Yuan Kong turned around, his gaze directed toward the source of the voice.
On the bed sat a woman in white calmly, her eyes sweeping over him.
The woman was beautiful with distinctive features, and her temperament carried a slight chill. For some reason, Yuan Kong felt he had seen her before, as if they had met once, but he couldn't recall it clearly.
Yuan Kong's gaze fell upon the woman, only to discover his powers of perception were completely ineffective against her.
A faint smile appeared on the woman's face as her gaze focused slightly, yet she remained silent.
After waiting a moment, Yuan Kong spoke slowly: "May I ask what business you have with me, benefactor?"
The woman seemed slightly surprised as she replied:
"Your words are much smoother than before, your straightforward nature has changed. Indeed, experience teaches quickly."
Yuan lifted his chin. This person was likely the abbot of Orthodox Sound Monastery mentioned as an inconvenient encounter. Moreover, her tone suggested someone who had known him since childhood.
He asked cautiously: "Do you know me?"
"I don't know you, and you don't know me," the woman stood up. "But there is something you would likely recognize clearly."
Yuan grew wary: "What is it?"
Before he could finish speaking, his vision blurred. The white woman was suddenly before him.
His eyes widened, but his mouth was forced open by magic. Before he could understand what was happening, something like a pellet had already been swallowed.
What was that?!
Poison?!
Or something to control him?!
The movement seemed instantaneous. The next moment, when Yuan Kong found he could move again, he immediately controlled his spiritual energy, attempting to expel the pellet from his abdomen.
But then, an inexplicably familiar sensation surged from his lower abdomen outward.
That feeling Yuan Kong could never forget and feared intensely returned like a shadow.
Why?!
Why?!
Even here on the Western Ox Continent, even at Orthodox Sound Monastery, why could he still consume a pellet refined by Chu Xingchen?!
Could he never escape this damned pellet in this lifetime?
Indeed, more sinister than Chu Xingchen himself are Chu Xingchen's pellets!
Bai Xuanling's expression remained calm as she looked at Yuan Kong. She had to admit, Chu Xingchen was an exceptionally cunning person.
For this little monk to actually make it here.
Bai Xuanling had naturally seen Yuan Kong at Li Yingling's birthday banquet. After all, a Buddha Child was rare, and an unattended Buddha Child wandering outside was even more peculiar. So she had taken the opportunity to ask Chu Xingchen and others.
She understood the general situation, but that was as far as it went. After all, this matter didn't warrant much more thought from Bai Xuanling.
But Buddha Children were valuable. Moreover, Chu Xingchen seemed to have done him favors, and she had done favors for Chu Xingchen as well. These favors could be exchanged.
Time was tight. Some traces had already been noticed by Orthodox Sound Monastery, so Bai Xuanling chose the fastest method.
Yuan Kong opened his eyes, forcing a smile on his face as his voice trembled:
"I wish... to meet... the Buddha."
Bai Xuanling didn't hesitate. She sent out a burst of spiritual energy, instantly dispersing the medicinal power in Yuan Kong's body.
Wasn't it said that Yuan Kong consumed Chu Xingchen's pellets as if they were meals?
Why was his reaction so extreme?
As Yuan Kong felt the medicinal power dissipating in his body, the extremely uncomfortable reactions gradually faded. He no longer cared who the person before him was. To hell with it all. Yuan Kong said with a aggrieved tone:
"You could have just spoken. Why feed me pellets? Ask yourself, are pellets made by Chu Xingchen even fit for human consumption?"
Facing Yuan Kong's extremely aggrieved gaze, Bai Xuanling's expression remained calm:
"Time was urgent. This thing recognizes its host quickly."
Hearing this, Yuan Kong was speechless for a moment... After a while, he silently got up and examined Bai Xuanling from head to toe:
"You look a bit familiar. I must have seen you before."
"You have indeed seen me. At Li Yingling's birthday banquet, I sat at the same table as Chu Xingchen."
Yuan Kong recalled slightly. That day had been bustling, and he had also been assigned a task by Chu Xingchen. Unfortunately, he hadn't attended the actual banquet, presumably because his relationship wasn't close enough, though not many people had gone...
After a moment, Yuan Kong remembered. The woman before him had indeed attended the banquet.
Anyone who could attend likely had a good relationship with Chu Xingchen, and Chu Xingchen seemed quite respectful toward her.
"I remember now." Yuan Kong sighed, looking at Bai Xuanling as he asked, "Have you come to ask me to do something?"
Bai Xuanling looked at the readily accepting Yuan Kong and suddenly asked curiously:
"You're quite straightforward. Is Chu Xingchen really that trustworthy to you?"
"Because when I was foolish, he didn't deceive me." Yuan Kong sighed.
"Besides these pellets being inhumane, and besides, I still owe him a large amount of spirit stones he hasn't pressed me to repay. I suppose I'm on the run now."
"Though I hate to admit it, he really is a good person."
Yuan Kong's gaze turned: "But you're strange. This is Orthodox Sound Monastery.
I'm a Buddha Child. You actually want to turn me?
Aren't you being a bit too bold?"
Bai Xuanling suddenly found Yuan Kong amusing, a faint smile appearing on her face:
"Naturally because of Chu Xingchen. That boy has exceptional judgment and never misjudges people."
Yuan Kong tilted his head, getting to the point: "The abbot of Orthodox Sound Monastery will send me away tomorrow. If there's anything to be done, it must be tonight.
Moreover, I can tell that abbot has profound cultivation. Your secret is probably with him."
"Whether I steal or deceive, it won't work even as a Buddha Child. He won't be fooled by me."
Bai Xuanling's expression remained calm: "Do you think I'm here gathering intelligence within the temple?"
"Isn't that so?" Yuan Kong asked back.
"Still just a child." Bai Xuanling's tone was calm.
"Adults only reveal their trump cards at the decisive moment. The abbot you spoke with today once held a high position on Spirit Mountain Pure Land."
Hearing this, Yuan Kong was stunned. Once high on a Buddha position, now shackled?
Bai Xuanling continued: "In the past, the Buddha willingly stepped down from his golden lotus, covered in mud. Do you think he intended to save the people from suffering?"
"Might as well speak plainly, senior." Yuan Kong placed his palms together.
Bai Xuanling's gaze focused as she said seriously: "If Spirit Mountain has already reached this state, what of the situation beneath Spirit Mountain?"
"The shackles on that Buddha are not binding him, but what he is suppressing. He is responsible for locking everything away, ensuring the secrets below remain unknown, keeping the Pure Land pure."
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