Chapter 15 Section five

The bright moon hangs in the sky. There are a few small floating clouds around the moon, which are drifting eastward. As long as you look up at the sky, you can see drifting clouds between the dark cedar branches. At this time, both Qingming and Boya were standing outside Zhizhi's monk's room. "Just as usual..." Beforehand, Seimei had already instructed Zhizhi to do so. Not long ago, there was the sound of Zhizhi reciting the "Zunsheng Dharani Sutra", but the sound has stopped, and the monk's room is silent. The night atmosphere, so cold as if it could penetrate the bone marrow, shrouded Seimei and Boya.

The branches of the fir trees rustled. "When are we going to wait? Qingming..." Boya whispered. "Isn't it better to bring wine?" Qingming replied. "I don't need alcohol!" Boya replied angrily, amplifying his voice slightly. "You feel cold?" "Although I can't say it's not cold, I can bear this level. I can even take off my clothes." Boya replied in a tone that he didn't care if he took off his clothes. "I know." Just when Seimei also quietly responded... "My lord, my lord..." There was a call from the monk's room.Not a sensible voice.

"Qingming..." Boya lowered his voice and looked at Qingming. I heard... Seimei nodded. There was another wise murmur in response from the monk's room. "Tonight I have invited Master Qingming." Hearing the wise response, Seimei stepped forward. "Let's go, Boya." "Ok." With his left hand on the long knife worn around his waist, Boya followed behind Qingming. Opening the gate, Qingming quietly stepped into the monk's room following the moonlight. I saw Zhizhi lying on his back under the blanket in the darkness, soundly asleep, but his lips were still muttering to himself.

"Should we still burn incense tonight?" Zhizhi closed his eyes and raised his head slightly. "No need, since Lord Qingming is here tonight, there is no need to burn incense." Hearing the voice say so, the wise head lay down again and began to snore softly. In the dark beside Zhizhi's pillow, a man dressed as a monk appeared dimly. The monk sat on the floor, looking up at Qingming. "Thank you, Seimei-sama." The age looks to be about eighty years old.It can also be seen that he is not from this world.Because a little moonlight sneaked into the room from the side door and shone on the monk, but the moonlight could penetrate the monk's body, faintly showing the desk behind the monk.

Seimei sat down in front of the monk. "I heard that your Excellency has something to tell you. What's your business?" Qingming asked the monk. Boya stood behind Qingming as before. "I implore my lord to help the poor." If you look closely, you can see that the monk is emaciated. "What is it that needs my help?" "To be honest, Pindao can't go back." "Go back?" "Hmm." The monk nodded and continued, "I was originally a monk from Mount Rui. Later, I abandoned Buddhism and practiced immortality, and left Mount Rui..."

"Oh." "After continuing to practice in Kumano and Yoshino, although I have learned the way of the fur fairy, I can't reach the realm of immortality." "yes." "After all, everything in this world cannot escape the law of life and death, things change and stars move. Even if you escape into the immortal way, you can't stop the aging of your body." "I see." "At this age when I will die at any time, I can't help but miss all the things in the past, and I came to Ruishan again before I knew it." "..." "I have come, but there are still people who know the poor way in this monastery. I can't shamelessly appear in front of my old acquaintances, so I hid quietly in the mountains, and I accidentally heard this wise man recite "Zunshengtuo The voice of the Ronnie Sutra.”

The monk smiled. "So Pindao sneaked into this place and listened to the "Zunsheng Dharani Sutra" every night. How could he know that when he wanted to leave, he couldn't go back. I also tried various methods such as burning incense, but in vain I became an inseparable person. The predicament of opening this place. Although Akechi suggested finding another monk with higher magic power, I really don’t want to reappear in front of my old acquaintance. I happened to think of your name, Abe Seimei-sama, so I ask Akechi to trouble you to come here..." "Then, shall I just let Your Excellency leave this place?"

"exactly……" "Since this is the case, you must tell the whole story to do it." "Tell me all about it?" "yes." "What else do I need to explain?" "This scent...it should be black agarwood, right?" "Exactly." "It is recorded in the scriptures that this incense can permeate three thousand worlds. If you can't go back with the smoke of the black agarwood incense, there should be a very special reason..." Seimei seemed to be thinking about something, after a while... "Is there anyone you yearn for here?"

"Simu?" "Did you meet the woman you yearned for here? Or did you meet the wise mage sleeping over there..." "How is it possible? I have no yearning for that wise man." "Then, to which woman..." "Hmm..." The monk hesitated to speak. "Then please forgive me for doing something ignorant." After Seimei finished speaking, she took out a flower from her bosom. It is a gentian flower that has withered, but the petals are still slightly blue. "This is the last one to bloom in my garden." Qingming blew lightly on the flower: "Cai Chong, this is your last job."

After finishing speaking, Seimei placed the flowers on the floor. The gentian flowers swelled in the darkness, and a woman in a blue twelve-single garment appeared out of thin air. "Qingming, this is..." Boya couldn't help crying out. It turned out that it was the woman who was standing in the courtyard at noon, reporting to Seimei about Chimei's visit. "Qingchong, you bring the woman whom the monk longs for here." The woman—no, it was the caterpillar—gives a quiet salute, and then raises her face. Before he raised his face completely, the figure of caterpillar had already melted into the darkness.

after awhile…… Where the caterpillar disappeared, the silhouette of the caterpillar appeared again. This time Qingchong is not alone, Qingchong is holding another woman by the hand.Is a beautiful dancer. After the whole body appeared, Qingchong smiled at Qingming and disappeared again. Only the dancer was left at the scene. "Is it this one?" Seimei asked the monk. The monk stared at Seimei dumbfounded. "This... this is really..." The monk seemed to be smiling a little shyly. "Qingming, this girl is..." Boya interrupted and asked. "This is the mage's heartfelt object..." Qingming replied. "This is really... this is really..." The monk was embarrassed and felt restless. "Well, how about just making a wish on the spot?" "Simply?" "You probably won't live long?" Qingming asked the monk gently. "That's right." The monk nodded, his voice calmed down. "Then, wouldn't it be better to simply return from the immortal way to the common way and fulfill your long-cherished wish with this girl?" "..." "If it's the red thread drawn by the Zunsheng Dharani Sutra, what's the problem?" Seimei stretched out his hand, and put his palm on the forehead of Akechi who was sleeping soundly beside him. Zhizhi opened his eyes and saw the dancer, startled. "This this……" "Come on, let's go outside temporarily..." Seimei urged Zhizhi and Boya who were extremely surprised, and the three went outside. "Hey, Qingming, what's going on? I can't figure it out like King Kong." "Don't worry, let's just watch the moon and wait, the truth will be revealed after a while." "Hey……" I don't know if Qingming heard Boya's protest, but he looked up at the moon and said: "Bo Ya, if I knew this earlier, I should have brought wine."