"Namo Amitabha, Tathagata, Dhiya Tha..."
In a room at the Ciji Institute, Ben Zhi is holding an old man's hand, chanting the Rebirth Spell in a low voice. Even with the windows open for ventilation, the room is saturated with the odor of medicine, the smoke of cheap white candles, the damp smell of bedding, and the stench of decay emanating from the old man's internal organs.
If death had a scent, it would be the smell of this room.
Yet Ben Zhi feels no aversion; he slowly and compassionately finishes reciting the Rebirth Spell, closes the old man's eyes, as two Good Workers from the Ciji Institute come in to wrap the old man in a mat.
"Carry him to the ox cart behind, and deliver him to the Luozeyuan tomorrow morning."
"Yes, young master."
During the days the monks of the Miscellaneous Affairs Courtyard are on duty at the Ciji Institute, every night they must patrol the sickroom three times; now is the first time, after which Ben Zhi can sleep for an hour to rest a bit. He opens the sickroom door, like opening the Eternal Nether Prison, the faint yet clear moans, sighs, and breaths ceaselessly fill the air; a few candles hardly illuminate the vast sickroom, only casting light on faces tormented to despair by illness.
Ben Zhi is not a monk of the Xuanhu Courtyard, and certainly does not treat illnesses, he merely checks if the patients need assistance, such as helping feed them water, turning them, wiping sweat, or cleaning dirt. These undoubtedly cumbersome and thankless chores make Ben Zhi grimace upon encountering incontinent patients, but he ultimately carries out the patrol work diligently.
"Amitabha Buddha."
Finishing a chant of Buddha's name, Ben Zhi closes the sickroom door. As he passes the vestibule, seeing the person standing at the entrance, his face turns pale, instinctively retracting two steps, hitting the crossbeam.
"You, you, you..."
The person standing at the entrance is small and frail, but has smooth hair, fair skin, even in plain clothes without shoes, cannot hide his natural beauty; anyone seeing would silently note him as a handsome youth. Yet Ben Zhi is terrified beyond measure—half an hour ago, he had tricked this person into a trap!
No youth who fell into a trap ever appeared before Ben Zhi again, not a single one.
"Hello, young master, is it free to stay here overnight? I heard from others it doesn't cost anything, so I came. If it's indeed free, I'll notify my brother to come too."
The thought occurs to Ben Zhi, asking, "What... what is your name?"
"My name is An Liu."
An Wu, An Liu, so they're brothers, but they're too alike... are they twins?
Ben Zhi breathes a sigh of relief, seeing An Liu is still waiting for his response, nods: "It's free."
"Alright, take me inside then."
"You're not going to find your brother?"
"I left a mark, he'll come when he sees it."
Ben Zhi says no more, leading An Liu deeper into the Ciji Institute. This path he has walked countless times, the Ciji Institute is a place he knows intimately, yet curiously, this time he grows increasingly uneasy, as if walking into the gaping maw of a giant beast.
Stopping at the storeroom door, Ben Zhi hesitates for a moment before moving again, leading An Liu to a single room inside.
"I thought it would be communal bedding?"
"The Ciji Institute keeps a relatively clean single room available for nights; should any benefactor come to see how the Ciji Institute operates, we'd invite them to stay here," explains Ben Zhi. "Tonight, as it's so late, no benefactor will come to the Ciji Institute, you can stay here. The bedding is old, but clean."
"If you want to wash up, there's a well outside in the courtyard."
"The toilet is in the courtyard corner."
Ben Zhi finishes relaying the details and intends to leave, now wishing only to return to his room, recite the Diamond Sutra once, then sleep, doing nothing and thinking of nothing. Yet just as he turns to leave, An Liu stands up saying: "My brother should be arriving, I'll go find him outside."
After brief hesitation, Ben Zhi turns back to look at An Liu: "I have to move a barrel to the courtyard, could you, sir, lend a hand?"
Soon, the same storeroom, the same location.
An Liu notices nothing, standing obediently on the far side of the barrel.
Ben Zhi relaxes seeing this, nearly thinking it was actually An Wu coming back to claim a life—tsk, tsk, tsk, as if anyone can claim a life, they're simply sent to be tributed to the Buddha, entering into great Jile, great compassion; I'm not doing evil, but universal salvation.
As Ben Zhi reaches for the hemp rope, An Liu unknowingly produces a rope, lassoing Ben Zhi like a loop. Rope as constraint naturally invokes Buddha's protection, he could break free with effort, but the problem is the mechanism's already triggered, with An Liu falling down!
Everything happens swiftly, and pulled by the lasso, Ben Zhi is dragged into the pit, even freeing himself in the chute, he must follow An Liu sliding to the depths of Chang'an City unknown to anyone, sliding to the forbidden area within An Guo Temple he's never before entered!
"Ah!"
Even landing in straw, multiple abrasions in the chute sting painfully, causing Ben Zhi to scream continuously. He opens his eyes, immediately seeing the Martial Monk outside the iron bars, and cries out: "Brother monk, save me!"
"You're... Ben Zhi of the Miscellaneous Affairs Courtyard? How did you end up coming down?"
"He tied me with a rope, so I slid down with him!"
Trembling with fear, Ben Zhi looks at An Liu, unable to distinguish between them—An Wu and An Liu standing together are incredibly alike, even their eyebrows identical, aside from fold differences in clothing, there're no variations.
The Martial Monk frowns: "Who are you, that kid knew the Ciji Institute's mechanism from the start? Impossible... could it be the foul brat who came in earlier spread the message? Whatever, they're all locked in anyway."
"Open the door?" Another Martial Monk asks.
"What for, those two kids are crouched right by the door. If we open it, they'll just run out!"
"Try fire oil."
"Good." An Liu laughs: "Go ahead, burn me, I assure you I won't dodge, then I'll come over to hug this harmful little monk, seeing if he's hiding relic or a venomous heart."
"No, no!" Ben Zhi shrinks in fear kneeling on the ground, pleads: "I didn't mean to harm anyone, please spare me. Brother monk, don't burn, please!"
"Didn't mean to harm anyone?"
The speaker is not An Liu, but a young girl lying on the ground not far away, pale-faced. Her voice weak, yet still gritting with hatred: "You little monk, I, I trusted you so much, specially offering vegetarian meals for you to eat, whatever you said the Ciji Institute lacked I bought, you, you tricked me, deceived me... woo woo..." Cursing as she begins to sob quietly, only soon falls silent—hunger leaves her unable to cry.
Ben Zhi trembles all over, bows his head face to the floor, utterly afraid to meet anyone's eyes, murmuring: "I, I don't know, all were master's orders, the brothers are all doing the same, I don't know, I truly don't know... I never intended to harm anyone..."
An Liu suddenly says: "I gave you a chance."
Ben Zhi shivers entirely, falling silent.