The next morning, more of the ice on the lake had melted, and the nunnery had grown a little warmer.
Tong Yan informed the old nun, left the nunnery, and followed the wet mountain path into Dayuan City.
He found Young Master Li's Antique Shop, bought a few things, and learned a few things from the neighbors and the idlers.
Ten years ago had been precisely when the Western Sea Incident occurred. The girl Young Master Li had met in the nunnery should have been that senior from Water-Moon Convent.
Reaching this conclusion was easy, because Tong Yan excelled at deduction and happened to know the inside story.
By the time he returned to Three Thousand Nunnery, the sky had darkened. The Longevity Lamps hanging from the bridge amid the lakeside trees shone brighter. Tong Yan came to the Chan Room and looked inside.
Snow Ji lay asleep in the mountain of quilts. There was no telling when she would wake.
Jing Jiu sat beside the lake beyond the window, watching the thin ice gradually dispersing across the water, a brush in his hand as he wrote something on paper.
Qing'er sat on his shoulder, softly humming a song from Former Chu in the illusory realm.
Tong Yan found these scenes rather interesting, and a hint of a smile appeared on his youthful face.
Jing Jiu had no interest in worldly affairs and was familiar with places beyond the mortal world such as Fruitful Accomplishment Temple and Water-Moon Convent. He really did seem somewhat like a born monk.
Then he thought of his junior sister Bai Zao. The smile at the corners of his lips faded, while his brows grew more pronounced as they rose.
If he truly had no interest, why did so many extraordinary women appear around him?