Hanging Temple territory.
It was still the same nameless little mountain. The old monk Kujue sat cross-legged at the summit, picking at his toes as he asked with casual nonchalance, "Was Linzi fun?"
Not far away, the monk Jingli sat properly on a clean slab of stone, looking shaken to his core. "Linzi was terrifying."
"Without your master there to back you up, you really couldn't handle it... You're still young, after all." Kujue sighed, then sneered. "Did some old bastard bully you? What was so terrifying? Tell me."
Jingli's lips puckered. "A bunch of women groped me."
"Heh, what's so—" Kujue scoffed, then finally realized what his disciple had just said.
His smile vanished.
He slapped Jingli on the bald head, leaving five muddy fingerprints. "You little brat! You've been getting up to all sorts of things, huh?!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He stood up and rolled up his sleeves. "You two ungrateful bastards! Your master's here drinking plain porridge while you're off in Linzi drinking flower wine!"
Jingli covered his head with both hands, but asked in bewilderment, "What does drinking flower wine mean?"
"And you're bragging about it to me!" Kujue was so furious he nearly exploded, jumping high on the spot. "If I don't teach you a proper lesson today, you'll never learn what it means to respect your elders..."
He suddenly put on a smile and patted Jingli's gleaming head, his voice turning gentle. "Respecting the elderly and caring for the young is also an expression of compassion. We monks walk beneath heaven and across the earth. We must answer to heaven above and earth below, to the Buddha in our hearts, and, most of all, to all living beings. Do you understand?"
Jingli blinked, his long eyelashes veiling