Esoteric Buddhism: To live as king in America

Standing on the cold, oily floor of the repair shop, Mian stared at the discarded coat in the corner, feeling a chill creep up her spine.

"Ain!"

Mian immediately called out to Ai Yin, preparing to begin tracking her, but at that moment, a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Oh, my lord, it seems things are quite lively here too?"

A familiar voice, tinged with a hint of teasing, rang out. Li Zhaoning leaned against the doorframe, her black ponytail swaying gently as she tilted her head, her face bearing a travel-worn yet still sly expression.

A struggle and whimpering came from behind her. Li Zhaoning casually reached his arm behind him and, like picking up a chick, grabbed a woman by the collar and dragged her out of the shadows outside the door—it was Brianna Carroll, who had just disappeared.

"Let me go! Please let me go!"

Carroll, tears streaming down her face, writhed in vain under Li Zhaoning's seemingly slender yet unmoving hand.

"Let me go! I can't get arrested! I'll go to jail! I'll definitely go to jail!"

"Don't worry, we're not going to eat you."

Li Zhaoning spoke lazily, then turned to Mi An and explained:

"I just arrived here and happened to run into this woman sneaking out. I figured it might be related to you, so I caught her. But..."

She glanced at the groaning thugs on the ground and the mangled corpse by the door, her beautiful eyebrows slightly raised, and said with a hint of mockery:

"Since you've gone this far, then it seems there's nothing wrong with this woman running away."

"Stop it, let her go first."

Mian sighed and said.

Li Zhaoning then released her, and Carol regained her freedom, but her body was still trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind, and she knelt down on the ground.

"Miss Carol, why are you running away?"

Mian looked at Carol with a complicated expression and asked softly:

"Because...because, Mr. Mian, you're a decent person...you'll definitely call the police. If the police come and find out I killed someone, they'll arrest me...then I won't be able to go home, I won't be able to pay my rent...that would be..."

Carol hugged her bruised arms and cried.

This performance was truly pitiful, but it reassured Mian somewhat—at least she wasn't preparing to escape for some dark reason.

Mian steadied her firmly, deliberately keeping her voice calm.

"Carol, look at me and listen to me."

Carroll was startled by the voice, and his unfocused gaze managed to focus on Mian's face.

"I assure you,"

Mian spoke slowly and deliberately, his gaze sharp and piercing.

"This matter is absolutely not your fault."

"These people,"

He pointed to the gangsters and corpses on the ground.

"They brought this on themselves. Although I wanted to spare their lives, as a gang member, your actions... were in self-defense, protecting me. Even if I had called the police, you wouldn't have been in any trouble. Besides, I wouldn't have called the police either; after all, I'm not the kind of upright person you imagine."

"Really?"

"Carroll asked humbly."

"Really, I assure you."

Carol stared blankly at Mian, as if processing these unbelievable words. But in any case, she eventually calmed down.

Seeing that she had calmed down a bit, Mian immediately turned to Li Zhaoning and quickly recounted the information he had extracted from the bald, scarred Joey.

"...So, the timing doesn't match. If it wasn't that pervert lying to me, then something's wrong with Carol."

Mian concluded.

Upon hearing his words, Li Zhaoning frowned.

She knelt down in front of Carol, looked at her face, and asked softly:

"Carol, you said you were brought here by them last night? What time exactly last night?"

"It's...it's night! It's very dark!"

Carroll tried hard to recall, but her eyes remained blank.

"Around...around nine? Ten? I can't remember...they gave me some medicine..."

"Do you remember what time you left here this morning?"

Li Zhaoning pressed for an answer.

"When...when it was almost dawn?"

Carroll said uncertainly.

"When I... when I escaped, it was still dark outside... I hid in an alley, and then... then I met this gentleman..."

She pointed at Mian.

"Where's your phone?"

Mian interrupted and asked.

Have you checked the date and time on your phone?

"cell phone?"

Carroll paused for a moment, then his face showed annoyance and frustration.

"It's lost. Yesterday... no, that night, when they grabbed me, it fell off while I was struggling! It might have fallen into the alley, or they might have taken it..."

As she spoke, she suddenly realized something and anxiously asked:

"Wait, isn't today September 22nd?"

Li Zhaoning shook his head with a look of deep sympathy on his face and showed her the time on his phone.

"Today is September 25th, three days have passed since you were forced by them."

"How could this be...?"

Carol stared at Li Zhaoning's phone, an expression of disbelief on her face.

"Can you spot anything amiss about him? Like traces of magic?"

Mi An asked Li Zhaoning.

Li Zhaoning shook his head.

"I'm a 'skin-changer,' not a 'fisherman,' and certainly not a 'skuas.' I don't have that kind of keen perception. At least for me, I don't know what she's obsessed with. What about the tenant in your mind? Is she still asleep?"

Li Zhaoning refers to Ryan.

"Still asleep."

Mian tapped his head with his finger in response.

Ever since Li Zhaoning revealed his true form yesterday, Ryan has been feeling somewhat "out of his mind." This morning, when Mian woke up, he found that he had formed a cocoon in his consciousness space.

Although she could still read minds, she could only glean whispers that sounded like dreams. Mi'an had previously consulted Li Zhaoning, but such a change at the spiritual level was still a bit too much for Li Zhaoning, who was essentially a physical being.

"Tsk, this is exactly the kind of situation where we need her, but then this happens."

Mian looked extremely troubled.

The mysteries of the cannibals and the resurrected corpses remain unsolved; now, a new mystery has been added.

Mi An and Li Zhaoning exchanged a glance, both seeing the thorny and serious look in each other's eyes.

"Anyway, I'll go deal with these gang members first."

Li Zhaoning sighed and said:

"In any case, it'll at least give our actions some cover. Maybe we can get more information from them. You just stay here and keep this lady company."

Mi An nodded, and Li Zhaoning turned to deal with the gang thugs.

Mian remained where he was, pondering everything that had happened so far.

Everything in the world has an inherent connection, whether it is magic or extraordinary beings.

Even if some aspects are currently unknown, there must be certain aspects that we have overlooked, such as...

Mian had a sudden realization. He remembered Carol's almost obsessive efforts to scrape together the rent, her determination to go home.

"Carol,"

Mian spoke again, his words carrying a hint of inquiry.

"You were in such a hurry for money before, saying you had to pay the rent. Why? Does that house... have any special meaning to you? Or, is there something important in the house that you wanted to go back so badly?"