Chapter 192: Deeply Burdened by Sin

“Grandmother, I’ll go with Master Huiren to the meditation room to retrieve something. I’ll be back shortly,” Su Wan glanced at Huiren and teased, “If I lose track of time, you’ll have to send someone to remind me. I still need to escort you to the nunnery, and we mustn’t delay.”

Old Lady Su patted the back of Su Wan’s hand. “Alright, if you don’t return within half an hour, I’ll send someone to fetch you.”

Su Wan followed Master Huiren to the meditation room, with the Qi family guards trailing behind them.

Master Huiren pretended not to notice the guards and headed straight to his meditation room.

The young monk, having finished cleaning, left the room.

Once inside, Huiren said to Su Wan, “No one else besides you can see this.”

Su Wan paused for a moment and left the Qi family guards outside.

Huiren closed the door.

Sunlight filtered softly through the lattice of the wooden door, casting a delicate glow into the meditation room. The space was bright and orderly, with the faint scent of sandalwood curling through the air, bringing an inexplicable sense of calm.

Su Wan sat on the heated brick bed.

Huiren took a long box from a high shelf, placed it on the low table in front of Su Wan, and gestured for her to open it.

Su Wan had no idea what secret Huiren was keeping.

Back when she first saw Huiren at the Su residence, Su Wan had felt an inexplicable sense of unease, which was why she had been avoiding him ever since.

Her crossing over into the world of the book was already something mysterious and supernatural.

Since Huiren was a Buddhist monk, she couldn’t help but be wary of him.

When she opened the box, there was a scroll inside.

Su Wan glanced at Huiren. He was fingering his prayer beads, quietly chanting scriptures.

She took out the scroll, untied the thin cord, and slowly unrolled it.

The scene depicted in the painting leaped vividly before her eyes.

An overwhelming inferno consumed everything, leaving behind devastation and suffering, with corpses scattered across the land.

Su Wan felt as though she was being pulled into the painting itself, experiencing firsthand the cruel war marked by rising smoke and endless flames. She could almost feel the blade slashing throats, warm blood splattering her face, and the tragic sight of soldiers wrapped in their blood-soaked shrouds.

The people were in despair, displaced and homeless, with corpses of the starved scattered everywhere, as if she had been cast into a living hell.

It was utterly tragic…

Her fingers trembled. She didn’t understand why Huiren was showing her this painting.

She couldn’t believe this was something the original owner had left behind.

“You are not her.”

Huiren opened his eyes, and that was the first thing he said.

Su Wan’s whole body trembled. Although she had somewhat anticipated this, it still stirred waves within her. Yet outwardly, she remained calm, not losing her composure because of his words.

She countered, “Master, you must be joking. If I’m not myself, then who else would I be?”

Huiren recited a Buddhist phrase softly. He had been in seclusion for three years, dreaming as if living an entire lifetime.

When he awoke, it was like Zhuang Zhou dreaming of being a butterfly^[1]“Zhuang Zhou’s dream of a butterfly” is a famous philosophical parable from the ancient Chinese text Zhuangzi, attributed to the Daoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou (often called … Continue reading.

He had lived an entire lifetime within the dream.

Everything in the dream followed the same path as reality, except for one thing—Su Wan. She was an anomaly.

In the dream, she should have died. For selling off Gu Baozhu and Gu Jingyun, leading to their tragic deaths, she met her end at the hands of Gu Huaizhi.

Gu Huaizhi quickly ascended to the peak of power, engaging in both open and covert struggles with the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess. In the end, with the help of Jiu Yu, Gu Huaizhi succumbed to poison and died.

The Crown Prince ascended to the throne, and the Crown Princess was crowned Empress.

The Great Zhou enjoyed three years of peace.

Suddenly, the Empress of Xiliang paid a visit to the Great Zhou, and only then did people learn her true identity—she was none other than Qi Min, the daughter of the old general of Great Zhou, General Qi. Upon hearing the news of Su Wan and the Regent’s deaths, she returned to Xiliang.

Using Xiliang as bait, she allied with two other nations, offering to help them conquer the Great Zhou. She vowed in a blood oath that whoever brought her the heads of Ji Wufeng, Su Mixue, and Su Jihong would be granted the kingdom of Xiliang without a fight.

This move completely shattered the balance between the four nations.

Qi Min was willing to pay any price to take the lives of Ji Wufeng, Su Mixue, and Su Jihong.

When the war broke out, it was the common people who suffered the most.

Qi Min bore the weight of countless sins.

She personally took the heads of those few people, wrote a confession of her sins, and then, with a final leap, jumped from the city wall.

The world before Huiren seemed to be collapsing, turning to dust and ash.

He suddenly awoke, still feeling as though he were in a dream, and saw Qi Min standing before his senior brother, saying, “Master Huiming, I, Qi Min, humbly request that you perform rites for Ji Xuan and Wanwan, to cleanse them of their karmic debts and grievances, so they may enter the cycle of reincarnation.”

“All of the sins began with me, and I shall bear them all. I am willing never to enter reincarnation, to atone for my crimes to the people.”

Huiming said, “For the sake of your personal desires, you caused endless suffering to the people of the world. Such heavy sins cannot be absolved simply by your vow to never enter reincarnation.

The Qi family has defended the borders of Great Zhou for generations, ensuring peace for its people. As a member of the Qi family, how can you face your ancestors?”

“The men of the Qi family shed their blood on the battlefield, their bodies wrapped in horse hides, defending the very Great Zhou dynasty that now cannot tolerate the descendants of the Qi family,” Qi Min replied coldly. “In the face of duty to the nation, I am but an ordinary mother. The Qi family gave their lives to protect them—who will protect the children of the Qi family?”

“Buddhism teaches about cause and effect. This is the cause and effect.”

…

Huiren, even now as he recalls it, still finds Qi Min’s overwhelming resentment and hostility terrifying.

At that time, he immediately ended his seclusion and began investigating the entire situation.

Everything that had happened matched the events in his dream, but things began to diverge when Su Wan prepared to sell Gu Baozhu and Gu Jingyun. As he observed more closely, Su Wan’s behavior had become drastically different from before, leading him to suspect that Su Wan was no longer the same person she once was.

Huiren was deeply convinced of the truth in his dream. He believed it was a divine message from the Buddha, guiding him to prevent the tragic events from unfolding. Su Wan’s transformation, in his view, was an act of Buddha’s compassion, meant to save the people of the world.

He originally intended to follow the Buddha’s instructions directly and eliminate the root of all these problems.

Su Wan’s change had altered the entire course of events.

It seemed that Qi Min, too, was now facing the consequences of her actions, and her illness was nearing its fatal end.

“This is the chaotic era that will unfold after your death, ignited by Qi Min. Your presence here is a manifestation of Buddha’s compassion. If you defy the Buddha’s will and save Qi Min, who is drowning in sin, I fear you too will face destruction.”

Huiren chanted “Amitabha” and stood up, saying, “This is your karma, and you must carry it with you.”

Su Wan’s heart skipped a beat. She wanted to ask more, but Huiren had already sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, beginning to recite scriptures in a state of deep meditation.

She looked down at the scroll in her hands, trying hard to recall the plot of 《Hegemony》. The last thing she remembered was Ji Wufeng ascending the throne. How could Qi Min have started a war after that? And from Huiren’s attitude, could it be because of her?

But hadn’t Qi Min married in Xiliang, had two children, and ignored her for more than ten years? Hadn’t she abandoned her long ago?

Could there be other hidden truths?

Su Wan didn’t doubt Huiren’s words at all, for the fact that she had been transported into a book was already bizarre enough.

Carrying the long wooden box, she stepped out of the meditation room, just as the person sent by Old Lady Su arrived at the door.

“Young Lady, the Old Lady is asking for you.”

“Mm.” Su Wan, lost in thought, made her way to Old Lady Su’s guest room.

When Su Wan arrived at the door, Abbot Huiming was just coming out. She offered him a respectful Buddhist greeting, and as they passed each other, Huiming suddenly glanced at her again, his compassionate gaze sweeping over the long wooden box in her arms.

Su Wan’s heart sank slightly. She collected her thoughts and approached Old Lady Su. Noticing a lingering trace of worry on her grandmother’s face, she couldn’t help but ask, “Grandmother, what’s the matter?”

“Grandmother lit a lotus lamp and a longevity lamp for you, and even commissioned a golden statue for the Buddha, to bless my Wanwan with a long life, safety, and peace,” Old Lady Su said softly.

She gently brushed the fine hair at Su Wan’s temple, her eyes glistening slightly with moisture. Looking at the item Su Wan was holding, she asked, “Is that something Master Huiren gave you?”