Chapter 15 The Carefree Clouds (1/2)

Before heading out, Shen Lian took one last look at his body.

The windows did not serve to obstruct Shen Lian at all; it took him just one light leap to get out to the courtyard.

The clouds gave way to the moon, and the plum blossoms were dancing with their shadows. The sky was dotted sparsely with stars, complementing the pale and clear moon. It felt as if the heaven accidentally spilled misty rain into the mortal realm.

Shen Lian could feel the lightness of the air with his spirit.

A thought suddenly occurred to Shen Lian – what if instead of letting the moonlight pass through him like the flowing of a river, he absorbed it?

The moonlight gathered around Shen Lian, enveloping him like a transparent coat of feathers.

Shen Lian felt the burning heat; it was as if the afternoon sun was shining on him.

There was a glowing human-shaped shadow in the once-empty courtyard. It was drifting between taking and not taking shape in this physical realm.

The face and the hairline of the blurry shadow gave off a mystical aura.

Guards sent by Old Master Shen were stationed all over Shen Lian's chamber. The two guards on night shift were leaning against the door to shelter themselves from the wind.

One of them opened his eyes and shouted as he saw the glowing shadow. His shout alerted his companion next to him.

Shen Lian did not want to cause a scene. He immediately willed the coat of moonlight to dissipate.

As spirits did not have a physical shape, it was not easy for mortals to spot them with their bare eyes.

The companion of the guard did not see anything when he woke up. He grumpily scolded the guard before falling back to sleep again.The guard who spotted Shen Lian gave his eyes a quick rub and did not see anything strange, which led him to think that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Without the coat of moonlight around him, Shen Lian wavered in the cold wind.

It was as if he was standing naked in the cold wind, and was facing attacks by the blades of wind and swords of frost.

At that point, Shen Lian was void of emotions. The suffering of his spiritual body did not bother him at all.

This led him to understand that an out of body experience was nothing like what he experienced before. It was fun, yet dangerous.

It was only manageable because it was night time. If he were to do this during the day, he would not be able to withstand the scorching sun even with his strong spirit.

The rumor that ghosts and the like of it generally appear at night and never during the day was not an unfounded claim after all.

Without any prior experience, Shen Lian had to learn the rope carefully when it comes to having an out of body experience. He knew that he was walking on thin ice and had to be extremely cautious.

He was grateful for the connection that he had with his physical body. At least he knew that he was not alone in this harsh world.

It was similar to flying a kite; his spirit was always attached and anchored to his body, and would not be lost to the vast world.

The physical body was a prison, but it was also a bamboo raft that sailed through the hardships of the mortal realm; it came with both pros and cons.

”The carefree clouds float from behind the hills, the weary birds know that they should return.” Just as the poem, it was definitely freer for the spirit to be out of the body, but just as birds that needed to return to their nests, the spirit needed to be nourished in the body.

Shen Lian tried to control his spirit and he experimented around in the process.

He realized something unique about the spirit – it can penetrate physical matter.

Recreating what he did with the moonlight, he tried to attach the wind to his spirit. It felt as if he was melted into the wind, and could travel by its force.