing that Zhao Yanzǐ didn't want to talk to him, Hao Ren had no intention of approaching her cold shoulder; instead, he wondered whether it would be weird to share a room with her father tonight.

The two walked back into the hotel one after another and entered their respective rooms. Exhausted from his journey, Hao Ren was surprised to find a note left in the room: "My mother and I have gone to visit a friend nearby; we may be late returning."

Ring... Ring...

The doorbell of Hao Ren's room rang.

Hao Ren rushed over to open it, seeing Zhao Yanzǐ biting her lip with an awkward look on her face. "Umm… do you want to go out for dinner"

;mb."Little White, increase the fire." Xie Yujia gave Little White a command.But how could Little White understand what she was saying This led Hao Ren to take another step forward and give Little Whit...