At this time, dawn rose in the east. The first wave of incense-bearing pilgrims to Hanling Temple had already surged through the mountain gates when the guest-receiving monks opened them.
Deep within the Buddha Palace, a place mysterious in the pilgrims' eyes, clusters of green plums surrounded a terrace slightly taller than the usual pavilions. The terrace had no covering at all; wisps of mist even drifted within it, carrying the faint fragrance of green plums. It looked nothing like a sacred site of the Buddhist faith.
And that was not all. Amid the hazy mist, a beautiful young monk with red lips and white teeth sat cross-legged at ease upon a meditation cushion. Had his head not been shaved, had he not worn a goose-yellow monk's robe, anyone who saw him would have taken him for a graceful young gentleman of the mundane world. A light breeze passed by, and sunlight from the east brushed over him. The young monk's figure emerged with extreme slowness, as though both wind and light were reluctant to disturb his cultivation.
Yet after the dust-lit shadows, the jade-like face of the young monk stirred slightly. His delicate eyelids trembled and opened, revealing a pair of crystal-clear eyes like black jade, glinting with faint displeasure. That displeasure fell upon the air, and the light and dust likewise trembled. As lotus-like shadows suddenly appeared within his eyes, the light and dust also transformed into three-petaled lotuses...
"Jingcheng, since you have already arrived, why have you not come in?" When the young monk spoke, his voice was as crisp as pearls falling onto a jade plate. In particular, the slightly revealed teeth were whiter even than pearls.
"Hehe, Martial Ancestor Cimei..." A somewhat aged voice sounded from a distant pavilion. Then the small door of the