NOVGO.NET Chapter 187: Wangxin
Jiang Xin’s voice echoed through the mountain forest.
Xiao Mo looked directly into her eyes, seeing her pleading gaze. His lips parted slightly, but he remained speechless.
Finally, Xiao Mo gripped her wrist and pulled her small hand away from the corner of his clothes, continuing to walk forward but Xiao Mo hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Jiang Xin’s small hand once again tugged at the corner of his clothes.
Xiao Mo pulled her small hand away again, but Jiang Xin grabbed on once more.
This seemingly frail little girl once again displayed her stubborn side.
“Sigh,” Xiao Mo had forgotten how many times he had sighed tonight, “Ah Xin, let go.”
Jiang Xin shook her head forcefully.
“Ah Xin, I’ll say this one last time, let go.” At this moment, Xiao Mo’s tone deliberately carried several degrees of sternness, almost like a scolding.
Jiang Xin swallowed.
Although she felt somewhat afraid, she still tightly gripped the corner of Xiao Mo’s clothes.
“Xiao Mo, you said you wouldn’t abandon me again,” Jiang Xin said with mustered courage.
Hearing Jiang Xin’s words, Xiao Mo turned around, his eyes carrying the bone-piercing chill of winter wind.
Even though Jiang Xin’s small hands were trembling, she never let go.
“Jiang Xin, I lied to you about everything.”
As Xiao Mo’s words fell, he forcefully pulled away her small hand.
Just as Jiang Xin stepped forward again to grab the corner of his clothes, under the moonlight, the cold gleam of the Spirit Absorbing Sword flashed before Jiang Xin.
Jiang Xin instinctively stopped.
On the ground before her toes, Xiao Mo’s long blade had carved a mark.
“If you take one more step forward, I’ll strike you down!”
Xiao Mo turned his head to the side and looked at Jiang Xin coldly, pressing killing intent mixed with blood baleful qi upon her shoulders.
Withdrawing his gaze, Xiao Mo stepped forward and disappeared into the night of the mountain forest.
Under the bright moonlight, at that spot halfway up the mountain, the little boy was already gone, leaving only the little girl standing there in a daze.
After a long time, she crouched down, extended her small hand, and gently touched the blade mark in front of her toes.
At the same time, in front of the gates of Kongnian Temple, Abbot Xu Jing and Wu Guang’s gazes pierced through the forest, looking toward the direction of the mountainside.
“Master Uncle, this…” After Xiao Mo left, Wu Guang looked at his master-uncle beside him, wanting to speak but stopping.
“Wu Guang,” Xu Jing spoke calmly, “Do you think if Jiang Xin had taken one more step forward, Xiao Mo would have struck her down with that blade?”
Wu Guang remained silent.
“Do you think that even if Xiao Mo would have struck down with that blade, Jiang Xin would have been afraid?”
Wu Guang still said nothing.
Xu Jing shook his head, “Xiao Mo wouldn’t have struck down with that blade, and Jiang Xin also knew that even if she crossed that line, his blade wouldn’t have fallen. But why didn’t she dare step forward? Because she knew that if she crossed that line, she would truly have no relationship with Xiao Mo in the future.”
“Then Master Uncle, what should we do now?” Wu Guang asked.
“We don’t need to do anything, this is for the best.” Xu Jing withdrew his gaze and walked toward the interior of the temple.
Wu Guang glanced at the mountainside where Jiang Xin was, then at his master-uncle, and could only sigh softly before following his master-uncle back through the temple gates.
Over the next two days, pilgrims coming and going up the mountain to worship Buddha could all see a little girl crouching on the mountain path halfway up.
No matter how vicious the summer sun or how cold the mountain forest at night, she didn’t care.
She neither ate nor drank, just hugged her knees and stared blankly at the mark in front of her.
Kind-hearted pilgrims mentioned this matter to Kongnian Temple but Xu Jing only smiled and nodded, indicating he knew, then still did nothing, even telling the pilgrims not to disturb her.
On the third day at dawn, just as the monks of Kongnian Temple were listening to Abbot Xu Jing explain Buddhist scriptures in the main hall, the little girl halfway up the mountain finally stood up and walked toward the mountain.
The little girl came to the front of the temple, crossed through the temple gates, and entered the main hall.
Xu Jing stopped his scripture explanation and looked up. All the monks in the main hall also looked toward the little girl walking step by step toward the abbot, and they made way for her.
The little girl walked before everyone, her clear eyes looking at the kind old grandfather before her.
“Grandfather Abbot, I… want to cultivate Buddhist teachings,” the little girl slowly spoke, her voice slightly hoarse from not drinking water for too long.
The kind grandfather abbot smiled gently, “Little benefactor Jiang Xin, have you truly thought this through?”
“I have thought it through,” the little girl nodded.
“Then for what purpose does the little benefactor wish to study Buddhist teachings?” the grandfather abbot asked gently.
“To find him,” the little girl said sincerely, “If Xiao Mo won’t see me, then I’ll study Buddhist teachings well and cultivate properly, and when I grow up, I’ll go find him.”
After speaking, the little girl looked at the old grandfather before her with some worry, concerned that her reason might make him unwilling to accept her as a disciple, “Is this acceptable?”
“It’s acceptable,” Abbot Xu Jing smiled, “Of course it’s acceptable, why wouldn’t it be?”
Xu Jing supported himself on the edge of the meditation cushion and stood up tremblingly like an ordinary farm grandfather, not at all like a cultivator at the perfection stage of the Ascension realm.
“Come, Jiang Xin, press your palms together and face the Buddha statue.”
“Grandfather Abbot, should I kneel?”
Xu Jing said gently, “Whether to kneel or not is up to you.”
Jiang Xin looked at the clay Buddha statue sitting high above and knelt on both knees.
Xu Jing nodded and extended his hand, saying to the monk beside him, “Razor.”
When Xu Jing received the razor, all the monks in the main hall closed their eyes and chanted sutras, solemn and dignified.
“First cut: Cease all evil. The golden blade shaves away hair from birth, removing the dusty and impure body.”
Xu Jing’s aged but steady fingers gripped the razor and passed it over the little girl’s head, hair falling as it went.
“Second cut: Vow to cultivate all goodness. Round head and square robes show monastic appearance, another descendant added beneath the Dharma King’s seat.”
“Third cut: Pledge to save all sentient beings.”
Cut after cut fell, strand after strand of black hair drifted down.
Above Kongnian Temple, Buddhist clouds gradually gathered, golden holy Buddha light illuminating dozens of li around.
The sound of chanting scriptures in the main hall spread from Kongnian Temple, echoing through mountain forests, fields, and towns.
The great bell of Kongnian Temple rang on its own without anyone striking it.
The people of Kongnian City looked up.
At Kongnian Temple ten li away, in the sky where golden light gathered, a golden Buddha statue actually appeared, smiling while holding a flower, looking down compassionately.
They only remembered that according to legend, when Master Xu Jing achieved enlightenment, there had been such a phenomenon.
The chanting stopped.
The bell sounds faded into the distance.
The Buddhist clouds dispersed.
The Buddha light descended.
The rising morning sun crossed the threshold of the main hall and fell upon the little girl, as if draping her in a golden kasaya.
“Amitabha.”
Xu Jing pressed his palms together.
“The nine hundred seventy-fifth generation disciple of Kongnian Temple.
Taking the character ‘Wang.’
Taking your character ‘Xin.’
From today forward, your dharma name shall be—
Wangxin.”