Chapter 30: Does this mean that she wants to become a nun?
Chang Xile's phone had long since run out of battery. After asking around, he found only one Taoist nun at the temple who was responsible for shopping down the mountain. While waiting for her phone to charge, Chang Xile watched the stars slowly fill the night sky and sighed again.
She stroked the fur on her knees and muttered to herself, "I wonder how they are doing now..."
Sui Sui's snoring suddenly stopped. Chang Xile lowered his head and rubbed his ears, apologetically asking, "What's wrong, Sui Sui? Did I wake you?"
It stood up straight, ears pricked up, listening carefully. After a while, Chang Xile also heard a noisy voice coming from the Changleguan gate. It must be the group that had gone out to search for someone returning.
Chang Xile didn't care about Sui Sui. He gently placed it on the table and ran out of the room. Sui Sui flicked his tail and ran out after him.
However, a group of people led by Taoist nun Renxin said that they did not find the person Chang Xile mentioned.
"Girl, we've searched all over this part of the mountain. There are really no ordinary people left."
"Yes, maybe your friend couldn't find you and went down the mountain by himself?"
In theory, this was indeed a wiser approach. But Anping and Yang Guisi must still be on the mountain. Chang Xile understood them, just as they had guessed that Chang Xile had not yet left the mountain.
Therefore, Chang Xile shook his head affirmatively and said, "No."
"Oh, that's troublesome. The mountain is so foggy right now that even we don't dare to search any deeper. We don't know what happened to your friend."
Chang Xile pondered for a moment and said decisively, "Then I'll call the police." Everything on this mountain is unknown, and if they have an accident, there is no time to lose.
However, before she could find her phone, Renxin raised her hand to stop her: "You can't call the police."
Chang Xile asked, “Why?” She had known since childhood that when she needed help, she should seek help from the police.
Renxin hesitated for a moment, not directly explaining why it wasn't possible. Instead, she added, "There's no signal up in the mountains. Calling the police would be futile."
At this time, Chang Xile had just turned on her mobile phone. She tried the functions of various apps and found that there was indeed no signal.
Perhaps Chang Leguan's location is still too remote.
"It's getting late. Why don't you stay in the temple for one night? When it clears up tomorrow, we'll go look for your friends together." Renxin stood beside Chang Xile and accompanied her to the room they had just been in.
"But why did you and your friends come all the way to our Changleguan?" Renxin asked her.
"I've been having bad luck lately," Chang Xile replied. "My friends and I both think it's because the animals are asking for favors and borrowing our good fortune."
Renxin was a little surprised: "I have heard of things like asking for titles, but I have never seen it with my own eyes."
"Before I met the one who asked for the title, I had never even heard of this word." After Chang Xile heard that Lian Renxin had never seen her, he no longer had much hope that they could help him.
"Miss, why don't you rest tonight. I will convey this matter to Master Nianci for you. She is the abbess of the temple and is highly respected. Maybe she knows a way to solve the problem." After sending Chang Xile to the room, Renxin bowed to her.
Chang Xile also bowed politely and closed the door after Renxin left.
When she turned around, she found that Sui Sui had slipped into the room at some point and was standing on the carpet, looking at her.
"You little cat, why are you staying here and not leaving? Tell me quickly why you ran to the mountain? Otherwise I will kick you out!" Chang Xile simply squatted down and scratched its chin, speaking threateningly.
Sui Sui tilted his head back, squinting his eyes, enjoying being tickled by Chang Xile. His ears twitched, clearly hearing something, but he said nothing.
"Is it just not talkative by nature?" Chang Xile muttered to herself, giving up on teasing Sui Sui. She'd been running around all day, exhausted. She simply stood up, tapped Sui Sui's forehead with her finger, and said, "I'll come back tomorrow to question you."
Then she walked towards the bed, taking off her coat as she went. Master Renxin had just brought Chang Xile a change of clothes, and now she washed up and prepared to go to bed.
Seeing this, Sui Sui immediately ran behind the screen in the room and found an empty space to lie down. After Chang Xile turned off the lights and lay down on the bed, it came out again in the night and curled up at the end of her bed.
Through the screen window, the bamboo leaves swayed slightly in the moonlight. That night, some people slept soundly, while others stayed awake all night.
The next morning, Chang Xile was awakened by a knock on the door. Yawning, she checked the time: it was only six-thirty. The knock was urgent, so she grabbed her coat from the back of her chair and put it on before opening the door. Sui Sui pricked up her ears at the first knock, following Chang Xile's steps as she got out of bed.
It was Shunian who knocked on the door. He came with a tray, his face flushed red, and asked anxiously, "Can you let me in? I can't hold it!"
Chang Xile quickly moved aside to make way for him. After Shunian placed the full plate of food on the table, he scratched his head and said shyly, "Master asked me to bring you food. Once you've finished packing, I'll take you to see her."
He tilted his head slightly, as if forgetting part of the message, and stuttered as he finished, "They said we were going to talk about that... something... asking for a title?"
"So that's how it is. Thank you, Shunian." Chang Xile was still sleepy. She rubbed her eyes and sat down, inviting him to join her. "Have you had breakfast? Do you want to eat with us?"
"I've already eaten the steamed buns." Shu Nian turned his head away uprightly, not looking at the food, but his rumbling stomach betrayed him.
This plate of food was full of all kinds of things. Chang Xile saw many of his favorites at a glance - rabbit-shaped custard buns, mung bean cakes, steamed dumplings, poached eggs with soy sauce... In addition, there was a bowl of hot milk that was still steaming.
"Hey, how can I finish all this? You should eat some too!" Chang Xile saw that the child was embarrassed, so she simply handed him a bunny bun, then stretched and stood up, "I'll go wash up first."
After breakfast and cleaning up, Chang Xile followed Shunian to where Master Nianci lived. Although it wasn't her usual time to get up, she could still see the nuns everywhere in the temple, all methodically going about their daily routines.
Shunian glanced at the lion cat that had been following Chang Xile's feet and couldn't help asking, "It's been following you all the time. Are you its owner?"
"I'm not." Chang Xile looked at Sui Sui who was walking silently beside him and shook his head.
When they saw Master Nianci, she was practicing in the courtyard. Just as Shunian was about to call her Master, Chang Xile stopped him. The two of them and the cat looked at Master Nianci quietly. Chang Xile asked softly, "What are you practicing?"
"Five Animal Exercises, they're good for health." Shunian also quietly explained to her, "This one imitates a tiger... and this one imitates an ape..."
After a while, Nianci stopped what she was doing. She glanced at the people at the gate, wiped her sweat with a towel from the stone table, and said with a smile, "Shunian, why did you wake up the girl so early?"
The two dark circles under Chang Xile's eyes are so conspicuous.
"Hey, but Master, don't you always say that a day's plan begins in the morning and sleeping in is absolutely not allowed?" Shu Nian hadn't thought so much. If he didn't get up at this time, let alone Master Nian Ci, Master Ren Xin would not knock on his door obediently. Instead, they would directly wake him up with a stick, and even called it a wake-up call.
Chang Xile coughed lightly and raised a hand to indicate that he was fine: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"
Nianci waved to Chang Xile and invited her in to talk. She made a pot of tea for Chang Xile and said as she poured the tea, "I don't know why, but I feel a sense of familiarity when I see you, as if I've seen you somewhere before."
"Maybe it's fate? I felt very close to Master Nian Ci when I saw her!" Chang Xile's words were true. Nian Ci's every move made her feel like she had seen her before.
"Just like me and my master." Shunian stood aside and smiled with his eyes curved when he heard this.
Nian Ci gave him a stern look and asked, "Have you finished your homework today? You're still playing tricks on me."
"I'll go right away!" Shunian stood up straight, bowed to the two of them, and ran out with a silly smile.
Chang Xile looked at his back and asked, "At Shu Nian's age, doesn't he need to go to school?"
Nianci took a sip of tea and explained briefly, "He's an orphan. If he wants to go down the mountain to study, he'll either have to spend the entire day traveling back and forth, or he can go to an orphanage. We've talked to him about this, but he still wants to stay in the mountains."
"After all, the child is still young, let him think about it."
Chang Xile, however, felt that the child understood too little. If she waited until he figured things out, it might be too late. But she had no gratitude towards Shunem, so many things would be meaningless for her to say, so she said nothing.
Nianci changed the subject: "I heard about your story from Renxin last night. Can you tell me more about what happened that day when you were borrowed?"
After listening to Chang Xile's talk, Nianci said nothing, but just turned the teacup on the table with one hand.
"If you're feeling embarrassed, then…" It's okay. Chang Xile had come here to try her luck. She was more concerned about the whereabouts of Yang Guisi and Anping than trying to avoid such bad luck.
Many times, these denominations are just a belief to Chang Xile. Just like medicine cannot cure all diseases, even God may not be able to solve all the problems of believers, right?
You can't force others to do things against their will.
"It's not that I'm embarrassed." Nian Ci shook her head and looked at Chang Xile. "Actually, being asked for a title by spiritual creatures isn't entirely a bad thing. They are all living beings who have reached a certain level of cultivation. They will only ask for titles from those with high moral character and great blessings, and they will come back to repay their gratitude later."
"Girl, you are the chosen one." Nian Ci said this and laughed again, "But they are not human after all, so they can't reason too much. It's really not fair to let them complete their request for the title before you even understand what's going on."
Chang Xile nodded, feeling somewhat comforted. But then she thought of the car accident that nearly happened a few days ago, and became dejected again: "If that's true, is there really no way to solve it other than waiting?"
Nianci pondered for a moment and said, "There are ways, but it depends on you."
No matter what, Chang Xile was still willing to listen to Master Nianci's method. No matter how difficult it was, whether it could be done or not was one thing, but at least, she was sure that—
I don't want to die yet.
Nianci asked, "If I let you stay on the mountain forever, would you be willing?"
Eh? Chang Xile was confused.
Does this mean that she should also become a nun?
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