Chapter 185: The Buddhist Monk Under the Moon
The sun sets in the west and the crescent moon rises in the east.

The cool breeze in Shaoshi Mountain stirs up wisps of mist, lingering between the green mountains and bamboos. The night sky is dotted with stars, quiet and deep, with a far-reaching artistic conception.

There is a side hall in the Guanyin Temple, located high on the top of the mountain. It is only connected by a small path in the northwest direction, and the other three sides are all abysses. Looking around, the wall is thousands of feet high and there is no end in sight, just like the bloody mouth of a giant beast, hanging down below this hall.

Under a bright moon, Liu Xunyi was lying on the eaves of the palace roof, one foot casually resting on the eaves, the other hanging in the air in the endless abyss, with a lazy posture and a happy expression. He had a sword across his chest, a pot of wine in his hand, and stared at the night sky with a daze, looking at the vastness of the world, his heart seemed to be filled with emotion, but also seemed calm.

"When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup to ask the blue sky. I wonder what year it is in the palace in heaven tonight?" Liu Xunyi murmured to himself while drinking, as if in a dream, "People have joys and sorrows, separations and reunions; the moon waxes and wanes; it is impossible to have everything in life. I wish you a long life, and we can enjoy the moon together even though we are thousands miles apart..." Before he knew it, his eyes were already blurred with tears, and his heart was filled with melancholy, which turned into a tear of lovesickness, which silently slid across his cheek and fell off the cliff along with his heart.

"The 'Qin Tianjiu' in Yingchuan is not the real 'Qin Tianjiu', then who is he?" Liu Xunyi gradually regained consciousness and pondered silently, puzzled, "That person not only pretended to be Qin Tianjiu, but also knew a lot about me. Not only did he know my name, he even knew exactly when I entered the Xianwang Mansion. Who is he...? What is his purpose in doing this? Could it be that he did not come for the Pan and Qin families, but deliberately targeted the Xianwang Mansion? Or... targeted me?"

"Zheng! Zheng Zheng!"

Just when Liu Xunyi was racking his brain to figure it out, a pleasant and long sound of a piano suddenly came from Guanyin Courtyard.

The sound of the piano is lingering, sad and undulating, as if hiding a hundred kinds of sadness, a thousand kinds of desolation, a myriad of bitterness and endless sorrow.

The sound of the zither is smooth and graceful, like the sound of flowing water in the mountains, and it seems to be continuous and repeated three times, making the lotus weep with dew and the cuckoo cry blood.

"Miss Pan is playing the piano again..."

Liu Xunyi was already familiar with this sound of the piano. Along the way, Pan Yuyin often played a piece of music in the dead of night to ease the pain in her heart.

The mountains and rivers, the morning and evening, the flowers, birds, fish and insects, the moon and the flowers, can all be gradually experienced in Pan Yuyin's piano music. Although Liu Xunyi is not proficient in music, he is often intoxicated by her piano music and cannot extricate himself.

It was the same tonight. The sound of the piano made him forget all the troubles in his mind. He calmed down and drank the last few drops of wine in the pot. Then he closed his eyes, took the cliff as his bed, the starry sky as his blanket, and the gentle night breeze as his companion, and just had a good dream.

In the pavilion of Guanyin Temple, Pan Yuyin was alone, absorbed in playing the piano, and unaware of Wu Chan approaching slowly from afar.

Wuchan, following Xuanming's order, came to Guanyin Temple to deliver two buckets of water for the guests staying there. As soon as he entered the gate, he was deeply attracted by the sudden sound of the piano.

Wu Chan, who grew up in Shaolin Temple, had hardly heard any other music except the morning bells and evening drums, the chanting of scriptures, and the sound of wooden fish. At this moment, hearing the lingering sound of the piano, like resentment, longing, crying, and complaining, it was gentle and lingering, just like the sound of nature. How could the young monk, who had not yet opened his mind, not be deeply attracted by it?

Wuchan carried two buckets and tiptoed towards the pavilion, fearing that he would make any noise and interrupt the beautiful sound of the piano.

After a while, Wuchan secretly hid in the corner and looked carefully towards the source of the piano sound. He saw a graceful figure sitting beside the piano in the pavilion, with two delicate hands, plucking the strings lightly like flowing water, and the piano sound flowed out like magic.

The moonlight was pouring down as Pan Yuyin sat in the pavilion. The night wind blew and her white clothes fluttered in the wind, making her look like a fairy, stunningly beautiful.

Exquisite facial features, flawless skin, slender figure, and nimble hands. All of this deeply impressed the eyes of the inexperienced Wu Chan, making him look a little dazed. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel emotional. He didn't know whether he was moved by the sound of the piano or attracted by the fairy. He was so obsessed with listening and intoxicated by looking that he gradually forgot the passage of time.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the piano gradually died down, and Wuchan's heart returned to his body from the sky. Seeing Pan Yuyin was about to put away the piano and leave, Wuchan suddenly realized that he was too rude, and immediately felt ashamed. His face turned red, and he turned around to run away, but he bumped into Tang Cong, who was smiling.

At some point, Tang Cong, Liao Chuan, and Liao Hai were already standing behind Wu Chan, but Wu Chan was attracted by Pan Yuyin and the sound of the piano and did not notice it in time.

"what!"

Wuchan screamed in fear, which immediately disturbed Pan Yuyin in the pavilion. Before Pan Yuyin could go forward to find out what was going on, Tang Cong's teasing voice came quietly from the corner of the wall: "Oh! You little monk are so bold, how dare you hide here and spy on my master's wife?"

When Tang Cong said this, Wu Chan felt so ashamed that he wanted to find a hole to crawl into. Pan Yuyin blushed and glared at them angrily. It was unclear whether she was angry because of Tang Cong's joke or because of Wu Chan's peeping.

"No...no..." Wuchan explained hastily, "I just...just came to deliver water..." After that, he quickly stuffed the two buckets in his hands to Liao Chuan and Liao Hai, turned around and was about to run away.

"Hey! Don't leave in such a hurry!" Tang Cong put his arm around Wuchan's shoulders and said with a sly smile, "You monks don't tell lies. Do you dare to tell the Buddha again whether you peeped at my master's wife just now?"

“Little monk… little monk…” Wuchan was already nervous, and now seeing Pan Yuyin looking at him with a complicated expression, he blushed with shame and bowed repeatedly, “Little monk was attracted by the sound of the piano of the female donor, so… so… please forgive me, donors! Please forgive me, female donor!”

Looking at Wu Chan who was trembling with fear and speaking incoherently, Tang Cong and the others couldn't help but smile at each other.

Tang Cong joked, "Little monk, are you tempted by worldly desires? Tsk tsk tsk, it's no wonder. After all, you are at the age of full vigor!" After that, Tang Cong patted Wuchan's strong chest lightly a few times, grinning, "Not bad, it's quite strong, hehe..." "Don't make fun of me, I dare not blaspheme to you, a female donor... I swear to the Buddha..."

"When you were peeking at her just now, did you ever think of the Buddha?" Tang Cong sneered, "If you were peeking at an unmarried girl, it would be fine. But Miss Pan is the wife of Sect Master Liu after all, and we can't just ignore it. You, a little monk, are so bold that you actually set your sights on someone else's young wife. It's a bit... As disciples of the Jing Sect, how can we just turn a blind eye when we see the Sect Master's wife being flirted with?"

“No! No!” Wuchan was so anxious that tears were about to come out. He repeatedly explained to Pan Yuyin, “I only listened to the music and never dared to have any improper thoughts, let alone any frivolous intentions. I hope the female donor will understand…”

"Forget it!" Liao Chuan yelled, "Let's go tell the Shaolin abbot about this and see how he explains it. Shaolin Temple has always prided itself on its strict rules and regulations, but now this lecherous monk is openly peeping at girls. It's really abominable!"

After that, Liao Chuan wanted to drag Wu Chan to Xuan Ming to seek justice. Wu Chan was so frightened that his legs went weak, his eyes were full of grievances, and he couldn't say anything about the pain in his heart.

"Wait a minute! The Palace Master and the Seventh Master are in the temple right now, discussing Zen with Master Xuanming. If we go there rashly, we might disturb them." Tang Cong shook his head seriously and said, "Besides, if this matter gets out of hand, punishing the monk will be a minor matter, but tarnishing the reputation of Buddhism will not be good."

Hearing this, Wuchan nodded repeatedly, looked at Tang Cong expectantly, and pleaded, "Don't tell the abbot about this, otherwise I will be blamed for it."

"It's not impossible not to tell the abbot..." Tang Cong rolled his eyes, staring at the timid Wu Chan with ill intentions, and said with a smile, "But shouldn't the young master give us some benefits?"

"I am penniless..."

"Hey! Benefits don't necessarily have to be money." Tang Cong called Wu Chan to come closer and whispered, "It can also be something else. For example... tomorrow you can find a chance to put this packet of laxative in Qin Tianjiu's tea for me..." As he spoke, Tang Cong took out a packet of medicine powder from his arms and stuffed it into Wu Chan's hand without saying anything.

"No! No! This is absolutely not allowed!" Wu Chan was shocked and shook his head repeatedly, "Tomorrow, Master Qin Shi will compete with the Pan family. If you do this, aren't you cheating for personal gain?"

"Qin Tianjiu is such a skilled martial artist, a packet of laxatives won't kill him." Tang Cong urged, "You are the Shaolin abbot's favorite disciple, no one will doubt you. Anyway, you will be the one serving tea and water tomorrow, it's just a matter of convenience..."

“That’s not possible!” Wuchan said righteously, “You should tie me up and send me to the abbot! I would rather be expelled from Shaolin by the abbot than do such a despicable thing.”

"Aren't you afraid that Shaolin's reputation will be damaged?"

"Buddhism is so vast, how can it be easily tarnished by a few rumors?" Wuchan replied firmly, "I'm sorry that I can't do what you say. I will never agree to it! As for what happened just now..." When Wuchan mentioned the peeping, his expression suddenly became a little depressed, "I did make a mistake. Master is right, 'Do not look at what is inappropriate, do not listen to what is inappropriate'..."

"you……"

"Look, the backyard is on fire!"

Just when Tang Cong was trying every possible way to persuade Wu Chan, Pan Yuyin in the pavilion suddenly pointed to the backyard of Guanyin and shouted loudly: "That seems to be the room where grandpa lives, put out the fire..." Before she finished speaking, she ran towards the backyard desperately.

"Madam is in danger, come back quickly!"

At this moment, Tang Cong ignored his jokes with Wu Chan and hurriedly called out to him and quickly flew after him. Liao Chuan and Liao Hai quickly picked up the buckets and rushed to the backyard at a rapid pace.

"Why did the fire suddenly break out?"

Wu Chan was stunned at first, but when he saw the billowing smoke and flickering flames, he realized that something was wrong. His face suddenly changed, and then his figure flashed and disappeared from the spot, and went to put out the fire with Tang Cong and others.

As if disturbed by the noise, Liu Xunyi, who was sleeping soundly on the eaves, suddenly opened his eyes.

Seeing the flames rising to the sky in the courtyard, with people bustling around and making a lot of noise, Liu Xunyi was immediately shocked. But before he could go down to put out the fire, he suddenly noticed that there was a swift and sharp black shadow in the sea of ​​fire, shuttling back and forth between several rooms. Under the billowing smoke, this person was looming and looked very strange.

"When you encounter a fire, you don't rush to escape? Instead, you dive into the fire..." Liu Xunyi muttered to himself. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind and he asked in surprise, "Could it be..."

Before Liu Xunyi could guess what was going on, he suddenly heard Xu Heng's loud shout coming from the yard.

"Where did this thief come from to set fire here?"

……

(End of this chapter)