Xia Wenjin smiled charmingly, "Master is so considerate of , I am really very grateful. How about I set up a longevity tablet for you and pray morning and evening?"
"No need, no need, you’re not worshiping ; you want to worship my ancestors going back eight generations, right?" Master Kong Chan was very self-aware.
Ming Cheng listened to their conversation in shock. When he looked at Kong Chan, his gaze was not one of suspicion but rather one of increased admiration. He said, "In the past, Ancestor Xu Yun of the Bodhi Temple would laugh and scold, all for the sake of Buddhist Law. Has Master Kong Chan now truly grasped the master’s teachings?"
Kong Chan scratched his head, rarely showing a hint of embarrassnt, but quickly beca spirited again, saying, "You’re too kind, you’re too kind!"
Xia Wenjin looked at him pretending and pointed at the monks rolling on the ground, "What should be done with them?"
Ming Qing’s voice coldly ca through, "Using poison to harm others, what kind of hero is that? If you have the ability, cure my poison, and I’ll fight you one-on-one!"
Xia Wenjin replied leisurely, "Thank you! I’m just a woman, not any kind of hero! Since I’ve captured you, giving you the antidote to let you stir up trouble, are you the one with the problem, or am I?"
Ming Qing was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood, then said smugly, "If you dare to harm , you cannot afford the consequences! There are people in the Capital City who will want your lives!"
Isn’t he just Huangfu Yuxuan’s dog? Xia Wenjin frowned. Having done such things, even if backed by the Emperor, this is the Jianghu, and Xia Wenjin will act according to its rules without the slightest rcy.
Since he’s Huangfu Yuxuan’s dog, there’s even less need for rcy.
Kong Chan was noisy and gloating, saying, "Did you hear that? Did you hear that? He’s threatening you! Looks like he’s got people in the Capital City!"
Xia Wenjin squinted and smiled, "It’s fine. Since he has connections in the Capital City, they must be significant. By then, they’ll know it was I and Master Kong Chan from the Bodhi Temple who acted, so neither of us can escape!"
Kong Chan got angry and started scolding Xia Wenjin, "Won are indeed the most venomous! I saved your life, and you’re dragging down with you! You return kindness with ingratitude, worse than a beast, with the ambition of a wolf, treacherous and cunning, with honeyed words and a sword hidden!"
Xia Wenjin shrugged, thinking that his vocabulary was quite extensive. However, can cursing a few words even cause a hair to fall out?
Ming Cheng sighed, "If it were in the past, when I acted, there wouldn’t be any survivors. However, after entering the Buddhist Sect for these years, I’ve grown accustod to compassion, not taking lives!"
Xia Wenjin could understand his feelings.
The saying goes, lay down the butcher’s knife and instantly beco a Buddha. Even the Buddha would roar like a lion; however, after years of devotion, one cos to cherish every living thing, treading lightly to spare even an ant’s life.
Ming Cheng’s thin face showed sadness. Ashad, he said, "Moreover, I too am at fault in this matter. Five years ago, Ming Qing left to seek donations, and after two years, returned with a large sum of Silver Coin, saying he wanted to renovate the temple and create golden statues to expand Shian Temple to beco a subsidiary of the Bodhi Temple. I developed greed. Who in monkhood doesn’t take Ancestor Xu Yun as a model? What temple doesn’t wish to beco a part of the Bodhi Lower Temple? Although I had no competitive spirit in joining the Buddhist Sect, I couldn’t stop the monks’ aspirations, so I didn’t investigate Ming Qing’s actions or seek to understand them."
Xia Wenjin was puzzled, "Master, are you aware that the so-called child-giving at Shian Temple has a success rate of ninety percent!"
Ming Cheng nodded slowly, "I too was suspicious about the Child-giving Bodhisattva’s efficacy. Two years ago, I inquired of Ming Qing, and he told that the Bodhisattva giving children was a falsehood. While seeking donations in the Capital, he obtained a pill from an Imperial Physician that could increase a woman’s chances of conceiving. The child-giving story was rely an act of taking the dicine."
Xia Wenjin realized, "That’s indeed a plausible reason!"
"I was fooled by him, thinking it was a miraculous dicine that helped people. Over these years, I’ve focused solely on my Suffer Zen practice, leaving almost all temple matters to Ming Qing, which is an oversight on my part!"
Kong Chan said, "Isn’t that right? As the Abbott, you were unaware of such things happening in the temple, which is your responsibility!"
Xia Wenjin elbowed Kong Chan to shut him up and said, "Master has entered the Buddhist Sect, undertaking Suffer Zen with supre perseverance, eating only once in three days, not engaging in worldly affairs, and has done nothing wrong! It’s just that soone in the temple developed worldly desires; Master need not worry!"
Ming Cheng shook his head, either disagreeing with Xia Wenjin’s words or lanting the irretrievable past, and slowly said, "Let’s report this to the authorities!"
Xia Wenjin nodded, believing that reporting to the authorities was the best solution. These people have committed such vile acts, harming ordinary people, and must be judged by the law.
Ming Xuan imdiately ordered soone to find ropes and tie them up.
Actually, earlier, Ming Cheng and another had used heavy thods, and the ten monks wielding long sticks showed no rcy. Now they stand no chance in a fight.
As for Ming Qing, Ming Ze, and Ming Xi, Ming Xi strained his inner strength to call people, but the poison had reached his five organs, and he was enduring the agonizing pain as if his intestines were being cut. Ming Qing and Ming Ze couldn’t muster any inner strength at all.
However, at the ntion of reporting to the authorities, a gleam of light flashed in Ming Qing’s eyes.
Xia Wenjin suddenly said, "There’s one more thing to trouble Abbott Master with!"
"What is it?" Upon learning that Xia Wenjin, as an unmarried woman, disguised herself as a married woman to root out the poison at Shian Temple, Ming Qing was grateful to her.
Xia Wenjin said, "We have another companion. He sensed sothing wrong with the back mountain and went to investigate, but there has been no news. I’m afraid the situation there isn’t promising either!"
Ming Cheng said, "Then let’s go quickly!" Ming Cheng left two monks to guard while the others followed to the back mountain.
On the way, Kong Chan rubbed the sore spot from Xia Wenjin’s hit and complained, "Which part of what I said was wrong? As the Abbott, it’s his responsibility!"
Xia Wenjin rolled her eyes to the sky and said, "Can you settle down a bit? The Abbott is already reflecting and feeling guilty, and you’re saying so much? Do you want him to share the bla as well?"
"Not to the extent of sharing the bla, but wrong is wrong!"
"Shut up!"
Back mountain.
After joining Master Lu and the others, Sang Xuewei quickly got trapped in a chaotic battle. Sang Xuewei wanted to leave as commanded but was surrounded by the Supervisor and his n.
The Supervisor knew the matter was too significant; if anyone escaped, the secret of the back mountain would be exposed.
Master Lu’s four companions were skilled in martial arts, sent by Sang Xuewei’s father for protection. The Supervisor’s group wasn’t a match, constantly calling for reinforcents.
With more reinforcents, the other parts of the back mountain beca empty.
With fewer guards and patrols, Huangfu Jingchen’s covert path beca much easier.
Further inside, there was a monk’s hut, but it was evidently just a facade.
From the courtyard, plants and trees were arranged neatly, resembling a garden. There was a pavilion on the left, and the house opposite had richly ornanted beams and painted eaves. It didn’t look like a small dwelling for monks in the mountains, but clearly, a mansion fit for a wealthy family.
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