"": 200,
"": "",
"": "He took out his Pocket Watch and checked the time.
When he arrived at the Old Temple, night had only just fallen.
First, he had found Bai Xian and Xu Lu, then met and spoken with Kong An.
Now, Bai Guanli had entered a meditative trance.
A long time had passed. Counting only the time since he parted with Kong An, it had been at least two hours.
Bai Guanli could not be interrupted.
Luo Bin drew a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. The process calmed him considerably. Whether he had calmed himself entirely through his own efforts, or Bai Guanli's lengthy, repeated incantation had blessed him with greater peace, no one could know.
He made his way back to the Mahavira Hall.
The strange Buddha statue with six eyes and three ears seemed to watch Luo Bin.
Kong Chen's shriveled flesh-and-bone Buddha body sat there, utterly motionless.
The boy in the sack on the floor had wriggled out and squirmed over to the threshold. At a foot and a half high, it was too tall for him to climb over.
Kong An had not returned yet.
Terror filled the boy's eyes. Trembling, he said, "You kidnapped me... that's against the law..."
Luo Bin raised a finger to his lips, shushing him. He was about to say something to reassure the boy.
He felt much better now than he had earlier.
Perhaps, although he had rejected the choice that would maximize his own interests, he had made the choice his humanity demanded. Had that freed his heart and lifted its burden?
Before he could speak, he heard footsteps.
Luo Bin looked toward the sound and saw Kong An.
Cold sweat broke out across his back.
Earlier, when facing Kong An, he had known how vicious