Chapter 25 – Fourty Thousand; A Debt Collector’s Story
Warnings for this chapter: Child abuse, implied rape, child rape. It starts from the exorcism scene - I will put in a line break - and continues until the end of the chapter. Please do not read if this will harm you. If you miss the line break, the scene begins at ‘But now, not only did Wang Tian You tremble in shock and regain his sanity when the staff was pressed to his forehead, he actually became more irritable.’
In his ears, there was a sound of clear and long breathing. Ji Changye had tossed and turned for most of the night and didn’t sleep a wink. He had dark circles under his eyes the next day. In contrast You Shu had exclusively occupied a large bed, stretching his hands and feet everywhere. Since he slept very sweetly, his fair skin had a healthy blush, radiating health and vigor.
"Sleep well last night?" Ji Chengye seemed to casually ask.
"Slept well, the bed was very big so I could roll around everywhere." You Shu nodded while stuffing himself with mushroom dumplings.
Ji Changye let out an "ah". His somewhat gloomy face becoming increasingly ugly. He probed, "Since you slept well, how about you sleep alone in the future? Can get used to it?"
You Shu hesitated for a moment, and mumbled, "It’s a fresh experience so I don’t really much, but it’ll fade after a few days. I definitely won’t get used to it. Can I come back to accompany Master every now and then?" If this mouthful of Dragon Qi finished and Master didn’t let him climb onto the bed, how could it be good? So he can't make it definite, he has to give himself some leeway.”
Ji Changye’s gloomy face slightly eased. His tightened eyebrows also loosened a bit and his lips perked up to show a slight smile, "I thought you had so much fun playing till you threw me far away."
"I will never forget the Master." You Shu swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded seriously. He will naturally never forget Master’s life-saving grace.
Ji Changye was finally satisfied. He used his chopsticks to tap his forehead and smiled, "It seems you have a conscience. Fine, quickly eat up." The stuffy feeling that accumulated all night finally dissipated completely. He frequently picked some dishes for the youth and drank two more bowls of porridge himself.
After finishing breakfast, they heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from outside the courtyard. It was accompanied by noisy clamours, as if a lot of people had entered Bodhi Temple. Ji Changye was wiping You Shu’s mouth with a handkerchief. When he heard the bustle, he knit his eyebrows and commanded, "Master Xuan Ming is holding a ceremony? Ah Da, Ah Er, go out and see."
Both of them received their orders and left. They brought reliable information a moment later, "Reporting to the Master, the East courtyard is indeed holding a ceremony. Wang Xianggan and Wang Lao Taiye have come. Xiao Guifei’s maternal family, the Crown Prince fu, Duke Weiguo fu, Lin Fu, Fang fu ..... all of them sent someone as a witness. "
Blu: fu – official residence (a.k.a. your home)
You Shu’s eyes brightened. He quietly pulled the Master’s clothes, silently expressing that he wanted to watch. The three little ghosts stood outside the courtyard and waved at him, their expressions were also very urgent.
Whenever he was together with the youth, Ji Changye automatically threw the thoughts of alienating the other party to the back of his mind. Taking care of a person for ten years in a row, this feeling has already become a part of him. Even if the thought of parting pops up again, he will still be very reluctant when the time comes to let him go. It’s just that he had never put himself in a situation where he felt the pain of forcefully parting.
He habitually held the youth’s wrist and smiled, "Come, let’s go look have a look at the bustle." When he stepped out of the courtyard, he saw knocking a walking monk striking the wooden fish. He shook his head and sighed, "That Wang Tian You is not worth saving. Master Xuan Ming would certainly regret it."
You Shu shook his arm and asked," Master, do you know something?" He also expected that Master Xuan Ming will regret it, extremely regret it.
"Buddha said that I cannot say." Ji Changye fingertip rested against the youth’s soft lips, his smile secretive.
You Shu pouted. He looked like he was kissing this finger. Ji Changye immediately retracted his fingertips, rubbed them in his sleeves, and rubbed them repeatedly. It took awhile for the invisible flame on the skin to be wiped out.
The two of them arrived at the main hall and saw Wang Tian You wearing a kasaya while sitting on a copper lotus seat. He was naked with his outer skin covered with dark red Sanskrit writings. He seemed a little uneasy, restlessly twisting, his bloodshot eyes sweeping through the crowd. At his gaze, everyone felt as if a sticky, cold, poisonous snake was crawling on their body and the hairs on their arms were rising.
"He truly seems to be possessed? Wang gongzi is usually not like this." It was unknown who whispered but it immediately attracted a lot of agreements. The Wang family felt very pleased when they heard this. Even Master Xuan Ming said that his family’s Tian You was possessed. The previous disrespectful behaviour of the An Hua Junzhu could be taken away in one stroke, and his daughter's marriage could be kept.
Some of the family members of the Crown Prince fu originally did not believe it but they were shocked after staring for a while. In their hearts they thought, ‘He truly looks like he was possessed. We should also invite some monks to chant some scriptures for a few days for An Hua Junzhu.’ Their intention of investigating the culprit weakened.
Master Xuan Ming and many other monks sat around the lotus seat with a wooden fish placed in front. The sun was rising and everything was drenched in sunlight. Wang Tian You in the middle of the altar gradually calmed down. Then, Master Xuan Ming opened his eyes and recited the scriptures while striking the wooden fish. After the first passage of scriptures, the remaining monks also slowly joined in. The sounds echoed over the temple, causing one’s vision and hearing to clear and their hearts to feel respectful . Everyone who came to witness the ceremony quickly found an open space to kneel down, either to close their eyes to pray or mumble to themselves, wholeheartedly thinking that Wang Tian You would be able to restore his mind under the vast Dharma.
Blu: Dharma – teachings of Buddha
However, everyone thought wrong. Not only did Wang Tian You not recover his sanity, he actually became more moody and irritable under the unending Buddhist chants. He began to move frequently, with his feet straightened, hanging on the edge of the lotus platform, and wiping off the Sanskrit on the skin with both hands with an extremely impatient look.
You Shu and Master were sitting in the corner most position spectating. The three little ghosts were afraid of Ji Changye, so they stood at a distance.
"Dharma already cannot influence him." Ji Changye shook his head and sneered. He looked to the boy beside him, his voice full of tenderness and pride, "It is still my family’s You Shu who is the most well-behaved. The Wang family will inevitably regret it in the future."
"I do not care for their remorse. It’s enough that I have Master." You Shu timely flattered.
If only it wasn’t the wrong occasion, Ji Changye would really laugh out loud. He hadn't heard such sweet words for a long time. For a moment, he felt that the pleasant aftertaste was endless.
The two people hid in the corner and talked in whispers, but misfortune broke out on the altar. Wang Tianyou's eyes were getting redder and his face was getting darker. After erasing Sanskrit from his body, he got up and jumped and scolded, "Let me go! Son of a bitch, you all actually dare to lock me up! Dad, cut down all these bald monkeys, hack all of them down! "
Blu: Bald monkeys – a mocking way to say ‘Buddhist monk’
It seems that, to prevent him from being bewitched during the ceremony, Xuan Ming asked for two chains on his ankles, tied to the base of the lotus platform. He can now only move within a small area like a trapped, wounded beast.
Blu: a small area – it’s actually 3 1/3 cm x 3 1/3cm. Can someone do the math? I’m too lazy (nah, my math just sucks).
Wang Xianggan was very embarrassed at being arrogantly ordered to do things by his son. He repeatedly bowed with his hands clasped in front of him towards the crow while the monks are indifferent, still chanting sutras non-stop.
"This ghost is really powerful! Even the《Vanquish the Demon Sutra》cannot keep him under control!” It was unknown who sighed.
"Yes ah, yes ah. Twenty years ago, I personally saw Master Xuan Ming exorcise evil spirits for Zhang Gongzhu. I even heard that that was the King of Ghosts, but it wasn’t as fierce as the one attached to Wang gongzi. The scripture was read for only a quarter of an hour, the ghost king dissipated into green smoke." Someone echoed in a low voice.
Blu: ah – usually added at the end to soften the sentence. Can be used to express other things like surprise, melancholy, frustration, etc. /// Gongzhu – Princess (higher than Junzhu, which also means Princess)
"What do you think he actually did to attract such a ghost?"
"Who knows. I'm only afraid that when Master Xuan Ming is no longer able to deal with him, he will harm us."
At these words, everyone started to become timid and looked around, trying to find an empty place to slip out. Just at this moment, Master Xuan Ming opened his eyes, walked to the lotus platform, put the purple gold staff on Wang Tian You's forehead, and softly chanted an incantation. This staff is the treasure of the temple. It can destroy all the demons and monsters in the world. Its owner is an eminent monk who had attained the highest state of spiritual enlightenment. However, in the past, no one has ever used it when exorcising evil. The reason was because it was too powerful and was harmful to the peace of the universe.
Therefore, a rumour like this was born from the people - in front of the Purple Gold Buddhist Staff, even the King of Hell had to make way.
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But now, not only did Wang Tian You tremble in shock and regain his sanity when the staff was pressed to his forehead, he actually became more irritable. He pushed away Master Xuan Ming and shouted loudly, "Old bald donkey, quickly scram for this Laozi! Do you like to read the scriptures? Fine, change to a novice monk to come up and read to Laozi. The younger they are, the more pampered they are, the more tender they are, the better! Laozi loves it the most when they chant scriptures. I won’t get tired of listening to it for ten or eight days. That’s right, where is Laozi’s most favorite little novice monk? Quickly bring him here! Zhangfu, Zhangfu, quickly carry him over! He is under my bed covered in ice."
Blu: Laozi – used to say ‘I’ in anger, contempt or arrogantly. Can also mean ‘father’ // Samui: its used a lot in dianxia novels when the character arrogantly, or not, considers themselves a master of something another person is asking about./// Blu: Also, this motherfucking sorry excuse for a human should just die. I’ll even make sure to spit on his grave. *spit*
Zhangfu was Wang Tian You’s male servant. At the moment, he was also mixed in the crowd. When he heard these words, he was scared limp to the ground and cried," Master your demons are obstructing you! Where is there a novice monk!"
The onlookers just thought that Wang Tian You’s heart and mind had been taken over and was talking nonsense. However, Master Xuan Ming and the monks stopped chanting, looking at him with disbelief and horror.
"You just said ‘novice monk’, what ‘novice monk’?" Master Xuan Ming's voice slightly trembled. The disciples sitting around the altar also stood up one after another, their expressions frightful.
Ji Changye, who was hidden from view behind other people, shook his head and sigh, "Yesterday, Master asked me to look for his missing disciple, but it seems that he had already met with misfortune." His face was compassionate, but in reality at the moment of Xuan Ming opened his mouth, he had already guessed the end of the little novice monk. And as for who the culprit was, he kept it a secret to completely bring down Wang Xianggan. In order to ensure You Shu’s safety and to break the balance of all parties, he has always sent people to keep an eye on the Wang family. Naturally, he knew the nature and every action of the Wang family. At present, the course of the incident is slightly different from his original plan, but the effect is better.
You Shu also knew the inside story but could not help but look back to the young novice monk.
The little novice monk floated to Master Xuan Ming’s side, again and again crying “Master” while shedding two lines of bloody tears. But no one except the youth could see this miserable scene.
Blu: AH BLOODY HELL, MY FUCKING HEART HURTS FOR THIS BOI.
Master Xuan Ming was still questioning Wang Tian You, but what got in return was the other party’s merciless ridicule, "The young novice monk is your good little disciple, Miao Chen ah. On the first day I came here, I’ve already tasted him. Worthy to be called Master Xuan Ming’s last disciple. Really raised with soft skin and tender meat. When I ate it into my mouth, there was a sweet taste with the mix of sandalwood and milk too, ha ha ha ha ...... "
Wang Tian You raised his arms high and savagely laughed but the Wang family were deathly pale. As soon as Wang Xianggan slightly waved his hand, several guards pushed out of the crowd and slipped out to the East courtyard to check it out. Fortunately, Master Xuan Ming snapped out of it early and sternly berated, "Everyone is not allowed to move! Especially the whole of Wang-daren’s family!" His eyes burned with rage and his face turned ashen. It was clear that he was on the verge of losing control.
Very soon, dozens of martial monks surrounded the Wang family. There were several monks who quickly ran towards the backyard.
Except for Wang Tian You’s ear-piercing laughter, there wasn’t even the slightest sound. The monks of the Bodhi Temple slowly stood in one place, watching everyone from the Wang family intently, the hostile situation could explode at any moment. However, Ji Changye was very relaxed and pulled the boy into his arms and hugged him, and patted him on the back in a soothing manner.
THE CORNER
BLU: Wang Tian You, you piece of (insert colorful choice of words)
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