La vida perfecta en la dinastía Song

Capítulo 18

Later, with the decline of that small Himalayan kingdom, no more princes became monks, and although the search for the Buddha's tooth became increasingly secretive, it never ceased.

Now that Tuosang has personally come to find this thing, it must have a very important purpose. Unexpectedly, this thing that has cost countless lives was destroyed overnight because of itself.

Not only that, Tuosang himself also lost most of his skills, and he probably will never be able to reach that level again in his lifetime.

She stared at Tuosang's hands, which were wrapped up like rice dumplings, her mind a jumble of emotions, unable to make sense of anything: "Tuosang, why are you doing this to yourself..."

Tuosang suddenly shouted, "I live deep within the palace; what use is this power to me? I have many people protecting me, but you have to protect many others. If you can live a peaceful life, what does it matter if I lose all my power?" He was covered in sweat, and his voice, already hoarse, became almost incoherent with emotion. "You were so badly injured, yet the stone door remained closed for so long. In those days, I thought... I thought I would never see you again in this life... Whether it's the Buddha's tooth or my power, if I can never see you again, what's the point?"

Junyu had never experienced such a scene before. For the first time, a look of panic appeared on her face, and she involuntarily took two steps back.

Shu Zhenzhen sighed inwardly, then suddenly said, "Everyone is tired, let's have some water."

She handed Tuosang a bowl of water and some dry food. Tuosang, who was covered in sweat, had cooled down and now only felt thirsty. He took the water and drank it down immediately.

He ate some dry rations but couldn't taste anything. He just stared intently at Junyu and saw that her deathly pale face had completely disappeared. He felt relieved and suddenly felt drowsy. He fell to the ground and fell asleep.

Junyu breathed a sigh of relief, silently pulled the Shu embroidery cushion from the stone table and covered him with it, then sat down on the cold stone table herself.

Shu Zhenzhen sat down next to Junyu on the stone table. Junyu looked at her for a while before saying, "Sister Shu, you've worked hard these past few days."

Since Junyu returned from the brink of death, Shu Zhenzhen has been beaming with joy. Now, being able to speak with Junyu so safely and soundly makes her overjoyed: "Junyu, after we leave, I don't want this Hanjing Garden anymore. I want to show you the scenery of Sichuan."

Junyu smiled and nodded, looking at Tuosang on the ground. Tuosang was sleeping soundly, as if he wouldn't wake up even if the sky fell.

For several days and nights, Tuosang relentlessly struck the stone door, searching for a way to open it. After entering, he used his internal energy to heal Junyu's injuries. Both his mental and physical exhaustion had reached their limit, and he slept very soundly. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in complete darkness. He fumbled to light a torch and saw that Junyu, who was recovering from serious injuries, was also asleep next to Shu Zhenzhen.

Junyu had experienced a brush with death and was filled with excitement. Although he was still very tired, he didn't sleep soundly and woke up almost as soon as the light came on.

When Tuosang saw her open her eyes, he smiled and asked, "Junyu, how are you feeling?"

Junyu looked at his gaze, which was no longer burning but still deeply concerned, and nodded.

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Chapter 41: Bokdor's Secret

Then, Tuosang took something out of the yellow box and handed it over. At that moment, Shu Zhenzhen also woke up.

Junyu took it and saw that it was a key made of dark, cast iron. Although small, the key was clearly shaped like a pendulum. Despite its small size, the key felt heavy in his hand. Upon closer inspection, it was not made of cast iron, but of a metal that no one recognized.

"Could the rumors about the Eastern Yellow Bell be true?" Shu Zhenzhen asked doubtfully.

Junyu was also very surprised. She and Shu Zhenzhen had been in this secret room for days, but they had found nothing except the murals. Shu Zhenzhen, in particular, had carefully examined every corner of the room but had not found any trace of anything.

Tuosang said, "I don't know if it's related to Donghuangzhong. The people we've sent out throughout the ages have never mentioned Donghuangzhong."

He pulled something else from his pocket—the map the Demon of Passion had obtained. Along with the map on the table, Shu Zhenzhen immediately took out her own. The three maps were all different sizes, but when put together, they formed a neat, square shape. Tuosang's map was much larger than the other two combined, showing the entire corridor's layout and the locations of various murals. Beside the stone wall, there was a stone pattern the same size as the lock, presumably indicating the way out.

"How could this happen?" Junyu suddenly asked.

Tuosang and Shuzhenzhen immediately looked at them. These three maps were originally three different parts of the secret room. Now, when put together, they should have formed the overall map of the secret room. However, when put together, the map looked different. Although it was very similar to the structure of the secret room, it was clearly a map of another place.

The three looked at each other, unable to come up with a solution for the moment.

Junyu remembered Lady Huarui's screen, which Shu Zhenzhen had placed in a pile of miscellaneous items in the corner. Junyu picked it up and handed it to Tuosang.

Tuosang read it carefully. He had loved Chinese books since childhood and was familiar with Han history, so he naturally knew who Lady Huarui was.

Tuosang couldn't see anything unusual about the painting, so he put it aside and said, "There's a very strange mural in the corridor. Let's go take a look."

By this time, the torch that Tuosang had brought in had dimmed somewhat. He took out a few pieces of special fuel from his pocket and added them to the torch, which immediately brightened up again. Tuosang took the torch, and the three of them went to the corridor. Under the lamplight, the murals were brightly colored and the figures were vivid, truly works of art. However, at this moment, the three of them had no heart to appreciate them. Tuosang stopped directly in front of the strange mural of a monk.

All three of them had seen this painting before, and each of them felt that it had something strange about it. Now, looking at it carefully under the bright torchlight, their sense of unease deepened.

After a long while, Junyu murmured, "This monk, is it not a mural?"

Her words were strange, but Tosang immediately nodded.

Shu Zhenzhen exclaimed in surprise, "What else could this be but a mural?"

Tuosang said, "This should be a real person. He somehow turned himself into a mural."

"He turned himself into a mural."

These words were quite difficult to understand, and Junyu and Shuzhenzhen simultaneously reached out and touched the mural. Shuzhenzhen, being petite, could only touch the monk's instep, while Junyu touched the statue's wrist. Both the instep and wrist were as hard as cold, lifeless stone, yet, upon closer inspection, they felt like bones. A stone, of course, is not like human bones.

"This painting really depicts a person."

"How did he turn himself into a mural?"

The monk's clothes and the paint on his face complement the murals on either side perfectly, creating a harmonious whole.

"Those murals, could they all be real people?" Shu Zhenzhen stared in horror at the murals with figures in them, while Jun Yu felt a chill run down his spine and his scalp tingle.

“That’s not quite right. Only this one should be the real one,” Tuosang said. “I became a ‘Bokdo’ when I was six years old. After completing the final coronation ceremony, Guru Zongkaba led me into the portrait room of the Wisdom Hall. Here are portraits of past high monks, including one of the third-generation Himalayan prince who became a monk. It was in his hands that the Buddha’s tooth relic disappeared. The outside world only knows that the tooth relic is missing; they don’t know that the prince himself has also disappeared. This prince was exceptionally talented from a young age, but instead of focusing on spiritual practice, he was passionate about painting and sculpture…”

Junyu's heart skipped a beat. Roughly calculating, the year the prince disappeared coincided with the prosperous period of Later Shu. Meng Chang doted on Lady Huarui, and the two, along with the beauties of the harem, lived a life of extreme luxury. Later on, Lady Huarui inexplicably became a Buddhist, and Meng Chang invited eminent monks from all over the country to the palace to explain Buddhist teachings. Could it be that the missing prince had gone to the Shu ruler's palace?

Otherwise, how could his "mural" appear here together with Lady Huarui's screen portrait?

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Chapter 42: Tosang's Secret

"Over a hundred years ago, a caravan passed through the Holy Palace. Their leader brought a painting and a map, saying that according to ancestral instructions, the map should be delivered to the Wisdom Hall. He said the map was divided into three parts; his ancestors were only responsible for keeping one copy, while the whereabouts of the other two copies were unknown after hundreds of years. Upon seeing the map, the master of the Wisdom Hall immediately determined the location of the Buddha's tooth and the prince in the secret chamber. However, because the map was incomplete, it was impossible to pinpoint the exact location of the secret chamber. Because the map showed a long street called Hibiscus Street, the initial deduction was that it should be in Sichuan. Subsequently, the temple sent many disciples out to search for the whereabouts of the other two maps. Last year, the Demon of Passion somehow obtained the map from the Wisdom Hall and met the Master of Muli..."

Although the Demon of Passion obtained many things from Master Muli, he did not receive the map. After the Demon of Passion left, Master Muli immediately passed away.

By this time, the three of them had carefully examined the murals on the wall and found nothing strange about them.

The three stopped on the huge marble sculpture at the end of the road. Tuosang lay on the stone and listened for a long time before saying, "I wonder if there is an exit here."

Shu Zhenzhen shook her head. In her memory, the ground at this location should be a natural hilly terrain. Moreover, according to the map, the exit was still on the stone wall where everyone had come in. Presumably, this was the end.

The three of them examined the carvings on the wall again, but found no further clues, so they returned to the stone house.

Shu Zhenzhen placed the map on the table and looked at it for a while before handing it to Tuosang: "I can't see any other secrets in this Hanjing Garden. Here, take this map."

Tuosang shook his head: "I've found what I'm looking for..." He glanced at Junyu, who understood and nodded with a slight smile. Tuosang then said, "For this map, countless lives have been sacrificed. Moreover, there are still countless people outside who covet it. Let's destroy it after we get out."

Shu Zhenzhen's family was wiped out because of this map, and she herself was trapped in the clutches of love. Tuosang's words resonated with her, and she immediately agreed.

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Chapter 43: The extremely bad-tempered Young Master Zhu (1)

Junyu watched as the torch's light dimmed again. Calculating the time, she estimated they had been in this secret chamber for six or seven days. Just as she was about to speak, Tuosang seemed to sense her thoughts and said softly, "You still need to rest for a few more days. This secret chamber is the safest place. Let's go out in a few days!"

Shu Zhenzhen immediately said, "Yes, this is the best place to rest. Although there are many forces outside, they can't break in for a while. We also have two days' worth of food and water. Let's stay here for two more days."

Junyu shook his head and stared at Tuosang: "You've been missing for two days. There must be a lot of people looking for you."

With "Bokdo" suddenly disappearing from the secret chamber, how could the believers outside let it go? Coupled with waves of overt and covert covetous individuals, the Hanjing Garden must be in complete chaos.

Tuosang slumped to the ground, remained silent for a long while, then suddenly stood up, took the torch, and said softly, "Let's go."

Shu Zhenzhen looked at Junyu, who nodded, and the two followed behind.

Soon, the three arrived at the stone door. Tuosang placed the iron-like key on the stone pattern indicated on the map, and a door immediately and silently opened in the stone wall.

The three filed out, and when they looked back, the stone door was still open. Tuosang pushed it, but the stone door was so powerful that it could no longer be closed.

Inside the secret passage, there were some burnt-out torches and candle ash. Standing in the passage, one could faintly hear the sounds of fighting outside.

Junyu walked toward the stone house where the Demon of Love had lived. In the candlelight, the pile of things was still there, untouched. It seemed that the monks had been guarding the exit of the secret passage for the past few days, and no outsiders had come in.

She picked up her torn robe, the bloodstains on it long since dried. Although the temperature inside the stone house was low, the dried robe wouldn't have gone bad, but it still had a faint smell of blood. She took the robe and put it on without hesitation, then looked up and smiled: "Let's go, we can go out now."

Tuosang held the torch beside him the whole time. The two pieces of clothing represented two different worlds. The person in front of him had such a resolute smile, yet in an instant, he transformed back into the dashing young man he had first met. Separated only by a stone wall, the girl in the moon-white shirt had become a distant and unattainable memory.

Junyu met his complicated and sad gaze, her heart skipped a beat, and she forced a smile. Tuosang turned her head and strode ahead.

The closer they got to the exit, the louder the sounds of fighting became.

The three stood at the exit. It was noon, and the intense sunlight shone down. Having been confined in the dark room for so long that they were oblivious to the changing light, they could barely open their eyes in the sudden brightness.

The sounds of fighting outside were deafening, and the three could already see the swaying figures and weapons reflecting the sunlight.

The three exchanged a glance and quickly walked up the stone steps of the secret passage.

One of the yellow-robed cultists was stabbed in the leg, stumbled, and tumbled down the stone steps. After rolling a few steps, he was suddenly lifted up by someone who swiftly pressed several acupoints on his body, stopping the gushing blood.

The believer, who was in so much pain he was about to faint, knelt down involuntarily when he saw the face of the person supporting him, and exclaimed with joy, "Bokdo is out!"

The group of people who were fighting fiercely suddenly stopped when they saw three people coming out of the secret passage.

The intense sunlight was so blinding that Junyu couldn't open her eyes. She closed them briefly, and as soon as she opened them again, everything went black. Two people rushed towards her like a whirlwind, one of them saying in a trembling voice, "Junyu, you're out! You're finally out!"

Both men had clearly been engaged in a long and fierce battle; their hair was disheveled, their clothes were stained with blood, and their eyes were bloodshot, making them almost unrecognizable as human.

These two people were Meng Yuanjing and Zhu Yu.

Junyu was taken aback, and then he saw clearly that there were at least a hundred people surrounding him. The group on the left was larger, and it turned out to be the Prime Minister's guards led by Pang Ban and a group of Chengdu guards. It was obvious that Zhu Yu had used his special status to mobilize them.

On the right, facing them were thirty or forty followers. Apart from the group led by Master Danba that Junyu had seen before, the other group consisted of followers wearing bright red tall hats that she had never seen before.

There were many corpses or severed limbs scattered on the ground, near and far, indicating that the battle was extremely fierce. Judging from the clothing of many of the corpses, they were likely members of various groups who had stormed into Hanjing Garden.

In Meng Yuanjing's hands, blood was dripping down from the "Niijing" sword.

Meng Yuanjing rubbed his eyes, seemingly unable to believe his own eyes. After a long while, he said in a trembling voice, "Junyu, it really is you. I thought... I thought..."

His voice choked with emotion, and he could no longer utter the words "you are dead."

Junyu smiled and sighed, "Yuanjing, look, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?" She looked at the somber atmosphere in the garden, then at the inhuman Zhu Yu beside her, and bowed with her hands clasped, "Thank you."

"Consider yourself lucky. I owe you my life, and today, I still haven't been able to repay it." Zhu Yu usually had a cold and sarcastic demeanor, but at this moment, his voice trembled slightly, clearly due to his excitement.

Pang Ban rolled his eyes. Besides killing Jun Yu, one of Pang Ban's missions was to explore the secrets of Han Jing Garden. After being scared away by the Cun Ni, he brought a group of guards. Originally, they were patrolling Han Jing Garden, making their own plans, waiting for the mysterious Western Region monks to deal with the various groups of people before reaping the benefits. However, they were forced by Zhu Yu to come to Han Jing Garden to find someone.

Unexpectedly, the person Zhu Yu was looking for turned out to be the "Flying General of Phoenix City," whom Prime Minister Zhu had been trying to eliminate at all costs. Add to that the mysterious "Bokdo," whose martial arts were unfathomable, and it seemed there was no way they could escape unscathed. Pang Ban was extremely frustrated, knowing he could no longer kill Jun Yu. However, it appeared that all three of them were penniless. Legend had it that the secret chamber contained countless treasures, and clearly, everything was still inside. Unwilling to give up so easily, he called out loudly, "Young Master, we should at least go down and take a look at that Eastern Yellow Bell..."