Liuli's gaze flickered a few times, and she couldn't help but shrink back. After a moment's internal deliberation, she shook her head and whispered, "No..."
Sakura looked doubtful and pressed, "Really not?"
Liuli coughed and said stiffly, "No! Grandmother, Liuli isn't stupid, how could she dare to grow a fox tail in front of others?"
"Oh..." Sakura nodded with some doubt, "That's good."
"No, no..." Liuli buried her face in her two outstretched paws and shook her head guiltily.
Sakura was worried and secretly thought that she should send a fox demon out to scout things out tomorrow.
She temporarily put aside her worries and asked with a smile, "Liuli, is it fun outside?"
"It's so much fun!" Liuli looked up and said, "It's so much fun, Grandmother. You really should go and see. The world outside is bustling with activity. There are several factions fighting right now!"
Sakura said gently, "Is there another war outside? Humans... are truly the most greedy and tyrannical race. Once they are seduced by power, they will attack each other, harming themselves and others."
“Yes.” Liuli nodded and said, “Grandmother, you didn’t see it. Those people were so cruel when they fought. When I first saw them, I thought to myself, aren’t they our own kind? How can they be so ruthless?”
"Humans..." Sakura chuckled, then changed the subject, asking, "Ruri, why did you come back alone so late at night? Where is Young Master Li?"
When Yingmo asked this question, Liuli immediately thought of Shichan. Her little face fell, and she said in a low voice, "Liuli missed her grandmother when she passed through Huyuan, so she came to see her. Li Molin and the others did not come with her."
Sakura noticed Ruri's sadness and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Ruri?"
"I'm fine." Liuli shook her head, then buried her face in her hands and said in a muffled voice, "Grandmother, I'm sleepy, let's go to sleep."
Yingmo didn't ask any more questions and nodded, "Okay."
She rested her head on Liuli's neck, a gentle smile appearing on her lips, and softly closed her eyes.
The cool moonlight shone on the fox plain, illuminating the entire area. Among the tender grass, there lay snow-white foxes of varying sizes; a quick count suggested there were probably over a thousand.
A faint golden light lingered above Fox Plains. The little monk within that light, using the moonlight to see the scene on the ground, gasped in shock. He paused for a moment, carefully memorizing the approximate location of Fox Plains, then turned and flew eastward, disappearing in an instant.
--
At the end of the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), the night was cool and still.
Most of the disciples of Bodhi Temple had returned to their meditation rooms to rest, and the temple had returned to its usual tranquility, except that the Buddha hall was still brightly lit.
In front of the Buddha statue at the innermost part of the Buddhist hall, there were more than a dozen prayer cushions placed side by side. On the cushions, Shi Ning sat in the center, with Shi Fan, Shi Nian, Shi Shan and three other disciples of the Great Ming Zen Master, as well as seven elders of the Zhi generation from Bodhi Temple, on either side.
Shi Chan, covered in blood and with his clothes tattered, knelt motionless and silent before Shi Ning and the others.
The candlelight flickered throughout the room, casting long shadows.
After a long silence, Shi Ning quietly turned to look at the faces of the elders, and finally turned his gaze to Shi Chan. He sighed softly and said, "Shi Chan, raise your head."
Shi Chan paused for a moment, then slowly straightened up, his eyes lowered, still remaining silent.
"Shi Chan!" Shi Ning raised his voice and said, "Do you know you're wrong?"
Shi Chan's face remained expressionless. The secret he had kept hidden for so long had been exposed by his fellow disciples, and he felt a strange sense of relief. He bowed deeply and kowtowed, then straightened up and whispered, "Shi Chan knows his mistake."
Shi Fan's face was full of anger, and he shouted, "Then tell me yourself, where did you go wrong?"
“Shi Fan.” Shi Ning looked at Shi Fan and gently shook her head.
Shakyamuni could only remain silent, but his face was still full of anger.
Shi Ning turned to look at the seven elders of the Zhi generation, but they all kept their eyes downcast and showed no intention of speaking. After a moment of silence, he looked at Shi Chan and said, "Shi Chan, you have been bewitched by a fox demon and have broken the temple's precepts. Do you sincerely repent?"
Shi Chan nodded and said, "Yes, disciple admits his mistake."
Shi Ning's expression softened slightly, and he said, "Very well, then this humble monk will punish you by making you face the wall in the Buddha hall, kneeling before the Buddha and begging for forgiveness until one day you can defeat your inner demons and see through the illusions in your heart..."
"Abbot Brother!" Before Shi Ning could finish speaking, Shi Fan interrupted him angrily. His cheeks were flushed with rage as he roared, "Shi Chan kept a woman's personal belongings, had a secret rendezvous with a woman in the Buddhist hall late at night, and even knowing that the woman was a nine-tailed fox demon, he still rescued her! Can these crimes be forgiven with mere confinement? Headmaster Brother is far too soft-hearted!"
Shi Ning frowned, remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at an old monk with a white beard and asked in a low voice, "Uncle Zhishang, you are the precept-keeping elder of the temple. In your opinion, how should Shi Chan be dealt with?"
Zhi Shang glanced at Shi Chan with an expressionless face and slowly said, "Destroy the relics, erase all memories from the sea of consciousness, and expel him from Bodhi Temple."
Shi Ning's clasped hands trembled slightly as he said urgently, "But if the memories in his sea of consciousness are erased, Shi Chan is very likely to become an idiot!"
Zhi Shang said indifferently, "Disciples who have been expelled from Bodhi Temple naturally cannot remember the temple's scriptures. Has the abbot even forgotten this?"
Shi Ning paused for a moment, then remained silent.
At this moment, another old monk spoke up, saying calmly, "The abbot has just taken charge of Bodhi Temple, and such a major incident has occurred. Moreover, the one who made the mistake is the abbot's favorite junior brother. I hope the abbot will consider how to handle this matter carefully, and not lose his prestige because of this, lest he cause dissatisfaction among the disciples."
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