CHAPTER 43: 41、BODHISATTVA

The graceful little monk was wearing white robes, standing under the moonlight, neither joyful nor sorrowful, embodying a Buddha-like essence.

The little monk looked at Chen Ji and said, "My name is Rochusaga, but everyone likes to call me ’little monk,’ and you can call me that too."

Princess Bai Li was perched on the wall, looking at Chen Ji as she introduced him, "The little monk is a reincarnated Bodhisattva, very impressive! He says you are impressive, so you must be!"

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, "Is it so difficult for a reincarnated Bodhisattva to climb a wall?"

The little monk was slightly embarrassed, "I haven’t achieved enlightenment yet. My master urged me to recite the Ksitigarbha’s Vows one hundred thousand times, and I have just recited it more than seventy thousand times. My grand vows are also not yet fulfilled..."

Chen Ji pondered, the little monk’s statement revealed much information: the opponent’s cultivation path involved reciting scriptures and fulfilling grand vows, reciting a hundred thousand times was a hurdle, after which he should become somewhat more formidable.

It was quite frank of the other party to share his cultivation path like this.

At this moment, the Princely Heir curiously sized up Chen Ji, "Little monk, did you say he is formidable? He doesn’t look it."

The Princely Heir wasn’t wearing the fur coat from the daytime, but had changed into a black cross-collared long gown, embroidered with silver lotus flowers, which looked somewhat plain but seemed out of sync with the slightly extravagant Princely Heir.

The little monk flicked dust from his robes, his appearance clear at about fourteen or fifteen years, and pointed to his own heart, saying, "The impressiveness I speak of is not about strength, but the heart. Everyone has three thieves within their heart—greed, anger, and ignorance. This young man here has eliminated greed and anger from his heart, leaving only ignorance, which is already quite formidable."

"Greed represents unbearable desire, the cause of many calamities in this world. To not be greedy is not to eschew wealth but to know restraint."

"Anger represents unwise rage; a person who still harbors anger cannot be called wise, for anger can cloud the mind."

Chen Ji reflected thoughtfully, "What about ignorance?"

The little monk smiled, "Ignorance is fixations, having fixations prevents liberation."

Princess Bai Li, dressed like a man in her efficiency, wore a white long shirt, white trousers, white boots, and a white jade hairpin, only her neck pendant was red jade, like the touch of red on the forehead of a white koi.

She rested her chin on her hands curiously and asked, "Little monk, what you speak of is so profound, so how many ’thieves’ have you cut down yourself?"

The little monk thought for a moment, "I am the same, left with only the ’ignorance.’"

Princess Bai Li pressed, "Why not cut down the remaining ’ignorance’?"

"It’s not that I won’t cut it down, but rather that I don’t have ’ignorance’", the little monk explained, "I haven’t found ’ignorance’ yet, so I can’t cut it down. My master sent me to the Central Plains to seek out ’ignorance’ and then cut it. I haven’t found it yet and don’t even know what it is, but the master said, when the day comes, I will naturally understand."

"Eh, I’ve never heard you mention this before... Isn’t it better not to have ’ignorance’? Why seek it out, isn’t that superfluous?" Princess Bai Li wondered.

The little monk shook his head, "It’s a tribulation; without going through tribulations, one cannot become a Buddha."

Beside them, the Princely Heir leaned against the wall, completely bored, "You monks are compassionate, so why do you always speak of cutting and killing, isn’t that bad!"

The little monk shook his head again, "My Gening Sect does not preach compassion."

"Oh? Then what do you preach?"

"Great fearlessness."

Princess Bai Li, sitting astride on the wall, swung her legs and commanded, "Brother, stop chatting for now, catch me."

"Ah, coming," the Princely Heir went to the wall, allowing his sister to step on his shoulders and jump off the wall.

Chen Ji silently watched as the Princely Heir and Princess Bai Li, not birthed by the same mother, yet seemed extraordinarily close.

And this Princely Heir, even though already twenty years old, still hadn’t an upright demeanor...

Wait a moment, Wu Yun had mentioned that there should be another Princess Lingyun in the Prince Mansion born by Princess Consort Jing, why haven’t I seen her with them?

At that moment, the Princely Heir looked towards Chen Ji, "This person..."

"Chen Ji."

The Princely Heir smiled, "Chen Ji, I see you’re quite the talent; we’re sure to become good friends. But today, there’s no time for idle chatter, there are still plenty of friends waiting at the door. Let’s head out first; we’ll meet again in Jianghu if fate wills it!"

Zhu Baili also hurriedly added, "Right, right, right. In the morning when I return, I’ll bring you donkey meat bao from the Ma Family!"

Saying this, the Princely Heir, leading the little monk and Princess Bai Li, prepared to leave.

Chen Ji raised his arm to block their way, "Wait a minute."

"Ah?" The Princely Heir stepped back, "What’s up?"

Chen Ji said, "A sealing fee, ten silver taels per person, otherwise I’m calling the Royal Mansion Guards."

The Princely Heir exclaimed, "Wow, you think we don’t know the price of things outside, don’t you? Ten silver taels could buy a house on the outskirts of the city. Why don’t you just rob us... little monk, didn’t you say he had already cut off his greed?"

The little monk hesitated for a moment, "This shows he’s already exercising restraint."

Princely Heir, "?"

Princess Bai Li looked at Chen Ji, "One silver tael per person, per crossing; we’ll be crossing many times in the future. You must consider steady gains; otherwise, we’ll stop passing here!"

Chen Ji, "Alright!"

Bai Li helplessly looked at the Princely Heir, "Brother, he agreed so quickly, did I lowball him?"

"It seems so."

Chen Ji said, "One person, one crossing, one tael. You’re three people this time, so it’s three silver taels."

At this moment, someone outside called through the crack in the door, "Princely Heir, Commandery Princess, have you come out?"

The Princely Heir looked at Princess Bai Li, "Pay up; the people outside can’t wait any longer."

Reluctantly, Zhu Baili pulled out a plain small sachet from his sleeve, took out three silver peanuts, and slapped them into Chen Ji’s palm, "Here you go! Can we go now?"

Chen Ji stepped aside a bit, smiling, "Thank you for your patronage; hope you all have a fun evening."

The Princely Heir rushed to open the main door, only to find over ten people waiting outside with swords and sabers at their waist, resembling a group from Jianghu.

In the crowd, Chen Ji also spotted Liang Gou’er and Liang Mao’er.

At the door, the Princely Heir asked, "Where shall we go to have fun?"

Liang Gou’er, smiling, said, "In Luocheng City, there’s only one place that’s lively at night, and that’s East Market. The most fun place there is undoubtedly Hongyi Lane! Let’s go, Princely Heir, lead us to drink in Hongyi Lane!"

Chen Ji was astonished.

Commandery Princess and monk going to Hongyi Lane?!

At that moment, as Princess Bai Li was carefully closing the Medical Hall door, leaving just a sliver open, she saw Chen Ji looking from afar and, scrunching her nose, she huffed coldly and quickly shut the door.

Chen Ji weighed the silver peanuts in his hand; Wu Yun climbed up the apricot tree, curling its paws as it lay on the branch.

Wu Yun meowed, "They’re pretty decent folks."

Chen Ji smiled, "As a Princely Heir and Commandery Princess, to be stopped by me yet not get angry, and never use their status to pressure others. Indeed, they are very good people."