temple
Yun had been chatting with the village children for a long time last night, and then the village chief dragged her to burn incense early this morning, leaving her extremely tired. Fortunately, the two hitched a ride on an oxcart, which allowed them to get a short rest. After crossing a flat road, they finally arrived at the foot of the mountain.
As she climbed the winding stone steps, she was so tired that she almost missed a step with her eyes closed. She stumbled along the way, drawing frequent glances from the village chief, who feared something might happen to her.
Looking at the three large characters "Fanyin Temple" on the plaque, she suddenly felt even more dizzy. She wondered if her "performance" that day had left a deep impression on the young novice monk, so much so that he couldn't forget it even today.
If she were to encounter Guan Nan again, she would definitely explain the reason clearly, she secretly resolved in her heart.
Having mustered her courage, she stepped into the Brahma Temple. She wasn't afraid of running into old acquaintances, but whenever she recalled her clumsy acting that day, her ears would uncontrollably burn. She now wished she could immediately develop an amnesia spell to erase all memories of that day.
The temple was unusually crowded with worshippers today, moving slowly shoulder to shoulder. Even with monks trying to maintain order, it was hardly enough. The village chief, however, had somehow learned a skill that allowed him to deftly and gracefully waddle through the crowd, leaving her far ahead.
An aged voice cut through the clamor of the crowd, "Yun girl, find a place to rest. I'll offer incense by myself."
The village chief had already regretted bringing her today. It wasn't because he disliked her slow pace, but because he felt sorry for her, as she couldn't even rest properly during her hard-earned holiday. Squeezing back and forth in this crowd, and being an overly reasonable person, she found herself caught in a dilemma among the throngs of pilgrims, unable to move forward or backward.
The old village chief thought to himself that he should have waited until the girl returned to the Jingyin Sect before coming alone, and quickened his pace.
“Grandpa,” she hurriedly chased after him, trying to grab his clothes, but missed. “I heard there’s banditry behind the temple. You’d better come with me.”
"The city garrison sent men to suppress the bandits half a month ago, so you can rest assured and go get some rest." After saying that, he disappeared back into the crowd.
The girl watched as her grandfather merged into the crowd, becoming just one point, and then surged to the front with the waves. She could only awkwardly dodge the people who were about to bump into her while replying, "I understand."
After squeezing around for a while, we finally found a quiet spot.
Far from the place of prayer, there was a bamboo grove where the green bamboo and its shadows swayed in the wind. Next to it was a corridor, and she sat on a chair there, leaning her head against a pillar, taking a short rest. She had just closed her eyes when she vaguely saw a figure calling to her, "Benefactor."
Lin Yun opened her eyes groggily and saw Guan Nan standing in front of her. He was half a head taller than when they first met, just like a bamboo shoot that had quietly grown taller after the night rain.
Seeing that Benefactor Lin had woken up, Guan Nan lowered his eyes and glanced at her reddened nose without leaving a trace, and said, "It's windy here, Benefactor Lin, why don't you go to the side room to rest?"
"Master Guannan, how have you been?" Lin Yun felt much more at ease today, not needing to play the role of a domineering person. He added, "I've rested enough, so there's no need to go to the side room."
She stood up to explain the reason for her actions that day, but before she could speak, Guan Nan's voice interrupted her, "Benefactor Lin, Master Juehui requests your presence." This time, Guan Nan took Zhou's place, acting as a guide and pointing out the direction.
He somehow found a secluded path, and the journey was smooth. On the way, Lin Yun explained to him that he had pretended to be a domineering young lady because of a mission that day, and that he had no intention of making things difficult for her. He apologized for this.
Guan Nan was not surprised, but simply nodded slightly.
“Master Juehui already knew. Besides, you had already given an apology gift—the maltose was very sweet back then.”
After more than ten days apart, Guan Nan had matured considerably, completely shedding the childishness expected of someone his age; he was still clearly just a child. He mentioned that he had become a disciple of Master Jue Hui, and now that Senior Brother Liao Zhou was away on his training, he had become the most senior among the younger generation. His dignified and composed demeanor was what commanded respect.
Liao Zhou was like an older brother to Guan Nan, which made Lin Yunwang sigh, "It's always more reassuring to have a senior brother like Liao Zhou around."
Guan Nan sensed the envy in her words and asked, puzzled, "Why is Benefactor Lin envious? Don't you have an elder brother?"
"Huh?" She tilted her head, puzzled. "I've already explained that Sang Zhao is my senior brother. The sibling relationship is just an act."
“But…” He hesitated for a moment, “That day, after you entered the Sutra Pavilion, a young man in black came looking for you, saying he was your elder brother, and I even gave him directions.”
At the time, Guan Nan assumed they were family and didn't find it strange that they came in two separate visits. However, the confusion in the eyes of the person next to him seemed genuine, so he pressed for an answer: "Is something wrong?"
"They must have mistaken me for someone else." Lin Yun snapped out of his daze, a baseless guess gradually forming in his mind, based on intuition.
And my understanding of that person.
Lin Yun felt somewhat unreal as he emerged from the Gui Cang Tower.
She originally thought that Master Juehui had sent someone to find her because he had something important to discuss, but she never expected that he would just ask her how she was doing and whether she was getting used to life in the Jingyin Sect.
Judging by the time, she walked towards the front door.
Grandpa Village Chief was already waiting for her here.
A small amulet was placed in Lin Yunwang's palm.
Yesterday, when Grandpa saw the crisscrossing wounds on her hands that hadn't fully healed, he was naturally distressed. However, no matter how many times he asked, she only replied that everything was fine, refusing to say how tired or miserable she was. So, he suddenly had the idea to come to the temple to pray for her.
The amulet was light, but the sentiment was heavy; the only thing that could compare to it was what he was about to say.
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