Chapter 418

In early summer, the sun blazed like fire.

Heat waves rolled across the official road, wilting the leaves of roadside weeds.

A caravan of carts and horses trudged slowly into Haizhou territory under the scorching sun.

Chen Guangrui rode atop his horse, his blue official robe soaked through with sweat.

He was returning first to his hometown in Haizhou to fetch his mother, Lady Zhang, before proceeding to Jiangzhou to assume his post.

Three days later, having collected his mother, Chen Guangrui led his party to a small town called Wanhuadian.

The carriage curtain parted, and Yin Wenjiao leaned out halfway, her delicate brows furrowed, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead. “Husband, Mother’s health has taken a turn for the worse.”

Chen Guangrui’s heart tightened; he immediately dismounted and strode to the carriage.

Inside the carriage, the air was stiflingly hot. Lady Zhang leaned against the cushions, her face waxen yellow, breathing labored, eyes tightly shut.

Days of exhausting travel, coupled with the oppressive heat, had finally overwhelmed the woman past her fiftieth year.

“Quick! There’s an inn ahead—get us settled!” Chen Guangrui ordered his guards loudly.

The caravan halted before the only inn in Wanhuadian.

Chen Guangrui personally carried his mother into the best room and sent someone to summon a physician from town.

The physician felt her pulse, prescribed several cooling and heat-relieving herbs, and bluntly stated that Lady Zhang, being elderly, required a full month of rest and must not endure further jolting.

At night, the room reeked of bitter medicine.

Chen Guangrui sat beside the bed, holding a bowl of medicine, spooning it into Lady Zhang’s mouth one careful drop at a time.

After swallowing the bitter brew, Lady Zhang gasped for air and gripped Chen Guangrui’s wrist with her withered hand.

“Guangrui, you serve the Emperor’s will—your appointment has a deadline. Do not let me delay your official duties.” Her voice was weak, yet resolute.

Chen Guangrui shook his head urgently: “Mother, how can I abandon you in this state?”

“Foolish!” Lady Zhang grew angry, triggering a violent cough.

Yin Wenjiao hurried forward, gently patting Lady Zhang’s back to soothe her.

Once the cough subsided, Lady Zhang fixed Chen Guangrui with a piercing stare: “You spent twenty years in cold study to reach this day. If my illness causes you to miss your appointment, I will die with my eyes open!” “Tomorrow morning, you and Wenjiao depart. Leave the maidservants to care for me. When autumn cools and I’ve recovered, send someone to fetch me.”

Chen Guangrui’s eyes reddened; he opened his mouth to plead again, but Lady Zhang closed her eyes and turned away, refusing to look at him.

Chen Guangrui knew his mother’s stubborn nature; helplessly, he knelt beside the bed and bowed his head three times with a heavy thud.

The next morning, Chen Guangrui left ample silver for expenses and gave the maidservants countless instructions before departing with Yin Wenjiao.

Just outside the inn, he still felt uneasy, so he ordered two of his personal guards to stay behind and tend to his mother, then drove off with his wife alone.

Not far from the inn, they spotted a fisherman wearing a conical hat, carrying a large bamboo basket along the street, calling out.

“Fresh fish! Just caught from Hongjiang!”

Chen Guangrui, driving the cart, glanced at the basket and suddenly froze.

Inside the basket teemed with lively fish and shrimp; among them was a golden carp over a foot long, its scales shimmering dazzling gold in the morning light.

Unlike the other fish, the golden carp did not thrash—it lay still in the water, its head slightly raised, its bright eyes fixed directly on Chen Guangrui.

Chen Guangrui’s heart jolted; he saw pleading in the eyes of a fish.

“How much for this fish?” Chen Guangrui halted his cart and pointed to the golden carp.

The fisherman, seeing a government official, beamed: “Your Excellency has keen eyes—this golden carp is rare, highly nourishing! Just one tael of silver.”

Chen Guangrui made no haggle; he pulled a fragment of silver from his sleeve and tossed it to the fisherman.

“Give me the basket too.”

Chen Guangrui lifted the basket and climbed back into the cart.

“Husband, why buy this fish?” Yin Wenjiao leaned out from inside the carriage.

“I sense spirit in this fish—it shouldn’t end up on a plate. Ahead lies Hongjiang; I’ll release it there. It’s a good deed for my mother’s fortune.”

The cart slowly left Wanhuadian; half an hour later, the party reached the banks of Hongjiang.

The Hongjiang surged with vast, turbulent waves.

Chen Guangrui stepped down from the cart, carrying the basket to the riverbank.

He knelt, tilted the basket, and submerged it into the water.

“Go.”

The golden carp slid into the current.

It did not swim away immediately; instead, it circled once on the surface, nodding three times toward Chen Guangrui.

Then, with a flick of its tail, it dove deep into the riverbed and vanished.

Chen Guangrui watched the ripples, exhaled deeply, and turned back to the cart.

He did not know that this scene had been watched by two pairs of eyes above.

Deep within the clouds, the Golden-Head Jieti and Silver-Head Jieti sat upon the clouds.

“Chen Guangrui is indeed a good man,” said the Silver-Head Jieti, watching the scene below.

The Golden-Head Jieti replied: “That’s the Hongjiang Dragon King. Last night, he greedily swallowed a fishhook with barbs and was caught by mortals. The Bodhisattva had already arranged this—she suppressed his magic power so he couldn’t escape, waiting for Chen Guangrui to buy and release him.”

The Silver-Head Jieti nodded in understanding: “Thus, the Hongjiang Dragon King owes Chen Guangrui a great karmic debt. When Yin Wenjiao later casts her unborn child into the river, the Dragon King will surely intervene to protect the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi.”

“Precisely. Every sip and bite is predestined. Every link is perfectly chained—no flaw.” The Golden-Head Jieti’s gaze swept toward the distant river. “Now, we wait for the two river bandits. When Chen Guangrui dies, Jin Chanzi will sever his mortal blood ties and enter our Buddhist path unburdened.”

The two exchanged glances, fell silent, and continued watching the caravan below.

A thousand li from Hongjiang, atop a solitary peak.

Su Chen, clad in a blue robe, sat cross-legged upon a green stone.

Before him floated a water mirror, its surface rippling, clearly reflecting every detail of the scene by Hongjiang.

In his hand, Su Chen held a wine gourd, lifting it to his lips and swallowing a gulp of fiery liquor.

He sighed: “The gods and Buddhas sit aloft, deceiving all living beings.”

The Buddhist scheme was indeed masterful—calculating mortals’ virtue and vice, life and death, even the Dragon King’s gluttony, with perfect precision.

Night fell; the setting sun bled crimson.

At this moment, Chen Guangrui and his wife Yin Wenjiao arrived at the Hongjiang Ferry.

The wind across the river was strong, rustling the reeds along the shore.

The river was wide, the current swift; yet only one dilapidated boat was moored at the ferry.

Two men sat at the bow.

One was burly, his face heavy with flesh, his bare chest marked by a long scar—he was the boatman Liu Hong.

The other was thin, his eyes sharp and cruel, idly twirling a boning knife—he was Li Biao.

Chen Guangrui stepped to the shore and called out: “Boatman! We need to cross the river to assume our post—can we hire your boat?”

Liu Hong rose, his gaze sweeping over Chen Guangrui’s blue official robe, a flicker of greed in his eyes.

“Hire? For an official, two taels of silver!” Liu Hong’s voice was rough.

Chen Guangrui, eager to cross, paid without haggling, driving the cart onto the boat.

Yin Wenjiao also stepped down from the cart and onto the deck.

The river wind lifted the corner of her veil, revealing a breathtaking profile.

Liu Hong’s grip on the rope tightened; he stared at Yin Wenjiao’s graceful figure, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

Li Biao leaned close to Liu Hong and whispered: “Big brother, this is a fat lamb. And that woman? Pure gold.”

Liu Hong tore his gaze away, a faint smile curling his lips.

“Set sail.”