Chapter 18 Blood and Tears "Qingfu." Xiao Yan called out in response...

Chapter 18 Blood and Tears "Qingfu." Xiao Yan called out in response...

"Qingfu." Xiao Yan called out, and Qingfu, who was waiting outside the door, brought in a sandalwood box and opened it in front of the old lady.

Seeing that there were significantly more scriptures than she had ordered, the old lady glanced at Granny Gui without saying a word, and simply picked up the top one and opened it.

Granny Gui stood with her head down, not saying a word. Xiao Quexian, on the other hand, smiled and reached out to pull out one book from the middle and one from the bottom of the stack of scriptures. "Let me see if my third sister's handwriting has improved again. Sigh, it seems I need to practice my handwriting more. Otherwise, even if you ask someone to copy Buddhist scriptures for you, Grandma, they won't approve of me."

Xiao Quexian's face showed a hint of smugness, as if she had gotten a good deal but was still acting innocent.

After casually flipping through it, the old lady nodded with satisfaction: "It was copied with sincerity."

In truth, Xiao Yan Hui's pickiness was only about 80-90% similar to the original owner's, thanks to Xiao Yan Hui's own calligraphy skills and the muscle memory left by the original owner. However, the old lady couldn't see the slight difference at all. Clearly, although she said she wanted to see if the calligraphy had improved, her actual cultivation was not at that level.

Like the old lady, Xiao Quexian was also putting on an act. She glanced at the scripture in her hand and then at the one in the old lady's hand, and found that the characters were the same. This was Xiao Yanhui's handwriting.

"It seems that although Xiao Yan Hui is a bit tough on the outside, she still doesn't dare to disobey the old lady in her heart." After discovering this, Xiao Que Xian felt a little admiration for the second wife.

Don't be fooled by her mother's unassuming demeanor and seemingly unremarkable intelligence. While she and the eldest son's family may have their share of wins and losses in their power struggles, she is adept at seizing crucial opportunities and never suffers a loss in matters of great importance.

Even from her perspective now, having lived a second life, the things her mother did—whether it was bribing and winning over Granny Gui back then, or secretly planting a seed of resentment in Xiao Yan Hui's heart at the old lady's place—were all extremely farsighted.

"Look, look, I hired a top-notch expert at great expense. These scriptures cost me a full twenty taels of silver. Even I can tell they're fake. You don't seem to be able to tell the difference either." Xiao Yanhui muttered to herself as she sipped her tea, marveling at how well the money had been spent.

The old lady glanced through the scriptures and put them down. Then she looked at her two granddaughters with affection and said, "This Dharma assembly is not only to pray for blessings for the family, but also to ask the Bodhisattva to bless your marriages."

"The nuns of Jing'an Hall are indifferent to fame and fortune and do not publicize it, but we devout lay Buddhists all know that the marriage tree in the courtyard of the back hall is extremely efficacious. Xian'er, since you have already been engaged, write down your and Qin family's eldest son's birth dates together, and Yan Hui only writes down his own. After offering them to the Bodhisattva, hang them on the marriage tree and pray that the Bodhisattva will take good care of you in the future."

"Yes," the two agreed together after the old lady finished speaking.

......

"Clang!" The deep and resonant sound of the bell rang out in the mountains, startling flocks of birds into flight.

"Damn it, the flock of birds is in disarray."

In the mountains and forests, as the leader clenched his fist and waved it a few times in the air, the nearly ten men dressed in gray-blue outfits behind him all stopped in their tracks.

They were initially trying to track their prey by following the tracks in the soil, the direction of fallen trees, and the movements of flocks of birds, but their prey was no pushover. The tracks on the ground were becoming fewer and fewer, and only the occasional startled birds could provide faint directions. But now...

Looking up at the flock of birds that had been startled into flight by the sound of the bell and were now fluttering their wings and circling in disarray, the pursuers knew that they would likely find nothing today.

"Hasn't the time for the morning bell already passed? Where did this sound come from?" Wei Xun gripped the short sword at his waist with slight annoyance.

Hearing a few more bell tolls in the distance, a man stepped out from behind Wei Xun: "It sounds like a temple is holding a religious ceremony. Boss, why don't we go out and check the surrounding ground to see if we can find any traces?"

“The enemy is quite adept at concealing their tracks. We shouldn’t waste time; we’ve already lost them. Let’s go down the mountain and report back to our lord before making further plans.” Wei Xun made his decision after a moment’s thought.

"How many temples are there around here?" Wei Xun suddenly asked again.

"Among the peaks in Fuhu Mountain that are relatively close to us, there are four larger temples: two Buddhist temples, one Taoist temple, and one nunnery. However, there are at least ten smaller temples, such as mountain god temples, goddess temples, and wild temples. If we also include the mountain dwellings and hunters' huts, there are quite a few places in the mountains where we can temporarily stay, and it is difficult for us to explore them all."

The subordinates clearly had some understanding of the surrounding area. But it was precisely because they understood that they knew how difficult it was to find someone who was willing to hide in such a large mountain. Moreover, it was the height of summer, and they didn't necessarily need to find a place to stay. They could find a spacious high ground or simply jump onto a sturdy tree and spend the night there.

“No, one of them has suffered a serious knife wound. If we don’t want him to die, we’ll definitely need to find a place for him to rest and recuperate,” Wei Xun said, revealing information his subordinates hadn’t known before.

"You, you, you..." He quickly pointed out eight people: "You will split up and keep watch at those four temples. The nunneries are full of women who are easy to control, and the Taoist temples always keep good medicine. If they want to find medicine to treat their injuries, these two places are the most likely. You must pay special attention and send a message by carrier pigeon immediately if anything seems amiss."

"Yes!" All the subordinates clasped their fists in obedience, then each found their target direction and disappeared into the forest in a few quick movements.

......

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one," Xiao Yan Hui knelt on the prayer mat, her eyes silent, her ears filled with a continuous, melodious chanting of scriptures, while her mouth kept opening and closing, seemingly reciting scriptures, but in reality, she was just going through the motions.

At this moment, the offering table under Guanyin's seat was already filled with fresh flowers, fruits, lamps, and various offerings. Master Jingfa of Jing'an Hall knelt at the front, striking the wooden fish. The old lady was one step behind her, and Xiao Quexian and Xiao Yanhui were a little behind. There was a fire basin in front of each of them. After the nuns chanted a round, they would burn one of the scriptures in their hands.

The air was thick with the smell of smoke and sandalwood. The chanting was mostly indistinct, with the words only becoming clear at the very last few lines. Xiao Yan Hui strongly suspected that she wasn't the only one pretending to be a performer.

Besides being a charlatan, she was also a tool for burning scriptures. As the sun rose higher, even in the mountains, one could feel the surrounding temperature gradually increasing.

In addition, the place was crowded and smoky, and she was so close to the fire pit that her hair was about to be singed. It was really not a pleasant experience. It was a pity that she was able to kneel here because of the old lady's kindness. She had to endure it until the ceremony was over.

"One, two, three..." He tossed down a book and was about to begin a new round of recitation.

A loud thud was heard from behind, followed by a gasp.

"Ah, blood, tears of blood..."

The exclamation broke the murmur of the chanting and the slightly gloomy atmosphere in the room. Almost all the nuns who were chanting stopped and opened their half-closed eyes.

Immediately afterwards, gasps and exclamations rang out.

At this moment, the compassionate-faced Guanyin statue on the altar began to shed tears of blood, one drop at a time. The tears dripped down her white jade face and landed on a neatly folded piece of yellow paper below, splashing onto its surface to form a poignant and ominous blood flower.

On the offering table were two identical statues of Guanyin. These were the statues that the old lady had asked the nun to consecrate at this Dharma assembly so that Xiao Yanhui and Xiao Quexian could take them back to worship.

The blood and tears that were dripping at this moment belonged to Xiao Quexian. As for the yellow paper where the blood and tears fell, it was the one with the birth dates of Xiao Quexian and the eldest son of the Qin family written on it.

Faced with such a terrifying and bizarre scene, the people in the room were almost in complete chaos. Some were stunned, some retreated in fear, and others kowtowed repeatedly to the statue of Guanyin.

"Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, what's wrong?" The nun Jingfa, who was closest to the prayer beads, was filled with fear. Her face was deathly pale, and her hands trembled like leaves as she fiddled with the prayer beads.

"Wah!" Xiao Quexian suddenly let out a loud cry, then buried her face in the old lady's arms: "Grandma, Grandma, save me! This Bodhisattva's blood and tears have fallen on my marriage fortune slip, this is a terrible omen! How can your granddaughter dare to marry? Waaaaah..."

"I thought you were up to some kind of trickery? Turns out it's this." Xiao Yan, who hadn't been frightened at all, calmly stood up and looked at Xiao Quexian, who was crying but speaking very clearly, with a look of eager anticipation in her eyes.

It's just blood and tears, she understands that, she's watched "Beyond the Realm of Conscience".

"Xiao Yan Hui, what are you doing? Stop! This is a grave disrespect to the Bodhisattva!" While crying and cautiously observing the reactions of those around her, Xiao Que Xian was initially pleased with the success of her scheme. However, she was surprised to see Xiao Yan Hui already standing before the tear-drop Guanyin statue, and she was actually reaching out her hand towards it...

Xiao Quexian could no longer contain her grief, panic, and tears, and she rebuked Xiao Yan Hui sternly.

"Third girl, what are you doing? Stop her! Granny Gui, stop her quickly!" The old lady, whose heart was already pounding with fear, was now even more furious at this outrageous act.

Not only did Granny Gui rush in from outside the hall, but even the several nuns standing beside her, still shaken, hurriedly stood up and reached out to stop Xiao Yan Hui's disrespectful act.

"Such disrespect, no wonder..." Master Jing finally spoke, her tone implying that she wanted to pin the matter of the Bodhisattva shedding tears of blood on Xiao Yan Hui.