In the middle of the city center, a deranged horse carriage appeared unexpectedly. The common people dodged it one after another, and cries of misery rose and fell in succession.
Very quickly, Chu Qing-Yan hazily felt those screams getting farther and farther away, and could only hear the bitter neighing of the horse.
Chu Qing-Yan opened her eyes and by coincidence, the carriage curtains was lifted up high by the speed of the horse. She muddle-headedly looked out and in an instant, she widened her eyes, terrified.
One couldn’t blame her for being terrified, because there was no road in front of the horse carriage, only the city wall of the capital.
However the horse didn’t seem to sense this; with a spurt of energy, it rushed forward without any drop in speed.
Was she going to lose her life like this?
A feeling of despair bubbled up from Chu Qing-Yan’s heart.
Really wanted to see daddy and mommy one more time.
She hopelessly closed her eyes.
If Xiao Xu couldn’t find her, would he come search for her?
Will there be a miracle?
The corner of her mouth drew into a bitter smile, at this kind of critical moment, the first person she thought of was actually him!
The sound of horse’s hooves burst out, stamping on the ground and sending the dust flying.
She faintly heard the tower bell sounds and the sounds from a wooden fish instrument (1).
Chu Qing-Yan didn’t pay much attention to it, but she clearly felt the jolting horse carriage seemingly slowing down and the violent sound of the horse’s neighing seemingly weakening.
The result of this development was that the sound of the tower bell was crisp, while the sound of wooden fish instrument became clearer, accompanied by a soothing incantation seemingly revolving around the ear, like a burst of continued rain suddenly falling on the stiflingly hot and agitated earth.
Chu Qing-Yan in surprise felt the speed of the horse carriage gradually slow down and in a blink of an eye, it had already slowed to a stop.
Chu Qing-Yan didn’t think much more and immediately lifted open the carriage curtain. She was dumbfounded by her current situation after a glance.
The city wall was just three steps away from the horse, ash grey bricks that built the firm wall, made Chu Qing-Yan’s face slightly discolored. She didn’t dare to linger and dragged her body and quickly got out, afraid that the horse would go crazy once again.
One unstable step caused her to fall to the ground, stirring the dust that covered the ground. She choked on a mouthful of dust, her entire person cutting a sorry figure; but in a life and death situation, who would still care about this bit of image?
Just when Chu Qing-Yan propped her hands on the ground and was about to crawl up, she once again heard the sound of tower bells, the only difference was that this time, it was almost within reach.
Female benefactor, are you well?
A light tone entered her ears like wind and rain. It entered the ear softly but not charmingly, like a sleek thin object that was noiseless.
She looked towards the source of the sound and only saw a white clothed person with brocaded belt standing before the horse. Looking from her short dusty body’s point of view, the reddish brown mane of the horse blocked that person’s face. She only saw a holy hand with a halo placed on top of the horse’s head seemingly pacifying the agitated horse. What was more amazing was that, the horse really became calm under his light stroking.
When the horse stopped neighing and snorting, the white-clothed guy’s foot moved slightly, stepping around the horse to walk over.
She looked at the incoming person, before her eyes he gave off an aura of a silvery moonlight on the ocean. With every Buddha-like step he took, lotus flowers bloomed, every step giving off a slight halo.
A pure and holy gaze with a faint smiling expression that bemoaned the state of the universe and pitied the fate of mankind. He had a small red dot on his forehead, if this red dot was on any other guy, perhaps it would look either bewitching or charming. However on him, it gave people a sense of the kind of holiness that can only be appreciated from afar and not to be trifled with in disrespect.
Chu Qing-Yan stared as this Buddhist youth whose clothing wasn’t contaminated by any dirt walked to the space in front of her. He gently parted his lips and asked with deep concern.
Female Benefactor, can you get up?
Chu Qing-Yan was woken by this, suddenly embarrassed that she was staring at a monk until she was completely enthralled. She consoled herself, everybody loves beauty, even if the person was the disciple of a Buddhist priest, it didn’t impede people’s appreciation of his looks.
I can.
Chu Qing-Yan didn’t have time to care about the dust on her body. Trembling and swaying, she stood up. After receiving a fright just awhile ago, at this moment, her panicked state still hadn’t settled down, but she was able to stand up with great difficulty.
By standing, Chu Qing-Yan just realized she only reached his chest, and she was somewhat depressed and frustrated. She realized that after coming to this ancient era, the people she had met were all much taller than her, whether it was Xiao Xu, her own daddy, or that Xiao Ran who was only two years older than her. If she wanted to talk to them, she had to raise her head really high, looks like this matter about growing taller requires immediate action.
Just when she raised her head to look at the person before her, the features of the person before her became clear. A pair of eyes contained a smile, yet it looked at her with neither sadness nor joy.
He was merely a 17 to 18 year old monk scholar, but he gave people a feeling of having seen through this mundane world, thoroughly understanding it that kind of lofty feeling.
Great master, just now was it you who saved me?
When the horse suddenly stopped a while ago, she guessed that aside from this person before her, nobody else could have undertaken the task. Her voice carried gratitude, and her eyes shone brightly as she looked at him.
Female Benefactor need not be troubled, this poor monk just so happened to be passing by. I stopped it in passing, nothing more.
The white-clothed monk placed both palms together in front of his chest, slightly bent his body and responded with a light laugh.
It wasn’t modesty, it also wasn’t nonchalance, but it carried a kind of tone that said it was this poor monk’s duty. Perhaps it was this gentle tone that for no reason at all, calmed people.
In the previous world, the region Chu Qing-Yan lived in all believed in Buddhism, so every holiday, incense sticks would be lit continuously. However, she personally saw Buddhist clothed disciples entering and exiting, therefore she had always felt nothing towards them. She only felt that they were just ordinary common folk who were draped in Buddhist clothes.
But now seeing this person, Chu Qing-Yan knew what a noble Buddhist scholar was like. A reverence sprang forth from her heart and her expression also became respectful.
No matter what, I still want to thank the great master for lending a hand and saving me.
The other party smiled faintly and nodded towards her.
Female Benefactor is being polite, right now this poor monk must first treat this injured horse. Please forgive this poor monk for not being able to talk more with Female Benefactor.
Chu Qing-Yan hurriedly waved her hands.
Great master, please do as you wish, no need to worry about me.
Amitabha (2).
The light tone rang once again, and the white-clothed monk turned around to face the horse with its head hanging down. He slipped his hands into his sleeves and pulled out a white jade bottle. He pulled out the wooden stopper and sprinkled the medicinal powder on the sinister sword cut on the horse. The horse raised its front hooves in pain but was gradually calmed down by the white-clothed monk’s soft pacification.
That’s when Chu Qing-Yan noticed the string of Buddhist beads hanging on his wrist. They were simple and colorless, yet they slid along his wrists with his movements giving an indescribable implicit charm. Perhaps it was because he wore this string of ordinary wooden beads that it gave people a kind of profound feeling for no reason at all.
It was not good to continuously stare at a person, so Chu Qing-Yan shifted her gaze away to look at the horse. And when she saw the wound clearly, a feeling of self-blame rose in her heart. If it wasn’t for her, the horse wouldn’t have been wounded.
Perhaps, he had detected Chu Qing-Yan’s downcast mood, the white-clothed person brushed the horse’s mane and said.
There’s a cause and effect to everything, Lady Benefactor shouldn’t blame herself, if you blame yourself for other people’s mistakes, the heart will never obtain peace.
Chu Qing-Yan knew that he was comforting her and gratefully said.
Thank you, great master.
Time seemed to slow down because of his movements and Chu Qing-Yan was a little curious, why did such a quick and elegant person enter Buddhism to become a monk?
As if he was used to receiving a lot of attention from other people, the white-clothed monk didn’t seem to mind. He carefully applied the medicine on the horse and after a long while, he finally retracted his hand, stoppered the bottle and put it back into his sleeves.
The horse raised its head to gently rub against his hand. Chu Qing-Yan’s good eyes discovered that this horse seemed to be intelligent, both eyes carried tears as well as a grateful expression.
Chu Qing-Yan looked at the white-clothed monk before her in amazement. He seemed to have already gotten used to this kind of matter. A smile hung from the corner of his mouth, like a lofty and unsullied Lotus from the Buddha, that passed in the blink of an eye.
And just at this moment, the sound of horse hooves whizzed over. Chu Qing-Yan heard the sound and then turned her head. She only saw the figure of a black-clothed guy taking the lead and heading towards their direction.
1) Wooden fish instrument: This is a something you would see a monk carry around, they would hit it when praying. See here for more information.
2) Amitabha: May the lord Buddha preserve us. Something a buddha monk always say when giving blessings etc.
