On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month of the year Guimao, Picheng was hit by a heavy snowfall. For half a month, the city was covered in snow and wind. Doors and windows along the road were tightly closed, and the streets were deserted.

Inside the Futu Temple, under the covered corridors, there were many figures, all hurrying about.

Lu Zhaozhao was in high spirits today. After today, she would be an adult, which meant that she could go down the mountain after tomorrow.

Master Jingwen said a few days ago that she wanted to celebrate her birthday. Coming-of-age ceremony is different from the past and needs to be taken more seriously.

She asked Lu Zhaozhao if there was anything she wanted, which surprised Lu Zhaozhao.

Buddhist asceticism is practiced by the monks of Futu Temple, and the women of the monastery behind the mountain are no less so. They all give up fine clothes, abstain from three meals a day and excessive sleep, taking the practice of selflessness as their guide. To desire anything here would be considered extravagant.

But Abbess Jingwen did not shy away from it; she looked at her disciple with tenderness.

Guan Nan is exceptionally intelligent. No matter how difficult the subject she teaches is, he can master it within three days and apply it to other situations. Even Hui Zhen, who lives outside the academy, is secretly amazed and says that his future prospects will certainly not be lower than his.

Huizhen was among the first monks to come from the northern regions and the first person to spread Buddhism in the Central Plains. For him to say such a thing was incredibly difficult.

Unfortunately, Guan Nan has been preoccupied with worldly affairs since being admitted to the hospital, and her ties to the mortal world remain unbroken, causing her headaches.

Knowing Guan Nan's aspirations, she privately asked Hui Zhen about them, but Hui Zhen said that if one truly wanted to transcend the world, one should first enter it; everything that followed would be a matter of fate, so she could only put her mind to it for the time being.

Tomorrow is Guan Nan's coming-of-age day. She knows Guan Nan will definitely go down the mountain, and she can't stop her, but she still wants to leave her with something to remember her by, so she asked her what she wanted.

But she regretted it after she said it. She thought: I have already taught her all my knowledge, what else can I give her?

Guan Nan, also known as Lu Zhaozhao, looked at the woman in front of her who had raised her with such care and generosity, and after hearing her say such a thing, she couldn't help but have tears in her eyes.

She knew perfectly well that this was an illusion, and that all the people and things here were just reflections in a mirror or the moon in the water. A gust of wind or a pebble could awaken her. But people are not plants or trees, and after many days of care, genuine feelings had developed between them. It was like drinking poison to quench thirst, and there was no way out.

“Last year when the Manjusaka flowers bloomed, I picked one and wanted to bring it into the world. However, the branches are so lush that I was afraid it would be damaged on the way. So I am troubled. I wonder what you can do, Master?”

Upon hearing this, Jing breathed a sigh of relief, reached out and touched her head, her voice as gentle as when she first brought her to the hospital: "I know you're already ready to be discharged. Tomorrow at this time, I'll be here with Manzhu to see you off."

Lu Zhaozhao agreed.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye. It was the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Great Cold, and the snow had not stopped.

The roads were covered in snow, and apart from morning and evening prayers, the practitioners were exempted from all other activities. This rare period of leisure also brought silence to the not-so-small courtyard.

Lu Zhaozhao packed her bags and headed to the place she had agreed to meet with Abbess Jingwen the day before.

In the distance is the Jingsi Pavilion, and a person is standing in the pavilion.

She wore a simple white dress, her long black hair neatly tied around a wooden hairpin, exuding elegance. Her graceful figure stood in the pavilion, surrounded by pure white snow, her bearing captivating.

The moment Lu Zhaozhao saw her, she knew this person had an extraordinary bearing and could not possibly come from an ordinary family. Later, as she followed her to learn Buddhism, she became even more convinced that her background must be unusual, since she was the only one in the girls' brothel whose cups were made of Dushan jade.

But how could wealthy families bear to send their daughters to the monastery for arduous training?

Lu Zhaozhao was puzzled and asked a question.

But the nun remained silent for a long time, not uttering a single word. Only after she had walked far away did the words "Life is unpredictable, and we have no control over it" drift behind her, carried on the wind, as if she hadn't heard them.

As she was still reminiscing, the nun saw her and hurriedly pulled her inside.

Upon entering the pavilion, the nun patted the snow off her shoulders while giving her some gentle instructions.

The nun said, "I've taught you medicine, so you'll have a skill and won't have to suffer too much." She also said, "You haven't left the temple since you lost your memory, so please be careful on this trip..."

Outside the pavilion, wind and snow raged, but inside, it was as warm as spring.

At the end of her sentence, the nun took out a hairpin.

“The silk threads on this are the stems of the safflower, and the carving on this is the manju.” As she spoke, she revealed the flower on the top of the hairpin. “I filled it with manju petals. I remember when you first saw this flower, you asked, ‘Why do leaves fall and flowers bloom, and flowers wither and leaves grow?’”

Lu Zhaozhao smiled sheepishly: "You still remember?"

Master Jingwen smiled and said, "You said this is a regrettable thing, that Heaven cannot grant both wishes. Today I give you this hairpin, which has both flower and leaf, so you must always remember it."

As she finished speaking, her voice trembled with emotion, and her eyes reddened slightly.

But she only said it was because the wind and snow had blinded her, and then she put the hairpin on Lu Zhaozhao's head, patted her shoulder, just like a mother about to bid farewell to her wandering child.

In this situation, Lu Zhaozhao couldn't help but ask, "If I weren't myself, would Master still treat me like his own child?"

Jingwen loves Guannan, but she is Lu Zhaozhao.

But the nun just looked at her with loving eyes, as if she were looking at the most precious thing in the world: "As long as it's you."

Tears streamed down her face and fell to the ground, but Lu Zhaozhao smiled.

She was discharged from the hospital and went down the mountain.

Snow and wind lashed her shoulders, and the cold of the twelfth lunar month was biting, but there was always a candlelight behind her, waiting for her to return.