Chapter 72 Mountain Thoughts: "I Seek a Marriage"
Jiang Ce raised his head and looked at the ripples of green bamboo in front of him, which concealed a corner of the ancient temple.
A stone staircase connects the foot of the mountain to the top, the ancient stone steps winding upwards from his feet, brick by brick, until they are submerged in lush greenery.
Go uphill and you'll reach Kuzhu Temple.
But he didn't move for a long time, just stood in front of the stone steps.
As the light and shadow beneath their feet shifted from bright to dim, Green Eyebrows took two bites of bamboo leaves and then turned her head to gently rub against him.
He rode his horse day and night for two days, and when he finally arrived here, he still dared not go forward. Xue Chan was clearly in this ancient temple; he could clearly see her if he just walked up.
But he hesitated, unsure how to face Xue Chan.
Xue Chan might not want to see him.
Jiang Ce lowered his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh: "Forget it, what am I doing now?"
He stroked Green Eyebrow, who was happily grazing, and pulled on the reins, leading it downhill: "Let's go, Green Eyebrow, let's go home."
Jiang Ce exhaled, pursed his lips, and resolutely jumped down the stone steps. He landed and tried to walk forward, but he couldn't move.
Looking back, Green Eyebrows was still standing by the stone steps, not yet down. Her braided tail swept back and forth, and she was chewing on a handful of fresh, green grass.
Perhaps because it was standing high, it was chewing its food while watching Jiang Ce.
Jiang Ce sighed and tugged at the reins: "Let's go, let's go home."
But Green Eyebrows remained unmoved, no matter how Jiang Ce coaxed or persuaded her. In the end, she couldn't help but mutter a few words under her breath.
"I knew I shouldn't have brought you out. You're so disobedient."
Green Eyebrows finally moved its hooves, stepped down and walked in front of Jiang Ce, spraying him with the smell of grass. Then it forcefully nudged his waist, pushing him directly into the hay.
Jiang Ce: "......."
He stood up, brushing the grass clippings off his body, and complained with his hands on his hips, "Do you even know whose horse you are? What's wrong with saying a few words to you? I feed you every day, and you think you can't complain?
Green Eyebrows ignored him, head down, grazing on grass.
Jiang Ce snorted and plucked a handful of grass, waving it in front of it: "What's so good about this grass? Do I need you to eat or drink? Why are you being so stingy?"
Green Eyebrows moved her face slightly, as if looking at him, and ate even more happily.
"You've become arrogant, Green Eyebrows, you've become arrogant."
"You must have been corrupted by other horses after returning to the capital, Green Eyebrows, how could you have picked up such a frivolous air?"
Jiang Ce jumped up suddenly, making a heart-wrenching accusation.
He had just finished speaking when he suddenly remembered that he had been riding Green Eyebrows for two days without stopping to drink water or eat grass.
Green Eyebrows looked at him and hummed twice.
He coughed and said, "Then you eat, I'll go downstairs first."
Green Eyebrows bit his collar and twirled him around, then gently lifted him up and pulled him back onto the stone steps.
He turned to look at Green Eyebrow and gently stroked it: "Green Eyebrow, will she be willing to see me?"
Green Eyebrows didn't speak, and Jiang Ce continued, "However, we've been running around for two days, so even if we don't say anything, just seeing her from afar is enough."
Jiang Ce touched it, walked to the back, let down the braid, combed the knotted hair with his hand, and re-braided Green Eyebrows.
"It's not far from up here, so you can play by yourself here. I'll come down and get you when I'm done."
He then pulled Green Eyebrows' ear: "You're just as smart as me. When you see a stranger, hide. If all else fails, run away, okay?"
Green Eyebrows rubbed against his palm and nuzzled him with her head.
Jiang Ce suddenly felt a pang of reluctance and sighed, "Green Eyebrows, why don't you come up with me? What if you get kidnapped?"
Green Eyebrows remained silent, then turned away, lowered its head, and began to eat grass.
Jiang Ce: "..."
"I am your master, after all. Even if we ignore this, we have a long-standing relationship. How can you be so heartless?"
Green-browed one remains silent, green-browed one eats grass.
Jiang Ce slapped the horse's rump hard: "You're too wild!"
With green eyebrows and raised hooves, Jiang Ce had already leaped eight zhang away, stepping up the mountain in the last rays of the setting sun.
The sky was dark, and the night was thick.
Huineng picked up a broom and swept away the fallen flowers in front of the main hall, sighing as he swept.
"Why are you sighing?"
He turned around at the sound, saw it was Xu Yin, sighed again, and gestured to the main hall.
"Uncle-Master, this benefactor is truly strange."
Xu Yin looked up and saw a young man in a silk robe and wearing a bamboo hairpin kneeling in front of the mural in the main hall.
He knelt upright, looking up at the mural, and remained motionless for a long time, as if petrified.
Huineng swept away the fallen flowers at Xuyin's feet and said, "This benefactor came and didn't say a word before adding money for incense and worshipping Buddha. He didn't move around or ask for anything. He just took two Buddhist scriptures and sat there without moving again. Seeing that he had been sitting for a long time, I asked him if his request had not been granted. He smiled and said that he had no request, and then continued to sit there until now."
He sighed again and asked Xu Yin, "Uncle-Master, how come there are people who come to our temple seeking wealth or marriage without any requests?"
Xu Yin smiled slightly and patted his bald head: "Perhaps even Buddha has things he can't help, and there are times when his prayers go unanswered."
Huineng was puzzled: "But if you have no desires, why come to the Buddhist temple? Since you know there is no answer, why not leave?"
Xu Yin looked at the person in front of the mural and whispered, "My master doesn't know either."
A gust of wind rose, scattering fallen petals all over the ground.
Huineng looked at the flowering trees overhead, tears welling up in his eyes: "I just swept them clean, and I still want to eat."
Xu Yin laughed and took the broom from his hand: "No need to sweep, go eat."
Huineng hesitated: "But my senior brother said I dozed off during morning prayers and can't eat until I finish sweeping up these fallen flowers, and it's already past mealtime."
As he spoke, his face scrunched up, looking aggrieved.
"Flowers blooming and withering is normal, why bother sweeping it away?" Xu Yin nudged him, "Your senior brother saved some food for you, go and eat it quickly, or there really won't be any left."
Huineng immediately took off running, but after crossing the corridor, he ran back and peeked out from behind a pillar, asking, "Uncle-Master, will Buddha really not blame us?"
Xu Yin smiled and said, "The gods and Buddhas have a heart and cannot bear to see you go hungry. Just keep a pure heart."
This time, Huineng really ran away.
Xu Yin put down the broom, looked up, and another shower of flowers fell.
Petals fluttered and drifted into the hall with the wind; one petal landed in the Buddha's palm, and another floated to the young man's side.
Jiang Ce picked up the fallen petal and looked down at it.
“You have been kneeling here for quite some time.”
He turned his head slightly and said with a faint smile, "What, am I not allowed to sit here? Or is your Buddha displeased?"
Xu Yin smiled and said, "It's late and the night is cool. If you fall ill, Buddha will not bear it."
Jiang Ce simply smiled and did not answer.
“I have something I want to ask for, but I don’t know where to go.” As he spoke, Jiang Ce laughed self-deprecatingly, “I asked your Buddha, but he didn’t say anything, and I’m not willing to go back.”
However, I dare not go.
"There are too many people in the world who seek Buddha's guidance. Why don't we ask a second time?"
He turned around, and Xu Yin walked to his side with a divination tube in his hand, and said with a smile, "The pilgrims who come and go all say that the divination slips at our Kuzhu Temple are the most accurate. Why don't you give it a try?"
Jiang Ce stood up, a smile playing on his lips, and said, "What if it doesn't work? Monk, what will you do then?"
Xu Yin raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Then, let's ask a third time."
Jiang Ce walked up to him with his arms crossed and said in a leisurely voice, "You monks and Taoists are the best at these things."
He reached out to draw a lot, but then he subtly pulled the lot-drawing tube back.
Jiang Ce quipped, "What, are you afraid it won't work, so I'll tear down this Bitter Bamboo Temple?"
Xu Yin shook his head and smiled, "Benefactor, you have not yet told this humble monk what you seek. There are too many people in the world who seek, and too many things they desire. Even if Buddha heard, he would not know which one to grant."
Jiang Ce looked at the Buddha statue and closed his eyes.
"Marriage"
Xu Yin handed the divination tube to Jiang Ce: "Please draw a lot."
Jiang Ce reached out to draw a lot, but as soon as he touched the lot container, he curled his fingers up again and did not make any move.
Xu Yin remained smiling, holding up the divination tube for Jiang Ce to draw. Even though Jiang Ce drew twice, putting the tube back before it even left his hand, Xu Yin didn't utter a word.
The two of them were in the main hall, in front of the Buddha statue, repeatedly drawing lots.
Perhaps Jiang Ce himself felt that he was being too indecisive, even hesitating and unable to make a decision when drawing lots.
He asked Xu Yin, "You also think I'm too hesitant and too timid, right? Even if it's just a fortune stick, I can't accept anything bad."
Xu Yin said, "When the heart has thoughts and desires, there will be worries and fears; this is how all people are."
Jiang Ce asked, "And what about you, monk? You're a member of the Buddhist order, do you also have that?"
Xu Yin replied, "Although I have entered the Buddhist order, my heart remains in the mortal world, and thus my worldly ties are not yet severed."
Jiang Ce glanced at the Buddha statue and said, "You're not being fair. Your own disciple is in front of you every day, yet you don't know how to show more compassion."
He thought for a moment and then said, "However, most of these gods are the same; they talk about compassion and mercy, but they are actually heartless."
Xu Yin was amused by his words and said, "Benefactor has indeed comprehended the principle of the Great Dao's ruthlessness."
Jiang Ce finally drew a lot, but he didn't turn it over in his hand. He took a deep breath and turned it over.
The 32nd fortune stick.
Xu Yin looked at the previous text and smiled.
"What a pity, it's a bad draw."
The hall was quiet, and the candles burned continuously.
Jiang Ce raised his eyes and looked at Xu Yin with a deep gaze.
"Is it solvable?"
"It can be solved."
What does this mean?
Xu Yin walked away from him and put the divination tube back in its place. He turned to the side and smiled faintly.
"Don't you already have the solution in your heart? Why ask me?"
Jiang Ce looked at him: "I...don't understand."
Xu Yin smiled and said, "If you truly didn't understand, you wouldn't have come to this Bitter Bamboo Temple. It's not that you don't understand, it's just that you dare not."
I dare not.
Jiang Ce's hands were clenched tightly under his sleeves.
As Xu Yin walked out of the main hall, Jiang Ce's persistent questioning voice rang out behind him.
"Monk, what does this mean?"
Xu Yin neither stopped nor answered.
Jiang Ce chased after him out of the main hall: "Monk, believe it or not, I'll tear down this temple."
Seeing that Xu Yin had stopped, Jiang Ce asked again, "What do you mean?"
Xu Yin sighed softly and continued walking forward.
Jiang Ce sat back down in front of the mural. After a while, he got up and walked outside. He passed through the long corridor and courtyard walls, heading into the depths of the bamboo shadows.
The bamboo branches swayed and rubbed against each other, casting a faint shadow, which was then dimmed by the light of a lamp.
Chu Tao placed the lamp in front of Xue Chan's table and whispered a reminder: "Miss, it's late. Looking at these paintings and calligraphy might hurt your eyes. Besides, you've just recovered from a serious illness, and the doctor said you should rest and avoid mental strain."
Xue Chan added two more strokes: "It's alright, it'll be finished soon."
Chu Tao didn't say anything, but just sat down next to her and gently fanned her.
Xue Chan looked up and asked her, "Yun was sick, is she feeling better now?"
Chu Tao said, "I brewed some medicine for her to drink last night, and she's feeling better now and is sleeping."
"Being able to sleep peacefully means you're not feeling so bad anymore."
Xue Chan nodded, "You go and take care of her. I have other people here, so it's alright."
Hatsune: "How can that be?"
Xue Chan smiled and said, "Anyway, it's already this late. I'll drink the medicine and go to sleep in a bit. There's nothing wrong anyway. With them watching over us, everything will be fine."
Chu Tao put down her fan and sighed.
She was indeed worried about Yun Sheng and wanted to go back to take care of her.
Seeing her hesitation, Xue Chan smiled and urged, "Go ahead."
Chu Tao stood up and called the others in. Just then, a maid brought in the medicine, and Chu Tao took it and went to Xue Chan's side.
"They've already made the bed. The girl will sleep better after taking her medicine."
Xue Chan took the drink and downed it in one gulp: "Alright, after you tidy up this studio, you can all go to sleep."
The group nodded, and Chu Tao, along with two or three others, led Xue Chan back with lanterns.
After helping Xue Chan to bed, Chu Tao said, "Yingyue will stay to keep watch tonight, and the others are in the two rooms next to yours. If you need anything, have her come and call me."
Xue Chan hummed in agreement and closed her eyes.
Chu Tao and Ying Yue took down the curtains, left a lamp on the left side table beside the bed, and went out to take care of Yun Sheng.
Yingyue stayed by the bedside for a while, watching Xue Chan gradually relax, before lowering the curtains and sleeping on the long couch under the window.
I had only been asleep for a short while when I heard a noise outside the window, and then the door was blown open.
Xue Chan sat up: "What happened?"
Yingyue said, "Perhaps the door wasn't closed properly. I'll go check. You should go to sleep, Miss."
After saying that, she went out.
Xue Chan lay back down, closed her eyes, and prepared to sleep. However, she had just been startled awake and found it difficult to fall back asleep.
She opened her eyes and thought about what Xu Yin had told her these past few days, but after thinking for a long time, Yingyue still hadn't returned.
She sat up and called out twice, "Yingyue?"
No one answered.
Xue Chan suddenly woke up and lifted the curtain. The room was quiet, with only the sound of the wind rustling through the bamboo branches.
A faint fragrance burned quietly in the incense burner, and the oil lamp on the flower stand cast a small sliver of light beside the bed, beyond which lay the deep darkness of night.
It's very quiet.
But it was too quiet.
Xue Chan sat up abruptly, got out of bed, put on her shoes, and then put on the outer garment from the rack.
She picked up the oil lamp from the flower stand and slowly walked out. The lamp, held in her hand, moved with her, its light illuminating only the few steps she took.
"Yingyue?"
Xue Chan walked to the door, which was open, but Yingyue was nowhere to be seen.
She wanted to find someone else, but hesitated again just as she was about to step through the door.
The night outside the door was thicker and quieter, with only two lanterns casting a dim and limited light.
Xue Chan made up her mind, followed her memory of the location of the embroidery basket, grabbed a small pair of scissors, and went out.
She walked along the corridor by the oil lamp in her hand. To her left was a clump of green bamboo, and beyond that was Yun Sheng and the others' house.
The green bamboo grew lushly, but it was very dark at night. The light gradually diffused and was melted away before it could penetrate.
A breeze picked up, causing the bamboo branches to sway and flicker, making the candle flames dim and bright.
Xue Chan quickly stopped and reached out to surround the circle of light. After a while, the wind dispersed and the bamboo stopped, and the single bean of light shone steadily again.
Footsteps sounded from behind the bamboo grove.
Xue Chan gripped the lamp and scissors tightly and backed away little by little.
In the dim light, a long shadow slowly appeared, followed by half a sleeve.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
