Wu Leyong walked into the Buddha Hall on his own, every movement radiating the enlightened serenity of someone who had seen through the mortal world.
"Our temple's old abbot insisted that the Poverty God once visited him in a dream and helped him avert a calamity. So he removed the original Buddha statue and began worshipping the Poverty God here instead."
His voice was soft and low, as though he were truly recounting his own past. "Please do not take offense, benefactors."
Wu Leyong walked up to the stone statue of the Poverty God and bowed, then turned to the others. "Still, since you have traveled all this way, if anything weighs on your minds, this humble monk may be able to answer a question or two."
Jiang Yingcheng looked up at the Shadow Guard Uncles who had already gathered around her, and her sense of security shot straight to the brim.
"Really?" she asked timidly.
Jiang Yingcheng stood with her back to the doorway. The bright, warm afternoon sunlight streamed through the gaps between the others and fell upon her, tracing a pure, holy halo around her.
It made her look especially innocent.
Her inner voice, however, ran completely counter to that appearance: [Just watch Chengcheng f-fool him until he can't walk straight!]
Jiang Tinghuai practically had to recall every sorrow he had suffered in his life, even borrowing against the grief of his own future untimely death, before he barely managed to suppress the upward curl of his lips.
But-
His gaze swept calmly over the newcomer.
Wu Leyong's disguise this time was even more elaborate than the last. His coarse monk's robes bore the marks of wind and frost, and the six ordination scars on his scalp were neatly arranged. They really did look as though they