When Yao Ying woke up, the cave was misty and filled with water vapor.

Her whole body was stiff and sore, and she could hear her joints cracking when she moved. She couldn't help but groan a few times and tried to move her arms little by little.

As soon as I raised my arms, my shoulders touched a warm, solid chest.

Yao Ying was stunned and raised her eyelids.

Tanmaraka sat cross-legged beside her, wearing the cassock that she had dried by the brazier. He held a handkerchief in his hand and was picking up her long hair that had fallen into the hot spring water and was twisting it dry bit by bit.

The light from the sky came in from the top of the cave, filling the room with golden light.

Bathed in brilliant golden light, he gently smoothed her hair with his slender fingers, his eyes lowered, his expression pious, as if he was standing on a high Buddhist temple at a Dharma assembly, preaching scriptures under the gaze of thousands of believers, solemn and quiet.

It is solemn and cannot be profaned.

Yao Ying couldn't help but hold her breath and stood still. The image of him taking off his monk's robes and being naked last night flashed through her mind. She suddenly felt inexplicably guilty and her cheeks felt hot.

Tanmaraka didn't realize that she had woken up, and was still concentrating on using a scarf to tie up her wet hair. His bony hands were inserted into her thick black hair and gently played with it. His face was calm and his green eyes were as clear as water.

The cave was completely silent, with only the sound of her long hair rubbing against the Buddhist beads on his wrist.

Yao Ying shuddered slightly. She stared at his sharp profile for a while, feeling a little dizzy. She called softly, "Master..."

As soon as she said this, she felt her throat dry and sore, as if there was a fire burning inside.

She leaned over the stone platform, lowered her head and coughed, and her chin suddenly felt a little cold. Tanmaraka's slender fingers pushed aside her long hair and lifted her chin.

He lowered his eyes to look at her, frowned slightly, spread out the handkerchief, bent two fingers slightly, touched her cheek lightly, and quickly took it back.

Yao Ying shivered and said, "I must have caught a cold last night."

Tanmarajiva's gaze moved downwards and settled on her. She was wearing his grey monk's robe, with the sleeves and lapels hanging loosely, revealing her slender figure, with a touch of soft, snow-white breasts, slender and graceful.

He looked away and made a move to stand up, but Yao Ying quickly held his arm.

"Master, I'm fine."

She shook her heavy head, drove away the dizziness, and stepped forward to look at Tanmarajiva's legs: "Master, please don't get up and walk around yet. Is your leg feeling better?"

His face was pale and his legs seemed not to have recovered yet.

Tanmarajiva sat beside her, and when she got close to him, her whole body was pressed against his chest. Through the monk's robe, the touch of his skin was particularly clear, and her body was soft, like asafoetida.

He stepped back a little.

Yao Ying rolled up the corners of his robe and trouser legs, looked at his legs carefully, reached out and pressed them gently twice, feeling better than last night, she let out a long breath and raised her head.

"Does it hurt?"

she asked softly.

The sky is full of clear light and the flags are fluttering in the wind.

Tanmarajiva looked at Yaoying calmly for a while and shook his head.

"Nothing."

Yao Ying raised an eyebrow and looked at him. His face looked indifferent and it was hard to tell whether he was really feeling better or just pretending.

For someone like him who was plagued by illness, the pain of illness had become commonplace.

Tanmaraka stood up, his back straight, and said gently and unquestionably: "You have a fever, you need to take medicine, I will take you out."

Yao Ying stood up, feeling dizzy and her legs weak. The stone platform was covered with water vapor, and she took a step, her foot slipped and she staggered.

Her elbow tightened, and Tanmarajiva's cool hand held her arm.

"Don't fall."

He said lightly.

Yao Ying hummed and leaned on his arm. She looked at her monk's robe, looked around, and finally looked at the clothes she had taken off last night next to the brazier.

"Master, wait, I need to change out of my monk's robes."

she whispered.

Tanmarajiva looked in the direction of her sight without saying a word. He helped her to walk to a corner, let her lean against a rock, raised his hands and took down the dried clothes one by one, handed them to her, and turned his back.

Yaoying walked behind the rock holding her clothes.

Tanmarajiva stood beside the rock, not looking around.

There was a rustling sound behind her as she undressed herself in her monk's robe and put on a skirt. The sound of fabric rubbing against each other and her belt falling to the ground could be heard intermittently through the hazy mist.

Tanmarajiva looked at the cave wall and thought of the painting "Subduing the Demon" on the wall of the back hall of the temple.

The beautiful young witch smeared herself with perfume, flirted with others, and seduced the Buddha to destroy his practice. The Buddha used his magic power, and the charming witch suddenly turned into an old woman with black hair and chicken skin, with skeleton joints, swollen body, and her shame faded away.

The visions in his dreams will also turn to dry bones.

But at this moment, the woman standing behind him was not the Illusion Witch.

The illusion uses all kinds of tricks, but they are nothing but illusions.

She stood there, and she was his desire.

"Master, I'm fine."

Yao Ying said softly, her voice hoarse, accompanied by a few coughs.

Tanmaraka came to his senses and turned around.

Yao Ying came out holding the cassock, staggering, and rubbed her brows: "Master, I feel a little dizzy."

Tanmaraka said nothing and stretched out his arm.

Yao Ying grasped the sleeve of his cassock familiarly and leaned against him.

After coming out of the cave, Yao Ying subconsciously and vigilantly glanced at the depths of the passage.

"The fox is out." Tanmarajya said, "Did it scare you last night?"

Yao Ying was drowsy, her fingers tightly grasping his sleeves, nodded, and told him about her experience of returning to the holy city.

"Yesterday, Prajna said she had something important to give me. I was waiting at the other side of the courtyard wall, and accidentally broke into Ah Li's yard. It seemed angry, and I wanted to avoid it, but accidentally entered the tunnel..."

Having said this, Yaoying raised her eyes and looked at Tanmarajiva.

"The Regent once took me through a secret passage, and I was walking around and somehow ended up in a cave."

He said calmly, "It must be Prajna who was careless."

Yao Ying retracted her gaze and complained in a low voice: "Call him over when you get out! Let's see what important thing he wants to give me. He made me wait for such a long time... He was so mysterious and didn't allow me to bring my personal soldiers..."

Perhaps because of the fever and dizziness, her tone of voice unconsciously revealed a rare coquettishness.

Tanmarajiva's eyebrows moved slightly and he lowered his eyes.

She leaned against him, her dark hair resting on his arm, trusting him completely.

There were steep stone steps ahead, so he slowed down and waited for Yaoying to catch up.

"I offended the princess last night..."

Yao Ying shook her head: "I broke in by myself and disturbed the mage, please don't mind. Master, don't worry, I will never reveal the matter of the hot spring in the stone cave."

His tone sounded like he didn't care.

Tanmaraka stopped talking.

The corner is quiet.

The two walked forward in the darkness, all around them was silent, their breaths entangled.

As I walked up the stairs, I saw light gradually coming from the front, and I was almost at the exit.

Yao Ying glanced at Tanmo Luojia and said, "Last night, the master said that he was feeling sick and wanted someone to accompany him..."

Tanmaraka said without blinking, "I am just talking nonsense because I am sick. Princess, don't take it seriously."

Yao Ying rolled her eyes and stared at him for a long time, then let out a weak sound.

Bisha was waiting in the side hall at the exit of the secret passage. When he heard footsteps, he took a few steps forward.

The secret door opened, and Tanmarajiva and Li Yaoying walked out one after another.

Bi Suo looked at the two of them quickly.

Tanmo Luojia helped Yaoying walk behind the felt curtain and said, "No one will come here. Princess, lie down for a while. I will ask someone to boil the medicine."

Yao Ying felt dizzy and sat down as he was told. "My personal soldiers are waiting outside the royal temple..."

"I'll send someone to pass the message. Don't get up. Take the medicine first."

Tanmarajiva paused for a moment.

"You are weak and still taking the doctor's pills... Wait until you feel better before leaving."

Bishuo, who followed into the room, heard this and sighed silently.

His face was expressionless when he spoke, but you wouldn't know how gentle his tone was when he tried to persuade you to stay.

Yaoying looked hesitant.

Tanmaraka did not urge her.

She thought about it and nodded.

Tanmarajiva said nothing, turned and left the side hall, wrote a prescription, ordered his personal soldiers to boil the medicine, stood on the front porch, with his hands behind his back, and enjoyed the breeze for a while.

She will leave eventually, it doesn't matter whether she leaves early or late, delaying will not change anything.

But when she nodded, his heart was slightly moved.

He walked down the long steps.

"Ask Prajna to come over."

…

Prajna responded to the call and saw Yaoying in the side hall. Before she could say anything, she started complaining, "Where did the princess go last night? Didn't I ask the princess to wait for me? It took me so long to find her! I thought the princess couldn't wait and went out of the city."

Yao Ying saw that he looked serious and didn't seem to be shirking his responsibility. She didn't mention the leopard and asked, "What are you going to give me? Why did the messenger say it was related to Yuan Jue?"

Prajna looked embarrassed, looked around, and stammered, "I knew the princess was leaving... I sent the others away last night and was going to secretly give the things to the princess, but who knew the princess was missing! I was afraid that others would see me, so I had to take the things back to my room and keep them."

Yao Ying wondered: "What is it? Why can't others see it?"

Prajna blushed, glared at her, and said incoherently: "Princess, you will know when you see it. Don't ask me, I know nothing! Anyway, it is something that the princess wants very much... The princess has done a great deed in guarding the Holy City this time, so I secretly took that thing out and gave it to the princess... Princess, wait, I will go back to my room to get it."

He turned and ran away. After a while, he returned to the side hall holding a tightly wrapped bundle. He looked around vigilantly to make sure that there was no one else outside the hall before he carefully untied the bundle.

A delicate treasure box slowly emerged from among the layers of wrappings.

Prajna pushed the treasure box toward Yaoying, then retracted her hand as if it was burned, and said with a sad face: "Yuanjue told me that the princess wanted this bronze Buddha very much. The bronze Buddha was found from Princess Manda, and it is probably not a serious thing... The princess has been practicing hard for the past year, and she shouldn't touch these dirty things! But the Buddha said that everyone has their own way. The princess is leaving the holy city soon, and she will not enter Buddhism. She is a person in the world of mortals. The princess likes these things, and it has nothing to do with others. The princess will not come back in the future. Yuanjue and I have met the princess, so we will give it to the princess, and the princess can keep it."

After saying this, he put on a fierce expression, "Princess, please keep yourself clean and use things for the right purpose. Don't be like Princess Manda."

"Also, don't tell anyone else that these things were sent by Yuan Jue and me!"

Yao Ying's mouth twitched.

It turned out that Prajna had specifically asked her to wait in a secluded place yesterday just for this bronze Buddha.

She looked at the treasure box, shook her head and laughed. There was a series of hurried footsteps at the door, and the personal guards ran into the house without waiting for the announcement.

"Princess! I've been looking for you all night! There's a letter from Gaochang!"

Yaoying immediately stood up, took the letter, her nose suddenly felt sore, and her hands trembled with excitement: she couldn't be mistaken, this was Li Zhongqian's handwriting!

"Prepare the horses!"

…

After a while, Tanmarajiva returned to the side hall with a bowl of steaming medicine in his hand.

Bisha was standing guard in front of the palace, and when he saw him coming back, he seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

Tanmaraka glanced at him, stepped into the hall, opened the felt curtain, and looked at the couch.

The couch was empty, the brocade quilt was opened, and a piece of silk hairpin fell on the carpet.

She left.

Tanmarajiva walked to the couch and put down the medicine bowl.

Bisha stood at the door and said, "King, the princess just left and has not yet left the city."

Tanmarajiva said nothing, picked up the silk thread on the carpet, walked out of the side hall, stood in front of the railing, and looked in the distance in the direction of the temple gate.

A red sun rose in the east. The pagodas and halls of various sizes stood quietly in the temple. The tile roofs reflected golden light. Several horses galloped past on the long street out of the temple and headed straight for the city gate, with smoke and dust rolling.

A breeze blew by, and the cassock on Tanmaragha fluttered. The silk thread wrapped around his hands was blown up by the wind and suddenly slipped out from between his fingers.

The scarlet silk danced in the wind and flew out of the corridor.

Tanmaraka raised his hand.

The silk thread has already drifted away.

He let her go again and again, and she came back again and again.

This time, he asked her to stay, and she agreed to stay for a few more days.

It was just the time it took to boil a bowl of medicine, and in the blink of an eye, the person was gone, so hastily, without even a word of goodbye.

Dreams are nothing but illusions, morning dew and lightning.

The author has something to say: The description of the mural "Subduing the Demons" is based on the murals of the "Universal Radiance Sutra" and the Ajanta Caves (India).