Chapter 17 The Blind Old Monk

At noon, Jiangcheng and Fatty came to the refectory for lunch. Everything was as it always was; a bowl of porridge so thin it was practically transparent sat before them, making Fatty frown.

Ye Qiutang, Song Tianming, and the others also arrived. They had brought their own ample dry rations, clearly not interested in the temple's porridge and rice. Jiangcheng knew their purpose in coming here was naturally to find the monk Huicong.

But unfortunately, Huicong didn't appear in the refectory today. Not only was Huicong absent, but familiar faces like Huide and Huiming were also missing.

After eating, Jiangcheng approached the head monk in charge of discipline in the refectory and gave a Buddhist salute. "Master, may I ask why Master Huide isn't here for the midday meal today?"

The head monk put his palms together. "Esteemed benefactor, do you have business with Huide?"

"Yesterday, I had a misunderstanding with Master Huide. I would like to find him today to explain. Please, Master, grant me this favor."

"Amitabha. So that's the case. Huide and a group of fellow monks went to the Sutra Repository behind the temple to debate the scriptures. The monks in the temple do not eat after noon. If you wait, he likely will not come." The head monk was tall and stout, even bigger than Fatty. It was hard to imagine such a physique could be grown from eating thin porridge every day, but his words and expression were full of humility.

Jiangcheng returned the salute. "Thank you, Master."

Seeing Jiangcheng and Fatty leave, Song Tianming also pretended to finish his porridge and naturally followed behind them. Once they reached a deserted and secluded place, the two groups finally met. Jiangcheng briefly explained the situation and then found a branch to draw the tattoo on Huicong's back on the ground.

Before the tattoo was even finished, Song Tianming nodded, certain that it was from the Daoist sect. As if worried that Jiangcheng and Fatty wouldn't believe him, he pointed to a spot. "Please look, both of you. This is Yinghuo, this is Taibai, and below is Suixing… This is a constellation map that the Daoist sect often uses. There's no mistake."

"Senior, do you know what this map represents?" Jiangcheng pressed.

Song Tianming hesitated for a moment, his expression rather strange. "Strange, this constellation map seems… seems to be an incomplete map."

Fatty was so anxious that he wanted to pull out his phone and show Song Tianming the picture the doctor had drawn before. That picture was clearly more detailed and more complete, but considering that such technology might subvert Song Tianming's understanding and cause unnecessary misunderstandings, he had to keep it to himself.

With no further discoveries, Jiangcheng and Fatty chose to leave. Following the direction the head monk had indicated, they headed towards the Sutra Repository.

But as they walked, they realized something was wrong. Why were they getting further and further away? At first, they would occasionally encounter a few monks, but now the buildings along the way were becoming sparse, and the surroundings were increasingly desolate.

Until they stopped in front of a small grove of trees.

Fatty's eyes widened. "This place… I think we've been here before, haven't we?"

Fatty didn't even need to say it; Jiangcheng had already realized it. Although this road wasn't the one they had taken last night, the direction was the same, so the location they ended up at wouldn't be too far off.

Sure enough, after passing through the grove of trees, a magnificent building appeared before them, and in a small area paved with bluestone slabs in front of the building, dozens of monks sat cross-legged.

These monks sat on the ground, forming a circle, and in the center of the circle was the frail monk Huicong.

At this moment, Huicong looked rather miserable, his whole body tied up like a dumpling, his mouth stuffed with a golden-yellow cloth. There seemed to be scriptures faintly written on the cloth.

The monks had their eyes slightly closed, and the chanting was not synchronized. The sound of the scriptures reaching Jiangcheng and Fatty's ears was just a "buzzing" noise.

Soon, Jiangcheng and Fatty were discovered. Monk Huide walked over with several people, his expression extremely ugly.

"Esteemed benefactors, this is the Sutra Repository, an important place of our temple, and also where the abbot and several eminent monks are in seclusion. What is the reason for your uninvited arrival?"

"Master Huide, what are you doing?" Jiangcheng didn't answer but turned to look at Huicong.

"Junior Brother Huicong's inner demons are too strong. We are chanting scriptures to exorcise them."

"Heh, it seems to me that esteemed benefactors have evil intentions towards my Jiechi Temple. Could it be that you dreamt again that the monks here were secretly eating meat and drinking wine?"

Compared to Huide's restraint, Huiming was clearly more aggressive. He slowly pressed towards Jiangcheng and Fatty with the monks behind him, looking like he was ready to attack at any moment.

Now, the other monks also stopped chanting and turned to watch the commotion.

"Huiming, be respectful!"

An old voice came from afar. The voice was not loud, but it was very imposing. Hearing the voice, Huiming immediately stopped, and the monks who were watching the commotion also turned away and continued chanting.

A moment later, an old monk wearing a gray coarse cloth robe walked over. This person was at least seventy years old, holding one palm upright in front of his chest and the other hand in front of his abdomen, constantly turning a string of prayer beads.

But none of this was the most important thing. Jiangcheng and Fatty's eyes were focused on the old monk's face because the old monk was blind.

His eye sockets were sunken, and the withered eyelids were tightly pressed against the bones. Jiangcheng immediately recalled what the abbot had said. The eyes of the old monk in front of him were probably not simply blind; his eyeballs had probably been gouged out.

Seeing the old monk approaching, Huide and Huiming saluted. "Greetings, Shishu."

The old monk stared at Jiangcheng and Fatty with his empty eye sockets. For a moment, Jiangcheng and Fatty actually felt like they were being watched.

"Esteemed benefactors, please follow me."

The old monk walked quickly, without the feeling of old age at all, and exuded a powerful aura. Following behind him, Fatty didn't dare to breathe loudly.

They arrived at the front of the Sutra Repository. Seeing the door, Jiangcheng was sure that this was the building he had come to last night, except that it had been dilapidated then, as if it had been abandoned for a long time.

Like the Hall of Merit, day and night, this place was like two different worlds, different times.

The old monk turned around and continued to stare at them with his sunken eye sockets. After a long while, he slowly opened his mouth, but this time the old monk's tone changed, as if he couldn't suppress his excitement, and his voice was trembling. "The person that Shixiong (senior martial brother) Abbot has been waiting for has finally arrived. Amitabha. Well done! Well done!"

This sudden move confused Jiangcheng and Fatty. After considering it carefully, Jiangcheng asked, "Master, what do you mean by this?"

"Huicong is entangled by inner demons. Although the monks of this temple have tried their best, the effect is still minimal, which may cause a catastrophe. Shixiong Abbot and the other shixiongs have joined forces to enter a death seclusion and have finally found a glimmer of opportunity from a secret scripture. To overcome this tribulation, our Jiechi Temple must wait for a destined person."