Chapter 120: The Second Rebirth

Kai Ming remained silent, silently speculating about the plot developments he was about to reveal.

"My intoxication had not yet worn off when I saw Master Jing’s door suddenly open. He walked out, clutching a bundle, and headed quickly toward the gate. He was walking toward the mountain behind his own home. It was the dead of night, and Mistress Jing had just given birth—why would Master Jing sneak off to the back mountain alone? I was young then, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I used the alcohol to bolster my courage and secretly followed him."

"I watched as Master Jing reached the mountainside, turned onto a small path, and busied himself with something near a patch of wild grass. Mountain paths a dozen years ago were not as flat as they are now, and this pavilion had not yet been built. Within minutes, he hurried back down the mountain. Once he was gone, I rushed to where he had been and discovered the mound you see now."

"Did Master Jing bury something in the earth?" Xiao Bi asked, unable to help himself.

Abbot Xu Wu looked at Kai Ming. "Indeed. You would never guess what he buried."

Kai Ming stared silently at the mound and whispered, "You said you dug me out from here. You don’t mean to say that the baby girl he buried—the one who was there at the time—was me?"

Xiao Bi’s eyes widened in shock, darting between her and the old monk.

Abbot Xu Wu smiled approvingly. "The donor is indeed clever. What Master Jing buried was his own newborn daughter—you, the donor."

Kai Ming took a deep breath, her face turning pale. After all, wild guesses are one thing, but hearing the confirmation spoken aloud is quite another; the latter was far more jarring.

"So, was I dead?"

Abbot Xu Wu smiled. "You could say you were dead. You could also say you were not."

Kai Ming looked at him strangely. "What does that mean?"

"Does the donor not know that life is death, and death is life?" the Abbot said inscrutably. "To the Jing family, their daughter died as soon as she was born; but for you, it was the beginning of a rebirth."

"Rebirth?" Kai Ming’s heart skipped a beat. The old monk had actually used the word "rebirth." Her journey from the modern world to this place—was that not a rebirth?

Xiao Bi cried out, "Abbot, stop speaking in riddles! I don’t understand a word of this."

Abbot Xu Wu could only smile. "The truth is this: Master Jing buried his daughter who he believed was dead. Curiosity led me to dig up the soil, and I discovered the infant was still alive. I brought her back to the temple."

So that is how there came to be a "foolish girl"? Kai Ming thought to herself.

Xiao Bi looked at Kai Ming in astonishment. He could not understand how this woman—whom he had only met a few times—a general of the Central Palace, could be connected to such a bizarre incident of a resurrected abandoned infant from the Eastern Palace.

Thinking of Mistress Jing’s attitude, Kai Ming felt a complex mix of emotions. She scoffed, "A dead daughter, so just act as if she were never born? I have never seen such a callous mother!"

Abbot Xu Wu sighed. "Alas, if one can harden their heart enough to kill their own daughter, how could they ever admit to her existence?"

"Kill her?" Kai Ming’s eyes widened suddenly. "Are you saying the infant was killed by them?"

Abbot Xu Wu nodded. "Though it is only a guess, it is nearly certain. When I dug the infant from the earth, she was not yet breathless, but she was on the verge of death. I discovered a clear ligature mark on the infant’s delicate neck. It is clear that the baby had merely passed out from the weakness, and Master Jing, assuming she was dead, buried her in the mountain. Because of this, I raised her in the temple, and could only claim to the outside world that she was an adopted daughter I had found..."

Kai Ming listened expressionlessly, as if hearing a story about someone else. Abbot Xu Wu looked at her and added, "Because she was buried in the earth, she suffered from severe oxygen deprivation; thus, when I dug her up, her brain was damaged, which is why she became a simpleton..."

Xiao Bi was confused. "Eh?" he said. "What simpleton? Abbot, why do you speak such nonsensical things?"

Abbot Xu Wu smiled faintly. "Young Master, there is no need for you to understand so clearly; as long as the female donor understands, that is enough."

Kai Ming nodded and said indifferently, "Why would they kill such a helpless infant?"

"It is said that Mistress Jing had given birth to two daughters in a row. Master Jing feared the family line would be broken. They argued that day, and in a fit of rage, he committed this heinous act," Abbot Xu Wu said slowly. "That is why I said, the truth is so cruel that it is better not to know it at all."

Kai Ming twitched the corner of her mouth. She looked at him with clear eyes and returned his smile. "What does the history of this physical shell have to do with me?"

Abbot Xu Wu was slightly stunned, then laughed heartily. "Excellent, truly excellent! A dead infant reborn, a foolish girl transformed—I had forgotten that you are no longer who you once were."

A flash of light crossed Kai Ming’s eyes, and the curve of her smiling lips deepened. "Master, it seems you know everything there is to know. Then, you must also be very clear about the purpose of my visit."

Abbot Xu Wu reached up and took off his straw hat, smiled at her, walked into the pavilion, and found a comfortable spot to sit.

Kai Ming did not understand his actions but hurried to follow. Xiao Bi was left completely bewildered, forced to be nothing more than a bystander.

Abbot Xu Wu leaned against a stone pillar, his eyes fixed on the lush grass outside the pavilion, squinting to enjoy the mountain breeze blowing against his face. Kai Ming sat on the long stone bench across from him, crossed her legs, and stared at him. "What is the meaning of this, Master?"

Abbot Xu Wu did not even open his eyes. She said with some irritation, "Tell me honestly, is it because there is no way back? Why act so half-dead?"

A smile played on the corner of Abbot Xu Wu’s mouth, and he said with half-closed eyes, "There is a way back..."

Kai Ming’s eyes rounded instantly. She gripped the old monk’s sleeve tightly, trembling. "There is? There really is? Tell me! Tell me quickly how to go back!"

Abbot Xu Wu opened his eyes fully and looked at her with piercing intensity. "The way back exists, but... I cannot tell you."

"Why?" She was so stunned by his erratic behavior that she was dazed. She tightened her grip on his sleeve, nearly pulling his body toward her. "Why can't you tell me?!"

Abbot Xu Wu tugged at his sleeve and gave a wry smile. "Because there are reasons I cannot tell you."

"Do not play games with me! Tell me, tell me now! I don't want to stay here! I cannot bear it for one more second! To hell with the Emperor, to hell with being a general!" Thinking of the grievances she had suffered, of the wrongly dead Xiao Wan, of Da Yin, and Shao Zi—all the familiar faces flashed through her mind. Her eyes moistened, and she said with a sob, "I am just an ordinary woman! I worked, raised my child, and lived a simple life. Why did you bring me here, make me join the army, make me a general? I cannot be a general! I don't know how to lead troops in battle! I just want to go home, go home to my baby! You stinking monk, tell me how to get back! Tell me!"

By the end, frustration turned to desperation, and she lunged forward to grab him.

Xiao Bi watched in shock. Although he did not understand the content of their conversation, seeing Kai Ming tugging at the old monk like that was improper, and he rushed to stop her. "Do not be disrespectful to the Abbot!"

Abbot Xu Wu stood up from where he was sitting and walked out of the pavilion.

Kai Ming shouted at his back, her voice hoarse, "Tell me! Tell me!"

Abbot Xu Wu paused, sighed deeply, and said, "You would not want to know the method. I can only tell you this: only when all things return to emptiness will you be able to find the way home."

She listened blankly, stunned where she stood. All things return to emptiness? What things? What did he mean? And what did returning to emptiness mean? The stinking monk had left her with a riddle.

After saying this, Abbot Xu Wu did not stop. His robes fluttered as he walked down the mountain. Only the dazed Kai Ming and the furrowed-browed Xiao Bi remained in the pavilion.

"Sister, are you alright?" he asked with concern.

Kai Ming pushed away his restraining arm and sat woodenly on the stone bench.

Xiao Bi probed, "What were you two talking about?"

Kai Ming did not answer. She covered her face with her hands, buried them in her knees, and sobbed, "It's over. Everything is over."

"What is over?"

"All things return to emptiness... humph, humph-humph!"

"Kai Ming!" Seeing her so dazed and foolish, Xiao Bi became very angry. He grabbed her arm, shook her hard, and shouted, "What is the matter with you? If you have something troubling you, tell me, I can help you!"

"You can help me?" She was shaken into lifting her head, but her eyes were unfocused. She looked at him in confusion and murmured, "How? Can you help me return to my baby? Return to the modern world?"

Xiao Bi said solemnly, "No matter which country the person you are looking for is in, I, Xiao Bi, promise that there must be a way to send you to them!"

Xiao Bi spoke with great sincerity, but it only drew a burst of laughter from Kai Ming. "You can send me to the modern world? Funny! That is too funny!"

Xiao Bi said angrily, "Do you think I am joking? Do you think I, Xiao Bi, do not have that kind of capability?"

Kai Ming laughed until tears streamed down her face, and Xiao Bi’s expression grew uglier. She slowly stopped laughing and looked at him through her tears. "I do not doubt your strength, Xiao Bi. It is just that the person I am looking for is not in any country you know—they are not even in this world. Can you still help me?"

Xiao Bi said with a dark face, "Are you teasing me?"

"See?" She clapped her hands and smiled bitterly. "I knew you would react that way."

Xiao Bi tried to argue, but she patted his shoulder. "Let’s go down the mountain."

As they descended the stone steps one by one, her feet felt as if they were stepping on clouds despite the hard stone beneath them. This lush greenery led to the place where her first body was buried. A dead infant who did not die, but became a simpleton; a simpleton who met a Xuan, and became a Yacha. Yacha, you said your memories and life story had nothing to do with me; why then, upon hearing such a cruel truth, is there a trace of sorrow in my heart?

The blank space in the first half of your memories was meant to hide such a cruel reality. It was I who was foolish and dim-witted, insisting on dragging out this bloody scene. It turns out, just as the old monk said, some things are better left unknown. All things return to emptiness, all things return to emptiness...

She missed a step, and Xiao Bi quickly reached out to catch her arm, complaining, "How can you be so distracted while walking on a mountain path? Honestly!"

Kai Ming offered a strained smile. "Thank you."

Xiao Bi’s face looked very unnatural. "You are doing it again. Alas, I cannot stand it! Where has that cheerful Sister Kai Ming gone?"

Kai Ming merely said faintly, "People must always learn how to grow up."