Chapter 15 Lust breeds boldness

Nie Guiyu's expression changed instantly, and he hurriedly tried to cover himself.

But he was a step too slow, and Bao'e saw everything clearly.

But his clothes were half undone, and his body was covered with crisscrossing wounds.

His face was furrowed in worry and looked miserable, covered in blood.

Zhu Bao'e exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, how did you suddenly get all these injuries? Could it be that those thieves came looking for you and hacked you to pieces like this? Did they really intend to chop you into pieces?"

As she was speaking, she looked around again, ready to transform into a whirlwind and escape at any moment.

Nie Guiyu's face turned deathly pale, and he was covered in sweat.

"Don't look any longer." He forced himself to stay awake and gasped for breath. "And don't pity me. Even if I were to become a sick ghost in hell, I wouldn't expect a few tears from others to wash away my injustice."

The fool didn't bother to hide anything and bluntly said, "I don't pity him, I don't pity him."

Nie Guiyu paused for a moment, then turned his face slightly back as if looking at her.

Bao'e continued, "It is often said that the path of cultivation is arduous. If you want to become an immortal or a saint, I don't know how many more painful and agonizing trials you will have to endure than these sword wounds to escape the cycle of reincarnation. These are just the 'brave warriors facing battle, dying but wounded' you've already suffered."

Young Master Nie smiled sarcastically: "Miss Bao'e is devout. She only learned a few words from your pedantic master and thinks she can save all living beings."

Bao'e was furious: "You ignorant country bumpkin! He only chants Buddhist scriptures, but I have truly suffered! The scars on my body have not faded yet, how can I allow you, a young man, to criticize me?"

She suddenly pulled up her sleeve, revealing a slender and firm arm.

At first glance, the skin appears smooth, but upon closer inspection, one can see scars of varying depths.

These are all old wounds accumulated over the years.

Young Master Nie was stunned.

She grabbed his hand, pressed it against her arm, and huffed angrily, "Touch it yourself properly, so you won't laugh at me for lying."

Nie Guiyu remained silent, only moving his hand slightly.

He ran his fingertip over the shallow scar, its undulations prompting one to ponder its origin.

Gradually, his gaze drifted blankly, and he murmured, "Cultivation is arduous..."

For some reason, Bao'e suddenly became dazed and pulled her arm back.

She didn't ask about the thieves' origins or mention treating her injuries, but instead rambled on: "Those thieves must have sneaked in to rob you at night, which is why you're all injured. That servant is useless; he only said your old illness had flared up, but didn't care about your injuries. Brother, why don't you give me some money and hire me as a guard, a protector? I'll walk around with you during the day, and at night I'll lie with you and watch over you. If the robbers come again, I'll intercept and kill those monsters!"

Nie Guiyu regained his composure and looked at her.

"Bao'e," he suddenly called out.

Bao'e was startled and mistook Gao Cuilan for calling her.

She found it strange and wondered why he separated "Bao'e" and "Girl". Could it be that he was in so much pain that he fainted and needed to catch his breath before he could pronounce it correctly?

But he only called her "Bao'e" without adding anything further, and asked, "Where did you go last night when I was waiting for you in that hall?"

“I overslept and missed the appointed time,” Bao’e said. “By the time I went to look for you, you had already left.”

"Have you run into anyone?"

"No, no. Even the servants are asleep. It's so dark, how could we possibly bump into anyone else?"

“Never…” Nie Guiyu remained silent for a long time before suddenly gritting his teeth and saying, “At first glance, you seem honest, but in reality, you are the most dishonest.”

Before Bao'e could get angry, he said, "I'm going to sleep now, you can leave."

Bao'e was annoyed and refused to answer. She simply stuffed the torn quilt into his arms and mocked him, "Just use both arms to hold it together. Even though it's torn, it's still a warm quilt, and you can still sleep in it."

Nie Guiyu took a breath and slowly exhaled.

He turned his face slightly away and urged, "You should leave now."

Bao'e really left.

She estimated that the time had come, so she first found a servant to arrange a vegetarian meal, which she then enjoyed.

After the meal, she finally remembered the Tripitaka Master who was discussing the scriptures, so she went to find him.

The Tripitaka was in the Buddhist hall.

When she arrived, she saw him sitting upright on the lotus throne in the Buddhist hall, his hands clasped together, his eyes closed as he chanted sutras.

A circle of monks surrounded him, also chanting sutras with their eyes closed.

It buzzed and chirped like a mosquito.

"What a coincidence, what a coincidence!" Bao'e sighed, looking at the dark clouds above their heads. "These chanting monks are so noisy! If I were here, I would just kill them like mosquitoes to get some peace and quiet. If my senior brother were here, he would sweep them all away with a stick and kill them in the temple. Even if the horse came, it would neigh and kick up its hooves, wishing it could leave a hoofprint on each monk to silence the noise. I'm afraid only Master has the patience to sit still, the ability to meditate, and that endless chatter, so he can withstand the noise of chanting and discuss the scriptures with them."

Seeing that the monk was frowning and sweating profusely, his robes soaked through, she couldn't help but say, "What a good monk! He's been made to look so miserable by the incense smoke, yet he doesn't stop. What a good monk, truly a good monk!"

She couldn't tell that Tang Sanzang was possessed by a demon; she just kept muttering "good monk" without going up to call him, and turned and left.

Meanwhile, Sun Wukong, wanting to find out the details of the ghosts in the temple, went straight to the mural and challenged them, but received no response for a long time.

He wanted to wait for the demon to appear before fighting, but he was an impatient person and couldn't wait.

He tried to break the mural, but no matter how hard he hit it with his stick, he couldn't break the wall even a little bit.

Sun Wukong was so anxious that he was covered in sweat and paced back and forth.

Helpless, he had no choice but to turn back and think of another way.

Unexpectedly, only some bundles and luggage remained in the room; Tang Sanzang and Wu Miao were nowhere to be seen.

The pilgrim roared in fury: "Heavens! Heavens! Such a cunning demon, yet it ran into such an ignorant monk who doesn't recognize demons and can't distinguish right from wrong. Master, which demon's tricks did you believe, making you obediently crawl into the demon's cave! Wumiao, what delicious vegetarian meal did that demon bring, fooling you into not being able to tell the truth, and you eagerly followed along, letting that demon share a plate of food with you!"

He searched inside and out, but could not find the two of them, which made him even more anxious, and he wished he could destroy the entire abandoned temple.

"Senior brother." Someone called him from outside the door; it was a clear and pleasant voice.

The traveler went out and saw a white horse standing in the courtyard, dragging a half-broken rope.

The traveler said, "Brother, how come you're willing to speak today?"

“Senior brother,” said the white dragon horse, “I see you are troubled because Master and Senior Sister have encountered misfortune.”

"Exactly, exactly!"

"You went to investigate the monster's background, so you don't know. Not long ago, that monster pretended to be a kind person delivering alms, deceived Master and Senior Sister, and took them away from there." The white horse raised its head and pointed in a direction.

The traveler asked, "Since you saw him, why didn't you stop him?"

"I did stop them, but in a daze, the Bodhisattva reminded me that Sister Wumiao still had worldly desires and needed to suffer in order to correct them. The Bodhisattva wouldn't allow me to say more, so I let them go."

Which bodhisattva are you referring to?

"It must be Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South Sea."

Wukong sighed repeatedly, unable to contain his irritation, "Good Bodhisattva, how could she know the truth about that fool? This little trial is hardly enough to suppress her worldly desires. Such a lazy and unruly wretch, and an unarmed mortal monk, and then they run into an elusive ghost or evil spirit, Bodhisattva isn't testing them, she's clearly torturing my life."

"Brother, don't be agitated," the little dragon said. "That monster is elusive and is actually a ghost transformed into a spirit. Since spirits are under the jurisdiction of the underworld, why not take a trip to the netherworld?"

The Monkey King nodded: "That makes sense. That monster must have gotten a treasure from somewhere, which has locked this deserted temple like a cage. Even if I, Old Sun, can somersault 108,000 li in one somersault, I still can't get out. But there's no way to heaven, but there's a way to earth. Let me go and see which lazy ghost messenger has let this harmful evil spirit escape!"

In his early years, the Great Sage was summoned to the underworld by the underworld officials, but he knew the way well and went straight to the netherworld.

While he was running around busily, Bao'e was unaware of this, her heart divided in two, focused on fasting and sleeping soundly.

That night, she vaguely heard a soft humming sound.

The sound was neither too loud nor too soft, but like mosquitoes buzzing into her ears, quite noisy.

She couldn't stand the noise and stormed out.

The noise came from Nie Guiyu's room. She went straight in and called out, "Brother, it's so late, why are you calling for your soul?"

The figure inside the tent was indistinct, speaking in a faint voice: "I'm a little hungry."

Bao'e remembered Old Master Gao and immediately became angry, saying, "You scoundrel, are you upset that I eat too much?!"

Nie Guiyu said haltingly, "I don't eat that kind of food."

"So what will you eat?"

"Eat some foul air."

“Brother, even if you want to become an immortal and live with me for a long time, you can’t start practicing the art of fasting right away. If you become a starving ghost, I won’t be able to see you again.” Bao’e stepped forward, pulled back the gauze curtain, and saw him lying on the bed, his face ashen.

His body was covered in wounds, some deep and some shallow, glistening with blood.

Her words almost made him laugh in exasperation.

Nie Guiyu said, "What does it have to do with you? All these years, I've only been eating foul air."

The fool asked, "Then why aren't you eating now?"

Nie Guiyu remained silent.

It turns out that after he occupied this deserted temple, he also killed people, but he didn't eat human flesh directly; he only consumed the essence refined from blood and flesh.

These past few days, in order to eat that Tang Monk, he sealed off the temple. No one offered incense in the temple, and he did not eat. As a result, he became hungry and gradually showed the signs of his death.

But Tang Sanzang's Zen mind remained steadfast, like the moon, free from dust.

Those evil monks couldn't force Sanzang to give up his greed, delusions, resentment, anger, and foolishness, so how could he possibly eat it?

He didn't respond, gritting his teeth in pain, his face and lips were pale.

"Oh dear!" Before she knew it, Bao'e's hand was pressed tightly against his chest, pinching and pressing it without any care. She exclaimed, "Brother, you must be starving! Your chest is as cold as ice, and your heart isn't beating at all!"

Young Master Nie winced in pain, even his groans changed, sending out a tingling, numbing sensation.

Bao'e paused, then her lust turned to boldness, and she grabbed his chest and squeezed it twice.

“Good brother,” she said, “just take a few more breaths and you’ll be able to breathe again.”

A note from the author:

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