Chapter 42 The Clue is Broken: Will You Go Bald If You Pick Too Many Flowers?

"Does the abbot know what Luo Ding wanted to do by summoning Monk Lingyuan over?"

The abbot remained silent.

Jiang Yu looked at his compassionate and reluctant expression, as if if she pressed him any further, he would shed a few tears and then smash his head against a wall to die on the spot.

But who is Jiang Yu? Apart from those he cares about, everyone else is no different from an object. Even if someone dies in front of him, he won't even blink.

He leaned back quietly in his chair, his expression as indifferent as a fine sculpture. His beautiful eyes seemed to only brighten when he saw Shen Jiuxu's outstretched hand, a stark contrast to his demeanor when he was chatting with the abbot outside.

But those who know Jiang Yu know that this is the expression he most often shows. Long ago, even Que Sheng thought he was a sleeping doll without any emotions, and that he would only be awakened when he saw certain people.

Jiang Yu wasn't in a hurry; he simply played with Shen Jiuxu's hand, seemingly finding it extremely amusing. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, so faint that the abbot, unaware of the situation, was already drenched in sweat on his once smooth forehead, and dared not even breathe loudly in the vast room.

He had been the abbot for decades and had met all sorts of people, but this was the first time he had seen a man with such an imposing presence. When Bailuzhou held a banquet before, there were sect leaders and elders from other sects who came, but the abbot was still able to handle them with some composure.

The only people who allowed him to live like this, besides Young Master Jiang, were the plain-clad woman who came with the sect leader of Bailuzhou back then.

The abbot carefully wiped away his sweat. As he looked closely, he noticed that the person in front of him bore a resemblance to the woman from several years ago.

There was another person standing next to him. Although he looked gentle, that person's eyes were practically glued to Jiang Yu.

The abbot had no doubt that if he dared to harbor even the slightest disrespectful thoughts, another man would probably cut off his head before Jiang Yu could even make a move.

After pondering for a long time, seeing that Jiang Yu had no intention of letting him go, the abbot could only tell him everything he knew. "Lingyuan is the most famous monk in Wenhua Temple. When the previous abbot was alive, he taught him many methods of healing and saving lives. People in Bailuzhou like to come to him whenever they are sick or feel unwell."

"A doctor's heart is benevolent. Lingyuan is kind-hearted by nature, and as a monk, he naturally wants to save all living beings from human suffering. If someone asks him for help, he will definitely go, and he doesn't charge much money. Everyone around here knows this. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to investigate."

The abbot chose to speak only what he was sure to say, while observing the expressions of the two people in front of him. The young master, who looked languid, was still the same as before, his eyes seemingly only on the hands on his lap.

He couldn't understand what was so appealing about those hands that made them worth looking at over and over, and even touching them inappropriately. They were all men, what was the difference?

Having spent a long time in the temple and rarely going out, the abbot still adhered to the old ways of dealing with people, but being very perceptive, he chose to turn a blind eye this time.

It was unclear whether Jiang Yu had actually listened or not. Since the abbot hadn't heard him respond and the barrier at the entrance hadn't dissipated, he figured his answer wasn't satisfactory enough.

The voices of several young monks outside drifted in from time to time, but their voices became much more muffled.

The abbot gritted his teeth and said, "I was there when Luo Ding came to ask for help. He said his child had a strange illness and couldn't sleep at night because of the pain. It had been like this for two or three years. He was so heartbroken that he couldn't bear it and came to Ling Yuan. Ling Yuan agreed and went back with him that day."

“This was perfectly normal, so I didn’t think much of it. He still hadn’t come back by nightfall. Later that night, I was worried and kept waiting. He secretly took a child into my room and said he wanted to adopt a child.”

The abbot remembered the child; he was filthy, his face covered in blood, indicating he was injured somewhere, and he was trembling with pain. His dark eyes held a resolute glint, making him seem less like a child and more like a fugitive being hunted.

The child was very tall, like a bamboo pole, and very thin. He could clearly understand the conversation between himself and Ling Yuan, but he just stood there obediently, without saying a word, showing his stubbornness.

"This must be the person you're looking for, young master! I advised him before that our Wenhua Temple is under the management of Headmaster Lian, and he should at least inform her before taking on any person. You can't just take on someone like that."

The abbot looked pitiful as he spoke, “I originally planned to wait until daytime to go and discuss it properly with Sect Leader Lian, but the next morning, Lingyuan died in bed with his eyes open, and the child disappeared without a trace. Could it be that he did it?”

"Besides, I really don't know what Ling Yuan did. There's no use in pressing me any further."

The abbot had probably finished speaking, and said with a frank expression, "Young master, look at the money in this bag. How about I return it to you? I've told you what you wanted to know, so please let me out! There are other guests coming soon!"

Jiang Yu stood up, and Shen Qinggui's hand slid off him. Jiang Yu didn't hold his hand again, but instead pinched the flower bud that Shen Qinggui had just sprouted through his sleeve and picked one from the window.

"Where is Lingyuan's house?"

"The southernmost room in the row of side rooms is it."

Seeing that the Buddha statue was about to leave, the abbot couldn't help but secretly smile, and the uneasy weight in his heart was lifted. "I will have my disciple take the two young masters there right away."

"No."

“That’s fine then,” the abbot almost laughed out loud, but he immediately suppressed it. “Then you young masters should be careful. There’s a lot of moss growing on this road, making it slippery and difficult to walk on. I won’t see you off. In the future… in the future, please don’t come here again.”

His voice grew softer and softer as he moved his feet to the doorway and cautiously peered inside. There was no obstruction; indeed, the barrier had been removed. The abbot jolted awake, nearly tripping and falling to the ground, barely managing to regain his footing.

Jiang Yu reached out his hand, his face unwaveringly indifferent.

"Thank you for helping me, young master."

Jiang Yu remained silent, his hand still suspended in the air.

"What do you mean by this, young master?"

The abbot thought he had done something wrong again and became nervous. However, after thinking for a while, he still couldn't understand what Jiang Yu meant, so he looked for help at another young master next to him.

"silver."

Jiang Yu reminded him.

Jiang Yu felt perfectly justified in saying he would return the money to him, especially since it was money he had taken from Lian Quesheng without any effort.

If Lian Quesheng was forced by Lian Chisu to not return with her when they left Bailuzhou, and no one paid for them along the way, then this bag of silver would be enough for him and Shen Jiuxu to spend for a year and a half.

The abbot was stunned. He hadn't expected anyone to actually care about this bag of silver. He wished he could go back in time and slap himself for saying those words.

"Young Master Jiang, please take this."

The abbot's heart was bleeding, but he couldn't maintain his smile and looked like he was about to cry.

Jiang Yu naturally accepted the silver, stuffed it into Shen Qinggui's sleeve, checked it to make sure it wouldn't fall out, and then pulled the man away.

Do you believe what he said?

"More or less. He probably really didn't know, but now it seems that the marks on Luo Ping'an's body and Ling Yuan's death are probably related to Huang Ning."

Following the direction the abbot had indicated, Jiang Yu went to Ling Yuan's room. It hadn't been cleaned in a long time, and the walls were covered in dust and cobwebs.

The bed was about the same size as the one in the side room where they had stayed the night before. The original bedding and sheets had been thrown away, leaving only an empty wooden board. The bloodstains on it had turned black after more than ten years, and the lingering smell had also dissipated considerably.

They couldn't see anything wrong with it; it was just an ordinary house.

"Let's go."

Jiang Yu glanced around and left side by side with Shen Jiuxu.

Birds flew in through the open window, perched on the corner of the table, and chirped incessantly.

The bird tilted its head to the side facing the wall and pecked incessantly at the white wall. The seemingly thick wall was actually as thin as a paper wing. Its sharp beak quickly pecked a hole in the wall, and white powder poured down.

With a soft "thud," a white, blackish bone fell from the hole. It looked like a human wrist bone and was about the thickness of a calligraphy brush handle. The bird stared at it for a while with its beady eyes, then put it in its mouth and flapped its wings and flew away.

"The trail has gone cold again."

Shen Qinggui pulled Jiang Yu, who was unsteady on her feet and didn't want to walk, and said, "It's estimated that nothing will be found out about the matter at Gurenzhuang in the short term."

“If Huang Ning really killed that monk, it would be reasonable. But how could such a young child have the ability to do such a thing?” Jiang Yu stopped moving and rested his head on Shen Jiuxu’s shoulder. “If he really had the ability to protect himself, he wouldn’t have been killed.”

"In a life-or-death situation, who can guarantee anything?" Shen Qinggui felt that Jiang Yu had been working too hard lately, and his body seemed to tire more easily than when he had met him in Yunshui City.

"Do you want to carry it?"

Shen Qinggui noticed the fine sweat on Jiang Yu's forehead. They had only walked a short distance since leaving Wenhua Temple, which was nothing for ordinary cultivators. Even a commoner who regularly went up the mountain to chop wood wouldn't be out of breath, but Jiang Yu's behavior suggested something was wrong.

"want."

Jiang Yu opened his arms, and Shen Qinggui squatted down, carrying him firmly on his back. He walked very steadily, and perhaps to keep Jiang Yu from getting bored, he even made sure a few more flowers sprouted on his head for him to play with.

Will you go bald if you pick too many of these flowers?

As Jiang Yu was playing, this question suddenly popped into his head. Ever since he met Shen Jiuxu, the other party had often given him flowers. After Jiang Yu discovered his true identity, the other party became even more unscrupulous, often sprouting a large bunch of flowers, and sometimes even wrapping him up with them.

That's ridiculously high.

"If you pull out so many flowers every time, won't they grow back?" Jiang Yu asked curiously. However, Shen Qinggui was with his back to him, so he couldn't see Shen Qinggui's face. He could only hear his gentle voice and hear his warm breaths sweeping across the back of Shen Qinggui's neck.

"I only bloom when I'm thinking of you."

Shen Qinggui spoke subtly, but in reality, he was a tree, and trees bloom when they seek mates. Whenever he saw Jiang Yu, those flowers would sprout one after another. He even used his spiritual power to suppress the excessive flowers so as not to frighten Jiang Yu.

Therefore, as long as Jiang Yu is there, he will continue to bloom.

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Author's Note: [Crying emoji] I'm so sorry everyone, the update schedule has been a bit messed up these past two days. I'll send you all red envelopes as compensation. I originally planned to sneak in this during my internship training session during the day, but the teacher pulled me to the front row, so embarrassing, I couldn't slack off anymore, and it's been delayed until now. I sincerely apologize. [Please][Please][Please] I'll post tomorrow's update as soon as possible, but I can't pinpoint the exact time. Please don't wait, I'll continue to send you red envelopes then. I might be able to resume normal updates tomorrow night. Sending love!