A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 319 Stone Square
Duan Rong crossed a short iron chain from the hill where the weapons shop was located and landed on the hill where the stone archway was located.

Duan Rong jumped off the iron chain and walked along the mountain path for a while. Then he heard faint laughter coming from the dense forest not far away.

Duan Rong turned around, stepped on the rough rocks, went into the dense forest, and walked towards the direction of the sound.

Stepping on the rustling fallen leaves, Duan Rong came to a stream, and saw a few figures in bright colors squatting by the stream with wooden basins and handkerchiefs, washing the dust and sweat off their faces not far upstream.

Duan Rong walked over slowly, bowed respectfully, and said, "Excuse me, Senior Sisters, how do I get to the Stone Archway?"

The group was washing, splashing water and playing, but when they saw Duan Rong appear at the stream, they quieted down. Then, seeing Duan Rong approaching and bowing to ask questions, they all stared at him.

Duan Rong was wearing a green Taoist robe. Although he looked dark, his features were well-proportioned and his hair was neatly tied.

One of them smiled and replied, "Go up the stream, where it bends, then walk east for a few feet, and you'll see it."

After expressing his gratitude, Duan Rong went upstream along the stream.

When I walked to a large bluestone, I saw the stream turning down beside the stone.

Duan Rong stopped beside the big bluestone, turned around and walked behind it. After walking a few feet along the dense forest, the view in front of him suddenly opened up.

This place is a space opened up in a fairly large valley.

There are many caves of various sizes on the stone walls of the valley.

This valley was surrounded by a wooden fence about three meters high. Duan Rong walked to the gate of the wooden fence. An old woman was guarding the gate, setting up a boiler and cooking something.

Duan Rong's nose moved and he smelled a scent of medicine.

Duan Rong showed the sect's cloud certificate, and the old woman only glanced at it twice and let him in.

Duan Rong walked along the valley and soon stopped not far from a cave. He had already seen Xiao Yu's back.

On the platform at the entrance of the cave, Xiao Yu was sitting in front of a stone table, holding a chisel and carving the stone embryo in front of him.

Duan Rong walked over with low footsteps. Xiao Yu still turned her head cautiously, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. When she saw it was Duan Rong, she was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "Why are you here? I'm just walking, why are you so sneaky?"

Duan Rong sat down on the bench opposite Xiao Yu and said with a smile, "I see you are very focused. I'm afraid I'm disturbing you!"

Duan Rong then looked at Xiao Yu intently, and saw a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and a black and gray mark on his face.

When Xiao Yu saw Duan Rong staring at her, her face turned red.

Duan Rong noticed Xiao Yu's reaction and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He turned the stone blank that Xiao Yu was carving and looked at it carefully.

The stone embryo was not very big, only about one foot.

The embryo just had the outline of a human, and the face was still blurry.

The place where Xiao Yu had just cut with the knife was the folds of clothes on the shoulder of the stone sculpture.

Duan Rong looked at the intricate carvings on the folds of the clothes and sighed, "Your work is too delicate."

Xiao Yu rolled her eyes at Duan Rong and said, "My work is far from satisfactory. I have to remove every wrinkle in the dress. It's a very tiring and meticulous job. Otherwise, why are all the people working here girls?"

Duan Rong then remembered the female disciples he met by the stream. Duan Rong raised his head and looked around, and found only a few scattered figures sitting at the entrances of several caves.

Duan Rong asked, "Why are you the only ones working?"

Xiao Yu said, "The old man finished his work a long time ago and left. Those guys are just like me, newcomers, just staying here to practice their skills!"

Duan Rong nodded when he heard this and picked up the carving knife that Xiao Yu had just placed on the stone table.

Duan Rong looked at the crude carving knife in his hand and said to himself, "Read the spirit of the tool."

Then, a set of data appeared in front of Duan Rong.

Object: Stone carving knife
Spirit Level: Not yet reached
Devouring requirements: None
Devouring effect: Basic sword skills

Duan Rong's eyes moved, and he said inwardly: "Swallow!"

The floating data panel before him shook and disintegrated. Xiao Yu snatched the carving knife away and said, "Wait for me for a moment. I need to finish today's mission as soon as possible. Otherwise, that senior sister who led me will be rude to me again."

Xiao Yu pondered for a while, and she realized that Duan Rong was sitting there staring at her. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind and her face blushed again.

Xiao Yu said angrily: "You keep looking at me like this...it affects me!"

Duan Rong smiled and said, "I'm sitting here waiting for you, but you won't let me see. What should I do?"

Xiao Yu said, "Turn around and sit over there. Wait until I'm done carving, then turn around."

Duan Rong smiled helplessly. "Okay, I'll close my eyes. Is that okay?"

Duan Rong really sat there and closed his eyes. Closing his eyes like this just helped him digest the food efficiently.

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong, who was sitting with his eyes closed in the breeze, and smiled slightly, with love flowing in her eyes.

"Keep your eyes closed! Don't open them, I'm watching you!"

Xiao Yu grinned, holding the carving knife, focusing on the wrinkles on the shoulders of the stone embryo.

Xiao Yu carved a few times, glancing at Duan Rong from time to time. Seeing that Duan Rong had his eyes closed, he was very happy and thought to himself: What a fool!
After a while, Duan Rong suddenly opened his eyes.

He looked at Xiao Yu's knife skills in carving the stone, shook his head slightly, and said, "That's not how it's done."

Xiao Yu was furious when he heard this and asked, "Who told you to open your eyes?"

Duan Rong tried to grab the carving knife in Xiao Yu's hand, but Xiao Yu threw it away.

Duan Rong said: "Let me show you."

"You can?"

"Of course." Duan Rong said, "It's the same principle as painting."

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong suspiciously, but still let go and let Duan Rong grab the carving knife.

Duan Rong twisted the stone embryo to the middle, facing the cave, so that both of them could see it. He glanced at Xiao Yu and said, "Look carefully! That! It's like this... When carving, only the wrist exerts force, and the elbow does not move..."

When Xiao Yu saw Duan Rong suddenly carve a long distance with his knife and cut off a large piece of stone, his face suddenly changed. Just as he was about to stop him, he heard Duan Rong say: "...The lines have a trend...Don't carve bit by bit, first outline the entire width, and then grind it down bit by bit...like this...like this..."

"The more restrained and cautious you are, the worse your carving will be... because the lines you carve will be broken, not flowing like water..."

Seeing that Duan Rong had carved out a complete wrinkle in a short while, Xiao Yu's eyes became brighter and brighter.

"This is better than the one carved by my senior sister!"

Xiao Yu gradually shifted her eyes away from the stone statue and stared at Duan Rong. A certain brilliance was dancing in the depths of her eyes.

Duan Rong noticed Xiao Yu's look, pointed at the stone statue with the carving knife in his hand, and shouted, "Look at this!"

Xiao Yu blushed before continuing to look at the carving knife in Duan Rong's hand.

Duan Rong demonstrated it carefully to Xiao Yu and let her try it a few times herself.

Duan Rong carefully guided her. Xiao Yu was very smart, and Duan Rong taught her without reservation and step by step.

In addition, she had already mastered the basic carving skills in the past two days, so it didn't take long for Xiao Yu to get the hang of it. At least she let go of her hands and feet and dared to cut out the big outline of the stone statue with one knife.

Even if there is a slight mistake, it can be corrected little by little later.

Seeing that he had also completed a fold, Xiao Yu smiled and said, "This is much better than before! I think I'll give Senior Sister a scare tomorrow!"

The two men were so focused on carving the stone statue that they didn't realize dusk had fallen in the valley.

There were fires burning at the entrances of many caves, and the aroma of food wafted over.

Xiao Yu placed the stone statue under the stone table, looked up and smiled, "Well, I've already exceeded my mission today."

Duan Rong looked around and said, "Aren't you going to invite me to have a meal?"

Xiao Yu's eyes flickered, and he said, "I live in that cave over there."

The two of them walked together through the twilight-covered valley until they came to a cave entrance. This cave entrance was a bit remote, and even just looking at the entrance, it was clear that it was much smaller than the cave where the stone statue had been carved.

Duan Rong glanced at the cave entrance and said, "You start the fire. I'll go out and get some game."

Xiao Yu was about to say something when Duan Rong turned around and walked into the twilight.

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong's back in the twilight, her eyes slightly moist.

She had been busy from morning till night for the past two days and was exhausted when she returned to the cave. She just ate some dry biscuits and lay down.

Today is the earliest day she finishes work.

Not long after, Duan Rong came back.

He was carrying two hares.

Xiao Yu had already lit a fire, and Duan Rong had already cleaned the two hares in a nearby stream in the dense forest.

Each of them pierced one and started roasting it on the firewood pile.

The hare was soon roasted, and Xiao Yu baked two more pancakes.

Both of them were very full. Xiao Yu took out a gourd, which contained clear water she had fetched from the stream.

She took a few sips and handed it to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong took a few gulps of water from the gourd.

After they finished eating, they sat by the fire at the entrance of the cave, looking at the dark night and the stars in the sky, and started chatting.

Xiao Yu's heart was filled with a faint happiness.

In fact, she was feeling very depressed these two days.

Suddenly, I left my family and came to this mountain. I worked hard every day and had to look after the boss's mood.

She was a little confused. She didn't know what the purpose of being a so-called registered disciple of the sect was.
Duan Rong suddenly opened the lining of his shirt and took out the brass carved anklet. He handed it to Xiao Yu and said with a smile, "I'll give you a little toy."

Xiao Yu looked at the ring in Duan Rong's hand, which was emitting a quiet and faint light under the firelight. Her heart trembled, and she took it, leaned close to the firelight, and looked at it carefully.

Xiao Yu smiled and asked, "Where did you get it?" Duan Rong answered truthfully, "I went to Ximen Kankan's this afternoon and found it among the pile of broken weapons. I thought it looked pretty, so I cleaned it and thought I'd give it to you. You won't mind, will you?"

Xiao Yu had already seen that there was still a faint patina remaining in the carved patterns, but she also saw what Duan Rong had just carefully taken out from the lining of his lapel.

Xiao Yu said, "Why wouldn't I despise it? You get things that others don't want and give them to me. Do you know how to give things away?"

Although Xiao Yu said so, there was always a smile on her face.

Duan Rong said, "Well, let's just throw it away."

As Duan Rong spoke, he reached out to grab the ring from Xiao Yu's hand.

Xiao Yu immediately turned away, tightly grasped the ring, and said, "What are you doing? This thing is mine now!"

As Xiao Yu spoke, he took off one of his shoes and socks and put the ring on his ankle.

Xiao Yu lifted the foot slightly and looked at it by the firelight. She smiled and nudged Duan Rong, saying, "How is it? Does it look good?"

"nice."

Duan Rong didn't even look at the anklet, but kept staring at Xiao Yu's smooth and tender feet.

Duan Rong suddenly shuddered, and he remembered what Ximen Kankan said in the dark cave.

"I don't really have this habit, do I?"

"No! I'm seriously normal."

Xiao Yu didn't notice the change in Duan Rong's expression at all. When she heard Duan Rong say that it looked good, she looked at it with satisfaction and put her shoes and socks back on.

The two continued chatting at the entrance of the cave, and they talked about Xiangu County, Zhu Xiaoqi and Mr. Xiao. Xiao Yu also asked about the relationship between Duan Rong and the Ximen family. Duan Rong told Xiao Yu how he knew Ximen Kankan.

Some things made Xiao Yu laugh.

Before they knew it, the two of them were sitting together, with Xiao Yu's head resting on Duan Rong's shoulder.

As the two of them talked, they fell silent and no one spoke for a long time.

But there was no awkwardness in the atmosphere.

They could clearly feel each other's presence.

Their minds were naturally blending at this moment. It was very quiet, without a single distracting thought.

They stayed like this for a long time.

The pile of firewood beside him had burned out, and the flames were gone, leaving only a ball of red ashes.

The valley was silent, with only a few caves lit by faint flames.

Duan Rong said, "I should go now."

Xiao Yu hummed and rubbed her face against Duan Rong's shoulder, but she did not stand up.

The two stayed together for a while, and then Duan Rong suddenly stood up and said, "I'm leaving."

Xiao Yu sat there with her knees hugged, sniffed, looked up at Duan Rong, and said nothing.

The two stared at each other in the darkness.

Duan Rong could clearly feel that something was surging in their hearts.

He lowered his head and kissed Xiao Yu's forehead.

Xiao Yu didn't move, her body was tense and her heart was churning like a tsunami.

Duan Rong turned and walked into the darkness.

Xiao Yu watched Duan Rong's figure gradually disappear into the darkness, and her heart sank bit by bit...

But after a while, Duan Rong suddenly turned back.

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong who had returned and asked with a smile, "Why are you back again?"

Duan Rong's eyes moved and he said, "I'm afraid of the dark!"

Xiao Yu smiled and rolled his eyes at Duan Rong.

She understood that Duan Rong didn't want to leave.

Xiao Yu stood up and led Duan Rong into the cave.

Xiao Yu lit the candle on the stone table and placed it next to the stone bed deep in the cave.

Xiao Yu put away the candle, turned around and looked at Duan Rong with a shy expression.

Duan Rong looked around the stone bed deep in the cave with a look of astonishment.

There were four stone statues surrounding the stone bed.

Three of them are embedded in the wall, and one stands beside the bed, about half a person's height.

Duan Rong was astonished because these four stone statues were the statues of the Four Great Vidyarajas who constructed the mandala in the Garbha-Tibetan Sutra.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered. He looked at the blushing Xiao Yu and asked, "Where did these stone statues come from?"

Xiao Yu looked around at the stone statues surrounding the stone bed and understood why Duan Rong was so surprised. When she first saw these stone statues surrounding the stone bed, she also felt it was strange.

Xiao Yu said: "I don't know, it was there when I came."

Duan Rong looked thoughtful as he asked, "Is the stone statue you carved today one of these four?"

Xiao Yu nodded, pointed to the stone statue standing beside the bed, and said, "This is it."

Duan Rong looked at the stone statue and his eyelids twitched.

That is Vajra Yaksha King!

Duan Rong walked around the stone bed.

He found that the placement of these stone statues was also correct.

In other words, these stone statues were most likely not stonemasons practicing their skills, but rather people practicing the Taizang Sutra in this cave.

Who is this person?
Duan Rong's brows were furrowed, and his eyes were filled with deep thought.

Xiao Yu had already noticed that Duan Rong seemed to be very interested in those stone statues.

She looked at Duan Rong and asked, "Is there something wrong with these stone statues?"

Duan Rong pulled himself out of his deep thoughts, looked at Xiao Yu, and said, "No... no problem."

Xiao Yu rolled her eyes at Duan Rong and said angrily, "Why are you so jumpy and nervous?"

Duan Rong said: "Go to bed early."

Xiao Yu hummed softly like a mosquito and blew out the candle.

The two of them lay on the stone bed.

Xiao Yu was sleeping on her side with her back to Duan Rong.

In the darkness, Duan Rong's hand suddenly reached out to hug Xiao Yu's waist.

Xiao Yu was startled and immediately grabbed Duan Rong's hand to prevent him from moving.

Duan Rong said in the darkness, "Xiao Yu, turn over and sleep."

"What are you doing?!" In the depths of the dark cave, Xiao Yu's face had already turned red.

At this moment, Duan Rong suddenly put his arms around Xiao Yu's shoulders and turned her over in his arms.

Xiao Yu struggled a few times, but her heart was already in her throat, and Duan Rong's elbow was like an iron hoop.

Xiao Yu finally stopped moving and lay on Duan Rong's chest.

She bit her lip and secretly made up her mind that if Duan Rong took any further action, she would never obey!

But Duan Rong just gently held her shoulders and lay quietly in the darkness.

Not long after, Xiao Yu discovered that Duan Rong had fallen asleep.

She finally calmed down her nervous heart.

At this moment, she was suddenly enveloped by happiness... She lay on Duan Rong and could hear his heartbeat, which made her feel peaceful...

In a peaceful and happy state, Xiao Yu gradually fell asleep...

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Yu slowly woke up in the darkness.

Duan Rongzheng gently placed her on the bed, then quietly got out of bed.

Xiao Yu let Duan Rong put her down. She saw that the entrance of the cave was dark, but she knew that this was the darkest time before dawn, and it would be light soon.

Duan Rong put Xiao Yu down and gently kissed her forehead in the darkness.

Unconsciously, a tear fell from the corner of Xiao Yu's eye...

Duan Rong seemed to stand by the bed for a while before turning around and walking out of the cave.

Xiao Yu listened to Duan Rong's footsteps disappearing in the cave, then she sat up. She got out of bed and walked to the cave entrance.

She stood at the entrance of the cave, looking at a vague shadow moving slowly in the dark valley...

Xiao Yu looked at the shadow. Although it was in pitch darkness, she knew that it was Duan Rong.

Xiao Yu watched the shadow disappear completely in the darkness. Before she knew it, two lines of tears had already flowed down her face...

(End of this chapter)