Chapter 75

Because it is located on the west side of West Lake, Lingyin Temple is usually considered part of the West Lake Scenic Area, more accurately, it belongs to the Feilai Peak Scenic Area—only by entering the Feilai Peak Scenic Area can one access Lingyin Temple.

Since it was neither a golden week nor a weekend, there were not many tourists in the scenic area. The large parking lot only had a few buses and a dozen private cars.

"Let's tour the scenic area first, and finally go to the Great Hero Hall of Lingyin Temple to burn incense," Su Yuxin arranged after getting off the car.

Su Liuli was a bit puzzled: "Sis, aren't we here to worship Buddha? Why are we touring the scenic area?"

"Right, we've toured this area at least three times, haven't we?" Su Jindi, who rarely aligned with Su Liuli, chimed in. He really didn't want to spend the energy and effort to tour the scenic area.

Seeing the two oppose, Su Yuxin felt a bit embarrassed. She tried to remain calm and said, "It's rare for us to come out and relax, so we might as well take a tour. Besides, Doctor Ye is here for the first time."

"Sis, you want us to accompany him on the tour?" Su Liuli wasn't stupid; she immediately understood that the last sentence was the key. She pouted, clearly unhappy.

Unlike Su Liuli, Su Jindi, upon hearing it was for Ye Fan, quickly changed his mind: "Hmm, Sister Yuxin is right. It's Brother Ye's first time here, so we should tour together. Besides, the scenery here is beautiful, the air is fresh, which is good for physical and mental health..."

"Su Jindi!"

Su Liuli was so angry that her whole body trembled. She felt like she wanted to strangle Su Jindi with her chest.

Su Jindi, however, winked at Ye Fan, as if saying: "Brother Ye, wherever you go, I will definitely follow!"

In the end, the minority had to follow the majority. Su Liuli, feeling depressed, followed Ye Fan, Su Yuxin, and Su Jindi on the tour of the scenic area.

About twenty minutes after Ye Fan and the others entered the scenic area, the Coaster minibus carrying Situ Ruoshui arrived at the parking lot outside the scenic area.

"Ruoshui, my adoptive father still has some matters for me to handle, so we won't tour the scenic area. We'll leave after you make your wishes, okay?" The car stopped, and Situ Haotian got up and walked to Situ Ruoshui, asking for her opinion.

"Okay, Brother Haotian." Situ Ruoshui nodded obediently. Her purpose for this trip was to make wishes, and she had no particular interest in touring the scenic area.

Seeing Situ Ruoshui agree, Situ Haotian breathed a sigh of relief and then instructed his subordinates to buy tickets.

Soon, Situ Ruoshui, accompanied by ten of Situ Haotian's subordinates, entered the scenic area and headed straight for Lingyin Temple.

A moment later, one of Qiao Bazhi's subordinates got out of a taxi and quickly walked to the ticket office, asking the ticket seller, "Excuse me, did eleven people just enter the scenic area?"

"Yes."

The ticket seller casually replied, then looked at Qiao Bazhi's subordinate with some curiosity, wondering why he was asking.

"I'm with them, but I was left behind because I woke up late. I took a taxi to catch up. Which attraction did they go to? I need to meet up with them," Qiao Bazhi's subordinate lied.

"Lingyin Temple." The ticket seller casually replied, then realized something and asked, puzzled, "Why don't you call them?"

"These guys are mad at me and won't answer my calls," Qiao Bazhi's subordinate smiled. "Thanks, I'll buy a ticket."

Half a minute later, the ticket seller handed the ticket to Qiao Bazhi's subordinate, who took it and walked toward the entrance of the scenic area while calling Qiao Bazhi to report the situation.

"Situ Chen's wife used to come to Lingyin Temple every year to burn incense and worship Buddha. I didn't expect his daughter to have the same hobby."

Upon receiving the information, Qiao Bazhi smiled and said, "If we had known they were coming here, we wouldn't have had to chase them around. We could have just waited at the club."

"Right, we ended up circling back to West Lake."

The one-eyed young man laughed in agreement. He knew that the club where they had rested the previous night was located by West Lake, very close by, and it wouldn't take long to walk there.

"Qiao Bazhi, after you drop us off at the entrance of the scenic area, you don't need to come in. Just wait for us at the club," Qu Feng arranged with a blank expression.

"Okay."

Although Qiao Bazhi was a bit annoyed by Qu Feng's orders, he didn't show it and immediately nodded in agreement.

...

About an hour later, Situ Ruoshui and her group entered Lingyin Temple first.

"Brother Haotian, aren't you going to make wishes?" At the entrance of the Great Hero Hall, Situ Ruoshui, noticing that Situ Haotian had no intention of entering, couldn't help but ask.

Situ Haotian had already had his subordinates check the entire hall and found no suspicious people. He shook his head decisively, "Ruoshui, we won't go in. We'll wait for you outside."

"Okay."

Situ Ruoshui nodded upon hearing this and walked into the Great Hero Hall alone.

The Great Hero Hall, originally called the Hall of the Buddha of Enlightenment, is a single-story building with a three-tiered roof, majestic and imposing. The double eaves are 33.6 meters high, making it very grand. In the center of the hall is a 24.8-meter-tall statue of Sakyamuni sitting on a lotus throne, exquisitely crafted and dignified, with a serene expression that commands respect. It is one of the tallest wooden Buddha statues in China.

When Situ Ruoshui entered the Great Hero Hall, the entire hall was quiet, with only a monk in front of the Buddha statue and no one else.

"Layman, you're here again?"

Seeing Situ Ruoshui approach, the monk stopped his prayer beads and smiled, bowing to her.

"Master, do you recognize me?"

Situ Ruoshui, influenced by the solemn Buddha statue, had a serious expression. Upon hearing the monk's words, her delicate face showed a hint of surprise.

"If I'm not mistaken, you used to come here often with your mother when you were young. Later, as you grew up, you came less frequently, and each time you came alone," the monk replied, not directly answering her question. "Where is your mother? Why doesn't she come anymore?"

"Mother has gone to the Pure Land." Situ Ruoshui said softly.

The monk, upon hearing this, quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, layman. I spoke out of turn."

"It's okay, Master. Please give me six incense sticks." Situ Ruoshui forced a smile, which looked more like a grimace.

The monk didn't say more and handed her six incense sticks. Situ Ruoshui took them with both hands, lit them, raised them above her head in a bow, and then carefully placed them in the incense burner.

After completing this, she walked past the monk and went straight to the central statue of Sakyamuni, kneeling on the prayer mat and clasping her hands together.

"Buddha, when I used to come here with my mother to burn incense, the master said that burning six incense sticks represents praying for two generations."

Situ Ruoshui looked at the Buddha statue with deep devotion and said softly, "Ruoshui prays that Buddha will bless my mother to be happy in the Pure Land and not to worry about Ruoshui and Father; prays that Buddha will bless Father to be healthy and have more time to spend with Ruoshui; and finally, prays that Buddha will bless Ruoshui to dream of Mother and talk to her more often."

As she finished speaking, Situ Ruoshui bowed, and the sound of her head hitting the floor echoed throughout the hall.

"What a pitiful and understanding child."

Seeing this, and thinking of Ruoshui's prayers, the monk sighed inwardly, his eyes filled with sympathy.

"Master, I've finished making my wishes. I'll come back next year to fulfill them. Goodbye." After bowing, Situ Ruoshui stood up, ignoring the red bump on her forehead, and politely said to the monk.

The monk bowed in return, "Layman, Buddha will bless you."

"Thank you, Master."

Situ Ruoshui returned the bow and then walked out of the Great Hero Hall, descending the mountain with Situ Haotian and his group.

"Situ Ruoshui?"

Ten minutes later, as Ye Fan and his group were heading toward Lingyin Temple, Su Jindi, who was walking at the front, spotted Situ Ruoshui and shouted in surprise, as if he had discovered a new continent.

"Are you crazy about Situ Ruoshui? Why would she come here?"

Su Liuli glared at Su Jindi, then instinctively followed his gaze and her eyes widened, "R-Really, it's her?"

"Goddess Ruoshui!"

Ignoring Su Liuli, Su Jindi, as if energized, rushed toward Situ Ruoshui and her group.

Su Liuli, recovering from her brief shock, retracted her gaze and smiled at Ye Fan, "Didn't someone say that Situ Ruoshui would cry and beg to get you to join the Barbie team? I'll ask her if it's true!"

"..."

Ye Fan's expression froze.

He hadn't expected to run into Situ Ruoshui here, and what he hadn't expected even more was that Su Liuli would be so 'vengeful'!