Song Fushu looked at the corpses on the ground, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
His father had been killed, yet the murderer remained at large. That was why he had tried his best to enter the Ministry of Justice, determined to seek justice for all the unjust cases in the world.
He thought he was honest and upright, handling cases impartially. However, he had unexpectedly incurred the disaster of being killed, and his family had almost been implicated.
This made him a bit confused. Was what he had done right or wrong?
Xie Si seemed to see what was on Song Fushu's mind. "You've ruined others' good plans. How could they let it go easily?"
"You've always upheld justice whole - heartedly. But if your whole family suffers because of your so - called justice, what's the meaning of this justice?"
"I don't deny that you're a good official. But in this current world, even if you're completely impartial, without the protection of power, you'll end up in a bad way sooner or later."
Song Fushu clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "What exactly do you want to say?"
He couldn't refute Xie Si because what he said was the truth. In this capital city full of the powerful and the noble, it was too difficult to stick to his principles.
Xie Si shrugged. "It's very simple. Let's cooperate."
"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to bend the law for personal gain. I just need someone to pass some information to me. I'll provide a new identity for your family, send your younger brother to a safe place to study, and ensure that your grandmother and younger brother have enough food and clothing."
Just as they were talking, Laifu had already brought the doctor.
Xie Si tilted his chin towards Song Fushu, and the meaning was self - evident.
Song Fushu's hands hanging by his sides trembled slightly. He looked at his groaning grandmother in the room, then at Xie Si, and finally knelt down.
"I, Song, have no way to repay Lord Xie for today's great kindness!"
"I, Song Fushu, swear here today that I'm willing to serve Lord Xie all my life and will never have a second thought!"
Xie Si made a gesture, and Laifu immediately pushed open the door, allowing the doctor to go in and treat Song Fushu's grandmother.
Song Fushu finally let out a sigh of relief. He knew very well that Xie Si was good at psychological warfare, and cooperating with him was like seeking the skin of a tiger.
But he had no other choice.
"If there's nothing else, I'll leave first." Xie Si waved the crossbow arrow in his hand and walked out of the door.
Although Song Fushu was a bit stubborn, in his previous life, it was precisely because of this stubbornness that he had become the best assistant to Xie Weiwei.
As a result, his state of mind had gradually changed later.
Since he had decided to get involved in the situation, he couldn't let Xie Weiwei recruit this person under his command.
Early the next morning, Jiang Zhao followed Aunt Wang in a carriage out of the city.
When getting on the carriage, Jiang Zhao noticed that the coachman wasn't from the Marquis's Mansion, and she asked Aunt Wang about it.
Aunt Wang said that the Prajna Buddhist Monastery would send someone to pick up those who went there to worship Buddha.
Jiang Zhao glanced at the coachman but didn't notice anything amiss.
The carriage went further and further away from the city center, and there were fewer and fewer people around.
Feeling uncertain, Jiang Zhao became inexplicably nervous. She looked up at Aunt Wang.
Aunt Wang's eyes were getting brighter and her hands were trembling slightly. "We're almost there, almost there."
Jiang Zhao nodded imperceptibly without saying a word. She just quietly tightened the compass hidden in her sleeve.
The carriage passed through the dense forest and finally stopped.
Jiang Zhao and Aunt Wang got off the carriage. The Prajna Buddhist Monastery was located in a remote place, and the whole monastery wasn't very large.
The ancient trees on both sides of the monastery towered into the sky. The overlapping branches and leaves blocked the sunlight, making the place look a bit gloomy.
Jiang Zhao stopped in her tracks. She felt an inexplicable sense of oppression and chill spreading through her body.
She roughly observed the surrounding environment. Except for this monastery, there was no one around.
As they got closer to the monastery, they could hear the continuous chanting of Buddhist scriptures from inside. If there were any devout Buddhists here, they would immediately notice something wrong with this chanting.
Aunt Wang looked happy and excited. Her smile was a bit creepy. "Zhaojie'er, when we go in later and see the spiritual Buddha, you must be sincere. The Buddha can feel it."
Jiang Zhao forced a smile and responded to Aunt Wang. "Aunt, don't worry. I will."
There were two expressionless monks guarding the entrance of the monastery. Aunt Wang urged Jiang Zhao to give the money to them.
Aunt Wang skillfully chatted with the monks and introduced Jiang Zhao's identity.
The two monks cast sharp glances at Jiang Zhao, sizing her up and down before nodding and letting them in.
Jiang Zhao lowered her eyes, covering the thoughts in her eyes. In her opinion, these two people didn't look like real monks. Their faces didn't have the features of a true Buddhist. Instead, they seemed to have a lot of blood on their hands.
As soon as Jiang Zhao stepped into the monastery, she noticed that the compass in her sleeve started to rotate.
Jiang Zhao frowned. She leaned to the side to avoid Aunt Wang and took a quick look. After the compass needle rotated crazily for a few circles, it finally stopped and became completely useless.
Aunt Wang led Jiang Zhao towards the main hall. Jiang Zhao sized up the surrounding environment as she walked.
The inside of the monastery was even more oppressive than the outside. The high walls towered into the sky, blocking out the sunlight.
The aura here was extremely bad, and there was something indescribably wrong with the feng shui.
The large stone tablet at the entrance was usually used to suppress the souls, but the feng shui here adopted the five - element theory. The overall layout was designed to gather yin energy and hide evil spirits.
The souls were suppressed in this monastery. As time passed, the evil energy would become stronger and stronger. It should be necessary to use the five - element formation to forcibly reconcile and resolve the evil energy. At the same time, it could gather the wind and hide the qi to ensure a continuous flow of wealth.
This was probably why Jiang Zhao didn't see any ghosts.
Aunt Wang led Jiang Zhao up the steps and pushed open the door to enter the main hall.
There were seven or eight women kneeling on the prayer cushions in the hall. They were all dressed like wealthy people.
These women all had rosy complexions. They folded their hands in prayer, closed their eyes tightly, swayed from side to side, and murmured the same scriptures that Jiang Zhao had heard from Mrs. Chen that day.
The sound was strange and unpleasant. In front of them was a huge statue covered with a red cloth.
This should be the spiritual Buddha that Aunt Wang had mentioned.
As soon as Aunt Wang entered the main hall, her eyes became blurred and fanatical. She couldn't wait to pull Jiang Zhao to find an empty space and kneel down. Then she followed the other women and started to chant the out - of - tune scriptures.
Jiang Zhao frowned tightly, looking at this strange scene. Now she was absolutely sure that there must be something wrong with this monastery.
After all, which Buddha would be covered with a red cloth and not show its true appearance?
Jiang Zhao had just knelt down for a while when an old monk came in from outside. He walked silently up to Jiang Zhao and gave her a start.
The old monk smiled slightly. His face looked very kind. "Don't be afraid, female benefactor."
"This female benefactor looks unfamiliar. I guess this is your first time here."
Hearing this, Aunt Wang opened her eyes and became a bit more sober. "Abbot Huisi, this is my niece. I specially brought her here today to receive the grace of the Buddha."
Jiang Zhao also pretended to fold her hands in prayer and nodded slightly.
Abbot Huisi lowered his eyes. "Amitabha. Since we're destined, you should leave your name in front of the Buddha."
"I also need the female benefactor to tell me your birth date and time. I'll report it to the Buddha so that the Buddha can sense it and bestow blessings on the female benefactor."
A person's birth date and time were extremely important. How could it be casually told to others?
Jiang Zhao rolled her eyes and casually reported a birth date and time. Fortunately, Aunt Wang didn't know her exact birth date, so she managed to fool it.
"Good. If the female benefactor sincerely worships the Buddha with the others, her wishes will surely come true." Abbot Huisi's expression remained unchanged. He wrote down Jiang Zhao's birth date and time and then left.
I don't know how long it took, but the chanting of scriptures finally stopped. Jiang Zhao let out a sigh of relief. Her head was about to explode from listening to it.
The people left one by one. Jiang Zhao looked at the spiritual Buddha covered with the red cloth and thought about how to see the true appearance of this so - called spiritual Buddha.
Just as Jiang Zhao was about to find an excuse, Aunt Wang pressed her hand. "Zhaojie'er, wait a moment. This is your first time here. Later, Abbot Huisi will personally bless you."
Just as she was speaking, Abbot Huisi came back. "This female benefactor, please stay."
"According to the rules of our monastery, we need to bless the female benefactor. Then the female benefactor can tell the Buddha her wishes so that she can better receive the power of the Buddha."
Aunt Wang thanked the abbot on behalf of Jiang Zhao. "Thank you, Abbot." Then she instructed Jiang Zhao. "Zhaojie'er, you must sincerely sense it."
"I'll wait for you in the carriage."
"Aunt, don't worry. I'll surely understand well." Jiang Zhao obediently agreed.
Abbot Huisi looked at Jiang Zhao's eager expression and nodded in satisfaction.
...
After everyone had left, Abbot Huisi said to Jiang Zhao, "Please wait a moment, benefactor. I still need to prepare some things for the blessing."
Wasn't this the chance she had been waiting for? Jiang Zhao was eager for him to leave quickly.
Without waiting for her to reply, Abbot Huisi took out a red silk ribbon and handed it to Jiang Zhao. "Please cover your eyes with this, female benefactor. In this way, you can better feel the grace of the Buddha."
Jiang Zhao hesitated for a moment but still took the ribbon and tied it around her eyes in front of Abbot Huisi.
Just in case, she also held her breath and concentrated. If there was something smeared on it, she could defend herself.
After Abbot Huisi left, there was complete silence in the main hall. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Jiang Zhao lifted a corner of the silk ribbon on her eyes gently. She looked around and, after making sure that there was really no one there, untied the ribbon.
Jiang Zhao didn't know when Abbot Huisi would come back. She immediately got up and walked straight towards the covered spiritual Buddha.
She stretched out her hand and slowly lifted the red cloth.