Following the directions from his memories, Chen Ye hurried along, keeping watch as he went and avoiding the other monks of Xiangguo Temple in advance.
Without drawing anyone's notice, he quietly reached the meditation chamber.
Chen Ye did not approach at once. Instead, he stopped behind a low wall and, relying on the keen five senses gained after his eighth Mortal Shedding, probed the courtyard.
The courtyard gate stood ajar, and everything inside was silent.
He focused and listened closely, detecting heavy breathing and coughing from within the meditation chamber. After listening a while longer, he confirmed there was no second breath.
At this hour, the young novice should have been eating in the dining hall, not in the courtyard.
Only Dharma Master Clear Mind remained in the courtyard.
Chen Ye hesitated no longer. His figure flashed, and he slipped silently through the courtyard gate.
The courtyard was not large, with a cluster of slender bamboo planted in one corner.
The main room's door stood half open.
Chen Ye pushed the door open and entered.
Inside, an old monk in a gray robe sat cross-legged upon a meditation cushion. Before him lay a half-open scripture, which he was reciting in a low voice.
His face was lean, his cheeks slightly sunken, and his brow bore the exhaustion of a long illness.
Hearing footsteps, the old monk looked up. Seeing Chen Ye, a stranger, he assumed he was some pilgrim who had wandered in by mistake.
"Who are you? This is the monks' quarters—outsiders are not permitted to enter—if you have no urgent business—leave at once—cough, cough, cough—"
He spoke somewhat urgently, as though he had strained his lungs, and suddenly coughed so hard he could not straighten up.
He looked incomparably weak.
Chen Ye did not answer, merely walked straight