Monk

On the pitch-black dirt road through the woods, Li Huowang held up a torch and led the others onward.

The sky was still dark, but none of them, still shaken from the fright, felt sleepy. After everything that had just happened, nobody had the mind to sleep.

Some cut horse meat was piled on the Donkey Cart. Other than a few bits of silver taken from the bandits' corpses, this was Li Huowang's only loot.

"That's enough. We'll rest around here until dawn. It isn't safe to travel at night." At Li Huowang's command, the torches were quickly piled together, forming a new campfire.

"If you can't sleep, at least close your eyes. We still have to travel tomorrow. Save your strength. I'll keep watch."

As the clopping hooves and footsteps faded away, the dirt road fell silent once more.

Sitting by the fire, Li Huowang turned to look back down the road they had come from. It was utterly black. It seemed that old beggar would not catch up until he had buried every last dead man.

Thinking back on everything that had happened, Li Huowang could not help but sigh inwardly. This place really was chaotic.

All manner of strange and messy things were already dangerous enough, yet people of the same kind not only failed to huddle together for warmth, they slaughtered one another.

He poked the dying fire with his longsword, then grabbed some firewood beside him and tossed it in.

As time slowly passed, those who had scattered through the woods gradually gathered around Li Huowang's campfire. Before long, several smaller fires rose beside it.

There were no members of the Lu Family Troupe among those who returned, but Li Huowang was not worried in the slightest. When the bandits had appeared, they had run the fastest of all.

Lu Zhuangyuan truly was an old hand of the Martial World. No wonder such a miser had chosen horses as the animals to pull his cart. He must have considered a situation like today long ago.

Time trickled onward. Dawn gradually broke, and the others began to wake up. They roasted horse meat for breakfast, preparing to set out once again.

Never mind whether horse meat tasted good or not—meat was meat, and it could replenish their strength well enough.

Just as they were wolfing it down, a trembling figure approached from behind.

Seeing who it was, Li Huowang's vigilance eased slightly. It was the old beggar from before. It seemed he had spent the entire night burying people.

Morning dew had soaked his tattered Monk Robe, leaving him shivering from the cold. He walked to a spot a little closer to the fire, squatted down, and curled himself into a ball.

Noticing Li Huowang looking at him, the beggar gave him a simple, foolish smile.

Remembering how he had risked himself to save people last night, Li Huowang's hostility toward him diminished considerably.

Though Li Huowang felt that someone with such an excessively soft heart would find it difficult to survive in this dangerous world, no one would reject the company of a good person.

When Li Huowang handed him a steamed bun, the beggar hurriedly accepted it. Chewing as he spoke, he mumbled, "May the Buddha bless you."

Hearing that, Li Huowang immediately grew interested. "Which Buddha is the Buddha you speak of?"

"Huh? Isn't the Buddha just called the Buddha? Why would there be different ones?" A trace of confusion appeared in the old beggar's eyes.

"Ah, hurry and eat. People like you are rare in times like these. I just hope you aren't lying to me."

"How could I lie? I'm a monk. Monks can't lie," the old beggar said with absolute conviction.

"You only know how to chant Amitabha, and you do not even know which Buddha you worship. What kind of monk does that make you?"

"Sun Xiucai said monks are bald, so I shaved my head! Wang Tailor said monks cannot take wives, so I did not take a wife! Liu Pukuai said monks cannot eat meat, so I do not eat meat! And I saw other monks shouting Amitabha, so I learned to shout Amitabha! I did everything! How am I not a monk?"

The old beggar clearly cared deeply about this matter, arguing with stubborn insistence.

Li Huowang could not help laughing at that. This man's monk act was even more fake than his own Daoist act. "But that still doesn't mean you're a monk."

The old beggar froze. Holding half a steamed bun, he looked solemnly at Li Huowang. "Then tell me. What should a monk be like?"

Looking into his eyes, Li Huowang opened his mouth, only to find himself unable to answer. The old beggar's words seemed foolish, yet they contained a sliver of truth.

For some reason, Li Huowang saw Danyangzi's shadow in him—an ignorant, muddled persistence.

"I'm guessing you can't read?"

"How did you know? Are all you Daoists so good at divination?"

"Heh heh."

"Why are you so determined to become a monk?"

"If a monk hadn't saved me back then, I'd have been dead long ago! From that day on, I swore that I would become a monk too! I have to become a good monk!"

As they spoke, Li Huowang saw the Lu Family Troupe hurrying back from afar. He patted his backside, stood up, and walked toward them.

Nothing unexpected happened for the rest of the journey. The old monk continued following them, and when Li Huowang saw him so hungry that he chewed raw wild vegetables, he occasionally gave him one or two steamed buns.

After traveling like this for more than ten days, a city even grander and more magnificent than Jianye appeared before Li Huowang. They had reached West Capital City.

The continuous stretch of blue-brick City Wall was tall and majestic. Looking up from the city gate, one felt an enormous pressure bearing down from above.

"We're finally here?" Only upon seeing the city gate did Li Huowang finally let out a full breath. They had traveled in constant dread, but fortunately, the scenes from his nightmares had not appeared after all.

"Little Daoist Master, you can't stay at just any inn in West Capital City. They fleece people rotten. I'll take you to an inn—absolutely cheap." Lu Zhuangyuan started toward the towering city gate, but Li Huowang grabbed him.

"Wait. Where is that Monk Temple you mentioned before?" Li Huowang asked impatiently. This was the most important reason he had come here.

Led by Lu Zhuangyuan, Li Huowang headed toward Zhengde Temple, the most flourishing Buddhist temple in West Capital City.

Before he even saw the temple, Li Huowang caught the sandalwood scent unique to Buddhist grounds. The broad streets also began to grow crowded.

Old men, women, adults, children—people of every kind filled the streets.

Seeing the several bundles of incense in their hands, Li Huowang immediately understood that they were all going to worship the Buddha.

"Has this temple always had such flourishing incense offerings?"

As Li Huowang spoke to Lu Zhuangyuan beside him, a nearby worshipper leaned over and cut in. "Of course! The Bodhisattvas of Zhengde Temple are incredibly efficacious! My daughter-in-law got pregnant after praying here just once."

"And the masters of Zhengde Temple are very kind. Every few days, they hand out porridge to the poor."

"Yes, yes. To have such a fine temple in West Capital City truly is a blessing cultivated over several lifetimes."