"There's no Master Huaihai here!" another monk said. "Our abbot has been traveling for many years and never returned to Ling'an Temple. As for why we keep the meditation rooms empty but don't let you stay, we have our reasons!"
"That's right!" another monk shouted angrily. "Ling'an Temple is a pure Buddhist land. It's already a great act of mercy that we've let you in and allowed you to stay overnight. Instead of resting well in the hall, you come here to cause trouble. What's your real intention?!"
"Leave quickly, or don't blame us for being rude!" the monk holding a long stick said sternly.
Jiang Mian paid no attention to the commotion behind her.
She said to the closed door, "The master spreads the word that he's been traveling for years, but in fact, he hides in this room every day. Is it because he has a guilty conscience and dares not come out to meet us?"
"I wonder if the master has had sleepless nights because of his misdeeds during these years of hiding in the temple under the pretext of traveling?"
"When the master chants the Buddhist mantra, does he ever think that all the gods and Buddhas in the sky are watching him, watching what he has done over the years?"
"What are you talking nonsense about!" the monk behind her got anxious and shouted angrily. "I've already said, there's no—"
"Sigh."
An old and heavy sigh came from inside the room. Hearing this sound, the monks who were shouting just now immediately fell silent.
"What's meant to come will always come. This poor monk knows that this calamity can't be avoided no matter what."
Hearing this voice, Jiang Mian couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and then tightly clenched her fists.
Sure enough, the one in the room was Master Huaihai, who claimed to be traveling!
The door creaked open, and an old - looking monk appeared behind it. After seeing Jiang Mian, he put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist mantra, then waved to the others behind him. "Since the fact that I'm hiding here has been exposed, there's no need to cover it up anymore. You all step back."
The young monk said anxiously, "But Master, they come with ill intentions. I'm worried they'll hurt you!"
Master Huaihai said, "This is the consequence I should bear. You don't need to say more. Go."
The few monks looked at each other, finally sighed, shook their heads, and finally stepped back, each returning to their own meditation room.
Master Huaihai took a step back and made a gesture. "Ladies and gentlemen, please come in."
Ladies and gentlemen?
Strictly speaking, there were only Jiang Mian and Mo Zhizhang here, but Master Huaihai said so...
Xiao Jingcheng's hair stood on end.
No way?
Could this old monk also see something?
Jiang Mian and Mo Zhizhang both entered the room one after another. Although Xiao Jingcheng had his suspicions, he finally crawled in and got to Jiang Mian's right side, separating her from Mo Zhizhang.
"Young benefactor comes late at night and directly points out the truth that this poor monk is hiding in the room. You must have something urgent. Young benefactor, just speak your mind."
Jiang Mian took out the half - worn white cassock from her bosom, spread it out in front of Master Huaihai, and looked straight into his eyes. "Does the master still have an impression of this half of the cassock?"
Master Huaihai's pupils suddenly shrank. His fingers trembled imperceptibly as he picked up the half of the cassock placed in front of him.
This is... this is...
He raised his head again. By the candlelight in the room, he carefully examined Jiang Mian's face.
Jiang Mian had smeared Tianli vine on her face to cover her original appearance, but her eyebrows and eyes always gave people a somewhat familiar feeling, as if they had met somewhere before. And the girl looked only seventeen or eighteen years old. The speculation in his heart became clearer and clearer, and his fingers trembled even more severely.
Closing his eyes tightly, Master Huaihai chanted a Buddhist mantra and said with great emotion,
"Eighteen years have passed. The child back then has now grown into an adult."
Seeing his reaction, Jiang Mian already understood in her heart.
Sure enough, this old monk was involved in the incident of her mother and Lady Ye swapping their babies eighteen years ago.
Letting out a cold laugh, she said, "I'm sure the master never thought that the old acquaintance he met eighteen years ago would find him today, right?"
Master Huaihai accepted the reality, opened his eyes, and sighed. "I wasn't completely unprepared. I've had a vague premonition. I thought that as long as I hid here and didn't go out, I wouldn't meet this.没想到, fate is predestined. What's meant to come will always come."
Jiang Mian said expressionlessly, "Eighteen years ago, there was a flood in Cangzhou. My mother and Lady Ye came to Ling'an Temple to avoid the disaster. At that time, both of them were pregnant and close to giving birth. They gave birth to two baby girls in this temple at the same time. Am I right?"
Master Huaihai's lips trembled and he replied, "That's right."
"My mother was just a village woman, while Lady Ye was the wife of the prefect. Their social statuses were different, so the statuses of their children were naturally different. The daughter of the prefect should have been more noble and should have had many people guarding her. But unexpectedly, Lady Ye swapped the babies in Ling'an Temple and took the child of a village woman back and raised her as her own daughter."
"And my mother." The colder Jiang Mian spoke, the colder her expression became. "A village woman, but mistakenly thought that her own child was dead. She was so shocked that she lost her mind and went crazy for many years."
"Does the master know that in order to silence my mother, although Lady Ye knew that she was already crazy, she bribed her younger brother and sister - in - law to poison her with arsenic?"
"Does the master know that although the Ye family raised me for many years, because of some rumors, they knocked me unconscious, tied me up, and forced me into a bridal sedan chair to marry a cruel man?"
"If I hadn't escaped, I would have been a cold corpse by now. Two lives! Over the years, when the master wakes up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, has he ever woken up because of guilt?"
Master Huaihai remained silent, but the speed at which his fingers turned the Buddhist beads accelerated a lot. It could be seen that his heart was not calm at this time.
Jiang Mian let out a soft laugh, with a mocking look on her face. "Why don't the master solve my doubts now? Why did Lady Ye do this? Back then, when Lady Ye swapped the babies in Ling'an Temple, was it just an accident or—"
She took a step forward and said word by word, "Harboring malicious intentions and doing it deliberately?"
With a "snap", the Buddhist beads in Master Huaihai's hand broke, and the beads scattered on the ground, making a tick - tock sound. Master Huaihai let out a deep sigh and said, "All of this was indeed caused by me. I'm deeply sinful."
Jiang Mian tightly clenched her fists. "Since the master knows this is a sin, I hope the master will tell me everything that happened back then. I can't share the same sky with the person who killed my mother. I don't have the broad mind of a Buddhist. I want justice for my mother and myself!"
Letting out a deep sigh, Master Huaihai said, "Fine. Today, I'll tell the young benefactor everything that happened back then."