Chapter 284 Unwilling to Look Back
After getting the most important things, there was no need to keep the tattered clothes, shoes and socks in the bag. The monk picked up two sheepskins with the route marked on them and some documents. He planned to give the rest to the horseman to burn.
"Where do you live?" Sui Yu asked. "I live in a row of wooden houses in the northwest corner. The caravan I'm traveling with also lives there. You should move there too. I'll make you some monk robes."
The monk still refused. "The head of the Tuwen family is a devout Buddhist. I and my four brothers will give him a lecture. Please don't worry about his accommodation and clothing."
"Then where do you live? Can I come to see you?" Sui Yu asked.
The monk smiled and said, "Donor, now that my worldly ties have ended, do you still want to listen to my lectures?"
"I feel that our reunion means our earthly bond continues." Sui Yu shook the monk's robe in his hand and asked, "Do you plan to stay in Dayuan in the future? If these seeds are planted, I will tell you the good news then."
He didn't want to argue with her anymore, so he told her to take the worn-out clothes to the groom to burn, and then he left.
"You'll know when you're destined to." he said.
Sui Yu sighed, "You really don't want to go back? I've grown something and brought back a new species. The court will at least reward you. This is your contribution. When the time comes, the court will build a temple for you, and you can stay in the Han Dynasty to avoid wandering around."
The monk turned around and said seriously, "Sister Yu, I don't want to go back, and I don't plan to. These things are yours now that they're in your hands. Don't ever mention me again. The past is over with us. If we mention it again, it will only hurt innocent people or those who have been kind to us."
"You're just a monk, how could you have a past?" Sui Yu said. "Even if Sui Hui saw you like this, she wouldn't recognize you. You'll have a new identity when you go back."
The monk still refused, "Promoting Buddhism is my lifelong ambition. Don't say more."
Sui Yu watched him walk away. She sighed, then looked down at the robe in her hands. A smile suddenly spread across her face. It was truly a case of searching high and low for something, yet finding it was effortless. Something she had been searching for for so many years had suddenly landed in her hands without a trace of warning.
"Sister Yu." Song Xian beckoned. She strode over and asked, "What's going on?"
Sui Yu thought about it and decided to hide her relationship with the monk. She said, "I met him a few times before he became a monk. He asked me to bring some old things to his family."
Sui Yu folded the heavy robe and put it into the bag together with other worn clothes. She didn't mind the smell at this moment and picked up the bag and slung it over her shoulder.
Song Xian covered her nose and jumped three feet away.
Sui Yu smiled at her and asked, "How do you like the horses?"
"Not bad, all good horses." Song Xian said, "Today we'll look at the horses of the Tuwen family and pick out some with good coat color, teeth, and body shape. Tomorrow we'll go to the Kuda horse owner's stable to look at his horses."
Sui Yu listened to her.
Meanwhile, the Tuwen family heard the steward's report that relatives of the eminent monks were among the caravan arriving from the Han Dynasty. He subconsciously wondered, "What a coincidence! These five eminent monks came from Sindhu. It would have taken at least four years to travel back and forth. Does that mean they haven't seen each other for four years, and then they ran into each other here?"
"Eight years," Steward Miller corrected. "I asked Master Lekong about it. Master Lejing left the Han Dynasty eight years ago, and seven years ago he followed the monks from Dayuan to Sindhu."
"That's fate." The head of the Tuwen family likes Buddhism and highly respects the concept of fate.
Two days later, the head of the Tuwen family went to visit the five eminent monks. After a long conversation, he felt that the turbid air in his chest was gone and he became calmer.
"Master Liaojing, who is that female businessman named Sui Yu to you?" asked the head of the Tuwen family.
"My cousin before she became a monk." The monk wanted to help Sui Yu, so he didn't hide anything. He said, "She was traveling outside the Great Wall to find me. I left without saying goodbye, and there has been no news from me in all these years. She doesn't know whether I am dead or alive, and she has no peace of mind."
"She is indeed a woman of affection." said the head of the Tuwen family.
The monk did not refute. In his impression, Sui Yu was indeed a loyal person, but the most loyal person was his eldest sister.
"She wants to buy my Ferghana horse. Master Liao Jing, do you like divine horses? I'll give you a BMW."
The monk refused. He was an ascetic and relied entirely on his legs to walk without any external aids.
"Then I'll sell it to your sister. Do you want to go back to Dahan with her?"
"No, I've already left the world, so why should I enter it? I'll just stay here for a while to cultivate myself and then I plan to leave." The monk made his position clear and said sternly, "If Donor Sui comes looking for me, there's no need to ask anyone. Just let her go."
The head of the Tuwen family sighed secretly. These monks were both compassionate and heartless. They were kind to the world and could forgive and enlighten anyone who made a mistake, but they were indifferent to their relatives. They could become monks one moment and sever their blood ties the next.
After leaving the monastery, the head of the Tuwen family sent people to retrieve the wild Ferghana horse.
Three days later, he personally delivered a black horse to the wooden house where the merchant lived. The black horse was five years old, with long and powerful limbs, a smooth body and a copper-like luster. It could gallop as soon as it stepped on its hooves.
"I was going to give it to Master Jing, but he refused. So, I'll give it to you for free. This divine horse is called Wuzhui. I heard from you Han people that the King of Chu's chariot was named this. Our Wuzhui is no less than that." Zhao Qin translated the Tuwen clan's words. He then took a cold breath and said with a complicated expression, "The Tuwen clan's clan leader said he only wants ten pieces of satin brocade for this horse."
Sui Yu was surprised and happy, and immediately asked Zhao Qin to help express his gratitude.
Sui Yu was overjoyed to have exchanged ten pieces of satin brocade for a divine horse. She reached out to touch the horse's head, but the bad-tempered horse immediately bared its teeth and pretended to bite her.
After the Tuwen clan's head left, both the Li and Xu families came to watch. As soon as this horse arrived, it immediately outshone the steeds they had already purchased. In terms of physique, this black horse was slender and light, with just the right amount of muscle, strong and powerful without being bulky or clumsy. In terms of appearance, the black horse's head and face were sharply defined, making it a handsome man among horses.
"Shopkeeper Yu, I told you you're lucky." Boss Xu was envious. "Your horse is only slightly inferior to the Dari that Boss Qin bought. But a white horse's coat is hard to care for, so a black horse is more attractive."
Sui Yu smiled happily. She led the horse away and didn't want anyone to disturb it.
Song Xian also came running over after hearing the news. She circled Wu Zhui in amazement and sighed, "I heard my father say that about twenty or thirty years ago, Dayuan gifted us Han people with 2,000 Dayuan horses, also known as celestial horses. Those 2,000 horses should have been of this quality. Unfortunately, only 1,000 horses were left when the herd arrived in Dunhuang. 1,000 of them died of exhaustion on the way."
Sui Yu's smile faltered. She sat down cross-legged and said, "It's already August. If we rush back now, it will take us half a month to leave Dayuan, and another month and a half to cross the mountains. The earliest we can leave the Pamir Mountains is October. I guess it will snow on the Pamir Mountains before we even get down the mountain."
"So what do you mean?" Song Xian asked.
Sui Yu shook his head, "I don't know."
"Besides, we haven't sold all our goods yet. If we want to take so many horses with us, we'll need a lot of food and fodder." Song Xian was also worried. "How about we leave in the spring of next year? We can learn how to raise horses in Dayuan."
Sui Yu glanced at her, his shoulders slumped in frustration, and he said weakly, "I'll leave in the spring of next year, and I won't be home until autumn at the earliest. It's still a year away. I miss my child, my man, and my brother."
Song Xian was silent, she didn't think of anyone.
"How about you lead the team back first? Leave the horses to me to take care of?" She proposed a solution.
Sui Yu instinctively refused. She explained, "If I leave, you and Lu Ya'er, a woman and a girl, will be left alone in this caravan filled with men. If your servants all betray us, and other caravans covet our horses and want to take advantage of us, and just stand by and watch, you and your daughter will be doomed."
In fact, Song Xian regretted it as soon as she said it. The journey was too long and she really couldn't bear this heavy responsibility.
"I'll call Boss Xu and Boss Li over and we'll discuss it together." Song Xian ran away.
After discussion among the four, except Sui Yu who was eager to go home, the other three were inclined to stay in Dayuan for one winter.
"I plan to hire two stable boys and learn some horse breeding and management skills. Next time I come to Dayuan, I'll come to this city to buy horses. This is my chance," said Xu Dada. "If I hadn't come here this time, I wouldn't have known there were so many fine horses in this remote town in the southwest. As you can imagine, not many caravans know about this."
Boss Li agreed.
Song Xian looked at Sui Yu, and Sui Yu could only agree. She didn't dare to take any risks.
The matter was settled, and Sui Yu was sent out to the Tuwen family's monastery. Unsurprisingly, she was sent away again. She handed the five monk robes and seven pairs of cloth shoes made by the maids to the gatekeeper, and asked Zhao Qin about buying a horse herder.
"Please ask him to inform Master Jing that I will stay in Dayuan this winter. If he needs anything, he can come to me." Sui Yu said.
Zhao Qin conveyed the message to the servant, and then followed Sui Yu to buy a horseman.
In the monastery, the monk calmly accepted the clothes and shoes, and did not comment on the words conveyed by the servant.
A month later, the five monks said goodbye to the head of the Tuwen family and left quietly. Unexpectedly, they ran into Sui Yu who was cutting grass on the road.
The monk sighed inwardly and looked expressionlessly at Sui Yuju as he approached with a smile on his face.
"Hello, everyone." Sui Yu greeted them respectfully. She looked at Sui Wen'an and asked, "Did you receive the clothes, shoes, and wolf robe I brought you?"
The monk nodded and said, "Thank you for the donation."
"Are you leaving?"
The monk nodded.
"Where are you going?"
"No fixed place to live."
Sui Yu stared at him and asked him whether he wanted to go back or not, no longer going against his will. She raised her hands to her chest awkwardly, thought for a long time, but could not utter any Buddhist verses.
"I wish you a smooth journey and no more difficulties in the rest of your life."
The monk smiled. When he smiled, the scar on his face wrinkled and looked even more hideous, but it didn't make people feel scared.
"Take care, benefactor." The monk thought for a moment, took out a string of Buddhist beads and handed it over, then followed the waiting monk.
Sui Yu watched him leave. She remembered that a few years ago when she chased him to the Gobi Desert, she also saw him walking away with two monks. The scene of that year overlapped with the scene in front of her for a moment, and they were unwilling to look back.
"Why would he want to become a monk? He doesn't look that old." Song Xian muttered.
"It's liberation." Sui Yu put away the Buddhist beads.
She did not throw away the monk's robe she had picked up before. She washed it and put it away. When she returned, she would give this string of Buddhist beads and those worn-out clothes and bedding to Sui Hui, so that she would have more hope for the rest of her life.
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