Chapter 168
The Living Buddha!
Halfway to the summit, sothing caught Li Yundong’s attention . A group of pilgrims and tourists were gathered into a crowd about fifty ters ahead .
Li Yundong stopped climbing and glanced towards the crowd, which consisted of approximately twenty people .
Li Yundong took another step, then hesitated .
Should he wait until the crowd dispersed before he keep climbing? Or should he just say screw it and get on with his journey . He took out his map from his pocket and studied it for a mont . There was only one trail leading to the summit . He folded the map and sighed .
I should hang back for now .
It was best to avoid drawing too much attention to himself .
Maybe the crowd would move on if he waited for a—
A loud, high-pitched wail drew his gaze towards the crowd .
Li Yundong frowned . What the heck is going on over there? Is there trouble? Was this the universe’s way of saying: Hey! Get your lazy ass over to Mount Everest now!
Li Yundong channeled his Qi to his Shenting, then activated his telescopic vision . He saw the monks first . The monks looked like they were standing around sothing . . . or soone? A few monks were spinning so kind of strange cylindrical objects on spindles . Wait a minute . He recognized those things! Those were prayer wheels .
Is this so kind of ritual?
The monks were surrounded by a bunch of tourists . The tourists appeared to be far less stoic than the monks . They were gesturing at sothing that Li Yundong couldn’t see because it was hidden from his view by the monks’ bodies .
Noises filled his ears the mont he activated Eryue .
The monks were chanting so kind of mantra . Amidst the chanting, Li Yundong heard the sobbing of a girl . The girl stopped sobbing once ever few seconds to utter sothing in a foreign language, which, if he were to venture a guess, was probably Lhasa Tibetan .
The girl’s voice sounded like a plea .
What the hell?
Li Yundong scanned the crowd with his eyes . He didn’t see any crying girl .
It hit him then that the girl must be hidden from view by the monks .
"Make way! Make way!" a dark-haired Chinese woman with a large backpack yelled . The tourists moved about, and the Chinese woman squeezed her way through the crowd . When she reached the monks, the Chinese woman gently tapped the shoulder of one of the monks, then whispered sothing in Tibetan . Seconds later, all the monks stepped aside to allow the Chinese woman to go through .
Li Yundong saw the source of the commotion right then .
A teenage girl dressed in traditional Tibetan costu was sitting on the ground, sniveling weakly . Cradled in her arms was an unconscious old man dressed in a red and yellow robe .
Li Yundong zood in closer on the old man’s face, which was deeply wrinkled . The man’s forehead was covered in dark callouses . Strange .
When he scanned the rest of the old man’s body, Li Yundong noticed that he, like the pilgrims he’d seen earlier, was wearing gloves . Scratches and dry scabs covered the man’s knees and chest .
This old man, it seed, was a pilgrim . Even though he appeared to be in his eighties . For a mont there, Li Yundong was stunned by the old man’s devotion .
But still . What on earth happened? Did the old man pass out during his pilgrimage? And why wasn’t anyone trying to help the man?
A horrifying thought hit him . Was the old man dead?
The dark-haired Chinese woman crouched down and touched the sobbing teenager’s shoulder . The woman muttered sothing in Tibetan to the girl .
To Li Yundong’s surprised, the girl answered the woman in perfect Mandarin . "Changbagela collapsed during his pilgrimage! Oh, he’s leaving isn’t he! He’s leaving to go to Buddha!"
The teenager buried her face into the old man’s robe and continued sobbing .
The Chinese woman seed taken aback by the girl’s outburst . But she quickly recovered and touched the girl’s shoulder again . "What is your na, young girl?"
"M- iduo . . . "
"Okay, iduo," said the woman gently . "Is he Changbagela?" She pointed at the old man in the girl’s arms .
The girl nodded .
The woman shook the girl’s shoulder . "Alright listen, iduo . You see those two n over there?" The woman pointed towards two Caucasian n in sunglasses standing among the group of tourists .
iduo nodded feebly . "W- Who are they?"
The woman gave iduo a compassionate smile . "They are experienced mountain climbers and hikers . And I’m their tour guide and translator . "
iduo glanced over at the two n warily . The two n removed their sunglasses and waved back at the girl . iduo turned and gave Miss Tour Guide a hopeful look . "Can they help Changbagela?"
Miss Tour Guide smiled . "Like I said, they are experienced mountain climbers . So they know a great deal about first aid . Do you want them to take a look at Changbagela?"
iduo nodded fervently .
Miss Tour Guide turned and waved at the two Caucasians, who hurried towards the woman seconds later . The tour guide said a few things to the foreigners who nodded grimly . One of the n walked over towards iduo, then bent down to say sothing to her in English .
"He said not to worry . He’ll try his best to help your friend . "
The Caucasian man, a buff-looking dude with dark brown hair, rose to his feet and crouched down beside the unconscious old man, then began to take the old man’s pulse . A grim look ford on the foreigner’s face, but he didn’t seem like he was giving up yet . Li Yundong spent the next few minutes watching the man perform CPR on the old man . Eventually, foreigner stood up and shook his head at the tour guide .
The tour guide crouched down and patted the iduo’s shoulder .
"I’m very sorry, iduo . Your friend has passed . There is nothing we can do . "
iduo’s high-pitched wails grew so loud that Li Yundong had to deactivate his super hearing to avoid going deaf .
Li Yundong’s eyes never left the crowd . The monks closed in again after the tour guide and her two foreign companions moved away from iduo .
Sothing gnawed at Li Yundong’s insides . Should he go over there and help the man? It wasn’t the first ti he’d revived a person with his Qi . He did it for John and President Cao . Shouldn’t he at least try to help the old man?
Zi Yuan’s warning echoed inside his head: keep to yourself . . . minimize human contact . . .
Li Yundong looked towards the crowd again . So of the tourists had already left the crowd . iduo was still down on the ground, crying her hearts out . iduo reminded so much of Su Chan right now . The way she was crying over the loss of soone dear to her...
Damn it!
Li Yundong lowered his backpack and pulled out a dark towel . Stealth be damned . He would not stand by and watch soone die without doing sothing to help . If he walked away right now, he’d be no different than all those hypocritical Cultivators whom he loathed .
Li Yundong lifted the towel and wrapped it around his neck like a bandana mask . Once he was sure that his face was covered below his eyes, he stood up and sprinted towards the crowd .
***
Slling like shit definitely had its perks . One of it was that people would make way for him without him having to say anything . The crowd parted to two sides the mont he got close . The remaining tourists covered their noses and gave him wary looks . It was like he had the bubonic plague or sothing . Li Yundong ignored the looks and whispers and walked on .
The monks paused their chanting and turned around to regard him . Kudos to these monks because they didn’t even flinch when they saw him .
Li Yundong stopped in front of the monks and gestured with his hand: make way please, I’m trying to save a guy’s life here .
The monks stepped aside without question, much to his relief . Li Yundong stepped past the monks and walked towards iduo and the fallen old man slowly .
Shouts erupted around Li Yundong as he approached iduo . The people were shouting in Lhasa Tibetan, so he couldn’t understand a single word they were saying . But judging from their tone, these people were probably cursing at him . iduo turned around abruptly before he even got close . Maybe it was his sll .
Wariness shone through iduo’s eyes as she regarded him . Ignoring the shouts and looks of disdain cast his way, Li Yundong moved past iduo and crouched down beside the old man .
"Hey!! What are you doing?!" iduo shouted in Mandarin . "Don’t touch Changbagela! His spirit has gone to see the Buddha . You’re not allowed to touch his body!"
Li Yundong looked up iduo, who had already stopped crying and was now scowling at him . He smiled even though he knew the girl couldn’t possibly see his smile behind the towel covering his face .
"B- Back away from Changbagela!" iduo yelled, glaring at him .
The Tibetans began to shout again .
Li Yundong gave the girl a reassuring look . At least he hoped it looked reassuring . He reached out with his hand and touched the top of the old man’s head—the Baihui .
The shouts and yells grew louder, but Li Yundong ignored them . Instead, he focused on channeling his Qi into the old man’s body . Once a portion of his Qi was inside the old man’s body, Li Yundong closed his eyes and perford a skill he’d learned when he passed the 7th dan of the Lianqi phase—Neiguan .
Blobs of colors appeared in his mind’s eye . The blobs were dim and faint, but still present . The old man still had Qi in his five Zangs . There was still hope for this old man yet . Li Yundong smirked and opened his eyes . It seed like the Buddha wasn’t planning on claiming this man’s soul just yet .
iduo looked like she wanted to skin him alive . The Tibetan folks and tourists were still shouting and chewing his ass . Only the monks remained calm and stoic . A few of them were studying him curiously; others were sharing knowing looks with each other .
Li Yundong looked at the old man on the ground . He was confident that he could save this man, but he didn’t want to risk the crowd seeing anything weird and start spreading rumors . God knows he started glowing later, and the next thing he knew, every Cultivator in the area was on his ass .
Li Yundong looked towards the monks, then jerked his chin towards the crowd . The monks stared at him, clearly not understanding what he ant . He pointed towards the crowd, then did a "go away" gesture . A mont later, Li Yundong pointed at the crowd again, then covered his eyes a few tis . One of the monks, an older fellow, slapped his hands together . Then, the monk whispered sothing to his companions . Seconds later, the monks nodded at Li Yundong, then began making their way towards the crowd . The older monk walked towards iduo and pulled her away . When iduo protested, the monk whispered sothing to her . iduo cald down instantly .
Li Yundong waited until the monks had ushered iduo and the crowd away before he got to work . He closed his eyes and gathered his Qi at his right palm . When he was about to touch the old man’s Baihui again, Li Yundong hesitated . The patient was probably in his eighties . His body was weak and frail . Li Yundong closed his eyes again and increased the concentration of the Qi gathered at his palm . Monts later, he covered the old man’s Baihui with his right palm and channeled his Qi into the old man’s body .
***
iduo freed herself from the old monk’s grasp and charged towards Changbagela, who was still lying on the ground . How dare that slovenly young man touch his body! How dare he! Where was he anyway? iduo kneeled down beside Changbagela and scanned the area with her eyes . She followed the mountain trail ahead until she located the young man, who was continuing his climb as though nothing happened . Anger surged in iduo . What a disrespectful and vile—
There was the loud gasp . iduo tore her gaze away from the young man was nearly overwheld with joy when she saw Changbagela’s chest moving .
"Changbagela!! Wake up! Please . . . Wake up!"
The crowd was around them in an instant, yelling and screaming for Changbagela to wake up .
Seconds later, Changbagela released a long sigh and opened his eyes .
A scream of joy tore out of iduo lips . "Changbagela!" She threw herself into Changbagela’s arms . "I thought you were gone! You scared !"
Changbagela pushed himself into a sitting position . "W- Why am I here? I thought . . . " Changbagela shook his head like he was confused . "I thought just now I . . . "
"What?" iduo asked .
"I . . . " Changbagela stared into iduo’s eyes . "I saw a living Buddha . The Buddha was about to enlighten and take to Sukhavati, the Western Paradise . But all of a sudden . . . I’m back here . "
A ruckus erupted among the crowd .
"Changbagela! You saw Buddha?"
"What did he look like?"
"How was the Buddha planning to enlighten you?"
Changbagela nodded . "Yes . I saw a living Buddha!"
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