Xie Yun watched the shifting expressions on her face — turning from pale to ashen, and finally settling into a look of guilty chagrin. Puzzled, he asked, “What is wrong?”
“Nothing!” Si Hua Huan hastily covered up her reaction and turned to walk out of the hall. “The incense here is too strong; it is making me feel a bit dizzy. Let us go outside quickly to get some fresh air.”
The two of them strolled along a quiet stone path behind the temple. Ancient trees rose high into the sky, and the only sounds to be heard were birds singing and the wind rustling through the leaves.
As they walked, a young novice monk, about thirteen or fourteen years old, came toward them. The moment he caught sight of Xie Yun, he stopped in his tracks. He tilted his head and looked carefully at him, then suddenly his eyes lit up with recognition.
“Oh! It is you, benefactor! I remember you! You used to come here often to see Master Jingkong to have your fortune regarding marri—”
“Young Master!” Xie Yun interrupted loudly, cutting off the last word before it could leave the boy’s mouth. He spoke rapidly, “There are many worshippers in the temple today. You must have mistaken me for someone else. This lady and I are just walking around casually.”
The young novice’s eyes darted between Xie Yun’s slightly tense face and Si Hua Huan’s expression, which was now filled with curiosity. Suddenly, a look of dawning understanding spread across his face, accompanied by a knowing smile.
He pressed his palms together and bowed deeply to both of them. “Amitabha. My eyesight is poor, and I have disturbed your peace and quiet, benefactors.” With that, he hurried away, leaving behind a retreating figure that seemed full of hidden meaning.
Si Hua Huan watched the direction in which the novice disappeared, then slowly turned her head to look up and down at the man beside her, who was trying hard to appear calm and composed. Her clear, bright eyes were filled with suspicion.
Master Jingkong was most skilled at predicting matters of love and marriage. That young monk had just said Xie Yun came often to have his fortune told. What else could it have been about but marriage?
“Came often to ask about marriage fortunes?” Si Hua Huan drawled, her tone teasing. “Xie Jingchu, I never realized you were in such a desperate hurry to get married.”
Xie Yun kept his eyes fixed straight ahead on the stone path. The line of his jaw was tight and strained, yet his voice remained flat and unperturbed. “He mistook me for someone else. This is a place of heavy traffic; so many faces come and go every day. It is common for people to get confused and mix things up.”
Si Hua Huan let out a soft “Oh,” drawing out the sound with a rising intonation, clearly indicating she did not believe him at all.
After that, Xie Yun’s mind was no longer on strolling through the temple. It was not until they met Ye Shuyi along the way, and Si Hua Huan was lured away by her friend, that Xie Yun made his way to a side hall.
He seemed very familiar with the paths here. He walked straight through the front courtyard and headed toward a quiet chamber next to the side hall.
As he passed the side hall, a young novice sitting cross-legged on a cushion heard his footsteps and looked up. Recognizing the visitor, a familiar smile immediately spread across his round face.
It was the same young monk they had met earlier on the path.
“Benefactor,” the novice said, his voice carrying the clear ring unique to youths, which sounded exceptionally distinct in the quiet courtyard. “Are you here again regarding that pair of birth dates?”
“Did I not make it perfectly clear the last time you came? Those eight characters are strongly conflicting and incompatible. You cannot force them together. The Abbot himself has given his verdict — if such a marriage is forced, it will… it will result in the death of one party. Why do you persist so stubbornly?”
Xie Yun did not answer. He simply took out a neatly folded sheet of red paper from his robe and handed it over. The edges of the paper were slightly worn, clearly not written recently.
The young monk sighed helplessly, but accepted it anyway. He unfolded the familiar red paper and, as was his habit, scanned the black ink characters of the birth dates written upon it, muttering as he did so, “Benefactor, your obsession is truly too deep. I have told you eight hundred times already…”
His voice cut off abruptly.
“Huh?” The novice’s eyes suddenly widened to their limit. He stared fixedly at the red paper, blinked hard twice, and let out a short exclamation full of shock and confusion.
He looked up at Xie Yun, then quickly looked back down to double-check the details. “This… this is not right! It was not like this last time. How… how has it changed?”
The young monk was thoroughly flustered. He held the red paper as if it were a burning hot potato. He rambled nervously, “Wait here, benefactor! Please, just wait one moment!” and ran toward the quiet chamber as he spoke.
“Master! Master! Come and look at this quickly!”
Steady footsteps approached. An elderly monk clad in a kasaya robe walked out slowly. His face was kind and gentle, and his eyes were peaceful and calm, much like an ancient tree that had weathered centuries of change and time.
It was none other than Master Jingkong.
As if seeing a savior, the young monk hurriedly presented the red paper to him. “Master, look! It is that same pair the benefactor always asks about. The result is completely different from last time! I remember it perfectly well…”
Master Jingkong did not take the paper. Instead, his eyes — eyes that had seen the ways of the world and human nature — looked at Xie Yun. His gaze was calm and still, yet it seemed capable of seeing right through a person, deep into the very core of their heart.
“Benefactor, are you still worried?” he asked. “The last time, the destiny changed. Do you fear it might change again?”
“…I do,” Xie Yun replied.
Master Jingkong’s voice was aged yet serene. “When your thoughts change, your destiny naturally changes course. Yet whether this new path brings blessings or trials depends, ultimately, on how much of your obsession you are willing to let go of.”
Xie Yun was somewhat dissatisfied with this cryptic and profound answer. He frowned slightly. “You said before that this was a dead end, with absolutely no room for change. Why did it suddenly change the last time? What exactly changed? And where?”
Master Jingkong slowly rubbed the smooth prayer beads in his hand. “The secrets of heaven must not be revealed. Benefactor, obsession is like an abyss, bottomless and deep. Do not trap yourself within it.”
“When the time is right, you will understand everything.”
Master Jingkong offered no further explanation to resolve his doubts. He sighed softly and returned to the quiet chamber.
The young monk had listened to the conversation in total confusion, scratching his head in bewilderment. “Last time when you came to have your fortune told, was it not a sign of great misfortune? How come you say now that it had already changed back then?”
Xie Yun’s mind was in turmoil, but he still answered the boy. “The last time I came, you were not here.”
Only then did the novice understand, and nodded his head in realization.
***
Xie Yun pushed open the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him and cutting off the quiet chirping of insects outside. He paused near the entrance, his gaze sweeping over the bed.
Ciyun Temple did not have many guest quarters. The rooms were small, and the beds were narrow, barely wide enough to fit two people squeezed together.
Si Hua Huan was lying on her side on the bed, resting her head on one hand while lazily fanning herself with a plain round fan in the other.
She had taken off her outer robe, leaving herself wearing only a light, sheer top and a short skirt. The thin, gauzy fabric clung to her body, and the candlelight cast shadows that traced the soft curves of her figure. As she waved the fan, the light and shadows swayed gently against the rough walls.
Xie Yun’s breath caught silently in his throat. His windpipe felt tight and constricted. He pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and silently chanted, *Amitabha*, in his heart.
He walked to the bedside and looked down at her figure, which was sprawled across the entire width of the mattress. “You have taken up the whole bed. Where am I supposed to sleep?”
The motion of fanning herself stopped. She lifted her head and looked at him, as if he had just told her something utterly ridiculous and absurd.
“Surely you do not expect us to sleep on the same bed?” She lowered the elbow that had been supporting her, pushed herself up into a sitting position, and said softly, “Use your head — that is impossible!”
“What other choice do we have?” Xie Yun frowned slightly and jerked his chin toward the narrow cot. “Aside from this bed, is there anywhere else in this room to lie down? Do you want me to sleep on the floor?”
“Shh!”
Si Hua Huan practically sprang up. She crawled backward on her knees to the edge of the bed, leaned forward, and swiftly covered his mouth with her small hand — a hand that felt soft as water and cool to the touch.
A wave of fresh, delicate fragrance rushed toward him with her movement, instantly enveloping him. As the lower half of his face was covered by her soft, smooth skin, every muscle in Xie Yun’s body tensed instantly.
He was forced to look straight into her eyes. Those beautiful, cat-like eyes were wide open at this moment, clearly reflecting his own somewhat flustered expression, along with a distinct warning.
Si Hua Huan lowered her voice to a whisper. “Keep it down! The walls in these rooms are thin; sound carries. Do you want the whole world to hear us?”
The guest quarters at Ciyun Temple were built very close together. In the silence of the night, even the volume of normal conversation could be heard clearly in the next room.
She certainly did not want all sorts of messy rumors spreading about them by tomorrow morning.
They were far too close to each other. Xie Yun had no choice but to look down. What his eyes met, however, was the neckline of her sheer garment, which had fallen slightly open from her sudden lean forward. A small patch of snow-white skin rose and fell clearly before his eyes with every breath she took.
The lines were soft, and her skin was astonishingly smooth and fine in the dim light, like a piece of the finest white porcelain.
The brightness of that pale white was almost dazzling. Xie Yun choked on his breath. An inexplicable wave of heat surged up from his spine, catching him completely off guard.
He quickly turned his face away, his gaze darting frantically around the room. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with difficulty. His feet moved involuntarily, stumbling back two steps, putting distance between himself and the warmth and scent that lingered around her.
“I… I will sleep on the floor,” he blurted out, his voice dry and strained.
He dared not look at her again. He turned away quickly, and with somewhat stiff movements, shook out two quilts and spread them on the ground. He lay down with his back facing the bed.
Si Hua Huan withdrew her hand and slowly sat back on the bed. She watched as he quickly arranged his “bedding,” then lay down almost eagerly with his back to her, wrapping himself tightly in the thin quilt until only his back was visible.
She lay flat on the bed and continued fanning herself slowly, blinking in confusion.
What had suddenly gotten into him? She looked down at herself. Her sheer top was wrapped modestly around her; nothing was improper or revealing.
How could he have reacted so strongly? She had merely wanted him to keep quiet — a completely ordinary action.
She hadn’t hit him, or scolded him; it wasn’t even something that could be considered offensive…
…Offensive?
A light bulb went off in her mind, and understanding dawned on her.
Could it be because she had suddenly leaned in and touched him?
This man had always disliked being touched by others. He must have been repelled by that unexpected “intrusion.”
So that was it!
A smile crept silently onto Si Hua Huan’s face.
So he actually hated being touched by her this much; he simply hadn’t been able to hide it just now.
It was truly a result she had never anticipated.
All this time, just to annoy and unsettle her, he had forced himself to endure it, approaching her time and again, touching her, and sometimes even making affectionate or intimate gestures.
How hard must it have been for him to hold back his true feelings, all the while maintaining that casual, unbothered, and even smug expression in front of her?
Si Hua Huan shook her head as she looked at Xie Yun’s back.
Tsk, tsk… he really was willing to go to any lengths just to get a reaction out of her!
Wrapped in his quilt, Xie Yun lay with his back straight and rigid, like a taut bowstring.
He stared at the wall, feeling his heartbeat thump loudly against his eardrums in the silence — heavy, fast, and relentless.
That blinding patch of white skin and the lingering soft sensation on his lips were stubbornly etched in his mind, refusing to fade away.
It seemed as if the faint, sweet warmth of her scent still lingered in his nose, curling and winding around him, making him feel restless and confused.
It was the beginning of summer, and the night air was pleasantly cool. The earthen floor beneath him also felt cold. Yet that unexplainable heat continued to rise from deep within his body, steaming through his veins.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, trying to recite the Mantra of Purity to calm his mind.
After a while, a very faint rustling sound came from the bed behind him. Si Hua Huan had turned over gently.
This tiny movement reached his sensitive ears and startled him so much that he instinctively held his breath. Only after a long while did he slowly exhale, the air still hot and unsteady.
Wrapped tightly in the airless quilt, he was trapped together with all the inappropriate heartbeats and rising heat within.