Capture the Jade - Chapter 12-1

After Lin Chengyou finished speaking, something elected out of his fingers. The strange force under Jue Sheng’s feet suddenly disappeared. He moved his sore and swollen legs around. No matter how unwilling he is, he could only honestly move back.  

Qizhi was muddled and followed behind. What type of “fine thing1” did Jue Sheng do to be caught by senior brother? 

Jue Sheng hung his head down and walked towards the front of Lin Chengyou and stood up properly. Lin Chengyou hooked his finger and said: “Take it out.” 

Jue Sheng obediently handed over the bag. Lin Chengyou poured the things out, and smiled when he saw what it was: “The more promising one is, now you even know to steal things from the temple.” 

Qizhi’s eyeballs nearly fell out: “Ah, so many [called to live is no better than to die itch itch itch blossom] bugs! Jue Sheng, what are you planning to do with these?” 

The second prince of Chun’an mockingly said: “There’s no need to say, this must be a name that A Da created. Yu Fengyu, have you ever heard of this type of strange bug?” 

Yu Fengyu squinted his eyes: “Unheard of. Little prince, this is probably used to tease people right?” 

Lin Chengyou smiled and said: “If you cook it, it can even extend one’s life. If you like it, I can give you a few later.” 

Yu Fengyu was fully aware of this child’s nature. He was frightened, and hurriedly said: “No need, no need. The prince should keep it for himself to play with.” 

Jue Sheng took advantage of this time to secretly wipe his sweat. Lin Chengyou’s gaze swept over, and caused Jue Sheng to freeze till he quivered. 

“To whom did you want to give so many to?” 

“Teng, Lady Teng.” 

“Which Lady Teng?” 

“The Lady Teng who lent her sword to senior brother yesterday.” Jue Sheng stammeringly said, “Yesterday, when I went to ask Lady Teng about the situation in the bamboo forest, Lady Teng asked me to show her the itchy bug.”

His voice was so quiet that it could not be any quieter, and his head also could not be lowered any lower. 

The second prince of Chun’an pondered: “The Lady Teng who was in the Ziyun building last night…Could it be the daughter of Teng Shao?”

Lin Chengyou stroked his chain. He naturally remembered Lady Teng. The situation where he and her cooperated to lure the old spirit still remained vivid in his mind. However, it was strange that he could not remember what she looked like no matter what. After thinking for a while, he only then realized that the young lady had worn a veil all night.

“And then what?” Lin Chengyou started attentively at Jue Sheng. 

Jue Sheng became more and more uneasy: “Lady Teng said that she does not know if her jadeite sword could deal with our itchy bugs. I was curious, so I promised her I could bring a few with me when I come to visit…” 

“Does she know the use of these itchy bugs?” 

“Knows…Knows.”

Lin Chengyou snorted and smiled. Very good, this was calculated all the way to Qingyun Temple’s head. Presumably, she saw that this foolish child fancied that jadeite sword, and deliberately regarded this as bait for Jue Sheng to steal the itchy bugs for her to use.

“She fooled you with just a few words?” 

Jue Sheng hurriedly shook his head, and ashamedly nodded his head again. 

“Have you ever thought that she deliberately showed you the jadeite sword just to get the itchy bugs from you?”  

Jue Sheng twisted his finger ashamedly: “Lady Teng…She does not look like a bad person.” 

“Does not look like a bad person?” Lin Chengyou did not get angry, and instead smiled, “Do bad people write words on their faces2? You just met her once, and you don’t even know her well. She just casually fooled you with a jadeite sword, and you go as far to steal itchy bugs for her? If next time she wants the other treasures from the temple, wouldn’t you also steal them for her too?!”  

Jue Sheng was so frightened that he was trembling. Things have gone bad, senior brother seems to be really angry this time. He secretly peeked at his senior brother while wiping his tears. As expected, he found that there was not the slightest smile in his eyes. 

He frantically thought to himself. Senior brother this person, can really play tricks and dally with others, but it is absolutely impossible for others to trick him. Lady Teng not only coveted the things of Qingyun Temple, but almost succeeded in doing so. It’s fine if senior brother doesn’t know, but if he does, he will definitely not be willing to leave this matter as it is. 

“I was muddled.” Jue Sheng’s tears fell, “I should not have stolen things from the temple just because I coveted over an outsider’s magic weapon. I, I did something wrong. Senior brother can punish me however he wants. I will definitely never dare to do it again next time.” 

Lin Chengyou carried Jue sheng’s collar of his robe, and lifted him out of the scripture hall: “To only verbally guarantee is useless. If I don’t heavily punish you, you will still make stupid mistakes in the future.” 

Qizhi was really anxious standing on the side. Senior brother was really angry at the moment. If he really was to set a punishment, it would definitely not be as simple as just copying scriptures, and protractedly kneeling. 

He lifted his Taoist robe, and hurriedly rushed over: “Senior brother, senior brother, Lady Teng was able to help us last night. Jue Sheng has always valued friendship. It can be reckoned that he had the intention of repaying back kindness; therefore, he only did this because he did not have the heart to turn down Lady Teng. For the sake that it was the first time Jue Sheng committed an offense, sparing him this time.” 

Lin Chengyou sneered: “You don’t need to worry about pleading for him, it will be your turn soon. Last night, on the Double Third Festival, you and Jue Sheng secretly sneaked out to watch the acrobatic performances, and chew on roasted meat skewers. You two must have been very happy.” 

Qizhi covered his mouth, and almost forgot about this matter. After they were caught last night, senior brother had already taken the opportunity of setting up the formation to lay down a punishment of not being able to eat meat and fish for a year. It was originally thought that this matter was already over, but he did not expect that it was going to one matter at a time, and the next move is just to wait here. 

In fact, in the past, senior brother had often caught them going against the rules, but senior brother himself is an unruly and disobedient person, so most of the time, he would turn a blind eye3. This time around, he was really angry, and probably could not take that Qingyun Temple was almost taken advantage of by a young lady. 

Jue Sheng weeped and said: “Today’s matters all happened because of me. Last night, it was me who urged Qizhi to sneak out of the temple with me. I beg senior brother to just punish me, and spare Qizhi.” 

Lin Chengyou smiled and nodded: “Okay, you can help absolve4 each other all you want. For each absolve, add a hundred more each!” 

The two of them were so frightened that they bit their tongues. 

Lin Chengyou took them directly to the most secluded Yun hall in the temple. It was a huge hall surrounded by bookshelves, holding a huge amount of books full of various scriptures.

“Give me a proper kneel first.” 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi kneeled down like a round lump, sobbing while nervously following the footsteps of their senior brother with their eyes. 

Lin Chengyou took an object out of nowhere, platted the palm of his hand, and slowly strolled towards them. 

The two of them trembled uncontrollably. This is the ruler that master used to teach senior brother. This thing is jet-black and heavy, and if used on a body, it will leave behind very deep bruises.  

In the past, when senior brother got in trouble, master would often take out this heavy ruler, but raging is one thing as in the end, he never had the heart to actually use it. 

His Majesty, King Cheng is different. As long as he heard that senior brother got into trouble, he would definitely come over and personally use this ruler to discipline his son, and because of this, senior brother has been beaten a lot. 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi hugged each other and cried. What can be done? Senior brother would only be even more ruthless than King Cheng back then. 

“Take your hands out. Not willing to be punished? Okay, then I will change it to something else.” Lin Chengyou striked a posture and turned around.

“We are willing to be punished.” The two of them hurriedly stretched out their hands as it was not like they could escape this punishment. The ruler is always better than his other bizarre punishment methods. 

“Senior brother, we know that we were wrong, woo woo woo5.”

“Where were you wrong?” 

“This disciple had violated the first and seventh principle of the temple.”

Qizhi weeped: “This disciple had violated the first and seventh principle of the temple.” 

“Secretly sneaking out the temple, deceiving the teacher, stealing things that belong in the temple, to repay kindness by stabbing someone else in the back, what else do you two not dare to do? In my opinion, there is no need to punish. You two can just be directly expelled from the temple!” 

As if the two of them had been struck by lightning, they took a few steps on their knees and hugged Lin Chengyou’s legs: “Senior brother, please severely punish us. We beg you not to drive us away. We were born as people of the Qingyun Temple, and will die as ghosts of Qingyun Temple.” 

“Let go.” Lin Chengyou frowned in disgust.

The two of them refused to let go: “If we were to leave, who will play with your little leopard in the future? Who will help senior brother set up formations? When master comes back, who will help that old man boil medicinal porridge…”   

Lin Chengyou remained unmoved: “raise your hands.” 

The two of them hopelessly raised their hands out high, but after waiting for a long time, the ruler did not fall onto the palm of their hands. The two of them felt that this was a little strange. Suddenly, senior brother lifted them again. When they opened their eyes, they could not distinguish the joy or anger in his black eyes. 

“For the ruler, one person receives five hundred. For confinement, the other will be locked up for three months.” 

Before the two of them could be happy, a basin of cold water was poured on their heads. The so-called “confinement” is a small and quiet room, less than five feet wide, and resembling a cage. 

The people who were punished in the confinement had to face a scroll of scriptures everyday, and copy from morning till night. Because there are no windows, there isn’t even an opportunity to take a break. 

One month can simply cause a person to be stuffed with depression, but three months is definitely enough to turn a person into a fool. 

It is useless to beg for mercy. Who told them to stew in one’s own juice6? However, this is still better than being expelled from the temple. 

They fell to the ground, and weeped endlessly: “This disciple is willing to be punished.” 

Lin Cheng changed the topic: “But——” 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi each stuffed a chubby fist into their mouth, and waited anxiously. 

“For the sake that you two still have important tasks to do, I’ll give you two a chance to make up for your faults. If you accomplish the tasks well today, you may be spared from the confinement. If you don’t accomplish it well, come back and sincerely receive the punishment.” 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi never would have imagined that they would find a way to survive when everything seemed hopeless, crying and nodding sharply. These events of tossing back and forth were even more terrifying than just directly receiving the punishment. In the future, they will no longer dare to steal the belongings of the temple to give to outsiders. 

“You two will still follow according to the original plan and visit the Teng Mansion. After seeing Lady Teng, do as I say.” Lin Chengyou turned around and pointed to a bookshelf, “Take down the《Everlasting Treasure Book》first. “

Qizhi did not understand the inside story, got up, and patted his knees. He tiptoed over to take a book that was spread out. 

Jue Sheng looked over. He was very familiar with this book as it records all of the world’s Taoist treasures. From the treasure of the legendary black dragon to the seal of the City God7, it could be said that it held all of them. Even His Majesty, King Cheng’s famous “scarlet firmament” is also in the book.

The scroll was opened, and it can be seen that senior brother had already looked at it after returning back to the temple.