"You are... Zhu Chongba."
Fortunately, just as Zhu Yuanzhang was considering whether to imitate Gao Bin's notes and make himself a certificate of ordination,
a familiar voice rang out in the half of the Mahavira Hall that remained standing, though it was on the verge of collapse.
"Master Gao Bin."
Zhu Yuanzhang followed the voice and saw a monk in a red abbot's robe appear in the shadows of the remaining half of the Mahavira Hall. He swayed as he made his way down the steps.
It was Gao Bin.
However, compared to Zhu Yuanzhang, who had come back from the dead, Gao Bin was in a far more wretched state.
As the abbot of Imperial Awakening Temple, Gao Bin was also the only monk in Hao Prefecture to have passed the Yuan's scripture examination, held by the Ministry of Rites in the capital, and to have been tonsured and recognized by the Great Yuan Imperial Preceptor himself as a "high monk."
Gao Bin held an exalted position not only at Imperial Awakening Temple and throughout Hao Prefecture, but even across the entire Henan-Jiangbei Province.
But now, Gao Bin, abbot of Imperial Awakening Temple and a renowned high monk of Hao Prefecture, had a face as yellow as gold paper. Even his movements were stiff and lifeless, like those of a corpse.
"His knees... can't bend?"
Zhu Yuanzhang watched Gao Bin, who was tiptoeing and swaying with an exaggerated gait that would have looked strange even to an ordinary person, and wondered.
"The last survivor among the disciples who entered the temple in the third year of the Zhiyuan era."
Gao Bin's voice drifted over, hollow and lifeless.
Zhu Yuanzhang noticed that as Gao Bin spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on him, as though observing him—or pondering something.
Zhu Yuanzhang was already prepared to strike.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang and Gao Bin had gotten along reasonably well in history,
that didn't mean he was safe.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that, as a transmigrator, he knew next to nothing about the true nature of this world beyond its "history."
"Come with me... An elder entrusted me with something to give you."
Gao Bin nodded at Zhu Yuanzhang, then turned woodenly and walked into the crumbling Mahavira Hall behind him.
"Like some kind of puppet on strings."
Watching Gao Bin turn stiffly before hopping up the steps with both feet together, Zhu Yuanzhang thought.
After the great battle, the Mahavira Hall no longer had the oppressive, sinister aura Zhu Yuanzhang had sensed while following Yuanhui up the mountain.
With the White-Robed Monk's self-detonation, the clouds over Imperial Awakening Temple had parted, and the mist that had once shrouded it had dispersed.
Sunlight streamed through the missing sections of the temple, sweeping away the gloom.
It even carried a hint of warmth.
Wonderful! Wonderful!
Zhu Yuanzhang followed Gao Bin, keeping a moderate distance from the abbot of Imperial Awakening Temple.
Though their eyes had met only once, Zhu Yuanzhang could sense the complexity in Gao Bin's gaze.
It didn't quite look like the way one looked at an enemy. It was more like he was looking at an "old friend"—or perhaps the son of one.
The abbot of Imperial Awakening Temple passed one surviving Buddha statue after another, left intact by the White-Robed Monk's uncontrolled self-detonation. These statues looked far too fine for a small temple like Imperial Awakening Temple, where only locals from Hao Prefecture would worship.
Even an amateur like Zhu Yuanzhang was amazed by the delicate, skillful contours of the Buddhas' faces.
He guessed that the statues were among the many treasures Imperial Awakening Temple had inherited from Yinglong Temple. But the statues of Dingguang Buddha and Maitreya Buddha had both been destroyed in the explosion, so he had no way to prove his theory.
"This disciple pays his respects to the founding master."
Before the last few Lotus Platforms on the eastern side of the Mahavira Hall, Gao Bin bowed and knelt before one of them.
To Zhu Yuanzhang's surprise, there was no Buddha statue on the Lotus Platform Gao Bin was worshipping.
There was a tree.
More precisely, a towering tree growing in the sacred soil atop the Lotus Platform.
It was a massive Bodhi Tree, its trunk so thick that five or six Zhu Yuanzhangs would have needed to join hands to encircle it. It was so tall that it nearly reached the ceiling of the Mahavira Hall.
Every leaf was as large as Zhu Yuanzhang's palm. The centers were green, while the serrated edges had turned faintly yellow, tinged with what looked like traces of blood.
Through the gaps between the leaves, Zhu Yuanzhang could see spherical fruits growing on the tree: unripe Bodhi seeds.
"The sixty-year pact has come due. The spirit of Uncle-Master Minghe can finally be released."
Gao Bin knelt stiffly before the Bodhi Tree.
The Bodhi Tree seemed to have heard Gao Bin's plea. Though there was no wind in the temple, its branches and leaves swayed slightly, making a rustling sound like metal scraping against metal.
"It can answer Gao Bin's request."
Zhu Yuanzhang studied the towering tree before him.
"Seems reliable enough."
In an instant, thousands of branches and leaves dropped from the Bodhi Tree, plunging into Gao Bin's seven orifices from all directions.
They wrapped around him like a spider trapping its prey.
"Uh... forget I said that."
At the bizarre sight, Zhu Yuanzhang instinctively stepped back.
Then the metallic rustling grew louder.
Streams of pure white liquid seeped from the trunk and flowed along the branches, pouring into Gao Bin's seven orifices.
Gao Bin's sallow face grew fair and well-rounded again, while his stiff body gradually regained the natural curves of a human being.
"Thank you, founding master, for granting my wish."
Gao Bin's voice came from within.
Beneath the shroud of branches lay darkness deeper than that of the Mahavira Hall.
Zhu Yuanzhang had no idea what the Bodhi Tree was doing to Gao Bin, or what it was saying to him.
A few minutes later, the branches slowly withdrew, revealing Gao Bin.
The abbot of Imperial Awakening Temple was still kneeling in the same pose as before.
Only now, he held two brown spheres, each about the size of a walnut.
"Junior Brother Zhu, you've mastered the true art, so I'll address you by that title."
Gao Bin rose, restored to life. His movements were much more natural now, and his face had regained its usual inscrutable expression.
"I'll do as the abbot says."
Though he said that,
Zhu Yuanzhang's vigilance had reached its peak.
"Starting that again, huh?"
Zhu Yuanzhang had thought that with the Great Wisdom Zen Technique and the Mountain-Shrinking Fist combined, his injuries were already healing quickly.
But compared to that bizarre Bodhi Tree, his recovery seemed unimpressive.
The one thing that reassured him was that Gao Bin's cultivation method seemed to be naturally countered by the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique.
If they really fought, Gao Bin probably couldn't hurt him.
But the tree behind him... that thing was truly bizarre.
Fortunately, Gao Bin didn't seem inclined to fight.
"These are two Bodhi Fruits. One contains the complete set of techniques from the Buddha Speaks of the Soapberry Sutra. The other holds clues to the fortune that the world has sought for generations, which has been nurtured here at Imperial Awakening Temple for sixty years."
Gao Bin handed the two Bodhi Fruits to Zhu Yuanzhang. A dark green gleam flashed in his eyes. "Since the Bodhi Fruits have appeared, you must be the last survivor among the monks who entered the temple in the third year of the Zhizheng era. I give these to you to settle, on Yinglong Temple's behalf, a debt of karma."
Zhu Yuanzhang took the two Bodhi Fruits and held them in his palm.
Their surfaces were densely carved with countless intricate patterns and characters, each one incredibly tiny.
They reminded Zhu Yuanzhang of the "microcarving techniques" from his previous life.
The longer he looked, the dizzier he felt, and the more his scalp prickled.
So he simply tucked the two Bodhi Fruits into his robe, then looked at the man who was likely the last monk of Yinglong Temple and asked, his voice low, the question that had troubled him for a long time.
"Please enlighten me, Senior Brother Abbot. What exactly happened at Yinglong Temple sixty years ago?"
Before you continue