After releasing the white koi carp back into the river, Zhou Shanheng went to the county’s medicine shop to pick up new medicine. When he returned home, he saw an unfamiliar face.
The Zhou family lived next to the mountain path at the end of the village, surrounded by mountains and rivers. Since the dirt road leading in and out of the village passed right in front of their door, there were often passersby who stopped to ask for a drink of water.
Mother Zhou was a devout Buddhist and believed in forming good karmic connections. So whether the passerby was a local or a weary traveler covered in dust, they could all receive a bowl of water to quench their thirst.
It was just past noon, a time when every household was quiet with chickens and dogs resting, and all in the midst of their peaceful afternoon naps.
Zhou Shanheng stepped forward and politely asked the monk standing outside the courtyard, “Master… are you passing by and short of water to drink?”
The visitor wore a kasaya monk’s robe and had a calm expression. Compared to ordinary monks, he was noticeably taller. Although he held an agarwood prayer bead bracelet in his hand, his lowered gaze was devoid of emotion. He didn’t look like a novice monk who chanted sutras daily, but more like a warrior monk who subdued demons and defended the Way.
Zhou Shanheng’s instinct was not wrong.
“Poor monk Du Zhi, thank you for the trouble.”
The monk clasped his palms together in greeting and spoke in a low, cold voice.
Zhou Shanheng had already heard of Master Du Zhi who brought rain to Jiangzhou. Thanks to the tireless efforts of storytellers and people’s after-dinner conversations, his deeds had spread all over Jiangzhou along with his footsteps.
He said, “I’ll go pour you a bowl of water right away. Please wait a moment, Master.”
Zhou Shanheng brought out a bowl of tea from the main house. When he stepped over the threshold, he saw Du Zhi with his head lowered, examining the water vat beneath the eaves.
The water in the tank had just been changed. It was extremely clear, so clear one could see the tank’s walls and bottom at a glance.
Because it was used to raise fish before, mud was buried at the bottom of the tank for growing some aquatic plants. Now the mud and plants had been discarded, but the moss clinging to the walls had not been cleaned yet.
Zhou Shanheng found it odd that the monk had been staring at the water vat for a long time, but he didn’t speak out of turn.
He handed the wooden bowl filled with tea to Du Zhi.
He didn’t notice that as the bowl was passed over, a thin red thread was drawn out from his wrist. It slid along the bottom of the bowl and slipped into the wide sleeve of the kasaya.
Du Zhi’s eyelids were half-lowered, expression unchanged. He drank the tea in one gulp and handed the bowl back to Zhou Shanheng. “Thank you.”
Zhou Shanheng watched as the monk walked away toward the end of the village, stepping into the pine-sand path.
Zhou Erlang, who was originally too shy to come out and greet the guest earlier, suddenly leaned against the doorframe. He tilted his head up and whispered to Zhou Shanheng, “Gege, why do I feel like Master Du Zhi looks a bit like you? Especially the eyebrows…”
He seemed to be saying it casually.
Children didn’t dwell on things. After a while, he forgot what he’d said and ran off to the neighbor’s house to play cricket with his friends.
Zhou Shanheng, however, didn’t come back to his senses for a long time after hearing that. He closed the wooden door and returned to the house.
From the east wing room came the sound of suppressed sobbing.
Zhou Shanheng thought his mother was feeling unwell and hurried in to check. As soon as he entered, he saw her leaning against the window, her wrinkled face due to age now soaked with tears.
Zhou Shanheng followed her gaze through the window of the east wing room and finally remembered…this window faced directly toward the courtyard, so she could see everything that had happened there.
………
Xin Hexue: [Gege, can you repeat the script for me again?]
K: [Yes.]
The butterfly koi swam upstream in the river.
Xin Hexue’s mind was a little messed up right now.
The koi’s habit of cycling every seven days had indeed caused him some trouble. He had already completely forgotten what had happened before.
Fortunately, this did not affect the memories from before he entered this small world, as well as the inherited memories of the koi demon race itself, including their survival experience.
The heart-protecting scale was like a limited memo pad.
Xin Hexue sank his consciousness into the sea of knowledge. He could observe the danxin within his body, the direction of the blessing meridians inside, and the spiritual energy spilling out around the danxin.
The heart-protecting scale clung tightly to the danxin.
With his understanding of himself, he was certain he would have left some clue behind for himself.
He examined the words inscribed with spiritual power on the heart-protecting scale. No matter how he looked at it horizontally or vertically, all he could make out was the golden word “repay kindness”.
This indeed was the most important matter in this small world, and it could be said to be the main plot.
But the problem was, due to the limitations of the laws of heaven, Xin Hexue could not inscribe the names of mortals or places on the heart-protecting scale.
So the word “repay kindness” did not point to a specific target.
From the simple script content repeated by K, all he knew was that the person’s characteristic was…a poor scholar.
There must be some other clue he had left for himself.
The butterfly koi leapt upstream against the waterfall and as it broke through the water, its white scales sparkled under the sunlight.
Xin Hexue sensed the red string winding through his meridians.
His consciousness dove into it.
In the vast world and amid the unseen threads of fate, all things were connected by ties that were hard to sever.
Xin Hexue opened his eyes.
He discovered the other end of the red string.
It was to the northwest and not stationary. The person on the other end of the red string seemed to be on the move, showing a dynamic trend.
With a flick of his tail, he followed the sensation of the red string and chased after it.
………
Using the cover of green algae, the butterfly koi poked its head out of the water.
The sunlight was a bit harsh. Xin Hexue narrowed his eyes slightly, and his voice slightly cold,
[What’s this? Even monks are now taking the imperial examination?]
Across the riverbank not far away was a monk walking on the road.
Xin Hexue had already lost his previous memories and naturally did not remember meeting this Master Duzhi at the county yamen before.
But his first reaction upon seeing the monk was still to suspect this was the high monk written into the script.
Why was the red string on him?
Xin Hexue didn’t believe he would get feelings for a bald donkey, let alone tie a red string to mark him.
There was only one possibility…this monk had stripped away the red string he had left in the poor scholar’s meridians.
The monk stopped by the riverbank and turned his head slightly to glance toward the river.
Xin Hexue immediately felt like a prey caught in the gaze of an eagle. He didn’t know the extent of the other party’s cultivation, so caution was best. With a flick of his tail, he sank back underwater.
He swam back along the original path, trying to return to the stretch of water where his memories had just been cleansed.
But he hadn’t swum far when…
“Splash!”
He was scooped out of the water by a pair of large hands and brought to the surface.
