Chapter 293 – What? Did you think this was going to be a reenactment of the Legend of the White Snake? (2)
A moment later, Ning Yuxuan asked, “Can you visit a temple?”
Why wouldn’t she be able to? With a questioning expression, Ji Man said, “Although temples are bleak and not very interesting, they’re good places for setting one’s heart and spirit at ease. Of course this servant can visit a temple. My lord, do you want this servant to go to one? ”
“No.” Ning Yuxuan looked away and let out a long sigh.
Ji Man twitched her lips. This person had been behaving very strange lately. She slipped under the quilt too. Leaning against him, she closed her eyes.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, Ning Yuxuan suddenly said, “I’ll bring you to Xiangguo Temple tomorrow. I heard … Xuwu, that old monk, said there’s going to be a Buddhist gathering there tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Ji Man turned over and continued to keep her eyes closed to sleep.
Marquis Moyu looked at her back figure for a long time. He stretched his hand out and wanted to place his hand down on her shoulder, but after pausing for a moment, he took his hand back.
—
The vigil for Yun-er had to last for three days, and was accompanied by the sound of Wen Wan crying day and night. It was exactly like a mysterious scene from a TV show, so Ji Man was glad to get a break from this. She left the estate with Ning Yuxuan, and they headed to Xiangguo Temple.
During the entire way there, Ning Yuxuan’s expression didn’t look good. Ji Man glanced at his hands. They were tightly clenched together.
When they had reached halfway, Marquis Moyu shouted, “Guibai, drive the carriage slower.”
Ji Man had already been feeling that this ancient-period carriage was as unbearably slow as a tractor. Hearing him say those words, she wasn’t able to keep her calm. “My lord, if we can get there sooner, why wouldn’t you want the carriage to move faster?”
Ning Yuxuan glanced at her said, pursed his lips, and said, “I get motion sickness.”
Ji Man, “…”
—
By the time they finally arrive at Xiangguo Temple, it looked like a very lively scene with people coming and going. There was a Buddhist gathering today, so there were Buddhist images hanging by the entrances.
Just as Ji Man was about to take a step inside, he grabbed her hand and stopped her.
“Sangyu.” His hand was slightly sweaty, and he looked at her with a deep gaze as he asked, “If I wanted to harm, what would you do?”
What?
Ji Man paused. Looking at his gaze, she could tell that he wasn’t joking. She suddenly wondered if this temple had some sort of booby trap mechanism. It couldn’t be that a thousand arrows would shoot through her heart as soon as she entered the temple, right?
No, that wasn’t possible. If Ning Yuxuan wanted to kill her, there were countless ways that he could do it without exerting any effort. Right now, her life wasn’t worth much. There was no reason why he would need to harm her in broad daylight.
“My lord, didn’t you want this servant to enter Xiangguo Temple?” Ji Man faintly smiled. “Then, this servant will go inside. If my lord wants to harm me, then this servant can only accept my fate.”
Ning Yuxuan trembled a bit in shock. He slightly tightened his grip on her hand.
He asked, “Have you ever thought about harming me?”
Ji Man tilted her head to look at him. Had this person bumped his head on the way out of the estate today? Even if she had that evil intention, she wouldn’t have the courage to carry it out, okay?
“My lord, if this servant wanted to harm you, then this servant would haven’t entrusted my body to you in marriage.” She smiled and said, “Harming you would be such a loss for me.”
The winter sun was just right today. Its warm rays illuminated Nie Sangyu’s face, and her face looked especially gentle.
For a while, Ning Yuxuan was stunned. He finally pursed his lips and said, “Then, let’s go back.”
It had taken such a bumpy ride to get here, and now he wanted to go back before they had even stepped through the entrance? Ji Man unhappily said, “Why aren’t we going inside? There are a lot of people inside. It looks so lively.”
“You want to go inside?” Marquis Moyu looked at the fluttering Buddhist scrolls that were everywhere.
“Is there an entry fee?” She forcefully tugged her hand out from his and ran to the entrance to look. There wasn’t an employee stationed here to check if they had tickets. After all, this temple was a public facility in ancient times, so it wasn’t a modern-day tourist attraction where you had to pay money.
“Sang…” Not knowing why, Ning Yuxuan felt somewhat panicked. He stretched his hand out to stop her, but she had already taken a step into Xiangguo Temple.
Xiangguo Temple’s bells started ringing. It was followed by the long recitation of one of the many names of Buddha. Although there were many people, there weren’t any clamoring noises. Instead, there was a very solemn and serene atmosphere.
Ji Man looked around, turned her head back, and gestured for Ning Yuxuan to come inside and stop talking.
Marquis Moyu’s body stiffened. For a moment, he forgot to breath. By the time he recovered his senses, the person in front of him was energetically skipping around and tugging him forward.
No? Was she not a demon?
It was as if a heavy stone fell down in his heart. Pressing his lips together, Ning Yuxuan followed her inside. Standing behind her, he saw her bowing to all the Buddha statues that could be seen.
—
Later, during the Buddhist gathering, Great Master Xuwu was sitting in the highest position, and a group of Buddhism practitioners were sitting below and listening to his meditations.
Sitting next to Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man noticed that he was sneaking glances at her from time to time from the corner of her eye.
Ji Man turned her head to look at him and said, “My lord, there’s a question that this servant has been wanting to ask you for a long time. A while ago, when you had this servant drink pear wine, what did you hear this servant say that night?”
Ning Yuxuan froze in shock for a moment, then he pursed his lips and said, “I didn’t hear anything.”
If he hadn’t heard anything, why would take her to a temple to act out a scene from the Legend of the White Snake, or ask her if she would ever harm him? Was there a problem with his brain? Ji Man resisted the urge to voice her ridicule and let out a long sigh instead. “This servant often mumbles nonsense during sleep. My lord, please don’t take those words seriously.”
(T/N: The Legend of the White Snake is one of the four Chinese great folktales.)
“En.” Xuwu had only told him that her original fate had changed, but he hadn’t been able to see any other abnormality in her. In addition, she was able to freely walk inside a temple, so he probably didn’t have to worry that she was a danger to his home and household.
Ji Man thought of an idea and kindly suggested, “My lord, since you suffer from motion sickness, why don’t we walk instead of taking the carriage? The streets here are bustling, so it shouldn’t be boring too walk back.”
