[To Become a River of Stars] Dong Xiange - Chapter 67

With Li Xuanci’s sword, things became much easier.

Once inside the temple, Li Xuanci walked through the multiple gates of the temple complex, holding Shiliu with one arm and his sword in the other. The wooden doors, stained with dark patches, groaned open with a mere touch of his black boots.

Passing through the main hall, a bronze incense tripod stood starkly in the curtain of rain in the central courtyard. Inside was a mess of sludge, clearly the remains of incense ash soaked by the rain.

He Chong glanced at it and sighed softly, “It seems the Buddhist monks here live even more comfortably than us Daoists. In a place like this…” He barely managed to swallow the word “shabby” that was about to escape his lips and continued, “…so many people still come to offer incense.”

Jin Zhan looked at him speechlessly. This temperament… he really was from the same sect as Brother Shiliu. Though a monastic, he was quite frank about valuing worldly offerings.

A wind picked up, blowing open the doors of the main hall. The imposing great Buddha looked down with eyes both compassionate and indifferent upon the mortal world. A corner of its gilded base showed signs of peeling and mottling. A wooden fish and a bronze alms bowl were carelessly placed below the platform, revealing a sense of desolation.

When they reached the rear courtyard, the monk tried to lead Li Xuanci towards the guest quarters for visiting practitioners. Li Xuanci didn’t speak. In the next moment, however, he simply strode with Shiliu in his arms towards the main master’s quarters nearby.

The hitherto silent monk grew anxious for the first time. Disregarding Li Xuanci’s sword, he rushed to block his path, crying out, “You cannot!” But Li Xuanci kicked him aside and reached the door of the main quarters in a few steps.

The monk struggled to his feet, trying to block them desperately, but the door was still pushed open.

It was empty inside. Only the gauze curtains on the bed swayed gently with the wind blowing in from the doorway, a picture of loneliness and desolation.

The monk glanced inside, froze for a second, then turned to Li Xuanci and said, “Honored guest, this is my master’s room. He is currently traveling, but this humble monk absolutely dares not let others enter. I beg your understanding.”

Li Xuanci coldly assessed the seemingly handsome and pitiful monk. Before he could speak, Shiliu interrupted, blurting out incoherently, “So fragrant! Shiliu wants to eat a peach.”

The corner of Li Xuanci’s eye twitched slightly, and he pushed Shiliu’s bean-sprout head, which had popped out of the cloak, back inside.

The monk immediately seized this gap and tried to usher Li Xuanci back to the guest room. But just as the black boots turned, their owner tapped his toes, flew back, and swung his gleaming sword towards a wooden stand. Sawdust flew as the stand instantly split apart.

And behind the shattered stand stood a small, young monk.

This young monk was short in stature, wearing a monk’s hat and somewhat baggy old robes, his face full of timidity, clearly terrified.

The monk who had guided them hurriedly stepped forward to shield him, saying, “This is my junior brother. He is introverted and in poor health, so I didn’t let him meet strangers. He was hiding here. Please do not take offense, benefactor.”

Li Xuanci raised his sword, pointing it at the two, and asked with some amusement, “What a ‘junior brother’.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over He Chong and Shiliu, making He Chong feel an inexplicable chill on his neck and swallow nervously.

Li Xuanci turned back, his brows and eyes full of wickedness, and said with a half-smile, “Perfect. Right now, what I dislike most are terms like ‘senior brother’ and ‘junior brother’. Killing you wouldn’t be unjust.”

With that, he raised his sword to strike. Seeing his blade held no hesitation and was about to pierce flesh with fierce intent, the monk could only cry out in despair, “Benefactor, stop! I admit it! This isn’t my junior brother!”

But Li Xuanci’s sword didn’t stop. In the next moment, it pierced precisely into the young monk’s monk hat, flicking it off. Instantly, black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, covering her shoulders.

Everyone was stunned speechless by this sudden turn of events. Only Shiliu clapped her hands, crying out happily, “Peach! Fragrant peach!”

Li Xuanci then leisurely withdrew his sword, tightening his grip on Shiliu, who was wriggling in his arms like a live fish, and scoffed, “If you want to pretend to be a monk, fine if you can’t bear to shave your head, but even using such a strongly scented hair rinse? How pretentious.”

So, it was the peach-scented hair rinse that had betrayed her.

Not like Shiliu, who carried not a hint of cosmetics, her face clean, her body clean.

The monk’s lips trembled. He had clearly fully realized how sharp and terrifying the man before him was. He finally knelt down, stubbornly lifting his head, his eyes filled with despair as he looked at them.

“I beg the benefactors to let us go. We truly had no other choice,” he said mournfully, with great sincerity.

“And what ‘no other choice’ would that be?” Li Xuanci remained completely unmoved, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“I was an orphan, abandoned at the temple, so I became a monk as a child. Her name is Lu Niang. Both her parents passed away, her elder brother died young, and she was raised by her sister-in-law, who grounded flour. Her sister-in-law would often bring her to the temple to deliver flour, so we’ve known each other since childhood.”

“I know I have entered the Buddhist order and never had any presumptuous intentions. Recently, the flour made by her sister-in-law happened to be offered to the Prefect’s wife. Its reputation and price soared in the local area.”

“Unexpectedly, it attracted envy. Wang Qiao, a dissolute scion of a wealthy family in town, had long coveted Lu Niang. He repeatedly tried to use his wealth and influence to take Lu Niang as a concubine. Now, seeing her family’s situation improve and his hopes dashed, he actually had her sister-in-law killed and wants to forcibly take Lu Niang, aiming to seize the family’s secret flour-grinding technique.”

“I am powerless to resist. I could only disguise her as a monk and hide her here in the temple, hoping to hide for as long as possible. If you truly refuse to let us go, I only ask that you kill me and spare her life.”

Lu Niang, hiding behind him, also wore a mournful expression. Her full head of black hair spilled over her shoulders, framing a face with a delicate chin—a truly charming and pitiable sight. The two leaned together, their fingertips almost but not quite touching, still trembling, looking utterly pitiful.

Such a scene was truly moving. He Chong and Jin Zhan’s expressions also turned grave. But Li Xuanci had a heart of stone, a faint impatience between his brows as he said, “Lies.”

“I’m not lying!” the monk said urgently.

“Then where is your master?” Li Xuanci assessed him, kneeling.

A drop of sweat formed on the monk’s forehead. Staring at the ground, he replied, “My master is traveling abroad…”

Li Xuanci cut him off cleanly.

“Whether your master is dead or alive, or even if you’ve devoured him raw, I couldn’t care less. But today we are lodging here, and I will not tolerate the slightest concealment. Lie to me, and your life ends here.”

The young monk’s face turned pale, but he still held on stubbornly, his lips moving as he argued, “My master truly went out traveling…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted. “The bronze tripod in the courtyard accumulated ash. There must usually be incense offerings. It rained today, clearly no one came to offer incense, yet it turned to mud. Obviously, the old ash hadn’t been cleared out. Did your master not give any instructions before leaving on how to manage the temple affairs?”

“My master did instruct me. He just left in a hurry, so he didn’t supervise me finishing the cleaning. Later… I was just lazy,” the young monk said hastily.

“He didn’t even take his alms bowl. How did your master plan to travel?” Li Xuanci asked, hitting the nail on the head.

The young monk broke out in a sweat, his lips pale. “My master, my master…”

Li Xuanci snorted coldly, cutting him off. “If you can’t say it, I’ll say it for you.”

Countdown to Shiliu’s clarity: 3