“Namo Amitabha, Tathagata, Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha…”
In a room at the Ciji Courtyard, Benzhi was holding the hand of an elderly man, chanting the Rebirth Mantra in a low voice.
Even though the window had been opened for ventilation, the room was still thick with the smells of medicine, cheap white wax smoke, damp bedding, and the decay from the old man's internal organs.
If death had a scent, it would surely be the smell of this room.
However, Benzhi showed no sign of disgust.
He slowly and compassionately finished reciting the mantra, closed the elder’s eyes, and then two volunteers from the Ciji Courtyard came in and wrapped the old man in a mat.
“Carry him to the ox cart in the back. He'll be sent to the County’s Leze Garden tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, little master.”
During his shift at the Ciji Courtyard, the monk from the Miscellaneous Services Hall had to patrol the ward three times each night.
Benzhi opened the ward door—like opening a prison of endless suffering.
Subtle yet clear moans, sighs, and breathing sounds filled the air.
Several candles were far from enough to illuminate the large ward; they could only shed light on faces twisted in despair from illness.
Benzhi was not a monk from the Hanging Pot Courtyard and naturally didn’t treat illnesses. Fresh chapters posted on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✦𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
He only came to see if the patients needed help, such as feeding water, turning over to wipe sweat, or cleaning filth.
These were undoubtedly tedious and thankless tasks.
When encountering incontinent patients, Benzhi would show a hint of reluctance, but still diligently carried out his nightly duties.
After reciting the Buddha’s name, Benzhi closed the ward door.
As he passed by the vestibule and saw the person standing at the entrance, his face instantly turned pale, and he instinctively stepped back two paces, bumping into the beam.
Standing at the door was a slender, delicate youth.
His hair was soft, his skin fair.
Even though he wore only plain clothes and was barefoot, his natural beauty was undeniable—anyone who saw him would inwardly praise his good looks.
Yet Benzhi was filled with unspeakable terror—just half an hour ago, he had tricked this person into a trap!
Every young man and woman who had fallen into that trap had never reappeared before Benzhi.
“Hello, little master. Is this place free to stay for the night? I heard from others that there’s no charge here. If it’s really free, I’ll go tell my brother to come too.”
Benzhi's mind stirred and he asked, “What… what’s your name?”
An Wu, An Liu—so they were brothers?
But they looked way too alike…
Benzhi let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing An Liu still waiting for a response, he nodded. “It’s free.”
“Great, then take me inside.”
“Aren’t you going to find your brother?”
“I left a mark. He’ll come when he sees it.”
Benzhi didn’t say much more and led An Liu deeper into the Ciji Courtyard.
He had walked this path countless times and was extremely familiar with the place, yet this time, an inexplicable sense of unease grew within him with every step—like he was walking straight into the maw of a great beast.
When they reached the door of the utility room, Benzhi paused briefly, but quickly lifted his foot again and led An Liu to a small single room inside.
“I thought it’d be a large shared room?”
“The Ciji Courtyard reserves a cleaner single room at night, in case any benefactors come to inspect our operations. We invite them to stay here,” Benzhi explained. “It’s so late, no benefactors will visit. You can stay here tonight. The bedding is old, but clean.”
“If you want to wash up, there’s a well in the courtyard.”
“The latrine is in the corner of the yard.”
After stating the essentials, Benzhi intended to leave.
Right now, he just wanted to go back to his room, recite the Diamond Sutra once, then sleep—think of nothing, do nothing.
But just as he turned around, he heard An Liu stand up and say, “My brother should be here soon. I’ll go outside and look for him.”
After a brief hesitation, Benzhi turned and looked at An Liu. “I need to move a bucket to the courtyard. Would you mind helping me?”
Soon, same utility room, same location.
An Liu didn’t notice anything unusual and obediently stood on the other side of the water bucket.
Seeing this, Benzhi was relieved.
He had almost thought that An Wu had come back to claim his life—ptooey, nonsense!
They were merely sent to be offerings to the Buddha.
It was entry to Great Bliss, boundless compassion.
He was not committing evil; he was delivering salvation.
As Benzhi reached out to pull the hemp rope, An Liu suddenly produced a rope from somewhere and looped it around Benzhi like a lasso.
This kind of restraint would normally trigger the Buddha’s protection, allowing Benzhi to break free with effort.
But the problem was—the mechanism had already been triggered!
An Liu, holding the rope, had already fallen down!
Everything happened so fast.
Benzhi, caught by the rope, was dragged into the pit.
Even though he broke free of the rope in the chute, he still had no choice but to slide with An Liu into the hidden depths of Chang’an City, toward the only forbidden place in Anguo Temple he had never entered!
Even though he landed in straw, the bruises along the chute still hurt Benzhi enough to make him scream in pain.
He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a warrior monk outside the iron bars.
He immediately shouted, “Senior brother, save me!”
“You’re… Benzhi from the Miscellaneous Services Hall? How could you have fallen down here?”
“He looped me with a rope, and I slid down with him!”
In panic and fear, Benzhi looked toward An Liu—only to realize he couldn’t tell who was who.
An Wu and An Liu stood together and looked exactly the same.
Even their eyebrows were identical.
Other than the folds in their clothes, there was no difference at all.
The warrior monk frowned. “Who are you? That kid knew about the mechanism at Ciji Courtyard right from the start? Impossible… Did that brat who entered first leak the information? Whatever, they’re locked up anyway. Doesn’t matter.”
“Should we open the door?” another monk asked.
“Open my ass. Those two kids are squatting right by the door—open it, and they’ll run!”
“Use fire oil, then.”
An Liu smiled. “Come on, burn me. I promise I won’t dodge. Then I’ll go hug this evil little monk and see whether he hides a relic or a heart of snakes and scorpions.”
“No, please, no!” Benzhi knelt on the ground, trembling, and pleaded, “Sir, I really didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Please spare me. Senior brothers, please don’t burn me!”
“You didn’t mean to hurt anyone?”
The speaker wasn’t An Liu, but a pale-faced girl lying not far away on the ground.
Her voice was weak, yet one could still hear the gritted teeth of hatred: “You little monk, I… I trusted you so much. I even brought vegetarian meals for you. Whatever you said the Ciji Courtyard lacked, I went out and bought… yet you, you lied to me … lied to me…”
As she cursed, she began to sob softly, but soon, there was no sound at all—she was too hungry to even cry anymore.
Benzhi trembled all over, his forehead pressed to the ground.
He didn’t dare look anyone in the eye, mumbling, “I… I didn’t know. It was all by the master’s orders. All the senior and junior brothers did it this way. I didn’t know, I really didn’t know… I never wanted to hurt anyone…”
An Liu suddenly said, “I gave you a chance.”
Benzhi shuddered and fell silent.