Jiang Xunbai instinctively reached out to wipe her tears…
Jiang Xunbai snapped his head toward Lu Qingtang, only to find the girl still lowering her head while drinking her watermelon nectar, not looking up at all – as if those two lightly spoken “Alright” moments earlier had merely been his imagination.
“What… what did you say?”
Jiang Xunbai asked again in disbelief.
Lu Qingtang finally finished her watermelon nectar at this moment. She raised her eyes to look at Jiang Xunbai, lifting the glass cup in her hand as she asked: “Do you still want this cup?”
Jiang Xunbai replied blankly: “Yes—what did you say just now?”
He watched Lu Qingtang nervously, praying inwardly that she hadn’t clearly heard what he said earlier, and that she hadn’t spoken any words at all. But reality would ultimately disappoint him.
Lu Qingtang gave him a puzzled look: “I said alright—what’s wrong?”
Jiang Xunbai’s suspended heart ultimately plunged into the abyss. Uncharacteristically lost for words, he stared at Lu Qingtang unable to speak. Fortunately, at this moment, Jiang Yijie and Su Lingyao entered the temple and approached them.
“A-Xun, we’re here.”
Jiang Xunbai was overjoyed. Lu Qingtang indeed didn’t dwell on the matter further, turning to face the approaching red and white figures with delight: “Sister Su, Big Brother Jiang, did you discover anything?”
With worshippers coming and going around them, Su Lingyao lowered her voice as she approached: “I did detect a faint trace of demonic aura in this Meeting Spring Temple, but the scent is too weak—it gets masked by the sandalwood incense as soon as it emerges.”
The original text of “Zhu Yao” mentioned that Su Lingyao came from the demon-hunting Su family and was most skilled at identifying demons by their scent.
If even Su Lingyao could barely detect it, others would have no chance.
Jiang Yijie comforted gently: “Confirming the presence of demons is already a major breakthrough. Let’s look around some more.”
He glanced at Lu Qingtang and Jiang Xunbai before adding: “A-Xun, you stay close to Qing-Tang and protect her well. Leave the investigation to us.”
Just as Lu Qingtang seemed about to say something, Jiang Yijie and Su Lingyao had already turned and left.
Lu Qingtang heaved a heavy sigh. At this rate, who knew when she would be able to complete her third mission.
Seeing Lu Qingtang sigh, Jiang Xunbai laughed: “Why is Miss Lu sighing? Are you doubting my ability to protect you?”
Lu Qingtang gave him a faint glance. Sometimes she truly felt Jiang Xunbai must have something wrong with his brain. A flower-like smile bloomed on her lips: “Second Young Master Jiang is being modest. With you here, why would I fear any demons or monsters?”
Jiang Xunbai felt stung by her smile, slightly averting his gaze. “Let’s go, we should look around too.”
Lu Qingtang and Jiang Xunbai followed the crowd into the temple, where the gilded Buddha statue gazed down upon the mortal world from above, its expression full of compassion. After looking around without finding anything noteworthy, they headed back out. A hurried-looking man with his head lowered pushed through the crowd and nearly bumped into Lu Qingtang. Jiang Xunbai reached out and pulled Lu Qingtang aside, moving her to the other side.
The man realized he had almost collided with someone and hurriedly apologized repeatedly: “So sorry, I was walking too hurriedly and not watching where I was going, I almost bumped into you, miss…”
Lu Qingtang replied indifferently: “It’s fine.”
Jiang Xunbai stood aside observing the man and asked with a smile, “Brother, we’re from out of town. We’ve heard this Meeting Spring Temple is quite efficacious?”
The man looked up at Jiang Xunbai and Lu Qingtang and began speaking enthusiastically, “Then you’ve come to the right place. Our Meeting Spring Temple is the most efficacious. Look at the continuous stream of worshippers here – most have come to fulfill vows.”
“Fulfill vows?”
“Exactly. Take me for example – these past few days I kept dreaming of my late wife who passed away years ago. After praying here once, I never saw her in my dreams again…”
Lu Qingtang listened while glancing at the bamboo basket in his hand, noticing an exquisite sachet inside. She asked, “Brother, this sachet of yours is so exquisite. Where did you get it?”
The man replied, “Young lady, you have a discerning eye. This sachet was obtained from the temple.”
“Where can we get one?”
Lu Qingtang’s eyes sparkled, looking utterly adorable. The man naturally answered truthfully, “Young lady, if you go to the backyard and pray before that Buddha statue, if the Buddha can help fulfill your wish, a sachet will miraculously appear. Take it home and enshrine it for seven days, and your wish is certain to come true.”
“Thank you, brother.”
After the man left, Lu Qingtang and Jiang Xunbai looked at each other, both seeing curiosity reflected in the other’s eyes.
Lu Qingtang asked, “Shall we go pray?”
Jiang Xunbai nodded, “Let’s go take a look.”
The two walked in the direction the man had indicated. According to him, such an efficacious Buddha statue should attract many people, but when Lu Qingtang and Jiang Xunbai entered the backyard, the place was nearly deserted, completely separated from the dense crowd of worshippers outside.
Lu Qingtang took a few more steps forward. When she clearly saw what stood before them, she nearly gasped aloud. Noticing her sudden halt, Jiang Xunbai followed her gaze and saw they were facing a Buddha statue with a human face and serpent body.
The serpent body coiled and intertwined, vivid and lifelike, while the human face had closed eyes and lips curved in a faint, elusive smile, exuding an eerie atmosphere.
Not far from the deity statue, a Tang flower bloomed in radiant splendor.
Though it was mid-June, a Tang flower tree at the mountaintop Meeting Spring Temple bloomed with blazing intensity.
Ignoring the discomfort in her heart, Lu Qingtang whispered, “Shall we pray?”
Jiang Xunbai replied, “I’ve never believed in matters of gods and ghosts.”
Lu Qingtang shifted her gaze to his wrist, looking at the cord tied to Buddhist beads visible against his fair skin, and teased, “Then why are you wearing Buddhist beads?”
Jiang Xunbai joked, “Perhaps someone from a previous life prayed for me.”
Otherwise, these Buddhist beads wouldn’t have been with him since birth.
The Jiang family had initially been quite concerned about these beads, but when they saw the beads not only didn’t harm Jiang Xunbai but could even serve as his magical treasure, they gradually relaxed their vigilance.
“Hey—why are you crying?”
Jiang Xunbai turned to see a clear tear suddenly tracing down Lu Qingtang’s face.
Lu Qingtang herself didn’t know why she started crying upon seeing Jiang Xunbai’s Buddhist beads. Though Jiang Xunbai had clearly said it in a joking tone, she instantly felt overwhelmingly oppressed, as if endless sorrow surged toward her, threatening to swallow her completely.
When he saw the tears on Lu Qingtang’s face, Jiang Xunbai immediately felt as if his heart were being sliced by knives. He instinctively reached out to wipe her tears, but in the next moment, his hand froze abruptly in mid-air, his jade-white, slender fingers suspended in emptiness.
As if realizing the impropriety of his gesture, he retrieved a handkerchief from his storage bag and handed it to Lu Qingtang. Unconsciously bending down, he gazed at her intently and softened his voice: “Don’t cry.”
Lu Qingtang accepted the handkerchief and looked up at Jiang Xunbai, allowing tears to stream freely down her face. She murmured, “I keep feeling… as if I’ve seen these Buddhist beads somewhere before.”