Chapter 227 The Reason for Staying
Zaozhaiyuan Main Hall.
The hall was half full, and many new diners turned their curious eyes, drawn to a commotion in a corner of the hall.
However, it wasn't too surprising. People just assumed that the oddly matched but surprisingly pleasing couple was just a young lovers arguing and breaking up.
"Please sit down, Senior Brother."
Ouyang Rong smirked slightly, glancing sideways at his junior sister who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
Upon hearing this chilling, casual remark, his right eyelid twitched violently.
sit?
You'd be risking your life to sit here.
His dark eyes rolled slightly upwards as he looked at the felt hat above.
Xie Lingjiang seemed to realize what was happening and silently withdrew her hand from pressing down on the dog's head.
She sniffed again, turned around and walked to the table in the corner, taking the monk's robe, the luminous pearl and other items that were on the stool.
But in the next instant...
Without saying a word, Ouyang Rong, who was about to sit down, turned and ran.
Under the strange gazes of the crowd, he rushed out of the main hall of the Hayasein and ran desperately towards the Hida Sashokuin like a rabbit fleeing for its life.
Xie Lingjiang didn't even bother to turn around. He walked back to his original seat in the corner, bent down to pick up the monk's robe, the luminous pearl, and other items, and even dusted them off.
She turned around.
Seven breaths later.
On the lawn a hundred meters away from Zaozaiyuan, a young man in black clothes, as swift as a rabbit, had his buttocks kicked away.
The felt hat on his head came off and flew three meters away.
With a cry of "Ouch!", Ouyang Rong fell flat on his face.
Someone suddenly regretted it and climbed up to eat one last pickled radish breakfast on an empty stomach.
Ouyang Rong lay on the dew-covered lawn, rubbing his face as if relieved that he hadn't fallen and hurt his handsome face.
Goodness, this kick from Junior Sister has that same feel to it from when they first met, when she mistook him for a thief who stole her senior brother's pearl and gave him a flying kick with her long legs.
Ouyang Rong rolled over, propping himself up with his hands behind his back. Looking at Xie Lingjiang, who was biting her lip and squinting as she slowly approached, he smiled broadly and chuckled:
"Oh, Junior Sister, what a coincidence! You're having breakfast too?"
Xie Lingjiang silently walked between Ouyang Rong's spread legs.
Stop.
Squat down,
Hug your knees with both arms
It seemed to be covering up the bulging chest that had been squeezed and deformed.
She crouched down, her delicate body leaning slightly forward. She pursed her lips, sniffed, and stared at him with a tense expression.
"Run, senior brother!"
Ouyang Rong immediately frowned, looked around to avoid her sorrowful and hidden gaze.
"Why did Junior Sister come back early? Wasn't it supposed to be after the 15th of this month?" he asked with a sigh.
Xie Lingjiang lowered her head, buried her pretty face in her knees, and without saying a word, forcefully stuffed the monk's robe, the luminous pearl, and other items into Ouyang Rong's arms.
Ouyang Rong was taken aback.
The wronged junior sister lowered her head deeply, silently removed the skirt knife from her waist, and with a soft "bang," slapped the knife and sheath together onto the senior brother's chest.
"These are all yours, take them, don't try to get away with it!"
Her voice, when she got fierce, still carried a hint of her previous soft, crying tone, making her sound both cute and fierce.
Like a grumpy kitten that meows at its owner when it wakes up.
Ouyang Rong looked down at the things in his arms, hesitating to speak.
Finally, he turned his head to look in the direction of the Beitian Nursing Home not far away, and silently asked:
"How did you know I was going there, Junior Sister? Did someone tip me off, or... did you leave some kind of external sensory connection with me?"
The two people, one squatting and one sitting.
Their eyes met.
Xie Lingjiang Hongshang's clothes, like Ouyang Rong's black robes, were damp with dew.
At that moment, she paid no attention to any of that. She crouched down, hugged her knees, looked up at him, and spoke each word clearly:
“I won’t tell you, but remember this: no matter where you go, I can catch you. Don’t try to hide it from me… Let’s run away.”
After a pause, Xie Lingjiang turned her head to the side:
"That kick was for Aunt Zhen and Father. Are you... are you alright?"
Ouyang Rong frowned and nodded, his face serious:
"Something's wrong. That kick hit my weak spot, severely damaging my vital energy. It's leaking out uncontrollably, and someone needs to stop it..."
"Fatal acupoint? What is that?" Xie Lingjiang was stunned. Her pretty face immediately showed an anxious expression. She stretched out her hands and examined his body with a pained and self-reproachful look in her eyes.
Ouyang Rong waved his hand, tilted his head back to reveal a troubled expression, and then tried to sound relaxed and carefree:
"Don't worry, I happen to know someone who can stop this fatal flaw. Junior Sister, quickly go and fetch Master Shandao for me. He can cure me with his miraculous healing skills. I can hold on for a little longer. Go quickly, I'll wait for you here..."
Xie Lingjiang nodded. "Okay."
Ouyang Rong lowered his head, sighed, but was secretly delighted. However, he soon discovered that his junior sister in front of him did not move and remained squatting in the same spot.
Looking up, Xie Lingjiang was staring at him with a stern face:
"Has the vital energy drained from the fatal acupoint? How come Senior Brother is still alive?"
Ouyang Rong stammered, "W-no...how could it be so fast? Junior Sister, don't joke around."
“Alright, I’ll wait until you’re done. Hurry up,” Xie Lingjiang nodded.
Ouyang Rong: ?
You're just waiting for "Big Brother to die and pop the champagne," right?
His lips twitched slightly.
Hey, my junior sister is getting less and less cute. She's not as serious, rigid, innocent, and gullible as she used to be. I wonder who corrupted her.
As Ouyang Rong was filled with grief and indignation, Xie Lingjiang suddenly asked:
"Is Senior Brother a banished immortal who has descended to the mortal realm?"
Ouyang Rong was taken aback. "What, a banished immortal?"
Xie Lingjiang watched as her senior brother feigned ignorance and didn't take the jade-handled sandalwood knife that slipped from his hand. She pursed her lips and asked softly:
What does it mean when "purple aura emanates from the eyes"?
Ouyang Rong remained calm: "What is Junior Sister saying?"
"It was said by the monk who stayed behind in that underground palace called 'Pure Land'."
Xie Lingjiang pointed to the monk's robe, luminous pearl, and other items in Ouyang Rong's arms:
“I just rushed there and saw the clothes you wore and the precious luminous pearl you once gave me, all scattered haphazardly on the lotus pedestal in the center. I thought… I thought my senior brother had left.”
Ouyang Rong immediately understood; no wonder his junior sister looked like she had been crying, and her expression was somewhat haggard and sad...
But then he fell silent again.
After doing some mental preparation for himself last night, it was already dawn when Ouyang Rong heard the familiar morning bell outside the underground palace. He hesitated for a moment, then went out and ate some pickled radishes for breakfast.
Once I got back, I couldn't eat it anymore.
That's at least how he explained it to himself.
In fact, Ouyang Rong also understood that the wisest thing to do was to immediately exchange for the "Return Home" blessing.
If you can go back, then let go of the past;
If you can't go back, then give up the idea as soon as possible and make plans accordingly.
However, if people could be absolutely rational, then there would be no complicated matters in this world.
The day before yesterday, before leaving the Meilin Courtyard, Ouyang Rong was watering the orchids when he suddenly burst into indignation while talking to himself.
Right now, he is getting closer and closer to receiving the blessing of "returning home".
The anger that had been burning in his heart gradually cooled and dimmed, like a red-hot iron left to stand still in water.
It was a feeling of reluctance to part that was at play.
As he got closer to the finish line, he subconsciously searched for "one last excuse."
Because sometimes people just need an excuse to give their minds a temporary respite.
Even if the excuse is clumsy and poor.
It is through this back-and-forth struggle that one can see into their true self and, at some point in the future, suddenly grow and mature...
So Ouyang Rong withdrew his hand, temporarily took off his gray monk's robe, changed back into his black robe and felt hat, climbed out of the underground palace, and went to the Zaozhai Courtyard with ease, ready to taste the uniquely flavorful pickled radish one last time.
Ouyang Rong didn't expect to run into Xiufa on the way, and was dragged by the little novice monk to the sutra copying hall next door early in the morning to investigate the strange noises from the Buddha statue.
So Ouyang Rong wandered around the Sutra Copying Hall for another while, until he was so hungry that his chest was practically sticking to his back. Only then did his chattering hair finally stop him and he returned to the main hall of the Morning Dining Courtyard for his meal.
Then he was caught by his junior sister who appeared out of nowhere.
Looking back now, he must have just left the Pure Land Palace when his junior sister arrived right after, and the two of them just missed each other.
However, he was taken to the Sutra Copying Hall, which delayed him for a while. When he returned to the Morning Dining Hall for breakfast, he happened to run into his junior sister, who was feeling down after leaving the Pure Land Palace.
Ouyang Rong was both amused and exasperated.
He glanced down at the luminous pearl, then put it back into his sleeve.
This pearl was actually deliberately dropped onto the lotus pedestal by him; it wasn't a careless fall.
Moreover, these are not luminous pearls, but relics burned by eminent monks.
Ouyang Rong felt that this was returning the item to its rightful owner, so he took it back to the underground palace and placed it there.
Therefore, when he was preparing for his funeral at the foot of the mountain, he did not leave this pearl with Ye Weilai, Xie Lingjiang, or Su Guoer and others.
Ouyang Rong raised his head again and said in a serious tone:
"The monk in the underground palace is not a monk who stayed behind; he is a mad monk named Buzhi... his name is Xiuzhen, and he is Xiufa's senior brother."
"Next to the underground palace is the Beitian Aid Home, which houses the sick, disabled and mentally ill. Xiuzhen can't stay on the surface for a moment and likes to run into the dark underground palace, saying that it is a pure land and so on. She tells everyone who gets close to her."
"Master Shandao and Xiufa couldn't do anything about him, so they just let it be."
"So, junior sister, don't take Xiuzhen's words seriously."
Xie Lingjiang raised her delicate eyebrows, glanced at Ouyang Rong, and after a moment, nodded:
"No wonder. This monk also said that you were in the murals in the underground palace..."
Ouyang Rong nodded. "He really flatters me."
Xie Lingjiang looked Ouyang Rong straight in the eye:
"However, despite all the explanations from my senior brother, he still hasn't said why he suddenly resigned from his post and went into seclusion without saying goodbye."
Ouyang Rong stood up, and Xie Lingjiang followed suit.
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and patted the bits of grass roots on the hem of his clothes:
"Couldn't it be that I'm just tired, yearning for a life of seclusion, like Tao Yuanming who resigned from his official post and returned to the countryside?"
Xie Lingjiang shook her head: "Senior Brother's style of doing things has nothing to do with the Taoist concept of 'loneliness and inaction.' You're not that kind of person."
Ouyang Rong asked, "Then what kind of person am I in your eyes, Junior Sister?"
"Cultivate a righteous mind and sincere intentions, and unite knowledge with action."
"Unity of knowledge and action?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head and gave a self-deprecating smile:
"I cannot bear such a statement. If I truly believed in the unity of knowledge and action, I would not have hesitated and made various excuses to delay my actions when I knew I should have gone ahead."
Xie Lingjiang looked serious:
"Doesn't this further demonstrate that Senior Brother's actions are consistent with his words? Even if Senior Brother has a hundred reasons to leave, as long as there is one reason for him to stay, he will find it hard to part with his life. This is true purity of heart, and he cannot tolerate the slightest guilt."
Ouyang Rong laughed and asked in return:
"Then tell me, what reason do I have to stay?"
Xie Lingjiang picked up the skirt knife and handed it to him.
A skirt-shaped knife was placed horizontally between Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang.
Xie Lingjiang raised his hand, signaling Ouyang Rong to take the knife again, his words sounding rather childish:
"Senior Brother, the millions of people in Longcheng County need you now! They need you to step forward!"
Ouyang Rong chuckled and shook his head: "Junior Sister, stop fooling around."
"I'm serious!"
Xie Lingjiang took a deep breath and said with a serious expression:
"I almost forgot about it because you made me so angry. I rushed here to find you because I learned something very important from the Jade Cup Fairy. It's extremely urgent!"
Ouyang Rong was taken aback. Looking at his junior sister's expression, she didn't seem to be making an excuse to keep him here. He couldn't help but ask:
"What's so urgent?"
He paused for a moment, then said with a look of realization:
"Wait, the Jade Cup Fairy has woken up? Could it be that she has implicated the Liu family? That's alright, we have witnesses and evidence. Junior Sister, you can take Liu Lang to arrest them and confiscate their property. I don't need to come."
Xie Lingjiang immediately shook her head, then suddenly said:
"Senior Brother, I have bad news and even worse news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"ah?"
Ouyang Rong was taken aback.
I'm here! Sorry I'm half an hour late!
(End of this chapter)
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