Volume One: The Eight Coffins of the Corpse Field Chapter 86: Lovers Finally Reunited

I forced a bitter smile and said, "Come on, stop it already. What Buddhist affinity could I possibly have? Spare your nephew, will you? I was hoping to earn some money with you, get married, and have a few kids."

Third Uncle waved his hand dismissively. "You just don’t understand, and you always refuse to admit it. Having Buddhist affinity doesn’t mean you have to become a monk. You’re the only male in the next generation of the Li family; who would dare delay your marriage? Even I wouldn’t allow it."

I thought for a moment and asked, "So that old monk spent ten years facing the wall just to ponder this one question?"

Third Uncle chuckled. "Some things in this world seem simple, but you can’t really unravel them so easily. Take the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. How many years has that been debated? Who has a definitive answer? The old monk spent his whole life distracted by other concerns, and those two words—regret and discipline—he likely never truly understood."

I was puzzled. "How do you know he never understood?"

Third Uncle shook his head. "Through countless cycles of reincarnation, perhaps fate will let them meet again. No matter how many lifetimes pass, the matter of love is always his heart’s burden. If he hasn’t let go, how could he have attained enlightenment?"

"But… but he achieved a golden body, even produced relics. Doesn’t that mean he reached a certain level of cultivation? Why do you say he hasn’t let go?"

Third Uncle sighed again and asked, "Tell me, does Buddha have feelings?"

I shook my head, admitting I didn’t know.

Third Uncle said, "That’s a question with no answer. As for the old master’s life, whether he became a Buddha or not, we have no right to judge. Let him vanish into the dust of history. We hold onto his relic; it’s the only mark he left in this world. Now, we should hurry back before trouble finds us."

With that, Third Uncle closed the topic.

We followed the path back down the mountain. As the saying goes, climbing up is easy, coming down is hard. The descent took us most of the day, leaving us utterly exhausted, parched and barely able to speak.

When we finally stumbled to the roadside where we’d come up, we instantly saw Xu Ruoxi’s car parked there. Xu Ruoxi was leaning against the car, enjoying the mountain view at her leisure.

It was like seeing water in a desert. We shouted with joy and, summoning the last of our strength, raced toward the car.

To our surprise, Xu Ruoxi noticed us, and without a word, abandoned the car and took off running.

When I reached the car and tried the door, I found it locked by Xu Ruoxi.

Third Uncle, furious, yelled at her, "Damn it, stop right there!"

Unexpectedly, Xu Ruoxi didn’t even look back, only ran faster. In no time, she was over a hundred meters away.

I patted the car door and called out, "Xu Ruoxi, why are you running? Don’t you recognize us?"

Hearing her name, Xu Ruoxi hesitated and turned around.

I waved to her, "Come back, it’s me, Li Yang."

---

Panting heavily, Third Uncle and I slumped over the hood. Xu Ruoxi, seeing us clearly at last, hurried back, scrutinizing us from head to toe. "What… what happened to you two?"

I glanced at Third Uncle, and he glanced at me.

In our current state, not even our own fathers would recognize us, let alone Xu Ruoxi.

There couldn’t be a worse sight: our clothes reduced to tattered rags, our faces and bodies smeared with dirt and streaked with scratches. We looked like refugees, beggars fleeing disaster.

Third Uncle waved his hand weakly. "Enough… enough talking, no strength left. Is there water in the car?"

Xu Ruoxi nodded and handed us two bottles of water and two packs of bread.

We got into the car, Xu Ruoxi started the engine, and drove away from Shangqing Mountain toward Linjiang.

On the way, we hardly spoke, eating and drinking before sleeping all the way to Linjiang.

By the time we arrived, night had already fallen. Xu Ruoxi dropped us off behind the old pavilion on Ancient Street and left.

Once again, Third Uncle and I entered the ancient pavilion.

Third Uncle said we had to tell Wanqing in the mirror about our meeting with Wooden Man Yang.

When the hour of the Pig arrived, we went into the room. Following the same ritual, I crouched down and started burning paper money.

When Third Uncle smeared the ashes onto the mirror, Wanqing’s shadow gradually appeared.

Her voice was still icy cold. "You… saw him…"

Third Uncle nodded.

Wanqing’s mood shifted, her tone rising. As her emotions changed, the dressing mirror began to shake violently, and the screeching friction in her voice became unbearable.

We dared not react too strongly and endured it in silence.

Wanqing was beside herself with excitement. "He… you saw him… Is he well? Has he grown old? Right, it’s been a hundred years, he must be old now. Did he come to see me? Should I fix my hair? Where’s my rouge? Did you see my rouge?"

In the mirror, Wanqing kept smoothing her cloud-like hair, caressing her cheeks and speaking incessantly, blushing with shyness. It was as if a maiden waited for her beloved.

---

Seeing this, a wave of sorrow washed over me.

Wanqing spoke for a long time, but when neither Third Uncle nor I responded, her expression suddenly changed, and she snapped angrily, "Why are you silent? Didn’t you see him? Why didn’t he come?"

Third Uncle replied calmly, "Elder, we did indeed meet Wooden Man Yang at the Repentance Monastery."

"Repentance Monastery? Is he regretting running away alone?"

Third Uncle smiled. "Wooden Man Yang long ago became a monk, taking the Dharma name Jue Ming. I believe you must have felt it. When we arrived, he had already achieved the golden body, but that very night, he passed away in meditation… Elder, please let go of this matter…"

"He passed away? He passed away? No wonder I can no longer sense him. So it’s all my fault… Is it my fault? Why did I harm him? It’s my mistake…"

Wanqing was like someone possessed, muttering to herself without regard for anyone.

I glanced at Third Uncle, and he nodded.

I took out the Five Emperors Buddhist Lamp I had been carrying and said, "Elder, don’t dwell on it. Jue Ming said he was always waiting for the day of liberation. You asked us to find him, and that was to help him find release. Look at this…"

I placed the lamp on the dressing table.

Strangely, as soon as the lamp touched the table, the Buddha head—that is, Jue Ming’s relic—emitted a dim glow.

The light spread quickly, forming an image in midair.

The image was unmistakably the shadow of the old monk, Jue Ming.

Third Uncle whispered, "So Jue Ming sealed a fragment of his soul in the relic, after all, he has come to see Wanqing."

Wanqing noticed the shadow of Jue Ming. She stared blankly for a moment, then reached out to touch him. "Huan Zhi, is that you? You’ve finally come to see me?"

(End of chapter)