Cheng Guan was sitting his own living quarters at the temple. The pieces on his chessboard had already reached a dead end, causing him to sigh. He placed a black piece in his hand on the board just as the drumbeat announcing midnight rang out in the temple grounds.
“Master!” Cheng Guan’s youngest disciple ran into the room with an anxious expression on his face.
“You’ve found your fellow brother?” Cheng Guan asked in a kind voice.
“No,” the little monk said tearfully, “I’ve searched all the places where he’s gone, but I couldn’t find him.”
“It’s alright,” Cheng Guan smiled at him, then muttered, “You should go rest.”
“But I heard that the junior master’s place…”
“Wang Yue,” Cheng Guan called out his name. “Go rest. Master will be fine.”
The reluctant monk Wang Yue (忘月)1 left while casting constant looks back.
Cheng Guan had ordered his disciple to deliver a letter to Princess Linglong but she’d never replied; the messenger monk had yet to return as well. Cheng Guan knew in his heart that the messenger had probably came to a bad end. Moreover, it was unlikely that Princess Linglong had ever received his letter. Rules were harsh for monks of the Eternal Life Temple, especially high-ranking members like himself. In Junior Master Fenglin’s eyes, his letter was probably proof of his betrayal.
Cheng Guan cleaned up the white and black pieces from the chessboard before waiting for Junior Master Fenglin to deliver him a bowl of poisonous decoction. All members of Eternal Life Temple swore their lives to the institution, so State Preceptor Cheng Guan knew that there was no haven for him now. He had no escape.
—
Yu Xiaoxiao entered Safeguard Temple after flipping over the walls. First, she glanced at the tower inside and counted ten floors. It was glittering and gold, made of countless precious metals. The Buddhist ornamentation decorating the upper story of the pagoda was labelled by Yu Xiaoxiao as reserve funds. If she ran out of money in the future, she’d come pry a few nuggets off here in the future.
Meanwhile, a few monks hurried towards the tower. Yu Xiaoxiao was standing in the shadows and watched them passed by her, oblivious. However, she still managed to hear the shortest, oldest monk of the bunch mention something about “junior master’s orders.”
Once they were gone, Yu Xiaoxiao stood thinking for a while before deciding to follow the group. The Safeguard Temple covered so much territory that it was on par with the imperial palace. To find anyone in such a wife space was too difficult, so it’d be easier to trail monks who were obviously Wen Fenglin’s lackeys. The group of monks circled around the grounds a bit without ever discovering their stalker. Finally, they entered a courtyard and shut the door behind them.
Yu Xiaoxiao stood listening by the door before circling to the back wall and jumping inside. She’d hardly landed when she realized this was the wrong place, because the air was thick with the scent of smoke and oil. This should be the kitchens. That guy Wen Fenglin looks like he hardly touches human food. How could he be here?
Ten or so monks were standing in a line in the courtyard. The person speaking to them was one of Wen Fenglin’s followers.
“Who’s there?!” the speaker looked in Yu Xiaoxiao’s direction as soon as she landed. It was clear that he already sensed something amiss in the courtyard. Yu Xiaoxiao held her breath before darting behind an elm tree. A few birds flew off its branches and towards the pagoda while chirping. The monks quickly reached the wall and saw that there was nobody there. By the time they made it behind the elm tree, it was deserted as well.
One of the managing monks of Safeguard Temple scooted over and muttered in a small voice, “Master Beiji?”
The monk named Beiji (北寂)2 slapped the hundred-year elm tree with his left hand, sending its branches shudderings.
“It’s fine,” Beiji told the managing monk of Safeguard Temple. “I misheard.”
The managing monk followed at Beiji’s heels like a yes-man. Ever since Junior Master Fenglin had entered the temple, things had gotten tense even though they hadn’t done anything wrong. Tonight gave them so much pressure that it was hard to breathe.
By now, Yu Xiaoxiao had already reached the kitchens. Everyone inside must have been called out by Wen Fenglin’s men, because it was completely deserted. Her eyes instantly noticed the two trays of food resting on the table. With no defense against food, Yu Xiaoxiao ran straight to them and began to eat a piece of fried bean curd. The two meals on the trays were identical and included a plate of meatbuns, a portion of fried bean curd, a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and some sort of soup. Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t touch the meatbuns because stealing food was an art in itself. With only four meatbuns on the plate, it’d be too obvious if she stole one. However, the two plates of fried bean curd left her no such restrictions. Who would notice a few of those missing?
She picked out bean curds from each plate before eyeing the bowls of soup. Although they looked the same, they were resting on different trays. One was green like jade, while the other was ordinary wood. Yu Xiaoxiao had no sense of “privilege” as it worked in ordinary society and simply picked up the bowl from the wooden tray first. She gave it a sniff and found that it smelled like Chinese medicine, though a little less bitter than Gu Xinglang’s pills.
“This is nurturing soup?’” Yu Xiaoxiao wondered out loud as she picked up the bowl from the jade tray. Sniffing that revealed that it not only lacked any smell of medicine, but emitted a faint, grassy fragrance. After drinking a sip, Yu Xiaoxiao felt refreshed. She had no idea what ingredients it contained, but its fresh flavor soon filled her tastebuds. Unable to hold back, Yu Xiaoxiao soon polished off the bowl in two mouthfuls before remembering she was snitching food. Glancing at the other bowl, she didn’t hesitate to pour half of it into this one and filled the rest up with clear water on the side. Then she recalled the fresh flavor and dripped some seasoning from the fried bean curd dish to cover up any scent of medicine from the bowl.
“Deliver the items,” a voice called from outside. Yu Xiaoxiao replaced the two soup bowls and scurried up to the rafters to look. Two little monks entered the kitchens and picked up a tray each.
Beiji entered as well and observed the proceedings before telling the monks,”Go on.” Then he turned and left the kitchens with the two monks following after him. By now, the managing monk was already at the general hall of the temple as he ordered the other monks to prepare their Buddhist implements.
“Has something happened?” one monk asked.
The managing monk looked somewhat pale as he replied, “Someone will experience parinirvana at this temple tonight.”
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