970 A Favor (1/2)

Old Man Mu had taken Shi Qingjue to a brothel, which had attracted some people's attention. It was with this clue that the monk named Lian Qing had managed to track them down to the Department of Guards.

Lian Qing was willing to give up avenging his elder brother's murder, but his impression of the Dragon King was quite poor. A vigilant look appeared on his face the moment he stepped into the Department of Guards.

Long Fanyun recognized Lian Qing, and said, \”Hello, monk.\”

\”Um,\” Lian Qing replied in a gruff voice. His eyes swept around the department and then rested on Long Fanyun. \”You still haven't recovered from the injury in your legs?\”

\”They're incurable. Even Doctor Sun can't heal them.\”

Lian Qing didn't really care about Long Fanyun's injury. He moved his eyes onto Red Bat. \”Aren't you… Instructor Shangguan's deputy? Why are you in the Dragon King's place instead of the Kun Society?\”

\”That doesn't concern you, monk. You're not here to pry into anyone's domestic business, are you?\”

Upon hearing the words \”domestic business,\” Long Fanyun felt both warm and embarrassed, so he let out a light cough. Lian Qing scratched his bald head and suddenly understood. \”Oh, I see. You're right. That's not why I'm here. Please ask the Dragon King to come out. I want an audience with him.\”

\”Long Fanyun is the one who calls the shots in the Department of Guards. Whatever it is you want to talk with the Dragon King about, you can talk to him about,\” said Red Bat.

Lian Qing pondered it over for a while and then said to Long Fanyun, \”Old Man Mu took away a monk from the Four Noble Truths Temple. Please hand him over.\”

Long Fanyun only knew that Old Man Mu brought a stranger back. Because that person had been directly sent to the Dragon King, he hadn't asked about the details. At this moment, he didn't know how to answer Lian Qing. Red Bat spoke again. \”That's weird. Old Man Mu never left Jade City. When did he go to the Four Noble Truths Temple?\”

\”Er, Old Man Mu didn't go there. Jueqing came to Jade City of his own accord. Last night, someone saw him and Old Man Mu go to… Gold Nest Alley. They returned to the Department of Guards this morning.\”

Gold Nest Alley was a place in southern Jade City where cheap brothels were densely located. Red Bat had never heard of this place before, but judging from the amused look in the guards' eyes and their smile, she knew that it was not a good place. So, she snorted lightly and said, \”So Jueqing went with Old Man Mu of his own will?\”

Too embarrassed to answer the question, Lian Qing became angry. \”Long Fanyun, who's the head of the Department of Guards? You or this woman?\”

\”What did you just say?\” Red Bat asked in a severe voice.

\”It was my fault. Amitabha. Please pardon me, female benefactor.\” Lian Qing bowed and apologized sincerely. Red Bat couldn't take any further action.

Having generally understood the situation, Long Fanyun said, \”That Jueqing is a secularized monk, right?\”

\”He is. It's been less than three day since he was secularized.\”

\”It doesn't matter how many days it has been. The key is that he no longer has nothing to do with the Four Noble Truths Temple now, since he has been secularized. So why are you here, asking me to hand him over?\”

Lian Qing became somewhat anxious. \”Jueqing was indeed secularized, but he took something away from the Four Noble Truths Temple… I'm here to try to persuade him to turn back from his wrong path and becp,e a monk again.\”

\”He has even been to Gold Nest Alley. The Four Noble Truths Temple still wants him to be a monk again?\” asked Long Fanyun. All of the ten-plus guards laughed, but upon seeing the serious look on Red Bat's face, they hurriedly stopped laughing.

Lian Qing was running out of patience. \”No matter what, please ask Jueqing to come here. I want to have a word with him. Whether he goes with me or not will be left to his own discretion. The Department of Guards won't force him to stay, right?\”

Having no idea what the Dragon King's plan was, Long Fanyun didn't dare give any reckless answers. He was wondering whether he should inform the Dragon King or not when Old Man Mu's voice came from outside. \”So it turns out that this matter is so simple. He's right here. You can ask him right now.\”

Shi Qingjue followed Old Man Mu into the department's main area, trying to avoid being seen, as if he were afraid of being punished for something bad he had done. When he saw Lian Qing, he put his palms together and said, \”Martial Uncle Lian Qing.\”

In fact, Lian Qing had become a Buddhist monk much later than Shi Qingjue. It was just that he happened to be indentured to an eminent monk, so his status was higher than that of Shi Qingjue. When he saw Jueqing dressed in secular clothes, he involuntarily furrowed his forehead. \”Jueqing, why are you dressed like this?\”

\”I… Martial Uncle, my new name is Shi Qingjue. I've already been secularized, so this is the way that I'm supposed to be dressed in.\”

Old Man Mu added, \”He'll be wearing a military uniform in a short while. From now on, he is a soldier of the Dragon Army. Ha-ha. Rest assured, monk. He won't suffer any losses. Last night-\”

Lian Qing hurriedly interrupted Old Man Mu and looked around. Knowing that these people were not going to let him talk with Jueqing in private, he had no choice but to lower his voice and say, \”Jueqing, nobody is trying to stop you from resuming a secular life, but the Four Noble Truths Temple has raised you since childhood and has always been good to you. You shouldn't have traded the confidential information of the temple for wealth and position the moment you were secularized. You forgot about all of its previous kindnesses, which is very ungrateful.\”

Shi Qingjue's face was full of shame. Old Man Mu walked up to him, raised his head, and looked at Lian Qing before saying, \”First, he didn't forget about the Four Noble Truths Temple. Last night, when he was having the best time of his life, he kept yelling out the name of Buddha. Can you imagine how deep his love for Buddha is? Second, you said that he traded confidential information for wealth and position, which is terribly wrong.\”

\”The roll with the names of all eminent monks is… \” Exasperated, Lian Qing tried very hard and managed to subdue his anger.

\”The roll with the names of all the eminent monks is a confidential document of the Four Noble Truths Temple?\”

\”Of course it is.\”

\”Shi Qingjue was merely a common receptionist. How could he access a confidential document?\”

\”He didn't have the clearance, but his master shifu has. He must have seen it by accident and taken it.\”

\”Wait. You said 'take it'. The roll in the Four Noble Truths Temple is gone? It's nowhere to be seen?\”

Lian Qing knew that they would only end up arguing over meaningless details if he contradicted him, so he ignored Old Man Mu and instead addressed Shi Qingjue who was behind him. \”Jueqing, you must think twice. A single slip can cause a long lasting sorrow. Even if you hold no gratitude to the Four Noble Truths Temple for its kindnesses, do you not care about your master shifu's reputation either? If the information in that roll is divulged, then your master shifu will be held responsible.\”

Shi Qingjue's face fell ashen. Old Man Mu consoled him. \”Don't worry. We'll get your master shifu out of the temple as well, and he'll also become secularized. You've just taken a glimpse of this pleasurably and material world and you haven't had your first taste of the real fun yet. The Dragon King and I will make sure that you and your master shifu will never want to be Buddhist monks again.\”