Big thanks and a shout-out to biki for sending me a laptop so that I can translate LWSL more conveniently!
In the blink of an eye, the Midautumn Festival had arrived. In the few days before the festival, everyone would prepare gifts for their close relatives and friends, and visit them at their homes. On the day of the festival itself, everyone would pray to the gods and deities for a good harvest and the safety and health of their family members. So, before the sun had even risen, which was at choushi11am to 2:59am., the citizens of Huangdu City would get out of bed to offer joss sticks at Lianfo Temple one after the other.
Wu Ruo and the others were no exception. After lying down for just two to three shichen, they were woken to wash up, change and have breakfast. When everyone saw Dandan, who was eating breakfast with his eyes closed, they all couldn’t hold back their laughter. In an instance, everyone was in great spirits.
After they had eaten breakfast, everyone boarded the horse carriage.
On this day, Huangdu City’s city gates would be opened earlier than usual so that it would be more convenient for the citizens to go to Lianfo Temple to offer joss sticks.
Lianfo Temple sat on a great mountain about 30 li away from Huangdu City. All of the people that they encountered on the way there were either riding horse carriages or riding horses.
When they reached the base of Lianfo Temple’s mountain, everyone still had to climb staircases that spanned 88 zhang before they could finally reach the main entrance of Lianfo Temple.
Amidst the lively noise, Dandan finally woke up. When he saw a bunch of children who were playing together, he excitedly clambered off of Hei Xuanyi’s body. In the span of half a joss stick’s time, he had already managed to get along with the children. It was mainly because Dandan was beautiful and cute, so everyone liked him a lot.
Hei Gan stayed behind to take care of Dandan, while Wu Ruo, Guan Tong and the others entered the temple to offer joss sticks. Not long after, the main hall of Lianfo Temple was enveloped in white smoke.
Wu Ruo and Hei Xuanyi couldn’t tolerate the smell of the smoke inside the hall, so they stepped outside first.
Wu Ruo looked towards the back of the mountain, pointing at a gold-coloured pagoda, and said: “I heard that there are many equipment placed inside that pagoda, and that there’s even a celestial equipment inside.”
It was this celestial equipment that had caused him to be separated from Hei Xuanyi2For clarity: Wu Ruo means with the Hei Xuanyi of his previous lifetime..
“A celestial equipment? Really?” Hei Xuanyi liked forging equipment, so when he heard that the pagoda had a celestial equipment, his interest was immediate piqued: “There aren’t that many pieces of celestial equipment left in the world now. If I could take a look, the trip here wouldn’t have been made in vain.”
Wu Ruo smiled: “You want to see the celestial equipment? Don’t even think about it. Other than Lianfo Temple’s abbot, elders, the Lord State Tutor and the Emperor, no one else is allowed to enter the pagoda. Besides, on an average day, the doors to the pagoda are closed. There are also many arhats guarding the pagoda, both on the inside and the outside. Till today, no one has ever broken in before.”
If it weren’t for the arhats with ninth level spiritual power, Wu Ruo believed that with his ability to hide in shadows, he would be able to sneak past the watch of the arhats and destroy the celestial equipment. It was a pity, after absorbing Jing Lun’s spiritual energy, he had only risen to the sixth level. There were still three levels before he would reach the ninth level.
Hei Xuanyi looked away from the pagoda. He only wanted to look at the celestial equipment, but he had no interest in fighting the arhats to break into the pagoda.
Wu Ruo took his hand: “Let’s go walk around elsewhere. The temple should have a quieter area.”
The two of them walked toward the backyard. Ahead of them was a smiling old monk wearing a red kasaya3袈裟 (jia sha): the robes of a Buddhist monk. If you’ve ever seen a modern Buddhist monk, or Tang Sanzang from Journey to the West, then you know what it looks like. Reference here. who looked extremely benevolent. The eyebrows on his face were white and long, and he was even holding a huge gold-coloured staff in his hands. There were also six little young monks following behind him.
When the pilgrims next to them saw the old monk, they delightedly went over to greet him: “Greetings to Elder Tongzhou!”
Elder Tongzhou smiled and returned their greetings: “Patron4施主 (shi zhu): brief reminder, we’ve come across this term before. It’s a term used by monks to politely refer to non-monks, usually someone who is visiting the temple. is being courteous.”
The pilgrims gathered around Elder Tongzhou, excitedly asking after their more recent fortunes.
“Elder Tongzhou, please help me to take a look, when will my son get married?”
“Elder Tongzhou, my youngest daughter has been very unlucky, could you please help me take a look and figure out the cause?”
“Elder Tongzhou, my husband has left home for more than a year and hasn’t come home till now. Could you please take a look and see if he’s safe?”
“Elder Tongzhou…”
When Wu Ruo heard everyone’s questions, he walked over, feeling a little curious. He reckoned that this elder looked as though he had some skills5道行 (dao heng): this is specifically referring to skills acquired from religious practice, for example: some Buddhist monks believe that they can survive being burned alive or while practicing inedia. As a supplementary note: the 行 character can be read heng or hang in this term. It seems hang is used in Taiwan, whereas heng is used mainland., and wondered if the elder would be able to predict his future.
Elder Tongzhou was extremely genial, answering everyone’s questions patiently.
The pilgrims were also not greedy. When they received a response for their question, they thanked him and left. Not long after, only Wu Ruo and Hei Xuanyi were left.
When Elder Tongzhou saw the two of them, he was stunned for a moment, then he smiled kindly and said: “I wonder what you two patrons wish to know?”
Wu Ruo glanced at Hei Xuanyi, who was by his side, and said: “We don’t really have anything that we want to ask about in particular. I wonder if Elder Tongzhou has any advice for us?”
Elder Tongzhou nodded lightly: “I do, but…”
“Please feel free to be honest.”
Elder Tongzhou looked at Hei Xuanyi: “Based on physiognomy, this patron’s appearances are extraordinary, his bearing is also extraordinary, and even his identity is also extraordinary. It’s just that he bears too much responsibilities. If I6老纳 (lao na): this is a form of self-address by Buddhist monks, it literally means ‘old Buddhist monk’. It’s usually used by the older monks, so you won’t hear a younger monk using this term. may gift you some advice, letting go of your responsibilities may not necessarily be a bad thing.”
Hei Xuanyi narrowed his eyes, then he thanked the monk sincerely: “Thank you, Elder Tongzhou, for the advice.”
Elder Tongzhou looked towards Wu Ruo, taking in the sight of his face for a moment, before he said: “Patron, your physiognomy is extremely peculiar. My abilities are limited, and I’m unable to tell much. However, there’s something I would like to say to you. You were lucky enough to receive an opportunity, so you should treasure it properly. If there is a next time, perhaps you may not be as fortunate anymore.”
Wu Ruo: “…”
Although this monk couldn’t predict Wu Ruo’s future, but it seemed that he could tell that Wu Ruo had been reborn.
Elder Tongzhou looked at Hei Xuanyi again, then he said with a smile: “Although both patrons are male, but you possess the compatibility of a married couple7夫妻之相 (fu qi zhi xiang): refers to how married couples look more and more like each other the longer they’re together or look very compatible with each other. Generally refers to the overall compatibility of a married couple.. I remember that there’s such a saying among the people: ‘With a hundred years of cultivation, we may share the same boat. With a thousand years of cultivation, we may share the same bed.’ The destiny between the two of you is probably the same. However, the destiny between the two of you is also extremely magical. Your destiny as a couple is clearly only for fifteen years, however, it also seems as though you may continue being by each other’s side for a long time. Regardless, you should cherish what was hard to come by even more. Don’t miss out on each other, otherwise it’ll be too late to regret.”
“Fifteen years?” Hei Xuanyi immediately frowned.
Wu Ruo: “…”
In his previous lifetime, he had been a married couple with Hei Xuanyi for just about fifteen years.
Elder Tongzhou put both his palms together: “Amitabha, this is all that I can see. If I’ve said something to offend, I hope that you two patrons will forgive me.”
“Thank you, Elder Tongzhou, for reading our physiognomy.” Wu Ruo and Hei Xuanyi turned around and left.
Elder Tongzhou watched Wu Ruo and Hei Xuanyi’s backs, then he sighed lightly.
“Elder, why are you sighing?” The little monk behind Elder Tongzhou had never heard Elder Tongzhou sighing before, so he couldn’t help but feel that it was strange.
Elder Tongzhou sighed again: “It’s just that I sensed a premonition that something bad is about to happen to that patron just now. I hope that it doesn’t actually happen.”
“Since Elder has sensed something bad happening, then you should prevent it from happening as soon as possible.”
Elder Tongzhou: “…”
He had only sensed that something bad was about to happen. As for what it was, he couldn’t tell. And whether it would happen wasn’t certain either.
After Wu Ruo left Elder Tongzhou’s line of sight, he sighed in relief in that instance.
He really couldn’t underestimate the monks from Lianfo Temple. Perhaps because they had done more charitable deeds than others, so they were able to read some things from his physiognomy. Whereas Wu Chenzi, who could also read physiognomy, hadn’t read anything from his face. He really didn’t know if this was a blessing or misfortune.
It was at this moment, a young monk who was about eight to nine years old came over and said to Wu Ruo: “Patron, there is a distinguished guest at our temple who wishes to meet you.”
“Who?”
The little monk spread open his palm and wrote the two words ‘Crown Prince’ on them.
Wu Ruo looked towards Hei Xuanyi. Previously, he had already agreed to stay further away from Ling Mohan and to do his best not to meet this person.
Hei Xuanyi nodded his head, gesturing for Wu Ruo to go and take a look.
Right now, they were working together. Meeting each other was unavoidable.
Wu Ruo told the little monk to lead the way.
The little monk led them to the abbot’s room, however the only person in the room was the abbot.
Doubt flashed across Wu Ruo’s eyes.
The abbot smiled at them mildly, knocking against the wall separating the room from the next room: “The distinguished guest is just next door.”
Following that, a fragment of the wall was pushed open by someone. Ling Mohan emerged from the adjacent room. A middle-aged monk followed behind him.
“I apologize, today is a day for offering joss sticks but I’m bothering you at this sort of time. However, I8Ling Mohan is using the 本宫 (ben gong)/’this palace’ form of address. do indeed have something important to discuss, that’s why I’m using this method to meet you.” He turned around and said to the middle-aged monk: “Elder Tongji, please kindly tell them about my father emperor’s situation9Ling Mohan is speaking politely to the monk..”
Ling Mohan knew that Wu Ruo would come to Lianfo Temple today to offer joss sticks, which was why he was waiting here for him.
“Yes, of course.” Elder Tongji bowed respectfully to Wu Ruo and Hei Xuanyi. He explained the situation regarding taking the Emperor’s pulse simply: “Throughout the entire process, I took the Emperor’s pulse five times. The Emperor’s dragon body is well, without any signs of irregularity. Later on, I used a Buddhist equipment and only then was I able to discover that there was a black thread from the base of each of the Emperor’s feet. It extended continuously to the Emperor’s waist, then joined together and extended all the way to the neck, condensing into a bone flower. I’ve never seen this sort of situation before. Even the abbott and the other elders have never heard of such a disease before. I wonder if the patron knows of this matter?”
If it weren’t for the Crown Prince insisting that there was something wrong with the Emperor’s health, he wouldn’t have taken the opportunity when the Emperor was in a deep sleep to use a Buddhist equipment to scan the Emperor’s body. This was committing the crime of lese-majesty10大不敬 (da bu jing): lese-majesty is number six of the Ten Abominations..
Wu Ruo frowned and said: “This… it sounds very much like the symptoms of poisoning.”
Elder Tongji shook his head no: “It’s not a poison, the Emperor’s pulse is peaceful and his blood is also normal.”
Wu Ruo was naturally clear about the fact that it couldn’t be as straightforward as poisoning. One had to know that every generation of emperors were protected by the divine presence. It was not that easy for others to harm the Emperor. Otherwise, Wu Chenzi wouldn’t have waited till now, waiting for his maternal great-grandson to come of age to succeed the throne.
Hei Xuanyi said indifferently: “The symptoms that the elder described is very similar to a curse that I saw in one of Tianxing’s bordering countries.”
Everyone was stunned: “A curse?”
“Hn. It’s said that this curse requires a life for a life, using one’s own life to curse someone else to death. Before the curse can be successfully cast, it requires the hair from every part of the other person’s body, as well as blood. Afterwards, the person who has been cursed will gradually grow weaker as though they’re sick. However, it will be impossible to find a cause. Only when you use a magical equipment can you scan and detect the curse. This often occurs between two people whose cultivation levels are similar, where one person hates the other so badly but is unable to kill them. Only then are they capable of casting a curse that sacrifices themselves.”
Ling Mohan’s expression darkened and he said: “However, my emperor father has the divine presence protecting his body. He cannot possibly be so easily cursed.”
Hei Xuanyi swept a glance at him nonchalantly: “If it was many high level priests casting the curse, do you think it would work?”
Ling Mohan glared at him coldly: “Would high level priests be as stupid as to sacrifice their own lives? On top of that, how many high level priests would be required to complete this curse?”
“Of course they wouldn’t be that stupid but if it was done unwillingly, then that’s another matter.”
Ling Mohan was stunned: “…”
Wu Chenzi was the first State Tutor of Tianxing, and his cultivation level had reached the ninth level. As long as he used compulsion11言灵之术 (yan ling zhi shu): similar to one of Wu Ruo’s skills during the Gaoling City arc, Wu Chenzi can command and compel others weaker than him to do his bidding. This is part of the Wu family’s yinyang arts. to control priests of the eighth level and below, it was still possible. Under this sort of circumstance, if he used more priests to cast the curse, it was very possible that it would really succeed.
Wu Ruo said: “You should be glad that he didn’t curse you.”
Wu Chenzi was also not stupid enough to use so many precious high level priests to curse a crown prince. It had to be known that high level priests were not that easy to capture. On top of that, it also wasn’t that easy to obtain the hairs from every part of the Crown Prince’s body. However, the Emperor wasn’t the same. Wu Chenzi could get his granddaughter to discreetly obtain hairs when she shared a bed with the Emperor12Some historical background: I can’t remember the exact dynasty this is from (since palace rules varied from dynasty to dynasty) but basically, the Emperor’s harem has ranks and titles. No two ladies can occupy the same title, while lower ranks usually consist of multiple ladies. The Emperor has a schedule of which member of his harem he’s supposed to sleep with every night, where higher ranking ladies of the harem will be able to spend more nights with the Emperor and lower ranking ladies will see the Emperor less often, if at all. This is why the Emperor will find reasons to increase the rank, or to bestow a title, upon his favoured ladies. As the second imperial prince’s mother, Wu Chenzi’s granddaughter would at least have the rank of concubine. It’s not explicitly mentioned in the story, but I suspect that Wu Chenzi’s granddaughter is the royal guifei from Chapter 110 who was very close to Wu Yuxue. As such, her chances to sleep with the Emperor would be second only to the Empress..
It seemed that Wu Ruo was still too naive when he had previously thought that Wu Chenzi would use methods like poisonous gu arts or the like to harm the Emperor.
Ling Mohan asked anxiously: “If he’s really been cursed, is there a method of breaking the curse?”
Hei Xuanyi said: “I’m not a priest, I don’t know about curses. You had better hire a priest to take a look at the Emperor instead.”
Ling Mohan looked towards Wu Ruo: “My imperial father really wasn’t poisoned?”
Wu Ruo narrowed his eyes: “You should know that normal poisons have no effect against the Emperor. It also isn’t possible for your imperial father to be so easily poisoned by someone. I’ve also never seen or heard of this sort of symptoms. Of course, my medical skills can’t be considered good. Just because I haven’t seen or heard of it doesn’t mean that this sort of thing doesn’t exist. I think you should hire a few more physicians to take a look at the situation for your imperial father.”
The moment that Elder Tongji had mentioned needing to scan the Emperor’s body with an equipment to diagnose the other party’s health, it already showed that it wasn’t as simple as being poisoned.
Ling Mohan closed his eyes.
“If there’s nothing else, then we’ll take our leave first. My parents are still waiting for us at the front hall.”
Wu Ruo tugged on Hei Xuanyi and left the abbot’s room.
Ling Mohan watched their backs as they left, pursing his lips together tightly.
Wu Ruo’s husband not only had an extraordinary bearing, he carried himself like a noble and had an elegant manner of speech. It was no surprise that Wu Ruo would like him. On top of that, with an indifferent look, Hei Xuanyi was able to make others fear him. This was something that only those who had spent a long time in a position of power could do. It was clear to see that Wu Ruo’s husband was not an ordinary person. Ling Mohan had once sent someone to investigate Hei Xuanyi, but they had been unable to make any discoveries. This person’s identity was shrouded in mystery.
Wu Ruo walked out of the abbot’s courtyard, then he immediately asked Hei Xuanyi: “How did you know of this curse?”
Hei Xuanyi recalled the situation at the time: “Last year, we had just arrived at the borders of Tianxing. We ran into two male priests. One of the priests had already died, and the other priest was sitting dazedly beside him, murmuring that ‘it was really cruel and vicious’. Only after we enquired further did we find out that the male priest had been the target of a death curse after he had betrayed a female priest13This refers to betrayal in the romantic sense.. The situation of the person who had been the target of the death curse was like the Emperor. Once the bone flower blooms, it will be that person’s death date. Besides, the death curse may not successfully be cast, but regardless of success, the caster will die.”
Wu Ruo asked again: “You really don’t know how to break the curse?”
“It’s not that I don’t know, but there’s no way. Unless the caster is still around.”
Wu Ruo: “…”
There indeed was no way because the caster would already have died while casting the curse.
It was a blessing that there weren’t many high level priests. It also wasn’t easy to get hairs from every part of a person’s body. Otherwise, anyone could cast a death curse on anyone else at any time.
“Should I shave all my hairs off once I get home, so that Wu Chenzi can’t take them and cast a curse on me?”
A hint of amusement flashed across Hei Xuanyi’s eyes: “If he could obtain your hair so easily, why wouldn’t he just kill you directly? What’s the point of putting in so much effort?”
That was also true.
The corners of Wu Ruo’s lips lifted into a smile.
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