Puhu's Past

After getting off the bus, Zhang Chen saw many vendors gathered at the foot of the mountain. Since many people came to Sanxue Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha on weekends, plenty of people were willing to risk being cracked down on by the city management officers to do business here.

He checked the time. It was already 12:32. He had left home after eight and arrived at Xiashui Village a little after nine, yet he had somehow spent more than two hours in that house. He touched his stomach. Logically, he should have been starving, but he was not hungry at all today. He even felt somewhat full.

"Damn, did I really eat that female ghost? No, no, I need to act more like a normal person." But when he recalled biting into the female ghost's arm, not only did he not feel disgusted, his mouth actually began to water. Zhang Chen shook his head, walked up to a vendor's stall, ordered a bowl of pork rib noodles, and sat down at a makeshift table nearby.

Judging by my current condition, maybe I can deal with the thing in my bathroom. But... Zhang Chen thought as he tapped the table with his chopsticks.

When he recalled the state he had entered in the second before the female ghost was about to kill him, he was still completely confused. It felt like a person who had wandered through a desert for three days and nights without food or water suddenly seeing an oasis, with a huge table of delicious food beside it. He had acted entirely on instinct. Zhang Chen had no confidence that he could enter that state again if he encountered the baby in his bathroom. If he could not, then he might truly be heading for a Dead End.

"That monk seemed to know I had such an ability. Once I finish eating, I have to go up and ask him about it." Zhang Chen did not dwell on it. He broke apart the disposable chopsticks and began eating.

After finishing the bowl of noodles, his stomach became uncomfortably full. He paid the bill and headed toward the mountaintop. Zhang Chen felt strength surging through his legs. If there had not been so many people climbing the mountain, he could definitely have raced up at incredible speed. When he reached the mountainside and looked up, he saw someone familiar coming down from above. It was neither Er Wa nor Tan Fei, but Wang Ban Hua.

Could this be the legendary chance encounter? Zhang Chen froze and hurriedly stopped walking, his heart pounding. Should I say hello? Maybe I shouldn't. She might not even see me. But we're classmates, so it would be too... Just as Zhang Chen hesitated, a voice called out.

"Zhang Chen?" The voice was sweet and gentle. It was Wang Ban Hua's voice.

"Wang... Wang Yizhi." Zhang Chen looked up and found that Wang Ban Hua had already walked up to him.

"Why did you come to Sanxue Temple? Are you alone?" Wang Yizhi asked.

"Yeah, my father isn't in good health. I came to Sanxue Temple alone to burn some incense for him and ask for a safety talisman or something," Zhang Chen answered nervously.

"I didn't expect you to be such a good person. I came with my parents this weekend to burn incense too, to pray for peace," Wang Yizhi said in surprise.

"Uncle and Aunt, ptooey, ptooey~~ Hello, uncle and aunt..." Zhang Chen's slip of the tongue made Wang Yizhi's whole family laugh.

"All right, we're heading down now. Make sure you burn your incense properly," Wang Yizhi said, waving goodbye to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen waved back mechanically. He stood there for a long while before realizing something was wrong, then quickly turned around and continued up the mountain. As he walked, he thought, Ah, if only I could really call them Uncle and Aunt someday.

Not long after that, Zhang Chen saw the temple gates. He immediately cleared the daydreams from his mind. Two young monks stood at the entrance. Seeing Zhang Chen approach, they pressed their palms together and said, "Young benefactor, if you are here to burn incense, please enter, turn right, purchase incense at the Buddhist incense shop, and then visit the other halls."

Zhang Chen smiled and answered respectfully, "I'm here to find someone. Could you take me to a monk named Puhu?"

The young monk thought for a moment and said, "Young benefactor, this temple does not seem to have anyone with that Dharma name. Could you have remembered it wrong?"

"I came to the temple after five yesterday afternoon. It was Master Puhu who led me inside. I can't be mistaken."

After hearing that, the two monks laughed. "Young benefactor, perhaps you entered the wrong temple. Our Sanxue Temple closes at five every afternoon, and it is Junior Brother Pu Ping and I who close the gates. Besides, since my junior brother entered the temple a year ago, he has never heard of anyone named Puhu."

Just as Zhang Chen frowned, a voice came from inside the temple.

"Pu Ping, Pu Gong, invite this young benefactor inside."

Zhang Chen looked toward the voice and saw a white-bearded monk in kasaya robes standing by the gate, his eyes constantly examining Zhang Chen.

"Yes, Abbot." The two young monks looked somewhat surprised and immediately let Zhang Chen through the gate.

"The Abbot?" Zhang Chen walked inside in confusion. When he came before the old man, he felt an extremely comforting aura, somewhat similar to the feeling he had experienced when entering the Great Hero Hall yesterday. His entire body gradually calmed down.

"Young benefactor, do you know Junior Brother Puhu?" the Abbot asked with a smile.

"I met him yesterday afternoon. Master Puhu even gave me a talisman paper and a pouch," Zhang Chen replied.

"Come with this old monk to a place. I will tell you about Junior Brother Puhu."

Zhang Chen followed the Abbot all the way through the temple. They passed many halls of various sizes, all filled with monks and worshippers from outside. It was completely unlike the silence he had felt when he came yesterday. Zhang Chen had expected the Abbot to lead him into a small hall, but instead, they arrived at a small rear gate of Sanxue Temple.

"Abbot, what is this?" Zhang Chen asked as he stepped through the rear gate and found a bamboo forest before him.

There was nothing in the bamboo forest except bamboo. Zhang Chen followed the Abbot through it for nearly five minutes and had completely lost his sense of direction. Just as he stood there blankly, a voice came.

"We're here."

After passing through the dense bamboo beside him, Zhang Chen arrived at the edge of a cliff. As far as the eye could see, there were numerous graves scattered across the cliff, at least twenty of them at a glance.

"Abbot, this is..." Zhang Chen asked.

"This is the last place Junior Brother Puhu ever stayed in our temple," the Abbot said.

"Then... is Master Puhu dead?"

"This old monk does not know. Since you have a connection with Junior Brother Puhu, I will tell you about him. Fifty years ago, I was twenty-one years old and had already been in the temple for two years. Junior Brother Puhu was an orphan. He was only about ten years old then, with no father or mother, begging on the streets. New China had only just been founded. Though everyone's lives had improved somewhat, they were still far from good. One of the Martial Uncles in the temple saw that the child was kind by nature and brought him back to the temple." The Abbot became immersed in his memories.

"When Junior Brother Puhu first arrived, he was very kind to everyone. Though he was in poor health, he always chose the hardest tasks to do. Over the decades, everyone came to admire him. It could be said that he had the support of all. If that incident had not happened, Junior Brother Puhu would probably still be presiding over Sanxue Temple today." The Abbot could not help sighing.

"This old monk still remembers that day. It was already ten years ago. That day, Junior Brother Puhu somehow received news about his parents. He explained the situation to the Abbot early in the morning and went down the mountain alone. He was gone for four days and four nights. On the night of the fourth day, Junior Brother Puhu returned to the temple, looking somewhat weak. With the support of his fellow disciples, he took medicine. When everyone asked about his parents, he remained silent. Yet no one noticed anything unusual about him, and everyone returned to their rooms to sleep." As the Abbot spoke, he clenched his Hands tightly, his emotions growing agitated.

"In the dead of night, terrifying screams erupted from Senior Brother Puhu's room. The Abbot, the other senior brothers, and I were all awakened. Carrying torches, we rushed to Junior Brother Puhu's room. When we pushed open the door, blood was splattered everywhere, and chunks of flesh covered the floor. The twenty-four fellow disciples who had lived with Junior Brother Puhu had all been dismembered. From one corner of the room came the sound of chewing. By the light of the torches, we saw Junior Brother Puhu crouched in the corner, gnawing on the remains of one of our senior brothers. But when he turned around, Junior Brother Puhu's eyes were not human eyes at all. They were the eyes of a beast. He seemed terrified of the firelight. He dropped to all fours and leaped out through the window beside him like a tiger. Nearly a hundred people from the temple formed teams and searched the temple and the mountain all night, but we never found Junior Brother Puhu."

"Not until dawn the next day, when everyone believed Junior Brother Puhu had escaped the mountain, did we return to the room where the tragedy had occurred. There was someone sitting in the middle of the room. It was none other than Puhu. Everyone was both furious and afraid, and no one dared approach him. As everyone hesitated, the Abbot, already over seventy years old, walked up to Junior Brother Puhu. Tears flowing from his eyes had soaked his monk's robe. His fists were clenched, his nails deeply embedded in his palms, and blood dripped constantly from them. He kept murmuring three words under his breath: 'I'm sorry.'"

"The Abbot at the time understood Puhu better than anyone, and everyone knew what kind of person Junior Brother Puhu was. We feared that he had fallen into demonic possession, yet no one in the temple could think of a solution. Several days passed, and Junior Brother Puhu still knelt there alone, refusing food and drink. Meanwhile, the twenty-four fellow disciples who had died were arranged by the Abbot to be buried on this cliff." As he spoke, the Abbot pointed at the graves.

"Considering Sanxue Temple's future and Junior Brother Puhu's decades of service to the temple, the Abbot decided to expel him from the temple and drive him down the mountain. Everyone silently accepted this decision. But after it was made, I took four fellow disciples to Junior Brother Puhu's room, only to find that he had vanished. At that moment, a junior brother responsible for managing the bamboo forest ran into the temple and shouted that Puhu was on this cliff and might jump to his death."

"When we arrived, the cliff was already filled with the Abbot and the temple's fellow disciples. Puhu, who had gone days without food or water, knelt at the edge of the cliff and said to all of us, 'This is all my fault. I'm sorry, fellow disciples. I'm sorry, Abbot, for raising me.' After kowtowing ten times, he leaned backward and fell off the cliff." After the Abbot finished speaking, an old tear slid down his cheek, and his emotions gradually settled.

"Abbot, did you find Master Puhu's body?" Zhang Chen asked immediately after hearing the story.

"At the time, the Abbot sent several junior brothers down the mountain to search, but they found nothing. Everyone believed Junior Brother Puhu had fallen into the Jinxi River," the Abbot said.

Zhang Chen remained silent for a long time before telling the Abbot everything that had happened yesterday afternoon, including the situation at his home. After listening, the Abbot smiled faintly, seeming to ponder something without speaking. Then he turned and headed toward the temple, leaving Zhang Chen no choice but to follow.

The two walked in silence until they reached the entrance of Sanxue Temple. The Abbot said to Zhang Chen, "Junior Brother Puhu often told a story to new disciples in the temple. He said there was a hunter's family living in a forest. The old hunter had two sons. Since childhood, he had doted on his elder son in every way, helping him with everything. It was the same when they hunted; he feared his son might suffer even the slightest injury. Then one day, the father and son encountered a tiger in the forest. The elder son was so terrified that he completely lost his senses and did not know what to do. The old hunter could only watch as his elder son died in the tiger's jaws. After returning home and seeing his younger son, who had just turned six, he broke down in tears. From then on, he let the younger son go out alone, without guidance or warning. Over eight years, the younger son suffered minor wounds that left his flesh torn and hanging, and major injuries that broke his arms and legs. A few more months passed. One afternoon, as the sun was setting, the younger son dragged the Fierce Tiger that had killed his older brother back home."

Zhang Chen naturally understood what the Abbot meant. After giving him a deep bow, he went down the mountain.

Without hardship, if I run into stronger ghosts in the future, won't I be heading for a Dead End? I need to work hard, grow stronger, and protect the people around me. Zhang Chen clenched his fists and silently made up his mind.