A single phrase about arising and ceasing left Huiguo stunned.
For a moment, he couldn't even breathe. In other words, he hadn't expected Wang Xian to speak to him of arising and ceasing, of cause and effect, at a time like this.
Before Wang Xian had finished speaking, a gust of wind carried the stench of blood from the ten-li-long street. Combined with the iron-blooded army in the wind, it made the entire Vermilion Bird Avenue brim with murderous intent in an instant.
Watching the solemn ranks of soldiers in the wind, Huiguo suddenly laughed.
He had once encountered a storm at sea, much like the time Wang Xian had run into danger. Back then, he hadn't even known whether the boy who had fallen into the ocean could survive unscathed.
He'd never expected Wang Xian to reach the imperial city of Jinling before him, either. It seemed everything really was interesting.
That was right. He didn't want to become entangled in Wang Xian's cause and effect, either.
He had come in search of a karmic connection, not to plunge into the whirlpool of cause and effect that was the imperial city of Jinling. He wasn't yet a bodhisattva of great mercy and compassion, one who saved the suffering and rescued the distressed.
Jingjing stood in the wind, gazing toward the imperial palace.
A series of astonishing clanks rang out as the imperial guards charged from the palace, surrounding the gate three layers deep outside and three layers deep inside.
In the blink of an eye, they had cut the palace off from the outside world.
Huiguo turned his gaze back to Wang Xian and suddenly said, "You can let go."
The wind carried the fragrance of flowers. A petal drifted down and landed in Wang Xian's outstretched palm, giving