Chapter 215: 223. Some Return Quietly, Some Return Xu Xu

223. Some Return Quietly, Some Return Xu Xu

"Xiuzhen, tell me, we have escaped the Avici Hell, but what should those who are still trapped within it do?"

"Perhaps they don't feel that the ground beneath their feet is hell, because they have never seen the Pure Land of the human world, so they live contentedly, working like oxen and horses."

"Yet we two alone are not content, running here... No, I don't want it, you eat it..."

"Tell me, in the eyes of the world, are we both madmen?"

Late at night, in the secluded underground palace.

Ouyang Rong's words paused; he waved his hand, politely declining the mung bean cake that Xiuzhen had sincerely offered.

Xiuzhen was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head to pinch a piece of pastry, chewing it with delight, not knowing how much of what Ouyang Rong had said he had understood.

Or perhaps he only felt it was noisy?

Ouyang Rong chuckled softly.

He turned his head silently.

The underground palace was vast, with echoes reverberating.

The four walls were left with four faded murals.

In the center of the underground palace floor, there sat a half-meter-high lotus pedestal with a constricted waist and inverted petals.

At this moment, Ouyang Rong was sitting cross-legged on the lotus pedestal.

He wore a wide, grey monk's robe.

He was dressed like a monk from Donglin Temple, just like Xiuzhen, only he had not shaved his head.

On the stone lotus pedestal behind him lay an empty bundle, inside which were a thin black robe and a felt hat.

This was the attire Ouyang Rong had worn when he arrived; he had just changed back into the monk's robe.

Xiuzhen sat on the ground beside the stone lotus pedestal, holding the pastry in his hands, eating it with relish.

A beam of grey moonlight shone down diagonally from the well opening above, landing precisely on Ouyang Rong upon the lotus pedestal.

This was the only light in the dim underground palace.

Ouyang Rong's face was tranquil, his shoulders relaxed.

He sat cross-legged like a lotus, hands supporting him from behind, looking up at the only exit ten meters above.

"What is the origin of this inexplicable Merit Tower in my mind?"

"After I go back, will it still be convenient to accumulate merit... It should be, right? Perhaps it will even be simpler."

"If I share those treasured things for free, I can harvest a pile of 'good people live in peace,' and wouldn't the merit just come rolling in? Nestled at home doing nothing, merit would just keep rising..."

"Simply easy mode."

"Very good, the path for development after returning is all planned out, but why do you still hesitate to leave?"

Ouyang Rong murmured while looking at the sky, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to Xiuzhen.

"Xiuzhen, tell me, is this return of mine, this ascension to the Pure Land, going to be like your grand-uncle-master, with my soul flying away, or will I fly away body and clothes together? Surely I won't return naked."

"Forget it. When Grandmaster Zhong Ma ascended here, you weren't even born yet. Asking is just a waste of breath."

"However, I must prepare for both possibilities. If I fly back with my body and clothes, the original attire of black robe and felt hat won't be very appropriate; the era's flavor is too strong, it would be out of place."

"It is better to change into this monk's robe, whether I return to the Donglin Temple of that day or somewhere else... I hope it's not a sewer, or a white room with a white hospital bed..."

Under a beam of cold, white moonlight, the handsome young man, having changed into the monk's robe and prepared, muttered to himself.

He relaxed his shoulders and sat cross-legged on the lotus pedestal.

His body remained motionless for a long time.

After this dawdling, the moonlight falling from the well opening grew dimmer and dimmer.

Outside the underground palace, the sky was almost bright.

However, days are long and nights are short; summer nights are indeed very brief.

Ouyang Rong nodded in thought, finding another new excuse.

On the ground beside the lotus pedestal, Xiuzhen, not knowing when he had started, put away the remaining pastry and lowered his head to earnestly catch the lice on his body.

At a certain moment, Xiuzhen suddenly turned his head and said to the person who was slow to return:

"Eh, why hasn't the benefactor left yet?"

Ouyang Rong:...

The air in front of the lotus pedestal suddenly went quiet for a moment.

Ouyang Rong turned his head silently.

He took one last look at Xiuzhen.

He nodded.

He leaned over, reached out to grope, and his fingertips touched the line of carved characters beneath the lotus pedestal, where the moonlight could not reach.

The characters carved on the ground were covered in dust, with only four words:

"Return, come back."

Xiuzhen was stunned for a moment, his words paused, and he continued to care:

"Benefactor, hurry away. Above is the Avici Hell. The place you are sitting is too close. Come here to the little monk quickly."

Saying this, Xiuzhen was about to pull Ouyang Rong away from the lotus pedestal in the center of the underground palace.

So this was the true meaning of his telling him to "leave."

Ouyang Rong smiled.

Yet he shook his head, his hand not withdrawn, pressing tightly against the stone carving on the ground.

Deep within the lacquer-like eyes of the young man sitting on the lotus pedestal, a thick purple light surged, piercing through his clear pupils, the halo faintly diffusing.

This scene, under the dim moonlight of the pitch-black underground palace, was like two immortal Ziwei stars.

Inside a certain Merit Tower, the Fortune Bell rang loudly, and purple energy rolled out as if it were free.

"Still ten thousand merit... I had already saved enough long ago, and there are still nineteen thousand one hundred and twenty merit points left, more than enough." He nodded and whispered.

"Benefactor, you, your eyes..."

Xiuzhen, who had originally wanted to pull someone out of the sea of suffering, retreated in fright by one step.

A look of sudden realization appeared on his gaunt face, and he jumped up.

Xiuzhen's right hand pointed for a while at Ouyang Rong, whose eyes were suffused with purple, and for a while at the back, which was the mural of "Prince Sattva Sacrificing Himself to Feed the Tiger" on the east wall of the underground palace, dancing and gesturing as he said:

"Benefactor, look quickly, exactly the same, simply exactly the same."

Ouyang Rong turned a deaf ear, suddenly looking back, gazing from afar in the direction of Longcheng County, sitting upright, with a curious tone:

"I read in the Longcheng County Annals that Tao Qian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty said his family was poor, so to earn money for wine, he traveled far to Longcheng to be a magistrate, acting according to his nature, drinking wine and releasing deer, yet he could not resist the dimness of the administration, being burdened by things, his heart enslaved by form, only serving as magistrate for eighty-one days before hanging up his seal and leaving, resigning from office to live in seclusion."

"Later, there was Di Gong of this dynasty, demoted to Longcheng, serving as an official for one term, benefiting the people, his four-year term seeing him judge cases like a god, pleading for the people, and also promoting water conservancy, supervising the construction of water gates, nearly curing the flooding of Butterfly Creek, his achievements during his term being remarkable, possessing the talent to govern the world, honorably leaving his post; on the day he left the county, the streets of Longcheng were empty, and people broke willow branches for ten miles and another ten miles, the common people reluctant to see him go."

"And I ask, a hundred years from now, how will the Longcheng County Annals write about me, Ouyang Lianghan?"

Lowering his head to ponder for a moment, turning his head back, Ouyang Rong touched the fortune, smiled, and nodded:

"My heart is bright, what else is there to say?"

After a deep sigh, in the dim underground palace, the purple light suddenly extinguished.

Returning to silence.

Outside the well opening of the underground palace, the sky light was gradually brightening.

Xie Lingjiang smelled the scent of gardenias.

A faint, fresh fragrance, lingering around the nose, yet not cloying.

It was the same scent that radiated from her senior brother after he bathed and sought her out for a night stroll.

It was just that every time in the past, Xie Lingjiang would turn her head away in the pitch-black night, "attracted" by the scenery on the side of the road, her delicate nose slightly twitching.

On the bustling street of the Peng Lang Ferry pier, Xie Lingjiang, who had stopped and turned her head, felt her cheeks slightly hot; she hurriedly banished the thought and continued forward without looking aside.

"Is it the Summer Solstice? No wonder the flowers are blooming... Hmm, the book says, 'The flowers are blooming on the path, you may return slowly'... Hmph, he has always been unhurried, never sending a letter to urge me to return early. Is he that confident in me being outside?"

Xie Lingjiang murmured. Having returned after a long journey, she actually became unhurried after approaching Luming Street.

She reached out and touched a certain pill box she had obtained with great difficulty in her bosom.

Carrying this item, she had been exceptionally cautious on her return journey from Longhu Mountain, which slowed her pace; it was only after sensing the broken jade message from Yan Liulang that she quickened her steps, returning two days early, though she was quite exhausted.

Arriving at Luming Street and seeing familiar things, Xie Lingjiang smiled faintly, turning her head to glance at the gardenia tree planted by the roadside.

Summer had arrived, and the gardenia trees on both sides of the entire Longcheng street were in full bloom.

Presumably, her senior brother would pass by and smell the fragrance every day on his way to and from work, right?

Xie Lingjiang's eyes curved into crescents, and her steps became much lighter.

Passing by the Longcheng County Government, she did not enter immediately, quickly passing by and rushing toward the direction of the official quarters.

This was official business, the most urgent priority at the moment.

Her senior brother did not like women who were overly sentimental and obsessed with romance all day long.

Regarding the first independent case he had assigned to her, Xie Lingjiang was very serious!

"Wait, after I finish the case, I'll ask you for a gift..."

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Arriving at the official quarters, Xie Lingjiang immediately scanned the room, seeing that the furnishings and the guards were all there, seemingly without major issues, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"What is the situation? Why the sudden broken jade, summoning me back?"

With some worries in her heart subsiding, she immediately asked Yan Liulang.

The latter stood up in surprise: "Master Xie, you are back?"

Xie Lingjiang nodded, immediately walked over, and looked at the unconscious Immortal Lady Yuzhi, frowning slightly:

"Have the two detoxification pills been taken? Why hasn't she woken up yet? And why summon me back?"

"They have already been taken; she did wake up, but later..."

"Later what?"

Yan Liulang's face showed shame as he recounted all the unexpected events that had occurred that day.

Xie Lingjiang's delicate brows furrowed even tighter; without a word, she rolled up her sleeves and took her pulse for a moment.

She exhaled slightly.

"How is Miss Xie?"

Xie Lingjiang glanced at Yan Liulang and pondered:

"It was a sudden rampage and reversal of spiritual energy, leading to blood stasis and blockage in the meridians. Fortunately, it did not damage the vital heart meridians...

"This woman's spiritual energy cultivation is damaged, but waking up is not a problem. However, it still requires consuming a Rejuvenation Pill. Coincidentally, the elders of Gezao Mountain gave me a few Rejuvenation Pills before I left."

Yan Liulang and the others looked at each other, their eyes showing joy.

Xie Lingjiang reached into her bosom, preparing to take out the item, but halfway through, she paused, glancing sideways at Yan Liulang and the others.

Seeing this, the latter immediately left the room to avoid being present.

Hearing the sound of the door closing again, Xie Lingjiang continued to reach into her bosom to retrieve the item.

She usually kept important items in her bosom, including the Rejuvenation Pill for healing and saving lives in times of crisis.

Xie Lingjiang's slender jade hand reached into her bosom, first taking out a pill box that faintly emitted a strange fragrance, then taking out the medicine bottle containing the Rejuvenation Pill, and then quickly putting the pill box away.

This golden pill was too important; one must guard against others.

A moment later, Xie Lingjiang took out a Rejuvenation Pill, sat by the bedside, and fed it to the eyes-closed Immortal Lady Yuzhi.

Immediately, after taking her pulse, Xie Lingjiang transferred some spiritual energy.

Immortal Lady Yuzhi's eyeballs moved, then calmed down again.

Xie Lingjiang sneered: "Awake and still daring to pretend?"

After speaking, she poked and prodded repeatedly, thoroughly sealing Immortal Lady Yuzhi's acupoints.

"Alright, since you are awake, now I want to settle a score with you. Was pretending to be my senior brother that day very satisfying? Come, let's talk it over properly..."

Xie Lingjiang narrowed her eyes and lifted the quilt.

Immortal Lady Yuzhi hurriedly opened her eyes, her complexion still slightly weak, and she stammered, begging for mercy:

"Wait... wait! I was wrong, I regret it, spare my life, I... I also hate the Liu family extremely now, I wish the Liu family members were dead! And... and I have important matters to expose! About the Liu family! As long as you guarantee not to kill me, I will tell you everything!"

Xie Lingjiang's movements paused slightly, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes: "Let's hear it."

Immortal Lady Yuzhi's face hesitated, shrinking back, and she asked timidly:

"Really won't kill me?"

Xie Lingjiang nodded: "You speak; if it is indeed satisfactory, I guarantee I will not kill you."

Immortal Lady Yuzhi did not think much about the extra word "I," perhaps still thinking this woman was as inexperienced and simple as before... She breathed a long sigh of relief:

"It is a big conspiracy planned by the Liu family... Wait, what is the date today?"

Immortal Lady Yuzhi spoke slowly...

After half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

In front of the bed, Xie Lingjiang, who was listening with a frown, had her complexion change drastically, rushing out the door. The aura that erupted made the trees in the courtyard rustle, and the people waiting outside only heard a hurried sentence she left behind in the sudden wind:

"Something big is wrong! The Liu family has such great ambition; I must notify the senior brother immediately. Yan Liulang, you guard this place and watch the prisoner!"

Liulang's face turned urgent, then he was stunned: "Looking for the Magistrate? The Magistrate asked for leave to return to his hometown, and hasn't returned yet..."

"Asked for leave? Returned to his hometown?" Xie Lingjiang's figure turned back, questioning.

Yan Liulang told everything, and by the way, recounted the dangerous experience of Miao Zhen and others coming that day.

Xie Lingjiang stamped her feet in a hurry, her willow brows standing up: "Why didn't Liulang say so earlier!"

Yan Liulang and the others were as silent as cicadas in winter.

"The senior brother is gone, how can we stop the Liu family! That new tripod sword is almost ready..." Xie Lingjiang paced back and forth in a hurry, stopping at one moment and turning her head, "Wait, how is Uncle Li? Will there be any conspiracy involving Uncle Li's family if they cast the sword here?"

Xie Lingjiang gave Yan Liulang a few hurried instructions, turned around and rushed out, rushing to the Su Mansion on Luming Street, rushing through the door to find Wang Lixian and the others.

Informed by the maids and servants, Wang Lixian's family quickly gathered.

"Are you all alright?"

"No... nothing, why is the niece in such a hurry?" Wang Lixian asked curiously.

Seeing that everyone was safe, Xie Lingjiang breathed a sigh of relief, pursed her lips, and prepared to organize her words to give instructions.

At this time, Su Guoer, wearing a purple Daoist robe and a jade-clear lotus crown, walked over slowly, holding a scroll of mysterious scriptures, as if she had just been burning incense and chanting scriptures, and had rushed over upon hearing the sound.

Arriving in front of Xie Lingjiang, she extended her right palm.

On her tender white palm, which was spread open, a key was lying quietly.

Su Guoer's tone was faint:

"He left it, saying that after Sister Xie returns, go to his room, saying there is something left for you."

Xie Lingjiang's delicate body stiffened slightly, pausing in place; she, who had rushed over anxiously, suddenly slowed down, standing still.

"Left... for me? Left?"

This noble lady of the Xie clan chewed on the words with her vermilion lips and white teeth. A moment later, she slowly raised her hand and took the key.

Xie Lingjiang lowered her head and turned around; for a moment, everyone could not see her expression or complexion.

There was only a slender hand tightly clutching the cold key. ===== CHAPTER 216 =====