Ch.36 – Seen Through

Hearing the monk’s voice, Shen Yu was stunned and subconsciously thought that the monk was talking to someone else.

But there are clearly only the two of them in this place. Who else could he be talking to?

Shen Yu paused and turned to look at the monk. After a moment of silence, he pointed doubtfully at himself, “Me?”

The monk’s expression remained unchanged.

Shen Yu put away the wooden cards and followed the monk into the next room.

The room is small and seemed to be for monks and temple staff to rest. There is only a small bed, a table and chairs, and some other simple equipment. The scent of sandalwood still lingered in the air.

Shen Yu sniffed this smell and his restlessness seemed to fly away.

The monk went to the table, sat down, and poured two cups of tea for Shen Yu and himself.

“Please, have some tea.” The monk gestured to Shen Yu.

Unfortunately, Shen Yu, as if he hadn’t heard the monk’s words, sat in his wheelchair in front of the door. His seemingly calm eyes were a little more vigilant. After a while, he pretended to have calmed down and said, “Is there a reason you’re looking for me?”

The monk seemed to be aware of Shen Yu’s rejection and was not annoyed. He spoke slowly and gently: “Perhaps the person who has something to say is the donor?”

Shen Yu was stunned. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Everyone who comes to this world has a fixed destiny, whether it’s a donor, a monk, or someone else. If you change your destiny, you may be attacked.”

The monk’s intonation was not high, but every word was clearly introduced into Shen Yu’s ears.

Shen Yu’s face was as white as paper. He opened his mouth and could not even pronounce a single syllable. At this moment, he felt that the words he couldn’t find turned into tiny hammers and beat hard on his nerves.

What does the monk mean by that?

He didn’t want to understand.

But in an instant, he understood.

“I…” Shen Yu’s voice was so hoarse that it took a lot of effort to squeeze out the remaining words, “I just want to save myself.”

The monk looked at Shen Yu very gently. To be exact, he gave out a kind and approachable aura from head to foot. However, this aura did not make Shen Yu feel better.

Under the monk’s gaze, Shen Yu felt cold all over.

The fear of one’s soul being seen is like a heavy shackle, which firmly binds all of Shen Yu’s being. He was is so eager to leave, but he can only remain stunned in his place and stare at the monk.

“You can do something else.” The monk said helplessly.

“This is the most effective way. What’s more, if I don’t take the initiative to change my destiny, there’s not a good ending waiting for me in the future,” Shen Yu whispered.

When the monk heard the words, he shook his head gently, as if he disapproved of Shen Yu’s statement: “But while you are changing your destiny, you are also subtly changing the destiny of others.”

Shen Yu was shocked.

Now he understood that the monk came for Tang Li.

It’s just…

How many monks know that he did not belong in this world?

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy Shen Yu was, and the more cold sweat kept overflowing from his forehead. His body began shivering – he could not calm himself down.

After a long silence, Shen Yu asked frankly, “What else do you know?”

The monk looked at him and laughed quietly.

Shen Yu did not get an answer. He took a deep breath and said, “I don’t think I did anything wrong. Even if he had a set fate, it would be painful and wrong. Maybe what I did could pull him out of the abyss.”

After that, Shen Yu inevitably felt guilty.

What he had to admit was that he really intervened in Tang Li’s life in order to make him own safer.

Moreover, it was impossible for him to just kick out the little villain for no reason.

Besides, Shen Yu and Tang Li had already lived together for a period of time. Even cats and dogs could be easy to get attached to after a period of time, not to mention Tang Li who was a human. He was reluctant to throw Tang Li out, so that the child could return to his lonely life as before.

Shen Yu didn’t want to talk with the monk anymore. He turned around and left.

As soon as he left the door of the wooden house, the gentle voice of the monk called out from behind him: “I hope the donor will return to the right path as soon as possible, or I am afraid that there will be no room to maneuver when he suffers a counter-attack in the future.”

Shen Yu’s face was pale, he clenched his hands against the armrest before the wheelchair rolled forward at a very fast speed.

At that moment, the wheelchair seemed to encounter something, coupled with the speed of moving forward too fast, the unstable center of gravity, Shen Yu unexpectedly straight forward.

What the fuck!

Shen Yu cursed and seized the wheelchair reflexively.

In response, the heavy wheelchair slid forward with him.

Ah…

It’s over…

Shen Yu closed his eyes in fright, but unexpectedly, the anticipated pain did not arrive. Instead, he felt a pair of hands wrap around him as he rolled on the ground two times.

The next second, Tang Li’s panicked voice called out in his ear: “Shen Yu, are you okay?!”

During the shout, the hands clasped more tightly around Shen Yu.

Shen Yu felt that if he had not been killed before, then he was about to be strangled by Tang Li’s grip. He opened his gloomy eyes and saw Tang Li’s worried face.

“I’m fine…” Shen Yu shook his head and tried to get up from the ground. Then he realized that he had accidentally used the little villain under him as a cushion.

The little villain didn’t appear to have any serious injuries, it’s just that Tang Li’s palms sat blood-soaked on the pebble-covered ground.

When Shen Yu saw this, he was so distressed that he stopped breathing for two seconds.

He picked up Tang Li’s injured hand and observed it carefully for a moment, unfortunately he didn’t have a handkerchief on his person. He could only let Tang Li help him into his wheelchair. They went back to their original resting place to find Uncle Zhang together.

Uncle Zhang and the guide were shocked by Shen Yu’s awkward appearance. Before they could ask anything, they heard Shen Yu ask them if they had alcohol and cotton swabs.

So the guide quickly swallowed back the words that were stuck in his throat and went out to find the temple staff for some alcohol and cotton swabs.

Uncle Zhang looked at his watch and whispered to Shen Yu, “Sir, it’s almost two o’clock.”

Shen Yu nodded silently. He still grasped Tang Li’s wrist and looked down at the scarlet blood soaked from the wound. However, what the monk had said kept ringing in his mind.

He knew that he was quietly changing the fate of Tang Li.

But he didn’t know…

Are these changes good or bad for Tang Li?

Shen Yu looked up at Tang Li, just staring at his black eyes. The black orbs clearly reflected his anxious face.

Tang Li always looked at him with such concentration, it was if nothing in the world could disturb him.

Suddenly, Tang Li asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Shen Yu shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

Obviously, Tang Li did not believe Shen Yu’s answer. He looked at Shen Yu’s expression with his head tilted and said, “You seem very unhappy.”

Shen Yu was somewhat surprised by Tang Li’s emotional sensitivity. He grinned and rubbed Tang Li’s hair with his spare hand. “I’m not unhappy, I’m just a little tired.”

Tang Li hung his lips into a frown but did not call out Shen Yu’s lies.

After a while, the guide came back with a medicine box. He quickly made a simple bandage for Tang Li’s hands. After the guide returned the medicine box, he was followed by a familiar figure when coming back.

It was Master Hui Jing, who spoke to Shen Yu not long ago.

Shen Yu: “…”

The mere sight of Master Hui Jing’s benevolent face made him feel suffocated.

Unfortunately, the guide did not see Shen Yu’s suddenly stiff expression. While inviting Master Hui Jing to enter the room, he warmly greeted him, “Mr. Shen, this is Master Hui Jing, the abbot I mentioned to you.”

Then the guide turned to Hui Jing and said, “Master, he is Mr. Shen Yu who came from the capital.”

Shen Yu had a headache and wanted to immediately leave with Tang Li, but because of the situation, after a little bit of internal struggling, he still said hello to Hui Jing.

Fortunately, Hui Jing did not say anything strange in front of others. His reaction was like meeting Shen Yu for the first time. After greeting, Hui Jing had the people in the room sit next to each other at the table.

It was said that Hui Jing is very famous both inside and outside the spiritual circle. Even foreigners came thousands of miles to see him.

Shen Yu, who was a genuine outsider, had not heard of Hui Jing’s reputation before, but just from the fact that Hui Jing could immediately see through him, he knew that this Hui Jing is really capable.

Throughout the entire visit, Shen Yu did not listen to a single word.

An hour later, Hui Jing got up and Shen Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Before leaving, Hui Jing took out a business card from who knows where and handed it to Shen Yu: “Mr. Shen, this meeting can be considered destiny, you and I are tied together through fate, if you encounter difficulties in the future, you can always contact me.”

Shen Yu took the card in surprise. “Thank you.”

Hui Jing smiled gently, turned, and left the house with the guide.

After returning to the hotel, Shen Yu remembered to take Hui Jing’s business card out for a look. The card was a light beige, with Hui Jing’s name and a series of mobile phone numbers written concisely and clearly on it.

Shen Yu pondered for a while and stuffed his business card with two wooden cards taken from the wish wall into the bottom pocket of his suitcase.

———————

The next day, at 10:30 a.m.

Shen Yu and his party had been waiting in the VIP waiting room. They had boarded the plane more than half an hour ago. Shen Yu was idly playing with his mobile phone. Suddenly, the screen of his mobile phone flashed, and a number appeared.

It was Shen Rong.

Shen Yu answered the phone, but before he spoke, Shen Rong’s angry voice suddenly came from his phone: “What do you mean to do by arranging Kang Lin over here? Our company has an independent business model, you can only do bad things if you suddenly jump in!”

Shen Yu was amused by Shen Rong’s attitude. He didn’t want to entangle Shen Rong too much in this matter. He coolly said, “Should I have to get manager Shen’s permission in personnel mobilization?”

Shen Rong choked for a long time before he said, “The people in the head office don’t know the business of the branch company, if you directly inset someone…”

Shen Yu interrupted Shen Rong: “Then we’ll start to slowly understand.”

Shen Rong: “…”

The two sides were silent for nearly half a minute. When Shen Yu thought Shen Rong would end the conversation, he suddenly heard Shen Rong gnash his teeth and say, “Brother Yu, are you serious about this? You know that our company has been operating independently, and a lot of the work is different with your head office.”

“I’ve kept you for a long time. Do you really think of yourself a separate individual?” Shen Yu paused for a few seconds and laughed, “If you don’t agree with my decision, I suggest you go out to an independent company. As for the elders’ opinion, I can intercede on your behalf.”

“You!” Shen Rong was so angry that he could not speak.

“I’m fine.” Shen Yu said, “How could I disappoint you when you’ve been bearing a grudge for nearly ten years?”

Shen Rong gasped for a few breaths, then hung up the phone directly.

Shen Yu expressionlessly put away his phone. Turning his head, he saw Tang Li sitting next to him, looking at him intently.

“What’s so interesting?” Shen Yu smiled helplessly and stretched out his hand to cover Tang Li’s eyes.

Tang Li remained motionless and blinked. Shen Yu’s long eyelashes, as dense as small fans, swept across the palm of his hand. This caused his palm to itch so much that Shen Yu quickly retracted his hand.

Shen Yu felt awkward being stared at by Tang Li. He simply turned his head and said, “Don’t look.”

He did not know what the expression of Tang Li was at the moment, but he heard the child utter an almost unheard sigh: “I want to grow up quickly.”

Shen Yu turned back his head and looked at the sad Tang Li with a strange expression on his face. “Why do you say so?”

“This is how all children think.” Tang Li shrugged his shoulders. In fact, he wanted to say that only when he grows up can he share Shen Yu trouble. That way, he wouldn’t have to see Shen Yu with such a heavy mind all the time.

He can’t do anything as a child.

Even in the face of provocation from that man named Shen Rong, he couldn’t protect Shen Yu very well.

For the first time in his life, Tang Li had such a strong sense of frustration. It was the first time that he was so excluded because of his age.

Shen Yu did not know Tang Li’s inner thoughts. He sniffed and smiled tenderly. He patted Tang Li on the shoulder and said softly, “You will grow up soon enough. Afterall, can you believe we have already known each other for half a year?”

Time flies.

What Shen Yu has to do now is to eliminate those potential dangers in advance, such as Shen Rong.

Originally, Shen Yu did not intend to confront Shen Rong, he even deliberately avoided confronting Shen Rong, but he did not expect Shen Rong would not only actively seek him out, but would also pay attention to Tang Li.

Ah…

So much work.

With a sigh, Shen Yu picked up his phone and sent a message to Kang Lin, who arrived in Jincheng yesterday afternoon: “Hurry up and deal with Shen Rong.”