Synopsis: ★★★Sequel to "After Transmigrating, I Was Spoiled by My Childhood Sweetheart"★★★
Childhood sweetheart with a dark side, taciturn gong x delicate, weak, shy shou. Please pity...
Chapter 35 Those with double pupils can foresee destiny and know the future…
Seeing the doubt on Seventeen and the others' faces, Yuan Man quickly took something out of his pocket and poked it in his eye. Sure enough, it turned into a normal pupil.
Seventeen curiously peered at him, while Long Zhaoming remained calm, perhaps because Yuan Man was young, and spoke in a kind tone.
"So why did you come to us today to talk about this?"
Yuan Man sat in the chair, unafraid of the three men who were much taller than her. After thinking for a moment, she tilted her head and wrote down another sentence: I don't want to go back to the main house. Can you help me leave?
"Master...did your voice also become hoarse because of the master's poison?"
Yuan Man nodded vigorously and buried himself in writing: "Because the master said that if I could speak, it would affect the hypnosis effect, so he made me drink medicine for a long time, and then I couldn't speak anymore."
What kind of medicine is this? It's clearly poison.
Seventeen frowned, her face not looking too good. Mingyue, standing to the side, lowered her eyes and pondered, "Is the person in charge the one who cooperated with you in hypnosis?"
Seeing Yuan Man nod, the group had many doubts, and their impression of their master changed somewhat.
Before this, the Zhou family was nothing more than a wealthy family to them, who had made a lot of money and had extensive connections. If they acted rashly without obtaining evidence, they could easily backfire.
But from Yuan Man, we learned about another thing that seemed very unfamiliar and mysterious: hypnosis.
They knew very little about this technique; they could only glean a few fragments from their minds, which were just a few lines from ancient books.
Why did the Zhou family use Yuan Man for hypnosis? What is the point of hypnotizing others?
It is not known at this time.
Long Zhaoming slung his fan over his waist and asked, "If you don't want to go back to the Zhou family, how about I send you to Miaofa Temple?"
He thought of the abbot of Miaofa Temple, who also had double pupils. In Buddhist beliefs, perhaps the two were destined to be together.
Mingyue nodded, agreeing with the idea.
They are now faced with many doubts, but they can only unravel them little by little to sort them out.
So the group decided to put the matter aside for the time being and return to Jiangnan as soon as possible. It wasn't just the Zhou family's main branch that mattered; winning over Long Zhaoming's group was also very important, as they still hadn't figured out who was behind it all.
Mingyue had suspected before that it might be someone in the officialdom, but without evidence, it would be illogical to attack anyone, so she could only suppress it for the time being.
Having decided to send Yuan Man to Miaofa Temple, they didn't delay any longer. After packing up, they took Yuan Man to the outskirts of town.
Yuan Man was a little timid. He used to be locked in a room by his master. After he was sent here, the steward kept a close watch on him. He could only sneak out once in a while to play with Li Yan.
The four of them were still walking on the mountain road. Along the way, Long Zhaoming had also found out more from Yuan Man. However, since they were still children, they didn't know much. They only knew that their family had been working on this secret method for a long time, but they didn't know who started it first.
This also shrouded the Zhou family in mystery. If they only had rebellious intentions, they could still deal with them, but when it came to this kind of thing, they were somewhat helpless.
"Forget it, Yuan Man doesn't know much either. Maybe we can find out something by interrogating that manager later."
Mingyue nodded and said, "I just don't know if the master will come looking for Yuan Man."
Yuan Man shook his head while holding Seventeen's hand, and took out paper and pen to write: No, when the master sent me here, he gave the order that if Zhou Xinren's plan failed, I should commit suicide directly.
Seventeen frowned, her tone tinged with anger: "Suicide? Are they even human?"
Long Zhaoming was also a little angry. He took a deep breath and didn't say anything. Mingyue's eyes were very deep, frighteningly so.
"However, it also shows that they value Zhou Xinren and the master very much, so much so that they would rather lose a so-called hypnosis secret than let others know the truth."
That's true, but the host family didn't expect that although Zhou Xinren didn't say it himself, they deduced it, and Yuan Man even switched sides at the last minute.
"Tsk, who would dare let others know about a plot to rebel?"
Long Zhaoming's tone was sarcastic, and he felt utterly contemptuous of those people, but at the same time, he thought they were overestimating themselves.
Others may not understand, but doesn't he? His elder brother ascended the throne with genuine ability; these people aren't thinking about how to properly assist the emperor, but instead are engaging in pointless activities...
As the four were walking, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was the abbot of Miaofa Temple.
The other party spotted them from afar and walked over with a smile to greet them: "Greetings, Your Highness."
"No need for formalities, host. What brings you down the mountain today?"
Long Zhaoming raised his hand to help the people up. Although they still had some doubts about the host, they had no evidence, so they still did a good job of putting on a show.
“Last night I observed the celestial phenomena and calculated that I would be destined to appear in town today, so I thought I would come down to take a look and also buy some things for the temple to take back.”
The abbot had a very kind and smiling face, and Seventeen noticed that he did indeed resemble the Buddha statue in the hall.
"Fate? What fate?"
Long Zhaoming blinked and exchanged a glance with Mingyue, both seeing disbelief in each other's eyes.
Could it be referring to Yuan Man?
The host frowned slightly and shook his head: "I don't know the specifics, because it involves this old monk himself, and it's difficult to see clearly. From a rough perspective, it's a great destiny."
Long Zhaoming raised an eyebrow, smiled, and waved to Yuan Man. The child timidly hid behind him, seemingly aware that he had helped his master do something wrong and worried that the compassionate monk would blame him.
"Master, please take a look. Is this fate?"
The host exclaimed "Eh!" and exchanged a glance with Yuan Man, both noticing the difference between the two and ordinary people. However, this difference was also the same thing they had in common.
"I see, I see."
The host smiled and waved. Yuan Man seemed a little shy, but also a little curious. There were actually two people in the world with double pupils.
"It's truly my good fortune; it seems the incense at Miaofa Temple continues to burn brightly."
Long Zhaoming and Mingyue both understood the meaning behind the host's words and were somewhat surprised.
They originally intended to present it to the abbot for consideration, since both of them had double pupils and might have some common ground. However, judging from the abbot's words, he was planning to directly accept Yuan Man as a disciple and even intended to pass on the Miaofa Temple to him.
Yuan Man couldn't understand, but he felt good about the host, who was quite different from the other people in the family. Children are most sensitive to emotions, just like how he mustered up the courage to confess to Seventeen and the others because he sensed their kindness.
"Young benefactor, what is your name?"
Long Zhaoming explained from the side, "He can't speak, and the situation is rather complicated. Why don't we go up and talk to him?"
The abbot took Yuan Man's hand, checked his pulse, and sighed, saying, "Alright, let's go back to the temple first."
After the group returned to the temple, Long Zhaoming first briefly told the abbot about Yuan Man's matter, but concealed the Zhou family's true purpose, only saying that he was training children to hypnotize others.
After pondering for a while, the abbot said, "I actually know this method as well."
There were unexpected bonuses?
Long Zhaoming raised an eyebrow. Had this host also had such an experience?
"At that time, I was just a novice monk in the temple."
The host smiled gently as he recounted that past event.
"Because of my double pupils, I was abandoned in the temple. But the abbot at the time, who was also my master, said that double pupils are a sign of good fortune. Those with double pupils can predict destiny and know the future. So he took me back."
"After that, I grew up in Miaofa Temple. One day, my master left me alone and gave me an ancient book."
The host slowly recalled the scene from that day; decades had passed, but the memory remained vivid.
"The ancient book contains the prophecy that Master gave to me back then. It predicts fate and foretells the future, but it also says that if one assists someone, it can confuse people's minds and cause them to lose their minds and souls."
Long Zhaoming was taken aback, not expecting such an ancient book to exist. He immediately asked curiously, "There really is such a thing? Is this ancient book still around?"
The abbot shook his head regretfully: "Does Your Highness still remember the great fire that once took place at Miaofa Temple?"
Long Zhaoming nodded, of course he remembered. At that time he was still a prince, only eight or nine years old. His mother had warned him not to play with fire because of the accidental fire at Miaofa Temple.
"Many ancient books were lost in that fire. If I hadn't met this young benefactor today and heard the prince mention it, I would have almost forgotten about them."
The host's gaze remained gentle throughout, carrying a compassionate calm that inexplicably put people at ease.
Even those double pupils didn't seem scary.
Long Zhaoming suddenly realized that perhaps Yuan Man and the host were the same star, but the different people around them led to completely opposite results.
Yuan Man was confused, but the host spoke slowly and in a steady voice, which made him feel that his sins had disappeared. He obediently knelt on the prayer mat.
"In that case, does the host think it would be good to leave Yuan Man here?"
Although the host didn't say it explicitly, Long Zhaoming already understood what the other party meant, so he went along with it.
"Hehe, that would be good, but young benefactor, your worldly ties are not yet severed, so you cannot be ordained as a monk. Since you have nowhere else to go, you may stay at Miaofa Temple."
Yuan Man and the host locked eyes. In that instant, both of their double pupils saw themselves in each other's eyes, perhaps what is called destiny.
"Alright, I'll leave Yuan Man to you, Master. I'll handle the Zhou family matter."
The host nodded, but then Long Zhaoming suddenly asked, as if remembering something, "How did the host know...?"
His gaze fell on the bright moon, then returned to it, and he continued, "How do you know that the late emperor left behind a son?"
The abbot placed the prayer beads in his hand and twirled them one by one, his voice calm and even, as if coming from a distant horizon: "Those with double pupils can foresee destiny and know the future."
Long Zhaoming and the others were somewhat skeptical of this claim, but the way the host acted made it seem like it wasn't fake.
After all, there was a master as a "role model" ahead of them, so it was hard for them to believe what the host said.
The abbot remained unperturbed by the skeptical gaze, his tone calm and amiable: "It is alright if Your Highness does not believe me, but if you need anything in the future, you may come to me."
After saying that, he looked at Mingyue: "This benefactor, is there something you wish to say to this old monk in private?"
Mingyue paused, showing nothing on her face, but glanced at Long Zhaoming and Seventeen.
Seventeen had been listening to them without interrupting, but upon hearing this, she looked up at Mingyue.
Long Zhaoming unfolded his fan, smiled and said, "In that case, Little Seventeen, Little Yuan Man, accompany me to the temple."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Seventeen responded and followed Long Zhaoming away with Yuan Man.
Once the three figures had completely disappeared from sight, the abbot slowly asked, "What does Your Majesty wish to ask?"
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Author's Note: I forgot to open a giveaway after the VIP chapter started, so I've quickly opened one! You only need 80% subscription to participate! The giveaway will be held on Wednesday.