Jiang Nanshu took her time before she slowly opened the door.
The wide coffee-colored monk’s robe looked empty on her.
Due to being thin, it gave the impression of a child wearing an adult’s clothes stealthily.
Her pale cheeks showed a hint of unhealthy flush, even the corners of her eyes were somewhat reddened. Jiang Nanshu, looking at Zhou Yanxu, spoke in a hoarse voice, “I am sick.”
“I will find some medicine for you. When you feel better, you can go down the mountain. There are no hospitals up here.” Zhou Yanxu kindly responded to her and turned to go to the next meditation room to fetch the medicine.
Two out of the three sentences he spoke were about her descending the mountain.
Jiang Nanshu followed him begrudgingly.
If the memories of the two worlds could possibly be restored, could Zhou Yanxu remember her as well?
“Can you check my forehead and see if I have a fever?” Jiang Nanshu asked from behind him.
Zhou Yanxu didn’t stop walking, “I am a monk; it’s not appropriate for me to touch a woman’s skin. I’ll get you a thermometer instead.”
Jiang Nanshu: “…”
“In this day and age, monks have compassionate hearts. I am sick, can’t you just help me check?”
“Sorry, I can’t cure you.”
He searched through a wooden cabinet, found a few pills, and handed them to her, “These are cold medicine, they should make you feel better.”
Jiang Nanshu snatched them, found a cup, and poured some warm water. She never fought against her own body.
The person in front of her exemplified keeping others at a great distance.
Jiang Nanshu felt a surge of frustration inside her, with nowhere to vent it, she kept bombarding Zhou Yanxu with questions.
“Why haven’t you shaved your head since you became a monk? Could it be that your faith isn’t sincere?”
“I practice with my hair.”
Jiang Nanshu seemed surprised by something new, “Oh, then if you return to secular life, you skip the awkward phase of growing your hair out.”
Zhou Yanxu gave her a glance, with a smile on his lips, “I’ll go shave my head, but I won’t return to secular life.”
Seeing him about to leave, Jiang Nanshu quickly grabbed him, “Zhou Yanxu… I was just joking.”
“Call me Gui Yuan, and please don’t pull on me, it could bring negative attention to the temple.”
Jiang Nanshu held his hand stiffly, and under his gaze, slowly let go, feigning indifference but stubbornly retorting, “I’m not too keen on touching strangers either, I hope Master Guiyuan doesn’t mind.”
“That is good.” Zhou Yanxu, seeing she had taken the medicine and rotating Buddha beads in his right hand, slowly said, “The temple’s kitchen has breakfast available. You can go eat. I need to go practice.”
Zhou Yanxu’s practice was reciting scriptures beneath the statue of Buddha.
Jiang Nanshu didn’t go.
Instead, she went to the kitchen, got a bowl of plain porridge, and a bun, which made up her breakfast.
Due to being sick, she didn’t have much of an appetite.
What affected her mood more deeply was Zhou Yanxu.
See?
Some people, even when you meet them,
They don’t recognize you. They might not feel anything by what they say, but Jiang Nanshu found it heartbreaking.
She thought, it would have been better had she never met Zhou Yanxu.
Whether it was the Zhou Yanxu from the original world or this world, he always kept her at a distance.
As Jiang Nanshu was lost in thought, suddenly, a plate appeared in front of her with a few vegetarian fried dumplings. The young monk placed it in front of her with some remorse, “I’m sorry about my attitude towards you last night… it’s mainly because Master Guiyuan is quite handsome and many female tourists come to offer incense but actually want to take advantage of him. Some find excuses to stay here and hit on Master Guiyuan. After being fed up, Master used to go out wandering. I was afraid this time Master would leave again, so I was quite rude to you.” The young monk, looking somewhat aggrieved, continued, “Master already scolded me yesterday, told me I shouldn’t be so rude, and I want to apologize to you again.”
“These dumplings were made this morning, and they taste quite good. You should try some.”
Jiang Nanshu glanced at him, a kid about ten years old with a shiny bald head, who apologetically rubbed his head.
Jiang Nanshu smiled at him and picked up a vegetarian dumpling, “Thank you.”
Seeing that she accepted his kindness, the young monk finally relaxed and showed a genuine smile, “Take your time eating, there’s more if it’s not enough.”
After having porridge, finishing the dumplings and steamed buns, Jiang Nanshu took a walk around the small temple.
Thinking of not yet having any news about Le Yi, she turned her previously off mobile phone back on.
There were no new messages from Lu Qingyan.
Perhaps he knew she had turned her phone off…
Jiang Nanshu felt a bit uneasy, she did not know why, her fingertips lightly swiped, and all the message records disappeared, she did not want to see them.
Just as she was about to go ask Zhou Zhenghui about the situation, a news alert suddenly popped up on her screen.
“Last night’s heavy rain triggered a severe landslide in the Cenling Mountain area of Port City, resulting in two deaths and one severe injury, for more details, see the report…”
Cenling Mountain area.
Wasn’t that where she went yesterday to save Le Yi?
The terrain there was indeed treacherous.
Jiang Nanshu quickly clicked in, the news stated, “It is confirmed that the victims were driving through the landslide area when the accident occurred, causing their deaths, identified as ’Jiang’ and ’Jiang’ two individuals. ’Yuan’, who was severely injured and still in the hospital, was just passing by when the accident occurred.”
Dead?
It really is karma.
The three of them had met with an accident and two had died without her involvement, Yuan Feng severely injured in the hospital, uncertain if he could be saved.
Isn’t it the case of wrongdoing eventually leading to self-destruction?
Jiang Nanshu wanted to laugh, wondering if Yan Bai would be frightened when he saw this news.
Instructing Jiang Hongfa to set fire and kill Zhou Yanxu, and now repeating the old trick, having just-released-from-prison Jiang Hongfa kill Le Yi.
His intentions were something Jiang Nanshu could guess with her toes.
He might have discovered something, wanting to kill Le Yi and destroy the body first, then push his chosen Su Ran to Zhou Zhenghui as a daughter.
Unfortunately.
He was still one step too slow.
Jiang Nanshu quickly called Zhou Zhenghui to inquire, and learned that Le Yi was out of danger but still unconscious, needing time to recover, she breathed a sigh of relief.
It was good that the person was safe.
They briefly talked.
She told him her location and asked him to take a couple of days off for her from the crew, then hung up the call.
Her phone’s battery didn’t last five minutes before it completely died.
Jiang Nanshu did not want to charge her phone, wishing to stay quietly at Yulin Temple for a couple of days.
She waited for him in the corridor Zhou Yanxu was sure to pass through.
It wasn’t until ten in the morning that he returned.
At the sight of her, he was somewhat surprised, “You haven’t left yet?”
“Do you really wish I would leave?” Jiang Nanshu asked, turning her head as she sat on the long wooden bench beside the crabapple tree.
Their distance was close enough that stretching out a hand could touch each other, he could reach her by simply moving around the pillar.
But Zhou Yanxu was proper and never crossed the line.
“This is a temple, not suitable for tourists to stay.”
“I’m sick, can I stay and recuperate before leaving?” Jiang Nanshu’s normally bright complexion was now somewhat pale and weak.
Her lightly pursed lips were pale, dry, and starting to peel.
After a long while, Zhou Yanxu softly said, “Suit yourself.”