"Oh—sorry about that! So, uh, Sleepy Monk, you—you called out to me, is there something you need?" Shawn Young hadn’t expected Sleepy Monk to be so straightforward, and hurriedly asked, feeling a bit awkward.
"Uh—little brother, just call me Old Ironmouth or Master Zhou! I stopped you for a reason, but let’s talk over there, under that tree in the corner—" Sleepy Monk’s weathered face twitched for a moment as he put his battered cap back on. Clearly, the Dharma name "Sleepy Monk" still embarrassed him. He stood up, didn’t use a cane, and walked confidently to the tree by the street.
Shawn Young almost wanted to laugh, but he followed Old Ironmouth, a.k.a. Sleepy Monk, to the tree in the corner by the street. He politely nodded and said, "Okay, I’ll call you Master Zhou. So, Master Zhou, is there something you want to teach me?"
Old Ironmouth (Sleepy Monk) smiled and said, "Heh—teach you? No way! Little brother, you’re from the legendary Clear Sky Order, your talents are the best I’ve ever seen. If I tried to teach you, it’d be a joke! But I stopped you for two reasons!"
"Oh? What are those two reasons?" Shawn Young asked, clearly interested.
"Yeah, one is that your footsteps made me curious, and the other is that the aura around your body is just too strange—that’s why I stopped you," Old Ironmouth explained.
"Wait—you can sense my aura just from my footsteps? That’s amazing!" Shawn Young was stunned. He even wondered if Old Ironmouth was blind!
"Heh—my skills aren’t that great, but I’ve mastered the Buddhist art of ‘Aura Sensing and Pulse Reading.’ When you walked by just now, I heard your steps—swift as the wind through a forest, with a force like a dragon patrolling the sea or a tiger roaring in the mountains. Ordinary people don’t have that! And your aura is unique: pure, powerful, and truly orthodox Taoist energy. There aren’t more than a handful in the world who can cultivate that! But lately, I sense your energy has become a bit too aggressive, which is causing some chaos inside you—" Old Ironmouth explained thoughtfully.
"Huh? Master Zhou—your ‘Aura Sensing and Pulse Reading’ really can detect someone’s true energy?" Shawn Young was shocked, because Old Ironmouth, blind as he was, could sense hidden problems in Shawn’s body just by feel!
"Mm-hmm, ‘Aura Sensing and Pulse Reading’ is a secret Buddhist technique from Five Peaks Monastery. By following the flow of air, it can detect the aura someone’s body gives off and distinguish it. I’ve studied it pretty deeply, so I could sense your unique energy—lately, you’ve probably found it tough to control your true energy, right?" Old Ironmouth said.
"Uh—yeah! I didn’t expect Master Zhou to notice, that’s impressive!" Shawn Young couldn’t help but exclaim.
"Heh—this technique is the only skill I rely on to scrape by these days. Sigh, let’s not talk about that. Little brother, since we’ve met, I bet you’ve been troubled by the ‘Heavenly Tribulation’ lately?" Old Ironmouth asked.
"Ah—yes, Master Zhou—do you have any way to deal with the ‘Heavenly Tribulation’?" Shawn Young was shocked and immediately pressed for details. Old Ironmouth had hit the nail on the head!
Old Ironmouth shook his head and sighed, then said, "Sigh—the path of cultivation has countless roads, but those who reach the stage of ‘Heavenly Tribulation’ are extremely rare. Even fewer can overcome it. It’s tough—really tough!"
"So—so Master Zhou, among all the cultivators out there, have you ever heard of anyone who managed to overcome the ‘Heavenly Tribulation’?" Shawn Young asked urgently.
"Yes—there’s one. Sixty years ago, at Five Peaks Monastery, there was a legendary monk—Grandmaster Lotus. After he overcame the ‘Heavenly Tribulation,’ he shed his mortal body and ascended to the heavens. He left behind a few cryptic words about surviving the Tribulation, but then vanished without a trace—" Old Ironmouth said.
"Ah—so, Master Zhou, those words Grandmaster Lotus left behind, could you share them with me? Whatever it costs, whatever you need—if I can do it, I’ll do my best!" Shawn Young said, getting excited. He knew those words could be crucial for him.
"Uh—don’t worry, little brother. We’re fated to meet, I won’t take your money. But Grandmaster Lotus’s words are really obscure. I’m just a humble cultivator, and with my fate-blind eyes and lack of experience with the Tribulation, I’ve never truly understood them!" Old Ironmouth sighed.
"Oh—well, Master Zhou, could you tell me those words anyway? I’ll do my best to figure them out—" Shawn Young said quickly.
"Heh—I stopped you today just to share Grandmaster Lotus’s words with you," Old Ironmouth said with a smile.
"Oh—thank you—thank you, Master Zhou, for showing me the way!" Shawn Young was visibly excited.
Just then, a sudden commotion broke out in front of them. Several street vendors started running in all directions, some pushing carts and weaving through the chaos. Especially near the Temple of the Queen, all the fortune-tellers dropped their business and scrambled away. The whole street turned into a madhouse.
Old Ironmouth frowned, calculated with his fingers, and suddenly sighed, "Sigh—it’s here, it really is here!"
"Here? What’s here?" Shawn Young wondered, just as a large group of people appeared and blocked the street near the Temple of the Queen.
Shawn Young looked up and saw a huge crowd—over a hundred people, all looking rough and thuggish. Leading the pack was a guy in a flashy checkered suit, sneakers, with shiny silver hair, a chiseled face, earrings, and a toothpick in his mouth. Old Ironmouth’s face changed instantly, and he quickly whispered to Shawn, "Uh, little brother, you shouldn’t stay here! Those guys are coming for me!"