The fragrance is lingering.

The meditation room was strangely quiet, with only the rustling sound of writing.

Yao Ying held her chin with one hand and stared at the pen in Tanmarajava's hand for a long time.

He said nothing, and neither did she.

Prajna entered the room carrying a pile of books and knelt in front of the desk to sort them out for a while. Yaoying was still sitting there without moving. He couldn't help but look at her and signaled her to hurry out and not disturb Tanmaragha.

Yaoying looked up at Tanmarajiva.

"go out."

Tanmarajiva stopped writing and spoke softly, but his words were addressed to Prajna.

Prajna looked puzzled. She put down the book and retreated respectfully. Before leaving, she glared at Yaoying with reproach.

Yao Ying ignored him and stared at Tanmaragha with her bright eyes, lost in thought.

Tanmarajiva lowered his eyes, picked up the pen again, wrote a few words, and suddenly found that he was reciting scriptures instead of marking documents.

Half of the silk cloth is covered with scriptures.

His face remained expressionless. He stopped writing, moved the silk cloth aside, and picked up a blank piece of paper with a lotus pattern.

"Haidu A Ling is going to attack the Holy City. If the princess returns, she will face great risks."

Tanmarajiva suddenly said.

"The princess should stay in Sand City."

Yao Ying hummed and said, "The Master has made plans, and my return will not affect the overall situation. However, Haidu Aling is so lucky, and I am afraid something will happen. The Regent is far away in Sam Valley and has no time to take care of the Holy City, so I came back."

Tanmaraka raised his eyes and said, "I don't mean to blame the princess."

Yao Ying looked at him and said, "I understand. The master is worried about my safety and afraid that something might happen to me."

She paused for a moment, "I am also worried about the safety of the mage, afraid that something might happen to him."

The room was silent for a long while.

Tanmaraka looked at her with a calm gaze. After a moment of silence, he looked away and said, "Thank you for your concern, Princess."

Yao Ying smiled, "The master has come out of retreat. I know he is safe, and I feel much more at ease."

Tanmaraka lowered his head, looked at the paper, and asked with deep eyes: "Where is the princess's brother?"

Yao Ying came back to her senses and said, "Yang Qian's letter said that he came directly to the royal court. I didn't know where he was, and I was afraid of missing him, so I sent a few teams of personal soldiers to pick him up. Now that the crisis in the Holy City has been resolved, I will leave now and go to Sand City to wait for him. The Northern Rong are in chaos, and it is a good time for the Western Army to recover their homeland. After I see my brother, I will meet up with Yang Qian."

Now she didn't know where Li Zhongqian was. Li Zhongqian knew she was in the royal court, so she sent out several personal soldiers to wait for him in all the places he might pass by, and agreed to meet in Sand City, so as to ensure that they would not pass by each other. At this time, the Northern Rong territory was in chaos, and she didn't want to cause any more twists and turns.

Tanmarajiva was writing with great concentration, his sleeves of the cassock sweeping across the desk.

He tried to avoid her, but after many twists and turns, he still couldn't avoid her coming to say goodbye to him in person.

"I'll have the monks escort the princess to the Sand City."

He said calmly, his tone cold.

Yao Ying waited for a while, and seeing that he didn't care at all, she sat up straighter and said word by word: "Master, you have been very kind to me during this period of time, and I am grateful to you."

Tanmaraka looked up at her, his face expressionless, his eyes showing neither sadness nor joy, without a trace of anger.

"Don't bother raising your hands. Princess, you are blessed by fate. Don't worry about it."

Yaoying looked at him, their eyes met. His green eyes were clear and indifferent. She smiled and stood up to say goodbye.

"Master, I'm leaving."

Her voice was soft.

"treasure."

Tanmarajiva hummed softly, lowered his head and continued to review memorials.

Yao Ying walked out of the meditation room step by step, out of the courtyard, and looked back. The temple door was open, the felt curtains were hung high, and Tanmaragha was sitting in front of the desk. There was golden light floating on his cassock, and he looked ethereal and holy, as if he was standing high up in a Buddhist temple.

She stood there in a daze for a while, then turned and left.

In front of the corridor, light and shadows intertwined, pendants jingled, and the pomegranate red skirt rustled, and slowly disappeared from Tanmaragha's sight.

All that remained were mottled tree shadows and a faint sweet fragrance. On the walls on both sides of the corridor, green Bodhi trees grew lush and verdant, elegant and solemn.

He put down his pen, bathed in the faint golden light, and sat alone in silence.

…

In the afternoon, there was no light in the house and the light was dim.

There was a sound of footsteps at the side door.

Bi Suo sneaked into the palace and said, "My king, I specially left the city through the main gate, walked outside the city, changed my clothes and came back. The princess should not be suspicious..."

He dressed up as Sultan Ahmed, walked past Li Yaoying with a leopard, rode out of the city, and made a big circle, making everyone think that the Regent was chasing Wakhan Khan.

As Bi Suo was speaking, he stepped into the meditation room and suddenly felt a chilling murderous aura. He stopped in his tracks and raised his head.

Tanmarajiva sat in front of the desk, holding Buddhist beads in his hand, with an expressionless face and a cold light flashing in his blue eyes.

"She's gone?"

he asked, his voice low.

Bi Su's heart sank. She looked at his expression carefully and dared not move forward. "The king...the princess just left the city."

When he came back, he saw Yao Ying leaving the holy city surrounded by her personal guards.

"King, as long as you give the order, I can bring the princess back."

Tanmaraka's eyes were cold, and he said softly, "I am a monk."

Bi Suo sighed secretly, not daring to persuade him any further, and cautiously reminded him: "King, it's time for you to disperse your energy."

He came out of seclusion before he had finished his energy training, and he is still sick. This time he is really going crazy.

Tanmarajiva stood up and walked into the secret door leading to the secret passage, his back was murderous.

The secret passage is dark and narrow.

He walked down the long stone steps. A golden arc of light flashed in the secret passage. A leopard's low growl sounded, and its furry head came up and rubbed his palm lightly.

Tanmarajiva's aura became increasingly sinister. He ignored the leopard and walked alone in the darkness, passing through a long, narrow, winding corridor and bypassing a rock crevice that was only wide enough for one person to pass through. Suddenly, the view in front of him opened up and sunlight filtered through the cracks in the cave ceiling, illuminating the outline of the stone cave. In the cave, there was a hot spring with clear water and hot steam gushing out. The entire cave was shrouded in mist.

He walked to the stone platform, sat cross-legged, and regulated his breathing.

I don't know how much time had passed, but the water vapor wet his robes, and a few strands of moonlight flowed down like water, landing on the wet stone platform in front of him.

In the silence, there was a sound of footsteps coming from deep in the dark passage, and something soft was stepping on the slippery bluestone.

A blurry figure gradually approached the cave.

Tanmarajiva opened his eyes, a dark blue light flashed in them, and he shouted clearly: "Ah Li."

The sound stopped.

Tanmarajya continued to practice, and after a while, the dark light in his eyes faded, and he slowly stood up and took off his robes. This cave was his recuperation place. Every time he finished practicing, his legs would swell and he could hardly walk, and the hot spring water could relieve the pain.

There was a slight sound after the mist, followed by the sound of suppressed breathing.

Tanmarajiva suddenly stopped taking off his clothes, raised his eyes, and scanned the corner with a gaze as fast as lightning.

"Come out."

The black shadow shuddered, and slowly walked out of the darkness. The moonlight on the ceiling of the cave flowed quietly, and water vapor dissipated. Her bright facial features became clearer bit by bit.

She stood in the cold moonlight, her hair was thick and black, her skin was whiter than snow, her eyes were clear and full of smiles.

He stood on the stone platform, having just taken off half of his cassock, and was about to step into the pool.

The two looked at each other through the wisp of moist mist.

Tanmaraka said nothing.

…

The sound of water is gurgling.

Yao Ying stood in front of the stone platform, facing Tanmarajiva's icy gaze, and was sweating all over from embarrassment.

She had long planned to go to Sand City to wait for Li Zhongqian after Sultan and Bisha returned to the Holy City, and her luggage had been packed. After meeting Tanmaraka, she and her personal guards left. As soon as she left the city, the monks from the Royal Temple came to her and said that Prajna had something very important to give her, and asked her to come back and get it in person.

The monk soldier spoke in a serious tone, and Yao Ying just remembered that there was something she had forgotten to tell Tanmarajiva, so she turned her horse around and went back to the city.

When they arrived at the Wang Temple, Prajna acted mysteriously. He sent everyone away, took her to a secluded place, and asked her to wait, saying that the thing must be handed to her personally and no one else could see it.

Yaoying stood in the corridor waiting for a long time, but Prajna was nowhere to be seen. Seeing that it was getting dark, she wondered if Prajna had forgotten her, so she walked around the corridor to find a monk to ask, but there was no one around. A shadow flickered in the corner of the wall, and a leopard suddenly jumped down from the wall, roaring and snarling at her.

She was startled and realized that Prajna had brought her to the leopard's territory. She was horrified and wanted to retreat, but it was too late.

The leopard hunched its back, forcing her to walk down the stone steps. Its eyes sparkled with cold light. She was afraid of angering the leopard, so she stepped back step by step, lost her way, and somehow ended up in an alley. She saw a faint light at the other end, which might be the exit. She heard voices, and hurried over to find it.

Then she saw a tall man in the mist taking off his robes with his back to her, revealing his wet shoulders and back covered with sweat.

In the moonlight, he stood naked, his back had distinct textures, as if coated with oil and glowing with a honey-colored glow. His cassock was already half wet, and the contours from his waist to his long legs were clearly outlined, revealing a thriving power.

Yao Ying was stunned for a moment, then quickly held her breath and walked out. Tanmarajiva looked towards where she was hiding.

"Come out."

He said, his handsome face looking cold and solemn in the mist.

Yao Ying couldn't help but shudder, with goosebumps all over her body. She walked out and smiled at him, "Master, I wanted to avoid Ah Mo, and I accidentally broke in."

Bisa had told her before that when Tanmarajiva’s legs were hurt, he would soak in hot springs to relieve the swelling in his legs, especially when he was injured and had to handle government affairs, he needed to soak in hot springs even more.

This cave should be the hot spring.

Tanmarajiva looked at Yaoying, his cassock half-removed, his eyes as cold as ice.

Yaoying felt her scalp tingling when she saw him taking off his clothes by accident, it was no big deal, she had seen it before... He was a monk, so she didn't care at all.

She was muttering to herself when the rustling sound of a cassock falling to the ground was heard in the cave.

Tanmarajiva looked at her, his green eyes as calm as water. He loosened his fingers expressionlessly, and the cassock wrapped around his waist slipped down.

Yao Ying was stunned and her eyes widened: Huh? !

Still taking off?

She made a move to step back, and Tanmaragha's gaze followed her and settled on her face. His eyes were not fierce, but contained a heavy, oppressive force.

"Come here."

He said calmly.

Yao Ying stood still.

Tanmaraka suddenly fell backwards.

Yao Ying's heart was pounding and she subconsciously took a few steps forward.

Tanmaraka stood against the stone platform and looked up at her.

Yao Ying noticed that his eyes looked a little strange, as if he didn't recognize her, so she asked softly, "Master, what's wrong with you? I'll go call Prajna over."

Tanmarajiva ignored him, stood up and stepped into the hot spring.

Yao Ying looked bewildered as she watched him soak in the hot soup by himself. When she turned to leave, he suddenly raised his head and stared at her straightly, as if he would rush over if she moved.

She looked back and saw a leopard squatting in the corner, staring at her with sinister eyes.

Yaoying stood still.

"Mage?"

She called again.

Tanmaraka said nothing, soaking in the hot spring water, sweat dripping down his face and body, his muscles tensed, his brows wrinkled, his expression seemed painful, yet clear-headed, his green eyes staring at her without blinking.

Yao Ying took a look at his legs underwater and let out a cry. His legs were obviously swollen.

"Master, are you sick? Do you have any medicine? I'll go call Prajna!"

She turned around, looked around, and saw a pile of medicine bottles on the stone table next to her, and hurried over. She had taken care of him before, so she found the familiar medicine bottle, smelled the smell, bit open a pill and tasted it, poured a few pills into her palm, returned to the stone table, and fed Tanmaraga the medicine.

He swallowed the pill, looked at her with an extremely cold look, and reached out to hold her wrist.

"Mage?"

Yao Ying moved closer and looked closely at his expression.

The next moment, he suddenly exerted force on his hands. She was caught off guard and felt dizzy. She fell into the hot spring pool. The warm water rushed over her, and her clothes were immediately soaked and stuck tightly to her skin.

Yao Ying coughed and wiped the water off her face, raised her head, and met his calm eyes.

He sat by the pool, looking at her coldly, his hands on her waist as hot as branding irons.

Yao Ying couldn't come back to her senses for a long time. The cool breeze blew, and her wet long hair stuck to her temples and neck. She couldn't help shivering and found herself lying in Tanmarajiva's arms, while he held her, still with an expressionless face.

He was naked and she was wearing clothes that were soaked and slippery from the spring water. His hot palms were pressed against her waist, with only a layer of wet clothes between his fingertips and her skin.

Yao Ying stared at Tanmarajiva blankly.

If it weren't for his calm face, stiff body, and calm eyes, as serious as a meditating Buddha, she would have suspected that he did it on purpose.

She struggled a few times and pried open Tanmaragha's fingers in the water.

He groaned and frowned.

The force restraining his waist suddenly loosened, Yaoying quickly retreated, water splashed, and he said something in a low voice.

Yao Ying moved closer: "Mage?"

"pain."

He looked at her and spoke softly, sweat dripping down his face, his eyes as calm as a deep well, without a trace of pain in his expression.

But he clearly said the word "pain".

Was he also enduring pain when he talked to her during the day?

Yaoying choked.

…

The water mist was everywhere and the moonlight was pouring down from the top of the cave.

Tanmarajiva looked up at Yaoying with cold eyes, as if he was watching a dream.

He thought it was a dream.

Just like the previous dream, the fierce ghost transformed into her appearance and appeared in his dream again, smiling at him, calling him softly, sitting in his arms, and wrapping her soft arms around his neck, applying a little force to make him lean over.

In the past, she would speak sweet words, flirt with him in a charming and gentle manner, and use countless gentle means to seduce him and persuade him to stop his path of cultivation.

He remained unmoved.

Today, the moonlight was as bright as silver, and she looked at him with eyes full of pity.

"Master, does it hurt?"

The air is filled with subtle fragrance, which is soft and cool like spring water.

The reason why a dream is a dream is because it is what he desires in his heart and his inner demon.

Tanmaraka looked at the vision in his dream without any expression on his face and said softly, "It hurts."

This was his first conversation with a vision.

The illusion stared at him in amazement.

After a while, she asked again: "Master, what can I do to make you feel better?"

Tanmaraka stared at her for a long time.

The illusion is so real, every frown and smile is so vivid.

He said, "Stay and keep me company."

Face the illusion, face your own desires, and they will disappear.

The next moment, Tanmarajiva closed his eyes, recited scriptures silently, and waited for the illusion to disappear.

…

The sound of water dripping.

Tanmarajiva's eyes were tightly closed, and sweat was dripping down his bare shoulders, without a single wrinkle on his face.

Yaoying climbed out of the hot spring pool, her clothes soaked and she was shivering.

The leopard lay at the entrance of the cave. In the darkness, its eyes seemed to glow with phosphorescence, and from time to time it emitted one or two muffled sounds as if in protest.

Yaoying looked up and looked around. She couldn't tell the way through the winding secret passages. It was dark now and there were no lights in the secret passages. Without someone to guide her, she might get lost.

Moreover, Tanmaraka was in such a state now, so she had better stay with him and wait for him to wake up.

Yao Ying sighed helplessly, picked up a neatly folded cassock on the stone table, unfolded it and put it on her body, walked to the stone table, took out the flint, and took a long time to ignite the wood chips.

There is a charcoal basin in the stone cave, and it seems that Tanmaraka often soaks in the hot springs here.

The flames rose, and she felt uncomfortable because of the sticky wetness. She turned around to look at Tanmaragha, who was sitting cross-legged in the pool, without any sound.

She moved the brazier to a corner, hid behind a huge protruding rock, took off her wet clothes, put on her robes, then picked up the robes that Tanmaragha had just taken off and hung them over the brazier to dry.

The charcoal fire crackled, and her body became warm. She stood up and returned to the stone platform, wet a handkerchief, and pressed it gently on Tanmaragha's lips.

Tanmaraka opened his eyes and looked at her straight with his blue eyes.

Soft fingertips brushed his lips gently.

Yao Ying smiled at him and asked softly, "Master, are you feeling better?"

He remained silent.

Seeing that he seemed not yet awake, Yaoying stopped asking and leaned against the stone platform, occasionally going over to check his facial complexion, fearing that he might faint.

As the night passed, the moonlight above gradually faded, and the light of the pale blue sun leaked into the stone cave, covering the ground with spots of light.

The spring water was still warm. After regulating his breathing, Tanmaraka opened his eyes, scanned the stone platform, and then his gaze fixed on the spot.

A few strands of long hair fell into the pool, the ends of the hair were wet and tangled together. The wet hair swayed with the water, gently wrapped around his arms and swept across his bare chest.

His eyes moved upward along the hair.

The top of her head was pitch black and shiny, her forehead was full and shiny, her long, curled eyelashes were long and snowy, the tip of her nose was white and greasy, her lips were slightly pouting, and her chin was delicate and delicate… The girl was lying on the edge of the stone platform, resting her head on her arms, sleeping soundly with her eyes closed, her long, inky black hair spread out, covering half of the stone platform.

She was wearing a loose monk's robe with its sleeves slipping down, revealing half of her mutton-fat arms. On her arms were tightly wrapped a string of warm and cool Bodhi beads.

This is not a dream.

Tanmarajiva raised his eyes, and everything he saw in his dream last night appeared in his mind one by one.

She should have left the holy city, so why was she here?

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

Deep in the dark passage, there was the sound of footsteps.

Bisa's figure appeared at the entrance of the cave. The leopard heard the footsteps and rushed forward. He threw a piece of cooked meat to lure the leopard away, walked into the cave, saw the scene inside clearly, and opened his eyes wide.

Yaoying was leaning against the stone platform, wearing a monk's robe that was obviously too big for her. Her long hair was loose, her cheeks were flushed, and she had a string of Buddhist beads on her arm.

Tanmaraka was sitting in the pond, naked, looking down at her. She noticed his gaze and glanced up at him.

Bisa shuddered, put down the tray in her hand, and retreated quietly.

The author has something to say: The monk took off his clothes with an expressionless face.

Yao Ying: I was extremely scared at that time.