usatvline Chapter 33 Abbot Wule of Pudu Temple
Chapter 33 Abbot Wule of Pudu Temple
Wu You has never traveled this far since he came to this world.
She was very curious about this beautiful place, which was completely free of modern industrial pollution. Every time they passed a scenic spot, she would drag Li Lianhua down to take pictures.
At first, Li Lianhua completely ignored Wu You, but later she couldn't stand Wu You's nagging anymore and had no choice but to join in.
When Wu You asked her to pose, Li Lianhua could only silently think to herself, "I'm just a heartless photography partner, devoid of emotion." She stiffly imitated Wu You's poses.
The journey, with its frequent stops, took longer than Li Lianhua had anticipated. Wu You initially wanted to travel quickly to detoxify as soon as possible, but she accidentally got carried away with the fun.
Fortunately, it was Li Lianhua who made the journey; if it had been Wu You, it might have taken another ten days to arrive.
…………
Finally, more than twenty days later, the Lotus Pavilion came to rest at the foot of Pudu Temple Mountain.
Wu You put the antidote pill and three thousand taels of silver in his backpack, activated the defense mechanism in the Lotus Pavilion, and then walked with Li Lianhua towards Pudu Temple on the mountain.
The journey up the mountain was always tiring, and it took nearly an hour to reach the temple gate. Wu You was so exhausted that she didn't care about her appearance. She sat on a large rock at the entrance of Pudu Temple, panting heavily, and wiping the sweat from her forehead with a tissue.
At this moment, Wu You felt extremely envious of Li Lianhua. Even though she was poisoned, her long-term martial arts training had left her somewhat intact, and she only breathed slightly without sweating a drop. She was currently sitting on a nearby rock, watching the people coming and going at the temple.
Wu You felt that Li Lianhua's physical abilities were a mystery; sometimes she was as strong as an ox, and sometimes as weak as a chicken.
After resting for a while, feeling less tired, Wu You sat up from the big rock, shook out her clothes, and tidied herself up a bit.
"Let's go in."
Li Lianhua got up. The two entered the temple together.
After passing through the courtyard with a large incense burner and climbing dozens of steps, the main hall of the temple is just a few dozen meters away.
"I didn't expect this place to be so big. Hua Hua, have you been here before?" Wu You and Li Lianhua chatted.
“I’ve been here a few times before,” Li Lianhua said casually.
"When was the last time you came here?" Wu You asked again, even though she already knew the answer.
“The last time, the last time was more than a year ago, it changed my life here.” Li Lianhua’s tone seemed to be reminiscing about something.
Wu You reached out and patted Li Lianhua on the shoulder: "Don't be discouraged, maybe this trip will change something."
As the two were talking, they reached the entrance of the main hall. Li Lianhua wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by a young novice monk who came from the side hall: "Esteemed benefactors, our abbot invites you to come with me." After saying that, the young novice monk led the way.
Wu You and Li Lianhua exchanged a glance, then followed the young novice monk to the backyard.
The backyard is where the young monks rest at night, and worshippers from the front are not allowed to come here without an invitation. Compared to the bustling front yard, the backyard is much quieter.
The two followed the young novice monk to a simple and ancient meditation room. The young novice monk stepped forward and gently knocked on the door: "Abbot, the two benefactors have been brought here."
"You can go down now," an aged voice came from inside the house.
"Yes." The young novice bowed and withdrew.
A short while later, the door opened from inside, and an elderly man with a kind face and a white beard came out: "Benefactor Li, you have been away for a long time. Are you still well?"
"I am well and will be troubling the abbot again on this trip." Li Lianhua cupped his hands and performed a traditional Jianghu (江湖, a term referring to the martial arts world) greeting.
"No problem, no problem." Wu nodded.
Wu You was trying not to laugh. She had seen the two interact in the drama, where Li Lianhua even called him "monk," which was nothing like the "master" title used now.
Wu You was watching the show when he suddenly felt two gazes fixed on him. He quickly suppressed the corners of his mouth that were turned up, coughed, and imitated Li Lianhua by cupping his hands in a Jianghu salute: "I am Wu You, greetings to Abbot Master."
Wu Liao stared at Wu You for a few moments, then gave a Buddhist salute: "Greetings, Benefactor Wu. Please come with me to the meditation room to chat, both of you." He then led the way.
Wu You and Li Lianhua entered the meditation room together. Wu You also saw the Zen saying that Li Lianhua's name originated from: "With a pure and tranquil mind, lotus flowers bloom everywhere."
Wu You quickly followed Li Lianhua and sat down beside Abbot Wule, who had placed tea. He picked up his teacup and took a sip. Incense rose softly in the room, and the three of them drank tea in quiet contemplation.
Wu Liao put down his teacup and said to Li Lianhua, "Benefactor Li, please stretch out your hand so that this old monk can see it."
Li Lianhua wanted to refuse, but when she met two pairs of burning eyes, she had no choice but to give up the idea and helplessly stretched out her hand and placed it on the table.
Wu Liao placed his hand on Li Lianhua's wrist and carefully examined it for a long time before slowly withdrawing it: "Benefactor Li, your illness is still the same as before. You should find a good medicine to cure this illness as soon as possible, otherwise..."
Before she could finish speaking, Li Lianhua quickly interrupted, "This is an old ailment that's been going on for ages. If it can't be cured, it can't be cured. Good medicine isn't easy to find. If it were easy to find, this disease would have been cured long ago."
Li Lianhua shook off non-existent dust from her knees and carefully adjusted the belt hanging down from her waist sash.
This trip was merely to dissuade Wu You from her idea. The monk was secretly trying to get her back to Sigumen, or rather, Baichuanyuan now, but that doesn't matter anymore.
Upon hearing this, Wu You hurriedly waved his hand in front of the two of them, interrupting their spellcasting: "Gentlemen, look at me, have you forgotten about me?"
When the two turned their attention to this side, Wu You spoke up: "Have you forgotten the real purpose of our visit to the temple? I brought medicine with me when I climbed up the mountain."
Seeing Wu You's expression that said, "Don't worry about anything, I can handle it all," Li Lianhua regretted not telling the truth back then. Now she had to play along with her act, which was too difficult.
Seeing the abbot and Li Lianhua's expressions of wanting to explain but not knowing where to begin, Wu You secretly chuckled to himself. It felt so good to know the truth all by himself.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Wu You continued, "Don't worry, the medicine I brought is top-notch and guaranteed to cure the disease. I've been looking for this for a long time."
Seeing this, Wu Liao had no choice but to reply, "Where is the medicine that Benefactor Wu brought? Could you please show it to this old monk?"
"Of course, I'll take it out right away." After saying that, Wu You took the backpack from the back to the front, took out the wooden box containing the antidote, and placed it on the table.
Wu You opened the box and took out a small box, placing it in the middle of the table: "I estimate the efficacy of this medicine is only 40-50%. Abbot, you can take it and study it first."
Wu You then took out another small box and placed it in the middle of the table: "This medicine contains the most important medicinal ingredients, and it has about 70-80% medicinal properties."