Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 2326: Chapter 2325: Gao De Comes to the Door

Gao De pressed his hands together in prayer, reciting a Buddhist invocation, saying, ”As a monk, I always keep my word. Staying here, even if one day this place becomes unbalanced, I will ensure that the vicious ghosts can’t escape and harm the citizens of the city.”

Fang Luo’s expression gradually softened, ”Do as you please, but I hope you honor your words and don’t speak of this to anyone.”

”Alright, I will remember this,” the monk replied.

At this moment, footsteps sounded from inside the room; it was Aluo awakening. She slowly walked out of the room, somewhat confused, and asked, ”Aqing, did we have visitors?”

”Just a monk passing by, asking for a drink of water,” Fang Luo replied.

”Oh,” Aluo replied, ”I wonder if the Master is hungry. Would you bring a bowl of vegetarian food?”

”Okay,” Fang Qing responded.

Gao De, however, clasped his hands together in prayer again, saying, ”Amitabha, there’s no need. I’ve disturbed the benefactor’s rest, my monk’s farewells.”

After speaking, he strode out of the Fang Residence. Bai Ruozhu watched his figure from behind, thinking to herself that after coughing up blood, he certainly wouldn’t be in the mood for food.

”Aqing, are you alright?” Aluo asked worriedly. Her expression showed that she completely forgot about previously recognizing Fang Luo, still thinking that her son was her deceased husband.

”It’s fine, just someone passing by, nothing related to the Yueqiu Tribe,” Fang Luo said softly.

Aluo breathed a sigh of relief, ”I saw you didn’t invite him for a meal and thought there was a problem, scared me half to death.”

”No, I saw he seemed in a hurry to be on his way, so I didn’t want to delay his journey,” Fang Luo explained.

Aluo finally felt reassured.

Bai Ruozhu once again felt a wave of sleepiness sweep over her, not wanting to quickly exit the Illusory Realm. She then saw Jiang Yichun beside her.

”Achun!” Bai Ruozhu called him softly.

Jiang Yichun slowly opened his eyes, ”Did I fall asleep? Did I enter the Illusory Realm? Why can’t I remember seeing anything?”

”Yes, we entered the Illusory Realm, I saw it,” Bai Ruozhu was feeling heavy-hearted; Fang Qing simply wasn’t Fang Qing, not over thirty years old and not a Merfolk.

She squatted down in despair, which startled Jiang Yichun. He crouched beside her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, asking, ”Ruozhu, what’s wrong?”

Bai Ruozhu took several deep breaths, finally calming her emotions a little, ”Let’s leave first, then we’ll talk.”

The two returned to the inn, and Jianqi and the others heard the commotion and rushed over. Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun had only been gone for two hours, why did they return so quickly today?

Bai Ruozhu sat on the chair without speaking for a long time, Jiang Yichun poured her a cup of tea, and after she drank it, she said, ”We hadn’t gone far before entering the Illusory Realm again, and Achun saw nothing. I vaguely feel that it’s Aluo who wants me to see these things, so even if I didn’t want to, she would find a way for me to see them.”

Bai Ruozhu rubbed her temples, ”But I don’t know if she wants me to retreat in the face of difficulty or if she wants me to help her with something.”

”What exactly did you see?” Jiang Yichun asked worriedly.

”The Fang Qing we met two days ago isn’t the original Fang Qing, but Fang Luo, the son of him and Aluo!” Bai Ruozhu took a deep breath, ”In the Illusory Realm, I saw him being disguised, and Aluo saw it. Aluo’s mental condition is problematic; she was immediately agitated, and Fang Luo admitted he was Aluo. But after Aluo slept, she forgot what happened before and still mistook Fang Luo for Fang Qing!”

”What? Then what about Fang Qing?” Qiu Zhi couldn’t believe it and asked.

”I don’t know, I didn’t see that part. Probably Aluo couldn’t accept Fang Qing’s death, so that’s why that part wasn’t in her dream,” Bai Ruozhu scratched her head, continuing, ”And there’s another point you definitely wouldn’t expect; a monk once appeared in the Illusory Realm, claiming to be Puming Monk from Xinchan Temple, and he is Gao De!”

”Do you mean Gao De is aware, helping Aluo hide this from us?” Jianqi frowned; previously, they hadn’t suspected Gao De at all.

Bai Ruozhu sighed, ”That matter must be over ten years old; back then, Fang Luo was still youthful and needed a lot of makeup to resemble his father. Gao De said those wronged souls shouldn’t stay in the world; he wanted to guide them. He promised Fang Luo he wouldn’t harm Aluo, saying he’d stop interfering with Fang Luo and Aluo if he couldn’t succeed. In the end, he failed.”

Everyone’s expression kept changing. Either of these two pieces of news could shock everyone.

Just as the room fell into silence, a sudden knocking on the door from outside startled Bai Ruozhu.

”Who is it?” Jianqi asked.

”It’s me, Gao De,” came Gao De’s voice. Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun exchanged glances; what was Gao De doing here now?

In the Illusory Realm, Bai Ruozhu thought Gao De was a decent monk, but if he was staying here just to watch Aluo, why did he suddenly knock on Fang’s door that night, awakening Aluo from her dream?

Bai Ruozhu signaled Jianqi with her eyes, and Jianqi opened the door, seeing Gao De standing at the door wearing a tattered and faded robe.

”Bai benefactor knows now, right? Can we talk privately?” Gao De clasped his hands together in a prayer gesture, greeting and speaking.

Bai Ruozhu found it extremely bizarre, mainly because Gao De had grown his hair, in no way resembling a monk. Yet, here he was, wearing a monk’s robe and speaking ”Amitabha,” how could it not be strange?

”Master Puming, please come in,” Bai Ruozhu gestured to invite him in.

Gao De smiled bitterly, ”No longer worthy of the Dharma title. I’ve let Xinchan Temple down.”

He walked into the room, respectfully greeted everyone, and then sat to the side.

Everyone watched him, waiting for his explanation. He sighed and said, ”I won’t talk about the happenings in the Illusory Realm, let’s continue with what happened next.”

It turned out Gao De found a place to stay and adopted an identity to integrate into the local people’s lives. Later, he joined the government office as an officer, solely to keep an eye on the local situation. Unexpectedly, he stayed for many years, and as he grew accustomed to mundane life, he became less inclined to return to Xinchan Temple.

Concerning the abstinence from alcohol, meat, and killing, he broke all of them, gradually losing himself in worldly affairs.

Originally, he was protected by the Buddhist light, unaffected by Aluo’s Illusory Realm, but in the last two years he too entered the Illusory Realm, gradually forgetting his true identity, even forgetting he was the Puming Monk of Xinchan Temple, only remembered the fabricated background he created.

When Bai Ruozhu and the others arrived looking for him, he still hadn’t resumed all his memory. The reason he went to knock on the door that night was genuine memory loss, with doubts rising in his heart, leading him to ask Fang Luo.

Later, Tang Feng asked him about the Golden Buddha on his neck, and he vaguely felt he forgot something, so he gradually began to remember.

”I let my master down, let my senior brother who cared for me all those years down, too ashamed to return to Xinchan Temple,” Puming spoke in pain, tears suddenly wetting his face, ”How could I succumb to temptation, falling into worldly distractions?”