Chapter 045
Chapter 45: The Secret in the Sutra
When the Third Princess’s beloved vase shattered into a field of shards, Lin Yu Ning wanted to die on the spot. Everyone knew her Elder Cousin, the Buddha’s Chosen, was cold and far above the dust of the world, like an exiled immortal. Asking for his calligraphy might be harder than climbing to the sky.
She had never asked him before. She did not understand the Buddhist Dharma at all. She only knew she was a little afraid of him.
Lost and numb, Lin Yu Ning wandered outside the Auspicious Cloud Residence for a full half hour before mustering all her courage to step inside.
Under the Bodhi Tree, Lin Qing Xuan sat cross-legged in a moon-white monk’s robe, eyes closed, reciting scripture. His features were fine as a painting, his nose straight, his lips thin. A faint scent of sandalwood surrounded him. He looked sacred and untouchable. The cold air around him felt like it could freeze the wind.
“Elder Cousin,” Lin Yu Ning whispered, her voice thin and shaky with tears.
Lin Qing Xuan’s lashes trembled. He opened his eyes. They were deep and distant, holding no emotion at all, like a god above the clouds looking down on ants. One glance made Lin Yu Ning want to flee.
“What is it,” he asked. His voice was clear as jade striking jade, and just as cold.
Knees trembling, she forced herself to tell him everything. By the end, tears glimmered again. She braced herself to be turned away.
Instead, Lin Qing Xuan listened in silence, thought a moment, and said: “Go to the inner room of my study and take one scroll.”
“What?” Lin Yu Ning’s head snapped up, eyes wide. She could hardly believe it. He had agreed.
Joy crashed through her fear. She stammered: “Th-thank you, Elder Cousin. I’ll go right now.”
“Have Xiao Man take you,” he added quietly, then closed his eyes again, as if he had never spoken.
In the back courtyard, Xiao Man was humming while she hung quilts to dry when Lin Yu Ning rushed in like a startled rabbit. Lin Yu Ning grabbed her sleeve and blurted: “Sister Xiao Man! Elder Cousin, the Buddha’s Chosen, told you to take me to the inner room of the study to fetch a sutra!”
Xiao Man froze mid-motion, her mind full of questions. The inner room of Lin Qing Xuan’s study was stricter than the Imperial Palace. No one went in except him. And now he allowed Lin Yu Ning, the walking disaster, to enter?
Even with doubts churning, Xiao Man led Lin Yu Ning to the study. She pushed open the heavy zitan-wood door. A calm mix of sandalwood and ink washed over them.
The room was simple but refined. Most striking of all was the giant bookshelf lining the back wall of the inner room, packed tight with scrolls. Relying on memory, Xiao Man pulled over a short stool, stepped up carefully, and took down a copy of the “Heart Sutra” from the very top shelf. It was wrapped in cloud brocade and mounted with great care. She remembered Lin Qing Xuan had finished it only recently. The strokes seemed to glow with quiet light. It had to be a masterpiece.
Holding the scroll with both hands, she began to turn to pass it to Lin Yu Ning when the stool wobbled. With a gasp, Xiao Man lost her footing. The scroll slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.
The fine mount sprang open. A long sheet of white paper spread across the smooth boards. As it unfurled, a small yellowed talisman the size of a palm fluttered free and spun to the ground.
Curious, Lin Yu Ning bent toward it and asked: “Huh? What is this?”
“Don’t touch it,” Xiao Man snapped. She lunged and snatched the talisman first, crushing it tight in her fist.
Startled by her fierce tone, Lin Yu Ning drew back with a mutter: “Fine, I won’t pick it up. No need to yell…”
Xiao Man did not hear. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst. She slowly opened her hand. Her breath caught. Five cinnabar characters glared up at her, bright as blood and sharp as knives:
[Seal to Suppress the Heart Demon.]
Suppress… the Heart Demon?
A cold shock ran through Xiao Man. [This is for Tuan Tuan? He said he is Tuan Tuan and Tuan Tuan is him. So he has been suppressing it. He lied to me.]
The thought cut her open like an icy blade. Reeling, she stumbled. Her knee slammed into the base of the bookshelf.
There was a tiny click, like a hidden catch turning. Lin Yu Ning shrieked and jumped back, face drained of color. Before their eyes, the massive zitan shelf, which would take four or five strong men to move, slid half an inch on its own. A black seam yawned between the shelf and the wall.
Xiao Man had no time to react before a thick, inky mist burst from the gap.
Tuan Tuan?
No. This presence was a hundred times more terrifying.
The black vapor flashed through the room and vanished.
A heartbeat later, Xiao Man grunted in pain and collapsed to her knees as if all strength had been ripped from her. Agony crashed over her, not in the body but in the soul, like a red-hot brand searing and grinding again and again. Her ears rang. Darkness pulsed at the edges of her sight.
[This isn’t my pain. It’s the Empathic Link.]
Her pupils shrank to pinpoints. A terrible thought froze her blood. [Lin Qing Xuan is in trouble.]
At the same time, under the Bodhi Tree, the Prayer Beads moving through Lin Qing Xuan’s fingers snapped without warning. One hundred and eight smooth seeds scattered across the floor.
His eyes flew open. Color drained from his face. He clutched his chest. Blood burst from his lips and stained his moon-white robe.
Pain like a raging tide swallowed him whole. [The Sealing Ward in the study was triggered.]
His mind spun, splitting under the pressure, but one fact burned clear: [The Heart Demon I have kept down for so long, wearing it away day and night with the Buddhist Dharma, has escaped again.]
And because he had closed the Empathic Link on his side only, he realized with dread: [The link will open. My pain will strike her as well.]