Chapter 1 The Young Daoist Monk (2/2)

The real Shen Lian had an impressive background – his mother was the daughter of the reputable Shen family, wealthy merchants based in the State Capital of Qing. His mother was pregnant with him when she was seventeen and unmarried. No one knew who the father was and his mother would not breathe a word about it.

She insisted on giving birth to him.

Her premarital pregnancy did not sit well with her father, Old Master Shen. Despite his anger, Old Master Shen could not bear to disown his only daughter.

Unfortunately, Shen Lian's mother died young. She passed away two years ago.

Shen Lian could not imagine life with the Shen family without his mother. He did not feel belonged there and people would call him a 'bastard' behind his back.

Having made up his mind, Shen Lian approached Old Master Shen and his two uncles. He offered to leave the Shen family as a substitute monk in order to pray for the good fortune of Shen family.

The concept of substitute monk was not new to reputable houses and families. Though, substitute monks were usually the children of servants. In spite of everything, Shen Lian was still a descendant of Shen family, he did not have to volunteer. Not surprisingly, Old Master Shen agreed to his request.

After all, the Shen family had amassed a considerable fortune. It was a common local practice for daughters of the family to inherit some part of the fortune. A daughter's inheritance would be passed on to her by way of dowry, of which she would have complete access and control.

Dowry was usually given to daughters when they reached a marriageable age. By the time she gets married, most of the land title would already be in her name.

When Shen Lian's mother was impregnated out of wedlock, she was not banished from the Shen family out of Old Master Shen's love for her. Though, a big part of the reason was that if she were to leave the Shen family, she would bring with her fortune of considerable size.

After the death of his mother, Shen Lian inherited the fortune as of right. Even though Old Master Shen and his two uncles were nice to him, he could not help but be worried – who knew when his two aunts would brew up something sinister! He was painfully aware of the fact that upon his death, his inheritance would be reverted back to the Shen family as of right.

Shen Lian's uncles each had children of their own. Despite the kindness that his uncles had shown him, he was never part of their family. His uncles would definitely love to leave their own children some sort of inheritance.

As Shen Lian was young when he decided to leave the Shen family to become a Daoist monk, these factors were not part of his consideration. He was merely driven by his pride and reluctance to depend on others. Even more so, he had discovered a book of martial exercises. It was something that he found when he was sorting out his mother's belongings. Apparently, the book was from his father. He could not help but wonder why his mother did not give the book to him.

In order to practice the martial exercises, Shen Lian was keen to find a private place, a place of his own.

The Shen family was incredibly wealthy. The Qingxia Temple along with Mount Qingxia belonged to them. This was exactly why the Shen family felt it was safe to send Shen Lian there.

If Shen Lian were to be addicted to the ways of Daoism and decided to stay a Daoist monk, the Shen family could not be more pleased.

The villagers living at the foot of the mountain were in charge of maintenance. Ever since Shen Lian came to the Qingxia Temple, the villagers had been sending over food and clothes.

On special occasions and during festivals, servants from the Shen family would bring Shen Lian something – a gesture to show him that he was not forgotten.

Shen Lian had plenty of time on his hands as he was living alone on Mount Qingxia and did not have to worry about daily chores and his meals. The villagers would help out with the chores, and he hired someone to take care of his meals. After all, the Shen family had plenty of cash to spare. Therefore in his free time, Shen Lian could indulge in researching into the book of martial exercises that he found.

The book of martial exercises was known as 'The Mastery of Senses'. A book of several thousand words, it focused on a method of sensing the spirit, strengthening the power of the spirit, and improving on the astuteness of the psyche and the swiftness of one's response. When the spirit attained a certain level of strength, it would be able to break through from the Baihui point and bring forth out of body experiences. In short, the book was filled with various inconceivable and abstruse notions.