Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 80

As for those childhood memories, if Rong Jingtang wasn’t willing to speak of them, it wouldn’t be easy for Jiang Rui to recall them on his own. After a brief moment of internal conflict, Jiang Rui decided to stop dwelling on it. When the time was right, even if he couldn’t remember, Rong Jingtang would surely tell him.

“Now that Jia Shi has lost his Buddhist cultivation, what will happen to him?” Jiang Rui took a sip of tea and looked at Miao Xuan, who appeared somewhat frail under the sunlight.

“Nothing much,” Miao Xuan replied with a massive yawn, looking exhausted. At some point, the little white tiger had found its way into his arms.

“He was born to be a Buddha, born into the Buddhist gates. Now that he’s lost that power, in a way, he’s lost a layer of shackles as well.” Miao Xuan looked toward the tightly closed courtyard door and suddenly smiled. “In the previous life, Jia Shi was born with sixteen sacred scars on his head. His innate Buddhist power caused Putuo Temple to overflow with divine light that very night. He was immediately taken as a disciple by the Abbot and raised with care; he never once stepped foot outside the temple.”

“That is, until he finally couldn’t resist descending the mountain, met Rong Anchen, and triggered such a massive catastrophe.” Miao Xuan didn’t know whether Jia Shi’s past life was a blessing or a curse.

“Perhaps in his heart, what he wanted most was to truly live in this world for once.” Miao Xuan stroked the white tiger’s fur with one hand and propped up his chin with the other. “In his previous life—aside from that one trip down the mountain—he spent his entire existence accompanying a golden Buddha statue, surrounded by endless scriptures and scrolls. There was nothing else.”

Jiang Rui was slightly stunned. He couldn’t imagine how Jia Shi had endured such a life of asceticism.

“So, that’s why he fell so deep after meeting Rong Anchen in this life…” Jiang Rui sighed, but then his brow furrowed. “Wait, Miao Xuan. Something isn’t right.”

“The array at the Rong mansion and the ‘Absolute Kill’ array at the Wei residence… I always assumed they were Rong Anchen’s doing. But now, it seems it wasn’t him.” Jiang Rui pursed his lips. What he thought he had solved seemed to be slipping back into a mystery.

“It was me.”

A raspy voice suddenly came from the room. Jiang Rui and Miao Xuan turned simultaneously to see Jia Shi slowly walking out, supported by Rong Anchen. Jia Shi was still deathly pale and looked terrible; the few steps across the porch seemed to take him a century.

In the sunlight, Jia Shi’s shaven head reflected light so brightly it almost blinded Jiang Rui. Combined with his pallor, he looked incredibly weak.

“The arrays at the Wei residence and the Rong mansion… I set them both,” Jia Shi said, catching his breath as he sat on a stool.

“Why would you set such ominous arrays?” Jiang Rui asked. He caught sight of Rong Anchen out of the corner of his eye; the latter stood with downcast eyes, gripping Jia Shi’s monastic robe tightly, never letting go. Jiang Rui began to understand.

“You should know why,” Jia Shi said with a faint smile. “Neither of those arrays was meant to take a life.”

“The Wei bloodline carries the ‘Literary Star’ fortune, which is far too domineering. Thus, they are destined to decline eventually. I set that ominous array there hoping to use that massive fortune to keep the Rong child alive and prevent myself from creating more blood-debt. As for the array at the Rong mansion… that was because of Rong Jingtang’s body.”

Jia Shi paused and looked at Rong Jingtang with genuine admiration. “He possesses the most exceptional Water-attribute Spiritual Root I have ever seen. In today’s world, he is likely the only person on earth with a mutated natural spiritual root.”

“But the array at the mansion…” Jiang Rui frowned. “It was clearly a ‘Mind-Befuddling’ array. Anyone staying there for long would eventually go insane.” If Jiang Rui hadn’t sensed it and altered the Feng Shui, Rong Jingtang might not have been standing there today.

“It was a Buddhist-specific Mind-Befuddling array,” Jia Shi explained through labored breaths. “At the time, his destiny was in flux, making his body extremely frail. While the array is harmful to normal people, if Rong Jingtang could endure it, everything would proceed smoothly for him afterward.”

“I see,” Jiang Rui sighed. “But you forgot that given the Rong family’s position, many people want him dead. The array you set was likely tampered with by someone else later on.”

Jia Shi nodded in silence. “That was my oversight. I only felt that the future head of the Rong family could not be a sickly, weak man.”

“The Guanyin Jade he carries… you gave him that too, didn’t you?” Jiang Rui pulled the dark jade he had been keeping safe out of his pocket and handed it to Jia Shi. He didn’t press further on the matter of the Rong family’s leadership; he knew a clan that survived this long must have a hidden side beyond his imagination.

Jia Shi nodded, placing the jade on the table. “Rong Jingtang and his brother are twins; they were meant to balance each other as Yin and Yang. But to preserve Anchen’s life…” Jia Shi sighed. “This jade was taken from the junction of the Ancient Yin Realm. It is an object of extreme Yin. A normal person wearing it would have their lifespan shortened and their luck ruined, but for him, it acts as a ‘negative plus negative equals positive’ effect.”

“You probably only noticed the jade recently,” Jia Shi continued. “I had intended to descend the mountain to retrieve it, but I happened to run into you at Putuo Mountain.”

And with that, all the pieces fell into place. Jiang Rui nodded, feeling a great weight lift from his mind.

Now that the greatest threat to Rong Jingtang was gone, Jiang Rui felt much more cheerful. He generously pulled a brocade box from his pocket and handed it to Jia Shi. “This is a pill I refined earlier. It should be helpful to you.”

Jia Shi accepted it with a word of thanks.

Rong Anchen finally looked up, offering his usual gentle smile. “Rui-rui, Jia Shi needs to rest.”

Jiang Rui nodded understandingly. He watched as Rong Anchen carefully supported Jia Shi back into the room. In the brief exchange of glances between the two, there was a level of trust and sweetness that outsiders could barely fathom.

Jiang Rui turned back to see Miao Xuan still plucking fur from the white tiger. He smiled. “This is a good ending.”

In his previous life, his greatest wish—aside from revenge—was to have a happy home and a partner to talk to after a long day. Back then, it was an impossible dream.

With matters here concluded, the recent waves of drama had left Jiang Rui feeling exhausted. He stayed at the Rong residence for a few more days, watching Jia Shi recover and seeing the smile on Rong Anchen’s face grow brighter each day. Rong Jingtang’s health, too, was nearly restored.

“Though I no longer have the foundation to become a Buddha, I am still a man of the Buddhist gates,” Jia Shi said one day. He sat in his monastic robes in the center of the Rong family shrine, speaking to Rong Jingtang, who sat cross-legged before him.

In truth, Jia Shi’s Buddhist aura was still incredibly potent. Even if Miao Xuan claimed only one ten-thousandth remained, it was far stronger than many so-called “enlightened monks” who only sought fame.

Rong Jingtang sat upright, wearing a comfortable silk robe. The quality of the fabric was so fine that Jiang Rui found himself wanting a set for himself. He watched silently as Jia Shi closed his eyes, began thumbing his prayer beads, and started chanting obscure Buddhist scriptures.

Jia Shi’s influence was profound. Everyone present felt as though they were hearing Sanskrit chants from the Western Paradise—vast, righteous, and tranquil. It felt as though one were being pulled into a realm of pure selfhood and peace.

This chanting session was, in fact, to fully purify Rong Jingtang’s body. Although Jia Shi had meant well with the original array, it had inadvertently damaged Rong Jingtang’s constitution. Despite Jiang Rui’s daily care, he had been wary of the “mastermind” and hadn’t dared to perform a full treatment until now.

The power of the Buddhist “baptism” was formidable. In just fifteen minutes, the chilling, deathly Yin energy surrounding Rong Jingtang transformed into a refreshing, clear coolness. This was the aura a person with an “Ice-attribute Spiritual Root” was actually supposed to have.

In the heat of midsummer, Jiang Rui felt that the cool aura radiating from Rong Jingtang was so pleasant he wanted to shove the man back into bed and take a long nap with him.

Jia Shi opened his eyes, looking weary. Rong Anchen, who was standing by with water ready, immediately stepped forward to help him wash his hands. Jiang Rui noticed that the string of cinnabar-red prayer beads in Jia Shi’s hand had turned completely black.

After Jia Shi rinsed his hands, he took the basin of water from Rong Anchen, went to the backyard, and poured it at the base of the Peach Blossom Tree. The tree waved its branches happily in gratitude.

Since there were no “normal” people left in the hall, the responsibility of helping Rong Jingtang up fell to Jiang Rui. He had been itching to feel that comfortable aura anyway, so he scurried over and took Rong Jingtang’s hand.

It was wonderfully cool to the touch.

Jiang Rui exhaled reflexively. Without any lewd intent, he couldn’t help but stroke Rong Jingtang’s hand a couple more times. It was then that he realized the room had gone unnervingly quiet.

“Have you felt enough?” a cool voice asked.

Jiang Rui’s lip twitched in embarrassment. He forced himself to snap out of his trance and pull his hand away, saying as calmly as possible, “I was just checking your physical condition…”

“Ah.” Rong Jingtang’s eyes filled with amusement. He gave a casual response, glancing at Jia Shi and Rong Anchen, who had started to enter the room but turned away for some reason. Finally, he let out a short laugh. “Come then. Help me back to rest.”

Jiang Rui breathed a sigh of relief. In a rare moment of playfulness, he stuck his tongue out like a mischievous child.