"Very well. Sorry for the trouble, young monk, but please inform the abbot that I'd like to see Master Xuanzang." Ye Chen nodded. The young monk immediately shut the temple gates.
"How strange. Why are the temple gates shut in broad daylight? And that young monk was rather rude, not even letting me in." Ye Chen looked at the gates that had just been closed again and couldn't help feeling vexed.
Before long, the temple gates opened once more, and an elderly monk came out. He showed no intention of inviting Ye Chen inside either; as soon as he stepped out of the temple, the gates closed behind him.
"Amitabha. May I ask why you're looking for Master Xuanzang, benefactor?" The abbot pressed his palms together, first reciting the Buddha's name, then asking Ye Chen the reason for his visit.
"I heard Master Xuanzang is about to embark on a journey west. I came specially to ask him to take me along." Ye Chen also pressed his palms together and bowed slightly to the abbot before speaking.
"Journey west? Our temple has never received any such news. Could you have come to the wrong place?" A trace of doubt showed in the abbot's eyes. Ye Chen didn't think he was lying.
"I see. Then could I trouble you to tell me where Master Xuanzang is now?" Ye Chen knew he might genuinely have arrived too early, but still wanted to ask where Xuanzang was.
"Everyone in Chang'an City knows where Master Xuanzang is." The abbot smiled. "He's in the imperial palace right now, explaining the Buddhist scriptures to the new emperor."
"Explaining the Buddhist scriptures..." Ye Chen muttered under his breath. He suddenly remembered that Xuanzang had set out west to obtain scriptures because many of the Buddhist texts currently