Chapter 1 The Meaning of the Temple

The three words "Chijie Temple" seemed deeply embedded in Jiang Cheng's mind, perhaps with some hidden meaning. Judging from the shouts of those monks earlier, it seemed that in this temple, vegetarianism and chanting were unimportant; only eating meat and drinking wine counted as meritorious deeds.

Moreover... Jiang Cheng's expression grew even darker. He clearly heard the monk with the mole on his cheek mention the word "abbot" when pressuring the monk Huicong.

His exact words were: "The abbot said that drinking wine and eating meat are both meritorious deeds. Why don't you cultivate merit, Junior Brother Huicong? How can you dispel your inner demons without cultivating merit?"

Jiang Cheng was curious that if drinking wine and eating meat were truly meritorious deeds, then what exactly were these so-called "inner demons"?

The night deepened, and there was no more sound from outside. The silence was like death. Jiang Cheng fell into a deep sleep as he pondered, and when he opened his eyes again, it was already dawn.

But as soon as he got up, he realized something was wrong. After last night's events, he dared not relax his vigilance. He had leaned against the wall facing the door, but when he woke up this morning, he was lying flat on the bed, just like he had been when he first went to sleep last night.

Something was also wrong with Fatty. Fatty was lying next to him, fast asleep, but he clearly remembered that Fatty had been sleeping in the corner after they returned last night.

Who was it?

Who moved them?

The scariest thing was that they hadn't been disturbed.

Jiang Cheng immediately went to the door. After checking, the door was closed, and the wooden bolt was still in place.

Hearing the noise, Fatty groggily got up. When he saw Jiang Cheng, he rubbed his eyes and then exclaimed in surprise, "Doctor, your hand is healed?"

Only then did Jiang Cheng react. He looked at his left hand. Indeed, he had just reached out his left hand to check the bolt. The broken bones in his left hand had been completely restored.

No, to be precise, there wasn't even a trace of injury.

"This has nothing to do with me. It was like this when I woke up." Jiang Cheng's face showed no sign of joy. Compared to the recovery of his hand, he was more concerned about the strangeness behind this.

After hearing Jiang Cheng's analysis of the change in their sleeping positions, Fatty also felt a chill down his spine. It was as if there was an invisible hand manipulating everything in the shadows. After a pause, Fatty asked in a low voice, "Is it possible that everything we experienced last night was just a dream? But a... um... a very special dream. You know what I mean, right?"

Jiang Cheng nodded. "You mean like the kind of dream we encountered in Daotou Village."

"Exactly."

Obviously, guessing here wasn't very convincing. The scene of Guan Yu's slaughter last night was deeply imprinted in their minds. They decided to go to that building from last night to take a look.

Once they got there, it would be clear whether it was a dream or not.

It was just after dawn. There weren't many monks outside. The two closed the door and headed towards the building, following the path they remembered from last night. As they walked, they felt more and more uneasy because the path under their feet seemed familiar. They even remembered which turn to take at which fork.

Most importantly, Jiang Cheng stopped in front of a set of steps. These bluestone steps were inconspicuous, and people with poor eyesight or unfamiliar with the path could easily trip.

That's right, Jiang Cheng had tripped here last night.

At this point, neither Jiang Cheng nor Fatty harbored any illusions. Everything last night must have been real. The monks in the temple were outrageous people, a group of wine-and-meat monks with no reverence that monks should have.

They found the courtyard where the building from last night was located, but they were surprised to find that although the courtyard door was open, two martial monks stood guard outside, holding sticks.

Along the way, they had passed many courtyards and厢房 (xiāngfáng, wing-rooms) of various sizes, but this was the first one with guards. Moreover... these two martial monks were burly, with thick eyebrows and large eyes. They looked like they were not to be trifled with.

Jiang Cheng and Fatty pretended to be passing by and curiously walked over. But before they could get close to the courtyard door, they were stopped by a martial monk. "Amitābha, please stop, two benefactors."

Although the martial monk's manner was polite, the determination in his voice was clear to everyone.

Jiang Cheng didn't mind and just pretended to be curious, peering inside. "Master, what is this place? It looks so beautiful."

The martial monk on the left stood with one hand holding a stick, and the other hand in a palm salute in front of his body. He said in a deep voice, "Responding to the benefactor, this is the Gongdetang (Hall of Merit), where the monks of this temple study Buddhist teachings and cultivate merit. Except for the monks of this temple, others are not allowed to enter."

After fruitless attempts at persuasion, Jiang Cheng and Fatty had no choice but to leave. Once they were far enough away, Fatty couldn't help but say, "What Hall of Merit? I think it's just a big restaurant. Did you see that, Doctor? They won't let us in. There must be something fishy inside."

Jiang Cheng led Fatty not far away, but circled around the outside wall of the courtyard. Soon, they found a secluded spot. There was a crooked-neck tree next to the courtyard wall. They could climb the tree first and then jump over.

But just as Fatty had climbed halfway and was thinking about where to land, a voice suddenly came from not far behind, "Amitābha, two benefactors."

The sudden sound startled Fatty, and Jiang Cheng also turned his head sharply. He saw the monk Huide walking over with a few monks. The monks were carrying wooden buckets and a few tools that looked like mops.

Fatty jumped down from the tree, looking at Huide and the others, who had appeared like ghosts, with an unnatural expression. They had almost been caught red-handed.

Walking closer, the monk Huide put his hands together, his expression a half-smile. "Two benefactors, what are you... doing here?"

"We're here to find someone, Master Huide." Jiang Cheng's expression was very calm, and he returned the greeting with his hands together.

"Oh? Which master are you looking for?"

Jiang Cheng shook his head, looking slightly troubled. "We don't know. We didn't see the person's face clearly last night, but it was definitely a monk from the temple."

"Does the benefactor have any business with him?" Huide asked again.

"It's like this. My brother and I thought the night scenery was nice, so we wanted to go for a walk. But we didn't expect to get lost and accidentally wandered near here. As a result, we happened to bump into a master. That master was full of alcohol, and it stirred up our cravings. We were thinking of asking for a drink, but we didn't expect that master to turn around and flee into this courtyard. At the time, we heard it was very lively in the courtyard, as if... as if there was more than just that master drinking."

As soon as Jiang Cheng finished speaking, a monk behind Huide couldn't hold back his expression. "Nonsense! Do you know what this place is? This is the temple's Gongdetang (Hall of Merit), a place to study Buddhist teachings and cultivate supreme merit. How could... how could anyone dare to commit such disrespect!"