"You bald donkey, can you not see I'm holding a child? And you still dare cast spells at me? Where is your compassion?"
Ji Shi furrowed his brows and signaled for his fellow monks to pause. Taking advantage of the opening, Jade teleported out of the range of the alms bowl's golden light.
She had no interest in getting entangled with them. With a quick twist, she slipped past their encirclement.
There were too many of them, and their cultivation far exceeded hers. Even though she had done no wrong, they insisted on dragging her back to their temple. But she had urgent news to report to her master. The distance made it impossible to transmit messages through the contract bond, so she had to get away fast.
"Snake beast, halt!"
Jade completely ignored them. Holding the boy tightly, she flickered a few times and vanished from sight.
But Ji Shi was prepared. He appeared right in her escape path.
"Amitabha. Put the child down. Do not harm the innocent."
Jade was annoyed, but she also agreed that the child shouldn't be hurt. She wrapped the boy securely in her outer robe and gently placed him by the roadside.
Then, spirit sword in hand, she charged. Ji Shi didn't use any weapons, meeting her strikes with his bare palms.
Jade only wanted to escape. Ji Shi wanted to detain her. The clash turned into a standoff.
His fellow monks moved the child to safety and quickly surrounded Jade once more.
With no child in the way, the alms bowl finally trapped her under its golden light. As it poured down, Jade gradually revealed her true form.
Just like her name, Jade's snake body was a radiant green, her scales shimmering with hints of gold. Her head lifted high.
"You unreasonable scoundrels have ruined something important. The consequences are on you!"
But the monks of Pujisi had no intention of listening. They chanted incessantly, their Buddhist power rising, intent on subduing this powerful beast.
Ji Shi controlled the formation. As the golden light pressed down, Jade's body shrank and began drifting toward the alms bowl.
Just as she was about to be sealed inside, a burst of white light flared from the vajra bodhi seed around her neck, forming a protective barrier. Then she was absorbed into the bowl.
Ji Shi sensed the powerful Buddhist aura from the seed, but it was too late to stop.
The bowl sealed Jade and returned to Ji Shi's hand.
"Amitabha."
He intoned the chant, but a faint regret lingered. A voice inside whispered that perhaps this time, he had been wrong.
On a distant ridge, the carriage driver who had waited for Jade saw her true form and collapsed in fear. He couldn't get up no matter how hard he tried. In the end, his horse bit his collar and dragged him up. Weak-kneed, he clambered into the carriage. Without needing a whip, the horse galloped away.
At the same time, inside the pocket dimension, Mo Ran jolted awake from his cultivation. Not seeing Jade or her drifting cloud companion, he quickly sent a message to Jian Dan.
"Master, I was startled awake just now. Something's happened to Jade."
"I already know. Our contract bond was severed. She's been cut off in a separate space."
"Master, please help her. She's kind of dumb."
Jian Dan nearly spit out her tea. "Who says that about their own little sister?"
"Don't worry. She has the item I gave her. She's safe for now. I'll find her soon."
"Thank you, Master."
Reassured, Mo Ran went back into meditative cultivation.
Meanwhile, trapped inside the bowl, Jade was furious. She lashed her tail in frustration. Her good intentions had been misunderstood, and now she was imprisoned.
Luckily, the vajra bodhi seed was glowing brightly around her neck, shielding her within. Coiling into a spiral like a mosquito coil, she conserved her strength.
The interior of the bowl seemed designed to refine its captive. Jade had no desire to be melted into a puddle. All she could do was protect herself and wait for a chance to act.
As Jade had raced toward the capital, five warriors from the island nation of Yingzhou had been slowly moving toward the cold lake within Fengyun Ridge.
Jian Dan sat beneath a pine tree on the moving mountain, gazing across the lake in contemplation.
Jade had been gone nearly a year. By their agreement, she should have been on her way back by now. Why was she suddenly cut off, to the point it startled Mo Ran?
The only explanation Jian Dan could think of was that she had been captured by monks specializing in subduing beasts. Her situation was likely precarious, but her life wasn't in immediate danger.
Jade didn't venture out often, but she had always listened to instructions. Her aura had been well-concealed. She was innocent, had never taken a life. The only way she would be discovered is if she was forced into her true form. And to force her into that, someone would have to be much stronger. Likely a high monk.
Jian Dan pressed her fingers to her temple. It felt like her child had been kidnapped, and now she, the parent, had to go and retrieve her.
Privately, Jian Dan was livid. She could scold her own pet however she wanted, but if someone else did it, she was absolutely not okay with that.
Jade had never left the pocket space since birth. This training mission had been her first taste of freedom and independence.
Jian Dan closed her eyes and pushed down her fury. First, she had to find Jade. If anything had truly happened to her...
A cold gleam flickered in Jian Dan's eyes.
She drew a talisman through the air, sending out a sound transmission. In moments, it appeared before Abbot Hui Ming.
Abbot Hui Ming was currently stationed at the imperial temple. Most of the monks had already gone out to subdue beasts.
Over the past year, various temples had reported success in eliminating disruptive demons. However, their numbers didn't match those that had escaped from the sealed tower, meaning many were still in hiding.
Abbot Hui Ming worried about this but kept it from outsiders. Now a talisman appeared before him, Jian Dan's voice echoing from it.
"Abbot Hui Ming, has any temple recently captured a green snake? That is my spirit beast. If possible, please tell me where she is. I'll retrieve her myself."
Though Jian Dan's tone was calm, Abbot Hui Ming distinctly heard a thread of anger.
He immediately ordered a young monk to contact the other temples.
The next day, a reply arrived.
"Abbot, Pujisi reports that Ji Shi Shīzǔ captured a snake beast that had slaughtered villagers. Only one child survived..."
Abbot Hui Ming felt a headache coming on. He cut the report short.
"Is this information reliable? Where is Ji Shi now?"
"Confirmed. Ji Shi has taken the beast to Yunzhong Temple. Apparently, the snake was too strong to refine, so he went to seek help from the high monks there."
"Amitabha. You may go."
Abbot Hui Ming dressed neatly and went straight to Lotus Lake.
Seeing him arrive in such a hurry, Jian Dan's brow lifted. This was clearly bad news.
Before he could speak, she stepped forward.
"Seems like you're not bringing good news, Abbot Hui Ming."
He didn't hide anything and repeated everything he had learned.
Jian Dan's smile faded. Her tone turned frosty.
"In that case, I'll trouble you to introduce me to the monks of Yunzhong Temple. I'd like to pay them a visit."