Agujie stepped forward and pushed aside the crazed priest, then looked down at the bottom of the furnace.
The black pills at the bottom of the furnace emitted a faint, foul odor. He remembered that the Great Priest had once said that by refining pills using spiders that had absorbed the blood of countless virgins and children, one would produce a pill that was entirely gray with golden patterns. This pill would emit a sweet scent similar to milk.
Agujie turned to look at the priest and questioned him, "What in the world is going on!"
They had meticulously planned for five years, and now, with only one step left, something had gone wrong?
The feathered headdress on the priest's head fell to the ground, his hair disheveled and hanging over his shoulders. He looked up at Agujie, his blood-red eyes filled with bursting blood vessels, his expression a hideous distortion like a cornered beast. "What's going on? I want to know too! Where did things go wrong, where exactly did they go wrong!"
He violently tugged at his hair and, with a roar, lunged at the incense burner, burying half his body inside. His hands braced against the bottom of the furnace, his face almost touching the pill. In his eyes, it seemed as if countless spiders were crawling.
A muffled voice reached Agujie's ears from the bottom of the furnace, rising from a whisper to hysterical shrieks: "Where are the guards who were watching Tulan last night? Where are they? Have them enter Tulan immediately! It's them, it must be those damned sacrifices! Someone among them must have been impure. The young spiders ate impure flesh and blood, and that's why they produced such a result! Yes, it must be so, it must be so!"
Agujie ordered his soldiers to hasten to Tulan.
Tulan was not far from the temporary encampment of the Xiongshi. Half an hour later, the soldiers returned in haste.
"General, something has happened." When the soldiers returned, the priest was already sitting by the incense burner, which had been overturned and its contents spilled onto the ground. The pill that had been at the bottom had rolled onto the floor.
"Your subordinate did not see any trace of those soldiers. I only found bloodstains and drag marks where they were stationed. Following the drag marks, I discovered... I discovered their gnawed-upon skeletons."
The priest's head snapped up, his eyes filled with blood as he looked at the soldier. "It was them! They were gnawed upon by the young spiders! No wonder, no wonder it all failed!"
They had performed five sacrificial rituals in total.
The first four were blood sacrifices, where blood was collected in specific locations through special means to feed the young spiders. After raising the young spiders to maturity, the fifth sacrifice was performed—devourment.
Yet, inexplicably, on the very last occasion, they had eaten the flesh of the Xiongshi soldiers.
These useless fools, these good-for-nothing failures of the Xiongshi!
The priest pushed himself up from the ground and slowly stood. He stepped on the pill on the ground, crushing it, then walked over to the soldier and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him up from the ground.
He leaned close to the soldier's face, his distorted features showing a hint of madness. "Tell me, where are those sacrifices from Linyuan?"
"They ran, they ran!"
"Ran?"
He pulled at the corners of his mouth, a mixture of a smile and anger. Agujie stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, his fierce eyes showing a trace of ferocity. "Priest, you've gone too far."
The words "Priest" were spoken with a hint of mockery. Agujie's bear-like, strong physique exuded a dangerous aura. Beside him, the priest appeared quite frail, but his face showed no fear. Facing Agujie, this lion, he was like a starving wolf at bay, willing to bite the enemy's throat in a death struggle. He spoke no harsh words, merely commanded, "Agujie, find those sacrifices!"
As his words fell, rustling sounds spread all around, and soon, the entire Xiongshi military camp was surrounded by poisonous insects. Agujie's expression was so grim it looked as if water could drip from it.
"Good!"
...
The next morning, Nan Shiying, accompanied by the cook, went to Linlong Temple.
Following the path they had taken yesterday, before heading to Linlong Temple, Nan Shiying specifically detoured to Jilin Street to buy some offerings. As she passed the vegetable vendor's stall from yesterday, she couldn't help but quicken her pace.
The cook tugged at Nan Shiying's hand and curiously asked, "Sister, why are you walking so fast?"
Nan Shiying pulled her along and did not answer, quickening her pace even more. Only after they were out of the vegetable vendor's line of sight did Nan Shiying let out a sigh. She said, "Yesterday, when I bought vegetables, I had a bit of a disagreement with the vegetable seller."
The cook's little head was filled with thoughts: The young master's acting is truly superb!
But she said aloud, "Sister is always so timid. What's the big deal about having a disagreement? What are you afraid of? If you ask me..."
Nan Shiying abruptly covered the cook's mouth and, without preamble, pulled her by the wrist and walked forward. The cook cried out "ai ai ai" a few times, but finally closed her mouth and obediently followed her towards Linlong Temple.
The hidden sentry watched the two sisters depart, then turned and nodded towards the distance.
The cook never worshipped Buddha; for her, Buddha was useless.
It was better to believe in oneself than to believe in gods or Buddhas.
The welcoming monks were the same two who had refused Nan Shiying and Aunt Wang entry yesterday. Upon seeing Nan Shiying, they stepped forward and bowed to her and the cook. "Amitabha, the benefactor is devout, and our Buddha will surely perceive it!"
Nan Shiying bowed slightly, and the cook mimicked her.
Linlong Temple was not large. The front courtyard was for worship, and the back courtyard was for rest. Unlike grand and solemn temples, Linlong Temple had no sutra repository or any precious artifacts. If measured by wealth, the Buddha statue was the most expensive item in the entire Linlong Temple. Therefore, Linlong Temple did not have many rules; as long as one did not trespass into the monks' living quarters, all other areas were accessible.
After offering incense and worshipping Buddha, Nan Shiying presented the offerings and inquired about setting up memorial tablets. Upon hearing that setting up a tablet would cost at least one tael of silver, she looked troubled.
Shouyi said, "Besides the incense and oil money, the silver also covers a year's worth of incense burning and the cost of making the memorial tablet. When you calculate it this way, the incense and oil money itself would not exceed a dozen copper coins at most."
Shouyi explained clearly that the prices for setting up memorial tablets at their Linlong Temple were already very reasonable. However, for most commoners, one tael of silver was still a bit much.
Shouyi pondered for a moment and then said, "If the benefactor were to prepare the memorial tablet herself... it would be seven hundred copper coins. I am ashamed, but I cannot assist you further."
They say Buddha is compassionate, saving all sentient beings from suffering, but the poor in the world are endless. Even Buddha cannot cure them all. What Shouyi could do was limited; he could only offer his meager help within his capabilities!
If it were a large temple, the incense and oil money for just setting up a memorial tablet would likely cost tens of taels. If Linlong Temple lowered its prices further, it would be operating at a loss.
It was no wonder that the temple's structures were so dilapidated and yet had not been repaired. With Linlong Temple's approach, it was already a blessing that they could survive and not go hungry.
"Thank you, Master!"
"What I do may seem like assisting the benefactor, but in reality, it is merely to fulfill my own compassionate heart. Cultivation is the cultivation of the mind, and I have my own selfish intentions, so how can I possibly deserve such thanks!"
Nan Shiying looked at the monk before her. Just as he said, everything he did was for the sake of cultivation. However, even for the sake of cultivation, the good deeds he performed were enough to be thanked by others.
Though young, he was insightful.
Cultivating Buddhism to save others is also to save oneself!