Yu Pin Yan waved his hand and ordered his guards to retract their swords. Cupping his hands, he said, “Great Master, we have a deal then.” He hurriedly went down the mountain soon after that.
He did not tell anyone when he returned to the Marquis manor. Staring at his sleeping younger sister, he lay down by her side until zishi (11pm-1am) and left quietly. Wearing only a snow-white unlined garment, he walked slowly from the foot to the top of the mountain. Unknowingly, the pitch-dark sky faintly glowed bright. His hair was covered with frozen ice-beads of the morning dews while the fabrics around his kneecaps were in tatters due to frictions, revealing the extremely bruised kneecaps.
The guards accompanying him were already in tears and kept saying, “Marquis, let this subordinate do it.” But he turned a deaf ear to them. He finally reached the gate of Zhenguo Temple when the sun first rose.
Yet Ku Hui avoided meeting him and only dispatched a little novice monk to say, “This Benefactor’s sins are too serious to be erased, please continue tomorrow.”
“What did you bald donkey just say!?” The guards were furious and drew out their swords one after another.
Yu Pin Yan, however, merely waved his hand and stood up indifferently. Kneel, no matter how many times Ku Hui asks him to kneel. Even if he smoothened out all the steps of the walkway planks, he must heal his younger sister.
“Marquis, let’s forget it!” One of the guards growled through his clenched teeth. If he is to be tormented like this every day, doesn’t the Marquis want his legs anymore?
Yu Pin Yan turned his head back abruptly with bloodshot eyes, “This Marquis does not want to hear this a second time!” This is about Xiang’er’s life, how can he forget about it just like this!
The guard was instantly silenced by his threatening gaze, but a clear voice resounded from behind them, “Yes, let’s just forget it!”
“Xiang’er, why are you here?” Yu Pin Yan wanted to greet her but his stiff legs wouldn’t obey him.
Under the pushes and shoves of Tao Hong and Liu Lu, Yu Xiang arrived in front of him and looked up at him. She suddenly reached out and pulled him by the lapels, causing him to fall to his knees with a thud which the muffling sound made the listeners’ teeth ache.
The eyes of the guards revealed resentment and indignation yet they dared not speak out in anger. It does not matter if they provoke the Marquis but no one can take upon themselves to offend Miss Xiang’er. Who does not know that Miss Xiang’er is the lifeblood of the Marquis.
Yu Xiang caressed his stubble side face. Her smile was bright but strange, “Does it hurt?” She didn’t wait for her elder brother to reply and continued, “My heart hurts more than your knees! If I have to trade your leg for a cure, I might as well be paralyzed for the rest of my life! If you come back tomorrow, I’ll personally sever off my own legs. Believe it or not?”
She fished out a dagger from the hidden compartment in the armrest of her wheelchair and slashed herself hard on her own kneecap. Warm blood immediately stained a big red patch on her thick skirt.
Tao Hong and Liu Lu shrieked out of fright while the guards were also dumbstruck and astonished when they all thought in unison: It’s no wonder that the Marquis dotted so much on the Third Young Miss as it turns out that the Third Young Miss can actually forgo her own life for the Marquis. It’s really unforgivable not to treat her well.
Yu Xiang’s action was indeed too fast and coupled with the stiffness of his body after kneeling all night, Yu Pin Yan was unable to stop her in time. After snatching away the dagger in her hand, he roared lividly, “Why are you doing this? Are you crazy?”
“Heart ached? Can you understand how I feel seeing you kneeling on the ground?” Yu Xiang dug into her wound causing more blood to gush out and ordered with tears in her eyes, “You go back immediately with me now and are not allowed to come back again in the future, do you hear me? Otherwise, I will completely cripple this pair of legs!” As she spoke, she pushed away Tao Hong and Liu Lu, who wanted to bandage her wound.
Having no choice, Yu Pin Yan could only tear off the lower hem of his clothes to bind her bloody wound and replied agreedly, “I hear you. We will go home now.”
Satisfied, Yu Xiang forcefully pinched the flesh on the back of his hand then raised her voice towards Zhenguo Temple, “Ku Hui, you listen to me. You want my Elder Brother to lay down the butcher knife to purge his sins, but do you know that without him fighting hard on the frontier to protect our homes and defend our country, how much bloodbath of the common people in this Great Han Dynasty would have been caught in the fire of war and without him meting out punishment to the corrupt officials, how many people would have been wronged with nowhere to appeal. He single-handedly protected the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. There is naturally for the Buddha to judge him whether what he committed was actually the killing sins or merits and not for you to pass judgment! Moreover, I am the one whose legs are broken and the one who seeks medical treatment, so it is all up to you to treat me or not. What’s that got to do with my Elder Brother? If all day long others don’t see their own faults, they will end the path of becoming sages, if all day long others only talk about people’s faults, they will harm the harmony of heaven and earth. Ku Hui, you have already ended your path to be a sage and harmed the heaven’s harmony. No matter how much compassion you render or sufferings you bear in the future, you will never be able to make up for it, so go back to Tianzhu and cultivate for a few more decades!” Once the words faltered, she waved her hand at the guards, “Carry your Marquis to the carriage!”
Undertaking the tasks, the guards hurriedly carried their master into the long-awaited carriage on the roadside.
Yu Xiang had just been carried onto the carriage shaft by Tao Hong and Liu Lu when Ku Hui was seen striding over and shouted, “Benefactor, please stay …” Yu Xiang’s words were like a knife plunging into his heart, making him feel mortally ashamed and utterly remorseful.
Her elder brother’s kneecap had been wounded like that, so how could Yu Xiang be willing to stay. She sternly berated the driver to leave hastily. When the carriage made a U-turn, she lifted the curtain and raised her middle finger at the embarrassed Ku Hui.
“What’s that mean?” Watching helplessly as the carriage went away, Ku Hui turned around and asked his senior brother who came out with him.
Stroking his bald head, Ku Hai guessed, “It probably means that your cultivation level is not good, otherwise she would have given a thumbs up. Junior Brother, you still don’t understand after five years of painstaking cultivation in Tianzhu? The world is full of Buddha, all living beings are Buddha. You should not measure others with evil thoughts, let alone reject others to vent your anger out. The practice of these years has been wasted again. Besides, aren’t you painstakingly studying the art of healing for exactly the purpose of benefiting mankind and saving people, so why can’t you save Benefactor Yu? You are just too narrow-minded.”
“Senior Brother chided correctly, Junior Brother is really ashamed. But what should we do now that things have come to this?” Ku Hui smiled bitterly.
“I will dispatch a little novice monk to send a note to Benefactor Yu. She most probably will come back for my sake.” Ku Hai put his hands together and chanted ‘Amitabha Buddha’.
It was originally someone else who begged him for treatment but now it has become he himself begging to treat someone else. Ku Hui was indeed rather helpless.