He stared at the top of his head where a few new tufts of hair had grown for a while, and suddenly laughed out loud.
He seldom smiled, and even less so laughed out loud.
She was annoyed by his smile, feeling a little uneasy and a little angry.
"What's so funny?"
He finally stopped laughing, but there was still a hint of smile in his tone.
"After experiencing what happened in the other dream cave, I thought you should have already made up your mind whether it was Buddha or devil."
Apart from Wu Shan, she was the only one who did not run away after seeing him in that state.
"Your Majesty then was not Your Majesty."
There was a hint of stubbornness in her tone, but her expression was serious.
She is always like this, once she makes up her mind, it is difficult for her to turn back.
But he couldn't help but try it.
Test her heart to see if it is strong.
"How do you know I wasn't who I am now?" His voice regained its composure, as if the person he was talking about wasn't him. "Wu Shan was a wandering monk. Before his death, he traveled the world with nothing but a copper bowl. He was already living in seclusion, yet he painstakingly contemplated and painstakingly searched, ultimately creating this string of Buddhist beads. Do you think he did this simply to fulfill our master-disciple relationship?"
Xiao Nanhui was speechless.
So, what is it for?
She had speculated on the true purpose of the beads. Perhaps it was because the Buddhist teachings contained within them counterbalanced the power in his bloodline, suppressing him when he lost control. What would have happened if she hadn't been able to put the beads back on his hand that day in the Dream Cave?
Those relics have been polished into a round shape, which is the trace left by the accumulation of years, and contains an inseparable contract of life and death.
But what if its owner didn't wear it of his own free will?
Licking her lips, she leaned closer to the Buddhist beads and took a closer look.
"Will it hurt when I wear this thing?"
She regretted asking this question because it sounded completely stupid.
How could anyone feel pain from wearing a string of Buddhist beads?
There was a long silence in the air.
After a long time, he slowly uttered two words.
"Won't."
She breathed a sigh of relief, not sure if it was because of the answer itself or something else.
"Buddhism controls the mind. If the mind is calm, without sadness or joy, then it is naturally peaceful. If the mind is agitated by external factors, then there is danger."
When he said this, she leaned in front of him, staring intently at the Buddhist beads in his hand, rubbing her furry head against his chin, without any awareness of being "dangerous".
After watching for a while, she finally stepped back.
She suddenly recalled the nagging advice Ding Weixiang had given her earlier, before he left for his mission on the north bank of the Tianmu River. Back then, she'd been wondering why he, raised in an imperial family, hadn't even learned the basics of horseback riding and archery.
Now, the answer is very obvious.
Ding Weixiang was not afraid that he would get injured while practicing martial arts, but was afraid that he would lose control and bring danger.
It is dangerous for him and for the people around him as well.
However, when walking in this world, even if you have never been physically hurt, it is difficult for your soul to be at peace forever.
“Humans are born with emotions, so how can we achieve a state without sadness or joy?”
He looked into her eyes and spoke word by word.
"It only takes practice, and you'll get better over time."
She didn't believe it and asked again.
"How do you practice?"
He said nothing, and suddenly gently pulled the thin blanket beside him to cover her face.
"It's like this right now."
Xiao Nanhui's eyes went dark and he hurriedly pulled the blanket off, snorting angrily.
"If you don't want to talk about it, forget it. Why are you teasing me?"
There was still a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, but it disappeared in an instant after hearing her words. He just stretched out his fingers to tidy up her messy hair.
"Yikong recites sutras for me every month. This sutra is called the Coffin Sutra, a product of the Nanhai Lotus Seal School. It's based on the story of the Buddha hiding in a golden coffin for three days and three nights while preaching, and is meant to close the six senses. It's said that if recited from childhood, one can grow into a person without emotions or desires, specifically trained to practice Buddhism. However, this method of postnatal cultivation is too cruel and contrary to the original aspirations of Buddhism, so few monks have recited it since then."
She listened carefully, then thought of something else.
"So, that day in the small tent in Lingxi, Your Majesty was actually reciting scriptures?"
He hooked his fingers, and her hair entwined and swirled between them, his tone unabashedly playful.
"Occasionally, we encounter some situations and take some remedial measures."
"Ah..." Thinking of what she did that day, she lowered her head in embarrassment, "I see."
The air was stagnant for a moment, and after a while, she asked nervously.
"Has Your Majesty ever told anyone about these things?"
"It has never been mentioned, but there are a few people who know about it."
Then why are you telling me this?
She couldn't bring herself to ask the question. She had no confidence in the answer.
Sighing secretly, she turned the question into something else.
"Does Mr. Zong also know this? He seems... somewhat afraid of Your Majesty."
"Zong Hao didn't believe in destiny, but rather in karma, willingly paying the price for all karma and reincarnation. Abandoned in the mountains as a child, he was raised by a stag, and from then on, he fed deer wherever he went in return. Later, he created karmic obstacles with my mother's clan, and that's why he now avoids me."
What a karma.
But if there really is karma in this world, why hasn't the culprit who killed the entire Xiao family appeared and been punished yet?
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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