She said, "I asked you first."
The white-robed monk walked a few steps further inside, just reaching the center of the Buddhist Hall, in front of the incense table facing the Buddha altar. Upon hearing her words, he stopped again, but did not imdiately turn around, instead standing silently for a mont.
After a while, Shang Ruyi saw him raise his hand and place a string of prayer beads from his hand onto the incense table.
Then, he said, "The clouds part and the mists disperse over the Nine Provinces,"
"..."
Shang Ruyi frowned once more.
It was—
Before she could fully comprehend this sentence, the man slightly bowed his head again, using both hands to slowly remove another string of Buddha Beads from around his neck, chanting softly, "I do not see the sentient beings, only the white head."
"..."
This ti, Shang Ruyi understood.
It was a verse.
He, not only participated in this Dharma Assembly of Dayan Temple but had also just co out of the Inner Altar Dharma Assembly.
Thinking of this, her heart suddenly intensified in its beating, as if it was about to burst out of her chest. But to suppress this intense beating, she instead stood calmly and sowhat rigidly at the doorway, her entire perception concentrated solely on her eyes and ears, watching and listening to everything.
She watched as the man, after unloading these "external objects," slowly turned around. Those grey-blue eyes fixed on her, seeming to realize sothing at that mont. A fair, soft, large hand reached up to the ear on one side, gently removing the headscarf.
A cascade of black hair, more striking than anything else, flowed down from beneath the scarf.
Shang Ruyi’s eyes widened in shock!
Only then did she realize that this person was not a monk at all!
He wore his long hair, simply wrapped in a white headscarf, making it difficult to distinguish between monk and layman. That black hair, as dark as jade, cascaded down as though the darkness of night had poured into the human world, with only a single white silk ribbon tying it at the midpoint, softly draping over his arm, tangled and unending, seemingly trying to prevent that darkness from engulfing the entire world.
At that mont, Shang Ruyi felt as though she were entangled by sothing as well, finding even breathing difficult.
But the person before her remained calm and composed, using that clear and gentle voice to slowly chant the third line: "Step by step towards the Celestial Gate,"
"..."
Shang Ruyi’s breathing completely stopped.
She opened her eyes wide, watching as that snowy white headscarf, like a pure white cloud, was blown away by a sudden gust of wind from behind, the clouds parted, revealing an unfamiliar face.
Though unfamiliar, seeing this face at that very mont gave Shang Ruyi an odd sensation, as if, in that instant, all her past dreams, whether they were delightful or terrifying, intoxicating or suffocating, even those filled with blood-red nightmares, were all illusions of the void. And these void illusions, in this instant, coalesced into a heavy, sudden reality.
And reality, was just that face before her.
A face that could be sumd up in four characters, a face that could only be described with these four characters——
Unparalleled beauty.
Refined eyebrows and bright eyes, a high nose bridge, naturally thin yet distinctly contoured lips that bore a slight smile, it could seem a mockery of the world’s folly, yet brimd with boundless compassion.
It was as if, with just a glance at this cold world, he could make it full of spring warmth and enduring happiness.
But similarly, with just one glance at this blissful world, he could make it engulfed in war, descending it into a chaotic scene.
This contradictory sensation lent his beauty an additional shroud of mystery, even though he intoned "clouds part and mists disperse," yet his true nature seed still hidden deep within those innurable leagues of cloud and mist.
Then, Shang Ruyi heard this handso man, facing her, recite the final line.
"In the end, heaven and earth are but an epheral mayfly."
In the end, heaven and earth are but an epheral mayfly...
So, it is with this verse that he answered her question.
Is he simply a mayfly within the heavens and earth?
But who would use such a verse to answer soone’s question? In this world, who is not a small, insignificant mayfly?
His answer seed more like a test of herself.
Shang Ruyi frowned tightly, gazing at that indescribably handso face, only feeling that this person was filled with riddles and contradictions—his gaze should have been gentle, yet it carried an aloofness from its depths; he should have been compassionate, yet from his bones exuded a cold indifference to the world.
He ought to be a Buddha, yet it seed, a demon.
Who on earth was he?
Who on earth was he?!
Shang Ruyi’s heart thundered, but she forcibly clenched her fists, veins bulging on the backs of her hands as if wanting to smash sothing, and the truth, it lay just beyond that shattered heartbeat!
And this person, after answering with this verse, still remained as calm as a gentle breeze, those clear grey eyes looking down at Shang Ruyi, then slightly lifted his gaze.
As if to say—
It’s your turn.
He, indeed, was testing her.
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath, releasing her hands, which had almost cramped from clenching, only to discover her palms were drenched in cold sweat. As the wind blew, that chilling sensation pierced right into her heart, but it had sohow cald her down.
Looking into those clear, vivid eyes, she softly said; "I ask of the mountains and water, only they can discern the compass directions,"
Upon hearing these seemingly plain yet under the surface turbulent verses, the person slightly narrowed his eyes, that faintly pressed lips seed to curve slightly inwards.
And Shang Ruyi, had already passed by his side, walked to the incense table, and picked up a string of prayer beads he had placed there.
The prayer beads were smooth and glistening, evidently polished and rubbed nurous tis over the long years. They surely had gone through many a knot, many emotional entanglents, to reach this present tranquility.
Shang Ruyi gently twirled the prayer bead, murmuring to herself, "Chanting thousands of verses,"
Then, she heard the rustling of garnts behind her, it was him moving to stand behind her, looking down at her.
And Shang Ruyi, twirling the prayer beads, counting one bead after another, until her heart, which had been unsettled since she first t this person, finally cald down. Only then did she turn back, looking into his grey-blue, lucid eyes.
Word by word, she said, "And yet I do not know who I face."
The grey-blue eyes suddenly quivered.
Shang Ruyi said, "You are—"
Just as her voice was about to erge, not yet fully ford, a sowhat heavy voice ca from the entrance of the Buddhist Hall.
"Elder brother...?"
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