Chapter 229
Chapter 229
Even Chan Master Dahui had advised me to return to Cangwu Mountain.
Just what was waiting for me there?
Although Feng Lishu was already dead, could the Phoenix Clan truly accept me?
Before I could think further or ask any more questions, Chan Master Dahui gave me his final farewell.
“Go back, Ah Wu.”
“Tell that boy that since he’s chosen this path, he must follow it all the way through the darkness.”
“At the end of darkness lies dawn.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Chan Master Dahui’s mortal body shriveled into the state of an ordinary monk who had passed away in seated meditation. Not a trace of life remained.
My Souls, however, became noticeably fuller and more substantial. A powerful force seized me and dragged me out of the tower.
A short while later, I jolted awake.
When I opened my eyes, I found Liu Junyan sitting cross-legged with my head resting in his lap. The stone room was utterly peaceful.
He seemed to know that something had happened. The panic and hysteria from when my Souls had just left my body were gone.
He merely stroked my head and said, “You’re awake.”
I murmured an acknowledgment and sat up.
We had been sitting face-to-face, but Liu Junyan reached out and pulled me into his arms, letting me lean against his chest. “Your Souls left your body just now. No matter how I called you, you wouldn’t wake up. But then I sensed a very familiar aura, and your condition stabilized afterward. Xiao Jiu, what happened?”
I told him everything that had just happened, including the final message Chan Master Dahui had asked me to pass on to him.
After listening, Liu Junyan murmured, “Follow this path all the way through the darkness… At the end of darkness lies dawn…”
Chan Master Dahui’s words had immediately brought many things to mind.
The Evil Monk.
The things Yu Nian had once told me…
Chan Master Dahui was a truly enlightened Buddhist master, while Liu Junyan… by comparison, he hardly seemed like a monk at all.
No, that wasn’t right.
Liu Junyan had never been a monk in the first place.
It was only that his Awakening had restored some of the Copper-Coin Figure’s memories, turning him into the person he was now.
No. That still wasn’t right.
If what I had just seen was Chan Master Dahui’s mortal body, then what was the Copper-Coin Figure in the Pawnshop’s West Room?
I tried hard to recall the Copper-Coin Figure’s build.
In my mind, the Copper-Coin Figure, Chan Master Dahui, and Liu Junyan gradually overlapped. From certain angles, the three of them really did look like the same person.
We remained silent for a long time. Only when the first faint light of dawn appeared outside the window did Liu Junyan suddenly ask, “Ah Wu… Was he referring to you or the Grand Witch?”
“He said my Souls were incomplete, but showed signs of having been patched with Witchcraft,” I analyzed. “That must refer to the Grand Witch’s face once residing within my Souls. But that face has already disappeared, so Ah Wu should be one of my past lives, right?”
Though perhaps not my immediately previous life.
My previous life should have been Feng Linu.
That meant Ah Wu dated back even further.
I still hadn’t figured out Feng Linu, let alone this Ah Wu.
Liu Junyan gently kneaded my earlobe between his fingers, looking thoughtful. “Xiao Jiu, you are yourself. You’re not Feng Linu, and you’re not some Ah Wu. You can search for the truth about your past lives, but don’t lose yourself in the process. Understand?”
I nodded.
Liu Junyan asked, “Then have you decided to return to Cangwu Mountain?”
“The Grand Witch told me to go, and Chan Master Dahui told me the same thing,” I said. “I think there must be something incredibly important waiting for me to discover at Cangwu Mountain. So I have to go back at least once.”
“Go — we have to go,” Liu Junyan said. “Xiao Jiu, give me some time. I’ll find a way to send someone into the Phoenix Clan again to investigate and get a clearer picture of the situation. Once we find the right opportunity, I’ll accompany you back to Cangwu Mountain.”
I agreed.
After daybreak, we returned to the Great Dharma King Temple.
Abbot Kongji led us to a side hall.
Inside, the Buddha Lamp that Liu Junyan had offered on my behalf had gone out completely.
Abbot Kongji looked at Liu Junyan, then at me, but said nothing.
Still, I had a feeling he knew exactly what had happened.
Yesterday, he had specifically told Liu Junyan to take me out for a walk. Perhaps he had foreseen the fated encounter we would have last night?
And today, perhaps he could also tell from both our Facial Features that something had changed.
But he didn’t ask us anything.
The Buddha ferries all sentient beings.
To ferry someone doesn’t mean telling them the outcome outright. It means guiding them to experience it and understand it for themselves.
As we left the side hall, I received a call from Li Qingying.
She asked tentatively, “Xiao Jiu, is everything going smoothly over there? Did Seventh Master say roughly when he’ll be back?”
I immediately realized she had something to tell me but was afraid of disturbing us here.
After all, we had only just arrived at Mount Song.
I asked, “Did something happen at the Pawnshop?”
“It’s the Snow Phoenix.” Li Qingying hesitated before continuing, “I went to check on her today and noticed… something had changed in the basin…”
I immediately grew tense. “What kind of change? Don’t you have Uncle Huo’s contact information? If necessary, you can ask him to come over and take a look.”
Li Qingying said, “I already asked Uncle Huo. He said the Snow Phoenix might be about to wake up.”
The Snow Phoenix was about to wake up?!
Li Qingying continued, “And not in the form of the Little White Bird, but in human form… You know she ate the Ice Silkworm before. Uncle Huo is worried she might lose control when she wakes up.”
Now I understood.
If the Snow Phoenix woke up while her mind was under the Ice Silkworm’s control, the situation would indeed be difficult to handle.
“I understand,” I said. “We’ll head back this afternoon.”
Liu Junyan was standing right next to me, so he had heard everything Li Qingying said.
We weren’t afraid of the Snow Phoenix going berserk inside the Pawnshop. What we feared was that she might escape…
When Abbot Kongji heard that we planned to leave after lunch, he looked at Liu Junyan and said earnestly, “Chan Master, you must take to heart what I told you the last time you came back. When you have time, return to Mount Song more often.”
Liu Junyan promised he would.
Liu Junyan drove on the way back as well.
Sitting in the passenger seat, I couldn’t help asking, “What did Abbot Kongji tell you the last time you came back? He looked very solemn.”
Liu Junyan brushed me off with a quick, “Nothing.”
I huffed and pretended to be angry. “So in your eyes, I’m someone you can just fob off whenever you feel like it.”
Liu Junyan glanced at me and chuckled. “Who taught you to use reverse psychology?”
“Can’t I just be naturally gifted?”
Liu Junyan laughed again, his entire body relaxing.
His fingers tapped lightly against the steering wheel a few times. Then, as if he had finally made up his mind, he said, “He told me that there is still another Calamity in my destiny. If I want to resolve this Calamity, it would be best for me to return to Mount Song first.”
I frowned. “He wants you to go back and become a monk?”
Liu Junyan shook his head. “I wouldn’t need to shave my head.”
I asked, “Cultivate as a lay disciple?”
“Not that either,” Liu Junyan said. “There is a form of cultivation in the Buddhist Order known as Worldly Pilgrimage. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it…”