The latter's face still wore that expressionless face, but the look in his eyes was much colder than before. His dark eyes swept over Kong Xing like a sharp blade that could kill instantly, chilling one to the bone.
"Commander Song, what...does this mean?"
Instead of answering his question, Song Ting continued, picking up where he left off, "I wonder what kind of work you did before you shaved your head, Master? How come you have so many calluses on your hands?"
For a fleeting moment, Kong Xing's muscles tensed, and his ferocious face revealed an undisguised glint of ferocity and fear. But it was only for a brief instant, and he quickly relaxed.
“Amitabha, now that I have taken refuge, I have forgotten all worldly affairs and there is no need to mention them again.”
"Have you forgotten?" Song Ting pressed closer. "Or are you afraid to say it, unable to say it?"
Kongxing's eyes flickered, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. His composure just now was merely a facade; the calmer he appeared on the surface, the more uneasy he was inside.
Song Ting's repeated questions further shook his already fragile mental defenses.
But at that moment, Song Ting suddenly let go and stepped back a few inches.
He glanced at Kongxing for the third time, and in front of the latter, took out a longevity lock from his pocket.
Kongxing's expression changed drastically. If he had still harbored a glimmer of hope before, at this moment he was truly filled with fear and dread, cold sweat pouring down his back.
Song Ting placed the longevity lock on the table beside Kong Xing, his gaze heavy:
"If the master doesn't want to concern himself with the mundane world, then will he still care about the people in that world?"
The movement of the prayer beads paused slightly, and the sandalwood prayer beads in his hand suddenly snapped, with all 108 beads falling to the ground and scattering everywhere.
Kongxing could no longer maintain the calm facade on his face, and reached out to snatch the longevity lock from the table.
However, he failed, because Song Ting was one step ahead of him, taking back the longevity lock the instant he reached out: "Master, what are you doing? A monk should be detached from worldly desires, why are you stealing other people's things?"
Kongxing didn't want to say anything more to him. Since one attack failed, he tried again. Song Ting sneered and struck the old monk's arm with a palm.
This seemingly effortless palm strike actually severed Kongxing's arm. The old monk screamed in agony, completely losing his ability to resist.
Song Ting, however, sat back down leisurely, even taking the time to pick up her teacup and take a sip of tea.
The tea had been sitting for too long and had long since gone cold, but he seemed to be drinking it with great relish.
After swallowing the tea, he slowly put the lid back on the bowl and placed it back on the table beside him.
The bowl hit the table with a thud. His action wasn't particularly forceful, but in the quiet room, the sound still made Kongxing's heart skip a beat.
If you look closely, even the tangled scars on his face seem to tremble slightly with his heartbeat.
Song Ting raised his gaze, his expression remaining calm: "Does Master have anything he wishes to say to me?"
Kongxing covered his arm, his jaw clenched, unwilling to utter a sound.
Song Ting nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
"Since the master does not wish to speak, then I will speak for the master."
Song Ting tossed the longevity lock back to him and slowly said, "Kong Xing, whose real name is Shen Baogen, was originally a bandit in Lu'ao Mountain, ranking third on the mountain."
"Three years ago, the imperial court sent troops to Lu'ao Mountain. The bandits, who had a geographical advantage, resisted stubbornly for seven days and six nights, but were eventually subdued by the imperial court."
"As one of the leaders of the Tiger Head Gang, Shen Baogen should have been beheaded and his head displayed to the public." At this point, Song Ting's gaze fell coldly on Kong Xing. "May I ask, Master, how did this bandit escape?"
Kongxing gritted his teeth: "..."
“If the master is unwilling to speak, then I will speak for him. The one in charge of suppressing the bandits that day was Shen Zhilin of Ningzhou Prefecture, who was a student of Zhang Bingzhi.”
"He received orders from the teacher to secretly spare your life and that of your pregnant wife, but in return, you will have to obey their orders from now on, won't you?"
blank line: "..."
"He kept you around back then, perhaps for other reasons, but he didn't use you later. Until three years ago, you decided to make a fuss about the blessing ceremony."
"The imperial court attaches great importance to the prayer ceremony, and I am in charge of the annual prayer ceremony. So you want to take this opportunity to get rid of me."
"In the same year, Zhang Bingzhi sent you to Baima Temple. Five years ago, the bandit Shen Laosan from Lu'ao Mountain died, but three years ago, Baima Temple gained a new master, the Daxing Master."
"From then on, this master of the Vajrayana lay in wait in the temple, waiting for an opportunity to strike me. And this year, that opportunity has finally come. Huaiyue is your chance."
Huaiyue was someone Song Ting brought back from Jiangnan. His identity was already questionable, and Song Ting kept a close watch on him and protected him too well. A silver mask shielded him from all the probing, making his identity even more suspicious.
"Chu Mingshu's death was the first pawn. Zhang Bingzhi knew that I would definitely protect Huaiyue, thus clashing with the Empress Dowager. But he also knew that this alone was not enough to bring me down. So he prepared a second step."
Murdering the reigning princess was already a grave crime, but Zhang Bingzhi's second step was even more treasonous: he directly attacked the Empress Dowager.
"However, Zhang Bingzhi did not really want to kill the Empress Dowager. The amount of poison he gave her should have been very light, not enough to be fatal."
"All you want is for the Empress Dowager to fall ill during the prayer ceremony, so that you, the Dakini Master, can be brought out and used to make the Empress Dowager believe that there are sorcerers in the White Horse Temple."
"The prayer ceremony is too important to be made wrong. The Empress Dowager will inevitably become suspicious, and you can take this opportunity to pin the label of a sorcerer on Huaiyue."
The Empress Dowager is already terrified. If you continue to protect me, you will be violating her taboo. The more resolute you are in protecting me, the more disappointed she will be in you. One wrong move and you will lose your head.
[But Zhang Bingzhi may not actually want the Empress Dowager dead; he doesn't have the guts. He must have found some kind of drug that could make the Empress Dowager collapse during the prayer ceremony, thus disrupting the event.]
At that time, he could then conveniently bring out Kongxing, have him cure the Empress Dowager, and then find me, this sorcerer.
[Moreover, that old man probably already knows my identity, which is why he went to such lengths to remove my mask, making your crime even more serious.]
[But what he didn't expect was that he wasn't the only one who poisoned her; I was too. Unlike him, I was aiming to kill the Empress Dowager.]
By sheer coincidence, things have turned out this way: the sorcerer Huaiyue has been found, the witchcraft has been destroyed, but the Empress Dowager's condition has not improved; on the contrary, it has gotten worse.
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