Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 404 Bones
A slightly eerie sound echoed throughout the Sutra Repository.

Everyone looked in the direction of the noise, but there was no one in sight.

"Who?" Abbess Miaojing asked instinctively, "Who's there?"

no respond.

Master Miaojing frowned and was about to instruct the nuns to go forward and check when the voice rang out again.

"Buddha has appeared, evil will be punished... evil will be punished... He has come to take revenge on us."

After saying that, the person chuckled again.

"I knew it, it was bound to happen sooner or later... No amount of chanting will help..."

The voice alternated between speaking and laughing, repeating itself over and over, sending chills down everyone's spines.

The master of ceremonies in the Empress Dowager's palace had served her for decades and had long since developed the ability to remain calm in the face of adversity. He gave the order before everyone else: "Lift up the prayer flags in the corner; the person is there."

As soon as the master of ceremonies spoke, several nuns quickly stepped forward, without the need for a nun.

As the prayer flags were raised, a huddled figure could be seen below.

She was dressed in a monk's robe and looked flustered, but she did not avoid the ladies-in-waiting, as if she was not afraid of these people.

The nuns worked together to pull her out, and by the light of the lamp and the sunlight streaming in from outside, they were finally able to see her face clearly.

"It's Jingxuan."

Miao Jing was startled again, and quickly walked over. Looking at the familiar face in front of her, she asked in surprise, "Jing Xuan... what are you doing here?"

When we were doing our morning prayers today, we didn't see Jingxuan and Mingzhen. Miaojing had people search the entire Yunqi Temple, but they couldn't find any trace of them. Unexpectedly, in such a short time, we received news about both of them. One of them was arrested and taken to the yamen, and the other was hiding in the Sutra Repository.

Jingxuan did not respond, and continued to mutter to herself.

“Buddha appeared... appeared... I saw it, I saw it with my own eyes.”

"This disciple was wrong... I beg Buddha's forgiveness..."

"Hehehe," Jingxuan suddenly raised her head, "I killed someone... I've killed someone... Can Buddha forgive me?"

"No, no," Jingxuan suddenly panicked even more, struggling on the spot as if she wanted to hide under the prayer flags again, "Buddha has come for me... to punish me... no... not just me..."

At this point, Jingxuan suddenly remembered something, waved his arm, and pointed at everyone: "Everyone must cleanse themselves of the sins they have committed..."

When Jingxuan shouted the word "murder," everyone present changed their expressions. When Jingxuan pointed at them, they instinctively took a few steps back.

Only the master of ceremonies remained solemn, staring silently at Abbess Jingxuan. Jingxuan's robes and shoes were covered in mud, clearly not from inside the Sutra Repository. Moreover, Jingxuan's waving hands were also filthy, making her look as if she had crawled out of a ditch.

It was clear that Jingxuan had encountered something outside and was hiding here. Just as the master of ceremonies realized this, Jingxuan suddenly lowered her arm, and something fell out of her sleeve.

The thing rolled to the side, looking particularly eerie under the light.

That was a piece of bone.

The emcee realized something, and even with her composure, cold sweat broke out on her forehead. This was a temple; such things shouldn't exist here, especially considering Jingxuan's words…

She couldn't help but suspect that the bone might be human. The others were still shocked by Jingxuan's words and didn't notice this.

The master of ceremonies took a deep breath, pointed to the bones on the ground, and instructed the lady-in-waiting: "Use a handkerchief to pick that thing up and take a look."

The emcee reminded everyone, and when they saw what it was, Abbess Miaojing chanted a Buddhist prayer: "Amitabha." Her lips trembled; even the familiar scripture could not bring her peace and tranquility.

The female official picked up the bones and presented them to the master of ceremonies.

The bones were covered in fresh soil, indicating they had just been dug up.

Unexpectedly, offering scriptures to the Empress Dowager would lead to such an incident. The master of ceremonies looked at Abbess Miaojing: "Yunqi Temple is an ancient temple, how could such a disgraceful thing happen?"

"I think we should report this to the authorities immediately and have them investigate."

The emcee's voice was icy, making Abbess Miaojing hesitate to speak for a moment. This was not only because she was afraid of the female official, but also because she was afraid that her usual deeds would be discovered.

Seeing Miao Jing like this, the master of ceremonies' anger intensified. She ordered the female official, "Take back all the scriptures that were just offered. The scriptures cannot be sent back to Yunqi Temple until everything is investigated."

Offering scriptures was to pray for the Empress Dowager's blessings, and there could be no mistakes. The current state of Yunqi Temple makes the master of ceremonies untrustworthy.

Seeing the lady-in-waiting leave, Abbess Miaojing hurriedly said, "Please wait, benefactor... I will investigate the matter in the temple. If anyone has made a mistake, I will not show the slightest favoritism... Praying for the Empress Dowager is no small matter. Moving the scriptures might..."

"Are you threatening me?" The master of ceremonies' face darkened, carrying a hint of pressure. "Let alone the fact that there are many temples in the entire Liang Dynasty, even in Bianjing City, Yunqi Temple is not the only ancient temple with a hundred-year history. If the nuns in your temple are not well managed, you can see the extent of the problems in other matters as well. Even now, I'm afraid the abbess doesn't know what has happened."

Abbess Miaojing immediately said, "Recently, there have been many complicated matters in the temple..."

“Since the affairs are so complicated and the abbess is overwhelmed, why not invite another abbess to the temple?” the master of ceremonies said. “Don’t let the mistakes of a few of you ruin a temple. If it really comes to that, then you will truly be guilty of a grave sin.”

The emcee had also heard some rumors about Yunqi Temple, which now seemed to be unfounded. However, Cining Palace had long since stopped paying attention to outside affairs, so she could only touch on the matter briefly.

Thinking of this, the master of ceremonies turned to the female scribe and instructed her: "Hand this over to the government office and have them investigate it carefully to find out where it came from and whether it is... a skeleton."

After saying that, she turned and left with her people.

But at that moment, Jingxuan heard the words "bone colony," and he became even more frantic.

“Bones…yes, it’s been over ten years, they’ve all turned into bones, white, piece by piece, just like…”

Jingxuan fumbled in her sleeve, and after a moment, she suddenly pulled out a piece of bone.

"so."

It was a bone about the length of a forearm, and everyone immediately recognized that it was indeed from a human body.

The nuns retreated in panic, and the younger female heralds cried out in alarm.

Master Jingxuan looked up, got up from the ground, waved the bone in her hand, and after a moment, she seemed to come to her senses and knelt down again with a "plop", holding the bone in her hands and kowtowing repeatedly.

"I was wrong, please let me go."

Master Jingxuan was clearly out of control, and the female scribe, fearing further trouble, hurriedly escorted the master of ceremonies out. The master of ceremonies had long lost interest in worship and only wanted to leave the temple as quickly as possible.

However, a greeting came from behind, and the emcee froze, immediately stopping in his tracks.

"Please spare... me... Shen Si Niangzi."