novelThe Green Mountain Temple
| ← Ch.142 | Ch.144 → |
It was well known that the Four Great Families had teamed up to fight against Hua Qiyue, and the fact that Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo had broken the array to extinguish the evil had become a story on everybody's lips.
The Old Madame's eyes swiveled around with a trace of shrewd light."If Prince Nan agrees to go with you, I will give you permission."
Hua Qiyue's mouth twisted while she remarked in her heart, "Isn't that reasonable? I go there for the sake of my previous life. Why should I involve people who are irrelevant?"
"Just because you broke the array with Prince Nan last time, I will completely rest assured to have him with you. If he doesn't go with you, then you give up the trip, " the Old Madame announced blandly.
Hua Qiyue had no choice but to agree. Although Bingqing also made mistakes, for the sake of her growing up in the Hua's Mansion, the Old Madame asked her to have a rest first. On the whole, the Old Madame was a nostalgic woman.
Hua Liting came over when he heard the news. He was startled and angry to learn that Hua Mengshi disappeared in the temple, and then got quite worried to know that Hua Qiyue was going to the Green Mountain Temple.
A little warmth flooded Hua Qiyue's heart. Hua Liting finally began to worry about her, which indicated that her efforts were not in vain.
Whereas, Hua Liting was relieved when he learned that Hua Qiyue would ask Prince Nan to the temple with her. After breakfast, Hua Qiyue went to the Prince Nan's mansion to meet Yun Shimo and asked him to go to the Green Mountain Temple with her.
As luck would have it, Yun Shimo was refining medicine pellets for Yun Xuan to make him stronger. It would take him about a day, so he promised Hua Qiyue that he would go to the Green Mountain Temple one day later.
Even so, the Old Madame still wanted Hua Qiyue to go with Yun Shimo. Since Hua Qiyue insisted on leaving before he did, the Old Madame had to agree.
Hua Qiyue left that night before telling Tianci to study hard and not to make trouble.
Actually, Tianci had grown bolder since he went to school, and few could do anything about it.
Hua Qiyue traveled in a carriage with Youshui, Lv Xin and Bingqing at night. On the way they met several groups of robbers, but they were all beaten to pieces by Hua Qiyue. Since Hua Qiyue dealt with each group of robbers in one move, it did not waste much time.
Later, Hua Qiyue felt tired of the slow pace of the horse, so she went to the driver seat and asked to spur the horse. As soon as she sat down, she reached out her hand and injected spiritual energy into the horse!
The horse gave a loud neigh, which frightened the driver out of his wits, but it went at a gallop 10 times faster than before. As a result, the rest three-day trip to the Green Mountain Temple was reduced to half a day.
It was dusk when they got out of the carriage. The setting sun was red as blood. The Green Mountain Temple was located at the foot of Green Mountain, facing a lotus pond, surrounded by mountains. There was only one mountain road from the foot of the mountain to the outside world that could be crossed by a horse-drawn carriage.
Surrounded by huge trees, the temple was not big, and looked rather desolate.
After getting out of the carriage, Bingqing led them to the temple. She was really shocked. The journey would have taken more than three days, or even four at a slow speed, but Hua Qiyue only took half a day...
How incredible it was! If she had known that Hua Qiyue was so powerful, she should have advised Hua Mengshi not to offend her. Unfortunately, it was too late. No one knew whether Hua Mengshi was dead or alive, and it really rattled her.
Two Buddhist nuns heard the sound of the carriage and came out of the temple. When they saw Bingqing, they involuntary cried out in surprise, "Miss Bing..."
"Master Yi Nian, Master Yi Kong, this is our First Miss. First Miss, this is Master Yi Nian, and this is Master Yi Kong. The abbess Master Yi Zhen should be in the temple, " Bingqing said.
The two nuns cast a few glances at Hua Qiyue, and greeted her politely. Then the abbess came out, her face extremely pale.
Abbess Yi Zhen looked about 40 years old and had delicate features. She was so stunning that few people in secular world could match her. Hua Qiyue did not expect such a gorgeous woman to be an abbess in such a desolate place.
"Amitabha! Very good indeed! Miss Hua, are you here for Second Miss Hua?"
After some pleasantries, the abbess asked directly.
In fact, Hua Qiyue had a second purpose— to find out who that person was, which was more important to her.
"Indeed. I wonder if you have any suggestions, Abbess Yi Zhen, " Hua Qiyue said as she walked into the temple. It was a very humble temple, and she guessed that no one came here to worship. However, it was strange that these Buddhist nuns should have stayed here so many years.
They might have a reason.
Abbess Yi Zhen appeared calm and composed, jsut like a fairy nun beyond worldly, without any secular smell on her.
"I've lived here for more than 20 years, and nothing special has ever happened. Yet Second Miss Hua disappeared here. I was negligent. There's rich anima energy here, and perhaps there's an inviolable creature hidden somewhere..." said Abbess Yi Zhen.
Hua Qiyue frowned slightly, thinking, "Does she mean that Hua Mengshi might have accidentally disturbed the creature and been swallowed or taken away?"
"Have you noticed anything strange?"
"One of my disciples, Yi Nian got up last night, and suddenly saw a big black cloud in the south. The cloud took on a human form and made her cry in horror. But when I got up, the cloud was gone, " Abbess Yi Zhen said truthfully.
At her words, Yi Nian and the other nuns all turned pale.
That was all Yi Zhen knew, and Hua Qiyue could get no more information from her. Then the nuns went to the kitchen, busy making vegetarian dishes.
Abbess Yi Zhen told Hua Qiyue that she came to live here over 20 years ago and went to the outside world to beg for alms from time to time, and that all her four disciples were all orphans and fetched and brought up by her in the temple.
Hua Qiyue walked around and looked at the room where Hua Mengshi had slept, but found nothing strange.
"The key clue now is the dark cloud that Abbess Yi Zhen mentioned. Is that the transformation from an evil beast?" She wondered.
Unable to find any clues, Hua Qiyue went out of the temple to see the pond of lotus blossoms. The lotus blossoms were as white as snow, swaying in the wind and sending out bursts of fragrance.
"It's September now. Why are there lotus blossoms? Isn't it time the lotus run to seed?" Hua Qiyue felt very strange."But there's full of anima energy. Maybe that's why these lotus blossoms are so vibrant. It's not surprising that they blossom and bear fruit at the same time."
Half of the pond had no lotus blossoms, and that was where the nuns washed their clothes.
Around the pond were vegetable fields, planted with green vegetables. The nuns were self-sufficient, and lived a carefree and content life in such a desolate place. It would have been better for them if Hua Mengshi hadn't disappeared here.
Unfortunately, Hua Mengshi's disappearance cast a shadow over everyone's mind.
Behind the temple stood the Green Mountain, on which the huge trees were more luxuriant. Hua Qiyue went through the vegetable field and tried to enter the woods, but was immediately stopped by her maidservants.
"Miss, don't go in there... What shall we do if you disappear too?" Lv Xin screamed, her face white with fear.
"Don't wander about, First Miss. I hope to find the Second Miss, but I don't want you to have any accident!" Bingqing also cried.
Hua Qiyue paused a little, looked at Bingqing, and saw that her face was full of tears."I've done that to you, and caused the Second Miss to come here for quiet reflection. Don't you hate me?"
"I dare not hate... And it was the Second Miss's fault; but I failed to dissuade her, or stop her, " sobbed Bingqing. She did try to persuade Hua Mengshi, but Hua Mengshi didn't listen to her, and she had to give up.
At this time, Abbess Yi Zhen came out and remarked softly, "A person's life and death are meant to be, Miss Hua. You'd better live here in peace and quiet for a few days, and then go home."
Hua Qiyue got angry with her words. It was, after all, a matter of human life. She didn't like Hua Mengshi, but her unexplained disappearance might have something to do with the mystery man.
However, when she looked at Abbess Yi Zhen's quiet face which showed no contempt for life, her anger faded peacefully. She actually harbored a selfish motive that she didn't really worry about Hua Mengshi.
How could she really care about a girl who wanted to kill her? She came here because she thought this case had something to do with the mystery man.
"You're right, but sometimes you have to fight for it. Otherwise, even if something falls into your lap, you won't get it because others will steal it." Her poor joke lightened the mood.
Abbess Yi Zhen smiled and walked straight to the kitchen behind her without comment.
Smoke spiraled from the kitchen, and the sun had sunk in the west. Night was beginning to fall, and the temple was ablaze with lights.
Hua Qiyue and her maidservants looked around and went through the temple again, but could not find any clue either.
Everyone could not help feeling a little discouraged, thinking that perhaps Hua Mengshi had disappeared not from the temple, but from outside.
"Perhaps something drew the Second Miss outside, and the black cloud that Master Yi Nian saw carried her away?" Said Bingqing, depressed.
"Maybe." Hua Qiyue nodded. She wasn't sure what had happened until the truth came out.
Lv Xin and Youshui exchanged glances and both felt a little scared. If they'd known it was so weird, they wouldn't have insisted on following Hua Qiyue here.
"Let's rest first. We've got plenty of time anyway, " Hua Qiyue stated lightly. Hua Mengshi disappeared at midnight, so she thought something special might happen in the middle of the night.
Those servant girls were relieved a lot to hear this. At this moment, dinner was ready. Abbess Yi Zhen asked them to have a vegetarian meal. Hua Qiyue donated 10 ounces of silver to the Green Mountain Temple.
Abbess Yi Zhen didn't want to accept it, because 10 ounces of silver were enough for an ordinary family to spend two or three years. These nuns were self-sufficient in the Green Mountain Temple and only needed to buy some rice, so they didn't need so much money.
But because she couldn't get Hua Qiyue to get her money back, she had to accep it.
The vegetarian meal in the Green Mountain Temple was very delicious. The green vegetables and tofu tasted of meat.
That night, the temple's light looked lonely among the four mountains.
Lv Xin, Youshui and Bingqing were afraid, so they wanted to sleep in the same wing with Hua Qiyue. The Green Mountain Temple had four rooms, each with two beds. Finally, Bingqing took the initiative to spread the quilt on the floor to sleep on the ground.
Hua Qiyue didn't urge them to leave. After all, in this environment, the odd twitter of birds, the chirps of the nameless insects and the inexplicable silence that went deep into the soul made her even feel a little creepy.
After all, it was the first time they had spent the night in such a lonely place. Although there were several girls, Hua Qiyue somehow grew uneasy.
All the four girls could not fall asleep.
Though they were lying on their beds, they all watched the moonlight slanting into the room. Soon, it was midnight.
Hua Mengshi disappeared between eleven and one in the midnight. What could have happened during that time?
| ← Ch. 142 | Ch. 144 → |