After living in the back mountain for half a year, Lu Zhaozhao finally understood her current situation.
She fainted to the sound of the bells of the Nine Mirrors Tower, and naturally, when she woke up, she was in the same place as before the Nine Mirrors Tower was destroyed.
She, or perhaps Guan Nan, possessed a unique constitution, a rare and precious Buddha bone. However, since the Buddha bone resided within her physical body, it was vulnerable to external evil influences. After a spring outing, evil spirits entered her body, causing her to suffer from persistent high fever and a constant state of delirium.
Her parents, having exhausted all other medical resources, had no choice but to seek help at the temple. After the abbot, Master Huizhen, explained the situation, he personally presided over an exorcism ceremony. Half a month later, Lu Zhaozhao woke up with Guan Nan's body.
The temple was austere, yet peaceful.
She was frail, and the women of the dorm were kind enough to exempt her from cleaning duties. So, apart from morning classes at dawn and evening classes at dusk, she had a relatively leisurely time during this period.
Master Jingwen took pity on her and personally taught her the Heart Sutra.
She originally intended to use it for leisure, but to her surprise, after studying it for a few days, her cultivation level returned to normal. Even more unexpectedly, the Heart Sutra greatly promoted her cultivation.
Therefore, she devoted all her time to studying the dry and boring scriptures. Whenever Master Jingwen had a spare moment, she would run to her side to ask for answers.
For example, right now—
"Master, the Taoist of Non-Emptiness sees all things as truly existent, while the Buddha sees all things as not truly existent. What is the meaning of this statement?"
"All things arise from causes and conditions, and are empty of inherent existence."
"So, above existence there is nothingness?" Just like this world, she clearly experienced it firsthand, but in the end it was all just a mirage.
"No. All things exist, and the world is not empty, but all things arise from causes and conditions, and the world does not truly exist."
This confused Lu Zhaozhao, and she shook her head, indicating that she didn't understand.
Master Jingwen raised her hand and patted her head, her tone gentle: "Truth and falsehood, reality and illusion, do not necessarily have to be investigated to find out the truth. Just like ignorance, one can be ignorant or know everything."
The nun looked at the bewildered girl in front of her, shook her head, and thought to herself: These things are still too far away for a child. However, Guan Nan's comprehension is the best she has ever seen. Take it slow, she will teach her slowly until there is nothing more to teach.
Lu Zhaozhao, who was in the body of Guan Nan in front of her, was completely unaware of this. After listening to Master Jingwen's words, she fell into deep thought.
She had previously analyzed the cause when she made her calculations.
What is the purpose of the Nine Mirrors Tower luring her to this illusion? The ending is already set in stone, so it's impossible for her to make any changes.
This doesn't make sense, so let's push it forward. She heard the bells inside the Nine Mirrors Tower when she entered, but she didn't immediately faint, which means the bells weren't the key to entering the illusion.
After the bell tolled, she looked along the wall and saw ferocious beasts, lotus petals, and musicians. Reaching the top, she saw the bell and the black bird.
As the bell tolls, the black bird takes flight.
She and the black bird locked eyes, and then she heard the sound of a bell. From this, it seems that the black bird is the key.
However, this conjecture was overturned in her first month in the area.
The scriptures here do not mention the Black Bird, and there is nothing in the temple that is related to the Black Bird. More importantly, in her first month here, she sneaked into the Nine Mirrors Pagoda at night.
With its octagonal shape and nine tiers, upturned eaves and corners, the sculptures are exquisite in their craftsmanship. The 480 Buddha sculptures, adorned in golden robes, gleam in the stillness of the night. Some have lowered their eyes, some glare angrily, and some are at rest, all lifelike and seem like real Buddhas.
This is the Nine Mirrors Tower, untouched by war and weathered by time.
The golden disc shines in all directions, leaving no place for evil spirits to hide. One side faces the sky, reaching the ears of the heavens.
The murals inside the tower are also quite different from those a thousand years later. Vibrant paints are applied with bold strokes, creating a magnificent effect, and the murals are freely applied to the neat surface of the tower.
The 148 steps spiral upwards to the top of the tower.
The clock is as bright and radiant as ever.
Everything is just more vibrant and vivid than it is a thousand years later, but that's all there is to it.
The only difference is that the bell top of the Nine Mirrors Pagoda here does not have a black bird image.
So, was the black bird added later?
She subtly inquired about this issue with almost everyone in the women's quarters, but no one knew. The nun from the Northern Region didn't even know what the Black Bird was. Even the nun Jingwen only told her that the scriptures mentioned "Phoenix Nirvana," and that the Phoenix and the Black Bird might have some similarities.
Just as she was searching in vain, an old woman came to the courtyard.
Her newborn granddaughter went missing, and since the women's home often took in baby girls, she came here to search for her.
Unfortunately, her granddaughter is not here.
But she brought news of war raging outside the temple. Rumors were spreading and discussions were rampant among the people, and violence could break out at the slightest carelessness, so the temple was considered relatively safe.
Before leaving, she also told Lu Zhaozhao about the Black Bird.
It was an afternoon when Lu Zhaozhao was sitting in the courtyard drawing a picture of a black bird.
This was her way of relieving her distress. Now, there was absolutely no information related to it, and besides, to prevent her memory from fading over time, she could only draw it. But to avoid gossip, she would burn it after each drawing.
This day was no exception.
She held the drawing up to the sunlight, completely baffled. Just as she was about to burn the drawing and go to evening class as usual, a voice that didn't belong to the girls' college came from behind her.
"Is that a Black Bird?"
Startled, Lu Zhaozhao quickly crumpled the paper into a ball and turned around to look.
She was the old woman who came looking for her granddaughter a couple of days ago.
Lu Zhaozhao breathed a sigh of relief, her expression softened, and she stepped forward to bow.
"Does Grandma know about this?"
“I saw it, on the day my granddaughter was born.”
The old woman's eyes were filled with tears, while Lu Zhaozhao's brows were furrowed.
"Please explain in detail, Mother-in-law."
The old woman wiped her eyes and said without hesitation, "On the day my granddaughter was born, a Taoist priest came to our house. He said something about a black bird and left this picture before he left."
After saying that, he took out a handkerchief from his bosom. In the middle of the handkerchief, where there should have been embroidery, a piece of paper was sewn on. The pattern on the paper was almost identical to the one in the crumpled paper in Lu Zhaozhao's hand.
"At the time, we thought it was a good omen, so I thought of making this picture into a handkerchief. But after the handkerchief was finished, my poor grandson..."
Mentioning the past brought back a flood of sorrow, and the old woman covered her face and wept.
Lu Zhaozhao gently stroked her back and whispered words of comfort for a long time.
Only after the old woman left did she reconsider the matter.
"The black bird leaves its old home. Is the baby girl a black bird, so she left home?" Lu Zhaozhao murmured to herself, but then she thought about it and remembered that the old woman said that the black bird had appeared in many homes during this period, and without exception, all of them were newborns who had disappeared.
This can't possibly be a coincidence.
Lu Zhaozhao wanted to go down the mountain to find out the truth, so she bid farewell to Abbess Jingwen, but was persuaded not to go.
The nun earnestly advised, "Your constitution is special; you can only be safe in the temple. If you go down the mountain, I'm afraid your body won't be able to handle it."
Lu Zhaozhao wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Abbess Jingwen. This was the first time she had used such a firm attitude towards her prized disciple.
After much pleading and cajoling, Lu Zhaozhao finally agreed that she could leave only after she reached adulthood.
Lu Zhaozhao had no choice but to agree.
Fortunately, she is only half a year away from adulthood.
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