Chapter 559: Monk, Open Your Eyes and Look at Me

The following morning, the sky just beginning to lighten, a few threads of morning light filtered quietly through the window lattice into a room in the rear courtyard of Four Void Temple.

Xiao Mo, lying on the bed, slowly opened his eyes, his vision gradually sharpening.

Looking up at the familiar rafters overhead, Xiao Mo knew he had already been returned to his courtyard at Four Void Temple.

Xiao Mo tried to recall what had happened the night before, and felt a sharp pain in his head, his brow furrowing without meaning to.

Once the pain eased slightly, the memories of the previous night surfaced in his mind.

He remembered every detail of what he had experienced before losing consciousness, with perfect clarity.

Even Tushan Jingci's hazy, sheer garments, and the graceful curves of her figure.

The softness of her, settling into his lap like water.

The pure, virginal fragrance that had lingered at the tip of his nose.

Every detail seemed carved into his mind, impossible to shake.

Xiao Mo let out a quiet sigh without meaning to.

He had known Jingci would move against him sooner or later but he had not expected Jingci to act so impatiently yet when he turned his divine sense inward to examine his own body, he found that his primordial essence remained intact, which came as a genuine surprise.

"Could it be that Jingci held herself back at the critical moment?" Xiao Mo privately guessed but very quickly he shook his head, dismissing the thought.

Knowing Jingci's nature, she would either see something through to the end or not do it at all. She would never stop halfway, holding herself back at the last moment.

Creak.

Just as Xiao Mo was puzzling this over, the wooden door of the room was pushed open gently, producing a faint, somewhat sharp creaking sound.

Xiao Mo turned his head to look and saw a woman in a Daoist robe standing quietly outside the threshold, holding a bowl of medicine.

Morning light fell on her shoulders, tinting her plain Daoist robe with a faint warmth.

Xiao Mo and the woman's eyes met.

The woman's pure eyes were clear as water, like autumn waters without a ripple.

The entire room fell into a stillness, even the birdsong outside the window seeming to grow more distant.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Mo looked at the woman and asked, "Young lady, who are you?"

"If I told you I am Jingci, would you believe it?" Gui Junmeng spoke slowly, her voice soft and gentle.

Xiao Mo gave a faint smile and shook his head.

"Why not?" Gui Junmeng tilted her head slightly, confusion rising in her eyes. "Do I and Jingci... not look alike?"

"You and Jingci are not merely alike, young lady. You are identical." Xiao Mo looked at her expression. "But young lady, you are not her."

Hearing Xiao Mo's words, Gui Junmeng lowered her head slightly, her face bowed, as though carefully turning something over.

After a moment, she raised her head again, her clear eyes looking quietly at Xiao Mo, and somewhat abruptly changed the subject, asking softly, "May I come in?"

"Of course." Xiao Mo gave a nod in reply.

"Thank you."

Gui Junmeng lifted the cloth shoes beneath her Daoist robe, stepping lightly over the threshold, and walked to Xiao Mo's bedside, sitting down at the edge.

Even in her generously cut Daoist robe, the moment she sat down at an angle, the fabric could not help but press gently against the full, rounded curve of her figure, tracing a soft line that made one hesitate to look too closely, afraid of giving offense.

"My name is Gui Junmeng. I am a Daoist of the Seeking Immortals Temple."

She paused, her gaze settling on Xiao Mo's face, and explained at an unhurried pace.

"You were poisoned last night. I brought you back to Four Void Temple, and the abbot here told me I could stay for the time being. This bowl of medicine is our Seeking Immortals Temple's specially prepared detoxifying broth. Once you drink it, your body should feel considerably better."

With that, Gui Junmeng scooped up a spoonful of the medicine and brought it toward Xiao Mo, as though about to feed him.

"Many thanks, young lady. I can manage on my own." Xiao Mo extended both hands, took the bowl, and drank it slowly, mouthful by mouthful.

The medicine went down warm and bitterly astringent but once he had finished it, Xiao Mo genuinely felt considerably better, the fog and discomfort in his head gradually dissolving.

"Is there anything you would like to ask me?" Gui Junmeng looked at Xiao Mo, her tone calm, as though waiting for him to speak. "Whatever you ask, I will answer."

"I do have a few questions." Xiao Mo gave a nod, considered for a moment, and asked, "Did the young lady encounter me by chance, or did you come here specifically to find me?"

"I came here specifically to find you." Gui Junmeng answered honestly.

"Then may I ask what has brought the young lady to find this humble monk?" Xiao Mo asked again.

Gui Junmeng gave a nod, thought for a moment, and answered earnestly and simply, "I want to take you to the Seeking Immortals Temple."

Xiao Mo said gently, "But young lady, I am a monk."

Gui Junmeng blinked her lovely fox eyes, her tone carrying a hint of childlike innocence. "You were a monk before. You can be a Daoist afterward."

"Then why does the young lady wish for me to become a Daoist?" Xiao Mo asked at an unhurried pace.

Gui Junmeng lowered her head again, thinking it over carefully.

This seemed to be a habit of hers.

Whenever she needed to answer a question, she would always lower her head and think it over carefully for a moment first, as though weighing every word.

"In the past, it was because you and I had a marriage contract, and I wanted to cultivate with you in dual practice." She raised her head, her clear gaze looking straight into Xiao Mo's eyes, her voice soft. "But now, I simply want to be with you."

"How long is this 'in the past'?" Xiao Mo asked further.

"A whole lifetime." Gui Junmeng answered honestly without hesitation.

"I see..." Xiao Mo gave a faint smile and said nothing more. "Then my connection with Miss Jingci must also be a matter of karma from a previous life, I suppose?"

Gui Junmeng lowered her head and did not answer.

Not answering was itself an answer.

"I understand. Many thanks to the young lady for bringing me back yesterday."

Xiao Mo asked nothing further, turning to get out of bed, picking up the monk's robe set nearby, and dressing himself in an unhurried manner before heading toward the door.

"Would you be willing to come with me?" Gui Junmeng rose to her feet, her voice carrying a barely perceptible urgency.

Xiao Mo stopped and turned, pressing his hands together in a respectful bow.

"Miss Gui, this humble monk... is still a monk for now."

With that, Xiao Mo turned and walked out of the room, step by step.

Gui Junmeng stood where she was, watching Xiao Mo's figure grow more distant, her eyes blinking slowly.

Xiao Mo left the courtyard and made his way to the front hall.

From a distance, he saw Xu Jing sweeping the ground half-heartedly with one hand while holding a sutra and reciting it in a sing-song manner with the other, his small head swaying along with the words.

"If you are sweeping, sweep properly. If you are reading, read properly. Sweeping while reciting sutras means you will neither learn the sutra well nor sweep the ground clean." Xiao Mo walked over and gave Xu Jing's smooth little head a light tap with his finger.

"Elder Martial Brother!" The moment Xu Jing saw his elder martial brother, his eyes lit up at once but very quickly, confusion rose in the little novice's eyes. "Wait, that is odd, Elder Martial Brother. Why did that pretty elder sister not come find you today? Did you upset her, make her angry with you?"

"Something like that." Xiao Mo said with a smile, giving a nod.

"Elder Martial Brother, this will not do at all." Xu Jing let out a sigh, putting on a mature air well beyond his years, and said earnestly, "As the saying goes, 'A good man does not fight with a woman.' You need to give that lay benefactress more room."

"Using proverbs incorrectly." Xiao Mo laughed and gave his smooth head another light tap. "All right, enough talking to you. Elder brother is off to find that pretty elder sister now."

"Elder Martial Brother!" Xu Jing's eyes went wide, and he called after his elder martial brother's retreating figure at the top of his voice. "You finally admitted she is pretty! Elder Martial Brother, this is the sign of your downfall! Elder Martial Brother, you must hold fast to your true heart and not be captivated by beauty, only then can you see the true face of the Tathagata!"

"Elder Martial Brother, do not forget, the two of us brothers are still going to build Four Void Temple up together and open all sorts of branch temples!"

"Oh, and Elder Martial Brother!" He suddenly remembered something and quickly added, "The abbot will not let me use the name 'Four Void Temple' for our branch temples. What should we call the temples we open in the future?"

Xiao Mo waved a hand as he walked, his voice drifting back with a note of teasing amusement. "Elder brother has watched you recite sutras every single day, and you still cannot even memorize the first two pages of the Amitabha Sutra, chanting away with nothing behind it. Why not simply call it Kongnian Temple, the Temple of Empty Recitation."

"Elder Martial Brother! Even you are making fun of me now! When Xuchen and the others speak ill of you in the future, I will never take your side again!"

Xu Jing angrily waved his broom at his elder martial brother's retreating figure, but his elder martial brother's silhouette only grew smaller and smaller, gradually disappearing around the corner of the front hall.

"Kongnian Temple... Kongnian..."

Xu Jing repeated the name his elder martial brother had tossed off so casually, growing angrier the more he thought about it, and thinking about it more the angrier he grew.

"What kind of terrible name is that for Elder Martial Brother to give? I refuse to call it Kongnian Temple!"

After leaving Four Void Temple, Xiao Mo walked alone down the stone steps toward the foot of the mountain.

And just as he had come down from Four Void Mountain, on that most ordinary, most familiar mountain path, a woman stood waiting, her hands clasped before her, gazing quietly in the direction from which Xiao Mo would come, having waited there for who knew how long.

Entirely unlike before.

Today, the woman was no longer dressed in the coarse linen clothing of an ordinary farm girl.

She had changed into a snow-white long dress, its hem spotless, clinging gently to her figure, gathered at her slender waist with a plain sash, making her graceful figure appear even more captivating, slender enough to encircle with one hand.

Her long, flowing hair cascaded down past her shoulders, reaching just to her waist.

Amid her hair, a delicate hairpin with dangling ornaments was set at an angle.

When the breeze passed through, stirring the woman's hair, the hairpin swayed gently, lending her an added touch of liveliness and on that already impossibly perfect face, a very faint touch of makeup had now been applied.

That small hint of powder made the woman's soft lips appear even more tender and dewy, her brows and the corners of her eyes all the more captivating.

Today, she seemed even more beautiful than usual.

"Miss Jingci."

Xiao Mo walked forward and gave a bow, hands pressed together.

Tushan Jingci gazed deeply at the man she loved before her, those slightly trembling eyes brimming with tenderness and love. "What did that Daoist nun say to you, monk?"

"Miss Gui told me she wants to take me to the Seeking Immortals Temple, to become a Daoist." Xiao Mo gave a faint smile and continued. "She also said she has known me since before 'a whole lifetime.'"

"And did she say anything else?" Tushan Jingci pressed further. "Such as... anything about me."

"I did not ask further." Xiao Mo shook his head gently.

"Then... would you like to hear it?" Tushan Jingci bit her lip lightly, her voice trembling faintly.

Xiao Mo did not answer.

Watching his silence, Tushan Jingci suddenly gave a soft laugh.

That smile was lovely, so lovely one could not look away, and yet somehow it left an ache in the heart.

"Monk, do you remember that story I told you, about the fox and the book attendant?" Tushan Jingci looked at him quietly. "That story... was true, and it was false."

"What was true was that the fox and the book attendant loved each other deeply, made a private vow to each other, and promised to grow old together."

"What was false was that once the book attendant grew up, he became a great cultivator, and wanting to build up merit and reputation so he could marry that Tushan young lady in proper glory, he ended up dying on the battlefield instead, leaving that fox all alone."

"Everyone told the fox he was already dead, dissolved entirely into the world, without even a soul remaining."

"Everyone urged the fox to give up hope."

"But the fox did not want to give up hope. The fox believed his soul must still exist somewhere, that she would surely see him again someday, because he had said so."

"He had said it himself, with his own mouth."

"That he would be with her forever, that he would never deceive her, never."

"And so the fox searched, and searched, and searched."

"At last, heaven took pity. Eighteen years ago, the fox sensed his soul had reincarnated, returning once more to the Demon Realm."

"And the fox searched again, and searched, and searched."

This time, it had taken the fox another eighteen years.

Tushan Jingci smiled at the man before her, tears glistening in her eyes, yet smiling with such genuine happiness. "The fox finally found a foolish monk."

"The fox disguised herself as a woman who had fallen down a hillside, deliberately approaching this monk."

"She tried every trick imaginable to seduce that monk, day after day."

"At first, the fox thought to herself, being as beautiful as she was, even if he was a monk in this lifetime, he was still, in the end, a young man in the prime of his blood. Surely all she needed was to crook her finger, and he would fall obediently under her spell, abandon his monastic life, and follow her in a daze."

As she spoke, Tushan Jingci gave a light laugh, her tone carrying both petulance and helplessness.

"But who could have known, this monk was simply impossibly stubborn, hard and cold as the very stone of the mountain. It was enough to drive a fox to fury."

With that, the woman lifted her face, those fox eyes glistening with tears and morning light alike, looking straight at him. "Tell me, monk, is that fellow not ungrateful for kindness? Refusing a bride this beautiful? Is he not an utter fool?"

Xiao Mo remained silent, his hands still pressed together, his eyes lowered.

"Monk..."

"Why do you not say anything?"

The woman's pale, jade-like fingers gripped her sleeve tightly, her voice trembling with heartbreak, tears sliding silently from the corners of her eyes.

"Open your eyes and look at me."

"The woman standing before you."

"Is she beautiful?"