A handsome young monk, dressed in white robes, stood under the moonlight, his expression neither joyful nor sorrowful, exuding an air of Buddha-like serenity.
The young monk looked at Chen Ji and said, "My name is Luo Zhui Sajia, but everyone calls me Little Monk. You can call me that too."
Princess Baili, perched on the wall, chimed in, "Little Monk is a reincarnated Buddha Child, very powerful! If he says you're strong, then you must be!"
Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, "A reincarnated Buddha Child struggles to climb over a wall?"
The little monk looked slightly embarrassed, "I haven't fully cultivated yet. My master instructed me to recite the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Original Vow Sutra one hundred thousand times. I've just reached seventy thousand, and I haven't completed my great vow either..."
Chen Ji pondered, realizing that the little monk's cultivation path involved reciting sutras and fulfilling great vows.
Reciting one hundred thousand times seemed to be a significant milestone, and completing it would likely make him more powerful.
The fact that the little monk openly shared his cultivation method showed his honesty.
At this moment, the young lord curiously examined Chen Ji, "Little Monk, you said he's strong? He doesn't look like it."
The young lord was no longer wearing his daytime fur coat but had changed into a black robe with silver lotus embroidery, giving him a more refined appearance, though it didn't quite match his somewhat flamboyant personality.
The little monk brushed the dust off his robe.
At fourteen or fifteen years old, he had a clear and pure demeanor.
He pointed to his chest and said, "When I say strong, I don't mean in terms of power, but in the heart. Everyone has three thieves in their heart: greed, anger, and ignorance. This young man has already rid himself of greed and anger, leaving only ignorance. That's already quite impressive."
"Greed is an insatiable desire. How many calamities in this world are caused by greed? To be free of greed doesn't mean one doesn't love wealth, but that one knows how to restrain oneself."
"Anger is unwise rage. If a person still harbors anger, they cannot be called wise, for anger clouds the mind."
Chen Ji thought for a moment, "What about ignorance?"
The little monk smiled, "Ignorance is attachment. With attachment, one cannot attain liberation."
Princess Baili, sitting on the wall in her masculine attire—white robe, white pants, white boots, and a white jade hairpin, with only a red jade pendant at her neck resembling the red spot on a white koi fish—rested her chin on her hand and asked curiously, "Little Monk, you speak so mysteriously. How many of these thieves have you eliminated?"
The little monk thought for a moment, "I'm the same, only ignorance remains."
Princess Baili pressed, "Why haven't you eliminated the last one?"
"It's not that I haven't, but that I don't have it yet," the little monk explained.
"I haven't yet found 'ignorance,' so I can't eliminate it. My master sent me to the Central Plains to find 'ignorance' and then eliminate it. I haven't found it yet, and I don't know what it is, but my master said that when I encounter it, I'll naturally know."
"Huh, I haven't heard you mention this before... But isn't it better not to have 'ignorance'? Why seek it out? Isn't that unnecessary?" Princess Baili wondered.
The little monk shook his head, "This is a trial. Without undergoing trials, one cannot become a Buddha."
The young lord leaned against the wall, bored, "You monks are supposed to be compassionate, yet you're always talking about eliminating this and that. Isn't all this fighting and killing bad?"
The little monk shook his head again, "Our Gening Sect doesn't preach compassion."
"Oh? What do you preach then?"
"Fearlessness."
Princess Baili, sitting on the wall, swung her legs over and sat sideways, "Brother, stop chatting for now. Help me down."
"Ah, coming," the young lord went to the wall and let his sister step on his shoulder to jump down.
Chen Ji watched silently.
The young lord and Princess Baili didn't share the same mother, yet their relationship was surprisingly close.
And this young lord, already twenty years old, still hadn't matured...
Wait, Wu Yun had mentioned that there should be another princess in the palace, born to the Quiet Consort.
Why wasn't she with them?
At this moment, the young lord looked at Chen Ji, "You are..."
"Chen Ji."
The young lord smiled, "Chen Ji, you seem like a fine young man. I'm sure we'll become great friends in the future. But there's no time for chit-chat now. We have friends waiting at the gate. Let's go. We're all wanderers of the martial world. We'll meet again if fate allows!"
Princess Baili quickly added, "Yes, yes! I'll bring you Ma's donkey meat buns when I come back in the morning!"
With that, the young lord led the little monk and Princess Baili away.
Chen Ji raised his arm to block their path, "Wait a moment."
"Huh?" The young lord took a step back, "What is it?"
Chen Ji said, "A fee for keeping quiet. Ten taels of silver each, or I'll call the palace guards."
The young lord exclaimed, "Wow, do you think we don't know the prices outside? Ten taels of silver could buy a house in the suburbs! Why don't you just rob us... Little Monk, didn't you say he had already eliminated greed?!"
The little monk hesitated, "This shows he's already very restrained."
The young lord: "?"
Princess Baili looked at Chen Ji, "One tael per person per time. We'll be passing through many more times. You should think about the long term, or else we won't come this way again!"
Chen Ji: "Deal!"
Princess Baili looked helplessly at the young lord, "Brother, he agreed so quickly. Did I offer too little?"
"Seems like it."
Chen Ji said, "One person, one time, one tael. There are three of you this time, so three taels."
At this moment, someone called through the crack in the door, "Young Lord, Princess, are you coming out?"
The young lord looked at Princess Baili, "Pay up. The people outside are getting impatient."
Princess Baili reluctantly took out a plain little pouch from her sleeve, retrieved three silver peanuts, and slapped them into Chen Ji's palm, "Here! Can we go now?"
Chen Ji stepped aside, smiling, "Thank you for your patronage. Have a pleasant evening."
The young lord hurried to open the main gate, only to find more than ten people waiting outside, all armed with swords and knives, looking like martial artists.
Among the crowd, Chen Ji spotted Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er.
The young lord asked at the door, "Where are we going?"
Liang Gou'er smiled and said, "The only lively place in Luo City at night is the East Market, and the most fun place in the East Market is Red Sleeve Alley! Come on, Young Lord, let's go drink at Red Sleeve Alley!"
Chen Ji was stunned.
A princess and a monk, going to Red Sleeve Alley?!
At this moment, Princess Baili carefully closed the clinic door.
Just before it shut completely, she saw Chen Ji watching from afar.
She wrinkled her nose, snorted, and quickly closed the door.
Chen Ji weighed the silver peanuts in his hand as Wu Yun climbed up the apricot tree, curling up on a branch with his paws tucked in.
Wu Yun meowed, "They seem like good people."
Chen Ji smiled, "As a young lord and princess, they didn't get angry when I blocked their way and never used their status to pressure me. They really are very good people."
(End of Chapter)