Chapter 2827: An Advice And The Naughty Beasts
Chapter 2827: An Advice And The Naughty Beasts
"Indeed. I've never seen such a pure child before." An elder replied.
"If only he could've been a pupil here, I would've gladly been able to retire to seclusion." Another elder said.
The Saintess glanced at the old man for that, but didn't take his words to heart. But if were anyone else that showed their intentions of taking away Lin Mu, the Saintess would certainly not have been so kind.
The elders looked at each other and slowly nodded, now fully convinced that Lin Mu was no ordinary guest. If someone of the Saintess's stature personally vouched for him, then there had to be far more to the young man than they had seen thus far.
"We shall do all we can to support him during his stay," the Abbot affirmed.
The Saintess gave a slight nod, her expression calm yet pleased. "That is all I ask."
She turned to leave, but paused for a moment. Her gaze swept across the room, and for a brief second, the monks felt a strange stillness descend, but then they realized what she was looking at wasn't just the room but the entirety of the Green Lotus Temple.
It wasn't oppressive—rather, it was like time itself had stopped to acknowledge her presence.
"I've told this to the Abbots of the Great Potala Palace and the Mahayana Island before as an advice too, so I will also tell you the same." The Saintess said, drawing the full attention of the elders and the abbot.
"You walk the path of peace," she said softly, "but do not forget that even peace needs guardians."
The words echoed in the chamber long after she had vanished, leaving the elders and Abbot deep in thought.
Back at the small courtyard, Lin Mu stirred from his meditation. He could feel the subtle ripples in the ambient energy, like the faint aftershocks of a mountain crumbling in the distance.
'She must have finished,' he thought.
He opened his eyes slowly, his gaze serene. Though he hadn't seen it directly, he could sense that the Saintess had made her presence known. She was never one to act without reason. If she had revealed herself, it was a statement—one that would surely surprise the elders.
Standing up, he took a deep breath and looked toward the Grand Peak.
"I suppose I might be questioned later," Lin Mu muttered to himself with a wry smile.
He turned his attention to the garden nearby. To his surprise, it was not quiet. The beasts had returned at some point.
"Woohooo! Catch me if you can!" Ashy cried, darting around the bamboo stalks with reckless speed.
"Stop flapping so hard! You're scaring the birds!" one of the twins shouted, chasing after her.
"We are birds!" the other twin protested.
"Not the point!" came the flustered reply.
Little Shrubby sat beneath a tree, tail twitching as he tried—and failed—to pretend he wasn't amused.
Lin Mu sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I gave you one instruction."
"But we didn't scare Meng Bai!" Ashy shouted mid-flight. "He scared himself!"
"Very different," the twins chimed in from opposite sides of the pond.
"Meng Bai is hiding under in his room," Little Shrubby reported, finally breaking into a grin.
Lin Mu groaned and walked over to the veranda. "If you keep this up the monks might complain, you know?."
The beasts merely snickered.
"Go off somewhere else. The people will get too disturbed here." Lin Mu asked.
"Okay!" The beasts said before scampering off.
A short while later, at the lower end of the temple grounds, chaos was beginning to brew.
Ashy zoomed through the trees like a torpedo with wings, squealing in delight. "SO MANY BUGS!"
The twins, Xiao Yin and Xiao Yang, darted after her, the wind whistling past their heads.
"Slow down, Ashy!" Xiao Yin called out. "You're going to knock over a monk!"
"I wanna catch the glowing one!" Ashy cried, chasing a poor firefly that was just trying to vibe under the moonlight.
They zipped past meditation chambers, narrowly dodged a lantern post, and startled at least three junior monks into spilling their buckets of water.
Little Shrubby lumbered behind them, significantly more cautious. "No running into people! I mean it! We're already on thin ice!"
Ashy did not listen.
She crash-landed into a wooden signpost that read "Silence is the Bridge to the Heart."
The sign fell with a THUNK.
"Oww…" Ashy groaned, tumbling into a bush.
A passing monk paused, stared at the scene—the twitching bug-loving beast, the two black and white snakes hovering above her, and a small flame red kitten slowly skidding to a stop—and then silently turned around and walked away.
"...That's not good," Xiao Yang whispered.
"Let's fix the sign!" Xiao Yin said quickly. "Put it back up before anyone notices!"
"How? It's splinters now!"
"I'll just hold the pieces together with... glue?" Ashy blinked. "Do we have glue?"
"No, but I have sap!" Little Shrubby declared proudly, producing a sticky glob from his storage.
"…That might not be enough," Xiao Yang muttered. "But I'm desperate, give me some."
They scrambled to repair the sign, doing a terrible job. The wood was crooked, the characters upside down, and the sap glue had attracted several curious ants.
Still, from a distance, it almost looked like a sign. A broken one. Whispering in defeat.
With their "repair" done, the group hastily fled the scene.
Back in the courtyard, Lin Mu sat under the moonlight, hands on his knees. He had seen none of the chaos (yet), but somehow… he just knew.
He sighed.
"They're either exploring peacefully," he muttered, "or creating a ruckus with insects."
A junior monk walked by and paused, his expression unreadable.
"Honored guest," he said with a slight bow. "There's… been a report of a sign being spiritually 'rearranged.' Might it belong to your beasts?"
Lin Mu didn't even hesitate. "Yes."
The monk bowed deeper. "We are… still grateful for your presence."
Lin Mu sighed again.
He was going to have to offer some apologies in the morning.