Chapter 63: Speaking of Immortals

Seeing the Temple of Lanruo without making a move is truly a pity.

"What about that monk? What did they say?"

Shen Shi still wanted to make an effort, even though the abbot of Lanruo Temple was now human. His intuition told him that if he didn't intervene, Lanruo Temple would sooner or later become the legendary Lanruo Temple.

"That monk... The presiding monk of Lanruo Temple has already expelled him from the monastic order," Gongsun Ce replied.

"What? Just like that?"

A strong sense of familiarity swept over him.

"Brother Shen, that's all that can be done. We can't just arrest all the monks—the magistrate doesn't have such authority."

It was a Buddhist temple, with over a hundred resident monks and dozens of visiting monks. Arresting them all at once would be tantamount to eradicating Buddhism.

Matters of religion are never trivial. Take, for example, missionaries in later generations... Or to cite a foreign example, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Oda Nobunaga, who committed such a grave error.

His fire burned few monks, but his infamy followed him even in death.

Let alone Shen Shi, who had no evidence—even with evidence, few would dare touch religion. Typically, such matters are handled by the authorities informing the temple, and the temple deals with it independently. Lanruo Temple offered their solution: they expelled the monk from the order, allowing him to be judged by secular courts. That was already a great concession.

"And what about the rewards for those militiamen?" Shen Shi grew concerned.

Gongsun Ce shook his head. "Guobei County simply doesn't have the funds."

...

Lanruo Temple, an ancient Tang-era sanctuary.

"Master Xin, why did you sacrifice one of your own?"

Within Lanruo Temple, there was much displeasure over the expulsion of their monk and his subsequent interrogation by the county office. The prosperity of monastic institutions was inseparable from their authority. Disciplining monks was the prerogative of the abbot—a temple's right.

No one wishes to lose power; temples are no exception.

Master Xin was a gaunt scholar, but his thinness was not of the ordinary sort—it was a deformity, as if a curved strip was encased in a scholar's robe.

"This, I'll let my daughter explain," Xin Hu said, declining to elaborate and sending forth his daughter Xin Fourteenth Lady, a rather charming young girl.

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"Master, the Song Dynasty faces calamity, and the Lord has sent the literary and martial stars to descend..." As Xin Fourteenth Lady explained the reasons, she thought to herself: Young master, this is all I can do to help you, and only now.

If Shen Shi were here, he would know that Xin Fourteenth Lady was that little fox spirit.

"You mean that black-faced one is the Martial Star?" a monk inquired.

The monks of Lanruo Temple were all burly, or at least astonishingly fat; the five monks in the main hall certainly were. Yet their robustness was only of the body, not the spirit—without cultivation, how could they resist the fox spirit's persuasion? They believed seventy percent of what they heard.

"No," Xin Fourteenth Lady replied, "they descended in a hurry and messed up their faces—the Literary Star ended up with a black face, the Martial Star with a white one."

"Amitabha," the monks chanted, trying to bolster their spirits.

Xin Fourteenth Lady continued, "You saw it that night as well. Facing the Liao army alone—is that something ordinary people can do?"

"Fairy Xin speaks truly. Those Liao soldiers are from the Pi Room Army. The Pi Room Army was originally composed of the most stalwart and elite warriors from the Khitan tribes, initially only a thousand strong, serving as the emperor's bodyguards. 'Pi Room' means 'Vajra,' showing their strength! Over generations, their numbers grew, and now they exceed thirty thousand..."

The identity of the Liao soldiers seemed to confirm Xin Fourteenth Lady's words.

A fat monk couldn't help but say, "Fourteenth Lady, you know such celestial secrets—you must already be an immortal?"

"Indeed, I am already listed among the immortals," Xin Fourteenth Lady admitted freely.

"Ahh—" The monks were left speechless.

After meeting the monks, Xin Hu asked his daughter, "Fourteenth Lady, your name is among the immortals—does this have something to do with him?"

"Yes, Father."

The boast had already been made, and her transformation was indeed thanks to him. Xin Fourteenth Lady once again heaped praise upon Shen Shi.

She had thought that by extolling Shen Shi, she could spare him the attention of demons and monsters, but...

"Fourteenth Sister, why don't you bring him here? If we absorb his talent, wouldn't we all become immortals?"

Fox spirits are exceedingly greedy, and Xin Hu had eighteen daughters, each eager for immortality.

"That's right! Fourteenth Sister, bring him here—I want his immortal bones."

"Yes, yes, I want immortal energy."

...

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Seventeen fox spirits, plus an old fox, all stared with gleaming eyes, desperate to strip Shen Shi to the bone.

"Hmph!" Xin Fourteenth Lady grew angry on the spot. "You only see what's before you. If you kill him, he'll simply return to Heaven. Do you think you'll become immortals after he ascends? The Literary Star, Bi Gan, is an official alongside the gods of the Thunder Department. Even our matron (the fox clan worships Daji) couldn't contend, let alone you."

Seeing them quiet, Xin Fourteenth Lady continued, "If you think you're his match, you can try for yourselves." With that, she left.

She had to leave—if she stayed, she wouldn't be able to keep up the fabrication.

"Hmph! What's so special about him? If you don't want to look for him, so be it." With her sisters speaking so plainly, the other foxes naturally wouldn't risk their lives, especially the water fox, who wanted revenge but feared being killed even more.

Xin Fourteenth Lady didn't realize that her trickery not only freed her from the cage—Xin Hu had only confined her to learn why his daughter transformed, never considering 'immortal fate'—but also thoroughly duped her father.

...

"Master!"

Shen Shi and his companions were preparing to leave Guobei County, and as soon as the news spread, the first to arrive were Guobei's militiamen and their families.

Outside Guobei City, white banners fluttered everywhere. Generals die in a hundred battles; warriors return after ten years. No battle is won without a thousand enemies slain and eight hundred of one's own lost.

"Master, we don't need the reward, but the Three Great Families are left with only widows and orphans—the compensation must be given!" The speaker limped on one leg.

"Master, my wife has already gone back to her family..."

...

The Song Dynasty was wealthy, but not so rich that families could survive without their able-bodied men.

"Master, has the compensation still not been distributed?" Seeing the sea of white, Shen Shi turned and questioned Magistrate Wang, "I haven't claimed any reward myself."

For the sake of the militiamen, Shen Shi had even forgone his own reward, since he was the largest claimant.

But Shen Shi never imagined that the Song Dynasty would value warriors so little—his renunciation not only failed to bring compensation for the militiamen, but the county office simply withheld it altogether.

Shen Shi's direct questioning put Magistrate Wang on the spot. With a flick of his official sleeve, he declared, "Defending the country is their duty. The court has its laws. For the sake of Lord Bao's reputation, I won't hold it against you—stand down!"