Jingrong said, “Though letters from the capital are indeed sent by carrier pigeon, Lang Bo’s eyes are much sharper than yours. When a carrier pigeon arrives, he’ll naturally discover it. How could he let you chase pigeons all over the place? So this pigeon wasn’t being sent to this prince.”
Well buddy, this is awkward!
Ji Yunshu had perhaps truly developed a suspicious illness, even becoming somewhat oversensitive, to the point where she always loved to be suspicious and harbor doubts.
She shook her head secretly.
“Perhaps I was overthinking it.”
The two left the sutra chanting hall. On the way back to the meditation chamber, Ji Yunshu suddenly asked him, “What did the abbot say to you?”
“Some Buddhist truths.”
“Truths?” Ji Yunshu’s lips parted slightly. “Buddha is inherently without heart, Chan is for embracing. Good and evil are difficult to distinguish, karmic retribution exists—where is there any talk of truth?”
“You understand Buddhism?”
She shook her head!
“I don’t understand. I just read some books casually and am showing off a few phrases.”
Jingrong glanced at her sideways, a fleeting smile of appreciation quickly passing across the corners of his mouth, but in an instant it tightened again. His brow furrowed as he said, “That abbot said one phrase to this prince—not your ‘good and evil are difficult to distinguish,’ nor ‘karmic retribution,’ but rather ‘when will grievance beget grievance end?’ So-called goodness arises from the root, evil is born from the heart. What he ultimately spoke of was undoubtedly one phrase: let go.”
Put down the butcher’s knife and immediately become Buddha!
And as he spoke these words, Ji Yunshu suddenly stopped in her tracks, turned sideways to face him, lifted her eyes slightly, and met his gaze. “It seems you were deeply moved.”
“More than just moved!”
“These words are clear to see but impossible to fully comprehend.”
“But this prince, like you, does not believe in Buddhism.” Jingrong said seriously.
Ji Yunshu understood his meaning.
He was saying that the grievances between him and Jing Yi couldn’t be resolved with just the two words “let go.”
When one retreats, one advances—it would be endless.
Ji Yunshu gazed at him but ultimately said nothing.
Night brought heavy rain with no sign of stopping. The entire mountain range was shrouded in torrential downpour, the dense raindrops gradually obscuring vision until it was blurry and hazy. One’s sight could hardly penetrate through the heavy rain before them. A great wind arose in the mountains, bringing thorough coldness. The fierce wind and rain howled forth, and the lanterns hanging in the temple swayed back and forth, several being blown out.
Inside the temple, the atmosphere felt eerie and sinister!
Ji Yunshu closed the door to prepare for rest, but the open window in the room creaked several times, constantly shaking.
The strong wind swept through, carrying in a few strands of rain that slanted onto the windowsill and floor, dampening a patch.
She went over to close it. Her hand had just grasped the wooden window when a pigeon suddenly landed beside her hand, startling her. Her hands instantly withdrew from the window and she stepped back two paces.
In the dead of night, truly frightening people to death!
The pigeon stood proudly on the windowsill with its small body, pacing back and forth, also constantly preening its feathers with its beak. Those smooth feathers had been drenched by rainwater, water droplets dripping down. This pigeon looked like a “drowned chicken.”
If Ji Yunshu remembered correctly, this pigeon was the one she had chased to the sutra chanting hall earlier before it disappeared.
Because the feathers on the pigeon’s left wing had a round black mark, very recognizable.
Only—
The bamboo tube that had been tied to the pigeon’s leg had already been removed by someone.
She looked closely for a while, then took out a handkerchief to wipe the pigeon’s damp feathers. The pigeon’s small head rubbed against the cloth and didn’t fly away, but rather seemed to enjoy it very much.
When the white cloth lightly wiped the inner side of the pigeon’s wing, it actually picked up a layer of red.
It was blood!
“Little one, you’re injured?”
“Coo coo.”
Ji Yunshu’s brow furrowed lightly. She planned to bring it inside and apply some medicine, but the pigeon flapped its wings and flew away. Probably because its wing was injured, after fluttering a few times, it finally just plopped to the ground and could only slowly slip away along the wall.
Well then, good deeds should be done thoroughly. Ji Yunshu quickly chased after it.
But just as she came around to the back, the pigeon had already disappeared. She searched along the corridor. Just as she turned a corner, she collided head-on with someone. The person’s momentum was great, knocking her back several steps. Fortunately, the other party grasped her arm, and only then did her steps steady.
Otherwise, she would definitely have fallen on her bottom.
When she came to her senses, she first saw the hand grasping her arm.
That hand was withered and thin as firewood, purple-red all over, with skin and flesh tightly wrinkled. Faintly, one could still see the blood vessels on the back of the hand.
This… was scarring left by burns!
That person quickly withdrew their hand, pressed their palms together, and said, “Amitabha, this humble monk was unintentional. I hope the benefactor will forgive me.”
Ji Yunshu also instinctively pressed her palms together and bowed slightly. “It was my recklessness.”
“Amitabha.”
Ji Yunshu raised her head and carefully examined the monk before her. Looking closely, wasn’t this the old monk who hadn’t shaved his head that she’d encountered earlier in the sutra chanting hall?
Because of the strong wind and heavy rain at this time, several lamps in the corridor had gone out, causing the light to be dim and dark. But even so, she still clearly saw the face of this old monk before her.
Full of wrinkles, age close to fifty!
What was shocking was that half of this person’s face bore extremely hideous and terrifying scars from burns, as if someone had forcibly torn off a large piece of skin, with blood vessels densely distributed. The other half of the face was hidden in darkness, with those deep eyes slightly lowered, making it difficult to fathom their expression.
Probably due to professional reasons, Ji Yunshu instinctively examined those scars carefully.
Based on the degree of skin and flesh wrinkling, as well as the color of the scars, these should be old injuries from over a decade ago!
The old monk lowered his head and said, “Benefactor, the night is deep and wind has risen. Many lanterns have been extinguished, and the corridor is pitch black, unsuitable for walking at night. Benefactor should return to your room early to rest.”
As his words fell, he raised his eyes to glance at her once, then quickly lowered them again.
Just from this one glance, Ji Yunshu felt extraordinarily familiar, yet couldn’t say exactly where the familiarity lay.
She could only withdraw her examining gaze, nodded slightly, and stepped aside to make way.
“Master, please go slowly.”
The old monk walked away with a limp.
Walking neither fast nor slow!
Watching that gradually receding back, Ji Yunshu pondered in her heart for a moment but couldn’t figure it out. She planned to return to her room by the way, but after just two steps, a sharp pain came from her abdomen. She pressed one hand on her abdomen and propped the other against the wall, her body bending slightly.
“Ugh!”
The pain intensified…
Her body gradually crouched down, then was suddenly lifted up by someone.
Looking up, it was actually Muruo!
He pulled out a medicine bottle from his sleeve, tapped out a pill, and stuffed it to her.
“Take it.”
Looking at the red pill in her palm, she asked Muruo, “What is this?”
“Medicine to relieve pain.”
“What medicine?”
“Just take it first.”
Ji Yunshu’s heart was suspicious, as if realizing something. At this moment, covered in sweat, she still obeyed and took the medicine. After a while, the pain gradually dissipated.
Muruo supported her back to her room.
Inside the room, Ji Yunshu’s face was pale as she looked at Muruo sitting across from her.
“Tell me, what’s really wrong with me?”