Hu Xiaotian sidled over with interest and tapped the bars separating them. "Senior Brother Mingsheng, there's nobody here anyway. Who are you chanting sutras for? Why don't we have a chat?"
Mingsheng did not know whether to laugh or cry. Was Hu Xiaotian not the very reason he had ended up in this predicament? Still facing the wall, he said, "Amitabha! Buddha, forgive this disciple."
"You haven't done anything wrong," Hu Xiaotian said. "Why ask Buddha for forgiveness?"
Mingsheng ignored him and went on praying just as before.
Hu Xiaotian sighed. "Your Heavenly Dragon Temple really is unreasonable. Three months of confinement over such a trifling little matter! I thought I wouldn't get a chance to see you again, but they actually brought you over as a witness. Thanks! You're a true friend-you didn't sell me out." Seeing that Mingsheng still refused to acknowledge him, Hu Xiaotian shook his head and lay down on the straw with his hands behind his head. After a brief silence, he asked, "Senior Brother Mingsheng, what did you see that day?" He wanted to confirm whether Mingsheng had seen Unenlightened's true face.
This time, Mingsheng actually responded. "It cannot be spoken of, cannot be spoken of!"
Hu Xiaotian burst out laughing. "Did you know that after you were locked up, His Majesty spoke to the Abbot, and I spent over ten days in Cloudsplit Valley, burning incense and chanting sutras before the Long-Life Buddha on his behalf?"
Mingsheng knew nothing of what had happened after his confinement. "The Abbot allowed you into Cloudsplit Valley?" he asked in astonishment.
"Why would I lie to you?" Hu Xiaotian said. "That makes your three months facing the wall a terrible injustice. Your Heavenly Dragon Temple keeps saying all beings are equal before Buddha, but that's nowhere near