Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Who’s the Bigger One, Anyway?

In the evening, as usual, they met in Kong Chan’s meditation room.

The reason being that with Kong Chan’s revered status, it was the least likely place to be disturbed.

Only Kong Chan blew his beard and glared, even his fake beard was blown away.

When Xia Wenjin arrived, it was right when Kong Chan was about to have dinner, and there was only a single serving on the table. Xia Wenjin didn’t care, and as usual, she sat down with boldness. She was hungry, and casually picked up a chicken leg that Kong Chan somehow found, taking a bite, and said, “Trickster, have you discovered anything?”

Kong Chan jumped up, reaching out to grab it, and shouted, “Put it down!”

Xia Wenjin shrugged: “I’ve already bitten it, do you still want it?”

Kong Chan was furious, looking at Xia Wenjin like an enemy, and angrily accused, “Do you know what place this is? Do you know how rare this thing is? You ate it without even asking, did you ask my opinion? There was only this one piece, what am I supposed to eat? This poor monk loves meat every day, and in this miserable place, I have to endure bland food day after day. Finally, I get some meat, and you rob it. Are you even human?”

Xia Wenjin saw he was about to explode, heard his grievances, and chuckled, saying, “Master, is it really worth it over a chicken leg?”

Kong Chan jumped back at once, cautiously saying, “What are you up to?” There must be something wrong when she calls him master without reason.

Xia Wenjin leisurely enjoyed the chicken leg, with its aroma wafting through the air, while Kong Chan sniffed resentfully, picked up a steamed bun from the table with displeasure, took a bite, and muttered, “The petty and women are hard to deal with!”

Seeing him biting the bun like it was the flesh of an enemy, Xia Wenjin laughed and said, “Don’t be so bitter and spiteful. At worst, I’ll treat you to something good tonight.”

Kong Chan suspiciously glanced at her, then reluctantly said, “What about that kid?”

Xia Wenjin retorted, “How would I know? He’s not my child!”

Kong Chan gave her a look of disbelief, like looking at an idiot: “That kid is older than you, is saying that appropriate?”

“Who is older is still undetermined!” Xia Wenjin nonchalantly continued gnawing on the chicken leg. Okay, calling him a kid is a bit much, but still, isn’t he just a brat?

Kong Chan surrendered and said, “I’ve realized, you treat everyone like this. I just hope you’re not the one my master asked me to find, otherwise, I’d rather betray my teacher’s order!”

Xia Wenjin laughed heartily and said, “Then how do you think I should live so as not to disappoint you?”

Kong Chan snorted, “Certainly not like you!” He wanted to use the most venomous and derogatory terms to describe her to make her feel ashamed, but he opened his mouth and realized that besides being a little impolite to him, stealing his chicken leg to eat, and threatening him with his fake monk identity, she hadn’t done anything too wicked, leaving him speechless.

As they spoke, footsteps sounded outside; Huangfu Jingchen had also returned.

Kong Chan stuffed the half-eaten bun into his mouth, quickly grabbing the remaining one, took a bite, and said, “Did you find anything?”

Huangfu Jingchen didn’t notice Kong Chan’s protective food moves at all. He pulled over a cushion and sat down, saying, “There’s definitely something wrong with Shian Temple!”

Kong Chan was unimpressed: “You’ve said that before. You saw some suspicious women coming and going, no need to emphasize again. Also, we can’t verify those women’s identities for now. I went to investigate today, and there was no one. They’re said to be incense guests. Incense guests don’t belong to the temple; we can’t investigate them, nor use them as leverage against the temple. Moreover, it’s only your word, with no evidence at all!”

Huangfu Jingchen calmly said, “We should soon find out those women’s identities. During the prayer session, they appeared again, though they changed into ordinary clothes, their expressions and movements were still different from regular women. I have doubts about their identities, so I’ve sent someone to investigate. I’m not talking about this issue, but the back mountain.”

Xia Wenjin gave Huangfu Jingchen a surprised look.

Previously, when he mentioned those women looked seductive and untypical of decent families, Xia Wenjin didn’t ignore it, but had priorities and was too busy to care. She didn’t expect Huangfu Jingchen hadn’t given up. But still, she had a question, “Who did you send?”

Huangfu Jingchen honestly answered, “It’s my first time venturing far from home; my father was worried and sent a servant with me. I sent him to handle some matters, and it happened that yesterday he caught up, so I sent him to investigate.”

Kong Chan didn’t care about this and asked, “What’s the issue with the back mountain?”

Huangfu Jingchen wet his finger with tea and drew the terrain of the back mountain on the table, then pointed at a spot, “This is the temple’s vegetable plot. I went there and noticed some anomalies. These monks look excessively fierce!”

Kong Chan rolled his eyes, “Can’t people look ugly?”

Huangfu Jingchen shook his head, calmly stating, “It’s not that they look ugly, but their eyes and aura. They are extremely wary of outsiders. I mean, why would vegetable-cultivating monks be so wary of a mistaken incense guest? I tried to find an excuse to look around, but they refused. As I left, they remained very cautious, and I felt a murderous intent from them!”

Kong Chan was intrigued, saying, “Murderous intent? Now that’s interesting. So what are we waiting for? Let’s explore tonight!”

Xia Wenjin slowly munched the chicken leg, disdainfully saying, “Are you stupid? Huang Zheng went there today, whether by mistake or intention, people are already on guard, right? What can you see if you go tonight?”

“So what do we do?”

Huangfu Jingchen said, “Hold on a bit, go check tomorrow night! They would think my visit today was just a mistake, and won’t be as wary as tonight!”

Kong Chan thought that made sense, but he was particularly dissatisfied with Xia Wenjin, sneeringly said, “Will it kill you to speak nicely?”

Xia Wenjin laughed and retorted, “Probably because you look easy to bully, so I don’t want to speak nicely to you!”

Kong Chan rolled his eyes skyward in indignation, scratching the wall in frustration.

Huangfu Jingchen laughed and said, “Master, don’t be angry; Wenjin just has a playful nature, she means no harm!”

Kong Chan snorted, “Look at that, doesn’t it sound much nicer? We’re all people; why is there such a big gap?”

Xia Wenjin: “…”

Not because of Kong Chan’s words, but because of Huangfu Jingchen.

All along, she had looked at Huangfu Jingchen with the mindset of someone who had been through it, like looking at a child. But his words carried a brotherly protection, and though it sounded a bit odd, it felt kind of nice?

Kong Chan, after being soothed by Huangfu Jingchen’s words, acted magnanimously, saying, “Alright, tomorrow night, we’ll go explore that back mountain monk abode together, see if there’s any trickery!”

Huangfu Jingchen shook his head again, saying, “We can’t go together! We have to act separately, Master, did you forget? It’s not just the back mountain monk abode that’s problematic; there’s also the meditation room where the Bodhisattva miraculously grants children!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep