Xiao Lin frowned and said, clearly displeased, "Master Wu Ming, Tan Tai Jin's status as a hostage is plain for all to see. Changing his name won't make people forget that!"
Seeing Xiao Lin refuse to back down, Wang Yue's expression cooled as well. "No matter who comes looking for Tan Tai Jin, I'll tell them that the only person here is a monk named Wu Jing!"
Xiao Lin saw that Wang Yue had no intention of taking his words seriously. Remembering what had happened in the Imperial City, he realized that the monk before him was probably highly skilled—far beyond what he could handle.
He hesitated, deciding that he couldn't simply resort to force. If all three thousand of his soldiers passed out like the townspeople had, it would be extremely difficult to find Tan Tai Jin again.
Xiao Lin decided not to act rashly and tentatively asked, "Master Wu Xin, in that case, would you allow me to assign men to follow you?
"As long as you don't leave the area around the capital, I can plead with Imperial Father on your behalf!"
"Amitabha!"
Seeing that Xiao Lin had yielded, Wang Yue chanted a Buddhist invocation and said with a smile, "That would be most agreeable!"
Seeing that Wang Yue had also wisely given a little ground, Xiao Lin breathed a sigh of relief. He called over a squad of soldiers and had them stay at the foot of the mountain, then led the rest of his men back to the Capital City.
After they had gone some distance, Ye Xiao frowned and asked, "Your Highness, why didn't you take that monk and Tan Tai Jin to the capital?"
Xiao Lin sighed, his expression grave. "Before we hurried down the mountain, we saw a light filled with Righteous